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)

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