Tropescilloscope: Diabolus ex Machina

Suddenly, unanticipated tragedy strikes. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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