Tropescilloscope: Action Survivor

The Hero of the story is an Average Joe. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Batman Gambit Hidden Depths The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Ripped from the Headlines You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! The '50s Evil Brit Mr. Exposition Catapult Nightmare Action Survivor Manic Pixie Dream Girl Anti-Villain Smoking Is Cool Plot Hole Novelization Karmic Death Manchild Scary Black Man Dutch Angle Bad Boss Only a Flesh Wound Death by Irony Laser-Guided Karma Expy An Aesop Posthumous Character Rule of Symbolism Lock and Load Montage timeperiod Flashback Genre Savvy Does This Remind You of Anything? Expository Hairstyle Change Dressing as the Enemy Faking the Dead Stepford Smiler Kick the Dog I'm a Humanitarian Spell My Name with an "S" Chiaroscuro Our Zombies Are Different Artistic License – Physics Properly Paranoid Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Fun with Acronyms Neck Snap Adaptational Villainy One Steve Limit Villainous Breakdown N-Word Privileges Attempted Rape Better to Die than Be Killed Brother–Sister Incest Here We Go Again! Vacation Films Mundane Made Awesome Very Loosely Based on a True Story Immune to Bullets Serious Business Reality Has No Subtitles Bloodier and Gorier Public Domain Feature Films Jerkass Darkest Hour Friend to All Children Badass Normal Mooks Dogged Nice Guy Made of Explodium Mugging the Monster Death by Sex Chekhov's Gun Eureka Moment Stealth Hi/Bye I Just Shot Marvin in the Face A God Am I All Men Are Perverts Stalker with a Crush British Films Dull Surprise The Dreaded Roaring Rampage of Revenge You Killed My Father Nice Guy Military and Warfare Films Mr. Fanservice Brick Joke Title Drop Sinister Minister Fanservice Extra Catch-Phrase For the Evulz Fantastic Racism Reckless Gun Usage Eye Scream The Hero Early-Bird Cameo No Celebrities Were Harmed Disguised in Drag Facial Horror No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Knight Templar Insane Troll Logic Vomit Indiscretion Shot Combat Pragmatist Taking You with Me Leaning on the Fourth Wall Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Black Dude Dies First Exactly What It Says on the Tin Big "NO!" Greater-Scope Villain The Stinger folderlabel Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Kill It with Fire Took a Level in Badass Gender Flip Unresolved Sexual Tension Mood Whiplash Red Oni, Blue Oni Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Anachronism Stew Guns Akimbo Australian Movies Not Using the "Z" Word Shut Up, Hannibal! Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Throwing Your Sword Always Works Mystery and Detective Films Break the Haughty Bond One-Liner Heel–Face Turn Body Horror Guile Hero The X of Y Early Installment Weirdness Romantic Comedy Redemption Equals Death Happily Married Self-Deprecation Not So Different The Mafia Heroic BSoD The Mole The Film of the Book Epic Movie The Alcoholic Motor Mouth Chewing the Scenery Monumental Damage Brainless Beauty MacGuffin The Ghost The Starscream Improbable Aiming Skills Naked People Are Funny Bring My Brown Pants Villain with Good Publicity Informed Ability Important Haircut Visual Pun Those Wacky Nazis Enemy Mine Lighter and Softer Homage All Girls Want Bad Boys Car Fu Failed a Spot Check Does Not Like Shoes Ambiguously Gay What Happened to the Mouse? Jitter Cam Gone Horribly Right Police are Useless My God, What Have I Done? Sealed Evil in a Can Betty and Veronica Time Skip Nice Hat Deal with the Devil No Ending Scenery Porn Spanner in the Works Empathic Environment True Companions Pyrrhic Victory No Antagonist Bi the Way Villain Protagonist Blood from the Mouth Psychopathic Manchild Sequel Escalation Works Set in World War II Off with His Head! Amusing Injuries The Musical Older Than They Look Apocalypse How Random Events Plot Needs Wiki Magic Love Imagine Spot Police Brutality Really Gets Around Line-of-Sight Name Femme Fatale Riddle for the Ages Accidental Murder Papa Wolf Parental Neglect "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Slashed Throat Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Brutal Honesty Sir Swears-a-Lot Creative Closing Credits Italian Films Translation Convention Half the Man He Used to Be Four-Temperament Ensemble Badass Boast Men Are the Expendable Gender Intergenerational Friendship Calling the Old Man Out Heroes Want Redheads Hope Spot Hooker with a Heart of Gold Small Name, Big Ego Crucified Hero Shot Arch-Enemy Hate Sink He Who Fights Monsters Light Is Not Good I Have Your Wife The Reveal