Tropescilloscope: Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism

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

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