Tropescilloscope: Armor-Piercing Question

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

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