Tropescilloscope: Kick the Dog

A gratuitously cruel action serves to darken a character. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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Calling the Old Man Out The Faceless Ripped from the Headlines Establishing Character Moment Alpha Bitch Cassandra Truth Psychopathic Manchild Mugging the Monster Overly Long Gag This Is Gonna Suck All Men Are Perverts Eiffel Tower Effect Outrun the Fireball My Greatest Failure Eldritch Abomination Morality Pet Leave the Camera Running Spell My Name with an "S" Bi the Way Tap on the Head Action Prologue Recycled IN SPACE! Totally Radical Only Known by Their Nickname War Is Hell Parental Substitute Sci-Fi Horror Author Avatar Vomit Discretion Shot Cool Guns Drugs Are Bad Bar Brawl Works Set in World War II Canadian Movies Irony Green-Eyed Monster Throwing Your Sword Always Works Took a Level in Jerkass Stylistic Suck The Smurfette Principle Bond Villain Stupidity Mercy Kill Closed Circle Heroic BSoD Cat Scare Ambiguous Disorder Vomit Indiscretion Shot Exact Words Spiteful Spit Break the Cutie Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! 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Belligerent Sexual Tension Narrator Domestic Abuse Unresolved Sexual Tension Adaptation Dye-Job Setting Update Papa Wolf Freeze-Frame Bonus Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Improbable Aiming Skills Non-Indicative Name Age Lift Take a Third Option One Steve Limit Pre-Mortem One-Liner Femme Fatale Dark Is Not Evil Funny Foreigner The Starscream Token Minority Taking You with Me Evil Counterpart Film Series In Medias Res Sadistic Choice Eagleland The Hero Dies Italian Films Groin Attack Gender Flip Face–Heel Turn Red Right Hand Eyepatch of Power Serious Business Despair Event Horizon Faking the Dead Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Spared by the Adaptation Show Within a Show Grievous Bottley Harm Married to the Job Happily Married Kubrick Stare The Atoner Men Are the Expendable Gender Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Ghost Fiction All Just a Dream Continuity Nod Spanner in the Works Television Movie Index Deconstruction Loads and Loads of Characters Alas, Poor Villain Improbable Weapon User Aside Glance Artistic License – History Adaptational Heroism The Smart Guy Bullying a Dragon Bound and Gagged Only Sane Man Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Diabolus ex Machina Amusing Injuries Agony of the Feet Destination Defenestration A Date with Rosie Palms Action Girl The Place Offscreen Moment of Awesome Kick the Son of a Bitch Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold All There in the Script Beard of Evil Guile Hero Pretty in Mink As You Know Genre Throwback Unusually Uninteresting Sight Enemy Mine Mexican Standoff Big Brother Instinct Shown Their Work Instant Death Bullet Almost Kiss Self-Deprecation Contrived Coincidence Rated M for Manly Vitriolic Best Buds Hoist by His Own Petard Sinister Minister Pay Evil unto Evil Credits Gag Black Comedy Rape The Vamp Babies Ever After Shut Up, Hannibal! 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Sir Swears-a-Lot The Reveal Insane Troll Logic Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Documentary Famous Last Words Time Skip Cool Old Guy Major Injury Underreaction Dramatic Irony Broken Pedestal Refuge in Audacity Hate Sink Fish out of Water Room Full of Crazy Adaptational Attractiveness 20 Minutes into the Future Alliterative Name Insult Backfire A Minor Kidroduction B-Movie Shirtless Scene The Stoic Faux Affably Evil Manly Tears Covers Always Lie Determinator aka: The Determinator Death Glare Those Two Guys And Starring Expository Hairstyle Change Retired Badass Lampshade Hanging He Who Fights Monsters Adaptational Villainy Bond One-Liner Didn't Think This Through Flashback Silent Movie Conspicuous CG Vampire Fiction After the End Bittersweet Ending The Power of Love Naïve Newcomer Historical-Domain Character Not Quite Dead Dramatic Gun Cock Your Head A-Splode Becoming the Mask Smoking Is Cool Slap-Slap-Kiss Loophole Abuse Badass Longcoat Deadpan Snarker The Oner Composite Character Not So Stoic Extreme Doormat The Chick I'm a Humanitarian Fatal Family Photo Needs Wiki Magic Love Black Dude Dies First Romantic False Lead No OSHA Compliance Adults Are Useless Berserk Button Half the Man He Used to Be Well-Intentioned Extremist No-Sell Laser-Guided Karma Very Loosely Based on a True Story Plucky Comic Relief Affably Evil Hollywood Darkness The Dreaded Idiot Ball Defrosting Ice Queen Fainting Leaning on the Fourth Wall All for Nothing Disney Villain Death Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Nice Hat Plot Hole Running Gag Crazy-Prepared Bavarian Fire Drill It's Personal Humiliation Conga Scenery Porn Death by Sex Anguished Declaration of Love Due to the Dead Big "NO!" 