Tropescilloscope: Mugging the Monster

Criminal targets someone much more dangerous than they appear. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Mighty Whitey Toplessness from the Back Male Frontal Nudity Bound and Gagged Suspiciously Similar Substitute Neck Lift Not So Stoic Coming-of-Age Story Deliberately Monochrome Heroes Want Redheads Thriller Rule of Cool You Have Outlived Your Usefulness The Faceless Evil Is Petty Narrator Adaptational Badass Market-Based Title "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Black and Gray Morality You Killed My Father Catapult Nightmare Facial Horror Faux Affably Evil Corpsing Silent Movie May–December Romance The Un-Reveal Yandere The Dreaded I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Guns Akimbo British Films Horror Comedy Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Punny Name Vitriolic Best Buds Brother–Sister Incest Animal Motifs Pimped-Out Dress Spiritual Successor Knife Nut He Knows Too Much Overprotective Dad Fire-Forged Friends Cool Shades Exactly What It Says on the Tin Smug Snake Mistaken for Gay Conspicuous CG Anti-Villain Darkest Hour Punch-Clock Villain Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Artistic License – Gun Safety Berserk Button Batman Gambit Manly Tears Star-Crossed Lovers Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Mr. Exposition Ms. Fanservice Dark Action Girl Defiant to the End Only a Flesh Wound The Atoner The '80s Creative Closing Credits Once More, with Clarity! Taking You with Me Broken Aesop Super Strength Flipping the Bird Canadian Movies Distracted by the Sexy Wrong Genre Savvy Bilingual Bonus All Girls Want Bad Boys Pet the Dog Camera Abuse I'm a Humanitarian Henpecked Husband Big Bad Duumvirate Get Out! Re-Cut An Arm and a Leg Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Heterosexual Life-Partners Pragmatic Adaptation Kick the Son of a Bitch As the Good Book Says... Retired Badass The '50s Deus ex Machina Earn Your Happy Ending Psychological Thriller Vomit Indiscretion Shot Due to the Dead Enemy Mine Horror Films As You Know Body Horror Hero of Another Story Antagonist Title Offscreen Moment of Awesome Parental Incest Parental Substitute He Who Fights Monsters Asshole Victim Getting Crap Past the Radar Humiliation Conga Psychopathic Manchild Took a Level in Badass Breaking the Fourth Wall A.I. Is a Crapshoot Morality Pet Cat Scare Madness Mantra Stock Footage All for Nothing Unresolved Sexual Tension Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Chekhov's Gunman Mood Whiplash Shut Up, Hannibal! Your Cheating Heart Killed Mid-Sentence Only Known by Their Nickname La Résistance Pay Evil unto Evil Artistic License – History You Have Failed Me The Bad Guy Wins Hypocritical Humor Chiaroscuro And I Must Scream Call-Back Mundane Made Awesome Man on Fire The Starscream Domestic Abuse Freeze-Frame Bonus Bowdlerise A God Am I The Dog Bites Back Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Artistic License – Geography Bring My Brown Pants Riddle for the Ages Dramedy Foregone Conclusion Ironic Echo Apocalypse How Badass in a Nice Suit Serial Killer Even Evil Has Standards Extreme Doormat Ambiguously Gay Crazy-Prepared Drill Sergeant Nasty 20 Minutes into the Future Idiot Ball Setting Update Final Girl Fish out of Water Extremely Short Timespan Have a Gay Old Time Would Hurt a Child Spanner in the Works Manipulative Bastard The Alcoholic Australian Movies Cowboy Cop Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Arc Words Blatant Lies Last-Name Basis The Smart Guy Death by Adaptation Artistic License – Law Bitch in Sheep's Clothing The Casanova The Place Brick Joke Slashed Throat Famous Last Words Tagline Our Zombies Are Different Arch-Enemy Word of God Call-Forward Evil-Detecting Dog What the Hell, Hero? Immune to Bullets Comically Missing the Point Cloudcuckoolander Accidental Misnaming Suddenly SHOUTING! Manchild Anachronic Order Not So Different Dwindling Party Made of Iron Japanese Films Anguished Declaration of Love After the End Those Wacky Nazis Cool Old Lady Black Comedy Rape Evil Brit Jerkass Soft Glass Mr. Fanservice Bond One-Liner Amoral Attorney Line-of-Sight Name Card-Carrying Villain Heel–Face Turn Canon Foreigner Dressing as the Enemy Composite Character Smoking Is Cool Hollywood Law Aside Glance Cool Old Guy Mooks A Date with Rosie Palms Broken Bird Eldritch Abomination Combat Pragmatist World of Ham Historical Hero Upgrade Unusually Uninteresting Sight NO INDOOR VOICE Obfuscating Stupidity Gory Discretion Shot All Men Are Perverts Alpha Bitch Unusual Euphemism Rule of Three