Tropescilloscope: "Shaggy Dog" Story

A struggle or quest which is unexpectedly rendered moot when it ends. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Dual Wielding Those Wacky Nazis Soundtrack Dissonance Brick Joke In Medias Res Ripped from the Headlines Slashed Throat Adapted Out Mooks Big Bad An Aesop Mr. Exposition Establishing Character Moment Double-Meaning Title All There in the Script Guns Akimbo Laser-Guided Karma The Vamp Babies Ever After Sci-Fi Horror Never Found the Body Broken Pedestal Self-Deprecation Up to Eleven Sole Survivor Made of Iron Historical In-Joke B-Movie Red Shirt Shoot the Shaggy Dog British Films Ambiguous Disorder Dogged Nice Guy Didn't Think This Through Shout-Out Shut Up, Hannibal! Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Rousing Speech Bottomless Magazines Handicapped Badass Cassandra Truth Reckless Gun Usage Manipulative Bastard Once More, with Clarity! 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Greater-Scope Villain Annoying Younger Sibling Fish out of Water Real Life Slap-Slap-Kiss Yandere The Big Guy Dramatic Gun Cock Faux Affably Evil "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Anyone Can Die Heroic Sacrifice Continuity Nod Make It Look Like an Accident Dumb Blonde Bland-Name Product Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Punch-Clock Villain Famous Last Words Agony of the Feet Ironic Echo Slasher Movie Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Villain Protagonist Trailers Always Spoil Killed Mid-Sentence Kill It with Fire Adaptational Attractiveness Pre-Mortem One-Liner Bloody Hilarious Curb-Stomp Battle Implacable Man Car Fu Training Montage Parental Incest Hypocrite Almost Kiss Take That! 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Is Serious Business Mama Bear Here We Go Again! Suddenly SHOUTING! Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas The Smurfette Principle Gilligan Cut Decoy Protagonist I'm a Humanitarian Leitmotif Accidental Misnaming Blackmail The Voiceless Freudian Excuse Cold-Blooded Torture Foregone Conclusion Eldritch Abomination You Killed My Father Boom, Headshot! Punny Name Too Dumb to Live Only Known by Their Nickname Room Full of Crazy Daddy's Girl Animal Motifs Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Lighter and Softer Undying Loyalty As You Know Fatal Family Photo The Oner Girl-on-Girl Is Hot The Bully Psycho for Hire Reality Is Unrealistic You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! 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Depraved Bisexual Jerk with a Heart of Gold Not Using the "Z" Word Love Triangle The Ace Age Lift Broken Aesop Demonic Possession Hollywood Law Beard of Evil Ghost Fiction The Musical Berserk Button Narrator Parental Substitute Woman Scorned Authority Equals Asskicking Missing Mom Roaring Rampage of Revenge Captain Obvious Karmic Death Horror Comedy Fire-Forged Friends The Ditz Shell-Shocked Veteran Developing Doomed Characters Arc Words Blood Knight Book-Ends Psychological Thriller Beware the Nice Ones One-Man Army Death Glare Maybe Ever After Guile Hero No OSHA Compliance Malevolent Masked Men Hong Kong Films Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Calling the Old Man Out Faking the Dead Does This Remind You of Anything? Pet the Dog Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Psychopathic Manchild Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Translation Convention Martial Arts Movie Re-Cut Cowboy Cop Woman in White Heroic BSoD Villain Opening Scene Star-Crossed Lovers Left the Background Music On Department of Redundancy Department Reality Ensues Taking the Bullet Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Film Noir Index Same Language Dub Black Comedy Amoral Attorney Naked People Are Funny Jump Scare Bar Brawl Documentary Betty and Veronica Character Development Overprotective Dad Storming the Castle Serious Business Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Fourth Date Marriage Call-Back The Quiet One Scenery Porn Retcon My Greatest Failure After the End Adaptational Villainy French Films Unusual Euphemism Suspiciously Specific Denial Action Girl Contrived Coincidence Friend to All Children Well-Intentioned Extremist Becoming the Mask Retirony Evil Is Hammy Drugs Are Bad Setting Update Pimped-Out Dress Dark Is Not Evil Sacrificial Lion Irony NO INDOOR VOICE Captain Ersatz Artistic License – Physics The Mafia You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Dirty Coward Chekhov's Gunman Double Entendre The Casanova Hooker with a Heart of Gold Frame-Up Disappeared Dad Playing Gertrude Adaptational Heroism Exact Words Manly Tears Music Stories Villain Song The Dog Bites Back Let's Get Dangerous! 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My Beloved Smother Truth in Television Crazy Jealous Guy Karma Houdini The Lancer Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Very Loosely Based on a True Story Rule of Cool Tranquil Fury Bad Boss Obfuscating Stupidity No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Alpha Bitch The Bad Guy Wins Evil Brit Nice Hat Novelization Dwindling Party Sassy Black Woman Cat Fight Hero Antagonist Kids Are Cruel Stuff Blowing Up Kubrick Stare The Chessmaster Happily Married Scary Black Man Groin Attack Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Scare Chord Domestic Abuse Humans Are Bastards Film Series Arranged Marriage Big "NO!" 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Kick the Dog Rewatch Bonus Bullying a Dragon A Father to His Men Not So Stoic Even Evil Has Loved Ones No Antagonist Those Two Bad Guys As Himself Mind Screw Blood from the Mouth Dutch Angle Expy Death by Adaptation Large Ham Small Name, Big Ego Shipper on Deck Only One Name Framing Device Blatant Lies Improvised Weapon Gratuitous English '80s Hair Romantic Comedy Anachronic Order Defrosting Ice Queen Heel Realization Facial Horror More Dakka Rasputinian Death Mistaken for Gay Needs Wiki Magic Love Bilingual Bonus Mr. Fanservice Extremely Short Timespan Shower Scene Poor Communication Kills Shirtless Scene Determinator A.I. Is a Crapshoot Green-Eyed Monster Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Insult Backfire Big Bad Duumvirate Japanese Films Meaningful Echo One-Word Title Villain with Good Publicity It Can Think Improbable Weapon User Action Genre Apocalypse How Drowning My Sorrows Throwing Your Sword Always Works Punctuated! For! Emphasis! 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They Really Do Love Each Other Conspicuous CG Comically Missing the Point The Mole This Is Gonna Suck Important Haircut Meaningful Name Earn Your Happy Ending The Power of Love Horror Films Christmas Movies Index Fingore Black Best Friend Dropped a Bridge on Him Vomit Indiscretion Shot Femme Fatale Naïve Newcomer Vacation Films Artistic License – Law Ominous Latin Chanting Plucky Comic Relief Pragmatic Villainy Flipping the Bird MacGuffin She's Got Legs Easily Forgiven Chase Scene Thriller Unspoken Plan Guarantee One Steve Limit Alliterative Name Affectionate Parody Bond Villain Stupidity Sports Stories As Long as It Sounds Foreign Downer Ending Refuge in Audacity The X of Y timeperiod Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking It's Personal Took a Level in Badass Due to the Dead Did Not Get the Girl