Tropescilloscope: Very Loosely Based on a True Story

While based on true events, the story is heavily fictionalized from the real one. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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