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 the Trope Launch Pad.
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openTeaser only footage Film
So I’m looking for a variation of Missing Trailer Scene where a teaser for the film is made up of footage that is meant specifically for the teaser and will not appear in the movie in any way. Examples include the Drive In movies trailer for Film.Jurassic World Dominion, the suiting up trailer for WesternAnimation.The Incredibles, the whole argument between Mike and Sully from that one WesternAnimation.Monsters Inc teaser and so on.
open"The Swerve" Film
This is kind of encompassed in a lot of "kick the dog" related tropes and the "well intentioned extremist" trope where a villain does something monstrous, unnecessary, and unnecessarily monstrous to establish them as villainous to the audience. You might consider it a subtrope of both. It's when a villain has some unambiguously good cause and does a lot of good things in the plot that have good consequences, even if their methods are somewhat dicey. These acts sometimes put them in a moral position above even the heroes of the story. We can't have that, it's the end of the second act and we need to set up a final confrontation. So the villain blows up a building for no reason, removing all the moral ambiguity they once had so they can be defeated by the heroes at the end. The heroes then usually do something to fulfill the villains goals but "properly" Examples would be The Batman, where the riddler spends most of the movie killing (dicey methods) mobsters and corrupt politicians (good outcomes) before he floods half the city at the end (kick the dog moment that removes moral ambiguity) just before Batman catches him and helps the mayoral candidate he likes get elected (sets things on the path to achieving similar goals but through peaceful methods). Other examples of similar villains would be Kilmonger, the Flag Smashers from Falcon and the Winter Soldier, some villains in Legend of Korra. I'm sure there are more, it's pretty prevalent in superhero media.
openTarget in the Mirror? Film
There's a scene in the 1994 film of The Shadow where Margot Lane is sent to kill Lamont Cranston. She opens the door to the room where he is, sees him, aims her gun, and fires. But she's not shooting at him - she's shooting at his reflection in a conveniently-placed mirror. So the bullet only breaks the mirror. Later in the film, Cranston shoots at the Big Bad Shiwan Khan, and the same thing happens: it's a reflection of Khan, so the bullet only breaks the mirror.
I believe I've seen this same trick used in other films and TV shows, although I can't think of any other specific examples right now. Would this be a variant of "Mirror Scare", or would it fit under some other trope?
openIn a hilarious twist, a rule-breaker plays by the rules Film
A trope where a character who's always messing around and giving cheek and running some scheme, suddenly is not, and it's the last thing anyone expected — so surprising that it's hilarious.
E.g. in the movie Catch Me If You Can, the FBI agent has been chasing Frank Jr the con artist all over the world for years, and finally catches him. The one scheme that the FBI agent was never able to understand was how Frank cheated on the Louisiana bar exam, and so the agent asks Frank how he did it. Frank replies that he studied for two weeks and he passed it.
openWork Out the Exact Year from This Film
Is there a trope for when someone drops a hint as to the exact year when a work takes place without actually saying the year? For example, if a story takes place in 1946 and someone casually mentions "The war's only been over for a year"?
openRaces and chases trope Film
There is a certain all-recurring element in movies and liveaction tv when there's a race, mostly car but also includes other machinery, animals and feet, the chaser (be that a villain or a hero) catches up with... the chasee, i.e. is much faster than who ever is in front but then suddenly can't take them over! They're nose to nose, maybe even side bumping each other, we're on the edges of our seats and in the end, depending on the plot requirements, one of them wins by a hair. It may include nitro-boost. (Fast and Furious franchise uses this trope to levels unseen in any other work) As for the biological machines, it can be justified with spent energy to catch up but for the machines - if they go fast, they'll continue going fast as long as they don't break or use up fuel. There's no logical explanation for them to suddenly slow down. We need this trope, I've been searching for it all my life, couldn't find it, haven't seen it, why isn't it here, please help.
