Tropescilloscope: Central Theme

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

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