Tropescilloscope: Villainous Breakdown

When their Evil Plan is foiled, a calculating villain loses their composure, if not their sanity. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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