Tropescilloscope: Film Noir

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

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