Tropescilloscope: Heel Realization

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

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