Meaningful Background Event Rated M for Manly Cowboy Cop Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Slap-Slap-Kiss Kill 'em All Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Parental Substitute Black Comedy Arranged Marriage Darker and Edgier Retcon '80s Hair Cat Fight Antagonist Title Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Domestic Abuse Unspoken Plan Guarantee Creepy Child Cool Guns Ax-Crazy Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Male Frontal Nudity Race Lift Dramatic Gun Cock Take That! The Stoner Sassy Black Woman Sanity Slippage Leave the Camera Running Diabolus ex Machina Rasputinian Death You Have Failed Me Suspiciously Specific Denial Gainax Ending Disproportionate Retribution All for Nothing Deadpan Snarker The Vamp Action Girl Due to the Dead Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Red Eyes, Take Warning And Starring Stock Footage Adorkable Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Scenery Gorn Even Evil Has Standards Anyone Can Die Frame-Up Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Noodle Incident Undying Loyalty Our Vampires Are Different BFG Groin Attack Silence Is Golden Deliberate Values Dissonance Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Mexican Standoff The Cameo The Lancer Pay Evil unto Evil Grey and Gray Morality Loophole Abuse Up to Eleven Cruel and Unusual Death No-Sell In Medias Res Adult Fear Loads and Loads of Characters Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Take a Third Option Russian Films Obfuscating Stupidity Animated Credits Opening No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Wretched Hive All There in the Script Ambiguous Ending Ungrateful Bastard Pretty in Mink Bait-and-Switch Fainting Drowning My Sorrows Badass in a Nice Suit Aluminum Christmas Trees Rich Bitch Broken Aesop German Films Offscreen Teleportation All Just a Dream Improvised Weapon Artistic License – Law You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Auto Erotica The '70s Red Herring Paper-Thin Disguise Eagleland I Did What I Had to Do Never Trust a Trailer Establishing Character Moment Stylistic Suck Funny Foreigner She Cleans Up Nicely Japanese Films Film Noir NO INDOOR VOICE Abusive Parents Air-Vent Passageway Redshirt Army Only One Name Big Bad Duumvirate Refuge in Audacity The Quiet One Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Daddy's Girl Documentary Character Development Deconstruction Kick the Son of a Bitch Fate Worse than Death Drives Like Crazy Deliberately Monochrome Dark Is Not Evil Broken Pedestal Naïve Newcomer Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Unusual Euphemism Psychological Thriller Stuff Blowing Up Horror Films She's Got Legs Christmas Movies Index Not So Stoic Ass Shove Award-Bait Song Belligerent Sexual Tension Too Dumb to Live Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" The Load Same Language Dub Jerk Jock Shout-Out Babies Ever After Boom, Headshot! Drill Sergeant Nasty Not What It Looks Like Left the Background Music On Interrupted Suicide The Ditz Meaningful Echo Adapted Out Blood Knight Improbable Weapon User Film Noir Index The Voiceless Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Five-Man Band Curb-Stomp Battle Bar Brawl Country Matters The Un-Reveal Corrupt Corporate Executive Woman in White Damsel in Distress Famous Last Words Alas, Poor Villain Black and Gray Morality Grievous Bottley Harm Fake Shemp Artistic License – Gun Safety Nothing Is Scarier From Nobody to Nightmare Dirty Cop Parental Abandonment Affably Evil The Smurfette Principle Love Triangle Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Shoot the Shaggy Dog Fourth Date Marriage Berserk Button Based on a True Story Fat Bastard Cain and Abel Married to the Job Call-Forward Adaptational Heroism Bland-Name Product Anti-Hero Word of God Vomit Discretion Shot Sexy Discretion Shot From Bad to Worse Captain Ersatz Historical-Domain Character Celebrity Paradox Horror Comedy Off-into-the-Distance Ending Animal Motifs Skewed Priorities No Name Given And the Adventure Continues Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Morality Pet Logo Joke Shower Scene Ironic Echo Girl-on-Girl Is Hot An Arm and a Leg Flipping the Bird Big Bad Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Did Not Get the Girl War Is Hell Anguished Declaration of Love Captain Obvious Love at First Sight Fatal Family Photo Tap on the Head Shell-Shocked Veteran Superhero The Power of Love The Casanova Rule of Three Epic Fail Moment Killer The Big Guy Funny Background Event Trailers Always Spoil