Tropescilloscope: Wounded Gazelle Gambit

Pretending to be a victim to manipulate others. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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