Line #65 Main/MysteryTropes


1	[[quoteright:332:[[Webcomic/BobTheAngryFlower https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/murdermystery_bob_9059.jpg]]]]
2
3	Tropes associated with MysteryFiction and DetectiveFiction.
4
5	Compare also WhatIsThisIndex for standard questions characters tend to ask. See also StockPuzzle.
6	----
7	!!Tropes:
8	[[index]]
9	[floatboxright:
10	'''Media index:'''
11	+ MysteryFiction
12
13	'''Trope indexes:'''
14	+ BasicMysteryClasses
15	+ CopsAndDetectives
16	+ CrimeAndPunishmentTropes
17	+ ForensicPhlebotinum
18	+ ThisIndexIsAClue
19	]
20	* AbsenceOfEvidence: When the absence of something is a clue.
21	* TheAlibi: Someone can prove they were physically incapable of committing the crime.
22	* AmnesiacHero: When the protagonist has amnesia.
23	* AnachronisticClue: Something which can't come from the time period it supposedly came from, which is a sign something is amiss.
24	* AnonymousKillerNarrator: When the serial killer is the narrator of the mystery story.
25	* AntiClimacticUnmasking: Someone rips off someone else's face-concealing costume (such as a mask, visor, etc), expecting someone extraordinary, but they get someone ordinary.
26	* BelieverFakesEvidence: A believer plants fake evidence to make others believe in the phenomena of their choice.
27	* BeneathNotice: Disguising oneself as a very plain, regular person.
28	* BeneathSuspicion: When the culprit was never suspected because no one thought it could have been them.
29	* BloodStainedLetter: A letter or note that has blood on the paper.
30	* BluffingTheMurderer: Someone is pretty sure who committed the crime, so they trick the criminal into revealing themselves.
31	* BookmarkClue: An important clue is discovered because someone used it as a bookmark.
32	* TheButlerDidIt: A butler turns out to be the one who committed the crime.
33	* CastAsAMask: A character and their disguised self are played by separate actors.
34	* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: Bad guys hold onto evidence for no good reason.
35	* ClockDiscrepancy: Something seems to have happened at a certain time, but then it turns out it didn't, for instance because the clock had stopped.
36	* ClosedCircle: A plot where the characters can't leave until it's over.
37	* CluelessMystery: A mystery story where the reader/viewer can't follow along.
38	* CondensationClue: A hidden message written with one's finger onto a mirror or window.
39	* ConfessInConfidence: The criminal confesses to someone whose job requires confidentiality, such as a clergy member, doctor, or lawyer.
40	* ConsultingAConvictedKiller: There's a dangerous criminal at large, but luckily the investigators can talk to another, incarcerated criminal.
41	* ConvictionByContradiction: A whodunnit mystery is solved by finding a hole in the perp's story, like a logic puzzle.
42	* CorpseTemperatureTampering: Interfering with natural cooling of a dead body to obfuscate time of death.
43	* CostumesChangeYourSize: A disguised figure's size is somehow different from that of the person underneath. A standard trope for ScoobyDooHoax mysteries.
44	* CozyMystery: A mystery story where there is no graphic violence, sex, or profanity, the murder victims were bad people, the detective is usually a woman with a down-to-earth hobby, the setting is a small community, and the story in general has a lighthearted vibe despite usually dealing with a murder.
45	* CreepyRedHerring: A blantantly creepy suspect is innocent.
46	* CurtainCamouflage: Hiding behind a curtain.
47	* CutHimselfShaving: A character was attacked, but lies that the injuries are for a mundane reason, such as [[StaircaseTumble falling downstairs]].
48	* DameWithACase: Beautiful but untrustworthy woman who hires the HardBoiledDetective.
49	* DeathInTheClouds: A mystery story involving a murder on a plane.
50	* DetectivesFollowFootprints: Looking for evidence can solve the case.
51	* DidNotDieThatWay: Someone lies about the cause of someone else's death.
52	* DisabilityAlibi: A suspect is determined innocent because they have a disability of some sort that makes it impossible for them to have done the crime.
53	* TheDogWasTheMastermind: The villain turns out to be a seemingly harmless and irrelevant character.
54	* DramaticCurtainToss: Someone dramatically removes a curtain/tarp/veil, revealing something important.
55	* DrivingQuestion: When the whole story revolves around solving some sort of mystery.
56	* EagleEyeDetection: A detective whose main skill is being really observant.
57	* TheEndOrIsIt: The story ends with a reveal (or at least an implication) that danger is still present.
58	* EurekaMoment: A character has an epiphany from seeing or hearing something unrelated that reminds them of the answer (e.g. seeing a dog, then realising the killer was the owner of the hot ''dog'' stand.)
