Tropescilloscope: Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism

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

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