Tropescilloscope: Chiaroscuro

One bright light source leaves everything else in shadow. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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