59	* EverybodyDidIt: All the suspects were responsible for the crime in some way.
60	* EveryoneIsASuspect: When the killer in a murder mystery could have been anybody.
61	* EvidenceDungeon: The villain has a lair where lots of incriminating evidence is.
62	* EvidenceScavengerHunt: A scene about protagonists searching for clues.
63	* EvilPlan: A plan that a villain has.
64	* ExpositionVictim: Upon finding out who the killer is, the character speaks to them instead of fighting or running away.
65	* FairPlayWhodunnit: The opposite of a Clueless Mystery--a mystery story where the reader/viewer ''can'' follow along.
66	* FakeAlibi: A suspect claims to have [[TheAlibi an alibi]], witnesses confirm, yet the suspect is actually guilty.
67	* FakeMystery: The mystery plot turns out to have been staged to prank the detectives.
68	* FantasticNoir: Mystery and magic mix on the mean streets.
69	* FingerLickingPoison: Someone was poisoned by licking something covered in poison.
70	* FingertipDrugAnalysis: Testing if a powder or liquid is drugs by sniffing or tasting it.
71	* TheGameNeverStopped: Characters take part in a game involving a simulated death, then someone actually dies... or so it seems. As it turns out, the game hasn't ended yet.
72	* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: A suspect isn't proven innocent until the true culprit is exposed.
73	* HideTheEvidence: Hiding the evidence of something wrong or embarrassing is a major plot point.
74	* HiddenInPlainSight: Something is being searched for, and it turns out it was there the whole time but blended into the surroundings.
75	* HiddenAgendaHero: The hero's motivation is never revealed.
76	* HiddenVillain: The villain's identity is not revealed until much later.
77	* INeverSaidItWasPoison: A character accidentally gives themselves away by revealing information that their knowledge of proves they are guilty.
78	* InsistsOnBeingSuspected: The detective counts themselves as a suspect.
79	* IntrepidReporter: A journalist who actively searches for stories.
80	* LetOffByTheDetective: The detective knows who did it, but sympathises with their motive (or feels they've been punished enough) and so doesn't say so.
81	* LightsOffSomebodyDies: The lights go out, then when they turn back on, someone has been murdered.
82	* LockedRoomMystery: A crime that seems to have been impossible at first glance (for instance, a murder victim in a locked room.)
83	* LotsaPeopleTryToDunIt: It turns out that all the suspects tried to kill the victim.
84	* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: It's always the protagonists who find the important evidence.
85	* TheMeddlingKidsAreUseless: The protagonists did all the cool stuff, but ultimately it was some other person, such as the police, who solved the problem.
86	* MistakenForEvidence: Something looks like a specific, suspicious item but it's something different.
87	* {{Mockspiracy}}: A conspiracy theory which turns out not to be true.
88	* MocksteryTale: A story that starts out with a mystery, but the mystery turns out to be fake or unsolvable, so the plot goes somewhere different.
89	* MotiveEqualsConclusiveEvidence: A motive is treated as incriminating evidence.
90	* MysteriousStranger: A recurring character who isn't known by the others, and who's deliberately set up as enigmatic.
91	* MysteryEpisode: An episode in a serial work dedicated to solving a mystery.
92	* MysteryMagnet: Someone who coincidentally seems to attract mysteries.
93	* MysteryOfTheWeek: The protagonists solve a mystery in every episode.
94	* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: An object hidden in a bunch of similar objects.
95	* NeverARunaway: Someone who is said to have run away actually befell some other crime.
96	* NeverOneMurder: Murder mysteries never have just one victim.
97	* NeverSuicide: It looks like somebody killed themselves, but it turns out to be murder instead.
98	* NeverTheObviousSuspect: Somebody seems to have been the culprit due to having obvious motive and ability to have done it, but it was somebody else who was the real culprit.
99	* NoOneSeesTheBoss: No one, not even his underlings, knows the BigBad's identity.
100	* NotableNonSequitur: In a detective story, every out-of-place line turns out to be important.
101	* NotSoFakePropWeapon: An actor [[AccidentalMurder accidentally kills]] another actor due to a prop weapon being switched for a real one.
102	* ObfuscatingPostmortemWounds: A killer inflicts additional wounds on a corpse to mask the true cause of death.
103	* OldDarkHouse: One or more murders happens in an old, poorly-lit house.
104	* OnlyOnePlausibleSuspect: A whodunnit where the identity of the culprit is obvious to the viewers.
105	* OntologicalMystery: A story where the characters are locked somewhere and must find out how they got there, why, how to escape, and who (if anyone) is the cause of the situation.
