Tropescilloscope: The Chessmaster

A character who is exceptionally skilled at manipulating events to their advantage using gambits that rely on subtlety and misdirection (much like in Chess). (read more at tvtropes.org)

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