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There Is No Kill Like Overkill As Himself Casting Gag Freudian Excuse You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Eureka Moment Would Hurt a Child Back from the Dead timeperiod Last-Name Basis The Voiceless Lock and Load Montage Handicapped Badass Book-Ends Pragmatic Villainy Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Driven to Suicide Obstructive Bureaucrat Jerk with a Heart of Gold Small Name, Big Ego Disguised in Drag Slashed Throat Affectionate Parody La Résistance The Dragon Wrong Genre Savvy Light Is Not Good Worthy Opponent Made of Explodium Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Once More, with Clarity! 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For! Emphasis! Four-Temperament Ensemble Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Karma Houdini Mind Screw Broken Aesop Amoral Attorney "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Black Comedy Comically Missing the Point Boom, Headshot! 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Sassy Black Woman Antagonist Title Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Badass in a Nice Suit It's All About Me Logo Joke Leitmotif Fiery Redhead The Sociopath Retcon Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Paper-Thin Disguise Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Rich Bitch Victoria's Secret Compartment Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Malevolent Masked Men The Stoner Heroic Sacrifice Offscreen Teleportation Guns Akimbo Shell-Shocked Veteran Jerkass Has a Point Trailers Always Spoil Precision F-Strike Blood Knight Big Fancy House Stealth Hi/Bye Apocalypse How Not So Different Put on a Bus Suspiciously Similar Substitute Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Costume Porn Shower Scene Karmic Death Love Triangle Character Development All Girls Want Bad Boys Mama Bear Sealed Evil in a Can Final Girl Failed a Spot Check Monumental Damage Hong Kong Films Adapted Out Face Death with Dignity Politically Incorrect Villain Mood Whiplash Fantasy Films Wretched Hive Butt-Monkey Darker and Edgier Stepford Smiler Bilingual Bonus Toplessness from the Back Bottomless Magazines Large Ham Roaring Rampage of Revenge Ambiguous Ending Visual Pun Canon Foreigner Drill Sergeant Nasty Spiritual Successor Pre-Asskicking One-Liner An Arm and a Leg Cool Car Parental Abandonment Call-Forward Never My Fault Took a Level in Badass Artistic License – Geography The Hero Ominous Latin Chanting Anachronism Stew Missing Mom Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! 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They Really Do Love Each Other Broken Bird Australian Movies Captain Ersatz Psycho for Hire Have a Gay Old Time Villainous Breakdown The '80s For Want of a Nail Crapsack World Mad Scientist Take That! Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Anti-Villain Adaptation Distillation Zombie Stories Exactly What It Says on the Tin Horror Comedy Real Life Writes the Plot Frame-Up Ship Tease A God Am I Rape as Drama Manipulative Bastard Rasputinian Death Bolivian Army Ending World of Ham Same Language Dub Fire-Forged Friends Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Damsel in Distress Chekhov's Skill "Shaggy Dog" Story Immune to Bullets Ungrateful Bastard Skewed Priorities Our Vampires Are Different Revenge Left the Background Music On Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Pretty Little Headshots Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique The X of Y Curse Cut Short Big-Bad Ensemble One-Man Army Foregone Conclusion Fatal Flaw Informed Ability Easily Forgiven O.O.C. Is Serious Business Ms. Fanservice Madness Mantra Greater-Scope Villain Creative Closing Credits Gratuitous English Historical Villain Upgrade Anti-Hero Super Strength Neck Lift Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Good Is Not Nice Russian Films An Aesop Match Cut Cat Fight Male Gaze Chase Scene Overprotective Dad Bury Your Gays Captain Obvious Brick Joke Nice Guy Anyone Can Die Silence Is Golden Danny Peary Cult Movies List The Great Depression Flipping the Bird Too Dumb to Live Creepy Child Sacrificial Lion Black Best Friend Heroes Want Redheads '80s Hair Deus ex Machina Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds What the Hell, Hero? Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Animal Motifs Arranged Marriage Fun with Acronyms Did Not Get the Girl The Cameo Reality Is Unrealistic Fanservice Extra Kids Are Cruel Japanese Films Better to Die than Be Killed Historical Hero Upgrade Fantastic Racism The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Bland-Name Product Fingore Ironic Echo Car Fu No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Animal Title Index True Companions The End... Or Is It? 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Red Eyes, Take Warning Wham Shot Soft Glass The Alleged Car Punch-Clock Villain Straight Gay A Father to His Men Bowdlerise The '60s Evil Is Petty The '70s A.I. Is a Crapshoot folderlabel No Ending Military and Warfare Films Animated Credits Opening Historical In-Joke Asshole Victim Serial Killer Expy Beta Couple The Ace The Bully Cool Shades Author Appeal Older Than They Look Noodle Incident