History Main / TeasingCreator

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** The [[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/interlude-26b/#comment-36084 the comments to Interlude 26b demonstrate.]]

ShipTease is a specific variety of this trope, as is TheWalrusWasPaul. Differs from ShrugOfGod since there is definitely a deliberate tactic being employed, and it isn't always in response to fans' questions - in fact, you get the feeling the the fans are being ''provoked'' into asking questions. Compare TrollingCreator, when this gets outright malicious.

* Ryukishi07, author of the ''Franchise/WhenTheyCry'' mystery series, reportedly monitors online forums for popular fan theories so he can [[{{Jossed}} brutally smash them]] or set them up as gigantic {{red herring}}s in the next installment.

** And it reached epic levels for ''Manga/{{Hetaween 2011}}'' with his FanNickname becoming "Himapapatrollking" and many people becoming convinced that he was secretly watching their posts about the event with how he suddenly introduced new characters without warning, brought back OneSceneWonder characters, and still found time to mercilessly tease fans by deliberately avoiding showing the face of said new characters.

* The creator of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'', Todd J. Greenwald, is known to joke about the Justin/Alex pairing, recently stating that if he ever runs out of ideas, he'll do a ''whole season'' of Jalex-filled episodes.

* Creator/Suda51's old game ''VideoGame/TheSilverCase'' has been in development for a remake for the DS for several years. Early 2010 he showed off the DS port on an internet livestream, proving that it works... but there's no release date. It eventually got a PS4 version in 2018, since the initial plans fell through.

* Every new character in ''Videogame/MarvelPuzzleQuest'' gets a clue in each the release notes and the monthly preview. For instance, Spider-Man 2099 had "A Star Is Reborn" (LegacyCharacter) and MAXimum Time (he got powers through a spider created by [=AlcheMAX=]). And at times it's obtuse - "Under the Pale Moonlight" was Yelena Belova because she was the "Pale Little Spider" and acted mostly at night - or misdirecting - "Waves piling on" had people considering water characters, but it was Iron Fist, given the phrase is an anagram for "Living weapons".

* The editors of Creator/DCComics (notably their boss, Dan Didio) purposely misled fans that the 2005 CrisisCrossover series, ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', would get rid of the DarkerAndEdgier approach the company had taken with its characters in recent years. Writer Mark Waid himself said that was the point (though he got censored later). The story itself directly hints at this since the main characters were in fact trying to [[CosmicRetcon change reality back]] to its previous, nicer state (altered during ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''); but it was all a BaitAndSwitch, as those same characters, primarily ComicBook/SuperboyPrime, turn out to be ''responsible'' (both directly and indirectly) for all the tragic events, and the series ends in a bloody battle.

* Creator/KenAkamatsu loves doing this, especially in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''. It's still impossible to tell it's a HaremSeries, a subversion thereof, a DoubleSubversion, a parody, or whatever. Then there's the massive amount of ShipTease in the story, much of which seems to exist solely to mess with the heads of the readers. Especially Negi/Asuna. Naturally [[spoiler:Asuna seems to be Negi's aunt.]]

* Oh, Creator/HidekazHimaruya. The whole ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' [[Manga/HetaliaBloodbath2010 Christmas 2010 Event]] was proof of how he likes interacting with the ''Hetalia'' fandom, both in Japan and the West.

* ZUN, creator of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', is known by the fanbase as its biggest troll.

%%* [[Series/{{Lost}} Darlton]]. Their podcasts are infuriatingly hilarious.

* Oh Bungie, you've teased us with a reveal just made a few days ago. You teased us SINCE 2000! Actually, a whole bunch of them. And never trust a thing they say. They are not working on Halo 3. They are not working on another Halo game after Halo 3. Halo: Reach is definitely the last Halo game ever. Right.
** That last one was actually true (not including the Halo: CE UpdatedRerelease). There will be more Halo games, but they aren't made by Bungie.

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* Creator/NimbusLlewelyn seems to consider this a primary form of entertainment, judging by his A/N's in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', hinting, with varying degrees of vagueness, about what is to come and occasionally outright [[TrollingCreator trolling]] the audience, stating the difference between [[LyingCreator a hint and a red herring largely depended on his mood]] and occasionally letting people guess entirely the wrong thing. And then, of course, there's his mastery of ExactWords. A prime example is when he mentioned that he was going to bring back Peter Parker, one of his acknowledged favourite characters, and who hadn't appeared in the story aside from a brief scene way back towards the beginning of the first book, to get bitten and receive his powers. Cue [[spoiler: Peter getting bitten by a ''vampire'' and becoming a {{Dhampyr}}, before getting cured and dropping out of the story again!]]

* Jim Butcher, author of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', is this. It's like crack for wizar... ur, authors.

* Creator/BryanDavis absolutely loves to interact with his fans, and is almost the patron saint of ExactWords. This results in a LOT of teaasing of the fans. The thing is, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools most of the fans love it.]]

