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