Tropescilloscope: Deus ex Machina

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

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