Tropescilloscope: Foregone Conclusion

The audience knows how the story ends before it begins. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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