Tropescilloscope: Batman Gambit

A plan that relies on its victims doing what they do naturally. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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