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