Tropescilloscope: Broken Pedestal

A character's mentor/role model turns out to be not so good after all. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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