History Main / MetaTwist

!!Examples:

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/BraveFencerMusashi'' had action figures of enemies and bosses you could purchase, often ''before'' actually facing them, which had actions and sometimes even voices that displayed their attacks. Of course there's an action figure of [[TheDragon Colonel Capricciola]] with all of his attacks which never get seen in-game since he's TheUnfought and actually [[TheMole helping you.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'':
** The first two games had definite supernatural elements. The first game has zombies created by a cursed coffin. The second game had the lost city of Shambala, which at it's heart has a magical sap that gives those who drink it eternal life, super-human strength, and a seriously bad temper, as you find out defending yourself against the city's long lived and purple skinned residents. The third game initially seems to have Djinni, spirits of fire, trying to kill you in ''it's'' lost city, but it turns out that they were merely hallucinations caused by smoke coming out of a giant container in the city's heart. As for what is in the container, the game is ambiguous (whether it's truly a djinn or just some sort of ancient chemical weapon), but it is lost forever at the end of the game. For the fourth and final installment, there is...absolutely nothing. The lost pirate city you find was clearly destroyed centuries earlier, but it turns out the cause of it's destruction was plain and simple greed; the pirates who came together to create a pirate utopia eventually turned on each other.
** The villains of the first two games are big, scary bald men with foreign accents, so the player is lead to believe that Charlie Cutter, scary bald British man is the antagonist of the third game, but it turns out that's only to fool the real villain, and Cutter is actually an ally.
* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
** 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.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManX'':
*** Given the series' track record with villainous doctors, a lot of fans were surprised when they faced Dr. Doppler in ''VideoGame/MegaManX3'' and, rather than unveiling a HumongousMecha, he instead [[TheCoatsAreOff tosses his coat off]] and fights X all by himself.
*** 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'').
*** ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' through ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX4 X4]]'' had minor characters as the intro level boss[[note]]Vile ''was'' a minor character until his EnsembleDarkHorse status bounced him up a few rungs[[/note]] that has no bearing whatsoever on the plot. Then ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' changes it up by throwing [[BigBad Sigma]] himself at you as the intro boss in a battle that [[BatmanGambit kick-starts]] the entire plot of the game.
*** Dr. Cain plays a major role in the ''X'' series until his resignation from the Hunters after ''X3'' and subsequent [[PutOnABus disappearance]]. So it's a rather big surprise when the ''VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX'' reboot is introduced, and the accompanying ''Day of Sigma'' OVA reveals that in this timeline Sigma killed Dr. Cain before the first game even began. Players familiar with the original ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' might also go into the first fight with Vile in ''Maverick Hunter X'' expecting the usual HopelessBossFight, only to get killed before finding out that it's now a normal boss battle that ends in a HeadsIWinTailsYouLose situation.
** After spending [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic an entire franchise]] as the BigBad (and serving as the not-quite-{{posthumous|Character}} GreaterScopeVillain of [[VideoGame/MegaManX another]]), ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' threw players for a loop by making Wily a completely benign boathouse owner who even helps Mega Man on his quest. Granted, given the long gap between ''Legends'' and its predecessors (and ''Legends'' itself at first giving off the appearances of being a standalone series, complete with the original games being a ShowWithinAShow), it is very unlikely this is the same Wily.
** The ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' series revolves around Biometals, artifacts containing the souls of past characters from the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series, including Model X, Model Z(ero) and the Four Guardians, Models H(arpuia), L(eviathan), F(efnir) and P(hantom). ''Advent'' then introduces Model A, who's fighting style is based on [[MoreDakka guns]] and his unique "A-Trans" ability, which allows him to transform into defeated bosses. At the end of the game, it's revealed that the A ''doesn't'' stand for Axl (a character in the ''X'' series), but ''Albert'', the BigBad of ''Advent'' and the ''ZX'' series as a whole, who possesses an A-Trans ability of his own.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''[='s=] Dr. Eggman picked up a bad habit of getting upstaged by the game's real BigBad around the ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''-era games. It initially looks like this is going to be the case in '' VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', until it's revealed that Eggman is the real BigBad and FinalBoss after all. Not just Eggman, in fact, but Eggman teaming up with ''himself'' from the Genesis-era games. ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' also completely lacks the upstaging part altogether by having Eggman be the BigBad from beginning to end, and then when he's upstaged for real in ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' he wrestles his BigBad status back from the game's villains at the very end for one more FinalBoss fight.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** If you are the father or main parental figure of the protagonist, you are going to end up in the ground by the halfway-point of the game, ''at best''. However, there are two major subversions in the series.
*** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', Eliwood is introduced at the beginning as Roy's sickly father. After the first chapter, he loses practically all of his plot importance. The real SacrificialLion is Hector, the LoveInterest's father and Eliwood's old friend.
*** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'', Yelena is introduced at the beginning as the queen of Aytolis and the mother of protagonists Rowan and Lianna. She is captured by enemy forces at the end of the prologue and later appears as their hostage, planned to be used in a ritual sacrifice. Rowan and Lianna manage to rescue her, and she ends the game none the worse for wear.
** Normally, the TinTyrant leader of TheEmpire is rarely the actual BigBad and is usually an UnwittingPawn to an EvilSorceror who is the ''real'' BigBad and wants to bring about the revival of an evil dragon or god. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', King Ashnard actually is the BigBad and FinalBoss (though when [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn the sequel]] is taken into account, the UnwittingPawn part is still played straight).
** Zephiel in ''The Binding Blade'' has a similar thing going on. It's common for the villain to have once been a decent man, who was then corrupted by an evil force (Julius in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', Hardin in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem''). Zephiel has characters explaining he used to be good but became twisted and malevolent, and he's usually shown alongside Idunn, a creepy woman in a dark cloak that apparently showed up when he changed. Then we learn that Idunn is an demon dragon from the distant past. So she was the one who corrupted him and he's just her pawn, right? Nope! Zephiel became the way he was through a good old-fashioned DespairEventHorizon, and when he did so, he released Idunn from her prison so she could help him. Idunn is the one who's a magically-corrupted pawn, and though she's the FinalBoss, she's mindless for most of the game and is only carrying out Zephiel's final wish alongside his surviving servants by the time you fight her.
** ''Fire Emblem'' usually plays DarkIsEvil straight for its final bosses. Both TheHeavy and the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' fall into LightIsNotGood instead.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'':
*** Iago fits every item on a ''Fire Emblem'' BigBad checklist. While he is a major threat and one of the most prominent of the villains, he is surprisingly ''not'' either the ManBehindTheMan or TheStarscream to King Garon, but a perfectly loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]].
*** King Garon is the BigBad and the evil dragon FinalBoss, via OneWingedAngel, of the ''Birthright'' route; the only hint to the GreaterScopeVillain in ''Birthright'' is a throwaway line. On ''Conquest'', he is still the BigBad, though the route is more upfront about someone else working in the background.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
*** Events of TheGreatOffscreenWar in a ''Fire Emblem'' game's past were often WrittenByTheWinners, with those painted as the villains then either being a lot more complicated that expected (''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'') or outright good (''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''). So when ''Three Houses'' makes a big deal out of Nemesis, [[HerosEvilPredecessor the previous wielder of the Sword of the Creator]], turning to villainy in the past and needing to be stopped, it's easy to guess he'll later be revealed to have been GoodAllAlong. While it's true that Fodlan's history was distorted, Nemesis nonetheless turns out to be ''more'' evil than the legends portray him (said legends portraying him as a hero who was corrupted by the power of his legendary sword. Really he was just a power hungry bandit who killed the setting's god in her sleep and made said sword from her corpse).
*** ''Fire Emblem'' games typically have an unambiguously happy ending, with character epilogues mentioning post-war reconstruction goes well. ''Three Houses'' has no GoldenEnding[[note]]and WordOfGod stated no such ending will be added as part of a DLC route unlike ''Fates: Revelation'' as most fans would prefer go straight that one[[/note]]; there are too many ideological schisms at work, someone (who is [[SympatheticPOV heroic in their own right]]) is going to die over it, and the continent's values are often shaken to the foundations by revolution.
** It's extremely common to have a "Camus"-type character, a basically goodhearted and noble AntiVillain who still can't be recruited because they chose the wrong side and believe in MyCountryRightOrWrong. In ''The Binding Blade'', we have Perceval, a character who looks almost identical to the original Camus and even shares the same class, and looks to be fulfilling a similar role... and he ''is'' recruitable. (There are a few other characters in the game who fit the archetype and can't be recruited, but Perceval is by far the most blatant.)
** Played with in multiple ways in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', to the point of becoming something of a {{Deconstruction}} (and, later, [[DeconReconSwitch reconstruction]]) for the entire franchise (which is pretty impressive given that [[UnbuiltTrope it had barely even begun yet]]). Firstly, the way Sigurd happily sends his armies out into other kingdoms for the sake of saving the life of a single person is portrayed with oversimplified idealism, as is common to the franchise, until it suddenly ''isn't'': the culmination of Chapter 2 is that Sigurd's incursions into Agustria have been incredibly disruptive because he can't just arbitrarily decide that politics don't apply to him and Grannvale aren't automatically [[TheGoodKingdom the good guys]] just because they're his home kingdom. (And in part two, we find that even Sigurd's early invasion into Verdane actually had devastating long-term consequences.) But the biggest twist of all, out of the entire franchise, comes at the end of part one. ''Genealogy'' isn't really a subversion of the 'the lord's dad always dies' trope, because Sigurd's dad does indeed die. But what players won't think about is that the boy on the cover, Seliph, is ''also'' a lord, and ''Sigurd'' is his dad. Which is to say: halfway through the game, it's revealed that players have ''not'' been controlling the plucky young lord who saves the world. They've been playing ''his dad'', who fails to stop the encroaching darkness and then dies.
* There is a Flash version of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', naturally known as ''VideoGame/PortalTheFlashVersion''. The final level is simply an open room, with a [[IWasToldThereWouldBeCake cake]] on a pedestal. When you move over to the cake... you pick it up, and can leave the room safely, completing the game, in complete defiance of expectation from anyone who's ever played ''Portal'' itself. In this case, however, it's unintentional- the Flash game was made ''before'' the release of the actual game, so the creators weren't aware of the twist.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** Used in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' to score a cheap shot on Samus. ''Everyone'' playing this the first time ran right in and tried to grab the powerup from the Chozo statue in Sector 1, only to be damaged by it and have the statue turn into a Core-X.
