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[[File:chucktropesb.jpg|frame|link=http://www.bscreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/chuck-poster-nbc-sdcc.jpg|Saving the world at $11 an hour. (Uh... hello? It's $12.50!)]]
 
{{quote|''Don't freak out.''.}}
 
''Chuck'' is the story of Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski, an all-around nice guy [[Hollywood Nerd]] who is stuck in a low-end retail job as a member of the [[Bland-Name Product|Nerd Herd at the local Buy More]]. Chuck had his formerly bright future as a Stanford student derailed by his best friend and roommate, Bryce Larkin, who framed Chuck as a cheat and got him expelled -- apparently to steal his girlfriend Jill. One day, Chuck receives a strange email from Bryce. When he opens it, a vast array of nebulous government secrets, called [[Applied Phlebotinum|The Intersect]], gets downloaded into his unsuspecting brain, turning him into a walking [[Magical Database]].
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The various government agencies who contributed to this cache of government secrets are none too happy to have them stuck in Chuck's head, particularly since Bryce destroyed the original database, and at the same time sending the whole thing to Chuck. The agencies dispatch two agents to deal with the hapless Mr. Bartowski: the super-sexy CIA agent Sarah Walker (Bryce's former partner and erstwhile lover), and the borderline psycho NSA man, John Casey. Fortunately for Chuck, the agencies decide that Chuck may be more useful to them alive than dead, and they allow him to keep his normal life (more or less) -- with the addition of Sarah and Casey as bodyguards/handlers/minders.
 
Chuck suffers from frequent flashes where he spots something or someone that seems innocuous at first, but the Intersect stuffed into his head [[My Significance Sense Is Tingling|identifies the object or person as Very Important]]. Chuck and his minders must find a way to act on Chuck's information, all the while keeping Chuck's family and friends in the dark about his special abilities and new status as government agent/prisoner. Among these friends and family members are his loving and protective big sister Ellie and her Significant Other, Devon (jokingly nicknamed "Captain Awesome"), his best friend Morgan, and Chuck's underlings in the Nerd Herd at the Buy More.
 
Primarily a [[Spy Drama]] spoof, ''Chuck'''s appeal comes from a mix of sharp writing, well-realized characters with surprisingly genuine emotional lives, and a strong cast including Zachary Levi as Chuck, Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah, and the inimitable [[Adam Baldwin]] as John Casey. (And Yvonne Strahovski being good-looking. ''[[Ms. Fanservice|Really good looking.]]'') Much of the comedy comes from Chuck's [[Fish Out of Water]] nature in the spy world (even the cartoon version of it presented in the show) combined with the contrast between his life as a [[Part-Time Hero]] and the normal one he tries to maintain with his sister and in his job at the Buy More.
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** Captain Awesome provides a nice parallel version of this in Chuck's non-spy life. Ironically, when he was introduced into Chuck's spy life, he turned out to be terrible at it.
** In some ways, Chuck himself is [[The Ace]] among the Buy-More crew: the clever, respected, and responsible ostensible-peon who in fact [[Almighty Janitor|runs the place]].
** After {{spoiler|Bryce dies in the seasonSeason 2 finale}}, we have Daniel Shaw. Not quite a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]], but definitely replacing Bryce. {{spoiler|Especially once he appears to be paired with Sarah}}.
** By seasonSeason 4, this trope has pretty much been subverted as Chuck has become a much more capable spy. He's even done well for himself in periods where the Intersect can't be relied on. Even then, though, this is played with with the introduction of {{spoiler|the Intersected Gretas--technically more competent but unable to think outside the box the way Chuck can}}.
*** In "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips" , {{spoiler|[[Brought Down to Normal|Intersect-less]]}} Chuck is shown to be an even match for {{spoiler|Morgan}} using an Intersect in hand to hand combat. Similarly, in "Chuck Versus the Santa Suit", Chuck was able to hold his own against {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw}}.
** Anna initially felt like this toward Ellie.
** Sarah spends most of "Chuck Versus the Fat Lady" getting overshadowed by Jill.
** Gertrude Verbanski and her company seems to be this for Carmichael Industries, the freelance spy service that Chuck and Sarah founded in seasonSeason 5.
* [[Action Girl]]: Sarah, plus many of the guest-star female spies/terrorists who pop up regularly.
* [[Action Girlfriend]]: The relationship dynamic between Chuck and Sarah.
** Until, of course, Chuck [[Took a Level In Badass|learns kung fu]].
* [[Action Mom]]: {{spoiler|Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Bartowski!}}!
* [[Action Survivor]]: Chuck, {{spoiler|until he learned Kung Fu at the end of seasonSeason 2!}}!
{{quote|'''Stephen''': (''to Ellie'') Your brother... does have a knack for getting into trouble.}}
* [[Affably Evil]]:
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** Ted Roark is an extreme example.
{{quote|'''Roark''': (''with shotgun aimed at Chuck'') A real shotgun wedding. Just think, that terrible pun is the last thing you'll ever hear.}}
*** FULCRUM agents seem to have this as a hat. Case in point: {{spoiler|Inin "Chuck Versus Thethe Suburbs,", every agent living in the neighborhood behaves like this, even once their cover is dropped.}}.
** Alexei Volkoff, one particularly notable example being at {{spoiler|Chuck's Thanksgiving dinner.}}.
* [[The Alcoholic]]: Jeff.
* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Chuck is ostensibly just another member of the Nerd Herd and not any kind of manager or supervisor at the Buy More. However, due to the manager's laziness and the fact that everyone looks up to Chuck as the leader, he pretty much runs the place. ''Especially'' now that {{spoiler|Morgan is the <s>assistant</s> manager}}. Even more so at the end of seasonSeason 4 when {{spoiler|Chuck has bought the store with Volkoff's money}}.
* [[Almost Kiss]]: Chuck and Sarah, a lot. {{spoiler|Even after they finally got together.}}.
* [[Always a Bigger Fish]]: Turns out FULCRUM is just one part of The Ring's larger operations. Can you say "[[Nebulous Evil Organization|Nebulous Evil]]"?
