The Reveal: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"What a twist!"''|'''[[M Night Shyamalan]]''', ''[[Robot Chicken]]''}}

The pivot in many plotlines is [['''The Reveal]]'''. A character is revealed as [[Luke, I Am Your Father|another character's mother]], [[I Am Who?|a god]], or secret suitor or arch nemesis in disguise. More broadly, the audience is given new information which had been withheld to create suspense. [['''The Reveal]]''' changes the nature of the plot, often pushing it from suspense towards action. A good reveal will also create a new set of questions and further suspense. On some occasions, [[The Reveal Prompts Romance]].

A key moment in most [[Gambit Pileup]] plots, when the heroes or the audience discover how the villains have been manipulating everyone. Can also be used to make a [[Cliff Hanger]] more dramatic. [[Myth Arc]] and [[Mind Screw]] series ''love'' springing these; [[Jigsaw Puzzle Plot|Jigsaw Puzzle Plots]]s pretty much require them. Eventually necessary for a [[Mysterious Employer]].

A [[Super -Trope]] to [[Emerging From the Shadows]].

== [[Anime]] &and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Magical Project S]]"'' The whole show being a parody of the magical girl genre, you wouldn't expect much in the way of plot twists. Cue [[Wham! Episode|Episode 19]] - Sammy's [[Shrinking Violet]] best friend, Misao is really the sadistic [[Dark Magical Girl]], Pixy Misa. More so, Pixy Misa is her ''default'' form; the shy and demure Misa was only a result of repressing her negative traits.

* ''[[Twentieth20th Century Boys]]'': Friend iiiiiiiiissssssss * drum roll* Fukubei! Then comes along second Friend who is implied to be Katsumata.

* ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' combines this with [[The Rashomon Style]], with Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki each explaining Haruhi'sboth their own true nature and theirwhat owneach of them thinks Haruhi's is.

** alsoAlso, Proxy One

* Usagi/[[Sailor Moon]] is Princess Serenity. Although it could be made obvious over time-- — we begin to see glimpses of the princess and she has the same voice actor-- — the original Japanese manga and anime didn't truly reveal this until well into the first season. The NA dub, on the other hand, revealed this in the very first episode (or figured no one would put two and two together with the identical princess in a bubble and Serena).

* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' ''lives'' for this.:

** Then we find out [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|Fai/Fay]] has a depressing backstory, he's faking his personality, is working for the villain, and he killed his brother.

** Then we find out that the original Syaoran is actually the son of the protagonist and love interest of [[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]], and is using his father's name as a psuedonympseudonym.

*** Then we learn that the protagonist of ''[[XXX Holic×××HOLiC]]'' is a time-travel duplicate of "Syaoran".

*** Then that she was preserved from going to the other side by an inadvertent [[Reality Warper|reality warp]] from Clow, giving a Reveal as to why he was so desperate to get rid of his powers and set off the plot of ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]''.

*** And at the same time we learn that the mother of Original Syaoran isn't [[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]], she's [[Oedipus Complex|his girlfriend's clone]]!

* ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano!]]'' --: The Rail Tracer is Claire Stanfield/Vino, AKA the young conductor supposedly killed in the second episode.

* ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]'' has a number of them, the biggest one probably being the reveal that the woman in Prague is really [[Villainous Crossdresser|Johan.]]

* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]'' {{spoiler|has Miyo}} being the [[Big Bad]], and the reason why we have so many arcs. There are other reveals though, but most are in the sound novels.

** Also for the viewer/reader (and Keiichi during Atonement chapter) the big reveal of unreliable narration during the question arcs. Go watch Onikakushi-hen knowing {{spoiler|Keiichi is delusional and the girls really are just trying to help.}} So many little things suddenly make sense. Not to mention {{spoiler|Rika's dimension-jumping and Hanyuu's existence.}}

* ''[[Pokémon]]'' does this with ''Pokemon's [[Ambiguous Gender|genders]]''. For example, Pikachu, after ten years of debating, is proven to be male..Or, [[StraightInvisible Gayto Gaydar|is it]]?

