Tropescilloscope: Kick the Dog

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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