Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Added DiffLines:
* ''Fanfic/HoursVerse'': The author's notes on ''[[VideoGame/Persona4 Catch Perfect]]'' contain spoilers for the events of ''VideoGame/Persona5''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** The site also features "Content Warnings" which authors are asked to provide if their story contains certain elements which many readers would rather steer clear of, such as a major character dying, graphic violence, and SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes. For obvious reasons, these also frequently give away major spoilers if they're not the main focus of the story. Authors can try to avert this by tagging a story with "Creator Chose Not to Use Content Warnings" and make the reader proceed with discretion, but since authors can simply skip the content warning step if none of them apply, this can still give away that the author is trying to hide ''something''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Changed line(s) 111 (click to see context) from:
* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'': Katie has hearing problems, so she often turns on the subtitles on video games. Unfortunately, the dialogue often doesn't keep up with the subtitles, leading to a point where [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/to-the-victim-go-the-spoilers Katie knew someone would die]] before he actually did.
to:
* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'': Katie [[Creator/KatieTiedrich Katie]] has hearing problems, so she often turns on the subtitles on video games. Unfortunately, the dialogue often doesn't keep up with the subtitles, leading to a point where [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/to-the-victim-go-the-spoilers Katie knew someone would die]] before he actually did.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[InterfaceSpoiler Back to the main page]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Starting a new page because the original page was too long.
Added DiffLines:
!! Non-Video Game Examples
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* This actually occurs in ''Manga/FireEmblemChampionsSword''. Each chapter begins with a recap page telling the story so far and giving profiles of each of the main characters and others who are relevant to the current chapter. That's all well and good... until the final chapter gives a recap profile for a character who hasn't appeared for around 5 issues and who it'd have no good reason to recap. It was foreshadowed that they were a ChekhovsGunman earlier on, but this kills any remaining subtlety.
* In ContinuityReboot ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'', the ToBeContinued card depicts Princess Serenity holding a staff-length version of the [[MagicWand Cutie Moon Rod]] as a [[StaffOfAuthority sceptre]], well before the story arc that introduces the weapon itself.
* Averted in-universe in ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''. There are more than a dozen different ways for the heroes to upgrade their {{Evolving Weapon}}s, but each hero's StatOVision doesn't display information about any method they don't already know about.
* There is a good reason why the short description of ''Manga/ShimejiSimulation'' only gives the most watered-down description about it being a usual SliceOfLife story in [[Website/TheOtherWiki Wikipedia]][[note]]Ironically the work's page on wikipedia lists the manga's official genre as {{surreal|ism}} comedy, which blatantly spoils the fact that this is not an average SliceOfLife manga[[/note]] and in [=MangaDex=]. Talking about the whole of manga's contents gives away and spoils the manga's well-known TomatoSurprise twist that the world [[spoiler:is revealed to be a simulation.]] It's especially much worse since this only becomes true in Chapter 30.
* The Netflix result for ''Anime/GlitterForceDokiDoki'' has [[spoiler: The Golden Crown of Wisdom]] as its thumbnail despite not being introduced until later in the show. Not only that, but the preview video also spoils [[spoiler: Regina and Glitter Ace]].
* The anime adaptation of ''Literature/LogHorizon'' invokes this by doing absolutely nothing to hide the fact that Rondel is actually a [[NonPlayerCharacter Person of the Land]], even though the visual nature of the adaptation means a few glaring indicators of that (such as the fact that his ID window uses the green NPC background rather than the blue one Players use) are now out in the open.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* On Platform/ArchiveOfOurOwn, every fic shows the tags the author has added, which usually include characters. This can spoil the appearance of some characters, or who is in a relationship with who, or even characters' {{Secret Identit|y}}ies from the source material, if the reader hasn't caught up yet.
* Chapter 10 of ''FanFic/SonicGenerationsFriendshipIsTimeless'' corresponds to the rival battle between Sonic and Shadow from [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations the original game]]. However, Shadow's name in the chapter title has a question mark next to it, spoiling the fact that [[spoiler:the rival battle against Shadow is a BaitAndSwitchBoss]].
* An in-universe example in ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': Rosalia's ambush of Kirito and Silica is foiled not by Kirito's Detecting skill, but because the name tag hovering over Rosalia's head is poking out on either side of the tree she's trying to hide behind.
* In any ''Webcomic/TheGamer''-like story, the main character's SuddenGameInterface can do much to reveal knowledge that could have easily remained hidden.
* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Subtle ones happen occasionally with the out-of-universe dice rolls. The author generally sticks to the official statblocks for monsters, so when one of them has an atypical stat (for example, the bandits in ''The Forest of Terrors'' having overly-high AC and better gear than they should), it's often a clue that there's something subversive happening (in this case, Spectra later discovering the bandits were city guards in disguise.)
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* The credits of ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' list [[spoiler:The Tank Gang]]'s voice actors before their appearance in TheStinger.
* The credits of ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'' lists [[spoiler:"Never Gonna Give You Up"]] as part of the soundtrack despite not being played in the movie. [[spoiler:Then it turns out TheStinger is a JustForFun/RickRoll.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* Subtitle creation is usually done by third-parties, and often they transcribe dialogue directly from the script. These subtitles usually display the name of a speaker if they are off-screen, but sometimes you ''don't'' want the viewer to know who is speaking offscreen just yet, if their identity is supposed to be a secret for now. This kind of interface spoiler is especially bad when it accidentally reveals who the HiddenVillain is, or exposes a main character as being EvilAllAlong.
* Subtitles can also spoil the sudden deaths of characters, if only by a couple of seconds. If the caption says something like, "I know you won't kill me. You promi-", you know the speaker's about to get shot.
* With film adaptions of popular franchises, it's not uncommon to unveil a major character in TheStinger as a way of hyping the next installment (or to include an old favorite in a cameo). Of course, these scenes are often after the closing credits have included the surprise character in the cast list.
** ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' credits [[spoiler:Toho as the owners of Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah. Toho's characters aren't even referenced until the post-credits scene]].
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' averts this [[spoiler:by crediting the voice actor and creators of Howard The Duck immediately after his surprise reveal]].
* In the Coppola Restoration box set of ''Film/TheGodfather'' and its sequels, the backgrounds of the disc menus contain three important death scenes. ''The Godfather''[='s=] menu shows [[spoiler:Vito Corleone lying dead in his tomato garden]]. ''Part II''[='s=] menu shows [[spoiler:Michael Corleone standing in his study, which in the film is when his brother Fredo is murdered offscreen on his order]]. ''Part III''[='s=] menu shows someone hanged; [[spoiler:while it's easy to think that it's Michael given that it's the final film and considering the previous two discs' menus, it's actually a corrupt banker]].
* In the DVD of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', the menu includes the scene where [[spoiler:Palpatine attacks Mace Windu and the other Jedi]] before showing you the options.
* In ''Film/RogueOne: A Franchise/StarWars Story'', there are title cards for every planet featured, except for [[spoiler:Mustafar from ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'']], because it would've given away Darth Vader's presence [[spoiler:as he has his own private base there]].
* ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' introduces every important character with a profile listing their talents and wacky trivia. The only teammate to not get one is Slipknot, which is an immediate giveaway that his character is the {{Redshirt}}.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* With the likes of Kindle and other e-book readers, it's very easy too see the index of any given book at any time and, if the author names the chapters, this has the potential to be spoilery.
* In almost every ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' novel, there is a glossary of terminology and artwork of the various [[HumongousMecha BattleMechs]], dropships, and vehicles mentioned in the novel. This can often give away what shows up later in the story. For example, in the franchises' debut novel, ''Decision At Thunder Rift'', a planet is attacked by a band of pirates using a small selection of dilapidated battlemechs, mostly light mechs like the 'Locust' and 'Stinger'. Yet the glossary lists heavies like the 'Rifleman' and 'Crusader'. In the book's second act, a conspiracy is revealed and a Draconis Combine dropship lands carrying a platoon that uses these mechs.
