Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

A story's narrative defies its message. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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