History Main / MetaTwist

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: Having {{The Stinger}}s be used to tease future movies and help with WorldBuilding has become a major trademark of the [=MCU=], to the point where ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' practically parodied this trend by having ''five'' stingers. However, ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', the GrandFinale of [[MythArc the Infinity Saga]] throws a major curveball by... not having one at all. After all, did you really expect the [=MCU's=] SeriesFauxnale to end with a ToBeContinued?

** When you get to the end of a game, you can expect to fight Dracula as the final boss and for him to alternate between teleporting around and firing bursts of fireballs at you. Midway through the battle he'll usually transform into some grotesque creature, so the twist here are those few times he doesn't. For example, in ''Super Castlevania IV'' he merely loses the flesh on his head. Then there's ''Order of Ecclesia'', where instead of transforming, Dracula simply [[PowerWalk power walks]] around much like the recurring golem and armor bosses.

*** In the Thieves' Hideout in Lorule, you'll find a girl locked in a cell asking for help, who promises to give Link the Sage Painting after her rescue. Players who have played ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' would know that in the Thieves' Town dungeon in the DarkWorld, the maiden there was in fact the boss in disguise. An experienced player is thus fully prepared for a betrayal at any time. The game teases you by making it an EscortMission and having Link work together with her to go through the dungeon. Upon finally reaching the boss door, the game reveals that the girl is in fact, not actually the boss that the player had been expecting (though they do fight Blind's SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, Stalblind). That's not even the end of the teasing. After the battle, Link has to cross a narrow bridge with the girl behind him, teasing that she might push him off. In the end, she keeps her word, and gives Link the painting as promised.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake'' pulls a sneaky as well with the dog in the beartrap. Around the time and place you'd meet the dog in [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 the original]], you instead find the brutalized corpse of a dog in a beartrap. Since the remake [[DarkerAndEdgier takes itself a lot more seriously and has more a focus on horror than the camp of the original]], pretty much everyone fell for this one as it appears to send a very clear message. It later turns out it was a RedHerring when you then meet ''the'' dog in a beartrap much later, and yes, he still helps you when you fight El Gigante.

** Like the Sigma example below, it's well known that Dr. Wily is the BigBad and FinalBoss of every ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' game. ''VideoGame/MegaManV'', ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', and ''VideoGame/RockmanAndForteMiraiKaraNoChosensha'', however, go for a half-twist, as while Wily ''is'' partially responsible for the latest batch of enemies Mega Man has to face (in that he uncovered and repaired them), Sunstar, Ra Moon, and Rockman Shadow all refuse to be controlled by Wily and give him the [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]] treatment before facing Mega Man themselves as the FinalBoss.

** Like the Sigma example below, it's well known that Dr. Wily is the BigBad and FinalBoss of every ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' game. ''VideoGame/MegaManV'', ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', and ''VideoGame/RockmanAndForteMiraiKaraNoChosensha'', however, go for a half-twist, as while Wily ''is'' partially responsible for the latest batch of enemies Mega Man has to face (in that he uncovered and repaired them) Sunstar, Ra Moon, and Rockman Shadow all refuse to be controlled by Wily and give him the [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]] treatment before facing Mega Man themselves as the FinalBoss.

** Throughout the series' many flashbacks, it became tradition for the subject of the flashbacks to have formed a bond with someone, often a paternal figure, then lose them in an event which informed their later actions. So, in Whole Cake Island, when it's revealed that [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Big Mom]] was raised by Mother Carmel, an orphanage head and holy woman who instilled Big Mom's philosophy of a land of all people and mysteriously disappeared during a birthday party, fans were led to believe they were in for a similar sequence of events. Which makes it all the more shocking when the flashback reveals that everything Big Mom said about her couldn't be further from the truth. Mother Carmel was actually a slave trader who used the guise of a holy woman to sell children to the World Government, and everything she told Big Mom was an utter lie. And the reason for her disappearance at the party? Big Mom ''[[IAmAHumanitarian ate her]]'' and the other orphans during an eating frenzy.]]

