Tropescilloscope: The Atoner

Former bad guy spends story making up for the things he did. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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