Tropescilloscope: Heel Realization

Realizing you're a bad guy. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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