** ''Metroid'' fans are used to Ridley [[JokerImmunity making an inevitable appearance in nearly every game]], to the point where [[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns the remake of the second game]] [[HijackedByGanon gave him a surprise appearance as the]] FinalBoss. In ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', Ridley doesn't appear at all, and the BigBad is a completely new character: Raven Beak.
** ''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 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.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** A twist largely forgotten due to SeinfeldIsUnfunny and ItWasHisSled, but this is part of what's going on with Kefka in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''. Prior games had featured [[GoldfishPoopGang minor early antagonists]] who were usually more charismatic and silly than the BigBad, such as Gilgamesh or Borghen. They would play an important role early on but then [[ShooOutTheClowns quickly fade out]], with Gilgamesh even dying at the hands of the real villain. Kefka early on seems to fit this archetype perfectly, and the actual main villainous leader in the first half, Gestahl, seems to be musing on pulling a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on the clown. Then, at a crucial moment, just when Gestahl's about to obtain ultimate power, it's ''Kefka'' who backstabs ''him'' and becomes the real BigBad.
** The big WhamEpisode of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of a VideoGameRemake, specifically the idea of a remade game needing to have the same plot as the original. After following the same general plot of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' for 80% of the game, the cast finds out near the very end that the mysterious ghosts that have been following them for the entire story are "arbiters of fate", a metaphysical force conjured by the Planet that is quite literally {{Railroading}} the cast into following the script of the 1997 original. In a massive act of ScrewDestiny, Cloud and his RagtagBunchOfMisfits destroy said forces, creating a divergent timeline via CosmicRetcon that allows both the heroes and [[BigBad Sephiroth]] ([[ManipulativeBastard who tricked the heroes into committing the act themselves]]) to drive the story OffTheRails. The immediately obvious consquence shows Zack (originally DeadToBeginWith) surviving in the alternate timeline.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** It's frequent to have to explore three dungeons to gather an initial set of PlotCoupon items before something unexpected occurs and the Master Sword has to be collected (or, conversely, the Master Sword is collected and then the twist occurs). So it was very shocking for gamers to discover that the location of the third quest item from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' is utterly destroyed and the holder of the item went elsewhere for safety ([[RealLifeWritesThePlot this was most likely due to time constraints during development]]). The item is gotten after a series of events in the overworld, rather than the completion of a dungeon. The ''real'' third dungeon, Tower of the Gods, is found ''after'' making use of the three quest items and is completed ''to find'' the Master Sword. And the traditional unexpected twist occurs after completion of the fourth dungeon (Forsaken Fortress).
** Every ''Zelda'' game ''ever'' that has featured a boss with a [[GoForTheEye giant glowing eyeball]] has had the exact same weakness: strike the eye and they'll either be stuned and vulnerable or just take damage. Gohma from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' sets himself up as such, but can NoSell any attacks to his eye just by blinking. You need to remember the clue from Medli, that "a monster is doing horrible things ''to Valoo's tail'', to know that you actually have to swing from said tail with the Grappling Hook to drop the ceiling on Gohma several times. ''Then'' you are free to attack the now-vulnerable eye once Gohma's armored shell is smashed off.
** Another twist on the PlotCoupon gathering formula happens in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]'', when Link finishes the third dungeon just to discover that the MacGuffin he was searching for isn't there anymore.
** Since ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', the dungeon boss is usually fought with the dungeon item, so when [[BigBad Ghirahim]] shows up in the first dungeon of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', and is fought in a pure sword fight, it comes as a shock. It comes as an even bigger shock when you fight him [[RecurringBoss again]]. A double shock because ''Zelda'' villains usually [[OrcusOnHisThrone loom in the background]], never encountering you until the finale. Lastly, bosses are never fought in the overworld prior to this game, yet ''Skyward Sword'' has a whopping ''four'' outside of dungeons (including the FinalBoss).
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'':
*** 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 familiar with ''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.
*** 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.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** 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 OptionalBoss. 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]]
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' also subverts many standard ''Pokémon'' gameplay and story tropes. Pokémon Gyms are absent entirely, with Island Trials taking their place instead; the Pokémon League itself is only recently introduced to Alola. While there is the usual Team X as recurring antagonists, they're ''not'' the primary BigBad. There isn't even a Champion as the FinalBoss; rather, the player becomes the region's very first one after a final battle against (of all people) the region's Professor, and subsequent playthroughs of the League have the player defend their title from various important Trainers.
** 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/PokemonSwordAndShield'' further plays with the expectations set by ''Sun and Moon'': Team Yell isn't even a threat so much as a bunch of {{Loony Fan}}s, the guy you expect to be a villain in their place wasn't actively trying to cause the Mascot Legendary problem, and the few people who are ''truly'' antagonistic only appear in the postgame. On top of this, the third main Legendary actually appears during the endgame rather than the postgame and is caught ''before'' the Mascot Legendary.
** At the end of every ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' game, the PlayerCharacter [[ButNowIMustGo has to leave for whatever reason]], but inevitably ends up doing no such thing before the credits sequence ends. ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'' looks like it's going to go the same way, until it suddenly turns out that the ''partner'' is the one who has to return -- and what's more, they don't come back until you advance the post-credits plot a bit.
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'':
** 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 [[MenacingStroll strolls menacingly around]] much like the recurring golem and armor bosses.
** On a more minor note, in most of the {{Metroidvania}} games in the series Dracula has [[NumberOfTheBeast 6666]] HP. In ''Ecclesia'' once again, he instead has ''9999'' HP (as a bonus, it's simply "6666" upside down).
** ''Aria of Sorrow'' pulled one, though it is widely known now. If Dracula has been reincarnated, you expect his new incarnation to be the final boss, not the player character.
* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' pulls the same trick as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' where, if you face a boss and he has an animated sprite instead of a drawn portrait, you ''will'' recruit him at some point, thus [[SpoiledByTheFormat spoiling who will and won't be a playable character]]. Except this ''isn't'' the case at all and you can and will play as not only a HumongousMecha in the Near Future chapter, but will also control all the bosses if you play [[VillainProtagonist Oersted's final chapter.]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'':
** Futaba's dungeon is set up exactly like one from ''VideoGame/Persona4'', a mental world created by the inner thoughts and insecurities of a future party member, controlled by their [[EnemyWithout Shadow]]. It's all flipped on its head once you reach the end: Due to Futaba's outward self-loathing, Shadow Futaba is a HeroAntagonist who represents Futaba's repressed ''positive'' side, and only fought the Thieves because she thought they were trying to harm Futaba. She's ''not'' the boss of the dungeon, the real boss is a monster born from the feelings that caused Futaba's depression: the belief that she's responsible for her mother's death. Shadow Futaba pulls a BigDamnHeroes to help the party defeat the boss, by convincing Futaba of the truth and becoming her Persona.
** 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, and the voice change is never suspicious to Joker simply because he'd never ''met'' the real Igor and so would have nothing to compare it to. Sure enough, when the real Igor shows up, he sounds much more like his original self, to the point of being voiced by archive audio in the Japanese version.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'': As usual for the series, the Lawful angels and Chaotic forces of Lucifer are at war. An organization called Bethel, consisting of TopGod figures from various mythologies, backed by the angels (whose leader is a KnightTemplar obsessed with "God's law"), is responsible for fighting demons and protecting peace and stability. Of your classmates who are Bethel members, one is a perpetually calm, glasses-wearing honour student who fights to protect people, and the other is a girl known as "the saint". Your other classmate is an indecisive but ultimately well-meaning delinquent desperate to prove himself, [[JumpedAtTheCall who jumps at the chance to be a hero.]] In the demon world, you meet a violent ancient goddess, Nuwa, and her human follower, who are introduced slaughtering a legion of angels. Guess which of these factions are the game's Law, Chaos and Neutral representatives? Bethel is Chaos, the delinquent classmate is Law, and Nuwa is Neutral.
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' 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/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':
