Tropescilloscope: Serial Killer

The Trope: Someone who murders many people in separate incidents. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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