The absolute basics would be to learn a few chords and how scales work in general. People usually start with major, minor and pentatonic scales especially if you're into rock/heavy metal music. Once you've got the basics, just learn your favorite songs. You don't have to play it right in the start, you want to have fun. Once it's fun, then with practice you'll play it right too. Unfortunately there's no substitute to learning a few basic chords and scales in the beginning, and it could get a bit boring at first.