Tropescilloscope: Action Prologue

An exciting beginning followed by the "real" story. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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