Tropescilloscope: Guile Hero

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

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