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