** In chapter 72; Kid is said to be a fragment of Shinigami, who turns out to be one of a group of entities called the Great Old Ones. Making the Super OCD boy a Humanoid Abomination (currently) minus the evil and his 'illness' impliedly the result of the fact he/his father is an anthropomorphic personficationpersonification of the 'madness of the rule of law'.

** {{spoiler|It's literally impossible to bring someone back to life}}. Anyone who sees the first anime then either reads the manga or watches ''Brotherhood'', the shock is increased several-fold; {{spoiler|in the original anime, they're transformed into homunculi}}.

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]] Strikers''. Protagonist Subaru, who has been a regular narrator ever since episode 1 (where as a little girl she is rescued by Nanoha and decides to become a hero too), finally battles the combat cyborgs but failosfails to rescue her sister and is seriously injured. Then we see her arm. Along with the blood, we see metal and cables. Subaru ''is a combat cyborg too''.

* In ''[[Kirby: ofRight theBack Starsat Ya!]]'', we get a relatively minor one, compared to what's going on all around, but a reveal nonetheless. For 99% of the series, the Holy Nightmare Salesmen always appeared on the big screens in King Dedede's palace from the waist up. When Dedede and Escargo(o)n meet the Salesman face to face in Nightmare's fortress, we see the awful truth- All that's at the bottom are just kirby-like feet, no legs, nothing else.

** In the second movie, during the fight between the TTGL and the Granzeboma, the Anti-Spiral drops the obvious (to the fans who've watched the anime) bombshell that if the Anti-Spiral is defeated, {{spoiler|Nia will disappear.}} This shocks the Dai-Gurren Brigade and then the Anti-Spiral proceeds to {{spoiler|tear the TTGL into many pieces, causes robot blood to spill all over the galaxy they were standing on.}} They got better.

* In the last episodes of ''[[Tenshi Nini Narumon]]'' it was revealed that the {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] Silky (who hates angels,) is a 1/3 angel herself and has her fallen halo hidden in the drawer}}.

** Similarly, it was revealed that {{spoiler|Mikael who was supposed to be an angel-in-training, lost his qualifications to become one and also hid his fallen halo in the boxes}}.

*** In the last episode, it was revealed that {{spoiler|the whole plot of the show revolved around Mikael and not Noelle}}.

* [[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni|Uminekoni]] Episode 7's most important reveal. Unbelievable; {{spoiler|1=Beatrice = Lion = Shannon = Kanon = possible murderer with motive and means}}. The game facts don't seem to apply, until you consider the fact that 17 people isn't clarified by {{spoiler|multiple personality disorder}}, allowing for a murderer to exist among a population of 17 fully recognized people.

* Tons of information revealed in ''[[Eureka Seven]]''. Eureka's identity as a {{spoiler|human Coralian}}, what really happened to Renton's father and sister, the origin of the 3 kids, the history of the Scab Coral which reveal that {{spoiler|all along the planet was Earth which got covered up by a living planet-size alien}}. Not to mention {{spoiler|Gonzy was another hidden human Coralian}}. What we need is to pray for BONES to reveal WHO those 2 teenagers are in the final DVD cover of the series, since their face is never shown.

* The true identity of the Red Man beingin ''[[Deadman Wonderland]]'' being {{spoiler|Shiro}} all along in [[Deadman Wonderland]]}} is going to pretty much setupset up a [[Bittersweet Ending]].

* ''[[Digimon]]'' has several. Hikari being thw 8th Child and Tailmon being her partner, the fact that BelailVamdemon was behind everything in 02, Juri, after returning to the Real World, being an ADR, Duskmon being Kouichi, Kouji's long-lost twin brother, Kurata being a jackass and a [[Magnificent Bastard]] and that old guy being the head of DATS.