Sacrificial Lion Establishing Character Moment Epic Fail Five-Man Band Villainous Breakdown Sequel Escalation Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Film Noir Index Russian Films Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Real Life Writes the Plot Shirtless Scene Red Right Hand Damsel in Distress Agony of the Feet Double-Meaning Title Paper-Thin Disguise Men Are the Expendable Gender Index of Film Westerns Frame-Up Sexy Discretion Shot Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Contrived Coincidence Poor Communication Kills Meaningful Background Event Major Injury Underreaction Fanservice Extra Dies Wide Open Defrosting Ice Queen It Will Never Catch On Adaptational Attractiveness Never My Fault Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Ghost Fiction Title Drop Kubrick Stare Police are Useless Vomit Discretion Shot Scary Black Man Drowning My Sorrows Redemption Equals Death Dark and Troubled Past Better to Die than Be Killed Let's Get Dangerous! Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Adult Fear Artistic License – Military Take a Third Option Blood Knight Creator Cameo Meaningful Echo Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Rousing Speech Sadistic Choice In the Back Developing Doomed Characters Big Fancy House French Films Sequel Hook Not So Above It All She Cleans Up Nicely Loads and Loads of Characters An Axe to Grind Outrun the Fireball Blackmail Malevolent Masked Men Red Shirt This Is Gonna Suck Sir Swears-a-Lot Everyone Has Standards Karma Houdini German Films Undying Loyalty Scenery Porn Bald of Evil War Is Hell The Bully Bar Brawl Reality Is Unrealistic Mad Scientist Adaptation Distillation Bait-and-Switch Make It Look Like an Accident Wretched Hive Tranquil Fury All There in the Manual And the Adventure Continues Bad Boss Chase Scene Blood from the Mouth Posthumous Character Bolivian Army Ending Villain with Good Publicity The '90s Offscreen Teleportation Small Name, Big Ego Crapsack World Death Seeker Black Dude Dies First More Dakka Only One Name Annoying Younger Sibling Hate Sink Rated M for Manly Shout-Out Hypocrite Politically Incorrect Villain Dogged Nice Guy Manic Pixie Dream Girl Fourth Date Marriage Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Bunny-Ears Lawyer Death of a Child Dutch Angle Big Brother Instinct Large Ham The Brute Moment Killer Good Is Not Nice Driven to Suicide Drives Like Crazy Amusing Injuries Meaningful Name The Hero The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Shell-Shocked Veteran Dirty Coward Italian Films Nothing Is Scarier A Father to His Men Dramatic Gun Cock Ship Tease Random Events Plot Demonic Possession Beware the Nice Ones Product Placement Genre Throwback Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Funny Foreigner Big Applesauce Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Crazy Jealous Guy Stuff Blowing Up Daylight Horror Police Brutality Evil Cannot Comprehend Good The Chick The Alleged Car The Oner Boom, Headshot! No-Sell Hero Antagonist Disney Villain Death Naïve Newcomer Badass Boast Friend to All Children Naked People Are Funny Whole Plot Reference Death by Sex For the Evulz Soundtrack Dissonance From Bad to Worse Left the Background Music On Jerk with a Heart of Gold Darker and Edgier Christmas Movies Index Real Life Villain Ball Laughing Mad Central Theme Mystery and Detective Films The '70s Pretty in Mink Imagine Spot Wicked Cultured Funny Background Event Would Hit a Girl Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Too Dumb to Live The Power of Love You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Take That! Advertised Extra Heroic BSoD Handicapped Badass The Cameo Disney Death Be Careful What You Wish For No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Anti-Hero The Voiceless Did Not Get the Girl Adaptation Expansion Expy The Stinger Deliberate Values Dissonance Put on a Bus Dissonant Serenity Accidental Murder In Name Only Aluminum Christmas Trees Auto Erotica Downer Ending Big Bad Totally Radical Dramatic Irony Authority Equals Asskicking My God, What Have I Done? Woman in White Rich Bitch Shipper on Deck Straight Gay Evil Is Hammy Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Deadpan Snarker She's Got Legs Male Gaze It's Personal As Himself Adaptational Villainy Celebrity Paradox The Cavalry Logo Joke Not Using the "Z" Word Reckless Gun Usage Guile Hero Never Found the Body One-Man Army Pragmatic Villainy Cold-Blooded Torture It's All About Me Tap on the Head Beta Couple Faking the Dead Dying Moment of Awesome Hair-Trigger Temper No Name Given Even