Tropescilloscope: All for Nothing

The results of a complex story/plot are all undone in one fell swoop. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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