"Surprise, Motherfucker!"
— James Doakes, Dexter
Tropes about characters not getting what they expected. (Hope that doesn't shock you too much.)
One of the most useful emotions in a writer's toolbox and so one of the commonest in all sorts of stories.
See also Betrayal Tropes, Plot Twist, Twist Ending. Tropes in those indices will not be covered here.
Tropes
- Adoption-Induced Pregnancy: A person or couple finds out they're pregnant after adopting.
- Backing into Danger: Someone backpedals into the very threat they were planning to avoid.
- Baffled by Own Biology: Someone is surprised and confused by something related to their own body.
- Banging Pots and Pans: Someone surprises another by doing so.
- Big "NO!": Someone hollers "No" in response to witnessing a misfortune they didn't want to happen.
- Big "WHAT?!": Someone reacts to a revelation catching them by surprise by shouting "What?"
- Big "WHY?!": The above, but it's "Why?" instead of "What?"
- Blank White Eyes
- Blue with Shock: The anime equivalent of turning pale.
- Caught Coming Home Late
- Color Failure: A person is so shocked at what they see that they turn completely white.
- Confirm Before Reveal: A character asks a quick question about something they're about to reveal before revealing it.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind
- Dangerous Interrogative: The verbal equivalent of a Death Glare, used to indicate that whoever provoked the interrogative is about to enter a world of hurt.
- Didn't See That Coming
- Don't Sneak Up on Me Like That!: Surprised characters accidentally attack their buddies who startled them.
- Dramatic Curtain Toss
- Dramatic Drop
- Dramatic Sit-Down
- Dropping the Bombshell
- Dull Surprise: Hard to tell if this guy's actually surprised.
- Eye Pop: Someone's eyes launch out of their skulls to show surprise.
- Eye Take: O.O to show a character's shock.
- Faint in Shock: If the surprise is particularly emotionally impactful.
- Fake Mystery: There's no crime. The whole thing is staged as a prank.
- Fake-Out Twist: Surprise! But wait, surprise about the first surprise!
- Forgot to Mind Their Head: Someone accidentally hits their head by not being careful of their surroundings.
- Friendly Scheming
- The Future Is Shocking
- Game Changer: Something new is added to the story that changes the situation.
- Gay Bar Reveal: A character finds out that they're in a gay bar.
- Gut Punch
- Hands Looking Wrong: Someone inspects their hands after a transformation.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment
- Heroic BSoD: Shutting down as a result of something traumatic.
- Home-Early Surprise:
- Home Nudist: Finding out that a person goes naked when at home.
- I Think You Broke Him
- Imminent Danger Clue
- Instant Cosplay Surprise
- Introduction by Hookup: That random person the character slept with last night? They're their new coworker.
- Jaw Drop: A character reacts to something by lowering their jaw.
- Just Woke Up That Way
- Kewpie Doll Surprise: Anime women flap their arms in a "Y" pose when shocked or excited.
- Lightswitch Surprise: A dark room turns light and reveals a surprise.
- Making the Choice for You
- Matchlight Danger Revelation
- Mirror Reveal: A character is surprised at their own, post-transformation reflection
- Mock Surprise Reaction
- My God, What Have I Done?
- My God, You Are Serious!
- No More Lies
- Not Himself
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: When the status quo changes drastically.
- Oh, Crap!: Character realizes that they are completely screwed.
- Delayed "Oh, Crap!": A character sees signs that they are in big trouble, but the appropriate reaction is delayed a bit.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: A character talks about something before being horrified once the implications of their discussion dawn on them.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": A whole bunch of people freak out after learning that they're screwed.
- "Oh, Crap!" Fakeout: Someone fakes an "Oh Crap!" moment to mock their opponent.
- "Oh, Crap!" Smile: A character smiles nervously after discovering that they are in trouble.
- Ominous Adversarial Amusement
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When someone does not act like their usual self, then something's real serious.
- Out-of-Character Alert
- Open the Door and See All the People: My god, that's a lot of people outside.
- Paper-Bag Popping
- Passing Judgment: Character does something embarrassing in public and gets stared at by appalled passengers of a vehicle.
- Personal Effects Reveal
- The Picture Came with the Frame
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: Immobilizing someone in shock with a kiss.
- Refrigerator Ambush: Hiding in the fridge.
- Scary Surprise Party
- Shocking Moments
- Smoking Gun
- Spit Take: A character spits out their drink to show how surprised they are.
- Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: The character is so surprised they stop what they are doing and momentarily freeze.
- Stunned Silence: Someone's too surprised to even speak.
- Superweapon Surprise
- Surprise Jump: Someone jumps absurdly high in fright.
- Surprise Multiple Birth: A woman gives birth to more babies than she and/or her husband were expecting.
- Surprise Party
- Surprise Pregnancy
- Surprise Vehicle
- Surprise Witness
- Surprisingly Mundane Reason: A character is surprised when the actions of another, while seemingly for a strange purpose, are actually for a mundane reason.
- The Take
- Tears of Awe: A character gets teary-eyed upon seeing something overwhelmingly beautiful.
- These Hands Have Killed: A character is upset that they just killed someone.
- This Cannot Be!: Common phrase uttered by villains when they are about to meet their demise.
- Thunder Shock: Using thunder as an effect to emphasize a character's shock.
- Two Rights Make a Wrong
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: A character is disturbed by finding out that a woman is really a man in drag.
- Waking Up Elsewhere
- Wham Episode
- Wham Line: A line of dialogue drastically changes the plot, usually for the worse.
- Wham Shot: The above trope, but instead of dialogue, it's a cinematic shot
- What Have I Become?
- Why Won't You Die?: Someone tries to kill a person and expresses their frustration at the person surviving every attempt at taking their life.
- Wild Take
- Won't Do Your Dirty Work: The hero/villain is told to solve his own problems.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!
- You Monster!: Calling a person a monster to make it clear that you find their actions unforgivably cruel.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go: The villain lied about freeing the hostage.
- You're Insane!: Chewing out a person for their actions/intentions by telling them that they are crazy.
