Virtual Compton scattering off the nucleon

We review the recent developments of virtual Compton scattering. We focus on the kinematical regimes which look the most promising. The threshold regime gives access to the generalized polarizabilities of the proton. The hard scattering regime allows tests of perturbative QCD predictions and of the valence quark wave function. The Bjorken regime is closely related to deep inelastic scattering. It gives access to the off-forward parton distributions which generalize the ordinary parton distributions and may shed a new light on the spin problem. For each regime we discuss the experimental perspectives and the role of the Bethe-Heitler background.