Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

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

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