Tropescilloscope: Diabolus ex Machina

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

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