Tropescilloscope: Batman Gambit

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

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