Tropescilloscope: Darkest Hour

The point in the story when all hope seems lost. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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