Tropescilloscope: The Atoner

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

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