Tropescilloscope: Fatal Flaw

The ultimate problem with a character. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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