Tropescilloscope: Film Noir

A film genre involving detectives, Chiaroscuro lighting, crime, and a 1940-60s setting. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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