* In the original three ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books, Herald Talia reads about the tragic deaths of the [[LastOfHisKind Last Herald-Mage]] Vanyel Ashkevron, who died [[YouShallNotPass preventing an enemy army]] from entering Valdemar; and of the later Herald [[PlayingWithFire Lavan Firestorm]], who [[SuperpowerMeltdown immolated himself and a Karsite army]] after his Companion was shot. Naturally when the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' and ''Brightly Burning'' come out their protagonists are DoomedByCanon. The title of the trilogy also foretells doom for all the ''other'' Herald-Mages; all of them are dead before Vanyel meets his fate.
* The first ''ComicBook/{{Hilda}}'' book contains a map of the area around Hilda's home with several locations specifically labeled. [[SubvertedTrope However, they never show up in the actual story.]]
* The ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure of the Priory School" includes a [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/The_Return_of_Sherlock_Holmes%2C_edition_published_in_1905_by_McClure%2C_Phillips_%26_Co.%2C_New_York..djvu/page150-1970px-The_Return_of_Sherlock_Holmes%2C_edition_published_in_1905_by_McClure%2C_Phillips_%26_Co.%2C_New_York..djvu.jpg hand-drawn map]] which is shown fairly early in the story, but immediately reveals clues that aren't found until later--including, most notably, "[[spoiler:Heidegger]]'s Body" long before the character's death is discovered.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The ''Literature/XWingSeries'' falls victim to this via proper formatting. [[spoiler:Capital ship names are italicized, so anytime someone refers to [[BigBad Ysanne Isard's]] [[TheAlcatraz secret prison]] as ''Lusankya'', it spoils the big reveal that it's actually a starship.]]
* Both consciously averted and played straight in some editions of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. For instance, in the deluxe paperback edition of ''The Way of Kings'', one of the illustrations is a spoiler in what it depicts, and is thus given a more generic name in the index; but if you accidentally open the book to the back endpapers, [[spoiler:the map is not a duplicate of the one in front but shows a completely different realm that isn't even hinted at for most of the book]].
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', a Web Serial Novel, is published as a series of blog posts, with each post tagged with the characters appearing in it. However, the character tags sometimes include minor spoilers, such as revealing Atlas' name before he's named in story, or revealing the identity of Golem early. Subverted with the Echidna clones, which each have their own, named character tags despite only appearing briefly and never being named in story.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Technically, any series that features a RomanticFalseLead as an element of a LoveTriangle could be seen as this. You can easily tell which of the romantic rivals is going to finish in front because one's part of the main cast and the other's credited as a guest star.
* ''Series/TwentyFour''
** The show made a habit of silencing its signature beeping clock whenever a major character has been killed, to the point that when [[spoiler:Tony Almeida]] returned in season 7 after [[MetaTwist having seemingly been given a silent clock in season 5]], the producers pointed out that unlike most of those other times, there were still other sounds audible while the clock was onscreen. Come ''[[Series/TwentyFourLiveAnotherDay Live Another Day]]'', and despite absolutely ''no'' indication that he wasn't about to die, the episode which ended with [[spoiler:President Heller acquiescing to Margot Al-Harazi's demands, allowing her to kill him with a missile from the stolen drones]] had a normal, beeping clock. Sure enough, the following week's episode revealed that Jack had found a way to save him.
** At the beginning of the fifth season's premiere, Dennis Haysbert is introduced as being a "special guest appearance", thus indicating that (like other guest stars) he won't be making any additional appearances past that episode. A few moments later, [[spoiler:his character (David Palmer) is shot and killed by a sniper]].
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** The [[TransformationTrinket henshin belt]] from ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' has 4 buttons on it, confirming from the moment that the belt is shown that Ryotaro will be possessed by 4 different Imagin for 4 different forms (not counting his base form, [[JokeCharacter Plat Form]]), each one ColorCodedForYourConvenience so that you know that not only will he be possessed by all-Yellow and all-Purple imagin, but they'll end up joining his side. [[spoiler:Then along comes Sieg, who not only lacks a button with his corresponding color (white), but he uses an entirely different belt to transform, although it's not as big of a twist due to how rarely it's used. There's also his MidSeasonUpgrade and SuperMode, which rely on outside devices, thus being a complete subversion]]. New Den-O, from the same series, subverts this trope entirely, since he can transform into his main form, Strike Form, regardless of which Imagin is possessing him (since they turn into weapons for him to wield as opposed to having him change forms), [[spoiler:and the one exception - Deneb, who lets New Den-O transform into Vega Form - also subverts this, due to the fact that there is no green button on the belt]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', being a show themed around fictional video games, displays a character select screen whenever any of the heroes transform into their superpowered alter-egos. The screen includes all five main Kamen Riders even before they actually appear for the first time, as well as two portraits with question marks that are filled in over the course of the show.
* ''Series/{{Ozark}}'': The pilot episode teases that Wendy, who is the wife of the main character and being played by Creator/LauraLinney, might get killed and be a case of DecoyProtagonist. Audiences might fall for it if they hadn't noticed Linney's eyes on the poster of the show in the Netflix interface.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' plays fair with the Machine-eye view, so when in "Firewall" Caroline Turing is framed by a yellow box[[note]]meaning she knows about the Machine[[/note]], viewers who notice get an early hint she's more than just another VictimOfTheWeek.
* If a PreviouslyOn segment features clips from a seemingly minor moment or character, it's almost guaranteed to become important again in that episode. ''Series/GameOfThrones'' was notorious for this, for example.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'':
** The second season had a case of this similar to ''The Wheel of Time'' below for actors listed by the playback UI of Amazon Prime, as it reveals Renee's last name to be [[spoiler:Picard, making her Jean-Luc Picard's ancestor]]. It's also an example where [[ObviousRulePatch the UI was updated to cover this up]] later on, having Renee's last name not shown even after TheReveal.
** The Third Series also had this, as the subtitles for the third episode identfies the creatures piloting the enemy ship [[spoiler:as 'Changelings']] before their presence is revealed in-story.
* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'':
** Since Amazon Prime lets you know the role any actor currently on screen is playing while the playback UI is up, viewers can immediately know [[spoiler: Rand's mother was named Tigraine Mantear,]] despite their name not being mentioned even once during the episode, [[spoiler: while readers would not discover it or its significance until the fourth book.]]
** Again in the first season finale, [[spoiler: Moiraine and Rand encounter a man in the Blight they (and supposedly the audience) believe to be the Dark One, tempting Rand to choose the Dark, except the playback names the character as "Ishamael 'The Man'", who book readers (and viewers who randomly notised his name-drop from the Dark-friend Dina) will know to be [[TheDragon the Highest amongst The Forsaken.]]]] Unlike [[spoiler: Tigraine Mantear]] in the previous episode, his actor Fares Fares isn't listed in the episode's end credits, probably meaning it's still supposed to be a mystery.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The teaser reveal for Solgaleo and Lunala GX in the ''TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}}'' Trading Card Game blotted out several of the various stats for the Pokémon in question on their card. While fans initially thought this was to just add to the suspense of revealing these cards' capabilities, it turned out that this was to avoid an InterfaceSpoiler revealing that [[spoiler:Solgaleo and Lunala are both Stage 2 evolved Pokémon, although Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have previously never been part of an evolution line. In addition, the two legendaries being evolved forms of Cosmoem was a major spoiler for [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon that generation of video games]]]].
* Any tabletop game with a "roll for perception" mechanic can easily become this. After all, if your game master asks for a perception roll, even if you fail it, you know there's almost certainly something there (because why ask if there isn't?).
