Tropescilloscope: Black and Gray Morality

Evil villain, flawed hero. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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