** The almost unseen {{spoiler|[[Cute Mute]], [[Hot Mom]] of Natsume? She's actually a [[Stepford Smiler]]. On the top of it, she used to be one of the past [[Action Girl|contestants]] of the ''Platonic Heart'' martial heart tournament. Defeated, she literally got her voice box ripped out of her, her sanity shattered and spent an unspecified number of years as a sexual slave before escaping and rebuilding a semblance of normalcy around herself. Simply unable to let it go, she then hatched a complex [[Revenge Byby Proxy]] plan involving her offspringsoffspring organizing the current edition of the ''Platonic Heart'' tournament, lure the daughter of the (still living) past winner and the (then dead) past promoter of the contest and have her relive every bit of her experience, including defeat, maiming and slavery. Just [[Disproportionate Retribution|to get some vengeance]] .}}

** [[{{spoiler:| Natsume herself, and Miko. Aya's [[Heterosexual Life Partner]] and [[A Friend in Need|resident her friend in need]] are actually cousins, in league together with Aya's love interest to get Aya defeated and enslaved in the current tournament, and [[Bitch Inin Sheep's Clothing|bitches in sheep's clothing]]}}.

** Aya's {{spoiler|caring [[Hot Mom]] and her dead loving father? According to Miko and the whole Natsume's family a sadistic [[Dark Action Girl]] and a sadistic rapist who had his way with the Action Girls defeated by her wife}}.

** Aya, poor Aya {{spoiler|after losing her mother, being backstabbed by her best friend, her love interest and her needy friend, after trying hard to stay behind her [[Moral Event Horizon]], loses her shit and, in the final scenes, goes personally after Natsume's mom, the only surviving baddie, and kill her with her bare hands}}

* Although spoiled for U.S. audiences thanks to the fact that DBZ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' almost entirely aired first barring a few episodes, in Japan ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]'' dropped a big one. In the manga, after Goku's big defeat of Piccolo, the following chapter features a mysterious character crashing to earth looking for someone named "Kakarott" And in the very last page of the chapter, Kakarott is revealed to be Goku. Then of course two chapters later it turns out that armored man is Goku's brother and Goku is revealed to be an alien. Piccolo and Kami get this same revelation not long after when they're revealed to be Nameks, which was foreshadowed as early as the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai when the two spoke to each other in a strange language.

* Due to a tragic miscommunication between the authors of the series and its artists, [[Batwoman]]'s reveal in ''[[Fifty Two52]]'' actually became an accidental Unreveal. The original intent had been for Batwoman to make her first ever appearance during a [[Dynamic Entry]] while being a [[Big Damn Heroes|Big Damn Hero]], following several small hints intended to make both the readers and the characters think that it was actually Bat'''''man'''''. However, two issues prior to this reveal, she had actually been drawn in full detail on the final page of the issue, already establishing not just her existence, but that she was involved in the current story. Commentary released in the ''Fifty Two'' trade-paperbacks reveals that the first drawing was supposed to be a silhouette that would again make the readers think it was Batman, but that artists were unaware of this and instead drew her in full detail. The characters of the story are still unaware of her existence, but it is no longer a surprise to the readers.

* [[Frank Miller]] usually writes straight forward stories but when he wants to, he can pack a helluva reveal. Such was the case with [[Ronin (Comic Bookcomics)|Ronin]] The ancient Japanese characters don't exist, including the hero himself. It was all a part of the TV show an autistic, telekinetic youngman watched in the distant future. A supercomputer was using his powers and a little biotech to make him turn his fantasy into a reality, essentially turning himself into a hero. That way, she could easily manipulate him into doing her bidding. This would eventually lead to the destruction of mankind and the emergence of biotechnology as the dominant lifeform.

* The final issue of ''[[Steelgrip Starkey andAnd The All -Purpose Power Tool]]'' reveals the tool (and the technalchemy that drives it) were developed by Steelgrip's partner Flynn, on a mission from a group of [[Cosmic Entity|Cosmic Entities]].

* The culmination of the [[The Incredible Hulk|who is the Red Hulk?]] saga. It is far too convulutedconvoluted to explain here but involved [[Opening a Can of Clones|opening a can of LMDs]].

