Tropescilloscope: Blackmail

Pay up or X finds out something you want kept quiet. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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