The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
partner555
Since: Dec, 2010
3rd Feb, 2018 03:07:51 PM
I think Asshole Victim covers it.
louschu
Since: Jan, 2017
3rd Feb, 2018 03:19:45 PM
Yeah perfect
When a writer needs some extras to die, but they don’t want to bum out the audience, they’ll have the doomed characters do something bad (but not really death-worthy) right before they die. Two examples: in Blade 1, we find out a morgue technician has been harassing his coworker and then he immediately gets killed by Donal Logue; in Suicide Squad, a late addition to the team is mentioned to be a rapist and then dies in the very next scene.
This is specifically different from when a supporting character is a jerk the whole movie and then gets their commupance at the end. It’s when someone is little more than an extra and the filmmakers signal that it’s not sad when they die by having them say something racist (or what have you) right beforehand.
Edited by louschu