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)

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