Tropescilloscope: All for Nothing

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

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