Tropescilloscope: Diabolus ex Machina

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

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