Tropescilloscope: Mystery and Detective Films

nan (read more at tvtropes.org)

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