Tropescilloscope: Sacrificial Lion

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

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