Tropescilloscope: Black and Gray Morality

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

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