Tropescilloscope: Darkest Hour

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

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