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)

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Is Serious Business Left the Background Music On Mooks Freeze-Frame Bonus Coming-of-Age Story Eyepatch of Power Meaningful Background Event Back from the Dead Darkest Hour Fatal Family Photo Vomit Indiscretion Shot Totally Radical Poor Communication Kills Earn Your Happy Ending Horror Films Unusual Euphemism Calling the Old Man Out The Reveal Sequel Hook Brutal Honesty Evil Is Petty Pyrrhic Victory Video Credits Genre Throwback Cain and Abel Fiery Redhead Contrived Coincidence Dramatic Irony Serious Business French Films Interrupted Suicide Setting Update Screw This, I'm Outta Here! The Voiceless Alliterative Name Big Applesauce Getting Crap Past the Radar The Dog Bites Back Taking You with Me Abusive Parents Fate Worse than Death Ambiguous Ending Adult Fear Agony of the Feet Badass Boast Broken Aesop Jitter Cam Evil Plan Missing Mom Offscreen Teleportation Bland-Name Product Off with His Head! Take a Third Option The Hero Superhero Only Sane Man Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Woman Scorned Dogged Nice Guy Papa Wolf Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Once More, with Clarity! 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Needs Wiki Magic Love Empathic Environment Amusing Injuries Dressing as the Enemy Psycho for Hire Daylight Horror Manchild Serial Killer Mistaken for Gay Television Movie Index BFG Obfuscating Stupidity Combat Pragmatist Bring My Brown Pants Wicked Cultured Children Are Innocent Artistic License – Law Vampire Fiction Anti-Villain Immune to Bullets It Will Never Catch On Gender Flip Soundtrack Dissonance Batman Gambit "Awesome McCool" Name Off-into-the-Distance Ending Yandere Covers Always Lie Hidden Depths Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Historical In-Joke Bi the Way Heel–Face Turn Offscreen Moment of Awesome Annoying Younger Sibling Tagline Pragmatic Adaptation Redemption Equals Death Awesome, but Impractical Bullying a Dragon Gory Discretion Shot Large Ham Evil Brit A Date with Rosie Palms Anachronism Stew Monumental Damage Deconstruction The Bad Guy Wins Sealed Evil in a Can Gilligan Cut The Cavalry Kubrick Stare Evil Laugh Drugs Are Bad Mad Scientist Cat Fight Straight Gay Bound and Gagged Villainous Breakdown Mundane Made Awesome Sanity Slippage Index of Film Westerns Deliberately Monochrome Faux Affably Evil Unresolved Sexual Tension Blackmail Vomit Discretion Shot Heroic BSoD Drill Sergeant Nasty Deadpan Snarker Famous Last Words Red Oni, Blue Oni Motor Mouth Protagonist Title Self-Deprecation Mighty Whitey Outrun the Fireball A Father to His Men Sacrificial Lion Russian Films Anachronic Order Central Theme Manipulative Bastard Informed Ability B-Movie Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Determinator Made of Explodium "Well Done, Son!" 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Parental Abandonment Artistic License – Biology Fun with Acronyms Victoria's Secret Compartment Unwitting Instigator of Doom Department of Redundancy Department Rich Bitch The '70s Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Crazy-Prepared Ms. Fanservice Final Girl Punny Name 20 Minutes into the Future Belligerent Sexual Tension Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Ominous Latin Chanting Authority Equals Asskicking Creepy Child Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Sassy Black Woman Fish out of Water Spiteful Spit Dark Reprise Good Is Not Nice It's All About Me Malevolent Masked Men Stepford Smiler Maybe Ever After Continuity Nod How We Got Here Corpsing Christmas Movies Index Male Gaze From Nobody to Nightmare Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Adaptation Dye-Job Wham Line Evil Counterpart Shout-Out Improvised Weapon Extremely Short Timespan The Big Guy Pay Evil unto Evil You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Based on a True Story Sinister Minister Vacation Films Chiaroscuro Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Cool Old Guy Real Life Writes the Plot Not What It Looks Like Noodle Incident Due to the Dead This Is Gonna Suck Villain Ball The Brute Shower Scene I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Male Frontal Nudity Heterosexual Life-Partners Epic Fail Big Brother Instinct Loophole Abuse The Stoic All Men Are Perverts Action Girl Action Prologue Heroic Sacrifice My Greatest Failure The X of Y Shell-Shocked Veteran Ax-Crazy Friend to All Children The Load Red Shirt Villain Protagonist Soft Glass Funny Foreigner Pretty in Mink Conspicuous CG Scenery Porn Every Car Is a Pinto Genre Savvy The Vamp Your Cheating Heart Mood Whiplash Cowboy Cop Those Two Guys Air-Vent Passageway Chekhov's Skill Corrupt Corporate Executive Driven to Suicide Bury Your Gays The Film of the Book Super Strength Eureka Moment Hero Antagonist I Did What I Had to Do Pet the Dog Comically Missing the Point Big Bad Truth in Television Betty and Veronica Handicapped Badass Extreme Doormat Does Not Like Shoes Your Head A-Splode Reality Ensues Bottomless Magazines Historical Villain Upgrade folderlabel Book-Ends As the Good Book Says... Depraved Bisexual Random Events Plot May–December Romance Police Brutality Australian Movies Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Last-Name Basis Cool Car Fanservice Novelization Only in It for the Money Only a Flesh Wound Brainless Beauty From Bad to Worse Stock Footage Room Full of Crazy Double Entendre No Name Given Faking the Dead Actually Pretty Funny Early Installment Weirdness Politically Incorrect Villain Naïve Newcomer One-Man Army Villain Song Fantastic Racism Daddy's