** Like the Sigma example below, it's well known that Dr. Wily is the BigBad and FinalBoss of every ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' game. ''VideoGame/MegaManV'', ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', and ''VideoGame/RockmanAndForteMiraiKaraNoChosensha, however, go for a half-twist, as while Wily ''is'' partially responsible for the latest batch of enemies Mega Man has to face (in that he uncovered and repaired them) Sunstar, Ra Moon, and Rockman Shadow all refuse to be controlled by Wily and give him the [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]] treatment before facing Mega Man themselves as the FinalBoss.

->''"[...] As you wait for the [[MandatoryTwistEnding inevitable]] [[Creator/MNightShyamalan Shyamalan]] {{twist ending}}... that never comes. The twist is... there is no twist. The trees did it. Then it ends."''

->''"[...] As you wait for the inevitable [[Creator/MNightShyamalan Shyamalan]] twist ending... that never comes. The twist is... there is no twist. The trees did it. Then it ends."''

* Anti-jokes rely on this by providing a setup to an obvious punch line but instead giving something completely different or a MathematiciansAnswer, such as this one which introduces itself as a racial joke but instead swings it around on the answerer:

* The "ChickenJoke" is the quintessential example of such a joke, where the humor comes from the unexpectedly prosaic punchline as opposed to something off-the-wall and silly. [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny This is unfortunately blunted by it being the among the first jokes most people ever hear]], which usually just leads to a very confused youngster trying to figure out ''why'' it's supposed to be funny.
* [[https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vx9bDegjn75KrpNTn/the-orange-head-joke The "Orange Head" joke]], in which the reason the man has an orange for a head isn't because a JackassGenie screwed up his wish in a funny way, it's because his last wish was to have an orange for a head.

* ''Literature/TheCosmere'': The World-Hopper Hoid has a cameo [[TheConstant in every story in the series]], working towards his own ends and often manipulating events. You reach ''Literature/ShadowsForSilenceInTheForestsOfHell'', ready yourself for his usual appearance, and... [[SubvertedTrope he doesn't show up]]. In fact, he's not even mentioned and it's indicated that he has absolutely no stake in the story's events.

** And the respective Meta Twist here for ''Moon Knight'' is that this series' {{Big Bad}}s Arthur Harrow and Ammit '''are''' sincere {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s. Even though the former freely admits that his HeelFaithTurn was motivated by sadistic impulses, he's completely genuine in wanting to atone for his past sins through his service to Ammit, and quickly offers up his life upon learning from his goddess that his ''own'' scales are imbalanced. Furthermore, despite the fact that Ammit ''herself'' is a goddess that literally grows in power [[ReroutedFromHeaven with the souls she consigns to the Duat]], both her actions and her conversation with Khonshu in the series finale show that she's completely sincere in wanting to make the world a better place through her {{Precrime Arrest}} murder spree, to the point where she gives the moon god a WeCanRuleTogether offer since she sees them as having the same goals in [[PayEvilUntoEvil punishing sinners]].

** Season Four in general plays with the idea that there might be a third Holmes brother, and at one point Mycroft has a significant phone conversation in which he refers to "Sherrinford". In old-school Conan Doyle ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' {{Fanon}}, "Sherrinford" is [[RecurringFanonCharacter often used]] as the name for a hypothetical oldest Holmes brother, never mentioned because he's a country squire who rarely comes to Town. In actual fact, it's revealed that "Sherrinford" isn't a person, it's the name of an island TailorMadePrison where the murderously psychotic Holmes '''sister''' Eurus, the season BigBad, is confined.

** Ever since ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', the main antagonists have used the Mascot Legendary in their plans. In both ''Black and White'' and ''Sun and Moon'' it is '''you''', the player character, who uses the Mascot Legendary to stop the villains.

* ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' lets you name the four main party members right at the beginning even before any of them have been introduced by the narrative, so when you name Lucas, Claus, Flint, and Hinawa at the beginning of ''VideoGame/Mother3'' you know ''that's'' your party, right? Oh ho ho '''NO'''. You play as Flint until Hinawa dies and Claus disappears very early on, driving the poor guy out of your party and into near-suicidal depression, and Claus returns as a HollywoodCyborg as well as the BrainwashedAndCrazy [[TheDragon Dragon]] to the BigBad who offs himself in the final battle so Lucas won't have to do it. Yeah, it's [[TraumaCongaLine that]] [[TearJerker kind]] [[GainaxEnding of]] [[ApocalypseHow game]].

