Tropescilloscope: Adult Fear

Threats and fears that most adults would worry about in real life. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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