Tropescilloscope: Manic Pixie Dream Girl

An upbeat young woman whose love gives the brooding male hero a new lease on life. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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