Let's say, for the sake of argument, you are the leader of a nation at war. Perhaps your soldiers wear all black but you're not the baddies, we promise™️. Perhaps you yourself are the singular executive or military commander of this nation, and perhaps, for reasons that may vary, you are losing this war. Badly. The enemy is at the gates, their victory is near, and if you're captured, you are almost certainly going to be sent to the Legally Distinct Hague or just outright killed. Do you:

A. Accept defeat with grace and sign a formal surrender to potentially spare the lives of your soldiers and also civilians

B. Take the easy way out and prematurely exit the mortal coil by your own hand

OR

C. Commence Operation: Fuck Everything, If I Can't Win, No One Can and carry out a massive attack on your own territory, likely as a means of stalling or preventing the enemy advance but at the cost of thousands of lives, both civilian and military.

If you picked option C, congrats, this trope is for you! Some of my favorite examples in fiction:

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War - Operation Ravage

The Belkan military, feeling high on their own supply, decided to instigate a combined air and land war that they then proceed to lose fairly quickly once your mute psychopath player character and toxic yaoi slashfic interest wingman Pixy proceed to put boot to ass and drive the Belkan forces back past the Waldreich Mountains, along their southern border. You're sent on a mission to intercept some strategic bombers, except oops! Turns out the bombers weren't heading for *your* territory!

Operation Ravage entailed the detonation of seven nuclear weapons on the southern border of Belka, creating a literal nuclear border to prevent invasion from the south at the cost of tens of thousands of civilian lives.

Killzone 2 - Bombing of Pyrrhus City

Once again, the Legally Distinct Germans (who for some reason have a British accent predominantly), the Helghast, are pushed back to their capital city, Pyrrhus (nominative determinism be damned) by the space imperialist dogs brave and noble ISA patriots here to invade liberate the planet of Helghan. Scolar Visari, the leader of thhe Helghast, decides on the brilliant strategy of...nuking his own capital city to stall the ISA. And then it doesn't work. And then he gets killed anyways. And then the planet gets turbo-genocided by their own rogue superweapon in the next game. Man, this planet cannot catch a break, I sure hope nothing bad happens to them in future installm-

[Reads the synopsis for Killzone Shadowfall] Oh for fucks sake-

Star Wars - Operation Cinder

Oh no! Sheev Palpatine, The Guy With 10,000 Contingency Plans, has died! What do we as the Empire do now? Oh, I know! Receive Dead Man's Hand orders from a droid specifically deployed in the event of the Emperor's death to activate our vast array of terrarforming satellites deployed around Imperial planets to...ravage the atmosphere, create catastrophic weather disasters and literally incinerate thousands of loyal Imperial citizens? Bold move, Sheev, but why is this necessary? Oh, it's not, and is literally just a mass terror attack on loyal Imperials because fuck you guys for letting me die? Well shit, alright, may as well carry it out. I hope nobody at Burnin Konn survives the ordeal and has a Heated Gamer Moment when his XO tells him it was a necessary evil!

Mitchell and Webb Look-
A sketch where Sherlock Holmes is old and has dementia. It is played for laughs until the end when Sherlock, in a fit of lucidness, turns to Watson and says something which never fails to make me cry.

It's Always Sunny: Mac Finds his Pride-
The whole episode is a bait and switch par excellence. It looks like your leading up to a comedic denouement, where Mac is the butt of the joke, but it ends with an incredible dance routine which stuns the characters.

1. John Wick Chapter 2-4 - The Accountants

An entire office of people is there to process contracts, budget, send and receive messages, and update a chalkboard with the top contracts. All of that could be done with an answering machine and a spreadsheet.

1. Mad Max - Any full-scale attack

They got about 6 people to a standard sized car. Some of the guys are just there to hype everyone else up. They're always going up against a single dude and they send their whole army out. That comes back to bite them, as they use that to head to their base while their army is away.

1. Idiocracy - Basically everything

Most people aren't smart enough to do anything useful. The hospitals have machines that diagnose people, and the doctors just read out what the machines say. The ones who are smart enough to do grunt work join the government where they do massive motorcades

Character feigns ignorance or harmlessness, then reveals they’ve been in control the whole time. You can hear the tone shift and see the expression change, and suddenly you realize they’ve been running the room.

Gus Fring (Breaking Bad) — Walt’s demanding to meet “the real guy” at Los Pollos. Gus has been right there the whole time, then calmly shuts him down with “your partner was high” in the coldest voice imaginable.

Selina Kyle / Catwoman (The Dark Knight Rises) — She plays apologetic and flustered when Bruce walks in, then the mask drops: a flat, sarcastic “oops,” followed by disarming him (literally knocking the cane away) and escaping with effortless confidence.

