Tropescilloscope: Anti-Hero

A hero who lacks the proper traits of The Hero. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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