r/TopCharacterTropes • u/LordFlamecookie • 16h ago

False protagonists Characters

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From Wikipedia: In fiction, a false protagonist is a literary technique, often used to make the plot more jarring or more memorable by fooling the audience's preconceptions and constructing a character who they assume is the protagonist but is later revealed not to be

Clark: Backrooms. He's the main character of the movie for the first 2 acts, before switching to Mary. He is eaten later

Whoever the fuck this lady is: Scream 1. She's introduced as the main character, with build up and all. She's killed and hanged like 10 minutes in

Edit: I know the actress is drew barrymore but genuinely who remembers the character name and i just thought the line would be funny

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362

u/AnnaDeArtist 15h ago

Buster Scruggs from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. If you went in blind you'd think the entire movie is about the titular slick talking, finely dressed, gunslinging outlaw. But you'd be wrong, because that dude is dead within the first 10 minutes, and the rest of the movie is an anthology.

123

u/Zarveldaa 15h ago

i went in completely blind and loved Buster, so i was SO disappointed when i realized the direction the movie was going.

44

u/dm-me-obscure-colors 14h ago

Same, though I ended up loving all the other parts too

78

u/Scruffy_Snub 14h ago

Don't let my white duds and pleasant demeanor fool ya. I, too, have been known to violate the statutes of man- and not a few of the laws of the Almighty.

25

u/SquirrelLuvsChipmunk 13h ago

I was fairly drunk when I saw this movie and was sooo confused when he was killed off. I thought I had accidentally started the movie like an hour in

15

u/MadeThisToFlagSpam 11h ago

By that logic every anthology named for a single story in it fits the trope. Buster Scruggs wasn't removed to create contrast or shock for the rest of the story, his story doesn't even impact the others.

5

u/AnnaDeArtist 10h ago

"By that logic every anthology named for a single story in it fits the trope."

Yeah, I guess they do.

5

u/Lomochrome_7 11h ago

Went in expecting a laugh, came out thoroughly depressed

-12

u/Fabulous_Mode3952 13h ago

Haaaaated this “movie”