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