Tropescilloscope: Bait-and-Switch

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

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