Tropescilloscope: Central Theme

A philosophy, message, idea, or question at a story's core. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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