Tropescilloscope: Animal Motifs

The use of an animal/animals to underline a theme or make a statement about a character. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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