Tropescilloscope: Grey and Gray Morality

Opposing sides are neither "good" nor "evil". (read more at tvtropes.org)

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