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