Basic Trope: A prologue that takes place several years before the main story.
- Straight: Superspy Bob has a prologue that takes place 20 years before the main story.
- Exaggerated: The prologue takes place more than 800 years ago.
- Downplayed: The prologue takes place only 6 months before the events of the movie.
- Justified: The prologue explains how Superspy Bob got into the business, serving as a character introduction.
- Inverted:
- Distant Finale
- The prologue is a Flash Forward.
- Subverted: The camera fades into what appears to be a city from the past... only to be revealed that it's a museum.
- Double Subverted: The museum segment is revealed to be set 20 years before the main story.
- Zig-Zagged: The prologue cuts back and forth between events from the past and present.
- Averted:
- There is no prologue.
- The prologue takes place in the Present Day.
- Lampshaded: "Those were the days..."
Five years ago, I went to Distant Prologue. And here I am today.
