Tropescilloscope: Black and Gray Morality

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

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