Tropescilloscope: Blackmail

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

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