Tropescilloscope: Armor-Piercing Question

Question that forces a character to consider their actions. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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