Tropescilloscope: Chekhov's Skill

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

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