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Justice League anime

Not to be confused with the B or Q Team formation shots...

In almost every show featuring a Five-Man Band or a team of heroes, at some point in the opening or promotional materials the main characters will be displayed in a certain formation. The leader stands in the middle of the shot, with the rest of the team standing to each side of him, each slightly behind each other, forming a "V" shape. This shot has the advantage of posing all the characters so you can see them and get some sense of the group dynamic, plus it looks really cool.

They put it on DVD boxes, magazine covers, book covers and album covers too.

The moving version of this is Power Walk. Compare Team Shot. Subtrope of Opening Credits Cast Party, where the cast poses for the cameras during the credits and the Establishing Team Shot.

Examples of V-Formation Team Shot include:


Anime & Manga[]


Comic Books[]

  • Many team books have this on the covers. From the Avengers to the Justice League.


Film — Animated[]


Film — Live Action[]


Live Action TV[]

  • Leverage does this, while striding out of the smoke and in slow motion. And it is awesome.
  • It's also common for the various teams of Power Rangers to be seen like this, too.
  • The cast of Glee gets one in "Theatricality" when they come to aid Kurt as he's being accosted by two jocks. They do this in full KISS and Lady Gaga outfits.
  • Torchwood has them.
  • A rather hilarious accidental one occurs for a brief moment on the miniseries John Adams of all places, as Mr. Adams and some of the other delegates enter the room to begin Framing the Constitution.


Pro Wrestling[]

  • A lot of movie posters and promotional photographs. As one example, in the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-views, the teams of wrestlers will be shown in this formation with the "captain" front and center.


Toys[]

  • Almost every piece of Bionicle promotional art showing all six members of a given set wave did this within the first six years, occasionally with some variation such as one character flying above the pose. Come 2008, when set waves became more diverse in who was in them, this became considerably less frequent; after all, having heroes and villains posing together as a team wouldn't make all that much sense.


Video Games[]


Web Comics[]


Western Animation[]

  • The trope was originally named after Justice League, whose main characters are seen silhouetted in this manner in the opening.
    • They also throw in a Power Walk.
    • The Justice League Unlimited series takes the shot and the silhouettes to an extreme level — from the Magnificent Seven to the Magnificent Thirty-Seven.
  • Seen in the opening sequence of Teen Titans.
  • The opening sequence for Metalocalypse, and the cover of the Fictional Band Dethklok's album.
  • Team Go from Kim Possible does this. Even before ass kicking.


Real Life[]

  • Geese flying in formation.
  • A promotional poster for the 1992 Cricket World Cup showed the participating nations' captains (minus South Africa, who were a late addition) like this.