Tropescilloscope: Spanner in the Works

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

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