Tropescilloscope: Freudian Excuse

A traumatic incident (whether some abuse by a deranged parental figure or something else) that makes a villain or any character the way they are. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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