Tropescilloscope: Fatal Flaw

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

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