Tropescilloscope: Historical Hero Upgrade

Fictionalized portrayal of a historical figure as more heroic than their real-life counterpart. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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