Tropescilloscope: Deus ex Machina

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

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