Tropescilloscope: Adaptational Villainy

A character is more of a villain in an adaptation than they were in the original material. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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