Tropescilloscope: Artistic License – Law

Law and legal proceedings are presented in a way that isn't factually accurate. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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