Tropescilloscope: Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?

Villains never take the most direct approach to dealing with enemies. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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