Tropescilloscope: Red Herring

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

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