Tropescilloscope: Pyrrhic Victory

Victory so costly it feels like a defeat. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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