** Tuned up to eleven at the seasonSeason 4 finale when {{spoiler|it is hinted that everything they've done for the past four years has been manipulated by some bigger organization.}}.
* [[Amazon Brigade]]: Sarah's old CIA team, the CAT Squad, consisting of Sarah, Carina, Amy, and Zondra.
* [[Anti-Villain]]: {{spoiler|Vivian Volkoff}}, maybe...
* [[Arc Welding]]: And HOW.
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* [[Badass Crew]]: Sarah, Casey, and of course, Chuck.
* [[Badass Family]]:
** The Bartowskis. Chuck's spy work outshines trained professionals, Ellie {{spoiler|is rapidly becoming a [[Badass Normal]]}}, and Stephen {{spoiler|was on the run from the government for ten years}}, while Mary {{spoiler|has been in deep cover for twenty}}.
** Also, {{spoiler|the Volkoff family, including his daughter and mother}}.
* [[Badass Unintentional]]: Chuck, capably demonstrated by The Morgan.
* [[Battle Couple]]: And how.
* [[The Beard]]: For the first three seasons, Chuck and Sarah pretended to be boyfriend and girlfriend, which is complicated by them being [[Just Friends]], to each other (one of them more convincingly than the other). They have feelings that they're hiding from each other, while simultaneously faking a relationship for the outside world. Lampshaded in "Chuck Versus the Beard"," by {{spoiler|Morgan, which makes it particularly funny}}. During the third season, {{spoiler|the pretend relationship became real}}, and in the fourth season , {{spoiler|[[Squee|Chuck proposed and they became engaged and then married]]}}.
* [[Becoming the Mask]]: Agent X, in a name-checked example. Chuck also counts, having become more and more like his super-spy alter ego Charles Carmichael as the series has progressed.
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]:
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** Casey and Gertrude.
* [[Berserk Button]]:
** After the new Intersect is installed in his head, Sarah is clearly Chuck's. It is important to note that Chuck has a bit of [[Power Incontinence]], though: he has trouble flashing if he is under emotional duress. So, Sarah can be a bit of a [[Power Limiter]] at times as well. Of course, there are exceptions: {{spoiler|as Shaw's fate proves,}}, if you're about to kill Sarah, Chuck won't bother trying to flash if he's got a gun. He'll just kill you. Note that this is pretty much the only situation in which he would kill.
** The same goes for Sarah when Chuck is in mortal danger as well:
*** In "Chuck Versus the First Date,", when it looks as though Chuck has been dropped off a high building by [[Scary Black Man|Michael]] [[The Big Guy|Clarke]] [[Rule of Three|Duncan]], Sarah goes into [[Unstoppable Rage|rage mode]] in attempt to avenge her lost love and manages to hold her own for a bit.
*** As well, in {{spoiler|"Chuck Versus Santa Claus"}}, when a [[Nebulous Evil Organisation|FULCRUM]] agent tells her that her reluctance to kill him in cold blood (we've only seen her shoot people in combat at this point) will ensure that all of FULCRUM knows Chuck's secret, Sarah pulls the trigger with little hesitation {{spoiler|not knowing that Chuck saw her. Chuck freaked out watching Sarah actually kill someone.}}.
*** Sarah [[Roaring Rampage of Rescue|went totally off the reservation]] while trying to find a kidnapped Chuck in "Chuck Versus Phase Three,", even going so far as to threaten a diplomat with death by lethal injection if he didn't tell her where his employer was keeping Chuck.
** Casey has several, notably {{spoiler|insinuating that he likes Chuck (at least at the start of seasonSeason 2).}}.
** By the start of seasonSeason 4, Casey {{spoiler|has grown fond enough of Chuck that when it appears that he's just been killed, he tells the man who made the order that he's "going to rip [him] limb from limb... from limb."}}.
*** Casey also gets pissed when his friends and family, {{spoiler|especially his daughter Alex,}} are threatened. Look no further than in "Chuck Versus the Business Trip" for proof.
** Do ''not'' mess with the Buy More around Big Mike.
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** Chuck and Bryce/Cole/Shaw are male examples.
* [[Beauty, Brains, and Brawn]]:
** Chuck frequently carries the [[Idiot Ball]], but he also has a government intelligence database in his head; Sarah is frickin' Yvonne [[Fan Nickname|Strahotski]], and Casey is, [[Badass|well]], [[Adam Baldwin]]. Of course, being TV spies, the relative Beauty/Brains/Brawn quotients of [[Action Girl|Sarah]] and [[Even the Guys Want Him|Casey]] are all well above average. To be fair, Casey and Sarah also happen to be well trained spies who know a lot about technology, politics, and espionage. And since Chuck {{spoiler|[[Took a Level In Badass]] at the end of seasonSeason twoTwo}}, the whole dynamic is completely screwed to hell. [[Beauty, Brains, and Brawn]] may be the specialty of Sarah, Chuck and Casey, but they're not [[Crippling Overspecialization|overspecialized]] to the detriment of everything else.
* [[Big Bad]]: None present in Season One, but sub-sequent seasons have had them:
** Season Two: Ted Roark.
** Season Three: {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw}}.
** Season Four: Alexei Volkoff.
*** And later, {{spoiler|Vivian Volkoff.}}.
** Season Five: Clyde Decker, his boss {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw}}, and finally Nicholas Quinn.
* [[The Big Board]]:
** It's revealed in "Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon" that {{spoiler|Chuck has one hidden on the back of his ''[[Tron]]'' poster.}}.
** There's also the tactical plan he and Morgan made in "Chuck Versus the Push Mix".
** Also {{spoiler|Jeff's}} big board in "Chuck Versus the Kept Man".
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Really, just about every time Casey saves Chuck and Sarah. Which is roughly [[Once an Episode]]. More listed in the individual episodes section below.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|1=Quinn has been killed, but Chuck needs to reuploadre-upload the Intersect to disarm a bomb at the cost of potentially being able to use it to restore Sarah's memories; Team Bartowski/Carmichael Industries disbands, but Beckman leaves the door open for them to return to the CIA; Subway purchases the Buy More; Alex and Morgan move in together; Devon and Ellie take new jobs in Chicago; Jeffster! [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|is signed by a German Record Executive]], and Casey leaves to take up Verbanski's offer; Sarah still has no memories of the last 5 years, but Chuck promises to stay with her and it's implied that her memories may return in time.}}.
