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