Tropescilloscope: Darkest Hour

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

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