106	* OrgyOfEvidence: A criminal plants fake clues, but gives themselves away by the sheer number of fake clues.
107	* PerfectPoison: Killing someone with poison is unrealistically quick and easy.
108	* PlaceboEurekaMoment: A character figures out a mystery on their own, but thanks someone near them anyway.
109	* PrecrimeArrest: Someone gets arrested for a crime they haven't even committed yet.
110	* ProofDare: The criminal dares the detective to prove their guilt.
111	* ProppingUpTheirPatsy: A culprit proclaims the innocence of another suspect to conceal their own culpability or further their own agenda.
112	* PublicSecretMessage: Sending a coded message to everyone because only the intended target of the message will understand the code.
113	* PutOnAPrisonBus: The culprit is often defeated at the end by being arrested.
114	* PuzzleThriller: A mystery story where the mystery is "how does it all work?".
115	* RecordedAudioAlibi: Someone uses a recording of themselves to establish an alibi.
116	* RedHerring: Something seems like a clue, but it misleads the audience.
117	* ReverseWhodunnit: We know who committed the crime, but we don't know how the detective will solve the case.
118	* RewindReplayRepeat: Somebody finds something that gets their attention in a video, so they rewind and replay it over and over.
119	* ARiddleWrappedInAMysteryInsideAnEnigma: Somebody describes a frustrating mystery as three mysteries in one.
120	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: A crime story based on a real crime.
121	* SayingTooMuch: Someone accidentally says something that reveals plot-sensitive info.
122	* ScaryMinoritySuspect: An immoral-seeming TokenMinority character is portrayed as the obvious suspect of a crime.
123	* ScoobyDooHoax: The perpetrator disguises the crime as a paranormal or supernatural event.
124	* SecretIdentityApathy: The villains do not care about the true identity of the hero who's always thwarting them.
125	* SerialKillingsSpecificTarget: A murderer covers up the murder by killing other people with similar traits as the initial victim.
126	* ShadowedFaceGlowingEyes: A character has glowing eyes peeking out from a shadowed, usually covered face.
127	* ShellGame: Two or more identical things are shown, one is significant, and we initially know which it is until the objects get mixed.
128	* SherlockCanRead: Someone thinks someone else used great detective work when they didn't.
129	* SherlockScan: A detective comes to a conclusion about someone they just met from looking at them.
130	* TheSevenMysteries: Mysteries come in sevens.
131	* SignatureItemClue: A distinctive item means that someone must have put it there and that's a clue.
132	* SpotTheImpostor: Someone is seen with their impersonator and their friends have to determine who is the real deal and who is the disguised phony.
133	* TheStakeout: One or more people setting up camp somewhere and watch a location in secret to search for information.
134	* StrangerBehindTheMask: The answer to the mystery is something or someone we've never heard of.
135	* TheSummation: When the detective does a speech about how they solved the mystery.
136	* SummationGathering: During the Summation in a murder mystery, all the suspects, including the killer, are present.
137	* SuspectIsHatless: Someone reports a crime while giving a description of the culprit that is too vague and generic to narrow down who the person responsible could be.
138	* SuspiciousMissedMessages: Someone won't answer their phone? Better find out why!
139	* TenLittleMurderVictims: A group of people ends up somewhere, one of them turns out to be a killer, and they must find out which one before they kill everybody.
140	* ThatMysteriousThing: Characters refer to something in ambiguous terms so the audience won't know what it is.
141	* ThrillerOnTheExpress: A crime story set on a train.
142	* TwistEnding: The plot leads one way, but then something happens at the end which changes everything.
143	* TwoDunIt: There were two culprits all along.
144	* TheUnsolvedMystery: A mystery story without a resolution.
145	* VaryingCompetencyAlibi: A character is proven innocent when they're shown to be too competent or incompetent to do.
146	* WeatherReportOpening: The story opens with a description of the weather.
147	* WheelProgram: A number of TV shows are run in the same slot under one title.
148	* WhoDunnitToMe: Someone survives a murder attempt or comes back from the dead after being killed and tries to find out who it was who killed them or tried to kill them.
149	* WhoMurderedTheAsshole: An unsympathetic person has been killed, but it is difficult to determine who's responsible because pretty much everyone who knew the victim hated them.
150	* WorldOfMysteries: A setting with heaps of mysteries in it.
151	* WritingIndentationClue: Reading the indentations of notes written on a separate piece of paper.
152	* YouMeddlingKids: The villain claims they would have gotten away with whatever they planned on doing, if not for the protagonists.
153	* YouWakeUpInARoom: A character wakes up in an unfamiliar location.
154	* YouWakeUpOnABeach: A story that starts with a protagonist waking up on a beach.

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