Tropescilloscope: Serial Killer

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

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