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyVBeyondTheMyth'': The ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' series has a well established pattern of fellow adventurers who are helpful and friendly early on, only to become antagonists after some [[WhamEpisode major plot twist]]. So in the fifth game, when Lili and Solor show up for the first time, experienced players were already planning for the inevitable betrayal and battle. It never happens. While they become a major part of the plot around the third stratum, it leads to them fighting the boss ''alongside'' you. Another twist is that, whereas previous games introduced a civilization in the fourth stratum (and almost always a hostile one), in this game's fourth stratum the only character found is a friendly, mysterious girl whose race remains unknown until the sixth stratum, where she shows her true form as an '''alien''' from another world, the Arken. And her civilization was tragically slaughtered by the Star Devourer, making her the LastOfHerKind.

%%** ''Undertale'' places a heavy emphasis on the player's choices and deconstructs the effect of killing monsters in an RPG by presenting them as characters all of their own instead of generic mooks. This is to the point where even the random encounters are given personality quirks and dialogue. Players are encouraged to go through ''Deltarune'' after playing through ''Undertale'', so they would likely go in trying to pull a PacifistRun from what they've learned in the latter game. Try to be violent, however, and it becomes apparent that the party '''can't''' kill enemies in the game -- they always run off at low health. This falls in line with ''Deltarune''[='=]s main theme being [[SpiritualAntithesis the exact opposite]] of ''Undertale''[='=]s: a ''lack'' of free will. One of the bosses, K. Round, even ''has'' to be spared/defeated through acting as it has the ability to infinitely heal itself more than the team can damage it, denying a run where every enemy is dealt with by NonLethalKO.[[note]]In ''Undertale'', most of the enemies that can't be killed are exclusive to the pacifist run, and the only enemies that can't be spared are exclusive to the run where you've already killed everyone before them. K. Round, on the other hand, is a "neutral" boss that the player faces (twice) no matter what choices they made.[[/note]]

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''
** Several sketches use a formula that features [[RuleOfThree three women]], two of whom are beautiful and lovely, and the third is weird in some way, and often played by Creator/KateMcKinnon (for example, in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd1pvUG_aAc&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive this]] sketch, three sailors are rescued by two beautiful mermaids and one blobfish mermaid). So when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYRwvIh5tmo&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive this]] sketch features three princesses and the third is Kate, the joke is that all three princesses are normal, which confuses the prince.

* ''Film/AngryVideoGameNerdTheMovie'' is about WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, a CausticCritic renowned for reviewing terrible video games, and his adversarial relationship with ''[[VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial Eee Tee]]'', a game so horrible that it scarred him as a child. In the end, when the Nerd reviews what many consider to be the absolute worst video game in the entire history of the medium, the Nerd actually states that ''Eee Tee'' is '''''not''''' the worst game of all time, but one that, in spite of its myriad flaws, was actually very innovative for its time, especially considering it was developed in less than two months.

* In Creator/DavidMamet's debut movie ''Film/HouseOfGames'', he played the aforementioned trope that the events in a con man movie are revealed to be part of a [[TheCon massive con]] straight. But when he directed his second con man movie, ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'', he must have realized that viewers were now expecting this kind of a PlotTwist. To counter that, the movie keeps constantly introducing new plot elements that may be innocent, or may (to a viewer expecting the twist) be part of a con. The result is that by the end of the movie, a sufficiently paranoid viewer can't be sure how large the actual con was, or who exactly was involved in it.

