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