Tropescilloscope: Spanner in the Works

That imbecile has ruined all of my plans! (read more at tvtropes.org)

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