Tropescilloscope: The Bad Guy Wins

"Good always triumphs" has exceptions. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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