Tropescilloscope: From Nobody to Nightmare

A character evolves from humble beginnings to terrifying fame. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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