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