Tropescilloscope: Rule of Symbolism

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

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