Tropescilloscope: Dark and Troubled Past

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

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