Tropescilloscope: Call-Back

A reference to an earlier event in a series that's relevant for the plot. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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