What Is a Prologue? Definition, Purpose, and Examples
By Shihab Mia July 14, 2026 8 min read
Quick answer
A prologue is a separate introductory section at the very start of a book, placed before chapter one. It gives the reader context the main story needs, such as backstory, a scene from another time or point of view, or an early hook. Unlike a preface or foreword, a prologue is written in the story's own voice and counts as part of the fiction. Its mirror image at the end of a book is the epilogue.
What is a prologue, exactly?
A prologue is an opening passage that comes before the first chapter and is written as part of the narrative itself. It uses the same narrator, tone, and fictional world as the rest of the book. That is the key distinction: a prologue is inside the fiction, not commentary about it. The characters, the setting, and the events it describes are real within the world of the story, even if they happen long before chapter one starts.
Because it lives inside the story, a prologue can do things a normal chapter opening cannot. It can jump to a different time period, follow a character who is not the protagonist, or reveal an event the main characters will not learn until much later. It hands the reader one piece of context, then steps back so chapter one can begin. The word comes from the Greek prologos, meaning "before the word," a term for the opening address in ancient Greek drama; see Merriam-Webster's entry for prologue for the full word history.
What does a prologue do in a story?
A good prologue earns its place by giving the reader something the opening chapter cannot easily deliver on its own. Most prologues do one of the following jobs:
- Provide backstory or history. A prologue can show a key event from the past, such as an ancient war or a founding tragedy, that shapes everything the reader is about to see. A fantasy series might open five hundred years earlier to explain why a kingdom fell.
- Shift point of view. It can follow a character other than the protagonist, often the villain or a doomed minor figure, to plant tension the main character does not yet know about. Many crime novels use this to show a murder happen before the detective is introduced.
- Set a different time or place. A prologue might open years before the main story, or in a distant location, then let chapter one snap forward to the present, showing a cause before the reader meets its effect.
- Hook the reader. A tense, mysterious, or dramatic scene can pull a reader in before the slower setup of the main plot begins, useful when chapter one must spend time on world building or introductions.
- Establish tone or stakes. It signals early what kind of book this is, whether that is epic, dark, comic, or eerie, before the narrative voice of chapter one takes over.
The best prologues plant a question the reader carries into chapter one. This is closely related to foreshadowing, where an early detail hints at something bigger to come. A prologue can also lean on dramatic irony, letting the reader know a secret that the characters in the main story do not, which builds tension even in otherwise quiet scenes.
Prologue vs preface vs foreword: what is the difference?
These three sections all appear near the front of a book, so they are easy to confuse. The simplest way to tell them apart is to ask a single question: who is speaking, and are they inside or outside the story? A prologue is spoken from inside the fiction. A preface and a foreword are written about the book, from outside the story, usually in the author's or another expert's own voice.
How a prologue compares to a preface, foreword, and epilogue
| Section | Who writes it | Inside or outside the story | Its job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | The narrator (part of the fiction) | Inside the story | Sets up backstory, tension, or a hook before chapter one |
| Preface | The author, speaking as themselves | Outside the story | Explains why or how the book was written |
| Foreword | Someone other than the author | Outside the story | Endorses or introduces the book and its author |
| Introduction | The author or an editor | Outside the story | Gives context, background, or how to read the book |
| Epilogue | The narrator (part of the fiction) | Inside the story | Wraps up the story or shows what happens afterward |
So a prologue and an epilogue are a matched pair: one opens the fiction before chapter one, the other closes it after the final chapter. A preface and a foreword are commentary about the book, not part of its plot, and they are almost always written in the first person as the real author or a real endorser. If you find yourself explaining your research, thanking people, or describing how the book came to be written, you are writing a preface, not a prologue.
Prologue examples that show how it works
Examples make the idea concrete. Here are common prologue patterns you will recognize from books, games, and plays:
The historical setup
A fantasy novel opens with a prologue set five hundred years before the main story, showing how a powerful artifact was hidden. Chapter one then begins in the present with a farm boy who has no idea the artifact exists. The prologue gives the reader stakes the boy does not have yet, so ordinary early chapters carry hidden weight.
The other point of view
A thriller opens with a short prologue from the killer's perspective as they commit a crime. The rest of the book follows the detective. Because the reader saw the opening scene, every clue the detective finds carries extra weight. This is dramatic irony at work. George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones uses this same technique: its prologue follows minor characters beyond the Wall who encounter the White Walkers, none of whom are the story's main point-of-view characters, establishing a threat the rest of the cast spends the book failing to take seriously.
The framing voice
A classic example is the Chorus in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which delivers a spoken prologue telling the audience that two lovers will die. The play then shows how it happens. Knowing the ending changes how you watch every hopeful scene between the two leads. To go deeper on how stories are built and paced around moments like this, see our guide to the plot diagram.
