Tropescilloscope: Mystery and Detective Films

nan (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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