Tropescilloscope: Artistic License – History

The creator of a work ignores historical inaccuracy in the interest of telling a better story. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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