Tropescilloscope: Early-Bird Cameo

A character makes an appearance before being properly introduced later in the same work, in a sequel or in their own series. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Very Loosely Based on a True Story You Killed My Father In the Back Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Married to the Job Works Set in World War II Lighter and Softer Apocalypse How Knife Nut Casting Gag Fatal Flaw Dark Is Not Evil The Ditz Brutal Honesty What Happened to the Mouse? Bavarian Fire Drill Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Get Out! Mr. Exposition Vomit Indiscretion Shot Race Lift Fiery Redhead Self-Deprecation Face–Heel Turn Foreshadowing Intrepid Reporter No OSHA Compliance Beauty Is Never Tarnished Dutch Angle Bowdlerise Decoy Protagonist Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Foil The Load Jerkass Diabolus ex Machina Motor Mouth Ironic Echo Sexy Discretion Shot Five-Man Band Word of God '80s Hair Parental Substitute The Dragon Distracted by the Sexy Despair Event Horizon Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Bald of Evil Race Against the Clock Anyone Can Die Have a Gay Old Time Age Lift In Name Only Humiliation Conga The Cameo And Starring From Nobody to Nightmare The Atoner I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Mighty Whitey Adult Fear Depraved Bisexual Artistic License – Gun Safety Meaningful Background Event Fate Worse than Death Historical-Domain Character What the Hell, Hero? Instant Death Bullet Hate Sink Cool Car Cloudcuckoolander Dramedy Aside Glance Badass Normal No Antagonist Half the Man He Used to Be Red Shirt Everyone Has Standards Chiaroscuro Truth in Television Improvised Weapon Hypocritical Humor Paper-Thin Disguise Epic Fail Gratuitous English Properly Paranoid Evil Counterpart Cruel and Unusual Death Captain Obvious Punny Name Parental Incest Gainax Ending Unusually Uninteresting Sight Non-Indicative Name Dirty Cop No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Slasher Movie Suddenly SHOUTING! Even Evil Has Loved Ones Evil-Detecting Dog Pre-Mortem One-Liner Plot Hole Silent Movie Posthumous Character "The Reason You Suck" Speech Heroic Sacrifice Took a Level in Badass Revenge Random Events Plot Kubrick Stare Immune to Bullets Curb-Stomp Battle Logo Joke N-Word Privileges I Need a Freaking Drink All for Nothing The Mafia Bullying a Dragon He Who Fights Monsters Shown Their Work Made of Explodium Laser-Guided Karma Monumental Damage Deus ex Machina Daddy's Girl Bilingual Bonus Abhorrent Admirer Offscreen Moment of Awesome Star-Crossed Lovers Gory Discretion Shot La Résistance German Films Romantic Comedy Leitmotif Animated Credits Opening Mistaken for Gay Mooks Gender Flip Bare Your Midriff Take a Third Option Politically Incorrect Villain Framing Device Ghost Fiction Rule of Symbolism Crazy-Prepared Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Artistic License – Geography Award-Bait Song Covers Always Lie Hollywood Law Bring My Brown Pants Taking the Bullet Did Not Get the Girl For the Evulz Dramatic Irony Ambiguous Disorder Advertised Extra Dwindling Party Blood from the Mouth Femme Fatale Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Off with His Head! Australian Movies Greater-Scope Villain Black Best Friend Trailers Always Spoil It's Personal It's All About Me Badass Grandpa Undying Loyalty Breaking the Fourth Wall Rousing Speech The Cavalry Awesome, but Impractical Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Mama Bear Meaningful Echo Missing Mom Bottomless Magazines Author Avatar Flashback Author Appeal Film Noir What You Are in the Dark Rasputinian Death Call-Back Music Stories Attempted Rape Room Full of Crazy Insult Backfire Stylistic Suck Let's Get Dangerous! Action Genre Eldritch Abomination Composite Character B-Movie No Name Given Death by Adaptation The Bad Guy Wins Anti-Villain Throwing Your Sword Always Works Brick Joke Make It Look Like an Accident Suspiciously Specific Denial Mind Screw Bloody Hilarious Pretty Little Headshots Fun with Acronyms The Film of the Book Dark Action Girl Spanner in the Works Henpecked Husband Evil Is Petty Babies Ever After No-Sell Important Haircut Frame-Up Death by Irony Intergenerational Friendship Credits Gag Anachronic Order Gilligan Cut Scenery Gorn Book-Ends Tranquil Fury You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Dumb Blonde Bad Boss Humans Are Bastards Blatant Lies Television Movie Index Spiritual Successor Big "NO!" The Alleged Car Dirty Coward Index of Film Westerns Man on Fire Villain Ball There Is No