Tropescilloscope: Bait-and-Switch

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

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