Tropescilloscope: Establishing Character Moment

Moment during or soon after a character's introduction which illustrates their personality. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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