Tropescilloscope: Early Installment Weirdness

The early episodes of a series are vastly different than the later installments. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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