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