Tropescilloscope: Animal Motifs

The use of an animal/animals to underline a theme or make a statement about a character. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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