Tropescilloscope: Diabolus ex Machina

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

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