Tropescilloscope: Chekhov's Gun

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

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