*** He first got into the act before even officially ''starting'' the job: when asked if [[http://www.eadt.co.uk/what-s-on/broadchurch-writer-chris-chibnall-creates-laughs-at-the-new-wolsey-1-4906577 his run of the show would include a female Doctor]], he replied "Nothing is ruled out but I don’t want the casting to be a gimmick and that’s all I can say," which was widely interpreted as a "no". Come July 2017, and Creator/JodieWhittaker was officially announced as the Thirteenth Doctor. Indeed, it was later revealed that not only had Chibnall intended to cast a female Doctor in the first place, being allowed to do so was a condition he insisted on before he would take the job of showrunner at all.

* Greg Farshtey, the main writer for ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', is ''technically'' not a LyingCreator, but he exploits ExactWords at every opportunity he can, and then turns around and points out "[[GodNeverSaidThat I never said that]]". This has eventually led to a highly suspicious fandom that picks apart everything he says for even the slightest hint of ambiguity.

* ''Webcomic/FriendlyHostility'' fans have been kept on tenterhooks as the comic approaches its finale, since the status of [[spoiler:Fox and Collin's relationship, which has, until now, been unshakeable]] is far from certain. Reading the commentary may result in seasickness as Fuhr keeps the audience swinging from one conclusion to another. A good example of creator pedigree comes into play here - Fuhr previously [[ShipSinking sunk the ship]] of [[spoiler: Cy and Skids]] in ''Webcomic/BoyMeetsBoy'', and has issued firm statments that certain members of the cast [[spoiler:specifically Skids and Tybalt]] will never see the others again.

* ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'': Viewers kept telling Lizzie and other characters, as well as the creative team, that they really wanted to see Darcy. They begged at least to have a peek at his photo, because most characters had twitters and facebook pages and posted lots of stuff from their parties and gatherings. However, he was first shown very late in the story -- in episode 59 (out of 100) and to boot, only his body was seen while his head was outside the camera angle. The credits in the video description listed Darcy's actor as "?". At that point it was almost unbearable to some fans, but luckily, in the next episode, Darcy was revealed.

* The producers of ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' love getting in touch with their fans and screwing with their heads. The set up the [[http://crewofomens.tumblr.com/ Crew of Omens]] blog to field questions, showcase fanart, and share, coplays with their viewers and answer almost every question with a sly "maybe" and a wink. To be fair they also feature previews of the newest episodes and behind-the-scenes stuff fans normally would only get to see on a DVD box set.

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* Creator/Suda51's old game ''VideoGame/TheSilverCase'' has been in development for a remake for the DS for several years. Early 2010 he showed off the DS port on an internet livestream, proving that it works... but there's no release date.

** Technically there have been a few WordOfSaintPaul's. but none by the ''writers''.

* Every new character in ''Videogame/MarvelPuzzleQuest'' gets a clue in each the release notes and the monthly preview. For instance, Spider-Man 2099 had "A Star Is Reborn" (LegacyCharacter) and MAXimum Time (he got powers through a spider created by [=AlcheMAX=]). And at times it's obtuse - "Under the Pale Moonlight" was Yelena Belova because she was the "Pale Widow" and acted mostly at night - or misdirecting - "Waves piling on" had people considering water characters, but it was Iron Fist, given the phrase is an anagram for "Living weapons".

* Every new character in ''Videogame/MarvelPuzzleQuest'' gets a clue in each the release notes and the monthly preview. For instance, Spider-Man 2099 had "A Star Is Reborn" (LegacyCharacter) and MAXimum Time (he got powers through a spider created by [=AlcheMAX=]). And at times it's obtuse - "Stop me if you heard this one before" was Doc Ock because a stop sign is an octagon - or misdirecting - "Waves piling on" had people considering water characters, but it was Iron Fist, given the phrase is an anagram for "Living weapons".

* Wildbow, writer of ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', isn't above playing with his readers, as [[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/interlude-26b/#comment-36084 the comments to Interlude 26b show.]]
-->'''endgame:''' Out of curiosity, wildbow, can [[spoiler:Gray Boy]] deactivate the [[spoiler:time loops]] around people he has [[spoiler:frozen]]? Or are they just [[spoiler:stuck there forever]]?\\

** Technically there have been a few WordOfGay's. but none by the ''writers''.

* Creator/BryanDavis absolutely loves to interact with his fans, and is almost the patron saint of ExactWords. This results in a LOT of teaasing of the fans. The thing is, [[TropesAreNotBad most of the fans love it.]]

* Rick Burlew, of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' quite frequently sets the forums ablaze with cryptic comments and reveals, especially regarding the Monster in the Darkness, and ever since he announced that in his opinion, it is guessable what the Monster is, there have been at least one, mostly more threads at any one time discussing it.

* In the initial announcement for Phase Three of the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'', the third ''Captain America'' was revealed on the Phase Three roadmap to be titled ''Captain America: Serpent Society'' (named after a group of snake-based supervillains in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse). Approximately fifteen minutes later, after the rest of the lineup was revealed, Creator/KevinFeige comments about how embarrassed he is about that ''Serpent Society'' subtitle, saying "It feels like there must be a better title somewhere..." At this point, the theater lights suddenly dim, and the movie's true title is gradually revealed: ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''.

* [[Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures Andrew Hussie]] has something of a widespread reputation with this, especially the farther things get in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''.