Tropescilloscope: Broken Pedestal

A character's mentor/role model turns out to be not so good after all. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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