Tropescilloscope: The Starscream

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

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