Kill Like Overkill Shut Up, Hannibal! Improbable Aiming Skills Genre Savvy Artistic License – Biology Film Noir Index Heroes Want Redheads Anguished Declaration of Love The Bully The Lost Lenore Jerk Jock Imagine Spot Earn Your Happy Ending Sci-Fi Horror Interrupted Suicide Villain with Good Publicity Stock Footage Love Triangle Mugging the Monster Hope Spot Due to the Dead Fanservice Extra Faking the Dead Roaring Rampage of Revenge After the End Shirtless Scene Ship Tease Lampshade Hanging My Greatest Failure folderlabel Contrived Coincidence Moment Killer Body Horror Funny Background Event Jump Scare For Want of a Nail Butt-Monkey Pet the Dog Playing Gertrude Creator Cameo Cat Scare Camp Gay British Films The Smurfette Principle Heroic BSoD Boom, Headshot! Parental Neglect Overprotective Dad Artistic License – History Wounded Gazelle Gambit Sports Stories Gorn Cool Shades Never Found the Body Good Is Not Nice Fainting Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Fourth Date Marriage Bittersweet Ending Title Drop Homage Wicked Cultured Determinator aka: The Determinator Well-Intentioned Extremist Bar Brawl Public Domain Feature Films Vomit Discretion Shot Manly Tears Empathic Environment Mexican Standoff Tap on the Head "Awesome McCool" Name Closed Circle Victoria's Secret Compartment Light Is Not Good Artistic License – Law She's Got Legs No Ending Ass Shove Neck Lift Adorkable Exactly What It Says on the Tin O.O.C. Is Serious Business Agony of the Feet Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Betty and Veronica Leaning on the Fourth Wall Older Than They Look Fantastic Racism Alpha Bitch The Lancer The Hero Eyepatch of Power One-Word Title Sequel Escalation Meaningful Name Chewing the Scenery I Have Your Wife Captain Ersatz Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Spiteful Spit Bloodless Carnage Creepy Child Ascended Extra Even Evil Has Standards Villainous Breakdown Hair-Trigger Temper Actor Allusion Rewatch Bonus Unwitting Instigator of Doom Smoking Is Cool Pay Evil unto Evil No Celebrities Were Harmed Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Peek-a-Boo Corpse Sassy Black Woman Aluminum Christmas Trees True Companions Cluster F-Bomb I Did What I Had to Do And the Adventure Continues Darkest Hour Reckless Gun Usage Evil Is Hammy Anti-Hero Genre Shift Action Girl Deadpan Snarker Large Ham Early-Bird Cameo Once More, with Clarity! Cowboy Cop Action Survivor Fish out of Water Hidden Depths Faux Affably Evil Heel–Face Turn Action Prologue Hero of Another Story Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Your Cheating Heart Rule of Cool The Power of Love Say My Name Black Comedy Accidental Murder Maybe Ever After Sequel Hook The Mole Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Epic Movie Only a Flesh Wound Insane Troll Logic Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Cool Old Guy 20 Minutes into the Future Woman Scorned Too Dumb to Live Informed Ability Tagline Disappeared Dad Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Gone Horribly Right Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Manipulative Bastard Serious Business Meet Cute The Remake Zombie Stories The Ghost Re-Cut Mundane Made Awesome Precision F-Strike Scary Black Man The Stoic More Dakka Reality Has No Subtitles Death of a Child Card-Carrying Villain Would Hurt a Child "Shaggy Dog" Story Impaled with Extreme Prejudice An Axe to Grind Dark and Troubled Past Big Brother Instinct Real Life Writes the Plot Alas, Poor Villain Arranged Marriage Downer Ending Heterosexual Life-Partners Vampire Fiction Fan Disservice Video Credits Worthy Opponent Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Armor-Piercing Question Badass Longcoat Dirty Old Man Spared by the Adaptation Canon Foreigner It Will Never Catch On One-Man Army Manic Pixie Dream Girl Police Brutality Domestic Abuse Defrosting Ice Queen The Dog Bites Back Blood Knight Not So Above It All Double-Meaning Title War Is Hell "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Country Matters The Alcoholic Failed a Spot Check Villain Protagonist Scare Chord Martial Arts Movie BFG Big Eater Affectionate Parody Cold-Blooded Torture Destination Defenestration Soundtrack Dissonance Obfuscating Stupidity Only One Name Affably Evil Coming-of-Age Story Batman Gambit Ambiguous Ending Stuff Blowing Up Only Known by Their Nickname Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Becoming the Mask Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Flipping the Bird Disney Villain Death Dogged Nice Guy Pretty in Mink Guile Hero Stealth