Tropescilloscope: Spanner in the Works

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

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