History Main / OpeningMonologue

* The prologue to Disney's ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' establishes the Beast's situation.

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]/subverted in ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'' when Charlton Heston is interrupted in his opening narration by the Muses:

* Lady Galadriel's opening monologue from the first ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' movie, ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', which lays down the creation of the Rings of Power, the One Ring, the war against Sauron, and the fates of the One Ring's previous bearers before Bilbo got hold of it. Plus, we don't actually ''meet'' Galadriel until almost the end of the movie. A good portion of this speech was cribbed from a speech by Treebeard in the book, but having a sentient tree-shaped being explain the plot in a very slow voice is possibly not the best way to pull your audience in. This monologue actually went through several narrators, including Frodo (rejected because doing so would reveal he had survived) and Gandalf. Galadriel was eventually selected as the person most suitable to giving out such information.

* ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew'' (Bejamin Britten's opera) adapts the novel's prologue into an opening neo-Baroque recitative for tenor and piano, explaining how the Governess's story was discovered and how she came to reluctantly accept her position. There is no further narration, leaving the tenor free to double as the villain, Peter Quint.

* ''Film/TheNeanderthalMan'': "In bruting beauty whose parallel one would have far to seek, stand California's high Sierras, fisherman's paradise and hunter's haven, where the defacing hand of civilization has fallen only lightly, and nature's vestments are displayed in all her rugged, primeval abandon."

* ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' -- "What makes a man a man? Is it his origins, the way things start? Or is it something else, something harder to describe? For me it all began in 1944, classified mission off the coast of Scotland. The Nazis were desperate. Combining science and black magic they intended to upset the balance of the war..."

** As mentioned above, someone else narrates the opening of ''Film/DarkPhoenix'': Jean Grey. This change was done to highlight her increased focus in the story, as this tackled Comicbook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga a second time, unlike the shortened B-plot used in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''.
--->''"Who are we? Are we simply what others want us to be? Are we destined to a fate beyond our control? Or can we evolve, become something more?"''

-->''"Who are we? Are we simply what others want us to be? Are we destined to a fate beyond our control? Or can we evolve, become something more?"''

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': All are voiced by Professor Charles Xavier.

* The second and third ''Webcomic/ElectricWonderland'' stories begin with an explanation describing the comic's futuristic {{Cyberspace}} setting and (vaguely) the four main characters. In the third story, characters' word balloons obscure large parts of the opening narration, and it is never used again.
* The first Webcomic/Level30Psychiatry comic has a narration that turns out to be Roll reading aloud a flyer for the titular business.

* ''Film/{{Underworld}}'' begins with Kate Beckinsale's character expositing about the war between the vampires and the werewolves.

* Film/{{Sunshine}}: Starts with Robert Capa, Creator/CillianMurphy's character, explaining the situation and how the protagonists got there and what their goal is, in a voice-over during the first minute. To summarize:

* In ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior'', the elderly man delivering the opening monologue is revealed to be [[spoiler: the mute savage child all grown up.]]

* ''Theatre/Chicago'' opens with an audience advisory from a member of the Ensemble:

* ''Super {{Metroid}}'': "The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace." Then a log entry by Samus, and the game begins.
** The PAL and subsequent versions of ''Metroid Prime'' open with a narration about Samus.

* "Fanfic/LastRights" starts with an {{infodump}} from the series' FirstPersonSmartass Captain Kanril Eleya, explaining why surface armies are still relevant in an era of starships that can glass planets (i.e. you need boots on the ground to capture and hold territory if you want it in anything resembling the state it started), which then segues into the actual story.

* VideoGame/ChronoCross: "What was the start of all this? // When did the cogs of fate begin to turn? // Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now, // From deep within the flow of time... // But, for a certainty, back then, // We loved so many, yet hated so much, // We hurt others and were hurt ourselves... // Yet even then we ran like the wind // Whilst our laughter echoed, // Under cerulean skies..."

** The exposition for ''Theatre/HenryIVPartII'' is delivered by Rumor, personified as a character "full of tongues."

* The {{hentai}} OVA ''Urotsukidouji'' opens with a narrator summarizing the Legend of the Overfiend, over images of a [[FireAndBrimstoneHell fiery hell]] where [[HornyDevils demons are having sex]].

* ''Film/TheDeparted'': "I don't wanna be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." Hearing that in JackNicholson's gruff yet acidic voice sends chills up one's spine.