Tropescilloscope: Black Comedy

Serious and horrible things Played for Laughs. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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