Tropescilloscope: Adaptational Heroism

A character is more of a hero in an adaptation than they were in the original material. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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