Tropescilloscope: Mugging the Monster

Criminal targets someone much more dangerous than they appear. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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