Tropescilloscope: Not What It Looks Like

Characters look like they're doing something wrong, but they aren't. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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