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