Tropescilloscope: Shoot the Shaggy Dog

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

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