Pun Disney Death The '70s Anachronism Stew The Dreaded Ominous Latin Chanting Vacation Films The Chessmaster The Faceless Love at First Sight Spell My Name with an "S" Heel Realization Chekhov's Gun Jerk with a Heart of Gold Dull Surprise Annoying Younger Sibling Artistic License – Military Shell-Shocked Veteran Here We Go Again! Dying Moment of Awesome Psychological Thriller Extreme Doormat The Big Guy Children Are Innocent Kids Are Cruel Sinister Minister Papa Wolf Kick the Son of a Bitch Psycho for Hire Our Vampires Are Different Cassandra Truth Biopic Russian Films Implacable Man Mr. Fanservice Redshirt Army All Just a Dream Japanese Films Celebrity Paradox Eureka Moment Vitriolic Best Buds Plucky Comic Relief Damsel in Distress Expository Hairstyle Change Danny Peary Cult Movies List Death Seeker Male Gaze Bi the Way Neck Snap Expy Jerkass Has a Point Not Using the "Z" Word Bound and Gagged Reality Is Unrealistic Nice Hat Unusual Euphemism Token Minority Does This Remind You of Anything? Big-Bad Ensemble All Girls Want Bad Boys Same Language Dub Smug Snake Line-of-Sight Name The X of Y The Place Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other You Have Failed Me Catch-Phrase Thriller Cool Old Lady Creative Closing Credits Calling the Old Man Out Shoot the Shaggy Dog Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Suspiciously Similar Substitute Madness Mantra Major Injury Underreaction Genre Throwback May–December Romance Stealth Hi/Bye Male Frontal Nudity Arc Words Romantic False Lead Idiot Ball Lock and Load Montage Unresolved Sexual Tension Film Series My Beloved Smother Drill Sergeant Nasty Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Retirony Mythology Gag Tempting Fate Adaptational Badass Broken Aesop My God, What Have I Done? Bland-Name Product Famous Last Words Jitter Cam All There in the Manual Adaptational Heroism Crucified Hero Shot Camera Abuse Animal Title Index Science Fiction Films Central Theme MacGuffin Show Within a Show Brainless Beauty Hooker with a Heart of Gold Karmic Death Protagonist Title Dual Wielding Parental Abandonment How We Got Here A Father to His Men Brother–Sister Incest Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Riddle for the Ages Villain Song Break the Cutie Beta Couple Wrong Genre Savvy The Quiet One Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Final Girl Amusing Injuries Animal Motifs Alliterative Name Call-Forward The Hero Dies Karma Houdini From Bad to Worse Catapult Nightmare Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Eye Scream Rule of Funny It Can Think Eiffel Tower Effect Comically Missing the Point I Just Shot Marvin in the Face The Great Depression Skewed Priorities Wham Shot Irony Friend to All Children Sir Swears-a-Lot Adaptation Distillation Chase Scene Unreliable Narrator Laughing Mad Abusive Parents And I Must Scream Hero Antagonist The Sociopath Recycled IN SPACE! The Starscream He Knows Too Much Left the Background Music On Big Bad Adaptation Dye-Job Authority Equals Asskicking Amoral Attorney Kick the Dog Straight Gay The Musical Those Two Guys Rated M for Manly Twist Ending Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Mood Whiplash Really Gets Around Horror Comedy Noodle Incident Mystery and Detective Films Defiant to the End All Men Are Perverts Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Hoist by His Own Petard Freudian Excuse Red Oni, Blue Oni One Steve Limit Foregone Conclusion Broken Pedestal Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene In Medias Res Adaptational Attractiveness Sole Survivor Totally Radical Deliberately Monochrome Fake Shemp Obviously Evil Demoted to Extra Combat Pragmatist Naked People Are Funny An Aesop Big Bad Duumvirate Driven to Suicide Wretched Hive Bunny-Ears Lawyer Your Head A-Splode Ungrateful Bastard Sacrificial Lion Demonic Possession Darker and Edgier Death by Sex Sadistic Choice Unspoken Plan Guarantee The Casanova Morality Pet Overly Long Gag Fire-Forged Friends Historical Hero Upgrade Pragmatic Villainy Woman in White Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Those Two Bad Guys Adults Are Useless Air-Vent Passageway The '80s Costume Porn Never My Fault Obstructive Bureaucrat Would Hit a Girl Slasher Smile Adapted Out Dark Reprise Badass in a Nice Suit Bury Your Gays Real Life Bloodier and Gorier Easily Forgiven Off-into-the-Distance Ending The End... Or Is It? Grey and Gray Morality Facial Horror A Minor Kidroduction Running Gag Almost Kiss Face Death with Dignity The Brute Big Damn Heroes Deal with the Devil Blackmail Character Development