* [[Bland-Name Product]]: The Buy More is an obvious stand in for Best Buy, including a price tag shaped logo and the Nerd Herd replacing the Geek Squad, complete with shirt/tie/pocket protector uniform replacing the single color polo of a normal employee.
** Orange Orange's logo's font is nearly identical to Orange Julius.
* [[Blessed with Suck]]: The Intersect really messes with Chuck's life, with little personal benefit. He and everyone around him is in constant danger (even his handlers might "disappear" him), leaving him in fear and anxiety. He's seen others get tortured, shot and/or killed by people hunting for him. He's forced to lie to and disappoint his friends and family, he has no privacy at all, and he has no shot at a real romantic relationship while he remains cursed. Spy business and Chuck's potential to carry the Curse led to betrayal or abandonment by at least {{spoiler|his father (after his mother had already left), his girlfriend and his friend, who got him kicked out of Stanford, which is what put his life on hold in the first place}}. He does get a few fringe benefits from his undercover work, though, such as finally getting his degree, and getting to hang out with Sarah Walker. At the end of seasonSeason 2 , {{spoiler|the curse gets a little more awesome when the Intersect 2.0 gives him enough kung fu skills to disarm four armed combatants, some of them across the room, and who knows what other powers.}}, but also needs to be constantly controlled or he'll lose his mind.
** In the fifth season, {{spoiler|the Intersect really wreaks havoc on Chuck's life, but this time with his closest friend Morgan and loving wife Sarah in the crosshairscross-hairs. With both Morgan and Sarah, the Intersect<ref>Or, in this case, a tainted variation...</ref> nearly destroyed their minds<ref>Though with Sarah, it's far worse, as she lost all memories of the past five years or so.</ref>.}}.
* [[Blipvert]]: How the audience sees Chuck using the Intersect to flash on something or someone significant.
* [[Bodyguard Crush]]: Chuck has a crush on Sarah, who <s>might be</s> is also interested in him.
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*** The pilot ends with Sarah finding Chuck sat on a beach uncertain of his future, and asking him to trust her; the final episode has the exact same spot on the beach, but with Chuck and Sarah's roles reversed.
*** Finally, instead of using "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" in the final episode, the title sequence is replaced with the original Chuck title card (his name sliding in from the left and out the right). The same title card gets used after the fade to black.
* [[Brought Down to Normal]]: {{spoiler|After Chuck gets hit with the suppression flash in "Chuck Versus the First Fight,", he spends at least a month trying to reactivate the Intersect, including getting a trainer that forces him in extremely dangerous situations.}}. [[Don't Be a Hero|This does not end well for him.]]
** Not to worry, {{spoiler|Orion left a with a reactivation flash. Chuck knows kung fu... again.}}.
** Done again in {{spoiler|the seasonSeason fourFour finale. During his attempt to save Sarah, he makes enemies with the CIA and they remove it. This time he isn't as lucky and Morgan got it instead.}}. Fortunately, at this point, Chuck's regular spy training means he was brought down to [[Badass Normal]] instead of his old level of normal.
* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Chuck is turning into a spy version of this. He is geeky, overly talkative, naïve, and even a [[Technical Pacifist]], all of which are very bad for a spy, or at least are very bizarre. Good thing he also has encyclopedic knowledge of the spy business and access to almost every trainable skill that he could ever need.
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Morgan. Before he {{spoiler|found out Chuck was a spy, he had to be kept away from all the spy stuff}}, and every time the easiest way to do that just happened to result in humiliating him. His ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend is involved with the Triad? To keep the Triad from killing him, Chuck tells them he's a stalker. Chuck drugs him to keep him out of a fight? Morgan assume he fainted in fear and Chuck lets him think that. During and after he {{spoiler|found out Chuck was a spy, he's trying to get involved and help out, which he is totally unqualified for}}, so if he merely gets yelled at and treated like a buffoon he's lucky. "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners" had Morgan get shot down when trying to hit on someone {{spoiler|who turned out to be an assassin}}, need to be pushed into a train because he's carrying too much junk, gets used for [[Grievous Harm with a Body]] by Casey, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|yelled at by the general]].
* [[Captain Obvious]]
** "Chuck Versus the Helicopter":
{{quote|'''Chuck:''' Casey, he's got Sarah. We've got to save her.
'''Casey:''' Brilliant deduction, Nancy Drew. }}
** "Chuck Versus the Predator":
{{quote|'''Chuck:''' Oh, oh, oh, you're- you're not dead.}}
** "Chuck Versus the Three Words":
{{quote|'''Chuck:''' Well, we've got to get it before it falls into enemy hands.
'''Carina:''' Thanks for being on the case, Nancy Drew. }}
* [[Catch Phrase|CatchPhrases]]:
** "Don't freak out,", and more frequently, some variant of "Chuck, stay in the car." The latter is also a [[Running Gag]] because he never does.
*** On one occasion, he did stay in the car, and the car turned out to be the worst place he could have been.
*** He [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this at the beginning of "Chuck Versus the First Date", when, upon being asked why he didn't stay in the car, he shouts "You know what? It's never safe in the car!"
*** Hasn't been used since Season 3, {{spoiler|now that the Intersect 2.0 has made Chuck a competent spy}}, but invoked when Ellie orders Chuck ''out'' of the car in "Chuck Versus the Ring,: Part II.".
** The phrase "It's complicated" is also used frequently, especially when talking about Sarah and Chuck's relationship. Used less frequently now that their relationship is now less complicated.
