Tropescilloscope: Diabolus ex Machina

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

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