Tropescilloscope: He Who Fights Monsters

Hero becomes the very evil they sought to destroy. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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