Tropescilloscope: Black and Gray Morality

Evil villain, flawed hero. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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