Tropescilloscope: Artistic License – Physics

The creator of a work of fiction plays with the basic laws of physics in order to make the story work better. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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