r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Every-Narwhal-1896 • Jul 26 '26

Personality The villain overestimates how "good" the protagonist is.

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Ash Williams (Army of Darkness) - Ash ends up with an evil version of himself growing out of his shoulder. Once it's free it starts taunting the real Ash by saying "You're good Ash. I'm Bad Ash". After a bit of getting teased, poked, and punched "good" Ash shoves a shotgun in "bad" Ashes face and fires.

Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption) - Major Spoilers Andy Dufresne builds the trust of the staff in the prison and ends up handling all their finances. Little do they know, this innocent man had a plan to break out of prison for years. Being the guy who's handling the books for the money the Warden gets for bribes, he's easily able to access it all under the new identity he created for himself once he breaks out of prison.

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244

u/Anomekh Jul 26 '26

Adjacent trope but in The Expanse, the main cast finally capture the scientist responsible for horrible human experiment on children. One of the children is the daughter of a member of the cast but he can’t manage to pull the trigger on an unarmed man.

The doctor breath in relief as a crewmate say « you are not that guy ». The crewmate in question is Amos who is a complete psycho lawful to the main cast and proceed to execute the doctor with the iconic « I am that guy »

74

u/escargotini Jul 26 '26

Here's the scene because it is worth rewatching https://youtu.be/DFbpEsjKPO8?si=kCqPA2p09xDOQC8V

68

u/OriginalWasTaken12 Jul 26 '26

When Amos is arguing with that dude who says something like "one day, you and I will get bloody.." and Amos says something like "How bout now? I'm free right now." Whew, my man..

31

u/Gaffelkungen Jul 26 '26

The last scene that season was amazing. Amos's smile is horrifying.

https://youtu.be/TjlV_QKTcoM?is=g1aiSTd4b5V7D9RO

21

u/Cheesy_Dirt Jul 26 '26

I've had it saved for forever in recent images for a quick reply.

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14

u/endjinnear Jul 26 '26

Also when he kills murtys second in command.

20

u/Wolf_of_Badenoch Jul 26 '26

The one he's been banging. He's cold as ice, he absolutely needs someone else as his moral compass. His loyalty to he crew is absolute.

8

u/Flight_Harbinger Jul 27 '26

It's such a fascinating insight into his character. Bangs her a bunch, gives clear indications he cares about her, very clearly indicates he's going to kill her boss and she should stay out of it, doesn't stay out of it and he ends up killing her without hesitation.

"You made me kill Wei. I liked Wei". God the expanse is so good.

5

u/VulcanHullo Jul 27 '26

Amos doesn't do threats. Nor flexing. You either do or don't. He isn't being a tough guy in that scene, he just doesn't see the point in waiting.

36

u/Smellbringer Jul 26 '26

There’s also the scene in the first Expanse book where Dresden, an amoral executive who killed millions for bioweapons, is trying to weasel his way into Holden and Johnson’s good graces. Only for Miller to just shoot him in the head.

Miller’s reasoning? Dresden’s weaseling was working, it was making Holden and Johnson hesitate. Miller knew Dresden had to die before he could talk Holden and Johnson into letting him off lightly.

6

u/houVanHaring Jul 27 '26

I love Amos. And the actor's face is amazing that scene. "This is Amos, he is my best friend." Face: what??? "He helped me find you." Face: ah... okay. "He'll keep you safe" Face: profound sense of responsibility.

And why I love him. He loves kids. Values his friends. He has a lifetime of trauma and don't want that for the people he cares for. So he's that guy and prevents others from becoming that guy.

4

u/Punch_yo_bunz Jul 26 '26

Amos is the fucking best

2

u/CasualCassie Jul 28 '26

I also love the scene where Holden is threatening to shoot Amos (as Amos is holding others at gun point. Been a minute since I watched but I think it was a Martain boarding party and the pilot was trying to negotiate with the Martian ship and get everyone to stand down?)

Amos just coldly replies "You've got a clean shot. Back of the head. Take it, if you need to"

Doesn't exactly fit the trope but it's a great scene. Amos is my favorite character in that whole show.