Tropescilloscope: Wounded Gazelle Gambit

Pretending to be a victim to manipulate others. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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