Tropescilloscope: The Lancer

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

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