** Sarah telling Chuck that "You can have everything you've always wanted."
** Also, Devon's "Awesome!" (Hencehence the nickname.).
** Casey: his grunts, "moron!" and "Bartowski" - sometimes in the same sentence
** "I know kung fu," referring to the Intersect 2.0.
** "Come on, flash!" Chuck, attempting to focus his flashing capabilities. Mostly used in seasonSeason 3, and a little in seasonSeason 4.
* [[Celebrity Paradox]]: The [[James Bond]] franchise as well as shows like ''[[The OC]]'' and ''[[Smallville]]'' all exist in the Chuck universe yet they never notice the likes of Rachel Bilson, Kristin Kreuk and Timothy Dalton walking amongst them.
** Perhaps the biggest: Chuck & Morgan are huge ''[[Star Wars]]'' fans &and Casey's familiar enough with the series to {{spoiler|torture Morgan by having him watch ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' first &and then spoiling that Vader's the father of Luke &and Leia}}, but none of them notice that they're stealing a vase from Luke freakin' Skywalker at the start of seasonSeason 5.
** You can't learn anything about being a spy from [[Spies Like Us|Chevy Chase]], even if he was Roark.
* [[Celebrity Power]]: {{spoiler|[[Stan Lee]] and [[Bo Derek]]}} are spies.
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* [[Character Development]]:
** Chuck definitely becomes more competent over time and is much less cowed by Sarah and Casey than he was originally.
** Morgan is also being dragged kicking and screaming down this path, mostly at the urging of Awesome. Arguably, he's the one with the most character development. {{spoiler|He is also slowly becoming a competent member of Team Bartowski, starting from "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners".}}.
** Sarah becoming less emotionally repressed and being more receptive and open about her feelings regarding Chuck.
** Of course, there's Casey being less antagonistic towards Chuck and even sticking up for him and Sarah, as well as his hard-ass facade being gradually giving way at times.
* [[Chekhov MIA]]: Stephen Bartowski {{spoiler|as well as Mary Elizabeth Bartowski.}}.
* [[Chekhov's Armoury]]: This show averages at least one [[Chekhov's Gun]] per episode, sometimes more. Many of them first appear in the Buy More-related subplot. It also relies on season-spanning [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's Guns]]. If one were so inclined, the list could be longer than the [[Shout-Out]] entry.
* [[Chekhov's Gunman|Chekhov's Assault Squad]]: See [[Big Damn Heroes]] above.
* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Pretty much requisite of the one-shot characters. Most notably, though:
** Armand Assante, as the leader of [[Banana Republic|Costa Gravas]].
** [[Timothy Dalton]], as Alexei Volkoff.
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: See section [[Put on a Bus]] below, especially concerning Anna Wu.
* [[City of Adventure]]: A ''staggering'' number of terrorist plots focus on or are based in the greater Los Angeles area, or just have leaders who have vacation homes or functions to attend there. And by the end of the second season, it becomes apparent that at least some spy activity is taking place there because that's where the Intersect is.
* [[Cloak and Dagger]]: The Good Guy agencies are nominally the CIA and the NSA, though they bear little resemblance to their real-world counterparts. The Bad Guy organizations, FULCRUM, {{spoiler|The Ring}}, and Volkoff Industries seem largely made up of rogue espionage agents.
* [[Colonel Badass]]: Casey as of the episode "Chuck Versus the Colonel".
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]:
** Agents of FULCRUM and The Ring predominantly wear black and other dark shades. In Burbank, California. No one finds this conspicuous, despite most of the enforcers being over six feet tall and weighing in excess of 240 pounds. Subverted in that Sarah and Casey often wear black also, when doing combat/reconnaissance ops, but hardly ever when in public and needing to be undercover.
** Played straight in the "Chuck Versus the Ring,: Part II"," as Chuck is wearing a white shirt, and {{spoiler|Shaw}} is wearing a black shirt.
** Similarly any electronics used by the bad guys will be in their standard colors (FULCRUM Red and Ring Green). Even {{spoiler|Chuck's FULCRUM intersect}} shows up in red.
* [[The Comically Serious]]: Casey. General Beckman can also be amusing on account of her humorlessness.
* [[Commuting on a Bus]]: Beckman in seasonSeason 5.
* [[Consummate Liar]]:
** In "Chuck Versus the Truth", under the influence of poisonous [[Truth Serum]], Sarah claims to have no feelings for Chuck. {{spoiler|He doesn't know she can resist truth serum, so he believes her.}}.
** In "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler", {{spoiler|Captain Awesome}} is stunned with how easily Chuck can lie to Ellie.
* [[Cool Big Sis]]: Ellie.
* [[Crazy Enough to Work]]: Chuck and the team have saved the day in ways so outrageous, they'd almost be more at home in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''.
* [[Cryptic Background Reference]]: References to the Bartowski parents early in the series. Until the end of the first season, all we know about them is that the mom had left while the dad was perhaps mentally ill ( {{spoiler|actually [[Properly Paranoid]]}}) before he too left.
* [[Cut Short]]: Averted, and this will take a while. Season 1 was initially ordered for 13 episodes, and 9 more episodes were ordered but unmade due to the Writers Strike; NBC ordered a second season (Withwith 22 episodes off the bat), which ended on a major cliffhanger that appeared to be going unresolved until a last minute renewal spurred by the campaigns of the passionate fanbase. Seasons 3 &and 4 were initially ordered as 13 episodes, but after seeing the quality of what was being filmed, NBC ordered more episodes (6 in Season 3, 11 in Season 4) after the intended finale (Whichwhich had been written as a potential [[Grand Finale]]) begun production. Towards the end of each season, fan campaigns started up again &and NBC anouncedannounced the renewal before the season finale had aired, which ended on a cliff hanger. After the anouncementannouncement of the fifth season, again lasting 13 episodes, it was quickly revealed that it was also going to be the final season, finally averting this trope.
* [[Deadly Delivery]]: Shows up at least once, when a courier picking up a package decides to also kill the guy he's getting it from.
* [[Death of the Hypotenuse]]: {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw, in the third season. Was there really any other way that was going to play out, though?}}?
