Tropescilloscope: Guile Hero

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

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