** Throughout the series' many flashbacks, it became tradition for the subject of the flashbacks to have formed a bond with someone, often a paternal figure, then lose them in an event which informed their later actions. So, in Whole Cake Island, when it's revealed that [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Big Mom]] was raised by Mother Carmel, an orphanage head and holy woman who instilled Big Mom's philosophy of a land of all people and mysteriously disappeared during a birthday party, fans were led to believe they were in for a similar sequence of events. Which makes it all the more shocking when the flashback reveals that everything Big Mom said about her couldn't be further from the truth. Mother Carmel was actually a slave trader who used the guise of a holy woman to sell children to the World Government, and everything she told Big Mom was an utter lie. And the reason for her disappearance at the party? Big Mom ''[[IAmAHumanitarian ate her'' and the other orphans during an eating frenzy.]]

** ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'': The guy that was really, really, [[DevilInPlainSight ridiculously obviously the killer]]... was the killer! And another guy is his accomplice! They screw it in even further by having said accomplice [[FakingTheDead pretend to murder him]] at the start of the third act.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' fans know that Cartman is always, ''always'' doing good deeds for his own twisted reasons, which may range from PokeThePoodle to all-out MoralEventHorizon in scope. No matter how good he ''seems,'' fans and the characters can bet that he's really being manipulative. This makes his subplot in "Major Boobage" something of a surprise, when he really ''does'' take in all the town's cats (which had been recently outlawed) simply because he's a cat lover and felt sorry for them. It does, however, lead to some humor when Cartman, a well-known anti-Semite, gets compared to Schindler helping Jews hide from the Nazis.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', many aspects of the series' [[ExcusePlot standard plot formula]] are subverted: the villainous team plot is ''not'' solved prior to the eighth badge and the usual Champion FinalBoss is actually defeated by the evil team's (supposed) leader before you reach him. Said decoy leader becomes the ([[SequentialBoss next-to]]) FinalBoss, relegating the Champion to the post-game BonusBoss. On the other hand, the Gym Leaders are not [[BystanderSyndrome resting on their laurels]] either and take on several of the Evil Team's admins, [[AlreadyDoneForYou allowing you to bypass them]].[[note]]The first Gym Leaders were a notable exception that created an UrbanLegendOfZelda due to their ''lack'' of involvement, especially when they would've been a counterpart to [[EliteMook the Shadow Triad]].[[/note]]

** One fact obvious to players of previous titles is that Igor has a completely different voice actor in both English and Japanese. Given the passing of his original Japanese VA and said new VA makes no effort to mimic his work, it's likely to pay respect to him. Turns out ''this'' "Igor" is actually the BigBad posing as the real one, whose lack of imitation of the voice wouldn't become suspicious to Joker since this is the first time he's been in the Velvet Room. When the real Igor is released, he sounds much more like his previous appearances, while his Japanese dialogue is archive audio.

** In the first case of every game (which serves as a tutorial), the culprit is inevitably the witness brought in, since the first case takes place in one day and there's no investigation period to establish multiple suspects. Thus, in the first case of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', when the witness is revealed to have been lying about the events of the murder and hiding a bold personality with a shy demeanor, players would suspect she was the culprit, only to find her to have not done it. Instead, it is the title character's mentor, Kristoph Gavin, who did it.

** The Twelfth Doctor's final episode, [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], has the Doctor[[note]]well, two Doctors; it's complicated[[/note]] investigating a mysterious entity known as Testimony, which claims to appear at the moment of a person's death and "extract" someone. After much investigation, it turns out to be a human project from the distant future designed to copy the memories of everyone who's ever died, so that they can be recorded for all time in a kind of artificial afterlife; for once, the episode's "villain" wasn't actually malevolent, but rather just happens to have a needlessly ominous design. The Doctor lampshades this briefly, saying that he's not quite sure what to do in this situation.

*** Sigma [[HijackedByGanon has always been]] the BigBad and FinalBoss in every game...except for one where he was part of a BigBadDuumvirate with someone else (''VideoGame/MegaManX5''), and that someone else steps forward to claim the FinalBoss role after his death (''VideoGame/MegaManX8'') and a GaidenGame where where he doesn't appear at all (''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission'').

