Tropescilloscope: Deconstruction

Analyzing a trope to expose its realistic assumptions, flaws, consequences and/or origins. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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