Tropescilloscope: Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass

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

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