Tropescilloscope: Pet the Dog

An act of kindness by a Villain or Anti-Hero. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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