Tropescilloscope: Villainous Breakdown

When their Evil Plan is foiled, a calculating villain loses their composure, if not their sanity. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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