Tropescilloscope: My Greatest Failure

The mistake that motivates the hero. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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