Tropescilloscope: Bait-and-Switch

Subversion as humor. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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