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