** The series heavily implies (and eventually confirms) that the killer animatronics are HauntedTechnology. ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'' and ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'', however, eschew the ghost story entirely; in the former, they're nightmares experienced by a traumatized mind, and in the latter, they really are sentient robots. [[SubvertedTrope Ultimately subverted]] in the case of the latter group, as [[VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator the next game]] reveals that the Funtime Animatronics actually ''were'' haunted, just...[[ItMakesSenseInContext in a different way than the others]].
** [[GreaterScopeVillain The Purple Guy]] is also established in each game to be responsible in some way for the killer animatronics each protagonist faces. In the fourth game, however, he's only an easily-missed cameo [[NotMeThisTime and has nothing to do with the game's story]].
** ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach'' has Freddy ''actually be an ally'' for the first time in the series thus far, while all the other animatronics are crazed and out for your blood. The game repeatedly teases the prospect that he may actually be evil or may eventually become villainous like the other animatronics, but it never happens. While he ''can'' attack you if he runs out of power or if you flub an upgrade segment, it's made clear this happens against his will like a reflex rather than being deliberate, and while the BigBad ''tries'' to take control of him like the other animatronics, Freddy manages to [[HeroicWillpower fight it off]]. He remains your steadfast ally from start to finish no matter what ending you get. In addition, the game only has one night
* For its time, Bowser ''[[EnemyMine joining Mario's Team]]'' in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' was a massive twist. Until then Bowser had just been the series BigBad, no more no less. Then Smithy's Gang rolled up to the party, booted him out of his own castle, and caught everyone off guard when he "[[InsistentTerminology let Mario join the Koopa Troop]]" to help take down Smithy and served as TheLancer for the remainder of the game. It was also a ''very'' big revelation that Bowser's honestly [[PunchClockVillain not such a bad guy at heart]] and is even AFatherToHisMen.
* In the ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' [=RPGs=], Bowser is normally demoted to BigBadWannabe and only acts as BigBad when there is not an original villain to serve as the actual main antagonist. ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' is the exception, where it is the original villain who plays second fiddle to Bowser.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTellTaleSeries'' manages to pull a ''doozy'' when the Children of Arkham begin spreading the story that Thomas Wayne was actually one of Gotham's worst criminals ever and made his fortune through theft, murder, and sending innocent people to Arkham to rot. No way in hell any of this is anything other than a fabricated story to drag Bruce through the mud, right? It's all true. Every word of it. This time around the franchise's [[TheParagon Paragon]] is actually a GreaterScopeVillain the entire time, and the only reason The Penguin and Lady Arkham's RoaringRampageOfRevenge isn't entirely justified is they're targeting ''Bruce'' and the innocent lives of Gotham to get it.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Tetsuya Takahashi is rather infamous for his tendency to include evil DemiurgeArchetype 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- though he is the good half of Klaus, while Zanza, the traditional evil Demiurge and true BigBad of the first game, is his evil half.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': The villainous organization Mobius is led by a being going by "Z", hinting a connection to Zanza and another RageAgainstTheHeavens plotline. It turns out Z is not a god, but [[TheHeartless the negative emotions of humanity (superficially, their fear of the future) made manifest]].
* ''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.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' series, a lot of weapons are re-purposed everyday items such as hairdryers, washing machines, and giant paintbrushes. In addition, levels in the main campaigns are accessed via tea kettles. So come ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'''s "Octo Expansion" DLC campaign , some players may be forgiven for thinking that this could extend to other pieces of machinery and that the "thangs" they're collecting which look suspiciously like blender parts will form a teleporter or something. That is until MissionControl takes a glance at their video feed and realizes that, no, you've all been fooled into building a giant blender that's going to puree you into fish paste.
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
** When [[ImplacableMan The Nemesis]] from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' popped up most people were inclined to think he was just this game's big mindless final boss monster and nothing more, as was the trend in the first two games. Then he kills your friend, looks you in the eye, and [[ItCanThink says "STARS..."]] Then he ambushes you and follows you from room to room, something no monster has done yet in the series. Then he starts ''shooting missiles at you''. Then you learn he can actually [[RoamingEnemy appear at random]], meaning you're never truly safe. Then you realize he's after you specifically, no one else, and won't stop hunting you all across town until he gets you: for the first time in the series you're not dealing with a random mutation lashing out at life, but an intently created weapon made for the specific purpose of killing STARS members, the last of which you are.
** The remake of the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' on Game Cube added some new mechanics to surprise the crap out of veterans of the series. Most infamously is the Crimson Head mechanic that was set up to look like the new game was averting EverythingFades: so you've killed a zombie and left its body slumped in a hallway. Give it enough time and it'll [[DemonicSpider get right back up, faster and deadlier than before]], so now you have to either waste your very limited supply of kerosene to dispose of bodies or not be so eager to kill zombies. In every Resident Evil game thus far a killed zombie stays killed, not even respawning enemies unless there's a reason for more to show up, so imagine ''everyone's'' shock when, on their fifth or so time passing the same dead zombie they killed almost an hour ago, it [[OhCrap suddenly gets back up and starts running]].
** Similarly, the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' pulled a sneaky on veterans of [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 the original]] with [[ImplacableMan Mr. X]]. Between [[MemeticMutation the memes]], [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil the trailer]], and [[ItWasHisSled common knowledge]], everyone going into this game knew he was coming. However, in the original he was introduced with a flashy cutscene and only appeared in [[NewGamePlus Scenario B]]. In the remake however he pops up in your first playthrough of the game, without any fanfare whatsoever, by ''casually lifting the helicoper out of the way'', in a hallway you've already safely transversed at least once no less, and hauling ass toward you. This time too, rather than encountering him in PreexistingEncounters, he's now a fully RoamingEnemy who's always somewhere in the police station looking and listening for you, adding the [[ParanoiaFuel extra risk of firing your gun and attracting his attention]].
** ''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]], 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.
* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'': In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', every single major monster the player battles turns out to have [[HiddenDepths hidden positive aspects]] and are either ObliviouslyEvil or have genuinely good intentions yet simply went down the wrong path, and are reasoned with and pull a HeelFaceTurn. In the GoldenEnding, this even extends to Flowey/Asriel. Cue King in the successor/sequel/{{Elseworld}}, who has a similar BossBanter with the party as several of ''Undertale''[='=]s bosses and seems to be setting up a sort of FreudianExcuse for himself... and it turns out he was just lying, trying to trick Ralsei into healing him back to his full strength so he could finish the team off, having not learned a single thing from the fight no matter what the player does. When he tries to throw Lancer, ''his own son,'' off the roof of his castle, it becomes clear that this guy is just a genuine jerk inside and out. Instead of befriending the player, King is either overthrown by his own people and locked up or he's put to sleep by Ralsei. That said, Chapter 2 ''does'' imply that King genuinely does love Lancer, that his threat to throw Lancer from the roof was a bluff (as Lancer would "just bounce"), and even has him show concern for his son's well-being -- though whether these are just more tricks and lies to manipulate the player or the truth are left ambiguous.
%%** ''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]]
* The first ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'' features two characters Devola and Popola who are introduced as helpful allies, but eventually turn out to be major villains within the story. In ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' they suddenly make a reappearance, again being portrayed as helpful allies. Not only are they GoodAllAlong this time, but they're not even the same Devola and Popula, but two other androids of the same model as them, who've been facing persecution their entire lives because of the actions of the Devola and Popula from the first game. Yoko Taro is also known to make games with MultipleEndings, with each new ending more horrifying, [[DownerEnding tragic]] and/or [[GainaxEnding confusing]] than the last. Ending E of ''Nier: Automata'', while certainly confusing and bizarrely meta, is also the single most optimistic ending he's ever written, with the 14th Machine War finally coming to an end and all three main characters being brought BackFromTheDead for a second chance at life.
* The titular ''[[Franchise/TheKingOfFighters King of Fighters]]'' tournament has a long history of being hosted by people with ulterior, often sinister motives, or just someone with connections to the current ArcVillain. (Even in the ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting''[=/=]''VideoGame/FatalFury'' continuity, every iteration of the tournament was hosted either by Geese Howard or one of his relatives.) So it's quite a surprise when the tournament's host for ''XIV'', Antonov, is neither of these. He's just a completely unrelated, actually pretty nice rich guy who wants to fight strong opponents, and FinalBoss Verse has nothing to do with either him or the current tournament. (Though Verse ''does'' [[ArcWelding have a connection of sorts]] with the Jin Scrolls from ''Fatal Fury 3'' that Geese sought out.)
* Due to ValuesDissonance, [=JRPGs=] don't show [[CorruptChurch monotheistic religion in a good light]]; the setting's "church" (and there's always only one) is always evil or a cover for an evil conspiracy, and FinalBoss[=es=] are usually tyrannical gods who the party shows their [[PillarsOfMoralCharacter unity and virtue]] by killing. So when it was announced that ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' would have a religious protagonist who serves a church, ''a la'' [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Yuna]], fans got ready for her to experience a shocking BrokenPedestal moment. Except she doesn't -- the Church of the Sacred Flame ''really is'' on the up-and-up. (A few priests in Stillsnow are corrupt, but they're not especially significant to the Church's hierarchy or the plot.)
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':
