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