Tropescilloscope: Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass

An idiot who can become awesome in situations. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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