Tropescilloscope: Chekhov's Gun

A plot device that isn't significant until later in the story. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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