Tropescilloscope: The Starscream

Villain's top minion plans to betray their master to claim power for themselves. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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