Tropescilloscope: The Lancer

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

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