Flashbacks and Chronology - TV Tropes
- ️Sun Aug 26 2007
“There is no future. There is no past. Do you see? Time is simultaneous, an intricately structured jewel that humans insist on viewing one edge at a time, when the whole design is visible in every facet.”
The choice and sequencing of events to depict, especially nonlinear storytelling. For events that actually happen in a nonlinear order, see Time Travel. For time periods, see Hollywood History. For depictions of various times of day in fiction, see 24-Hour Trope Clock.
Tropes:
- Flashback (main trope): A break in the story to remember a character's past vividly.
- Anachronic Order: Scenes, episodes, or installments are deliberately presented out of chronological order.
- ...And That Little Girl Was Me: A character recounts a story about a seemingly irrelevant person before revealing the story is about themself.
- Back to Front: The story is told backwards, from end to beginning.
- Call-Forward: The flashback sequence alludes to events that the audience knows eventually happened.
- Dashed Plot Line: Time periods larger than one year where nothing interesting happens are skipped to preserve The Law of Conservation of Detail.
- Death by Flashback: Revealing a character's backstory is a good indication that they are about to die.
- Decade-Themed Filter: A flashback from a different decade is filtered in the manner of the camera technology of the time.
- Delayed Narrator Introduction: The narrator is only introduced partway through their own story.
- Distant Finale: The ending takes place significantly in the future.
- Distant Prologue: The introduction takes place significantly in the past.
- Fabula and Sujet: Distinction between the chronological order of the story's events (Fabula) and the order in which we see the scenes (Sujet).
- Fast-Forward to Reunion: The main plot resolves with characters going separate ways, the ending skips to the future when they eventually reunite.
- Flashback... Back... Back...: Flashback is preceded by an echoey sound effect.
- Flashback B-Plot: A linear secondary story is told through flashbacks alongside the main story, both involving the same character(s).
- Flashback Cut: A very brief flashback (usually lasts a few seconds) in the middle of a scene
- Flashback Echo: Events in the present are quickly followed by flashbacks to similar events in the past.
- Flashback Effects: Visual and audio effects used to indicate a flashback.
- Flashback-Montage Realization: A character's realization is shown with a montage of previous scenes and lines of dialogue.
- Flashback Nightmare: A character dreams of a traumatic past event.
- Flashback Stares: A character stares into the distance while remembering a past event.
- Flashback to Catchphrase: A flashback reveals the origin of a character's catchphrase.
- Flashback Twist: A flashback is used and subverts the audience's expectations.
- Flashback with the Other Darrin: A flashback to a previously shot scene with a new actor.
- Flashback Within a Flashback: A flashback occurs inside another flashback.
- Flash Forward: A break in the story to show a future plot development ahead of time.
- Futureshadowing: We see the aftermath of an event before seeing the event itself.
- Grown-Up's Former Authority Figure: An adult runs into a teacher or other authority figure from their childhood.
- Happy Flashback: A flashback to a happy(er) time in a character's life.
- Hilarious in Flashback: Events in a flashback turn out to be funny because the audience knows the present state of things.
- How Dad Met Mom: A flashback to how the parents of a character met for the first time.
- How We Got Here: The story starts in its climax and quickly is followed by a retelling of the events that led to it (a form of In Medias Res).
- In Medias Res: The story doesn't start at the beginning; it's either in the middle or at the end.
- Instant Mystery, Just Delete Scene: A scene is skipped so the viewer doesn't know what happened there for the sake of mystery and suspense.
- Interquel: A work takes place in the middle of a previously-published work (or in between two).
- Interrogation Flashback: The story is told via a character being pumped for information.
- Monochrome Past: Past events depicted in black and white, sepia tone, or muted colors.
- Necro Cam: A Flashback-Montage Realization about how a character died.
- Nested Story: Stories within stories within stories...
- Not the First Victim: A predator had victims before the apparent "first" victim.
- Offstage Waiting Room: Some characters do important things for the plot while others wait for them to finish their own adventure (do nothing).
- Once More, with Clarity: We see a scene and it seems to mean one thing; after several plot developments, we see the same scene, and this time it means something completely different.
- Origins Episode: An episode of the series devoted to revealing the origins of an established character, which will often have the character's backstory shown in flashback sequences, or even have the entire episode take place sometime prior to the character's chronological debut.
- Pensieve Flashback: A character physically observes a flashback.
- P.O.V. Sequel: A story retold from another character's perspective.
- "Rashomon"-Style: Several characters narrate a past event, but each version is different.
- Retraux Flashback: A flashback is presented with an appropriate Art Shift.
- Rewatch Bonus: Now that the work is over, we'll find a new meaning in those little strange details if we watch it again.
- Seamless Scenery: Different scenes transition into each other as if they're still in one location or linear sequence; characters can literally walk into the next scene.
- Sequencing Deception: The work implies that two scenes happen simultaneously or one after the other, but the true order is completely different than we thought.
- Starts with Their Funeral: A story begins with a character's funeral and flashbacks to show how they got there.
- Stylistic Callback: A work references stylistic changes since prior works in the same series.
- Suspiciously Specific Sermon: Religious service is oddly plot relevant.
- Take Up My Sword: The Hero Dies and must be replaced.
- That One Summer: Summer is a magnet for the memory.
- Third-Person Flashback: A person remembering a past event will see everything from a third-person perspective instead of through their own eyes (first person).
- Time Skip: A good chunk of time is skipped between two plot developments or installments.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: Flashback showing the moment a character's life goes downhill.
- Viewers Are Goldfish: The creators think we can't remember past plot developments, so they will remind us constantly.
- When It All Began: A past event that is responsible for the current plot.
- Whole Episode Flashback: The entire episode is a Flashback to a past storyline.