Tropescilloscope: My Greatest Failure

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

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