When should you use a prologue, and when should you skip it?
A prologue is a tool, not a requirement. Most novels do not have one, and many literary agents read submitted prologues with some skepticism, because a weak one can bore a reader before the real story starts. Use this quick test before you keep yours:
- Does the information belong in the past or a different point of view? If it cannot fit naturally into chapter one without an awkward flashback, a prologue may genuinely help.
- Is the scene dramatic on its own? A prologue should be a real scene with tension, conflict, or a clear turning point, not a lecture or an info dump about history and rules.
- Would the story lose something without it? Try reading straight from chapter one. If nothing feels missing, cut the prologue and save the material for later, or drop it entirely.
- Is it short? Strong prologues are usually brief, often just a few pages. If yours runs longer than an early chapter, that is a sign it is doing too much.
If your "prologue" is really just background explanation, consider weaving that context into the story instead, a line at a time, as the main character discovers it. Readers connect with characters in motion, not with paragraphs of history recited before anyone has a reason to care. A clear point of view and a strong opening scene almost always beat a page of setup, and beta readers can tell you quickly whether your prologue is pulling its weight.
Common mistakes to avoid
Prologues fail for a handful of predictable reasons. Watch for these:
- Info dumping. Piling on world history, rules, and names before the reader cares about anyone. Give a scene, not an encyclopedia entry.
- No connection to the plot. A dramatic prologue that never pays off, whose characters and events are never mentioned again, feels like a bait and switch.
- Confusing it with a preface. Explaining your inspiration, your research process, or thanking readers belongs in a preface or acknowledgments, not a prologue.
- Making it too long. A ten page prologue delays the real story and tests the reader's patience before they have met the protagonist.
- Using it to hide a slow chapter one. If chapter one needs a hook bolted on in front of it to work, the fix is usually to rewrite chapter one, not to add a prologue.
- Mismatched voice. A prologue told in a wildly different style or tense than the rest of the book, with no clear story reason, can confuse readers about what kind of narrator they are dealing with.
Good to know
Some readers skip prologues on principle, expecting throat clearing rather than real story. That habit exists because so many prologues are info dumps. The practical takeaway: write yours as one of the most compelling scenes in the book, with a real character making a real choice, or leave it out and start with chapter one.
Prologue in film, games, and plays
The idea is not limited to novels. A film's cold open before the title card often works like a prologue, showing an event that sets up the story before the credits roll. Video games frequently begin with a playable prologue that teaches basic controls while introducing the world; the opening sequence of The Last of Us, following the lead character's daughter on the first night of an outbreak, is a well known game prologue that ends with a time jump into the main story. Ancient Greek and Elizabethan plays used a spoken prologue, often delivered by a chorus, to greet the audience and frame what was about to happen. In every case the job is the same: prepare the audience, then begin the main story.
Understanding prologues is one piece of reading and writing stories well. If you enjoy breaking down how narratives are built, explore our related guides on literary devices and foreshadowing to see how skilled writers set up payoffs from the very first page.
Frequently asked questions
What is a prologue in simple terms?
A prologue is a short opening section that comes before chapter one and is written as part of the story itself. It gives the reader helpful context, such as backstory, a scene from another time, or a different point of view, before the main plot begins. It uses the story's own voice, not the author's.
What is the difference between a prologue and a preface?
A prologue is part of the fiction, told in the story's voice, and sets up the plot. A preface is written by the author speaking as themselves, from outside the story, to explain why or how the book was written. In short, a prologue is story; a preface is commentary about the book.
Does a prologue come before or after chapter one?
A prologue always comes before chapter one. It is the first piece of the actual narrative a reader encounters. Its counterpart, the epilogue, appears at the very end of the book, after the final chapter, to show what happens afterward or to close out the story.
Should my book have a prologue?
Only if it adds something chapter one cannot. A prologue works when it delivers backstory or a scene from another viewpoint that raises the stakes and hooks the reader. If chapter one already works well on its own, skip the prologue. Weak or purely explanatory prologues often push readers and agents away.
How long should a prologue be?
A prologue should be short, usually a few pages at most. It is meant to set up the story quickly, not to compete with the main plot. If it stretches to ten pages or reads like an info dump, trim it or fold the information into the story. Brief and gripping beats long and slow.
Is a prologue the same as an introduction?
No. A prologue is part of the fiction, written in the story's voice as an opening scene. An introduction is written from outside the story, usually by the author or an editor, to give background or explain how to read the book. One is story; the other is context about the book.
Can a prologue be written from the villain's point of view?
Yes, and it is one of the most common uses. A villain's-eye prologue plants a threat or a secret the protagonist does not yet know about, creating dramatic irony that raises tension through scenes that would otherwise feel calm. Thrillers and crime novels use this pattern especially often.