Girl The Ditz Wounded Gazelle Gambit Retcon Hope Spot Obstructive Bureaucrat Narrator Eldritch Abomination Refuge in Audacity Bait-and-Switch She Cleans Up Nicely Framing Device timeperiod Developing Doomed Characters Shut Up, Hannibal! Lighter and Softer No Ending Moment Killer Big Bad Duumvirate Shown Their Work Fat Bastard Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Historical-Domain Character Rousing Speech Sole Survivor Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Important Haircut Small Name, Big Ego Romantic Comedy Face Death with Dignity And I Must Scream Cloudcuckoolander Instant Death Bullet The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Five-Man Band Bilingual Bonus Psychological Thriller Punch-Clock Villain Light Is Not Good Killed Mid-Sentence Military and Warfare Films Actor Allusion An Arm and a Leg Sadistic Choice The Smart Guy Mythology Gag Fantasy Films Film Series Mama Bear In Medias Res The End... Or Is It? Hero of Another Story Adults Are Useless Pre-Mortem One-Liner Tranquil Fury Neck Lift Names to Run Away from Really Fast Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Well-Intentioned Extremist Adaptational Villainy Laser-Guided Karma Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Mr. Exposition Whole Plot Reference Establishing Character Moment Sir Swears-a-Lot Shirtless Scene He Who Fights Monsters Artistic License – Military Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Canadian Movies Anguished Declaration of Love Amoral Attorney Disney Death Dropped a Bridge on Him Adaptational Attractiveness Affectionate Parody Put on a Bus Bolivian Army Ending Hong Kong Films Mugging the Monster Sports Stories Sexy Discretion Shot Retirony Dissonant Serenity Deliberate Values Dissonance Adaptation Distillation Wham Shot Dramedy Race Lift Cool Shades British Films Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Precision F-Strike For the Evulz Call-Back All for Nothing Kick the Son of a Bitch Even Evil Has Standards Ship Tease Brick Joke Death Seeker Curse Cut Short Catapult Nightmare Stalker with a Crush Retired Badass Fingore Frame-Up One Steve Limit Wretched Hive Artistic License – History Real Life Badass Bookworm Twist Ending Berserk Button Romantic False Lead Card-Carrying Villain Body Horror Thriller Bad Boss Market-Based Title Author Avatar Drives Like Crazy Would Hurt a Child Adaptational Badass No Celebrities Were Harmed Really Gets Around Blatant Lies Break the Haughty Cassandra Truth La Résistance Gold Digger Advertised Extra Bloody Hilarious Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Beauty Is Never Tarnished Insult Backfire A God Am I It Can Think Undying Loyalty Bad "Bad Acting" Jerk with a Heart of Gold Auto Erotica Psychopathic Manchild Exactly What It Says on the Tin Captain Ersatz Police are Useless Took a Level in Jerkass Better to Die than Be Killed Gratuitous English Star-Crossed Lovers The Stinger Groin Attack Distracted by the Sexy Hooker with a Heart of Gold Fan Disservice Genre Shift Badass in a Nice Suit Have a Gay Old Time Bare Your Midriff The Place Asshole Victim Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Unusually Uninteresting Sight Bowdlerise Smoking Is Cool Dark Is Not Evil War Is Hell Scenery Gorn Throwing Your Sword Always Works Here We Go Again! Animal Title Index No OSHA Compliance No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Chewing the Scenery Riddle for the Ages Make It Look Like an Accident Leave the Camera Running Deus ex Machina Black Dude Dies First Eagleland Almost Kiss Oh, Crap! Spell My Name with an "S" Blood from the Mouth Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Badass Grandpa Crucified Hero Shot Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor She's Got Legs Adaptational Heroism You Have Failed Me The Alleged Car Those Wacky Nazis Cruel and Unusual Death The Power of Love Babies Ever After Freudian Excuse Mr. Fanservice Apocalypse How Not Even Bothering with the Accent Bond Villain Stupidity Scary Black Man Big-Bad Ensemble Costume Porn Lock and Load Montage Roaring Rampage of Revenge Visual Pun Not So Stoic Humans Are Bastards Eye Scream The '80s Failed a Spot Check Word of God Karmic Death Redshirt Army What the Hell, Hero? Anti-Hero Man on Fire Aside Glance Ironic Echo All Just a Dream Spanner in the Works Ungrateful Bastard Big Damn Heroes Our Vampires Are Different The Mafia Token Minority Insistent Terminology Only One Name Pragmatic Villainy Stylistic Suck Early-Bird Cameo Spared by the Adaptation Major Injury Underreaction Not Using the "Z" Word Blood Knight Humiliation Conga Destination Defenestration For Want of a Nail Artistic License – Gun Safety The Lancer The Remake Eiffel Tower Effect Aluminum Christmas Trees Big "NO!" Crapsack World Disney Villain Death "Shaggy Dog" Story Breaking the Fourth Wall Didn't Think This Through Slashed Throat Those Two Bad Guys Ambiguously Gay Dies Wide Open No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Silent Movie Neck Snap Expository Hairstyle Change Rule of Three Composite Character Black Comedy Enemy Mine Curb-Stomp Battle Nice Guy Time Skip Abhorrent Admirer Pretty Little Headshots Camp Gay Celebrity Paradox Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Dirty Coward Closed Circle Henpecked Husband Dark Action Girl Italian Films Demonic Possession Slap-Slap-Kiss Guile Hero Hate Sink No-Sell Film Noir Index Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Spiritual Successor Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Alpha Bitch Manly Tears The '60s Camera Abuse Historical Hero Upgrade Nothing Is Scarier And Starring Mercy Kill Match Cut Easily Forgiven Gorn