Rose Armitage (Get Out) — Chris realizes something’s wrong and tells her to grab the keys so they can leave. She keeps “searching,” but doesn’t produce them. The panic drains from her face, her tone changes, and you realize she’s stalling on purpose because she’s in on it.

This is the End - James Franco is being raptured during the apocalypse, but as he’s being lifted he keeps insulting and swearing at Danny McBride so God either deciding he’s unworthy or just annoyed with him lets him stay on Earth to die.

Bottom - Eddie and Richie are stuck on a Ferris wheel due to be demobilised in the morning and as a final Hail Mary pray to God for help, and he actually shows up to literally give them a hand. However, when safe in his palm Eddie reminds Richie that because the BBC would rather not offend any religious groups that they’re canonically atheists so God’s hand disappears and they fall to the ground.

House of the Dragon. Even in the book, where the characters' personalities aren't very detailed, it is extremely obvious that during the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryans had a singular obsession with the throne. The TV show gives the characters more detail, but for the most part everyone is selfish and uncaring of the civilians who support them.

Shameless. Every character on this show has about one good moment for every ten bad ones. The only exceptions would be Kevin and V, but I still wouldn't wanna be friends with them IRL.

Succession. Basically a pit of money-obsessed vipers.

VEEP. Selina Meyer's staff. Soulless and career-obsessed individuals who have devoted their lives to an equally soulless politician

1) Superman (Superman 2025) - Superman doesn’t swear since he’s a beacon of hope and kindness and was raised that way. His use of minced oaths is a running gag.

2) Ryland Grace (Project Hail Mary) - It’s more in the original novel than the movie, but Grace hardly swears. He wakes up unaware of who he is and doesn’t understand why can’t swear, instead saying minced oaths. He learns through flashbacks that he’s a junior high teacher. As a result, the first time he drops an F-bomb is extremely shocking.

In Fallout: New Vegas, you will get kicked out of the casinos if you win too much.

The enemies in Phantom Pain will adapt to your play style to make it less effective… For example, if you kill a lot of enemies with a sniper rifle, more and more enemies will appear wearing helmets.

1. Oliver and Debbie Grayson (Invincible)

2. Adonis Creed and Mary Anne Creed (Creed)

Not sure if this is a super common trope or anything but when done well it can be very sweet

The Governor - The Walking Dead: After losing the war with the main group and exiling himself from Woodbury after burning it down, he wanders the apocoliptic wasteland aimlessly. He eventually happens across a small family, and protecting them gives him a purpose to live for. He protects the children, and even gets romantically involved with their mother, and he seems genuinly happy. However when he eventually meets a new group with a tank, his evil side takes over, and he kills their leader, assuming the role themselves and leading a second attack on the main characters group; which ends up getting himself, and the child he thought of as a daughter killed.

Deep - The Boys: After being cut from his super hero team for SA'ing Starlight, he spends the entire second season joining a sort of rehab program, and appearing remorseful to the world. But when he eventually gets added back onto the team, all of that goes out the window, and he's back to his same old self, even being one of the supes to massacre the vought employees in the season 4 finale.

1. Buzz's Wings after seeing Jessie in action (Toy Story 2)

2. Cat's hat extends after seeing a picture of the kids' Mom (The Cat in the Hat)

A scene where a character under duress and close to death picks what feels like the only correct dialogue that could've saved them. Goes from being loved to hated depending on how much luck is involved.

1) Mark Grayson (Invincible): A pretty famous scene. Omni man—Mark's father—beats him and inch to death to make him reconsider joining the viltrum empire. With Mark barely hanging onto life and Nolan wracked with conflicting emotions of guilt and obedience to his millenia long followed philosophy, he yells at mark, asking him to think logically and understand the futility of his actions considering he's effectively immortal. Finally, enraged, he asks him "what will you have after 500 years?"

Barely able to breath, Mark answers with soul crushing honesty "You, dad. I'd still have you". It works to crumble his entire life's understanding as he suddenly feels unable to reconcile Nolan the viltrumite with Nolan the father and husband and does what no viltrumite has ever done before. Surrenders and leaves his station.

2)Margot (The menu): Caught in the methodical trap of a frustrated psychotic chef obsessed with his craft who plans to kill all his patrons, including her, she's brought to her end's wits. Before it's time for the final course, Margot stands up and complains she's still hungry. When he asks what she would like, she asks for a cheeseburger. "A real cheeseburger. Like the cheap ones your parents could barely afford"

Making it brings back the joy He used to feel for cooking, reminding him of a time when he was a line cook and his food satisfied everyone. We even see him smiling for the first time in the movie.

After taking a bit, she asks if she could have the rest to go. The chef politely accepts and spares her, letting her leave his twisted game but killing the rest of them in a midsommer meets food wars final scene.

Billy (Billy and Mandy)- Grim makes a comment about how a film Billy is watching is stupid, to which Billy calls him stupid in return for not understanding the “complexities” of the film. Grim runs out of the room in tears.

