This can be the main premise of a work and thus be established in the exposition. Imagine a courtroom drama which is told from the real culprit's point of view.
I suppose, but in practice, it is often enough a massive spoiler, like it is in The Fugitive and Knives Out.
Rawr.
So I see this list is going just as bad as before I tried to rework it.
IMHO it's not passing requirements 1 and 4 to me. If I saw this trope on a work page and the context is hidden, it wouldn't inherently tell me much, so it's not a Spoilered Rotten to me.
I also don't see how Propping Up Their Patsy is inherently a Plot Twist. The trope can still happen if the culprit is known.
Edited by Amonimus TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Fair enough. I still think that as a betrayal trope, spoilers should remain unmarked, as suggested in the TLP.
Rawr.
The Draftsman of Doom
Any objection to adding Previously Overlooked Paramour? You nigh-literally cannot see the trope name on the page without it giving away someone's role in the plot as an unexpected love interest.
Besides which, the page itself is spoilers off.
Edited by SkyCat32 Rawr. Hide / Show Replies
I believe this a) can happen relatively early on in the work and b) might only surprise the main character but not the audience. So no, I wouldn't add it but that's just my opinion.
Fair point, but it is still enough of a common spoiler that I consider it worthy of discussion.
Rawr.
i think it can be added; even if it's not a spoiler every time, it is often enough that it qualifies imo.
Alright, as there are no objections, I will implement my draft. Note that I still left out the following tropes:
Special Case:
Okay, I have to surrender on this one. After pondering about it for months, I just can't tell if this is SR or not. I believe there are constellations possible where there is explanation necessary but this might be too constructed and it also might be another case of Tropes Are Flexible. There's definitely more input by tropers necessary and welcome. As long as this issue isn't decided, it will not appear on this list. Edited by Gemser
Some tropes just have Spoilers built into them. It's often because they give away their endings, or very important twists, and which important characters live and die, so even naming these tropes along with a work is a spoiler itself.
They fall into three categories: A) Tropes with „spoiler“ in the title or tropes specifically about spoilers in fiction. B) Tropes that immediately spoil the whole plot in one second just by naming the trope together with the work (emphasis is on „rotten“ here) C) The same like type B but on (and only on) character pages. D) A combination of types A, B and C.
Note: This list needed some massive rework. Don't add tropes that could be spoilers or even just are often spoilers or any random death, ending or plot twist trope (there are other lists for that). For a trope to be eligible for type 2, 3 or 4 of this list it must fulfill all four of these requirements: 1) It must give away HUGE plot points about the resolution of the main premise of the work, so it should be both and ending trope and a plot twist trope at the same time (death trope optional). 2) The trope cannot happen in the exposition of a work or the introduction of a character (note that this often the reason why death tropes fail to make this list) 3) It must immediately tell you the outcome of the work and/or change the tone or even genre of the work and you will never be able to see the work in the same light again after you have read the spoiler. 4) There is no more explanation necessary, just the appearance of the trope on the work's list is a spoiler itself. To test this, take a random show and imagine this trope appearing as a Zero Content Example in the Main or character section. If the show is immediately spoiled now (reading the example text is not necessary), it belongs on this list. If it needs more explanation, it does not, and you shouldn't add it.
Either way, be wary of reading examples in these tropes, these are the most spoilers you'll ever get.
