Tropescilloscope: Karma Houdini

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

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