** The game throws you a cruel one during the Quarian/Geth War arc. In the past, "Paragon/Renegade" button prompts allowed Shepard to interrupt an ongoing sequence and prevent an event from otherwise happening. So, should you choose to allow the Quarian fleet to get destroyed by the Geth, a distraught Tali attempts suicide, but Shepard is given a Paragon button prompt to stop her--only for Tali to kill herself anyways. It's a shockingly deep punch given that Tali has been with the crew for the whole trilogy and helps drive home that you essentially ''destroyed'' her entire race and family for an alliance with the geth.
** Over the course of the three games, responses can essentially be divided into three categories: Paragon, where Shepard responds with diplomacy or righteousness, Renegade, where Shepard uses violence or aggressiveness (or sometimes just being downright rude) to get their way, or Neutral, which essentially cuts the difference with a...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin neutral]] or [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] remark. Come the end of the Thessia mission, where Shepard is in their DarkestHour following their utter failure to obtain the final component needed in their fight against the Reapers and is ForcedToWatch and listen as the Asari lose the battle and the planet along with it. Back on the Normandy, Joker tries to break the tension and misery with humor, but, no matter how which option you choose, even if you choose the diplomatic answer, Shepard essentially reams Joker a new one. This prompts Joker, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness of all people]], to call Shepard out and essentially [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on Shepard's behavior, noting that their stress levels are higher than they've ''ever'' been and even sharing his own concerns and fears for his sister and father. The whole sequence essentially helps underline how hard Shepard is taking this fall and how they're essentially [[BrokenAce barely holding it together]].
* The first four fifths of ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheInfernalMachine'' have a pretty standard ''Indiana Jones'' plot, other than replacing ThoseWackyNazis with DirtyCommies. Indy learns of a powerful and dangerous artifact that could be used to conquer the world, and embarks on a race with the tyrannical regime to acquire it before they can use it to conquer the world. Then it's revealed that the apparent BigBad was perfectly aware of the dangers and never intended to use the Infernal Machine; Indy's American ally Turner is the one who wants to use it to wipe the Soviets off the face of the map.
* ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction'': The third act of each character's Arcade Mode ends with a different final opponent for each character, relating to that person's role in the story. For the protagonist Ragna, there are plenty of people who could serve as his final enemy: Jin, Terumi, Nu, possibly even Rachel or Hakumen. Ragna's final opponent is, in fact, Amane Nishiki -- a randomer with whom Ragna has barely shared a single scene. However, it sets him up for his course of action over the remainder of the act, as told in Story Mode.
* ''VideoGame/{{Superliminal}}'': The first two areas are meant to be an introduction to the game's mechanics, such as resizing objects and turning images into real things. In contrast, the third area is themed entirely around a single object (dice), but changes their properties with every single puzzle. A whole die may actually be two halves put closely together, or the end of a huge column you can only slide around instead of pick up, or a bunch of very tiny boxes that only break apart when you first attempt to use it as a platform...
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare'' has a CentralTheme of "sacrifice". It also features RobotBuddy Ethan. He's charming, funny, helpful, and competent, and anyone with any knowledge of storytelling tropes knows he will have to make a dramatic HeroicSacrifice at some point to save the day. And he does! At roughly the same time as ''almost everyone else on the player's ship''. Over 750 people, four survivors. ''Not'' including the player character.
* Across the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' franchise, it's common for the bosses you face to start out as legendary heroes, only to degrade into monsters due to the ongoing decay of the world. The FinalBoss of ''The Ringed City'' DLC for ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', Slave Knight Gael, does succumb to Hollowing midway through your fight... but instead of turning into a twisted creature, the previously savage Gael stands upright and grips his sword, and goes out fighting you as a man.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': does something similar for a ''triple'' meta twist. ''Bloodborne'' has a genre known for heroes falling into madness, is something of a spiritual sequel to ''Dark Souls'' above, and in-game most of the enemies you face are the result of normal people being corrupted by unnatural bloodlust and turning into monsters- and in the case of two, Father Gascoigne and Vicar Amelia, you get to see the process happen. In the DLC, the first boss you face initially follows the trend; Ludwig the Accursed was once the first Church Hunter and is now a horrible chimera-centaur-thing monster lost to blood-madness... but after you lower his health enough, the light of his Holy Moonlight sword shines upon him and he manages to take at least some of his sanity ''[[RestorationOfSanity back]]'', changing the entire mood of the boss fight, turning the music downright bombastic and triumphant as [[MeaningfulRename Ludwig, The Holy Blade]] fights you as a MagicKnight. Even after you've defeated him, he remains lucid and you can talk to him if you're wearing Healing Church garb.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'': Most ''GTA'' games, including [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV the previous game]], give an option to only save one character by letting the other die. Similarly, ''V'' also has Devin Weston order Franklin to kill Michael in retaliation for the loss of his secretary, as well as Haines and Dave ordering Franklin to kill Trevor due to him being a serious liability. The twist is that there's a ''third'' option to save both Michael ''and'' Trevor and instead killing all the other antagonists, which experienced players may miss in a first playthrough.
* ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'' was made by the same creators as ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' below, so when it uses the same [[BlackBlood neon pink blood]] for its murder victims throughout the game, players think nothing of it. Then comes the final chapter, which reveals that the pink blood is ''actually'' pink this time around and not merely a stylistic choice, because [[ArtificialHuman homunculi]] have pink blood. When protagonist Yuma cuts his finger in Chapter 0, as well as every time he [[ItMakesSenseInContext gets his throat slashed open in Mystery Labyrinths to make questions appear]], the blood is red, because he's human. Players likely excused the former as the small amount of blood having already dried by the time they found it since ''Danganronpa'' used red for dried blood, and excused the latter as Mystery Labyrinths being {{Eldritch Location}}s where "normal" rules don't apply. Needless to say, this reveal made for [[SignatureScene one of the most memorable moments in the entire game]], and promptly gets {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Shinigami, who says out loud what every player is likely thinking at that moment.
-->'''Shinigami:''' Hey, you're right! Everyone ''did'' have pink blood! Huh. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight I guess I got used to it]].
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' uses the SurvivalHorror standard of save rooms and DynamicLoading areas where the monsters can't enter and the player is safe. At one point around halfway through the game, this gets violated and [[JumpScare a monster suddenly bursts into a save room]] to attack when your guard is down, seemingly signaling a DifficultySpike in which even the safe areas aren't really safe. The real twist is that ''this never happens again''; that one instance of a monster entering a save room is a scripted event, and for the rest of the game, such rooms and elevators are perfectly safe as usual. It's all just [[TrollingCreator a way of fucking with the player's head and keeping them off-balance by toying with their expectations]].
* ''VideoGame/MyHouse'' riffs heavily on amateur ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'' mapping habits, an aspect that will probably be lost on people not familiar with Doom or its map-making community:
** The map's entire concept is a DeconstructiveParody on the many custom levels (for ''Doom'' and other games) that are just a recreation of the author's house, many of which are also named "[=MyHouse.wad=]".
** The game's use of "D_RUNNIN" (a.k.a. "Running from Evil"), the music track for the first map of vanilla ''Doom II'', is a reference to countless amateur maps that replace [=MAP01=] without bothering to change the music. The map messes with players familiar with this by replacing "D_RUNNIN" with a modified 11-minute version as soon as you enter the second house; the modified version starts out like normal, but slowly becomes weirder and weirder, with skipped beats, repeated choruses, instruments swapped out with other instruments, and a guitar line from a completely different music track. Then it gets suddenly and quietly replaced with "memory=entryrrrr/////", which is initially similar but slowly degrades into a nightmarish DroneOfDread that homages ''Everywhere at the End of Time'' by Music/LeylandKirby, an album designed to emulate the effects of dementia. Essentially, the musical score of the game starts as generic before gradually changing tone to reflect the player's own realization that this is not a typical ''Doom'' map, as well as to symbolize the nature of the map itself as a DisguisedHorrorStory that starts very simple only to [[MindScrew go wildly off the rails in mind-bending ways]] as you play.
** Going to Underhalls (vanilla [=MAP02=]) after you exit the map is also a staple of amateur mapping. This mod turns it into part of the experience. Rather than continuing on to [=MAP03=] as expected, beating Underhalls just takes you right back to My House, and you're intended to do at least one playthrough of Underhalls since it's the only way to get your hands on the Super Shotgun ([[EarnYourHappyEnding you'll need it]]). The joke is taken even further by making the exit tile in the Mirror World House functional, which takes you instead to 20PAM - Sllahrednu, a MirrorWorld version of Underhalls. Beating Sllahrednu also sends you back to My House, except you start in the Mirror World. Underhalls as a map also features a building that represents the original level designer's house (specifically the brown building where the Mega Armor secret is concealed), making it an example of My House-ness in itself and furthering the in-joke.
** Monsters in the burnt house are all custom, making it into a WhamEpisode that hammers down the shift in tone if that's the first "hidden" area you encounter (which is likely to happen in a blind playthrough).
** The community practically never plays Nightmare! difficulty because it's seen as unfair in many maps; amateur map-builders all too often fail to account for Nightmare!'s faster and relentlessly respawning monsters. This mod twists this around as a cruel joke, making Nightmare! ''the easy mode'' and the usual easy mode — I'm Too Young To Die — a hard mode. Instead of the typical way it goes, the latter now gives the monsters new abilities that make them harder than usual, while the former removes the new powers but keeps the doubled ammo pickups usually included with hard modes.
** The early parts of the map feature a lot of [[StylisticSuck purposefully bad]] level design tricks to sell the idea that it's an amateur creation, such as deliberately making the silent teleport trick on the basement stairway — used to create the impression of a room-over-room layout — [[SpecialEffectsFailure jarring and poorly implemented so that the player will notice what really happened]]. All of this lulls players familiar with poorly made first-timer maps into a false sense of security by making them think the map is a ClicheStorm. The game then pulls the rug by phasing out the bad effects and tricks with much more sophisticated and elaborate ones.
[[/folder]]

