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