Tropescilloscope: Sadistic Choice

Forced to make one of two terrible choices. Morton's Fork may ensue. Can't Take a Third Option. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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