Tropescilloscope: Anti-Hero

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

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