Tropescilloscope: Serious Business

Treating something more seriously than necessary. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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