Tropescilloscope: Serial Killer

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

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