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