Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

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

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