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