Tropescilloscope: Red Herring

A misleading and distracting "clue". (read more at tvtropes.org)

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