Tropescilloscope: Bait-and-Switch

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

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