Evil Has Loved Ones Unspoken Plan Guarantee Bloodier and Gorier Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Retirony Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Freudian Excuse Captain Obvious Mind Screw Femme Fatale The X of Y Unreliable Narrator Leitmotif One-Word Title Monumental Damage Off with His Head! Rewatch Bonus Love at First Sight The Mafia Credits Gag Anachronism Stew Playing Gertrude Superhero Curse Cut Short Armor-Piercing Question Ominous Latin Chanting Spell My Name with an "S" All Just a Dream Action Prologue Unwitting Instigator of Doom Sassy Black Woman Refuge in Audacity No OSHA Compliance Tempting Fate Red Eyes, Take Warning The Lost Lenore Determinator aka: The Determinator Ascended Extra Covers Always Lie Bad "Bad Acting" The Quiet One Rule of Symbolism Ass Shove Science Fiction Films Fingore Only in It for the Money The Musical Evil Plan Anyone Can Die Hoist by His Own Petard Reality Ensues Not Even Bothering with the Accent Fatal Flaw Daddy's Girl Nice Hat Wounded Gazelle Gambit In Medias Res The Smurfette Principle Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Knight Templar Fainting Not Quite Dead Black Comedy Recycled IN SPACE! Self-Deprecation Fantasy Films The Remake N-Word Privileges Eagleland The Chessmaster Papa Wolf Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Sole Survivor Those Two Guys Wham Shot Deal with the Devil Gone Horribly Right Fat Bastard Neck Snap Abusive Parents Lock and Load Montage Film Noir Truth in Television Gender Flip Historical Villain Upgrade Arranged Marriage How We Got Here "The Reason You Suck" Speech Intergenerational Friendship Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Hope Spot Eiffel Tower Effect Disappeared Dad Red Herring Our Vampires Are Different Plot Hole Happily Married Sports Stories Intrepid Reporter Vampire Fiction Running Gag Protagonist Title Face Death with Dignity Heel Realization Brutal Honesty As Long as It Sounds Foreign Alliterative Name Meet Cute Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Dirty Old Man Worthy Opponent Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Oh, Crap! Catch-Phrase Big Eater No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Serious Business I Have Your Wife Pre-Mortem One-Liner Rule of Funny Motor Mouth Green-Eyed Monster Room Full of Crazy Ambiguous Disorder Captain Ersatz The Load Needs Wiki Magic Love Trailers Always Spoil Betty and Veronica Karmic Death Animated Credits Opening Mercy Kill Made of Explodium Early-Bird Cameo Biopic Children Are Innocent Creepy Child Badass Longcoat The '60s Scare Chord Author Avatar The End... Or Is It? Storming the Castle Suspiciously Specific Denial Shoot the Shaggy Dog Translation Convention Plucky Comic Relief Easily Forgiven Silence Is Golden Obstructive Bureaucrat Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Jitter Cam Light Is Not Good Alas, Poor Villain Chewing the Scenery Redshirt Army Vacation Films Crucified Hero Shot Foreshadowing Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Ax-Crazy Film Series MacGuffin Gilligan Cut Chekhov's Gun Dark Is Not Evil Fate Worse than Death Epic Movie Documentary Exact Words Disproportionate Retribution Fun with Acronyms Hooker with a Heart of Gold Bavarian Fire Drill The Big Guy Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun The Hero Dies Race Against the Clock Lighter and Softer Villain Opening Scene The Sociopath Disguised in Drag Death Glare Butt-Monkey Insistent Terminology My Beloved Smother Historical In-Joke Cool Car Costume Porn Actor Allusion Chekhov's Skill Eye Scream Babies Ever After Does Not Like Shoes Dual Wielding Loophole Abuse Dirty Cop Together in Death Bury Your Gays Beard of Evil Jump Scare Didn't Think This Through Only Sane Man Hell Is That Noise Here We Go Again! Animal Title Index Gratuitous English Car Fu Spared by the Adaptation The Ditz Your Head A-Splode Kill It with Fire Deconstruction Bond Villain Stupidity Visual Pun Ripped from the Headlines Kill 'em All The Lancer Artistic License – Biology Improvised Weapon Villain Protagonist Break the Cutie Honor Before Reason Eyepatch of Power Double Entendre Those Two Bad Guys Shown Their Work Bloodless Carnage Reality Has No Subtitles Ungrateful Bastard Country Matters Gold Digger And Starring Romantic False Lead Break the Haughty Military and Warfare Films Big "NO!" Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene "Shaggy Dog" Story Villain Song Evil Sounds Deep Dull Surprise Slap-Slap-Kiss Throwing Your Sword Always Works Fake Shemp "Awesome McCool" Name BFG One Steve Limit folderlabel Love Triangle Same Language Dub Zombie Stories Red Oni, Blue Oni An Aesop Missing Mom Curb-Stomp Battle Casting Gag Diabolus ex Machina Jerk Jock Department of Redundancy Department Attempted Rape Failed a Spot Check Mythology Gag Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Martial Arts Movie The Film of the Book Scenery Gorn Names to Run Away from Really Fast Spiteful Spit Artistic License – Physics The Stoic Romantic Comedy Adults Are Useless Calling the Old Man Out Stylistic Suck Training Montage No Celebrities Were Harmed Show Within a Show Affectionate Parody Stealth Hi/Bye Closed Circle Token Minority Depraved Bisexual Kick the Dog Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Roaring Rampage of Revenge Slasher Smile Mama Bear Character Development Award-Bait Song Twist Ending Badass Bookworm The Stoner Historical-Domain Character Match Cut Dumb Blonde Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Cassandra Truth Ambiguous Ending Cluster F-Bomb Reasonable Authority Figure Television Movie Index Author Appeal Maybe Ever After Precision F-Strike Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Novelization Age Lift Bland-Name Product Genre Savvy Rasputinian Death timeperiod B-Movie Corrupt Corporate Executive Foil A Minor Kidroduction Properly Paranoid Flashback Despair Event Horizon Time Skip Insane Troll Logic Badass Grandpa Gorn There Is No Kill Like Overkill What Happened to the Mouse? Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Bittersweet Ending Four-Temperament Ensemble Lampshade Hanging I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Off-into-the-Distance Ending Kids Are Cruel Not What It Looks Like Destination Defenestration Bare Your Midriff Music Stories Up to Eleven Bi the Way Well-Intentioned Extremist Humans Are Bastards Big-Bad Ensemble Determinator Dark Reprise Evil Counterpart Taking the Bullet Expository Hairstyle Change Death by Irony All There in the Script Important Haircut My Greatest Failure True Companions Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Badass Normal Continuity Nod Insult Backfire Stalker with a Crush Woman Scorned Beauty Is Never Tarnished Rape as Drama Big Damn Heroes Homage Grey and Gray Morality Wham Line Dropped a Bridge on Him Interrupted Suicide Grievous Bottley Harm Drugs Are Bad Action Survivor Married to the Job Parental Abandonment Decoy Protagonist Race Lift Older Than They Look Never Trust a Trailer Brainless Beauty Evil vs. Evil Retcon Fiery Redhead Broken Pedestal Overly Long Gag Book-Ends Irony Gainax Ending I Need a Freaking Drink Slasher Movie Adaptation Name Change Video Credits Fanservice It Can Think Obviously Evil Mugging the Monster Improbable Aiming Skills Revenge Hidden Depths Implacable Man Informed Ability Shower Scene Sanity Slippage Nice Guy The Ghost Empathic Environment Leave the Camera Running The Dragon Framing Device Sinister Minister Action Girl Fantastic Racism Air-Vent Passageway Victoria's Secret Compartment Laser-Guided Karma The Ace Pretty Little Headshots Bottomless Magazines I Did What I Had to Do Cat Fight Psycho for Hire What You Are in the Dark From Nobody to Nightmare Groin Attack Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Early Installment Weirdness Cruel and Unusual Death Really Gets Around Non-Indicative Name Cain and Abel Improbable Weapon User Noodle Incident Face–Heel Turn Based on a True Story Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Stepford Smiler Abhorrent Admirer Bloody Hilarious The Great Depression Hollywood Darkness No Antagonist For Want of a Nail Genre Shift Affably Evil Peek-a-Boo Corpse Greater-Scope Villain Eureka Moment Public Domain Feature Films Very Loosely Based on a True Story The Mole Cool Guns Took a Level in Jerkass Works Set in World War II Sealed Evil in a Can O.O.C. Is Serious Business Jerkass Has a Point "Well Done, Son!" Guy Every Car Is a Pinto Almost Kiss Awesome, but Impractical Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Black Best Friend '80s Hair Adaptation Dye-Job The Reveal Fatal Family Photo Mexican Standoff Leaning on the Fourth Wall No Ending Danny Peary Cult Movies List Back from the Dead The Vamp Parental Neglect Fan Disservice Becoming the Mask Adaptational Heroism Action Genre Evil Laugh Skewed Priorities Sci-Fi Horror Adapted Out Say My Name Instant Death Bullet Bullying a Dragon Heroic Sacrifice Hong Kong Films Belligerent Sexual Tension Actually Pretty Funny Pyrrhic Victory Does This Remind You of Anything? Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Half the Man He Used to Be Stealth Pun Demoted to Extra Adorkable Camp Gay