Tropescilloscope: Manic Pixie Dream Girl

An upbeat young woman whose love gives the brooding male hero a new lease on life. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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