Tropescilloscope: Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism

Right Makes Might vs. Might Makes Right (read more at tvtropes.org)

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