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