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