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