Tropescilloscope: Genre Savvy

A character draws applied knowledge from in-story fiction. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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