Spared by the Adaptation How We Got Here Bavarian Fire Drill He Knows Too Much The Remake Disappeared Dad Author Appeal More Dakka Asshole Victim Maybe Ever After Action Prologue Match Cut It's All About Me Evil-Detecting Dog Kids Are Cruel Every Car Is a Pinto Sequel Hook Laughing Mad Playing Gertrude Politically Incorrect Villain Badass Bookworm Breaking the Fourth Wall Would Hit a Girl In Name Only Revenge Product Placement Adaptation Expansion Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other The Alleged Car Storming the Castle Victoria's Secret Compartment I Want My Beloved to Be Happy World of Ham Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Good Is Not Nice Adaptation Dye-Job Fan Disservice The '80s Dies Wide Open Extremely Short Timespan Depraved Bisexual Zombie Stories Creator Cameo Manipulative Bastard Twist Ending No OSHA Compliance The Bully Pre-Asskicking One-Liner B-Movie Thriller Kubrick Stare Corpsing Silent Movie Death by Adaptation Demonic Possession Star-Crossed Lovers Agony of the Feet Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Ambiguous Disorder Hong Kong Films Pet the Dog The Bad Guy Wins Mercy Kill Destination Defenestration Casting Gag Adults Are Useless Final Girl Cold-Blooded Torture Dying Moment of Awesome Beauty Is Never Tarnished What You Are in the Dark Danny Peary Cult Movies List Precision F-Strike Dropped a Bridge on Him Wham Shot Real Life Science Fiction Films Never My Fault There Is No Kill Like Overkill Whole Plot Reference Hair-Trigger Temper Fiery Redhead Ms. Fanservice Woman Scorned Intrepid Reporter Peek-a-Boo Corpse Would Hurt a Child Let's Get Dangerous! Not Even Bothering with the Accent Offscreen Moment of Awesome Dumb Blonde Overprotective Dad Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Beware the Nice Ones Show Within a Show Alpha Bitch The End... Or Is It? Double Entendre Dramatic Irony Scare Chord A.I. Is a Crapshoot Evil Sounds Deep A Minor Kidroduction Contrived Coincidence Knife Nut Historical In-Joke Be Careful What You Wish For Wham Line Didn't Think This Through Yandere Heterosexual Life-Partners Foil One-Word Title Crazy-Prepared Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Disney Death Break the Cutie Mama Bear Suddenly SHOUTING! Eldritch Abomination Cat Scare Almost Kiss Put on a Bus Adaptational Attractiveness Beta Couple Insult Backfire Bittersweet Ending Fanservice What the Hell, Hero? Bilingual Bonus Poor Communication Kills Green-Eyed Monster Big-Bad Ensemble Male Gaze Training Montage Artistic License – Military Manly Tears It Will Never Catch On Those Two Guys "The Reason You Suck" Speech Only Known by Their Nickname Gold Digger The Brute Reasonable Authority Figure Abhorrent Admirer Not Quite Dead Anachronic Order Recycled IN SPACE! Ascended Extra The Cavalry Unwitting Instigator of Doom The Faceless Handicapped Badass Dual Wielding Freeze-Frame Bonus Sci-Fi Horror Book-Ends Outrun the Fireball Demoted to Extra Bald of Evil La Résistance As Long as It Sounds Foreign Blatant Lies Taking the Bullet Actually Pretty Funny In the Back Evil vs. Evil The Atoner Villain Ball My Greatest Failure Madness Mantra Token Minority Everyone Has Standards Bond Villain Stupidity Fantasy Films Rule of Cool Dirty Coward Sports Stories Advertised Extra Reality Ensues Wounded Gazelle Gambit Big Applesauce The Chick Took a Level in Jerkass Artistic License – History Mind Screw Defrosting Ice Queen Ghost Fiction Neck Lift Big Eater I Need a Freaking Drink Smug Snake Face–Heel Turn The Ace Historical Villain Upgrade Evil Is Petty Coming-of-Age Story Oh, Crap! Daylight Horror Man on Fire Death Glare Hollywood Law One-Man Army Slasher Movie Evil Is Hammy Rewatch Bonus Sadistic Choice Costume Porn Obstructive Bureaucrat Blackmail Evil Plan Spiteful Spit "Shaggy Dog" Story As Himself Hero of Another Story Meaningful Name Non-Indicative Name Covers Always Lie Overly Long Gag Wicked Cultured Say My Name Reality Is Unrealistic Bolivian Army Ending Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Department of Redundancy Department Last-Name Basis The Dog Bites Back Eiffel Tower Effect Adaptation Name Change Ominous Latin Chanting Unreliable Narrator Honor Before Reason Punny Name Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Big Damn Heroes Cloudcuckoolander Curse Cut Short The Smart Guy Tagline The Dragon Dissonant Serenity Determinator aka: The Determinator The Hero Dies Hollywood Darkness Villain Opening Scene Action Genre Hero Antagonist Badass Longcoat Protagonist Title Actor Allusion Worthy Opponent Film Series Soundtrack Dissonance Black