Tropescilloscope: Meaningful Background Event

Something plot-relevant happens onscreen, but not as the focus (read more at tvtropes.org)

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