Tropescilloscope: Chekhov's Gun

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

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