Tropescilloscope: Central Theme

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

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