Tropescilloscope: Punch-Clock Villain

Working with the villain is just a job for them; they're not inherently a bad person. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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