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