Tropescilloscope: Spanner in the Works

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

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