Comedy Rape Accidental Misnaming Race Against the Clock Foreshadowing Bowdlerise Those Two Bad Guys Back from the Dead Arc Words Ship Tease Punch-Clock Villain Death of a Child Humans Are Bastards Wrong Genre Savvy Mistaken for Gay The '90s The Chessmaster All There in the Manual The Oner Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Closed Circle Make It Look Like an Accident Lampshade Hanging Unusually Uninteresting Sight Amoral Attorney Implacable Man Cool Shades Bullying a Dragon Instant Death Bullet Chekhov's Gunman Armor-Piercing Question Large Ham Red Shirt Bunny-Ears Lawyer And I Must Scream Deus ex Machina Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Historical Hero Upgrade Credits Gag Bare Your Midriff Cool Old Guy Animal Title Index Dark Reprise Television Movie Index The Lost Lenore Defiant to the End Children Are Innocent Cool Old Lady Irony Chekhov's Skill Aside Glance Red Right Hand Mythology Gag Central Theme Obviously Evil Bound and Gagged Villain Song Setting Update Determinator Together in Death Once More, with Clarity! Double-Meaning Title Faux Affably Evil Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Cool Car Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Camera Abuse Insistent Terminology Idiot Ball Bloody Hilarious Soft Glass Mad Scientist Beard of Evil Evil Laugh Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Rousing Speech Crazy Jealous Guy Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Vampire Fiction Pragmatic Adaptation Canadian Movies Rule of Funny Face Death with Dignity Genre Throwback Sole Survivor 20 Minutes into the Future It's Personal Missing Mom Heel Realization The Great Depression Freudian Excuse Jump Scare French Films Martial Arts Movie Narrator Continuity Nod Adaptation Distillation Affectionate Parody Malevolent Masked Men Bury Your Gays Big Fancy House Stealth Pun Names to Run Away from Really Fast Awesome, but Impractical Developing Doomed Characters The Place Broken Bird Call-Back Hoist by His Own Petard An Axe to Grind Drugs Are Bad Only Sane Man Super Strength Getting Crap Past the Radar Romantic False Lead Framing Device Gory Discretion Shot Butt-Monkey Leitmotif Dark Action Girl Toplessness from the Back Dark and Troubled Past Rape as Drama Get Out! Tranquil Fury Fingore Gorn Your Cheating Heart Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Downer Ending Room Full of Crazy Even Evil Has Loved Ones Shirtless Scene Camp Gay Death Seeker Hypocritical Humor After the End Pretty Little Headshots Age Lift Extreme Doormat Only in It for the Money Badass Grandpa Conspicuous CG Fish out of Water Pragmatic Villainy Becoming the Mask Shown Their Work Artistic License – Biology Pre-Mortem One-Liner Truth in Television Vitriolic Best Buds O.O.C. Is Serious Business Index of Film Westerns Artistic License – Geography Pimped-Out Dress Totally Radical Humiliation Conga Card-Carrying Villain Author Avatar Jerkass Has a Point Re-Cut Heroic Sacrifice Your Head A-Splode Exact Words Fire-Forged Friends Disney Villain Death Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Bottomless Magazines It Can Think Karma Houdini Adaptational Badass "Well Done, Son!" Guy As the Good Book Says... Music Stories Slasher Smile Decoy Protagonist The '60s Hell Is That Noise Real Life Writes the Plot The Stoic Killed Mid-Sentence Shipper on Deck Psycho for Hire Jerk with a Heart of Gold Sacrificial Lion Fatal Flaw Bad "Bad Acting" Earn Your Happy Ending Running Gag Crapsack World Gratuitous English Henpecked Husband Authority Equals Asskicking Well-Intentioned Extremist Genre Shift Dwindling Party My Beloved Smother A Father to His Men Alliterative Name Dirty Old Man Easily Forgiven Foregone Conclusion Gilligan Cut Chase Scene Cassandra Truth Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping The Sociopath Serial Killer Eyepatch of Power Tempting Fate Bloodless Carnage Video Credits Plucky Comic Relief Meet Cute Hypocrite This Is Gonna Suck Straight Gay Annoying Younger Sibling Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies "Awesome McCool" Name Canon Foreigner Mighty Whitey Black Best Friend Not So Above It All Made of Iron May–December Romance Retirony Suspiciously Similar Substitute Market-Based Title Parental Incest Have a Gay Old Time Driven to Suicide Despair Event Horizon Composite Character Retired Badass Biopic Dramedy Spiritual Successor Major Injury Underreaction Cluster F-Bomb Comically Missing the Point For Want of a Nail A Date with Rosie Palms Distracted by the Sexy Big Brother Instinct Never Found the Body Evil Counterpart As You Know