Tropescilloscope: Historical Villain Upgrade

A work's portrayal of a historical villain is heavily modified from the real-life figure the character is based on. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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