Evil Laugh Stepford Smiler Asshole Victim Four-Temperament Ensemble Novelization Product Placement Loophole Abuse Names to Run Away from Really Fast Only Sane Man Time Skip Take That! As Himself Punch-Clock Villain Market-Based Title Red Herring Storming the Castle Hong Kong Films Disproportionate Retribution Beard of Evil Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism The Chick Pragmatic Adaptation Rich Bitch Superhero Does Not Like Shoes Rape as Drama Setting Update She Cleans Up Nicely Small Name, Big Ego The Stinger The '50s Manchild Beware the Nice Ones "Well Done, Son!" Guy Not What It Looks Like Black Comedy Rape Black Dude Dies First The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Retired Badass Death Glare Car Fu Offscreen Teleportation The Stoner Ambiguously Gay Grievous Bottley Harm Corpsing Training Montage An Arm and a Leg All There in the Script A.I. Is a Crapshoot Establishing Character Moment Pimped-Out Dress Bolivian Army Ending Red Eyes, Take Warning Chekhov's Gunman Gold Digger Knight Templar Psychopathic Manchild The Un-Reveal The Voiceless The '60s No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Based on a True Story Kill It with Fire Black and Gray Morality Whole Plot Reference A Date with Rosie Palms Those Wacky Nazis Bait-and-Switch I'm a Humanitarian Taking You with Me Badass Bookworm Back from the Dead Adaptation Name Change Honor Before Reason Visual Pun Rule of Three Christmas Movies Index Slap-Slap-Kiss Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Evil Sounds Deep Refuge in Audacity Every Car Is a Pinto Outrun the Fireball Bond One-Liner Better to Die than Be Killed Getting Crap Past the Radar Only in It for the Money Scenery Porn Adaptational Villainy Green-Eyed Monster Big Fancy House Horror Films Enemy Mine As You Know The '90s Deconstruction Improbable Weapon User Evil Brit Drives Like Crazy Sealed Evil in a Can Toplessness from the Back Super Strength Continuity Nod Freeze-Frame Bonus Narrator Handicapped Badass Ms. Fanservice Early Installment Weirdness Deliberate Values Dissonance Cool Guns As the Good Book Says... Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Kill 'em All Didn't Think This Through Reasonable Authority Figure Drugs Are Bad Antagonist Title Hell Is That Noise Adaptation Expansion Funny Foreigner Military and Warfare Films Developing Doomed Characters Reality Ensues Corrupt Corporate Executive Groin Attack Crapsack World Leave the Camera Running Crazy Jealous Guy Shout-Out Bad "Bad Acting" Historical In-Joke The Reveal Put on a Bus Ripped from the Headlines Canadian Movies Dressing as the Enemy Conspicuous CG This Is Gonna Suck Hypocrite Badass Boast Naïve Newcomer Men Are the Expendable Gender Actually Pretty Funny Documentary Cat Fight Fantasy Films Not Even Bothering with the Accent Determinator Fingore Nothing Is Scarier Translation Convention Red Right Hand Fatal Family Photo Historical Villain Upgrade Loads and Loads of Characters Malevolent Masked Men Berserk Button Department of Redundancy Department Dramatic Gun Cock Yandere Auto Erotica Disguised in Drag Villain Opening Scene Guns Akimbo As Long as It Sounds Foreign Not Quite Dead Never Trust a Trailer Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Stalker with a Crush Accidental Misnaming Dies Wide Open Not So Different Sanity Slippage Daylight Horror Shipper on Deck Dissonant Serenity Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Redemption Equals Death Poor Communication Kills Evil Plan Killed Mid-Sentence French Films Shower Scene Exact Words The Vamp Dropped a Bridge on Him Mad Scientist Fat Bastard Wham Line Match Cut A God Am I Happily Married Nice Guy Serial Killer Eagleland Made of Iron Police are Useless Not So Stoic Mercy Kill Our Zombies Are Different NO INDOOR VOICE Arch-Enemy Break the Haughty Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Pyrrhic Victory Be Careful What You Wish For Artistic License – Physics Insistent Terminology Chekhov's Skill Needs Wiki Magic Love The Oner Up to Eleven The Ace Bond Villain Stupidity You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Evil vs. Evil The Smart Guy Retcon Drowning My Sorrows Fanservice Silence Is Golden Big Applesauce Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Slashed Throat Oh, Crap! Italian Films Extremely Short Timespan Last-Name Basis Ax-Crazy Broken Bird Soft Glass Hollywood Darkness Together in Death Double Entendre Took a Level in Jerkass Curse Cut Short World of Ham Cain and Abel Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds timeperiod Belligerent Sexual Tension