Tropescilloscope: Bait-and-Switch

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

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