Tropescilloscope: Artistic License – Biology

Inaccuracies in biological fact in a work of fiction, in the service of the story. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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