Tropescilloscope: Red Herring

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

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