== [[Fan FictionWorks]] ==

* In ''[[Kyon Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', Kyon's aunt Rika Fuurude tells him about the events of [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]], hoping he'll reveal his story after that. Understanding that [[Secret Keeper|she'll believe him and keep his secret]], Kyon tells his aunt afterwardsafterward about the SOS Brigade and the supernatural events he had lived thoughthrough.

* In ''[[Hunting the Unicorn (Fanfic)|Hunting the Unicorn's]]'' eleventh chapter, the readers are subject to a reveal that does ''triple'' time as a [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]] and a [[Wham! Line]]:

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Blaine:'''}} I'm not a virgin.}}

** In [[Meaningful Name|"The Cat,"]] it turns out "[[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Jerry]]" from the fourth chapter is {{spoiler|Blaine's father-figure, Greg.}}

* There are several huge ones in ''[[With Strings Attached (Fanfic)|With Strings Attached]]'':

== [[Film]] ==

* The all-time most famous is, of course, ''[[Citizen Kane (Film)|Citizen Kane]]''. [[It Was His Sled]].

* The allnext-time most famous is, of course, "[[Luke, I Am Your Father]]", as well as the revelation that Leia is his sister in the next movie. Vader's status as Luke's father was actually a reveal to near everyone, even those involved in the production, considering only a very select few knew about it up until near the film's release. Even David Prowse, the actor within the suit, did not know the truth. The line he spoke while filming, believing it would be the final line, was "''Obi-Wan'' killed your father." Of course, ''that'' would have been [[Mind Screw|pretty screwy]], too and in fact, is in a way also true, [[From a Certain Point of View]]...

* Every single ''[[Scream (Filmfilm)|Scream]]'' contains a scene where the masked Ghostface killer reveals his/her true identity and motives. It usually [[Rewatch Bonus|changes the way you see the entire movie]].

* When the central protagonist in ''[[Memento (Film)|Memento]]'' finally does...''Remember Sammy Jankis''.

* In the film ''[[The Illusionist (Filmfilm)|The Illusionist]]'', it's where it turns out that Sophie was alive all along, that [[Manipulative Bastard|Eisenheim]] successfully fooled the Police Inspector, [[More Than Mind Control|causing the Prince to kill himself]], ''and'' that he got away with all of this scot-free. And Eisenheim's the ''protagonist''.

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'', Gandalf the Grey is believed to be dead, having died in the previous film, and his death being recapped at the beginning of this film. Director Peter Jackson utilized various film techniques (distorted voice, blinding light covering his face) to hide that the mysterious White Wizard was actually Gandalf [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|brought back]], [[Not Quite Dead|alive and well]], as Gandalf the White. Although Jackson presents this in the film as a surprise, even tricking the audience to believe it may be the evil wizard Saruman, the reveal is [[Trailers Always Spoil|completely ruined by all of the trailers]] and TV spots for the film, which included this pivotal moment to advertise the film.

* In the French film ''He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not'' (which stars [[Amelie|Audrey Tautou]]), the first half is a whimsical unrequited love story, getting a bit creepy, and then as the [[Love Interest]] is being taken away to prison, the film rewinds and you see it from his point of view--heview—he's met this [[Clingy Jealous Girl|strange woman]] once or twice in passing and doesn't know who all the love notes are coming from. It turns out she's mentally ill with "[[Stalker Withwith a Crush|erotomania]]," and is ultimately institutionalised.

* In ''[[A Beautiful Mind]]'', [[The Reveal]] is that John Nash [[It Was His Sled|has schizophrenia]] and has been imagining all the spy work he was been doing for the government - along with several of the other characters.

* There are not one but two major reveals in the first ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'' movie - that Phelps is alive after being presumed KIA on a mission, and later that {{spoiler|he and Claire are working together against Ethan}}.

