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