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