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Teasing Creator (view source)

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Sometimes you get the feeling that a series creator is having a little ''too'' much fun messing with their audience's collective heads.
 
This is a creator who loves to mess around with their audience, keeping them hanging for as long as humanly possible. They'll hint, [[Flip -Flop of God|contradict themselves]], be [[Shrug of God|deliberately vague]] and occasionally outright mock the [[Epileptic Trees]] offered... only to prove said Epileptic Trees right at the very moment the majority of the fandom gives up on them. It only really counts as a meta-trope though - all stories aim to keep their audience guessing, but this creator does so outside the story itself, be it in interviews, on a blog or at conventions. [[Shrug of God]] is their language of choice.
 
There's a fine line to walk here. This tactic can create genuine suspense, since the creator is so unpredictable. Or it can annoy the fans, and make them feel like they're being [[Viewers are Morons|unfairly toyed with by a superior being]], perhaps leading to cries of [[Small Name, Big Ego]]. However, it can also be a reaction to [[Fan Dumb]]: if the creator makes a concrete statement which is then ignored in favour of speculation, they might decide [[Artist Disillusionment|"screw it"]] and play along.
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* [[Joss Whedon]] is notorious for this.
* [[Lost (TV)|Darlton]]. Their podcasts are infuriatingly hilarious.
* [[Russell T Davies]] traditionally drops random words from upcoming ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' stories in his ''[[Doctor Who Magazine (Magazine)|Doctor Who Magazine]]'' column, some of which could (he knows) spur on [[Epileptic Trees]]-type theories. (This apart from his [[Lying Creator|outright lying]] about future stories)
** Most notably, "The Next Doctor". The title was revealed around the time David Tennant was confirmed to be leaving the show, and fandom began guessing who the next Doctor would be, with the production team treating it as if the episode would be introducing the new actor. As it turned out, {{spoiler|the eponymous character wasn't the Doctor's next incarnation at all, the ruse being explained away halfway through the episode}}.
** The cliffhangers at the end of "Last of the Time Lords" {{spoiler|the Titanic crashes through the wall of the TARDIS}} and "The Stolen Earth" {{spoiler|the Doctor begins regenerating}} were both easily and effortlessly resolved within the first minute of the following episode, seemingly designed specifically to whip the audience into a frenzy in the meantime.
** Absolutely everything about the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", beginning with the title and ending with the... ending.
* [[Steven Moffat]], in charge of ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' and ''[[Sherlock]]'', outright says he routinely lies about things, encourages people to give out fake spoilers, and is generally good at trolling the fandoms.
** From his [http://twitter.com/#!/steven_moffat/status/122210599601057792 Twitter]: "Apparently I "confirmed" a romantic relationship between Sherlock and Irene Adler. Despite my 140 character limit can I be very clear that I"
** On the subject of the Sherlock series 2 cliffhanger: "We're going to be complete bastards about it."
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[[Category:Trivia Trope]]
[[Category:Teasing Creator]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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