Tropescilloscope: Deus ex Machina

A miracle that saves the heroes at the last minute. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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