Tropescilloscope: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Noble action brings bad consequences. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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