Tropescilloscope: Black Comedy

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

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