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)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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