Spoilers for DC’s The Golden Age, B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the films The Avengers, and The Avengers: Endgame.
The Golden age #4 (DC Comics). The trope namer (most dialogue removed)
Heroes are fighting valiantly but they’re losing ground, and numbers, fast. Dynaman seems invincible; he floats above, ready to end them all at whim. The best they’ve done is knock his helmet off, tatter his cape. In this hopeless situation, Alan Scott, the Green Lantern, finally arrives on the battlefield. Scott goes toe-to-toe with Dynaman, finally drawing blood and single-handedly holding back the massacre. The hero Johnny Quick watches his friend with relief; finally, “...the big guy’s back.”
If you’re a fan of comics or even just superheroes, you should read James Robinson’s The Golden Age. It’s got a wild cast, the plot is that weird kind of campy and horrifically dark that you get from golden age comics, and the writing is just ridiculously thematically rich. But it’s the moment above that has lived in my brain rent-free for almost 20 years now. “...The big guy’s back.”
This trope is a sort of blend of other tropes. It’s the return of a single, established, powerful character to the narrative and that arrival turning the tide or tipping the balance of a conflict, either on a large or small scale. When this trope benefits the protagonists, it can be a moment of relief, hope, and invigoration. Not just for the characters but for the audience. When Bruce Banner arrives in New York in the MCU film The Avengers, the heroes can finally go on the offensive. In the same vein, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the book more than the film), Dumbledore’s arrival to fight Voldemort completely shifts the trajectory of the battle in the Department of Mysteries.
B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth, #101 (Dark Horse Comics)
The trope is also distinctive for lacking certain traits. The character's arrival does not mark the end of the conflict. My first paragraph is a bit misleading right? Because what I didn’t mention is that Scott is ultimately defeated. His efforts finally expose a weakness that the other heroes can exploit but it’s not Scott that marks Dynaman’s end. Hulk’s arrival In The Avengers doesn’t end the battle; the heroes still have to close the portal summoning the aliens. Voldemort only flees when he fails to possess Harry.
This trope also doesn’t need to benefit the protagonist. When applied in the villain’s favour you get things like the resurrection of The Black Flame in B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth. When he’s resurrected, the reader knows immediately that things have just gotten bad for the heroes. And they’re right because the Black Flame immediately transforms the narrative; the story goes from one of humanity trying to maintain its lifestyle in a dangerous and chaotic world to humanity simply trying to survive the apocalypse. It’s a moment of dread, anxiety, and despair.
“...The big guy’s back” is a pretty common trope. It’s easy to execute properly when you have a large or diverse cast and it has the potential for a huge emotional payout for the reader or audience. In Golden Age, Scott joining in the battle is a culmination of his restraint where he doesn’t want to play God. In The Avengers, we finally see Hulk directing his rage and working with others. Five books of Harry Potter say that Dumbledore is the only wizard that Voldemort fears and we finally get to see why. And in B.P.R.D., there’s no going back when the Black Flame steps out.
There are dangers though. If the character returning is only established in a separate narrative block then their return won’t have an impact on the audience members that didn’t consume that story. In exceptionally bad cases, this trope can feel like a deus ex machina if the character or their abilities weren’t established enough. But most times? This is so rad.
Andrew Gilvary
Andrew is a former graduate of the University of Ottawa where he got his B.A. with Major in English Literature. He enjoys doing nerdy things and cuddling his cat.
