Tropescilloscope: Never Found the Body

Unless you actually have a dead person's corpse or see them die in front of you, the odds are they're still alive. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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