Tropescilloscope: Thriller

Trope: Anticipation of action, rather than action itself. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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