Tropescilloscope: Mugging the Monster

Criminal targets someone much more dangerous than they appear. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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