** [[The Simpsons (animation)|The Statue of Liberty?]] [[Earth All Along|That was our planet!]]

* [[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]] has a disturbing one as the [[The Stoic|callous]] [[Hanging Judge|Judge]] [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Doom]] whose glasses often lighted up to cover his stare {{spoiler|is revealed to the Toon who killed Eddie's brother, complete with an insanely high pitched voice and cartoonish eyes that could be best described as coming straight from a mentally disturbed animator or Hell itself}} Eddie was likely not the only one who was terrified of this scene.

* The penultimate chapter of [[Isaac Asimov]]'s original ''[[Foundation]]'' Trilogy had three characters giving three different solutions to the mysterious location of the Second Foundation. In the last chapter, yet another character reveals the [[Planet of the Apes Ending|true location]], and the narration tells us his [[Secret Identity|secret identity]] in the very last sentence.

* [[Agatha Christie (Creator)|Agatha Christie]]'s ''The Mousetrap'', when the killer is revealed to be {{spoiler|...nope, nice try.}}

* In [[Ben Counter]]'s [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''Galaxy in Flames'', when Tarvitz realizes that Horus intends to virusbomb the Space Marines on the planet.

{{quote| ''"Saul Tarvitz," whispered Sendek. "First Captain of the Emperor's Children. Impossible! He's a [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|man of honour]]! If he's turned traitor, then the galaxy has gone insane!"<br />

** Then the book does it ''again'' -- Colin—Colin is determined to figure out why Katherines keep dumping him, and he works out a theorem of relationship graphs, and it works for eighteen of the Katherines. But the graph says that ''he'' dumped Katherine III. So finally he calls her back and tries to figure out what happened... guess who did the dumping after all.

* [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Literaturenovel)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'': Esmeralda is Gudule's long-lost daughter.

* [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[American Gods (Literature)|American Gods]]'': "It's a two-man con." Mr Wednesday (Odin) and Loki, gods of death and chaos, have been manipulating the Old Gods and the New Gods into a war so that they can feed on the resulting carnage. Wednesday is quite really a [[Magnificent Bastard]].

* ''[[The Dresden Files (Literature)|The Dresden Files]]'' book ''[[Wham! Episode|Changes]]'' has a big reveal for the series up to that point, but also for that book, in [[Wham! Line|the first sentence]].

* At the end of ''[[The QueensQueen's Thief|Thief]]'', when Gen and company are brought into Eddis' throne room, and {{spoiler|the Queen recognizes him, sighs in exasperation at his appearance, and holds out her hand for the missing artifact he's had hidden in his hair for ''half the book''}}

* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[ShadowsMan inEaters Zamboulaof (Literature)Zamboula|Shadows in Zamboula]]", near the end, Zabibi reveals that her lover is the ruler of the city, and she is his mistress. At the very end, Conan muses on how he realized that up front and has stolen the ring she wanted him to retrieve.

{{quote| "[[Dynamic Entry|Gentlemen of the jury, order the prisoner to be released!]] [[Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter!|Mr President, have me arrested]]. [[Innocent Bystander|He is not the man whom you are in search of]]; [[Old Shame|it is I]]: [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|I am Jean Valjean.]]"}}

* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', [[Gambit Pileup]] that it is, has a bunch of these, ranging from {{spoiler|Arstan Whitebeard actually being Ser Barristan Selmy}}, to Jon Arryn's murderer being {{spoiler|his wife, Lysa, at the behest of Littlefinger}}, and probably culminating with {{spoiler|Doran Martell's twenty-year-long revenge gambit to return the Targaryens to power}}. There's also the as-yet-unrevealed promise Ned made to Lyanna, which has been set up as a particularly [[Wham! Episode|whammy]] reveal since the first book.

* The second and third novels of the ''[[Star Trek]]'' series [[Terok Nor]] take advantage of the medium to set up a reveal they couldn't pull off onscreen. Specifically, two apparently different characters turn out to be the same man. The security chief on Terok Nor station, Thrax, is revealed mid-way through the third book to be the same character as {{spoiler|Sa'kat, the loyal second to outlaw priestess Astraea}}.

