Tropescilloscope: Black and Gray Morality

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

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