Tropescilloscope: Truth in Television

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

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