Tropescilloscope: Sacrificial Lion

Significant character is killed to show that death really is a threat. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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