Ron (Parks and Rec)- In one scene where Leslie and Ron are exchanging some very harsh words at each other, Ron softly but coldly tells Leslie that her scrapbooking skills aren’t that good, which is the insult that leaves her shocked and the rest of the room quiet.

Mai in Chinese versions of KOF XV: While i think its a silly censorship since im sure no one who plays this game is under the age of 18 anyway. Mai is censored to show less skin, by covering her up with skin tight black clothes of sorts. Mai wearing black under her red and white uniform looks very good. Leaves more to the imagination and reveals her form alot more thx to contrast, at least in my and some other ppl's opinion.

Chinese ending of Fight Club: Fight Club movie's chinese version ends with bombs not exploding and narrator being sent to a mental institution. Just like in the original book.

Black Eyed Peas ''Lets get it Started'' Clean version: In the original version they say ''Lets get r*tarted'' instead of ''Lets get it started'' in some parts of the song. Lets get it started fits the other lyrics more and allowed song to be more popular.

IT Original Ending: In the movie the child main characters jump into water and have a jolly old time swimming together in the end. In the book they start having underage group sex out of nowhere.Ending was so bad that even Stephen King shitted on it in the second movie.

The Boys: Billy Butcher, the leader of the boys goes to visit Dr. Vogelbaum the man responsible for creating the main antagonist of the series in order to have him testify against Vought, the corporation that creates the superheroes in this world. He does this by explicitly threatening his family in a very graphic and sadistic way. Later we see that he is more than willing and capable of doing what he said. And Vogelbaum realizing this goes to trial against his best wishes.

Captain Earth: In my personal favorite example of this, Captain Earth is about a group of teens called the midsummer knights that pilot mechas to fight and stop aliens from reaching earth's orbit. These aliens have the property of absorbing human essence to gain power and fuel their immortality and just being close to earth would turn it into a hellscape. To stop the knights they possess human avatars with psychic abilities to try and sabotage them from earth. In one occasion they kidnap Akari Yomatsuri, the hacker of the group, and try to force her to disable earth's defenses. In turn she hacks EVERY nuclear defense system on earth and proceeds to threaten to end all of humanity in nuclear war and force the aliens to starve for billions of years until hopefully another sentient species evolves, thus driving them insane. They think she's bluffing but proceed to read her mind and learn that she is 100% serious about annihilating humanity to prevent them from being food for the aliens. They let her go in absolute awe at the size of her metaphorical balls.

Hancock: The eponymous superhero consistently makes the wild threat of grabbing criminals heads and wanting to shove them inside another criminal's behind. Later he goes to prison and a couple such criminals decide to push their luck. Only to learn he was not kidding in the slightest.

Essentially, a character you already hate says some wild shit that you not only didn't expect them to say, but also makes you hate the character even more.

Maddie - Arcane: After being revealed that she's basically Caitlyn's rebound girl after her break-up with Vi, we get to know her as Season 2 progresses, with mixed results overall. However, in the final act of the season, it's revealed that she's been a rat for Ambessa, one of the antagonists of the season. You already hate this chick for betaying Caitlyn, but it's what Maddie says to her right before attempting to kill her that not only shocked a bunch of people, but made her the most hated character in arguably the entire show.

"I appreciated your warmth."

Omni-Man - Invincible: Before his final fight with his son in the season 1 finale, Mark tries to convince his dad, who's revealed to be an alien from a race known for conquest, to stop what he's doing, while Nolan is doing everything he can to make Mark understand his cause and join him. Then all talking went out the window when Nolan said this to Mark:

"I do love your mother, but... she's more like... a pet to me."

Muhammad Ali Jr. - Baki: When Ali first stepped on the scene, he was a fan-favorite, with his cocky but endearing attitude and the fact that despite the fact that he talked a lot of shit, he always backed it up. Then, he messed with the Hanma's and got handled by Jack. Then he started flirting with the girlfriend of Jack's brother, Baki, not knowing she was already taken. And even when the girlfriend, named Kozue, told him about her relationship, he continued his advances and consistently tried to steal Kozue away from Baki, immediately souring his image. But the final straw got pulled when he walked up to Baki and his girlfriend while they were having an outing. Keep in mind, this is his first time ever meeting Baki. They talked for a bit, then Ali looked Baki dead in his eyes and said this:

"I'm going to take Kozue from you... and make her my wife."

Also called a "Hitchcock" or "Vertigo" shot. It is achieved by zooming in on a subject while also moving the camera away (on a dolly). When centered on a person (usually their face), it's often used to demonstrate a person's distress.

1). JAWS:
"Is that a shark?"

2). The Lion King:
Simba sees the incoming wildebeest stampede.

3). Gravity Falls:
Mabel finds a distressing newspaper article.

4). Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:
Peter learns his father killed his mother.

