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