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A setup, in storytelling, is the introduction in a plot of an element that will be useful to the story only later, when the payoff comes. [1] [2]
Most of the important elements that are part of the setup are usually introduced during the exposition, [3] with which it is sometimes confused. But there can be a setup within a specific scene late in the story, with a character, object or concept appearing only to be used paragraphs or seconds later.
