Tropescilloscope: Wounded Gazelle Gambit

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

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