Tropescilloscope: Combat Pragmatist

Do whatever possible to win. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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