Tropescilloscope: Spanner in the Works

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

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