* TabletopGame/{{Chess}}: Part and parcel of chess problems and studies. The problem's caption outright tells that there's a checkmate in a set amount of moves (or, in the case of studies, that there's a way to win or draw) by force in this position, and you only have to find it.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' once [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] this to deliver a reveal. After the climax of the ''War of the Spark'' story, several planeswalkers ended up fleeing to the far ends of the multiverse in the aftermath of the conflict. This major arc was followed by a few minor, self-contained visits to various planes (Eldraine, Ikoria, Kaldheim, a return to Theros and Zendikar), followed by a new plane called Strixhaven. This appeared to be another self-contained arc, until people saw the new character [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=513560 Professor Onyx]]. She appears to be a brand-new planeswalker, but her card types describe her as 'Legendary Planeswalker - [[ProdigalHero Liliana]]'.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:TV Tropes]]
* On Website/TVTropes, spoiler placement [[Administrivia/SelfFulfillingSpoiler can give away]] what they're trying to hide:[[note]]Many of these practices are not allowed for exactly this reason; see Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. However, other cases like trope-specific tabs are unavoidable, and as such it's strongly recommended to finish a work you're into before going to its pages if you really want to enjoy it the way the creator intended.[[/note]]
* If AlwaysSaveTheGirl has a spoilered out description, the love interest most likely died.
* If you're on the character page for any work with a mystery central to the plot and you see [[WalkingSpoiler someone whose description is 90% spoiler-tagged]], congrats, you have probably just found the villain.
* Even if the work tries to avoid this by having a separate "Antagonists" section and warning of unmarked spoilers in there, it's still very easy to find the villain. If a character has a deceptively small list of tropes in the normal characters section, and a one-line spoiler underneath their profile, said spoiler will almost ''always'' be "For tropes pertaining to them after TheReveal, see the Antagonists section." The opposite can also happen, which is even worse.
* In works that have acting/voice acting involved, if a mysterious character's actor/voice actor is spoilered out, chances are whoever plays the character already plays someone in the current cast (and is either that character, or is otherwise closely connected to said character. If it's a character that as far as you know doesn't or can't talk, even an all-spoilered out blotch where a voice actor's name or a quote would go is a giveaway that they break their silence at some point.
* If said WalkingSpoiler suddenly dies half-way through the first episode, then even the sheer ''number'' of tropes associated with them, spoilered out or not, can spoil that they're NotQuiteDead and will come back at some point.
* If part of someone's ''name'' is spoilered out, you've probably got a TomatoInTheMirror on your hands.
* It's common to see a trope description take some form of "Looks like it's going to be subverted, [[spoiler:but then it's played straight.]] The spoiler tag isn't really hiding anything in such cases. Then again, even if you don't insert the "looks like it's going to be subverted" part but just add a spoiler tag just after the unspoilered part of some trope description, you're actually strongly hinting at some kind of trope subversion.
* If a work seems cheerful and bright, but has a DarthWiki/DarthWiki or NightmareFuel tab, chances are you are looking at a DisguisedHorrorStory and/or a SugarApocalypse.
* In a similar vein, if a work (usually a video game) seems to have an ExcusePlot or [[NoPlotNoProblem no plot at all]], but you see multiple AudienceReactions tabs (SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and TearJerker, especially), then what seems to be a work with barebones storytelling ''isn't''.
* Any mention of a villain that mentions he's TheDragon, and then a short spoiler in parentheses. In most cases you can guess that this villain will be the true BigBad, CoDragons along with a second villain or not going to last long.
* If the BigBad entry on a page mentions a villain's name but there is a spoiler in the entry then it is a safe bet that this villain is just the DiskOneFinalBoss or working with a second HiddenVillain.
* A similar case to the ''Ace Attorney'' example can occur on TV Tropes character pages too. If a named character from a work is built up as important, but doesn't have an entry at all on the characters page, chances are it's because they're an alias for someone who ''does'' have an entry. The same happens if the character has a character page entry, but no image to go with it. In that case it's a safe bet that their appearance is the same as someone else's.
* The sheer ''number'' of tropes present on their page can also reveal the amount of screentime a character might have. Character seems important, but doesn't have many tropes? You can either guess that they won't return or maybe it will be like the above where it's an alias.
* If you see a character's entry, yet there's a trope that doesn't seem to fit what they were doing before? Probably means they'll return later on.
* The generally frowned-upon format of dedicating spoiler tags just to a character's gender, either because of a reveal involving them, or because it isn't their true gender, will usually be very obvious no matter how the spoilers are added. In the former case, either the gender distribution of the work is even enough that simply their gender isn't enough to reveal anything, or the gender ratio is heavily skewed in one direction and their gender only has any need to be spoilered at all if they are in the minority gender, which would stick out like a sore thumb anyway. In the latter case, it still sticks out like a sore thumb and hints at a reveal the reader probably wouldn't be suspecting if the spoiler tags weren't there or applied differently.
* Similarly to the above, if a character is referred to by a gender-neutral pronoun such as "they" or "them" despite not being presented as such in the work itself, it could be a sign that their gender is not what you're initially led to believe it is.
* DeathTropes as listed on a character page is sort of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. On one hand, spoiling the name of the trope (which is actually forbidden) will give the reader nothing to go on, so curiosity may entice them to highlight it anyway. On the other hand, leaving the name of a trope like KilledOffForReal or DeadAllAlong ends up covering up approximately nothing.
* If a seemingly innocuous character has their own dedicated page, or their character folder has a warning that says that the folder has unmarked spoilers, then odds are they're far more relevant than they appear.
* If you wish to edit a page that has spoiler tropes on it, there's nothing you can do except try to avoid the very visible spoilers. [[spoiler:Or just watch/read the work in question before you edit. Of course, there are also the pages ''about'' spoilers...]]
* Similarly, if you want to avoid spoilers, ''don't'' click the "Related" tab. This subpage lists ''every'' page on the wiki that has a pothole to the page you're viewing.
* On the SugarWiki/BetterThanItSounds pages, it can be easy to tell what a franchise is depending on the amount of examples. For example, ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' has about 26 entries, and not a lot of other things have that many.
* On pages which have different color palettes, like YMMV or Darth Wiki, a link that was hidden within a spoiler used to be faintly visible. This was fixed, though hovering the mouse over a spoiler tag and finding a hidden link will cause the cursor react to a clickable link, which on some browsers shows the URL for the link. This is why some editors frown upon hiding links in spoiler tags.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games-Related]]
* It's generally not a good idea to look at the [[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard ESRB rating description of a game]] before playing it, as many of them are very detailed as to why the game received its rating, which often means describing a CruelAndUnusualDeath in vivid detail, which can sometimes make it obvious who dies and how. [[DrivenToSuicide Suicides]] and {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s are also specifically mentioned. Justified, in that the point of ESRB descriptions is to inform parents who are looking to see if a game that they intend to buy for their child is going to be suitable for the child. Occasionally the sample lines of suggestive or disturbing dialogue can be ''major'' spoilers, like this example from the ratings page of ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa 2|Goodbye Despair}}'': [[spoiler:"Some of them tried to have children with Junko's dead body."]], a double whammy as it also spoils the original ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa|Trigger Happy Havoc}}''.
* The Platform/PlayStation4 disables its internal recording features when a game enters a point designated as a "blocked scene", with a popup to explain this. If said popup appears at the start of a seemingly innocuous cutscene, you can be sure a WhamEpisode is coming.
* Speedruns (unless they are watched through some live stream). Time needed to complete the speedrun can be immediately guessed thanks to the video's length. Zig-zagged by WebVideo/GamesDoneQuick recordings on [=YouTube=], which include huge chunks of the broadcast before and after the run as if to make it impossible to guess, then tell you directly in the title anyways.
