Tropescilloscope: For Want of a Nail

Small change starts major event. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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