** Like the Sigma example below, it's well known that Dr. Wily is the BigBad and FinalBoss of every ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' game. Both ''VideoGame/MegaManV'' and ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', however, go for a half-twist, as while Wily ''is'' partially responsible for the latest batch of enemies Mega Man has to face (in that he uncovered and repaired them) Sunstar and Ra Moon both refuse to be controlled by Wily and give him the [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]] treatment before facing Mega Man themselves as the FinalBoss.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Tetsuya Takahashi is rather infamous for his tendency to include [[GodIsEvil evil, Demiurge-inspired gods in his games. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to discover that the Architect is a genuinely benevolent figure who ultimately wants the best for his creations.]]

** ''Dread'' also uses Adam Malkovich's [[TheScrappy reputation]] as of ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' to set up the reveal that Raven Beak's been impersonating ADAM (the MissionControl A.I. installed into Samus's new ship in ''Fusion'', later revealed to ''[[BrainUploading be'' Adam himself) the the entire game]]. Fans of the series who didn't like his portrayal in ''Other M'', especially compared to how he was introduced in ''Fusion'', are more likely to write off [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds ADAM's increasingly weird behaviour]] in the latter half of the game as him just being written closer to his ''Other M'' incarnation, making the reveal that much more of a shock.
** In addition to the above, ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' loves toying with player expectation about the traditional structure of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' games in order to get under their skin:
*** ''Metroid'' titles usually see the Chozo in a helpful role, with their ruins often being a place for Samus to recover her lost strength after a fight as seen in ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime''. The main antagonist of this game, Raven Beak, is a vicious GalacticConqueror with his sights set on the Metroids as a bioweapon, and the entire game takes place in a large Chozo facility that's been turned into a deathtrap from years of disrepair.
*** Unlike literally ''every entry in the series'' save the very first, Samus begins her journey through ZDR at the ''bottom'' of the planet rather than her ship at the top. Most of the game is spent getting back to her ship so she can regroup.
*** The ''Metroid'' series is famous for averting WhenAllElseFailsGoRight, with its upgrades and bosses found often by going left. At the start of the game, the only way to go is right, and many bosses are fought left to right.
*** The player spends a solid amount of the early game without the iconic Morph Ball. The Morph Ball is usually one of the first upgrades given, and the game loves shoving small tunnels and passageways in your way to make you realize how much you actually miss it before finally giving it to you.
*** After ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' introduced a stronger narrative and ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' outright gave Samus a voice and defined personality, players likely expect Samus to speak at least once during the course of ''Dread''. They'd be right, but she doesn't speak English. She speaks ''Chozo''.
*** The zones of ''Metroid'' games are usually structured as "enter the zone, explore around, fight a boss, gain a mobility/utility/offensive upgrade, move on and backtrack later with new items". Not so in ''Dread'': the game will regularly force you to exit a zone due to being unable to progress, and the game is not shy about dropping one-way passages on you to get you to explore a new area without the ability to backtrack.
*** ''Metroid'' games usually have static zones that don't change over the course of the game. After retrieving the Gravity Suit, the first two zones of the game have their entire layouts changed from being frozen over, forcing the player to maneuver through the environment in a new fashion.
*** Metroids do not appear at all, even when it seems like the plot is building to their revival. And neither does Ridley.
*** The previous "assistants" in the ''Metroid'' games, such as the Gunship A.I. in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' or the ADAM A.I. in ''Fusion'', have never betrayed you for any reason. In this game, Raven Beak masquerades as ADAM for most of the game and does so to keep an eye on Samus.

** Each game usually follows the GoodLawyersGoodClients trope, so the few times in the series where the client actually ''is'' guilty (Matt Engarde, Simon Keyes, and Magnus [=McGilded=]) comes as a massive shock. [[BestLevelEver Many consider it one of the best cases in the series.]]

** Each game usually follows the GoodLawyersGoodClients trope, so the one case in the series where Phoenix's client actually ''is'' guilty (Farewell, My Turnabout) comes as a massive shock. [[BestLevelEver Many consider it one of the best cases in the series.]]

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'', despite Zelda correctly guessing that Yuga is kidnapping the Sages to free Ganon, the plot is not HijackedByGanon; Yuga merges with Ganon but remains the one in control, able to use the Triforce of Power for his scheme.