Tropescilloscope: Serious Business

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

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