Tropescilloscope: Artistic License – Law

Law and legal proceedings are presented in a way that isn't factually accurate. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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