Flashback Twist: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A [[Flash Back]] is thrown to by a piece of dialogue that gives you the impression you'll know what the story is, but then produces a comic effect by surprising you.

 

{{examples}}

** Higurashi is full of this, another example is the Eye opening Arc (Meakashi-hen) that in the Cotton Drifting arc (Watanagashi-hen) {{spoiler|the culprit wasn't Mion who had gone insane. Instead it was Shion, her twin sister. The cause of the madness was the same (Keiichi giving the doll to Rena) but the reason was totally different. The end is also one of these as Keiichi, as sees one of them suddenly going up at his bed even if both of the twins are supposed to be dead. It is later revealed that he hallucinated all of this and died by a heart attack.}}

** This can also be seen in the Massacre Arc (Minagoroshi-hen). In the Curse killing arc (Tatarigoroshi-hen), {{spoiler|none of the murders were by Keiichi's wishes. Instead they were just coincidences with the real murderer's acts, Also Satoko's uncle died when Keiichi killed him. Satoko had just gone crazy and thought the uncle was still alive}}. Looking back, it seems like the way Higurashi is built with Questions and Answer arcs allowed a lot of this, but that's probably one of the things that makes it so great.

* In episode 9 of ''[[Baccano!]]'', a flashback to the [[Sacrificial Lamb]]'s murder reveals that {{spoiler|he wasn't killed at all. Instead, he kicked the gun out of his assailant's hand and shot him. The corpse left behind was actually that of another [[The Mole|mole]] that the [[Sacrificial Lamb]] tortured and killed shortly afterwards. Also, said not-so-[[Sacrificial Lamb]] is actually an assassin -- the same one [[Chekhov's Gunman|Luck called for in the first episode]] -- ''and'' the [[Urban Legend|Rail Tracer]] that's been picking off various mooks since episode 3}}.

 

* Tucker (''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]],'' "The Prom") claiming he has a good reason to want to ruin the prom, which the flashback reveals to be the most innocuous rejection ever.

** Also in the episode "Fool for Love", when Spike says that he's always been "bad"... and then immediately flashes back to showing him {{spoiler|as a prissy Victorian-era wannabie poet.}}

{{quote|'''Lucille''': We had a fight. Who knows what it was about?

'''Narrator''': I do. }}

* The Grenada ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' series pulled this off between ''The Final Problem'' and ''The Empty House''. In the former, Watson reads Holmes' note, and on screen we see Holmes and Moriarty battle, and then ''both'' fall off Reichenbach Falls to their deaths. Naturally, it's all in Watson's imagination, and when Holmes recaps the fight in the latter episode we see that Holmes baristu'd Moriarty off the cliff. Of course, this isn't a surprise of any sort to those who have read the original stories.

 

* ''[[Sequential Art (webcomic)|Sequential Art]]''. Twice. Art asks Scarlet if the washing machine broke. Kat asks Scarlet if anyone messed with the Christmas lights.

* In Amy Kim Ganter's short comic ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120101071619/http://www.felaxx.com/watching1.htm I'm Watching You],'' the story begins with the protagonist burying two bodies. [[How We Got Here|She then flashes back to the weeks before]], while she was in school and she realized that one of her classmates was stalking her. Terrified and wanting him to leave her alone, she confronts him one day... {{spoiler|and the twist is that he was ''never'' stalking her. Our protagonist herself is the stalker, obsessed with a random classmate and has deluded herself into thinking he's stalking her back. She kills him and his girlfriend, burying the bodies in the woods and later [[Nightmare Fuel|seeing them staring at her through her window at night.]]}} Needless to say, not played for laughs.

 

* Constantly in ''[[Family Guy]]''. In one episode, Peter turns down a coupon offered by a man in a chicken suit, saying, "Sorry. I don't accept coupons from giant chickens. Not since that last time..." And flashes back to an actual giant chicken that gave Peter a coupon that turned out to be expired. Peter's reaction to this was an extensive chase and fight scene.

** Brian mentions the [[The Bible|Biblical]] parable of Abraham being told to kill Issac; cue [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]] gunning down the bartender from ''[[The Love Boat]]''.

** Lois tells new-neighbor Bonnie that someone lost an "eye" at Bingo last week. Cut to a man losing the I-27 ball. [[Double Subversion|Then putting out his eye on the corner of table when he goes to retrieve it]].

** Another major [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] occurs in "Spies Reminiscent of Us" where Stewie gets beaten up and tries to start a [[Cutaway Gag]] before blacking out: "This is worse than that time...(fades into gibberish)". Cut to the flashback, which is just Stewie in front of a white background as he admits that he doesn't know what to do here because he couldn't understand the lead-in.

* In ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' Mr. Krabs recalls the first time Plankton tried to take the Krabby Patty formula, which was just him ''asking'' for it.

{{quote|'''Krusty:''' And now, a special treat. My TV debut on "The Milk of Magnesia Summer Cavalcade." Let's watch.

''(clip shows a young Krusty "flying" across a stage suspended from a harness)''

''(the audience gasps)''

'''Krusty:''' Back then, you couldn't say "pants" on TV. I was banned for ten years. }}

* ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' has a flashback to Carl's [[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]], with something of a sudden twist at the end...

{{quote|'''Cybernetic Ghost:''' You remember that Christmas, don't you?