* When talking about ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', if you decide to quote one of Sans's, Napstablook's, Metaton's, or Papyrus's more spoilerrific quotes without spoiling the identity of the speaker, you should probably quote them with proper capitalization instead rather than with their capitalization quirks (AllLowercaseLetters for Sans and Napstablook, {{CAPS LOCK}} for Metaton and Papyrus).
* The [=YouTube=] channel for ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' averts this for pro matches. If two teams have a "best of 7" series, they will always post seven videos, even if the series ended in a 4-0 sweep; the unnecessary videos will simply be repeats of previous matches. They even edit the videos so that they aren't the same running time as the previous match they're duplicating.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'': Katie has hearing problems, so she often turns on the subtitles on video games. Unfortunately, the dialogue often doesn't keep up with the subtitles, leading to a point where [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/to-the-victim-go-the-spoilers Katie knew someone would die]] before he actually did.
-->In a perfect world, I'm pretty sure we would only be given one clause at a time, it would appear on-screen while that clause was actually being spoken, and it would never end with "(death gurgle)".
* In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'', [[spoiler:Jocelyne Brown]] is a closeted trans woman who has mentioned this fact exactly once on-panel, a significant length after her first appearance. Shortly after this reveal, all of the old comics tagged with her birth name were updated to use her proper name, giving the reveal away to anyone who hadn't read that far yet. A later comic {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this in the AltText.
-->sooner or later [Joyce and Becky] are gonna hafta look down at the tags
* In the print version of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', all volumes have titles along the lines of "[[CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank]]". Agatha is not officially revealed to be a Heterodyne until the third volume.
* Discussed in ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic.'' In one strip's [[TheRant commentary]], David Morgan-Mar discusses how hard it is for physical books to disguise how much more of the story remains, since any reader can ''see'' how many pages are left. However, an author could surprise their readers by ending the actual story much ''sooner'' than the end of the book, and filling the rest of the pages with an unrelated short story, or ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''-style appendices.
* In ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'', members of MissionControl and the crew are given a title card with their nationality, their age, their spoken languages, their job, whether they are TheImmune or not and extra info during their introduction. In Chapter 1, one such card is given to Onni, who lasts only a few pages during which he's shown refusing to join the crew and ultimately getting left behind when his younger sister and cousin leave their home military base. Guess who reappears via the literal magic of dream world interactions in Chapter 7, becomes an unexpected addition to MissionControl in Chapter 10, and graduates to actual protagonist status in Adventure II?
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Media]]
* ''The Huffington Post'' loves to tease readers with clickbait lines such as "You'll Never Guess This Celebrity!", but the URL for the page frequently includes the article's headline (kevin-bacon-shift-your-shopping-for-good), so hovering your mouse over the link reveals the answer 99% of the time and saves you from having to actually read the article.
* If you are watching ''WebAnimation/DoubleRainboom'' for the first time, do so on [=YouTube=] and not on the official website, as the disclaimer on the bottom of the page spoils the fact that [[spoiler:the story's actually a crossover.]]
** [=YouTube=] spoils it too, thanks to the "related video" list.
** The description on [=YouTube=], which is where most people will go to first, and what will be mostly visible on a recommended videos list, clearly starts with "SPOILERS BELOW" (and on the recommended videos, that's all that is displayed), implying that you may not want to check it yet.
* Crossing with LateArrivalSpoiler, sometimes thumbnails can be too revealing when one checks out a whole playlist. And there are cases like the Creator/RoosterTeeth player showing the thumbnail of the next episode once you finish a video.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Every volume's final episode includes TheStinger, which occurs after the end credits roll. The end credits always lists characters in appearance order. If a new character's first speaking role is in the stinger, their name appears on the list before their scene occurs. While this technically occurs in both the Volume 1 and 2 stingers for Cinder and Raven, respectively, Roman already knew who Cinder was long before the audience found out. However, the audience was as mystified as Yang by Raven's first appearance in Volume 2, so the end-credits reveal her name to the audience before Yang; as the stinger scene is a dream sequence, Yang doesn't have Raven's Volume 2 appearance confirmed to her until half-way through Volume 3.
* Choose-Your-Own-Adventures videos on [=YouTube=], or videos with heavy use of the Annotations, could fall for this if they used repeated clips for their bad endings, as viewers can look at the url of the video in question and turn the video into a game of Click The New Link. Removal of annotations has rendered this a moot point.
* This is essentially the reason for the existence of Polsy, which lets you display [=YouTube=] videos on a separate screen; so Website/SomethingAwful {{Lets Play}}ers can host their videos on [=YouTube=] without the Related Videos spoiling the story.
* NFL Sunday Ticket's online streaming app will pop up alerts for scoring plays. However, since the video is often a play or two behind, you often get the score alert before seeing the ball snapped.
* Website/{{IMDB}} can reveal a WalkingSpoiler if the actor is credited as a too-revealing name. Back when there were character pages, clicking one could reveal an awful truth. Though there still is a minor one when clicking the character name, given it shows images and quotes that might be revealing.
* If you type certain search terms into a search engine, such as Google, you can get somewhat spoileriffic results from even the suggested search terms. For an example from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', "Reiner Braun [[spoiler:is a Titan]]." If a character is KilledOffForReal (especially if ItWasHisSled), Google will happily ruin it for you by suggesting "death" the instant you type in their name.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuh8Im3Lo3E6VtvOD9uebrgTS3YKzzooc TheRealNinjaBoy's Nomad Adventure]] is an aversion of this. For context, the Nomad Adventure is a ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' run in [[FinalDeathMode Hardcore Mode]]. [[spoiler:He dies in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTyK-0V4aoQ Part 15]], about 17 minutes into the video, but in an example similar to [[ComicStrip/{{Frazz}} Frazz's]] SpoiledByTheFormat aversion, there's about 15 minutes of a black screen in order to throw viewers off of his trail.]] He lampshades this in the comments section.
-->'''[=TheRealNinjaBoy=]:''' It's to [[spoiler:hide how long the episode actual is]], all done on purpose...If the episode [[spoiler:is a lot shorter than the previous ones]] then it'd show that [[spoiler:I died at some point so blank space to hide the fact that I died]]
* LetsPlay/NorthernLion acknowledged in episode 4 of his ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' playthrough that his viewers would be able to guess whether he would succeed or fail a given boss fight based on how close to the end of the episode it was. At the time, the counter and scrub bar were constantly visible below the video instead of as an overlay that only appears when you mouse over it. This could apply to any Let's Play that always ends its episodes at a logical point such as the end of a level.
* This came up as FiveSecondForeshadowing when WebAnimation/{{hololive}} English members Nanashi Mumei and Ceres Fauna [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0uWjPoiMRY were playing]] ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' together. Fauna, FriendToAllLivingThings, caught Mumei killing a cow and entered {{Yandere}} mode, [[DissonantSerenity serenely]] asking Mumei to check her inventory for any fresh meat she might have gotten from somewhere, and then encouraging Mumei to go to bed while Fauna stayed up for just a little longer, while Mumei nervously eyed a nearby pool of lava.
-->'''Mumei:''' (''lying in bed'') Okay, good-night!\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night, Mumei.\\
'''Mumei:''' Good-night!\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night.\\
(''beat'')\\
'''Mumei:''' Good-night.\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night.\\
''faunaceres has made the advancement [Hot Stuff]''[[note]]Fill a bucket with lava, a powerful environmental hazard and griefing tool[[/note]]\\
'''Mumei:''' [[OhCrap GUH! G-GOOD-NIGHT! GOOD-NIGHT!]]\\
'''Fauna:''' ...\\
'''Mumei:''' (''strained'') IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED, FAUNA! IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED, FAUNA!