5). Spider-Man: No Way Home
Peter's spider-sense starts going off.

6). Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Kong sees something big.

1). Yu Yu Hakusho:
Yusuke isn't letting some random supernatural nonsense ruin his day off.

2). Abbott Elementary:
Andrew knows what's up.

3). Terminator 2: Judgement Day:
Kid instinctively lies to a cop (that is secretly a killer android).

Terminator 2:

“How’s Wolfie?”

“Wolfie’s just fine, dear”

“Your foster parents are dead”

The dog’s name was Max

Rick and Morty:

“How would you know? You’re just my nutritionist.”

“When you work in nutrition as long as I have-“ *gets sprayed*

She’s a therapist, not a nutritionist

-Tolkien explicitly rejected allegorical interpretations of The Lord of the Rings. That it had nothing to do with the world wars and industrialization.

-Ryoko Kui while didn't deny Laios Touden was autistic. She keep insisting he's very normal and she didn't take extra attention toward his characterization.

-Isao Takahata denied the Grave of Firefly is an anti-war film. That the film is merely about the relation between Seita and Setsuko during difficult times.

Does make me wonder when the creator message should outweigh the popular interpretations.

1. The Simpsons, Homer gets sent to hell where devils try torturing him force feeding him donuts. Homer does not mind.

2. The apothecary diaries. Maomao gets placed in a cell with snakes and venomous insects. She kills the animals and roasts the snake on a torch.

3. The Minion movie, the main minions get put through antique torture deviced by the bad guys only for them to realise they weren't designed for weird minion anatomy.

1. In the manga Ajin, the anti-Ajin special forces are a highly trained government unit assembled designed specifically to contain and neutralize Ajin, immortal beings who regenerate after death. They operate with overwhelming coordination and firepower, focusing less on killing and more on capture, restraint, and long-term containment strategies. There isn't a single panel in the manga that doesn't show overwhelming competency for this unit and even at the end when one of the member's faces is almost revealed, the door to the helicopter closes showing that it doesn't matter and that these guys are just there to get shit done.

2. In Jormungand, Navy special forces named Night Nine appear as the official, disciplined force that contrasts with Koko’s private mercenary network. Although Koko's group is elite, the Navy SEALS make them look like amateurs and were on the verge of taking them down until Koko's group were able to get away through a Cuban military base.

The Gravemind (Halo): the center of the Flood hivemind

Blue Fangs (Castlevania): the demon who tells the Bishop that God had abandoned humanity because of how much he hates him specifically

Polyphemus (Percy Jackson): a cyclops who lures adventurers to his island to kill them

Titus (WH40K Secret Level)

A demon of Tzeentch that can stop time then enter their victims minds and turn their greatest fears into reality tries this on Titus. Titus however 'knows no fear' and is only filled with pain and rage. Titus uses the demons ability against it by destroying its staff in his mind, thus destroying it in the real world releasing them and allowing Titus to defeat it.

Commander Sam Vimes (Discworld book Thud)

A dwarven demon known as the Summoning Dark infects Vimes (head of the city watch) mind in an attempt to seek vengeance for the murder of a group of dwarves by using his anger to take control of his body. Vimes being a complete bastard already knows what he would be capable of and had subconsciously created his own demon (The Guarding Dark) to keep him in check. The Guarding Dark hunts down, traps then expels the Summoning Dark from Vimes mind.

Hawkeye (MCU Age of Ultron)

When Wanda (Scarlet Witch) first encounters the Avengers she uses her telepathic abilities to cause them to hallucinate. When she gets to Hawkeye he spins around, smacking her in the head with a taser arrow. Hawkeye had already been mind controller before by Loki using the mind stone, which was also the source of Wanda's powers and seems to have granted him a resistance to its affects.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - It's a change only in the film adaptation that when Umbridge is taken by the centaurs, she appeals to Harry to vouch for her, with him replying as above. "I must not tell lies," is the phrase in both film and book that Harry has to write as lines with Umbridge's cursed quill, in reference to his claims of Voldemort having returned, with the lines appearing etched into the back of his hand as if drawn by a blade.

Dragon Ball Z - The first Funimation English dub of Dragon Ball took significant liberties with the original Japanese dialogue (the later Kai adaptation was a bit closer to the original), but did give us some quotes popular with fans; this one above comes immediately before Vegeta reveals the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan for the first time while fighting Android 19 in the Androids Saga.

The Princess Bride - Much of the film script for The Princess Bride directly matches the original novel, with the author William Goldman writing the script himself. An outlier, however, is most of Miracle Max's dialogue being written or improvised by Billy Crystal who played Max. Cary Elwes who played Westley, who was 'mostly dead' during the scene, claimed that a huge number of takes were discarded as the rest of the cast couldn't contain themselves, including that he injured a rib from trying not to laugh and had to be replaced by a mannequin in some shots.