Type A
- All There in the Stinger
- All There Is To Know About The Crying Game
- Do Not Spoil This Ending
- Equipment Spoiler
- First-Episode Spoiler
- Foiler Footage
- Foregone Conclusion
- Hair Color Spoiler
- Handling Spoilers
- Interface Spoiler
- It Was His Sled
- Late-Arrival Spoiler
- Mandatory Twist Ending
- Meta Twist
- Musical Spoiler
- Oh, and X Dies
- Self-Fulfilling Spoiler
- Spoil at Your Own Risk
- Spoiled by the Cast List
- Spoiled by the Format
- Spoiled by the Manual
- Spoiled by the Merchandise
- Spoiler
- Spoiler Cover
- Spoiler Hound
- Spoiler Opening
- Spoilers Off
- Spoiling Shout-Out
- Trailers Always Spoil
- Trope Telegraphing
Type B
- All Just a Dream
- The Bad Guy Wins
- Cosmic Horror Reveal
- Cruel Twist Ending
- Detective Mole
- Downer Ending
- Dump Them All
- Earth All Along
- The Ending Changes Everything
- Everybody Did It
- Everyone Is a Tomato
- The Hero Dies
- Karmic Twist Ending
- Kill Em All
- The Killer in Me
- Massive Multiplayer Scam
- Mole in Charge
- Narrative Backpedaling
- Nested Story Reveal
- Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending
- Reset Button Ending
- Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies
- "Shaggy Dog" Story
- The Story That Never Was
- Sudden Downer Ending
- Surprisingly Happy Ending
- True Final Boss
- Two Dun It
- They Do
- Wham Episode (on recap pages)
Type C (note that theoretically every death or reveal trope could fit here, but only list tropes that cannot happen in the exposition by their very nature)
- Big Bad Slippage
- Bus Crash
- Canon Character All Along
- Dead All Along
- Dropped a Bridge on Him
- Evil All Along
- Final Girl
- Good All Along
- Heel–Face Return
- Killed Off for Real
- Secretly Dying
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome
Type D
- Not His Sled
- Spoiler Title
- Walking Spoiler (on character pages)
- Ascended Fridge Horror (1-4)
- Assimilation Backfire (2-4)
- Awful Truth (1-4)
- Better Than It Sounds (1-4)
- Bittersweet Ending (4)
- Blaming The Railroaded Player Character (1-4)
- Cast as a Mask (2)
- Chekhov's Gun (to general, also 2,3)
- Cloning Blues (2)
- Complete Monster (not allowed on character pages, 4 on YMMV pages)
- Death by Adaptation (4)
- Decoy Protagonist (2)
- Doom as Test Prize (1,2)
- Famous Last Words (2)
- Finger-Twitching Revival (2)
- Foreshadowing (too general, also 1-4)
- Gambit Roulette (1-4)
- Game Changer (4)
- He's Just Hiding (not allowed on character pages, 4 on YMMV)
- Idie Free (2)
- Kansas City Shuffle (1-4)
- Knight Templar (4)
- Last Disrespects (2,3)
- Luke, I Am Your Father (4)
- Malignant Plot Tumor (4)
- Mid-Season Twist (4)
- Moral Event Horizon (not allowed on character pages, 4 on YMMV)
- The Mourning After (2)
- Movie Twist List (too general, also 4)
- Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize (4)
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero (4)
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain (4)
- Not-So-Harmless Villain (4)
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist (4)
- Only One Plausible Suspect (4)
- Playing with Character Type (4)
- Red Herring Shirt (4)
- Rerouted from Heaven (2)
- Reverse Relationship Reveal (can happen to unimportant characters, thus 1)
- The Reveal (too general, also 4)
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog (4)
- Spared by the Adaptation (4)
- Subverted Trope (FAR too general, also 1,2,4)
- Surprise Creepy (2)
- Through the Eyes of Madness (2)
- Tomato in the Mirror (4)
- Tomato Surprise (4)
- Traitor Shot (2)
- Twist Ending (too general, also 4)
- Using You All Along (4)
- Victory Fakeout (4)
- Villainous Breakdown (2,4)
- Virtual-Reality Interrogation (4)
- Xanatos Gambit (2,4)
- Wham Line (4)
- Wham Shot (4)
- Your Son All Along (4)
Any objection to my adding Through the Eyes of Madness? "The protagonist was crazy all along" is often a twist ending.
Any objection to Propping Up Their Patsy? Seeing as you hypothetically cannot see this trope on a character page without knowing that the character who it is listed under is the actual culprit of a plot-driving crime, with or without context.
Rawr. Hide / Show Replies