Tropescilloscope: "Shaggy Dog" Story

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

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