* In ''[[Daddy -Long -Legs (Literaturenovel)|Daddy -Long -Legs]]'', the revelation that Daddy Long Legs is Jervis Pendleton, though it is somewhat spoiled by the fact the letter that reveals this is addressed to "My very dearest Master-Jervie-Daddy-Long-Legs-Pendleton-Smith".

** ThereIt iswas not a sea monster, it was a submarine .

* In ''Magyk'', the first book of ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'', it's revealed that Boy 412 is Septimus Heap.

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* In ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', when we learn that the Changelings are the head of the Dominion.

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' is not only fond of this trope but loves to do it multiple times on the same subject. A specific case would be the bomb that [[Timey-Wimey Ball|will/might/did]] destroy New York City, which is "revealed" to be caused by one person, then re-revealed to be actually caused by someone else, then...

* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' does this a LOT. Including the very first episode in which Sydney learns that she's actually working for The Alliance, an evil organization that she thought they were fighting, and not the real CIA. Some of the major ones:

* ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' -- The—The [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] in "That's My Boy??" is a classic. The episode is a [[Flash Back]] to when baby Richie came home from the hospital. Over the course of the episode, Rob (Dick Van Dyke) convinces himself that Richie has been [[Switched At Birth]] with the baby from the Peters family. He invites Mr. & Mrs. Peters over to reclaim their baby, only to learn when he opens the door that that they are an African-American couple. Rob asks, "Why didn't you--?" and Mr. Peters (Greg Morris) replies, "And miss the look on your face?"

* By Season 4, ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' seems to be doing an average of one an episode. From off the top of my head, we've had the Reveals that: Dean was rescued from Hell by an angel! [[Big Bad]] Lilith plans to raise Lucifer! Dean tortured souls in Hell! By torturing souls, Dean allowed the first seal to be broken, making Lilith's plan possible! Sam can now kill demons with his mind! There are some angels working to help release Lucifer! There are plenty more. To give you some idea, the last 3 reveals were in just one episode.

* The ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' episode [[Doctor Who (TV)/NS/Recap/S3 S29/E11 Utopia|"Utopia"]], where in the last 15 minutes it is revealed that Professor Yana is the Master, chameleon arched, and the Face of Boe's message was a secret acronym hinting at this ('''Y'''ou '''A'''re '''N'''ot '''A'''lone). Then the Master regenerates into the British Prime Minister.

** Who is [[Doctor Who (TV)/Recap/S31 /E12 The Pandorica Opens|the Pandorica]]'s intended occupant, the "nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies", the "most feared being in all the cosmos"? It's the Doctor.

** The reveal of River Song, and who she is. Series 5 and 6 have done this a lot.

* In the Season 3 ''[[ER]]'' episode "Night Shift," a patient who is badly mangled after jumping (or falling) onto the tracks in front of an elevated train is rolled into a trauma room. Dr. Benton tells a nurse to page Benton's [[Butt Monkey|favorite medical student]] Dennis Gant, and everyone is horrified when the patient's beeper goes off--itoff—it's Gant on the table!

** From the third season premiere: Rita is pregnant.

* In the Season 8 episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' "Prometheus Unbound," Daniel is the only person left aboard the Prometheus with one of Anubis's Super Soldiers. After Daniel is captured and tied to a chair, the Super Soldier hits on Daniel, who is understandably disturbed. Then the Super Soldier removes its helmet to reveal {{spoiler|Vala Maldoran}}.

* In [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]], the man who drove a car and ran over Stone Cold Steve Austin at 1999 Survivor Series was revealed to be {{spoiler|Rikishi}}, as well as the mastermind {{spoiler|HHH}}.

* Can't wait to find out who the mystery RAW GM is in the [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]].

** [[The Un-Reveal|Unfortunately]], the Mystery GM was [[Put Onon a Bus]] and never mentioned again when [[Triple H]] took over as COO.

* [[Super Smash Bros.]]: [[Attractive Bent Gender|Sheik]] [[It Was His Sled|is]] [[Sweet Polly Oliver|Zelda]].

