Tropescilloscope: Deus ex Machina

A miracle that saves the heroes at the last minute. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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