Tropescilloscope: From Nobody to Nightmare

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

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