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