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