Tropescilloscope: Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking

Minimum three items: start dark, continue dark, finish weak. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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