Tropescilloscope: Shoot the Shaggy Dog

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

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