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