Tropescilloscope: Dark and Troubled Past

Tragic Back Story. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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