Edited by blejavacopenJoke airplane announcement Film
Hey all, has this one been documented yet? The trope where one of the characters will do a jokey captain's takeoff/landing announcement: "ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts and put your seats into the upright position... etc" . Usually just before or just after some crazy plane/spacerocket stunts. It's absolutely everywhere, the last time I remember was Maverick, near the end.
openSudden exit without explanation Film
Okay, I feel like this has to be in here somewhere, but any search variation I try isn't bringing it up.
Talking about when a character has to suddenly and quickly leave a conversation, and either can't or won't explain why (or if they do offer an explanation it's pretty half-assed)
Classic examples are Cinderella at midnight, or a superhero with an alter ego needing to go save the day. Other options: they're not supposed to be there and someone walks in that can blow their cover; some other kind of spell is wearing off; or in comedy there might be some sort of catastrophe happening that no one else can know about. Could also be connected to "running away to cry" if they're leaving becausr they're upset and can't say why.
Am I totally missing this page??
openA scene where 2 characters who are unaware of a connection they might have- meet Film
It probably sounds horribly worded from the title and I'm sorry, but I'm sure I can explain it better in the examples
First example: In Breaking bad season 2, "During the Jane arc", there is a bar scene where Walter and Donald (Jane's father) meet. At the time, Walter's partner Jesse, gets in cahoots with his landlord Jane, and that would be the hidden connection between them that both Walter and Donald are unaware of. The scene is mostly inconsequential to the plot, and the two never meet again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1zJ6uCqj7o
Another example I thought up about as I was writing this: In Avatar the last airbender, There is a scene where Toph is seperated from the Gaang, and she comes across Iroh, and they share some tea and indulge in a casual conversation, both of them having no idea about the backstory of their buddy; that Toph is with the group Aang is going along with, or that Iroh is uncle to the show's current "Antagonist"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-jEXVIRGWg
openMuslim In Distress Film
Is there a trope for when a muslim woman falls in love with a man and he convinces her that she needs to take off her hijab to be "free"? Usually shown as if she's being freed from her "oppressive" religion. Sort of like a damsel in distress situation but it's more religion focused.
openTrope where screen blacks out just as a crash happens Film
So there’s a crash of some sort. A plane is fireballing towards the earth, a car is about to slam into a wall, etc. *Just* as the impact happens, the screen blacks out, audio included. The succeeding scene can start up blurry, with tinnitus effects, the character barely waking up, something. What’s the trope for this??
openEveryone enjoys clubbing Film
It seems unlikely that a great many characters go clubbing.
Like 25th Hour, Last Vegas, Vanilla Sky, or recently Cobra Kai have characters go clubbing when drinks, the opportunity to dance with ladies, loud music doesn't seem like what the characters really desire.
openExpensive Glow Film
I'm wondering if there is a trope name to describe when someone in film/animation opens a treasure box/similar - and you don't see the treasure but it illuminates their face and you're meant to understand just from that - that the item inside is valuable/powerful.
Lots of valuable/powerful items glow, but I'm interested in just this sort of setup where you only get shown the glow illuminating their face to suggest its worth.
I can't think of any specific scenes apart from the scene below, but I know that it's a super re-used trope, so would love to know if it has a page on here.
https://youtu.be/3Ehu8eRe5wU?t=212
openReal Or Fake Ending Film
When it's very ambigous if the ending of a movie actually happened or was a Imagine Spot ?
openFlaming Instruments Film
I’m looking for a variation of Flaming Sword where the sword is a musical instrument, like the Doof having the flamethrower guitar from Mad Max: Fury Road.
openKeep seeing this all the time in classic Doctor Who Film
Villain has captured the hero, he is just about to execute him but then at the last second he gleefully says something like "No...that's too easy a death for you. I have a much better idea". Then the villain puts the hero in some convoluted death trap thing that he escapes.

close up shot of protagonist tapping dancing dashboard hula girl before driving off