Tropescilloscope: Meaningful Background Event

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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