* ''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]].

** The infamous comic ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'' pulled this after ''ten years'' of [[Franchise/SpiderMan ol' Web Head]] always saving the DamselInDistress. Even with that [[SpoilerTitle blunt of a title]] (which, to the story's credit, was saved until TheReveal [[AvertedTrope to avoid]] [[SpoiledByTheFormat spoiling the ending]]), nobody saw it coming that yes, Gwen Stacy does in fact die in that issue. She doesn't come back from the dead and it's not a dream. She was thrown off a bridge and [[ILetGwenStacyDie Spidey would never be the same again]], with her death being a permanent fixture of the mythos.

** The big WhamEpisode of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of a VideoGameRemake, specifically the idea of a remade game needing to have the same plot as the original. After following the same general plot of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' for 80% of the game, the cast finds out near the very end that the mysterious ghosts that have been following them for the entire story are "arbiters of fate", a metaphysical force conjured by the Planet that is quite literally {{Railroading}} the cast into following the script of the 1997 original. In a massive act of ScrewDestiny, Cloud and his RagtagBunchOfMisfits destroy said forces, creating a divergent timeline via CosmicRetcon that allows both the heroes and [[BigBad Sephiroth]] ([[ManipulativeBastard who tricked the heroes into committing the act themselves]]) to drive the story OffTheRails.

