# "Chekov's Big Guy" - Does a term for this film trope exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chekovs-big-guy-does-a-term-for-this-film-trope-exist/798362 "2017-10-09T07:01:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chekovs-big-guy-does-a-term-for-this-film-trope-exist/798362/1 "2017-10-09T07:01:19Z")
Basically, if any sort of action movie introduces a giant person on the antagonists side, the film has to have the main character fist fight him at some point in the movie in order for it to pay off. I’ve noticed a lot of movies recently do the subversion of this, they introduce a big guy but then have the main character just shoot him which is very unsatisfying. Skyfall had a really big guy who Bond just shoots in the middle of an action sequence. Mission Impossible III had a really tall guy who dies in an explosion. Countdown had Kane from WWE but just has him shoot somebody during an action sequence. It really pisses me off. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chekovs-big-guy-does-a-term-for-this-film-trope-exist/798362/2 "2017-10-09T07:18:43Z")
Some variant of “the Dragon” per TV Tropes. > **[The Dragon - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDragon)** > > The Big Bad needs a Number Two; this would be the Evil Counterpart of that (or The Lancer). He's the main villain's right-hand man, his closest confidant (or something akin to it), frequently acts as his Foil, and may be seen working as the front … ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chekovs-big-guy-does-a-term-for-this-film-trope-exist/798362/3 "2017-10-09T07:54:20Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Some variant of “the Dragon” per TV Tropes. > > [The Dragon - TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDragon) Yes, this, often, but the big guy is only the Dragon if they have some characterisation or serve as [The Heavy](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheHeavy), the rest of the time they’re just [The Brute](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheBrute). The two sets of Brute and Dragon overlap (e.g. Jaws in the Bond films) - but the Dragon doesn’t need to be a Brute, nor the Brute a Dragon. e.g. - in _Hot Fuzz_, Michael (Yarp!) is The Brute, but not The Dragon (that’s Skinner) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chekovs-big-guy-does-a-term-for-this-film-trope-exist/798362/4 "2017-10-09T17:24:51Z")
Sounds like [Chekhov’s Gunman](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChekhovsGunman) narrowed down to a specific type. Chekhov’s Large Caliber Gunman, if you will. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chekovs-big-guy-does-a-term-for-this-film-trope-exist/798362/5 "2017-10-09T19:26:30Z")
I hate the whole cliché. I’m not interested in Good Guy faces increasingly formidable (and increasingly higher ranked) Bad Guys and a final confrontation with the ultimate bad dude at the end. Go make another movie, dammit, we’ve all seen that one to death. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chekovs-big-guy-does-a-term-for-this-film-trope-exist/798362/6 "2017-10-09T19:49:39Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I hate the whole cliché. I’m not interested in Good Guy faces increasingly formidable (and increasingly higher ranked) Bad Guys and a final confrontation with the ultimate bad dude at the end. Go make another movie, dammit, we’ve all seen that one to death. I like when it’s subverted. Like in _Equilibrium_, where the antagonist is built up to be an expert martial artist, and then gets killed in a flash during the final showdown. It also works well in _Scott Pilgrim vs. the World_ as it directly parodies video game bosses. Right down to the penultimate boss being an “evil” pixel swap of your character.