Tropescilloscope: Red Herring

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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