Movie
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Narrative tropes
One Hero Changes Everything
highHolmes alone unravels Moriarty's world-war conspiracy: he links the murders/bombings/acquisitions no institution detected, secretly swaps the coded diary during his own torture, deduces the summit assassination, and finally sacrifices himself to eliminate Moriarty. Governments and police are entirely reactive — Lestrade only seizes Moriarty's assets because Holmes delivered the evidence. Without Holmes, the war proceeds and Moriarty wins.
About this trope: One exceptional individual matters more than institutions or collective action. Problems affecting millions are solved by a single remarkable person. Everyone else is passive.
You Can't Trust Anyone
highHolmes's former lover Irene Adler and Dr. Hoffmanstahl are both revealed as Moriarty's agents. Moriarty's network is embedded invisibly across Europe — inside anarchist cells, arms manufacturers, and diplomatic channels. René undergoes radical surgery to impersonate an ambassador. Holmes must treat every apparently trusted figure as a potential Moriarty asset; paranoia is consistently validated by the plot.
About this trope: Trusted allies, institutions, or authority figures are secretly working against the protagonist. Paranoia is justified because betrayal is real and pervasive.
Violence Gets Results
mediumThe climactic confrontation is physical: Holmes drags Moriarty off the Reichenbach Falls balcony rather than resolving their standoff by reason. Watson uses a cannon to destroy Moran's watchtower; Simza intervenes physically to stop René. The face-to-face chess meeting and the peace summit both fail to neutralise the threat — only violence ends it. The story does not question Holmes's fatal choice.
About this trope: The central conflict is ultimately resolved through physical force rather than negotiation, diplomacy, or systemic change. Talking fails; fighting works.
Movies that share these tropes
Full plot (spoilers)
Set in 1891, a series of bombings attributed to political radicals push France and Germany toward war. Sherlock Holmes intercepts a bomb intended for Dr. Hoffmanstahl and discovers that his former lover Irene Adler and Hoffmanstahl are working for Professor James Moriarty, a criminal mastermind. Moriarty has both assassinated after they flee. Holmes confides to Dr. Watson that he has linked seemingly unrelated murders, terrorist attacks, and business acquisitions to Moriarty. Holmes meets Romani fortune-teller Madame Simza, whose brother René is working for Moriarty, and defeats an assassin sent to kill her. At Watson's wedding to Mary Morstan, Holmes meets Moriarty face-to-face; Moriarty taunts Holmes about killing Adler and threatens Watson and Mary. Moriarty's men ambush Watson and Mary on their honeymoon train; Holmes throws Mary into a river where Mycroft rescues her. Holmes and Watson travel to Paris, find Simza, and follow Moriarty's trail to an anarchist group forced to plant bombs. A bomb at the Paris Opera is actually a cover for the assassination of arms manufacturer Alfred Meinhard at a nearby hotel by Moriarty's sharpshooter Sebastian Moran, giving Moriarty control of Meinhard's arms factory in Heilbronn. In Germany, Moriarty captures and tortures Holmes while Watson battles Moran. Holmes deduces that Moriarty has acquired shares in war-profiteering companies and plans to instigate a world war for personal profit. Watson uses a cannon to destroy Moran's watchtower, and the three escape. Holmes deduces that Moriarty's endgame is an assassination at a peace summit in Switzerland. René, having undergone radical reconstructive surgery, is disguised as an ambassador and is the intended assassin. Holmes and Moriarty meet privately over a chess game while Watson and Simza stop René's attempt, though René is killed by Moran. Despite the immediate plot failing, Moriarty believes war will come regardless. Holmes then reveals that during his torture he secretly swapped Moriarty's coded diary—which contained his plans and financial records—with a duplicate, sending the original to Mary, who decrypts it and passes the intelligence to Inspector Lestrade, who seizes Moriarty's assets and donates his fortune to war-widow charities. Knowing Moriarty will win in a physical fight due to his injured shoulder, and knowing Moriarty will kill Watson and Mary, Holmes drags Moriarty off the balcony into the Reichenbach Falls. After Holmes's funeral, Watson receives a package from Mycroft containing a breathing device Holmes had noticed before the summit, signaling he may be alive. The film ends with Holmes secretly adding a question mark after "The End" in Watson's typewritten memoirs.
Sources: Wikipedia