Tropescilloscope: Guile Hero

A smart hero who uses wits to gain victory. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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