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