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' in which Poof is introduced is sometimes broadcasted as a two-parter and not in a single episode. Poof only gets his name at the end of the second part (a RunningGag in the episode is several characters coming up with various names for Poof). The first part, however (which ends shortly after Poof is born) clearly has Poof's name written in the end credits (and just to drive the point across, it's written as "Baby Poof", making absolutely sure people know who this is referring to).
* In the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', [[spoiler:Superboy]] is still promoted in the fourth season's intro despite [[spoiler:being seemingly killed four episodes in]], an early foreshadowing for [[spoiler:him actually being trapped in the Phantom Zone]].
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* This actually occurs in ''Manga/FireEmblemChampionsSword''. Each chapter begins with a recap page telling the story so far and giving profiles of each of the main characters and others who are relevant to the current chapter. That's all well and good... until the final chapter gives a recap profile for a character who hasn't appeared for around 5 issues and who it'd have no good reason to recap. It was foreshadowed that they were a ChekhovsGunman earlier on, but this kills any remaining subtlety.
* In ContinuityReboot ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'', the ToBeContinued card depicts Princess Serenity holding a staff-length version of the [[MagicWand Cutie Moon Rod]] as a [[StaffOfAuthority sceptre]], well before the story arc that introduces the weapon itself.
* Averted in-universe in ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''. There are more than a dozen different ways for the heroes to upgrade their {{Evolving Weapon}}s, but each hero's StatOVision doesn't display information about any method they don't already know about.
* There is a good reason why the short description of ''Manga/ShimejiSimulation'' only gives the most watered-down description about it being a usual SliceOfLife story in [[Website/TheOtherWiki Wikipedia]][[note]]Ironically the work's page on wikipedia lists the manga's official genre as {{surreal|ism}} comedy, which blatantly spoils the fact that this is not an average SliceOfLife manga[[/note]] and in [=MangaDex=]. Talking about the whole of manga's contents gives away and spoils the manga's well-known TomatoSurprise twist that the world [[spoiler:is revealed to be a simulation.]] It's especially much worse since this only becomes true in Chapter 30.
* The Netflix result for ''Anime/GlitterForceDokiDoki'' has [[spoiler: The Golden Crown of Wisdom]] as its thumbnail despite not being introduced until later in the show. Not only that, but the preview video also spoils [[spoiler: Regina and Glitter Ace]].
* The anime adaptation of ''Literature/LogHorizon'' invokes this by doing absolutely nothing to hide the fact that Rondel is actually a [[NonPlayerCharacter Person of the Land]], even though the visual nature of the adaptation means a few glaring indicators of that (such as the fact that his ID window uses the green NPC background rather than the blue one Players use) are now out in the open.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* On Platform/ArchiveOfOurOwn, every fic shows the tags the author has added, which usually include characters. This can spoil the appearance of some characters, or who is in a relationship with who, or even characters' {{Secret Identit|y}}ies from the source material, if the reader hasn't caught up yet.
* Chapter 10 of ''FanFic/SonicGenerationsFriendshipIsTimeless'' corresponds to the rival battle between Sonic and Shadow from [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations the original game]]. However, Shadow's name in the chapter title has a question mark next to it, spoiling the fact that [[spoiler:the rival battle against Shadow is a BaitAndSwitchBoss]].
* An in-universe example in ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': Rosalia's ambush of Kirito and Silica is foiled not by Kirito's Detecting skill, but because the name tag hovering over Rosalia's head is poking out on either side of the tree she's trying to hide behind.
* In any ''Webcomic/TheGamer''-like story, the main character's SuddenGameInterface can do much to reveal knowledge that could have easily remained hidden.
* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Subtle ones happen occasionally with the out-of-universe dice rolls. The author generally sticks to the official statblocks for monsters, so when one of them has an atypical stat (for example, the bandits in ''The Forest of Terrors'' having overly-high AC and better gear than they should), it's often a clue that there's something subversive happening (in this case, Spectra later discovering the bandits were city guards in disguise.)
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* The credits of ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' list [[spoiler:The Tank Gang]]'s voice actors before their appearance in TheStinger.
* The credits of ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'' lists [[spoiler:"Never Gonna Give You Up"]] as part of the soundtrack despite not being played in the movie. [[spoiler:Then it turns out TheStinger is a JustForFun/RickRoll.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* Subtitle creation is usually done by third-parties, and often they transcribe dialogue directly from the script. These subtitles usually display the name of a speaker if they are off-screen, but sometimes you ''don't'' want the viewer to know who is speaking offscreen just yet, if their identity is supposed to be a secret for now. This kind of interface spoiler is especially bad when it accidentally reveals who the HiddenVillain is, or exposes a main character as being EvilAllAlong.
* Subtitles can also spoil the sudden deaths of characters, if only by a couple of seconds. If the caption says something like, "I know you won't kill me. You promi-", you know the speaker's about to get shot.
* With film adaptions of popular franchises, it's not uncommon to unveil a major character in TheStinger as a way of hyping the next installment (or to include an old favorite in a cameo). Of course, these scenes are often after the closing credits have included the surprise character in the cast list.
** ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' credits [[spoiler:Toho as the owners of Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah. Toho's characters aren't even referenced until the post-credits scene]].
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' averts this [[spoiler:by crediting the voice actor and creators of Howard The Duck immediately after his surprise reveal]].
* In the Coppola Restoration box set of ''Film/TheGodfather'' and its sequels, the backgrounds of the disc menus contain three important death scenes. ''The Godfather''[='s=] menu shows [[spoiler:Vito Corleone lying dead in his tomato garden]]. ''Part II''[='s=] menu shows [[spoiler:Michael Corleone standing in his study, which in the film is when his brother Fredo is murdered offscreen on his order]]. ''Part III''[='s=] menu shows someone hanged; [[spoiler:while it's easy to think that it's Michael given that it's the final film and considering the previous two discs' menus, it's actually a corrupt banker]].
* In the DVD of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', the menu includes the scene where [[spoiler:Palpatine attacks Mace Windu and the other Jedi]] before showing you the options.
* In ''Film/RogueOne: A Franchise/StarWars Story'', there are title cards for every planet featured, except for [[spoiler:Mustafar from ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'']], because it would've given away Darth Vader's presence [[spoiler:as he has his own private base there]].
* ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' introduces every important character with a profile listing their talents and wacky trivia. The only teammate to not get one is Slipknot, which is an immediate giveaway that his character is the {{Redshirt}}.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* With the likes of Kindle and other e-book readers, it's very easy too see the index of any given book at any time and, if the author names the chapters, this has the potential to be spoilery.
* In almost every ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' novel, there is a glossary of terminology and artwork of the various [[HumongousMecha BattleMechs]], dropships, and vehicles mentioned in the novel. This can often give away what shows up later in the story. For example, in the franchises' debut novel, ''Decision At Thunder Rift'', a planet is attacked by a band of pirates using a small selection of dilapidated battlemechs, mostly light mechs like the 'Locust' and 'Stinger'. Yet the glossary lists heavies like the 'Rifleman' and 'Crusader'. In the book's second act, a conspiracy is revealed and a Draconis Combine dropship lands carrying a platoon that uses these mechs.
* In the original three ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books, Herald Talia reads about the tragic deaths of the [[LastOfHisKind Last Herald-Mage]] Vanyel Ashkevron, who died [[YouShallNotPass preventing an enemy army]] from entering Valdemar; and of the later Herald [[PlayingWithFire Lavan Firestorm]], who [[SuperpowerMeltdown immolated himself and a Karsite army]] after his Companion was shot. Naturally when the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' and ''Brightly Burning'' come out their protagonists are DoomedByCanon. The title of the trilogy also foretells doom for all the ''other'' Herald-Mages; all of them are dead before Vanyel meets his fate.
