Tropescilloscope: Captain Ersatz

A character who is meant to be very similar to one from another series, but just different enough to avoid copyright infringement. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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