Tropescilloscope: Broken Aesop

A story's narrative defies its message. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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