Tropescilloscope: Shoot the Shaggy Dog

A tragic ending where the protagonist's efforts are All for Nothing. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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