Tropescilloscope: Sadistic Choice

Forced to make one of two terrible choices. Morton's Fork may ensue. Can't Take a Third Option. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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