* The first ''ComicBook/{{Hilda}}'' book contains a map of the area around Hilda's home with several locations specifically labeled. [[SubvertedTrope However, they never show up in the actual story.]]
* The ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure of the Priory School" includes a [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/The_Return_of_Sherlock_Holmes%2C_edition_published_in_1905_by_McClure%2C_Phillips_%26_Co.%2C_New_York..djvu/page150-1970px-The_Return_of_Sherlock_Holmes%2C_edition_published_in_1905_by_McClure%2C_Phillips_%26_Co.%2C_New_York..djvu.jpg hand-drawn map]] which is shown fairly early in the story, but immediately reveals clues that aren't found until later--including, most notably, "[[spoiler:Heidegger]]'s Body" long before the character's death is discovered.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The ''Literature/XWingSeries'' falls victim to this via proper formatting. [[spoiler:Capital ship names are italicized, so anytime someone refers to [[BigBad Ysanne Isard's]] [[TheAlcatraz secret prison]] as ''Lusankya'', it spoils the big reveal that it's actually a starship.]]
* Both consciously averted and played straight in some editions of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. For instance, in the deluxe paperback edition of ''The Way of Kings'', one of the illustrations is a spoiler in what it depicts, and is thus given a more generic name in the index; but if you accidentally open the book to the back endpapers, [[spoiler:the map is not a duplicate of the one in front but shows a completely different realm that isn't even hinted at for most of the book]].
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', a Web Serial Novel, is published as a series of blog posts, with each post tagged with the characters appearing in it. However, the character tags sometimes include minor spoilers, such as revealing Atlas' name before he's named in story, or revealing the identity of Golem early. Subverted with the Echidna clones, which each have their own, named character tags despite only appearing briefly and never being named in story.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Technically, any series that features a RomanticFalseLead as an element of a LoveTriangle could be seen as this. You can easily tell which of the romantic rivals is going to finish in front because one's part of the main cast and the other's credited as a guest star.
* ''Series/TwentyFour''
** The show made a habit of silencing its signature beeping clock whenever a major character has been killed, to the point that when [[spoiler:Tony Almeida]] returned in season 7 after [[MetaTwist having seemingly been given a silent clock in season 5]], the producers pointed out that unlike most of those other times, there were still other sounds audible while the clock was onscreen. Come ''[[Series/TwentyFourLiveAnotherDay Live Another Day]]'', and despite absolutely ''no'' indication that he wasn't about to die, the episode which ended with [[spoiler:President Heller acquiescing to Margot Al-Harazi's demands, allowing her to kill him with a missile from the stolen drones]] had a normal, beeping clock. Sure enough, the following week's episode revealed that Jack had found a way to save him.
** At the beginning of the fifth season's premiere, Dennis Haysbert is introduced as being a "special guest appearance", thus indicating that (like other guest stars) he won't be making any additional appearances past that episode. A few moments later, [[spoiler:his character (David Palmer) is shot and killed by a sniper]].
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** The [[TransformationTrinket henshin belt]] from ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' has 4 buttons on it, confirming from the moment that the belt is shown that Ryotaro will be possessed by 4 different Imagin for 4 different forms (not counting his base form, [[JokeCharacter Plat Form]]), each one ColorCodedForYourConvenience so that you know that not only will he be possessed by all-Yellow and all-Purple imagin, but they'll end up joining his side. [[spoiler:Then along comes Sieg, who not only lacks a button with his corresponding color (white), but he uses an entirely different belt to transform, although it's not as big of a twist due to how rarely it's used. There's also his MidSeasonUpgrade and SuperMode, which rely on outside devices, thus being a complete subversion]]. New Den-O, from the same series, subverts this trope entirely, since he can transform into his main form, Strike Form, regardless of which Imagin is possessing him (since they turn into weapons for him to wield as opposed to having him change forms), [[spoiler:and the one exception - Deneb, who lets New Den-O transform into Vega Form - also subverts this, due to the fact that there is no green button on the belt]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', being a show themed around fictional video games, displays a character select screen whenever any of the heroes transform into their superpowered alter-egos. The screen includes all five main Kamen Riders even before they actually appear for the first time, as well as two portraits with question marks that are filled in over the course of the show.
* ''Series/{{Ozark}}'': The pilot episode teases that Wendy, who is the wife of the main character and being played by Creator/LauraLinney, might get killed and be a case of DecoyProtagonist. Audiences might fall for it if they hadn't noticed Linney's eyes on the poster of the show in the Netflix interface.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' plays fair with the Machine-eye view, so when in "Firewall" Caroline Turing is framed by a yellow box[[note]]meaning she knows about the Machine[[/note]], viewers who notice get an early hint she's more than just another VictimOfTheWeek.
* If a PreviouslyOn segment features clips from a seemingly minor moment or character, it's almost guaranteed to become important again in that episode. ''Series/GameOfThrones'' was notorious for this, for example.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'':
** The second season had a case of this similar to ''The Wheel of Time'' below for actors listed by the playback UI of Amazon Prime, as it reveals Renee's last name to be [[spoiler:Picard, making her Jean-Luc Picard's ancestor]]. It's also an example where [[ObviousRulePatch the UI was updated to cover this up]] later on, having Renee's last name not shown even after TheReveal.
** The Third Series also had this, as the subtitles for the third episode identfies the creatures piloting the enemy ship [[spoiler:as 'Changelings']] before their presence is revealed in-story.
* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'':
** Since Amazon Prime lets you know the role any actor currently on screen is playing while the playback UI is up, viewers can immediately know [[spoiler: Rand's mother was named Tigraine Mantear,]] despite their name not being mentioned even once during the episode, [[spoiler: while readers would not discover it or its significance until the fourth book.]]
** Again in the first season finale, [[spoiler: Moiraine and Rand encounter a man in the Blight they (and supposedly the audience) believe to be the Dark One, tempting Rand to choose the Dark, except the playback names the character as "Ishamael 'The Man'", who book readers (and viewers who randomly notised his name-drop from the Dark-friend Dina) will know to be [[TheDragon the Highest amongst The Forsaken.]]]] Unlike [[spoiler: Tigraine Mantear]] in the previous episode, his actor Fares Fares isn't listed in the episode's end credits, probably meaning it's still supposed to be a mystery.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The teaser reveal for Solgaleo and Lunala GX in the ''TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}}'' Trading Card Game blotted out several of the various stats for the Pokémon in question on their card. While fans initially thought this was to just add to the suspense of revealing these cards' capabilities, it turned out that this was to avoid an InterfaceSpoiler revealing that [[spoiler:Solgaleo and Lunala are both Stage 2 evolved Pokémon, although Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have previously never been part of an evolution line. In addition, the two legendaries being evolved forms of Cosmoem was a major spoiler for [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon that generation of video games]]]].
* Any tabletop game with a "roll for perception" mechanic can easily become this. After all, if your game master asks for a perception roll, even if you fail it, you know there's almost certainly something there (because why ask if there isn't?).