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: "We will not stop, and we can not stop, and we will not... stop."
* [[Depraved Bisexual]]: Jeff has some serious leanings towards this. He's ultra-lecherous, a "world class stalker" and the stuff he says while he and Lester are following Shaw is especially creepy.
* [[Designated Girl Fight]]: A general, handy guide to how the final fight will play out in each episode:
{{quote|''Does the terrorist of the week have a penis?'' He will be defeated through some combination of Sarah, Chuck, and/or Casey.
''Does the terrorist have a vagina?'' She will engage in, and ultimately lose, a physical fight to Sarah. Both will be in skimpy, possibly wet clothing. [[Panty Shot|And do lots of flips]]. }}
** Not that this is a hard-and-fast rule; {{spoiler|"Chuck Versus Operation Awesome" features a female agent who is simply shot dead.}}.
* [[Different in Every Episode]]: The wall of TVs at the Buy More tend to display images relevant to the episode. For example in "Chuck Versus Thethe Fat Lady", the TVs show ''[[What's Opera, Doc?]]''.
* [[Dirty Communists]]:
** Premier Goya was this before he turned Costa Gravas into a democracy; Casey still refers to him as one.
** Volkoff Industries' logo is red with a fist holding a hammer. Also, the passphrasepass-phrase to Volkoff's Hydra computer network is a (fictional) quote from Joseph Stalin.
* [[Disappeared Dad]]: Stephen Bartowski, played by the awesome Scott Bakula, tried to take care of his son and daughter after his wife disappeared but ended up vanishing himself for years on end. This might also be a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Quantum Leap]]'', the show for which Scott is most widely known, as the father of his character in that show was this trope, too.
* [[Disney Death]]: {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw. [[Unexplained Recovery|He got better.]]}}.
* [[Dramedy]]
* [[Drive-In Theater]]: FULCRUM uses an old one as their base.
* [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]: {{spoiler|Emmett in "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip".}}.
* [[Drop What You Are Doing]]: All the time. Chuck drops the phone when he notices Sarah for the first time, drops Morgan's grape soda {{spoiler|when Carina shows up in a ski mask to take a diamond}}, drops {{spoiler|1=the FedEx package with the same diamond in it when Casey suddenly slams a goon}}, drops his wallet when Harry Tang startles him, drops his phone again when {{spoiler|scary Mr. Bennett}} surprises him, drops a bottle of champagne when he sees Sarah dancing very affectionately with Bryce, drops a bottle of beer when Jenny McCarthy's character tries to seduce him, and drops his keys when Sarah walks into the living room in lingerie. In the Pineapple Incident, shortly after Morgan drops a box on Jeff's head, Big Mike drops his Danish to make a dash to keep people from leaving the store, and in a later episode he drops his tackle box when he receives word of a security breach at the Buy More.
* [[Dude in Distress]]: Chuck, very often.
* [[Embarrassing Cover Up]]
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** Also, Chuck covering for Awesome by claiming Casey had been arrested for getting drunk and publicly urinating and exposing himself.
*** This manages to be a [[Brick Joke]] in later episodes.
* [[Enter Stage Window]]: Affectionately referred to as the "Morgan Door.".
* [[Everyone Can See It]]: Chuck and Sarah, of course.
{{quote|'''Jeff:''' Don't you get it? [[Romantic False Lead|None of them matter]]. Chuck may try to replace her, but when he's with Sarah, the light in his eyes shines brightly.}}
* [[Evil Counterpart]]:
** Chuck has {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw}} as of the end of seasonSeason 3.
*** {{spoiler|Shaw}} is also Sarah's EC in that they both hid their intense romantic passions behind a facade of professionalism.
** You could also argue that, while not explicitly evil, Lester is definitely a bitter, sleazy mirror to Chuck in his civilian life.
*** Emmett Milbarge is a dark reflection of Chuck if he never leaves the Buy More.
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** A couple from specific episodes below.
* [[Expy]]:
** Most of the more competent non-main character spies have at least some measure of Bond in them (the rest by and large trend toward ''MiB'' [[Shout-Out|Shout-outs]]):
*** Cole Barker is Daniel Craig's Bond;.
*** Roan Montgomery is Sean Connery's Bond;.
*** Bryce is Brosnan's bond;.
*** And even Charles Carmichael seems to be based on Roger Moore's Bond (though when he does his Bond impression, it's using Connery's accent).
*** And [[Timothy Dalton]] plays a Bond Villain.
** Casey's old team is an evil version of ''[[The A-Team]]''.
** In "Chuck Versus the CATCat Squad", the all-female CAT Squad, Sarah's old team, is obviously based on ''[[Charlie's Angels]]''.
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw}}.
* [[Fictional Counterpart]]:
** Buy More is a stand-in for Best Buy, and instead of a Geek Squad, they have a Nerd Herd.
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* [[First Episode Spoiler]]: It's fairly difficult to describe the series without divulging the contents of that e-mail that Bryce sends to Chuck.
* [[Five-Man Band]]: Team Bartowski, eventually.
** [[The Hero]]: Chuck (Alsoalso [[The Smart Guy]]).
** [[The Lancer]]: Sarah.
** [[The Big Guy]]: Casey.
** [[The Medic]]: {{spoiler|Devon (Captain Awesome), Ellie}}.
** [[The Chick]]: {{spoiler|Morgan}}.
** [[Sixth Ranger]]: Bryce Larkin<ref>Whilst he died when it was still a [[Power Trio]], he fits this role to a tee.</ref>, Frost.
** [[Sixth Ranger Traitor]]: {{spoiler|Daniel Shaw}}.
** [[Eleventh-Hour Ranger]]: {{spoiler|Jeff and Lester}}.
** [[Mission Control]]: General Beckman, Director Graham.
* [[Five-Token Band]]: The Buy More lot. [[Perky Goth|Anna Wu]] is a token twofer being Asian, and a [[Bi the Way|bisexual]], [[Bollywood Nerd|Lester]] also a twofer (Jewish-Indian), [[Bald Black Leader Guy|Big Mike]], [[Token Minority|Morgan]], and.... [[The Last of These Is Not Like the Others|Jeff]]. Lampshaded by Big Mike when he said he couldn't fire Morgan because he was the Buy More's token Hispanic.
