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)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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