Tropescilloscope: Earn Your Happy Ending

Characters go through hell.... but end up happy in the end as a result. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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