Tropescilloscope: Thriller

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

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