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