Tropescilloscope: Idiot Ball

A character who is normally much more competent starts acting stupid in order to drive the plot forward. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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