** Going to Underhalls (vanilla [=MAP02=]) after you exit the map is also a staple of amateur mapping. This mod turns it into part of the experience, and beating Underhalls is the only way to get the Super Shotgun here. The joke is taken even further by making the exit tile in the Mirror World House functional, which takes you instead to 20PAM - Sllahrednu, a MirrorWorld version of Underhalls. Completing the mirrored Underhalls sends you back to My House, except this time you spawn at the entrance of the Mirror World House. Underhalls as a map also features a building that represents the original level designer's house (specifically the brown building where the Mega Armor secret is concealed), making it an example of My House-ness in itself and furthering the in-joke.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' toys with viewers who read the [[ComicBook/TheWalkingDead original comic]] when it gets around to adapting Negan's introduction and [[EnsembleDarkhorse Glen's]] infamously brutal death scene. In the show's version, there's more people in the heroes' group that get captured and instead of attacking Glen, Negan decides to kill the comparatively unpopular Abraham, whose death — while still vicious — is pretty tame compared to Glen's in the comic, making it seem like [[HopeSpot the writers decided to alter that scene to keep Glen alive as one of the main protagonists and wanted to tone down the violence a little]]. [[spoiler:And then Negan abruptly turns and starts beating Glen to death too… and if anything, ''[[UpToEleven it's even more brutal than in the comics]]''.]] For bonus points, right before that happens, Negan gets a line about how "there are no exceptions", seemingly [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall taunting the viewer]] for thinking any of the characters had PlotArmor.

** The game's use of "D_RUNNIN" (a.k.a. "Running from Evil"), the music track for the first map of vanilla ''Doom II'', is a reference to countless amateur maps that replace [=MAP01=] without bothering to change the music. The map messes with players familiar with this by replacing "D_RUNNIN" with a modified 11-minute version as soon as you enter the second house; the modified version starts out like normal, but slowly becomes weirder and weirder, with skipped beats, repeated choruses, instruments swapped out with other instruments, and a guitar line from a completely different music track. Then it gets suddenly and quietly replaced with "memory=entryrrrr/////", which is initially similar but slowly degrades into a nightmarish DroneOfDread that homages ''Everywhere at the End of Time'' by Music/LeylandKirby, an album designed to emulate the effects of dementia. Essentially, the musical score of the game starts as cliché before gradually changing tone to reflect the player's own realization that this is not a typical ''Doom'' map.

** The most notable example is the season 3 finale, with what appears to be a typical flashback turns out to be a flashforward instead. This twist has since entered ItWasHisSled territory as being one of Lost's most famous.

*** ''Fire Emblem'' games typically have an unambiguously happy ending, with character epilogues mentioning post-war reconstruction goes well. ''Three Houses'' has no GoldenEnding; there are too many ideological schisms at work, someone (who is [[SympatheticPOV heroic in their own right]]) is going to die over it, and the continent's values are often shaken to the foundations by revolution.

