Tropescilloscope: Decoy Protagonist

The story begins with someone who's not the actual protagonist, who will appear later. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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