Tropescilloscope: Shoot the Shaggy Dog

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

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