Tropescilloscope: Rule of Symbolism

Themes or imagery inserted for symbolic value. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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