Tropescilloscope: Hoist by His Own Petard

Defeated by one's own device or plan. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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