Tropescilloscope: Deconstruction

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

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