Tropescilloscope: Karma Houdini

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

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