Tropescilloscope: The Bad Guy Wins

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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