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