Tropescilloscope: Wrong Genre Savvy

A character thinks they're in a genre with different rules than the one they're actually in. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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