** The series did this powerfully in the Marineford Arc. A tradition in One Piece is that no one dies in the present, only in flashbacks. This had been taken to ridiculous extremes on multiple occasions, perhaps most notably when Pell sacrificed himself to carry a massive bomb into the sky where the explosion would only barely not reach the ground. It's not long before he's implied, then later confirmed to have somehow survived. Then in the Marineford Arc, a bunch of powers are all colliding, but Luffy's just there for his brother, Ace. They tease that he may not have enough time to save him, but due to an immense amount of luck, he makes it and rescues his brother (of course, no one dies, right?). However, Luffy has been severely taxed by the events leading up to the Marineford Arc, and collapses at the height of a dangerous battle (partially thanks to only surviving the worst poisons on the planet due to an immense will and extensive outside help, another example of death being avoided against all odds). His brother rushes to his defense to take the blow from Akainu, a man with lava powers. Ace has fire powers and can turn immaterial, so he'll be fine, right? Well, lava and fire are members of the same elemental family and since lava is much hotter he's able to directly injure even a man made of fire. Despite the series tradition, he did ''not'' survive. The Meta Twist made this moment extremely powerful, making it a significant moment for the audience as well as the characters, while also symbolizing a major shift in the tone of the story. The Straw Hats were no longer just having fun adventures on the seas. They had drawn the attention of the biggest and most dangerous names in the world.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan''
** Creator/MarkMillar's run on ''Marvel Knights ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Right after Spider-Man sends Green Goblin to prison, Aunt May is kidnapped. Osborn protests that [[NotMeThisTime he hasn't had time to formulate a revenge plan from prison yet, so it couldn't have been him.]] It turns out the mastermind was Mac Gargan AKA The Scorpion AKA the new Venom. But he didn't know who Spider-Man was and wasn't smart enough to orchestrate the scheme, so who gave him the instructions? Norman Osborn, of course.

** An early example from Spider-Man's original run -- villain Big Man was revealed to be Peter's coworker Frederick Fosswell. Later, Fosswell gets out of jail and gets his job back. The Crime Master shows up, having a mysterious relationship with Fosswell. In the end of the two-parter, it turns out the Crime Master is... some random, never-before-seen mobster. Fosswell did reform (as far as that issue went, at least), he was working as a police informant all along, which could explain how he got such a good plea bargain.

* For its time, Bowser ''[[EnemyMine joining Mario's Team]]'' in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' was a massive twist. Until then Bowser had just been the series BigBad, no more no less. Then Smithy's Gang rolled up to the party, booted him out of his own castle, and caught everyone off guard when he "[[InsistentTerminology let Mario join the Koopa Troopa]]" to help take down Smithy and served as TheLancer for the remainder of the game. It was also a ''very'' big revelation that Bowser's honestly [[PunchClockVillain not such a bad guy at heart]] and is even AFatherToHisMen.

''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':

* Throughout ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', [[TheHero Ash Ketchum]] lost every league tournament he entered -- though typically placing higher and higher, going from the top 16 in Kanto (his first tournament) to 2nd place in Kalos. So imagine the surprise for both Ash and the fandom when he ''won'' the Alola League! And ''then'' defeated [[PhysicalGod Tapu Koko]]!

* The first ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'' features two characters Devola and Popola who are introduced as helpful allies, but eventually turn out to be major villains within the story. In ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' they suddenly make a reappearance, again being portrayed as helpful allies. Not only are they GoodAllAlong this time, but they're not even the same Devola and Popula, but two other androids of the same model as them, who've been facing persecution their entire lives because of the actions of the Devola and Popula from the first game.
** Yoko Taro is also known to make games with MultipleEndings, with each new ending more horrifying, [[DownerEnding tragic]] and/or [[GainaxEnding confusing]] than the last. Ending E of ''Nier: Automata'', while certainly confusing and bizarrely meta, is also the single most optimistic ending he's ever written, with the 14th Machine War finally coming to an end and all three main characters being brought BackFromTheDead for a second chance at life.

'''Note:''' This is a SpoileredRotten trope, that means that '''EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE''' on this list is a spoiler by default and most of them will be unmarked. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned This is your last warning]], only proceed if you really believe you can handle this list. In fact, these spoilers are even more dangerous than the usual variety, since each example also gives away spoilers about other works by a creator, other works of the genre or even huge parts of fiction itself.

'''''Note:''''' This is a SpoileredRotten trope, that means that '''EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE''' on this list is a spoiler by default and most of them will be unmarked. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned This is your last warning]], only proceed if you really believe you can handle this list. In fact, these spoilers are even more dangerous than the usual variety, since each example also gives away spoilers about other works by a creator, other works of the genre or even huge parts of fiction itself.

Imagine the surprise when the story is setting up the expecting surprise and what happens is more [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall designed to frustrate those expecting a certain twist]], or [[AvertedTrope the twist isn't even there]]. Much like an EmptyRoomPsych, a RunningGag is so common that its' absence will throw avid fans who expected it for a loop.

Maybe they realized that using the trope was becoming predictable or worse, a crutch, and ditched it. Or perhaps they [[IntendedAudienceReaction plotted the surprise from the start]] from before even starting their first work just to give fans a huge surprise. And of course, maybe they just wanted (horror of horrors) to surprise the audience in order to entertain them. It doesn't matter which it is, the net effect is the same: the unexpected element in that story was the absence of an established twist. Or, in other words, the plot twist was that there was no plot twist. So, a Meta Twist.

* ''[[ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool Gwenpool Strikes Back]]'' has the titular Gwendolyn Poole behave like a manic, TalkativeLoon. Most readers passed this off as a case of DependingOnTheWriter, as the character has had personality shifts like this before; something that the character herself has regularly highlighted in previous runs with the additional observation that, naturally, no one in-universe really notices such changes. Cue the final issue, where ComicBook/KamalaKhan directly confronts Gwen and it's revealed that she is ''well aware'' that Gwen is deliberately acting out-of-character and playing up her usual goofball tendencies to disguise her actual feelings, reframing the entire miniseries as Gwen being [[StepfordSmiler far more desperate and scared than previously let on]].

** The ''Gwenom'' arc in ''ComicBook/SpiderGwen''. Most readers would expect it to mirror the original Venom story from the ''Spider-Man'' comics and told time-and-time again in adaptations; Spidey bonds with an alien symbiote and grows fond of the new abilities, he gets DrunkOnTheDarkSide for a while, eventually realizes what has happened, and removes the creature after a bit of fighting. Instead, the creative team goes in a very different direction at first, as the symbiote's first target isn't Gwen, but her universe's Wolverine. Gwen does become the next person to bond with the symbiote after that, but in another twist, she can fully control it. Gwen remains in an actual symbiotic relationship with the creature from that point on, with the black suit only manifesting when Gwen is particularly upset or wants to intimidate her foes. Okay, she does become bloodthirsty for a while, but that was the result of her and the symbiote being stressed out due to Captain Stacy almost dying, not her being corrupted. Taking down [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Matt Murdock]] (here the evil leader of The Hand) and spending a year in prison helps her mellow out some.

