Tropescilloscope: Truth in Television

When a trope actually does happen in Real Life. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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