* TabletopGame/{{Chess}}: Part and parcel of chess problems and studies. The problem's caption outright tells that there's a checkmate in a set amount of moves (or, in the case of studies, that there's a way to win or draw) by force in this position, and you only have to find it.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' once [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] this to deliver a reveal. After the climax of the ''War of the Spark'' story, several planeswalkers ended up fleeing to the far ends of the multiverse in the aftermath of the conflict. This major arc was followed by a few minor, self-contained visits to various planes (Eldraine, Ikoria, Kaldheim, a return to Theros and Zendikar), followed by a new plane called Strixhaven. This appeared to be another self-contained arc, until people saw the new character [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=513560 Professor Onyx]]. She appears to be a brand-new planeswalker, but her card types describe her as 'Legendary Planeswalker - [[ProdigalHero Liliana]]'.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:TV Tropes]]
* On Website/TVTropes, spoiler placement [[Administrivia/SelfFulfillingSpoiler can give away]] what they're trying to hide:[[note]]Many of these practices are not allowed for exactly this reason; see Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. However, other cases like trope-specific tabs are unavoidable, and as such it's strongly recommended to finish a work you're into before going to its pages if you really want to enjoy it the way the creator intended.[[/note]]
* If AlwaysSaveTheGirl has a spoilered out description, the love interest most likely died.
* If you're on the character page for any work with a mystery central to the plot and you see [[WalkingSpoiler someone whose description is 90% spoiler-tagged]], congrats, you have probably just found the villain.
* Even if the work tries to avoid this by having a separate "Antagonists" section and warning of unmarked spoilers in there, it's still very easy to find the villain. If a character has a deceptively small list of tropes in the normal characters section, and a one-line spoiler underneath their profile, said spoiler will almost ''always'' be "For tropes pertaining to them after TheReveal, see the Antagonists section." The opposite can also happen, which is even worse.
* In works that have acting/voice acting involved, if a mysterious character's actor/voice actor is spoilered out, chances are whoever plays the character already plays someone in the current cast (and is either that character, or is otherwise closely connected to said character. If it's a character that as far as you know doesn't or can't talk, even an all-spoilered out blotch where a voice actor's name or a quote would go is a giveaway that they break their silence at some point.
* If said WalkingSpoiler suddenly dies half-way through the first episode, then even the sheer ''number'' of tropes associated with them, spoilered out or not, can spoil that they're NotQuiteDead and will come back at some point.
* If part of someone's ''name'' is spoilered out, you've probably got a TomatoInTheMirror on your hands.
* It's common to see a trope description take some form of "Looks like it's going to be subverted, [[spoiler:but then it's played straight.]] The spoiler tag isn't really hiding anything in such cases. Then again, even if you don't insert the "looks like it's going to be subverted" part but just add a spoiler tag just after the unspoilered part of some trope description, you're actually strongly hinting at some kind of trope subversion.
* If a work seems cheerful and bright, but has a DarthWiki/DarthWiki or NightmareFuel tab, chances are you are looking at a DisguisedHorrorStory and/or a SugarApocalypse.
* In a similar vein, if a work (usually a video game) seems to have an ExcusePlot or [[NoPlotNoProblem no plot at all]], but you see multiple AudienceReactions tabs (SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and TearJerker, especially), then what seems to be a work with barebones storytelling ''isn't''.
* Any mention of a villain that mentions he's TheDragon, and then a short spoiler in parentheses. In most cases you can guess that this villain will be the true BigBad, CoDragons along with a second villain or not going to last long.
* If the BigBad entry on a page mentions a villain's name but there is a spoiler in the entry then it is a safe bet that this villain is just the DiskOneFinalBoss or working with a second HiddenVillain.
* A similar case to the ''Ace Attorney'' example can occur on TV Tropes character pages too. If a named character from a work is built up as important, but doesn't have an entry at all on the characters page, chances are it's because they're an alias for someone who ''does'' have an entry. The same happens if the character has a character page entry, but no image to go with it. In that case it's a safe bet that their appearance is the same as someone else's.
* The sheer ''number'' of tropes present on their page can also reveal the amount of screentime a character might have. Character seems important, but doesn't have many tropes? You can either guess that they won't return or maybe it will be like the above where it's an alias.
* If you see a character's entry, yet there's a trope that doesn't seem to fit what they were doing before? Probably means they'll return later on.
* The generally frowned-upon format of dedicating spoiler tags just to a character's gender, either because of a reveal involving them, or because it isn't their true gender, will usually be very obvious no matter how the spoilers are added. In the former case, either the gender distribution of the work is even enough that simply their gender isn't enough to reveal anything, or the gender ratio is heavily skewed in one direction and their gender only has any need to be spoilered at all if they are in the minority gender, which would stick out like a sore thumb anyway. In the latter case, it still sticks out like a sore thumb and hints at a reveal the reader probably wouldn't be suspecting if the spoiler tags weren't there or applied differently.
* Similarly to the above, if a character is referred to by a gender-neutral pronoun such as "they" or "them" despite not being presented as such in the work itself, it could be a sign that their gender is not what you're initially led to believe it is.
* DeathTropes as listed on a character page is sort of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. On one hand, spoiling the name of the trope (which is actually forbidden) will give the reader nothing to go on, so curiosity may entice them to highlight it anyway. On the other hand, leaving the name of a trope like KilledOffForReal or DeadAllAlong ends up covering up approximately nothing.
* If a seemingly innocuous character has their own dedicated page, or their character folder has a warning that says that the folder has unmarked spoilers, then odds are they're far more relevant than they appear.
* If you wish to edit a page that has spoiler tropes on it, there's nothing you can do except try to avoid the very visible spoilers. [[spoiler:Or just watch/read the work in question before you edit. Of course, there are also the pages ''about'' spoilers...]]
* Similarly, if you want to avoid spoilers, ''don't'' click the "Related" tab. This subpage lists ''every'' page on the wiki that has a pothole to the page you're viewing.
* On the SugarWiki/BetterThanItSounds pages, it can be easy to tell what a franchise is depending on the amount of examples. For example, ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' has about 26 entries, and not a lot of other things have that many.
* On pages which have different color palettes, like YMMV or Darth Wiki, a link that was hidden within a spoiler used to be faintly visible. This was fixed, though hovering the mouse over a spoiler tag and finding a hidden link will cause the cursor react to a clickable link, which on some browsers shows the URL for the link. This is why some editors frown upon hiding links in spoiler tags.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games-Related]]
* It's generally not a good idea to look at the [[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard ESRB rating description of a game]] before playing it, as many of them are very detailed as to why the game received its rating, which often means describing a CruelAndUnusualDeath in vivid detail, which can sometimes make it obvious who dies and how. [[DrivenToSuicide Suicides]] and {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s are also specifically mentioned. Justified, in that the point of ESRB descriptions is to inform parents who are looking to see if a game that they intend to buy for their child is going to be suitable for the child. Occasionally the sample lines of suggestive or disturbing dialogue can be ''major'' spoilers, like this example from the ratings page of ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa 2|Goodbye Despair}}'': [[spoiler:"Some of them tried to have children with Junko's dead body."]], a double whammy as it also spoils the original ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa|Trigger Happy Havoc}}''.
* The Platform/PlayStation4 disables its internal recording features when a game enters a point designated as a "blocked scene", with a popup to explain this. If said popup appears at the start of a seemingly innocuous cutscene, you can be sure a WhamEpisode is coming.
* Speedruns (unless they are watched through some live stream). Time needed to complete the speedrun can be immediately guessed thanks to the video's length. Zig-zagged by WebVideo/GamesDoneQuick recordings on [=YouTube=], which include huge chunks of the broadcast before and after the run as if to make it impossible to guess, then tell you directly in the title anyways.
* When talking about ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', if you decide to quote one of Sans's, Napstablook's, Metaton's, or Papyrus's more spoilerrific quotes without spoiling the identity of the speaker, you should probably quote them with proper capitalization instead rather than with their capitalization quirks (AllLowercaseLetters for Sans and Napstablook, {{CAPS LOCK}} for Metaton and Papyrus).