Say you're into a particular author who [[MandatoryTwistEnding likes giving each of their stories a special kind]] of TwistEnding. They like using it so much it's practically a signature element for their works. For some, it's [[DeadHorseTrope predictable and groanworthy]], while others might like it. Either way, it's always going to be there. Right?

Imagine the surprise when, after finishing with the story, [[AvertedTrope the twist isn't there]]. Much like an EmptyRoomPsych, the author willingly removes that twist from their latest work to throw avid fans who expected it for a loop.

For a moment, the experienced have become just as easy to surprise as the newbie. In fact, a newbie into the works/genre will be pleasantly surprised regardless. The avid fan will get the added bonus of ''not knowing what happens next''. This can be a good way to keep the audience interested in their future stories.

Compare with TheUntwist. NotHisSled is a SubTrope where the Meta Twist occurs in an [[DerivativeWorks Adaptation]] or a [[ContinuityReboot Reboot]] as opposed to a sequel or an otherwise unrelated franchise by the same creator.[[note]]For the latter, beware of potential examples that are OlderThanTheyThink: earlier works lacking expected twists are [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the Author establishing a style]] instead of subverting it.[[/note]]

* ''Series/BlackMirror'':
** Series 3 episode 4 "San Junipero". Given the show's themes, and its universally [[DownerEnding bad]] or at best bittersweet endings up to that point, this heartwarming love story is surely headed for a spectacularly tragic CruelTwistEnding. With ten minutes left and things going ''too'' well to be true, a first-time viewer is likely filled with stomach-churning dread at how this couple's happiness is going to be destroyed. First they have a bad fight, and you think they won't reconcile. Then you start to think that Kelly's going to stick to her decision to die naturally instead of joining Yorkie in San Junipero; or that she'll change her mind but then one of them will die before they can be permanently transferred. During the very last shot, you might even be expecting the servers running San Junipero to suddenly blow up at the last possible second! But none of that happens. They make up after their fight, Kelly does eventually change her mind, they both live long enough to transfer to San Junipero, and they live happily ever after. It almost literally ends with them driving off into the sunset as "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" plays over the credits. This was the first-ever episode of ''Black Mirror'' to have an unambiguously happy and uplifting ending[[note]](the closest it got before that was "Nosedive", which ends on a hopeful but still bittersweet note)[[/note]] (and they deliberately made the outcome uncertain until partway through the credits), so it's no surprise that it's reduced many a viewer to tears (especially LGBT+ viewers who are used to years of the BuryYourGays trope and are touched). And in a show that can suffer from TooBleakStoppedCaring, this SurprisinglyHappyEnding may be the biggest reason that many viewers and critics rank "San Junipero" among the show's best episodes, even now that it has nine more episodes to compete with.
** Season 6's "Demon 79" revolves around a demon telling a woman called Needa that she must kill three people to prevent the apocalypse. As this is the first supernatural element to be seen on a normally science-fiction based show, you'd expect it to be revealed in the end that the demon is actually the result of some advanced technology or even that Needa is simply insane, and indeed there is a brief HopeSpot after she fails to complete her final murder where it appears as if the apocalypse will not occur after all. However, it turns out that the demon really was a demon all along, and the apocalypse happens exactly as he said it would.

** Season 6's "Demon 79" revolves around a demon telling a woman called Needa that she must kill three people to prevent the apocalypse. As this is the first supernatural element to be seen on a normally science-fiction based show, you'd expect it to be revealed in the end that the demon is actually result of some advanced technology or even that Needa is simply insane, and indeed there is a brief HopeSpot after she fails to complete her final murder where it appears as if the apocalypse will not occur after all. However, it turns out that the demon really was a demon all along, and the apocalypse happens exactly as he said it would.

* ''Series/BlackMirror'' series 3 episode 4 "San Junipero". Given the show's themes, and its universally [[DownerEnding bad]] or at best bittersweet endings up to that point, this heartwarming love story is surely headed for a spectacularly tragic CruelTwistEnding. With ten minutes left and things going ''too'' well to be true, a first-time viewer is likely filled with stomach-churning dread at how this couple's happiness is going to be destroyed. First they have a bad fight, and you think they won't reconcile. Then you start to think that Kelly's going to stick to her decision to die naturally instead of joining Yorkie in San Junipero; or that she'll change her mind but then one of them will die before they can be permanently transferred. During the very last shot, you might even be expecting the servers running San Junipero to suddenly blow up at the last possible second! But none of that happens. They make up after their fight, Kelly does eventually change her mind, they both live long enough to transfer to San Junipero, and they live happily ever after. It almost literally ends with them driving off into the sunset as "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" plays over the credits. This was the first-ever episode of ''Black Mirror'' to have an unambiguously happy and uplifting ending[[note]](the closest it got before that was "Nosedive", which ends on a hopeful but still bittersweet note)[[/note]] (and they deliberately made the outcome uncertain until partway through the credits), so it's no surprise that it's reduced many a viewer to tears (especially LGBT+ viewers who are used to years of the BuryYourGays trope and are touched). And in a show that can suffer from TooBleakStoppedCaring, this SurprisinglyHappyEnding may be the biggest reason that many viewers and critics rank "San Junipero" among the show's best episodes, even now that it has nine more episodes to compete with.

* ''Webcomic/SurvivorFanCharacters'': Many of the webcomic's fans employ ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' Edgic, a system that keeps track of the screentime and ManipulativeEditing given to each contestant, to try to predict the seasons' winners ahead of time. After this led to them figuring out Season 7 and 8's winners much earlier than the creator expected, he began actively working to catch these Edgic-savvy readers off-guard by going for extremely unconventional winners who Edgic logic would've deemed as having too OutOfFocus or LargeHam edits to win. Then, after four straight seasons of completely out-of-left-field winners, he pulled another Meta Twist in Season 13 by having a much more conventionally strategic and level-headed contestant easily beat a finalist that perfectly fit the mold of the loud, crazy, non-strategic type of recent winners and explicitly stated in his season notes that he deliberately played into his readers' paranoia about another AssPull outcome to generate suspense about the otherwise-predictable result.

** When [[ImplacableMan The Nemesis]] from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'' popped up most people were inclined to think he was just this game's big mindless final boss monster and nothing more, as was the trend in the first two games. Then he kills your friend, looks you in the eye, and [[ItCanThink says "STARS..."]] Then he ambushes you and follows you from room to room, something no monster has done yet in the series. Then he starts ''shooting missiles at you''. Then you learn he can actually [[RoamingEnemy appear at random]], meaning you're never truly safe. Then you realize he's after you specifically, no one else, and won't stop hunting you all across town until he gets you: for the first time in the series you're not dealing with a random mutation lashing out at life, but an intently created weapon made for the specific purpose of killing STARS members, the last of which you are.