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