Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

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

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