Tropescilloscope: The Lancer

The Hero's foil and The Leader's trusted companion. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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