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