Tropescilloscope: Central Theme

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

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