Tropescilloscope: Chekhov's Skill

A previously noted skill or talent becomes essential to the plot. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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