In The Beginning...

In The Beginning... is the introduction sequence in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which introduces the main characters and establishes the storyline.

Plot
Forelli Family Don, Sonny Forelli, his right hand man, and another unknown Forelli member, discuss Tommy Vercetti's release from prison, after he was arrested and jailed for killing eleven men during a botched hit; serving fifteen years behind bars. The mobsters decide to send Tommy to Vice City to man their drug operations there for a few months.

After flying out to Vice City, Tommy, Ken Rosenberg (a lawyer who serves as the Forelli contact in Vice City), and mobsters, Harry and Lee, are driven in Ken's Admiral to a drug deal with the Vance crime family in Viceport. The Vances arrive by helicopter and begin the deal.

However, the deal is ambushed, and Harry, Lee and one of the dealers are killed, while Tommy, Ken, and another dealer escape.

Tommy and Ken drive to Ken's office, where Tommy tells Ken to get some sleep and that he will visit him in the morning to begin evaluating the situation. Ken goes into his office, and Tommy drives to the Ocean View Hotel to telephone Sonny and inform him of what happened.

After the cut-scene ends and before Tommy goes to the hotel, the player is considered in free-roam instead of a mission, thus they can do whatever they please.

Deaths

 * Harry - Killed by Ricardo Diaz's hitmen during an ambush.
 * Lee - Killed by Ricardo Diaz's hitmen during an ambush.
 * Victor Vance - Killed by Ricardo Diaz's hitmen during an ambush.

Trivia

 * Victor Vance, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (set two years before GTA VC and released four years after this game), appears in this mission as an unnamed dealer that is killed by Ricardo Diaz's gang, along with Harry and Lee. Victor also looks very different to his appearance in GTA VCS; wearing an orange shirt, speaking with a Latin accent (as opposed to a North American accent in VCS) and has a full head of hair. It is notable that this is one of two missions to feature a canonical death of a protagonist (the other being Mr. Philips in Grand Theft Auto V, when Johnny Klebitz is killed by Trevor Philips).
 * Vic's lips do not move during the cutscene in the original versions of the game. This was later fixed in The Definitive Edition.
 * The song that can be heard playing in the background during the first cutscene is "" by . The song is also featured on the in-game radio station Emotion 98.3.
 * The song that can be heard playing in the background during the airport cutscene is "Mama Papa Tu" by . The song is also featured on the in-game radio station Radio Espantoso.
 * When Sonny and the group are discussing Tommy's release from prison, a dead man can be seen in the background, impaled on a meat hook in the freezer.
 * When Tommy, Harry and Lee arrive at Escobar International Airport, an airplane can be seen landing on the curved runway in the background. Realistically, it is not possible to land like that, possibly hinting that a straight runway was present in the beta.
 * Ken Rosenberg's Admiral is more detailed in the airport pickup scene than in usual gameplay, with a slightly boxier body, detailed tan interior (rather than the standard generic grey one), and a different rim design from Grand Theft Auto III. After the opening cutscene, it also has a unique white color.
 * When the player enters any vehicle after the cutscene, the radio will automatically tune into Flash FM and "" by will always play. In the mobile version, 2013 re-release of the game and Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, this is replaced with "" by.
 * The interior of Marco's Bistro is actually located in the Ocean View Hotel and is connected to Tommy's room.
 * In the game's files, a slightly altered dialogue exists. It's revealed that Vic and Lance own a farm in Panama and while Ken parks next to his office building, Tommy tells Ken to "shut up" and that he's alive, before telling to dump the car.
 * Moreover, the game files contain a left-over motion-capture scene for the unused dialogue between Tommy and Ken by Ken's office.

Navigation
في البداية... Einleitung (VC) Au début… Na początku... In The Beginning...