* [[Foot Focus]]: Sarah in "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler" (waking up Manoosh), "Chuck Versus the Tooth" (while she and Chuck are watching TV), and "Chuck Versus the Anniversary" (while Sarah is reaching for her dropped phone), and again in "Chuck Versus Sarah" (while the two of them are in bed together.; Thisthis time it's actually a plot point).
* [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]: Sarah's old team, "The CAT Squad": Sarah (Melancholic), Carina (Phlegmatic), Amy (Sanguine) and Zondra (Choleric). Remember, Zondra is the "bitch" and Carina is the "mellow" one.
* [[Freudian Excuse]]: {{spoiler|One is used to motivate Shaw's [[Face Heel Turn]]. It turns out that Sarah is the one who killed his wife while [[Just Following Orders]].}}.
* [[Freudian Trio]]: Chuck = ID, Sarah = Ego, Casey = Super Ego.
* [[Friend to All Children]]: Chuck is shown to be really good with kid customers at the Buy More, and the pilot has him help tape a young girl dancing ballet in front of the video wall for her mother, after her father failed to tape the actual recital.
** [[Cloudcuckoolander|Volkoff]] claims to be one.
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* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: The writing team includes Phil Klemmer and John Enbom, arguably the kings of this trope judging by their time on [[Veronica Mars]]. Although they have fewer opportunities to take [[Refuge in Audacity]] than they did on UPN/the CW, they get in a few good zingers:
{{quote|'''Big Mike:''' Well, there hasn't been a man around in a long time, so the plumbing's gone bad. I gotta get in there and I gotta snake the drains, I gotta lay down some pipe...
'''Casey:''' Well Chuck me... }}
** [[Two Words]], ''WIENER-LICIOUS''.
** Operation [[Fun with Acronyms|Toes In The Sand]]. There's even a binder with the acronym prominently displayed on the cover.
* [[Girlish Pigtails]]: Sarah for her undercover job in seasonSeason 1.
* [[Go-To Alias]]:
** Chuck introduced the idea of Charles Carmichael ([[Marty Stu|the successful version of himself]]) in the third episode, "Chuck Versus the Tango". Over the course of seasonSeason 2 it becomes so associated with him that it ends up as one of his operating aliases. In one episode, people are congratulating him as both "Bartowski" and "Carmichael" as he walks through a crowd.
** Further down the line, {{spoiler|Morgan}} decides to take up the alias "Michael Carmichael,", Charles's brother.
* [[Green Lantern Ring]]: The Intersect 2.0. Abilities Chuck has used so far include: kung fu, judo, parkour, gymnastics, zip-lining with a belt, boxing, bomb defusion, flamenco guitar, dancing through laser tripwires, ballroom dancing, speaking Thai, French and Japanese, [[Improbable Aiming Skills]] with pen, tranquilizer gun and nacho platter, bullet dodging, field medicine, fencing, staff-fighting, and using nunchucks {{spoiler|(though he never used them in combat, the Intersect did teach him how!)}}.
* [[Guile Hero]]: Chuck, both before and after he [[Took a Level In Badass]] at the end of Season 2:
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** Mary, though it's more that our perception keeps changing.
* [[Happily Married]]: Devon and Ellie. {{spoiler|Later, Chuck and Sarah}}.
* [[Hero Antagonist]] / [[Villain Protagonist]]: John Casey really blurs the lines on these two. He's always on America's side, but it takes a while before he's on ''Chuck's'' side. He protects Chuck while threatening him with injury. He's a patriot who will serve his country... even if that means killing Chuck.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Chuck suffers this after {{spoiler|Shaw murders his father.}}.
** This is somewhat of a literal Blue Screen of Death as it stops the Intersect from working.
* [[Heroic Safe Mode]]
* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]:
** Chuck and Morgan with the latter often interfering in Chuck's other relationships. (Morgan actually uses the phrase "life partners" in "Chuck Versus the Marlin.").
** Jeff and Lester.
* [[Hidden Depths]]: Jeff, surprisingly enough. While [[It Makes Sense in Context|discussing Chuck's love life with Lester and Big Mike]], Jeff points out that "Chuck may try to replace her, but when he's with Sarah, the light in his eyes shines brightly", and there's also his [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|video/photo montage]] {{spoiler|of Chuck and Sarah, made for their rehearsal dinner}}. Played with hilariously in the final season when it's revealed that Jeff is actually highly intelligent. He acted the way that he did in earlier seasons because he's been sleeping in his van with the engine on for years.
* [[Hide Your Pregnancy]]: Sarah Lancaster's real life pregnancy was hidden in seasonSeason fourFour. Ironically, the pregnancy was announced a day after her character, Ellie, gave birth to her first child, Clara.
* [[High Altitude Interrogation]]: Chuck is frequently a victim of this.
* [[Hollywood Nerd]]:
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* [[Hot Amazon]]: Sarah. Particularly in "Chuck Versus Phase Three", where she is described as a "giant blonde [[No Guy Wants an Amazon|shemale]]" rampaging across Thailand.
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: "Chuck Versus the Angel de la Muerte" features Chuck reminding Awesome to take things seriously and focus on the mission, not to be a hero, not to touch anything in their secret base... basically, everything that Chuck himself had to be constantly told not to do.
* [[I Banged Your Mom]]: Big Mike hooks up with Morgan's mom in Season 2. Morgan does not take it well. ''At first''. By the end of the season, Morgan's accepted their relationship. By the start of seasonSeason 4, the two have formed a father-son relationship, with Big Mike expressing pride in Morgan {{spoiler|being made the manager of the new Buy More}} and Morgan giving Big Mike his blessing to propose to his mother.
* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: Episodes are titled "Chuck Versus [X]". "X" is often a geeky shout out ("Chuck Versus the Wookiee," "Chuck Versus the Sandworm"). It's always something that's in the episode, even if it occasionally has [[Chekhov's Gun|little]] to do with the main plot (such as in "Chuck Versus the DeLorean") but sometimes is (such as "Chuck Versus [[Rush|Tom Sawyer]],", where {{spoiler|listening to Rush saves the world.}}).
* [[Idiot Ball]]:
** Chuck grasps this firmly in "Chuck Versus the Beefcake" when he {{spoiler|tries to hack a FULCRUM data chip at the Buy More front desk when Sarah and Casey are half the city away trying to nab a FULCRUM agent. Needless to say, it goes poorly.}}.
** He clings to it really hard in "Chuck Versus the Colonel" when he {{spoiler|goes off to try and stop the bad guy from creating an army of Intersects even though he has no plan, weapon, or backup, and even though ''he knows there's about to be an air strike on the site anyway''.}}.
*** He wasn't going in {{spoiler|despite the air strike}}; he went in in part ''because'' of it. He wouldn't have had a reason to go if {{spoiler|his father wasn't being held there, forced to work for the bad guy}}, and he might have been more careful if there was more time to plan.
** General Beckman clings to a massive one in "Chuck Versus the Other Guy", when she keeps Shaw and Sarah on the same team after {{spoiler|she finds out that Sarah killed Shaw's wife for her red test. To paraphrase: Beckman: "I'm disbanding the team because Sarah assassinated your wife." Shaw: "Oh, no need for that. I'm totally cool with it. No need for a full psychological evaluation or anything. You can totally just take my word for it and have me go on a mission with Sarah by ourselves where she'll be totally at my mercy." Beckman: "Well gee, if you say so Shaw. You're such a professional, and not a psycho timebombtime-bomb waiting to go off or anything. Chuck, you should be more like Shaw. Well, have fun!" }}
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: Chuck spends most of the first two seasons doing this {{spoiler|and then, after finally becoming normal again, drastically abandons it}}.
* [[I Just Want to Be Special]]: He occasionally considers that the next best thing to being given back his old life would be to become a Real Spy™ rather than a perpetual "asset".
* [[I'll Kill You!]]
* [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]]: Most of the mooks are terrible shots, even at very close range with multiple pistols or sub machine guns:
** In "Chuck Versus the Marlin,", [[The Mole]] manages to shoot a [[Red Shirt]], then not hit Sarah and Chuck despite them having no cover for the best part of 10 meters, while only being about 10 meters away from them. On a helipad.
** Another example in "Chuck Versus the Masquerade": the mooks are all over the woods with their guns, and Casey is stuck behind a log protecting Sarah. Casey easily picks off the mooks one by one while he never gets hit by the mooks.
* [[Indy Ploy]]: Every episode can be described as "Mission to do X gets screwed. Plans reworked. [[Hilarity Ensues]]." In "Chuck Versus the Ring,: Part II", Morgan alludes to this {{spoiler|while about to take on a group of Ring agents with only Awesome for backup}}...}}
{{quote|'''Morgan''': "No plan?" Never stopped me before.}}
* [[The Infiltration]]: Sarah in seasonSeason 4 pretends to turn traitor from the CIA to undertake one of these.
** Also {{spoiler|Mary Bartowski}} in the backstory.
* [[Ingesting Knowledge]]: The premise of the series.
* [[Interservice Rivalry]]: Sarah (CIA) AND Casey (NSA), mainly in the early part of the series. Both of them don't think too highly of the FBI.
* [[Ironic Echo]]
** "Chuck Versus the First Fight".
{{quote|'''Volkoff''': My name is Alexei Volkoff. I believe you were looking for me.}}
** "Chuck Versus the Push Mix".
{{quote|'''Chuck''': Hello Alexei. I believe you were looking for me.}}
* [[It Gets Easier]]: Pretty much the rationale behind the "red test", which forces wannabe agents to commit cold-blooded murder under orders and, in theory, make it easier for them to kill again when needs be. As demonstrated by the many kills by Sarah and Casey during the course of the series, including one additional cold-blooded kill by Sarah in {{spoiler|"Chuck Versus Santa Claus", in which she shoots an unarmed FULCRUM agent to protect Chuck}}.
** In the third season, a major plot point is Sarah's ongoing fear is that, for Chuck, killing will get easier.
* [[It Meant Something to Me]]
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* [[Jerkass Facade]]: Casey isn't nearly as condescending and loathsome as he seems. But he works hard to maintain the pretense.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: The main cast have all committed multiple acts of treason, yet have never suffered any long-term negative consequences for it.
* [[Killed Off for Real]]: {{spoiler|Bryce Larkin}} at the end of seasonSeason twoTwo; {{spoiler|Emmett Milbarge}} at the start of seasonSeason threeThree; {{spoiler|Stephen Bartowski}} in the seasonSeason threeThree finale; {{spoiler|CIA representative Clyde Decker}} half-way through seasonSeason fiveFive.
** In {{spoiler|Orion's}} case, [http://orionisnotdead.com/ some people beg to differ.] And [[Word of God|Word Of]] [http://twitter.com/TVTango/status/24494982740 God] is a little ambiguous on it, too.
* [[Knife Nut]]: Sarah's preferred weapons are throwing daggers, and will have a number of them hidden away in various places. She'll also use them to [[Mundane Utility|cut cheeseburgers]] and [[Ring Ring CRUNCH|mute her alarm clock]]. This was mostly dropped by the third season, where she defaults to guns instead of knives. Perhaps to align her more with classic spies to play up what she fears Chuck will become.
* [[Legacy Character]]: Played around with through the "Greta" character, who is played by a different guest star each time "Greta" shows up.
* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]:
** The purpose of Intersect 2.0, but also in "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners", {{spoiler|Morgan turns out to have possibly the best unhoned espionage skills of the bunch.}}.
** {{spoiler|Ellie, Morgan, and Devon}} at the beginning of the seasonSeason 3 finale.
* [[Limit Break]]: {{spoiler|Laudanol}} allows the Intersect to work full blast for Chuck.
* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: The main cast's day jobs pretty much guarantee that the characters will spend a good amount of the episode in their work uniforms (Green Shirts, Nerd Herder shirt and slacks, Ellie and Awesome's scrubs, and Sarah's Hausfrau dress/orange-and-grey tank top from the second season onwards). Chuck's Nerd Herd outfit even gets used on missions, as well as occasionally on his free time.
* [[Lipstick and Load Montage]]: Sarah often does this and a [[Lock and Load Montage]] simultaneously.
* [[Living Legend]]: By the third season, the Charles Carmichael persona has taken on a life of its own and gained quite a bit of notoriety in the intelligence community and criminal underworld.
* [[Locked Out of the Loop]]: Awesome stumbled on the spy stuff near the end of seasonSeason 2 and Morgan was told about it all in seasonSeason 3 but Ellie, the person closest of all to Chuck, was kept in the dark about it all at long as they could. Even after she knew there was a [[Secret Legacy]] of spy work in the family, she was led to believe that Chuck used to work for the CIA but quit because she was concerned for his safety.
* [[Lovable Jock]]: Captain Awesome. Despite being a musclebound extreme sports enthusiast who spends a lot of screen time [[Mr. Fanservice|shirtless and working out]], he's a skilled doctor, fluent in Spanish, and a pretty nice guy, even to Chuck and his nerdy friends.
* [[Love Dodecahedron]]: During the first half of seasonSeason 3, Morgan wanted Hannah wanted Chuck wanted Sarah wanted Shaw at one time or another. Yeesh. Ellie and Devon are worth fitting somewhere in there too. They might be happily married, but what Devon knew about Chuck was driving Devon insane and causing friction in the marriage, and concern about Chuck led Ellie and Morgan to work together amicably for the first time ever.
* [[Luke, You Are My Father]]: Played thoroughly straight with {{spoiler|Casey and the fiancée he left behind.}}.
* [[Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy]]: Chuck and Sarah, at least for the first two seasons.
* [[Meaningful Echo]]: Also a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] in "Chuck Versus the Dream Job":
{{quote|'''Chuck''': All I can tell you is that... I'm not who you think I am.
'''Stephen''': Don't worry, Charles. I'm not who you think I am either. {{spoiler|''* uses Orion's wrist device to disable a guard* ''}} }}
* [[Meaningful Name]]:
** Ring agent Hugo Panzer. The last name is, of course, the name of a tank, and considering that he's played by [[Steve Austin]].
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* [[Mistaken for Badass]]:
** A running gag is how the incompetent Chuck is mistaken by both good guys and bad guys for a badass super-spy. This includes Colt in "Chuck Versus the First Date" and Mark and Heather in "Chuck Versus the Cougars".
** A variant occurs in "Chuck Versus the Anniversary", {{spoiler|when it turns out that Chuck and Morgan's search for Chuck's mom has led them extremely close to Volkoff Industries, the arms dealers that Sarah and Casey have been tracking on their own. The Volkoff agent, played by [[Dolph Lundgren]], assumes that their use of public transportation is an effective ploy to avoid being tracked, and believes them to be super-spies even better than Sarah and Casey, who he had just kidnapped with plans to torture them for information on the former two.}}.
* [[Mistaken for Spies]]: For the first two seasons, Chuck was not a "real" spy but was constantly getting mistaken for one anyway. It's not as if Chuck went out of his way to destroy that illusion. In fact, he often pretends to be the (made-up) Bond-like [[Memetic Badass|Agent Charles Carmichael.]]
* [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness]]: ''Chuck'' is "really soft" science fiction. The Intersect is the only significant sci-fi element and its inner workings get very little explanation.
* [[Morality Pet]]:
** Chuck to Casey, at times.
** Morgan may be well on his way to becoming Casey's new [[Morality Pet]], now that he's gained his respect {{spoiler|by nearly sacrificing himself when he leads a ''Bengal tiger'' into an apartment.}}. Casey's right; the furry little elf has balls. Solid diamond balls. Check out "Chuck Versus the Ring,: Part II", where he {{spoiler|breaks his thumbs to get to a fire alarm}} to evacuate the Buy More, and "Chuck Versus the CouckCouch Lock", where he {{spoiler|risks electrocuting himself to save Chuck, Sarah, and Casey}}.
* [[Mr. Exposition]]: Beckman and Graham, though Beckman's character was eventually fleshed out more.
* [[Mr. Fanservice]]:
** Captain Awesome.
{{quote|'''Morgan:''' Look at you, you live in a freakish bubble of handsomeness.}}
** Casey.
{{quote|'''Chuck:''' And Casey, your jaw was chiseled by Michelangelo himself.}}
** Shaw.
{{quote|'''Chuck:''' Yeah, if you're into the, ''* ahem* '' strong, kinda [[Actor Allusion|Superman-y]] type of a guy.}}
** Cole Barker.
{{quote|'''Chuck:''' I get what she sees in you, you know. The fearlessness in the face of danger, the imperviousness to pain, super-cool tank-tops... [[Ho Yay|stop me whenever this is getting uncomfortable]].}}
** Even Morgan, the little dude is stacked.
** Chuck himself. Started out barely edging into [[Hollywood Nerd]], and that was ''before'' he became really [[Badass]]. And then there's [[Memetic Badass|Charles Carmichael.]]
* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: God bless you, Yvonne Strahovski. Finally lampshaded in "Chuck Versus the Kept Man.".
** Some of the female guest stars are quite the lookers, too.
* [[My Skull Runneth Over]]: The Intersect puts a huge long term toll on the bearer's brain unless you use a device to keep it in check, and can possibly fry your brain outright if it can't absorb the information properly. (Note that the only time this has happened in the show was with a beta Intersect {{spoiler|developed by FULCRUM}}. Happens again in the final season when {{spoiler|Morgan and Sarah receive the Intersect. Morgan becomes a douche who can't remember Star Wars or Indiana Jones, while Sarah loses all of her memories of the past 5 years and reverts to her old CIA personality}}.)
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