Tropescilloscope: Mugging the Monster

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

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