Tropescilloscope: Serial Killer

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

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