Tropescilloscope: Karma Houdini

Character gets away with foul deeds while avoiding justice. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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