Tropescilloscope: The Dragon

The Big Bad's Number Two; often the penultimate challenge that The Hero must face before confronting the Big Bad. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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