Tropescilloscope: Not What It Looks Like

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

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