Tropescilloscope: Guile Hero

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

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