* The [=YouTube=] channel for ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' averts this for pro matches. If two teams have a "best of 7" series, they will always post seven videos, even if the series ended in a 4-0 sweep; the unnecessary videos will simply be repeats of previous matches. They even edit the videos so that they aren't the same running time as the previous match they're duplicating.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'': Katie has hearing problems, so she often turns on the subtitles on video games. Unfortunately, the dialogue often doesn't keep up with the subtitles, leading to a point where [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/to-the-victim-go-the-spoilers Katie knew someone would die]] before he actually did.
-->In a perfect world, I'm pretty sure we would only be given one clause at a time, it would appear on-screen while that clause was actually being spoken, and it would never end with "(death gurgle)".
* In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'', [[spoiler:Jocelyne Brown]] is a closeted trans woman who has mentioned this fact exactly once on-panel, a significant length after her first appearance. Shortly after this reveal, all of the old comics tagged with her birth name were updated to use her proper name, giving the reveal away to anyone who hadn't read that far yet. A later comic {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this in the AltText.
-->sooner or later [Joyce and Becky] are gonna hafta look down at the tags
* In the print version of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', all volumes have titles along the lines of "[[CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank]]". Agatha is not officially revealed to be a Heterodyne until the third volume.
* Discussed in ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic.'' In one strip's [[TheRant commentary]], David Morgan-Mar discusses how hard it is for physical books to disguise how much more of the story remains, since any reader can ''see'' how many pages are left. However, an author could surprise their readers by ending the actual story much ''sooner'' than the end of the book, and filling the rest of the pages with an unrelated short story, or ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''-style appendices.
* In ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'', members of MissionControl and the crew are given a title card with their nationality, their age, their spoken languages, their job, whether they are TheImmune or not and extra info during their introduction. In Chapter 1, one such card is given to Onni, who lasts only a few pages during which he's shown refusing to join the crew and ultimately getting left behind when his younger sister and cousin leave their home military base. Guess who reappears via the literal magic of dream world interactions in Chapter 7, becomes an unexpected addition to MissionControl in Chapter 10, and graduates to actual protagonist status in Adventure II?
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Media]]
* ''The Huffington Post'' loves to tease readers with clickbait lines such as "You'll Never Guess This Celebrity!", but the URL for the page frequently includes the article's headline (kevin-bacon-shift-your-shopping-for-good), so hovering your mouse over the link reveals the answer 99% of the time and saves you from having to actually read the article.
* If you are watching ''WebAnimation/DoubleRainboom'' for the first time, do so on [=YouTube=] and not on the official website, as the disclaimer on the bottom of the page spoils the fact that [[spoiler:the story's actually a crossover.]]
** [=YouTube=] spoils it too, thanks to the "related video" list.
** The description on [=YouTube=], which is where most people will go to first, and what will be mostly visible on a recommended videos list, clearly starts with "SPOILERS BELOW" (and on the recommended videos, that's all that is displayed), implying that you may not want to check it yet.
* Crossing with LateArrivalSpoiler, sometimes thumbnails can be too revealing when one checks out a whole playlist. And there are cases like the Creator/RoosterTeeth player showing the thumbnail of the next episode once you finish a video.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Every volume's final episode includes TheStinger, which occurs after the end credits roll. The end credits always lists characters in appearance order. If a new character's first speaking role is in the stinger, their name appears on the list before their scene occurs. While this technically occurs in both the Volume 1 and 2 stingers for Cinder and Raven, respectively, Roman already knew who Cinder was long before the audience found out. However, the audience was as mystified as Yang by Raven's first appearance in Volume 2, so the end-credits reveal her name to the audience before Yang; as the stinger scene is a dream sequence, Yang doesn't have Raven's Volume 2 appearance confirmed to her until half-way through Volume 3.
* Choose-Your-Own-Adventures videos on [=YouTube=], or videos with heavy use of the Annotations, could fall for this if they used repeated clips for their bad endings, as viewers can look at the url of the video in question and turn the video into a game of Click The New Link. Removal of annotations has rendered this a moot point.
* This is essentially the reason for the existence of Polsy, which lets you display [=YouTube=] videos on a separate screen; so Website/SomethingAwful {{Lets Play}}ers can host their videos on [=YouTube=] without the Related Videos spoiling the story.
* NFL Sunday Ticket's online streaming app will pop up alerts for scoring plays. However, since the video is often a play or two behind, you often get the score alert before seeing the ball snapped.
* Website/{{IMDB}} can reveal a WalkingSpoiler if the actor is credited as a too-revealing name. Back when there were character pages, clicking one could reveal an awful truth. Though there still is a minor one when clicking the character name, given it shows images and quotes that might be revealing.
* If you type certain search terms into a search engine, such as Google, you can get somewhat spoileriffic results from even the suggested search terms. For an example from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', "Reiner Braun [[spoiler:is a Titan]]." If a character is KilledOffForReal (especially if ItWasHisSled), Google will happily ruin it for you by suggesting "death" the instant you type in their name.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuh8Im3Lo3E6VtvOD9uebrgTS3YKzzooc TheRealNinjaBoy's Nomad Adventure]] is an aversion of this. For context, the Nomad Adventure is a ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' run in [[FinalDeathMode Hardcore Mode]]. [[spoiler:He dies in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTyK-0V4aoQ Part 15]], about 17 minutes into the video, but in an example similar to [[ComicStrip/{{Frazz}} Frazz's]] SpoiledByTheFormat aversion, there's about 15 minutes of a black screen in order to throw viewers off of his trail.]] He lampshades this in the comments section.
-->'''[=TheRealNinjaBoy=]:''' It's to [[spoiler:hide how long the episode actual is]], all done on purpose...If the episode [[spoiler:is a lot shorter than the previous ones]] then it'd show that [[spoiler:I died at some point so blank space to hide the fact that I died]]
* LetsPlay/NorthernLion acknowledged in episode 4 of his ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' playthrough that his viewers would be able to guess whether he would succeed or fail a given boss fight based on how close to the end of the episode it was. At the time, the counter and scrub bar were constantly visible below the video instead of as an overlay that only appears when you mouse over it. This could apply to any Let's Play that always ends its episodes at a logical point such as the end of a level.
* This came up as FiveSecondForeshadowing when WebAnimation/{{hololive}} English members Nanashi Mumei and Ceres Fauna [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0uWjPoiMRY were playing]] ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' together. Fauna, FriendToAllLivingThings, caught Mumei killing a cow and entered {{Yandere}} mode, [[DissonantSerenity serenely]] asking Mumei to check her inventory for any fresh meat she might have gotten from somewhere, and then encouraging Mumei to go to bed while Fauna stayed up for just a little longer, while Mumei nervously eyed a nearby pool of lava.
-->'''Mumei:''' (''lying in bed'') Okay, good-night!\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night, Mumei.\\
'''Mumei:''' Good-night!\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night.\\
(''beat'')\\
'''Mumei:''' Good-night.\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night.\\
''faunaceres has made the advancement [Hot Stuff]''[[note]]Fill a bucket with lava, a powerful environmental hazard and griefing tool[[/note]]\\
'''Mumei:''' [[OhCrap GUH! G-GOOD-NIGHT! GOOD-NIGHT!]]\\
'''Fauna:''' ...\\
'''Mumei:''' (''strained'') IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED, FAUNA! IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED, FAUNA!
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' in which Poof is introduced is sometimes broadcasted as a two-parter and not in a single episode. Poof only gets his name at the end of the second part (a RunningGag in the episode is several characters coming up with various names for Poof). The first part, however (which ends shortly after Poof is born) clearly has Poof's name written in the end credits (and just to drive the point across, it's written as "Baby Poof", making absolutely sure people know who this is referring to).
* In the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', [[spoiler:Superboy]] is still promoted in the fourth season's intro despite [[spoiler:being seemingly killed four episodes in]], an early foreshadowing for [[spoiler:him actually being trapped in the Phantom Zone]].
[[/folder]]
----
