Tropescilloscope: Kick the Dog

A gratuitously cruel action serves to darken a character. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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