* ''[[Grandia II (Video Game)|Grandia II]]'' has a killer - Granas, the god of good you've supposedly been serving, was actually the ''loser'' of the ancient struggle between good and evil and has been dead all along. The supposed 'Seals' that were binding the parts of the sealed dark god Valmar were actually devices created to prepare a human's body for possession by a part of Valmar's damaged body, and the Pope of the Church of Granas has actually been [[MacGuffin Delivery Service|manipulating you into reassembling Valmar's body from the very beginning.]] Basically, EVERY SINGLE THING you've done so far in the game so far has been a lie.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'' takes until late in the second disc to reveal what really happened in Nibelheim five years ago, especially Cloud's involvement.

* ''[[System Shock|System Shock 2]]'': You spend roughly the first half of the game being [[Voice Withwith an Internet Connection|assisted by Dr. Polito]], who is your only companion, her only real flaw being she at times is a bit cold and short with you, what with the stress of all comrades dying and all. {{spoiler|You finally enter her offices to find her slumped dead in her chair, having been [[Driven to Suicide]] long before ago...then the same voice you've been hearing mocks you for a minute, before announcing...{{smallcaps|"[[Nightmare Fuel|I am]] '''''[[Nightmare Fuel|SHODAN]]'''''"}}.}}

*** Turns out Cerberus and the Illusive Man actually ''are'' evil. [[Late Arrival Spoiler|Who]] [[The Un-Reveal|knew]]?

* ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)]]'': "Would you kindly..."

** Then comes [[BioBioShock Shock(series)]] 2, where you find out that {{spoiler|Eleanor brought you back with the help of the new Little Sisters, and has been watching your every move.}}

* At the End of Red's Story in ''[[Saga Frontier (Video Game)|SagaSaGa Frontier]]'' Red's Mentor from when he was aboard the Cygnus is the one who gave him the superpowers he used throughout the story.

* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', built as it is upon a well-crafted [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] plot, is ''made'' of these, and doesn't stop until the very end - expect reveals about enemies, allies, old flames, rivals... even the main character. In fact, every attainable companion in the game has one of these, if you talk to them and dig deep enough.

* The biggest [[Reveal]] for the ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]]'' series is that its resident [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] hero is built by ''[[Big Bad|Dr. Wily]]'' for the sole purpose of destroying the world, and his best friend.

* And the ''[[Mega Man Zero (Video Game)|Mega Man Zero]]'' series also has a big [[Reveal]]: that [[The Hero]] is using a clone body, since the [[Big Bad]] stole his original body to create [[The Dragon]].

* ''[[Mega Man ZX]]'', taking a page out of the [[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Classic]] series, makes the villains in each game obvious right from the start (although, in the case of ''Advent's'' Master Albert, was not ''too'' obvious at first). No, the real [[Reveal]] would occur in [[The Stinger]] of the latter game, where Master Thomas, previously thought to be an ally to the heroes, orchestrated Albert's defeat so that ''he'' can further his own plans.

* ''[[Braid (Video Game)|Braid]]'' slowly foreshadows this, then [[Player Punch|hits you in the gut with it.]] The final level has Tim and the Princess, each helping the other as the Princess runs away from a knight. Then, at the end, the Princess reaches her home. Tim is suddenly locked out. All that you can do is rewind... where it turns out that the Princess ''is running away from Tim'', each trying to stop and hinder the other as she escapes into the knight's arms. Unexpected... but logical if you think about it.

* Couple of them in the ''[[Wing Commander (Videovideo Gamegame)|Wing Commander]]'' games, revolving around revelations of [[The Mole]].

* A really big one in ''[[Homeworld (Video Game)|Homeworld]] 2''. You remember Sajuuk, worshipped by half the galaxy as the god of creation and destiny? Remember the prophecy that whoever unites the Trinity of Great Hyperspace Cores unlocks his power and becomes Sajuuk-Khar, Manipulator of He Whose Hands Shape What Is? Turns out Sajuuk is a brutally powerful Progenitor warship which only needs the cores and an Unbound controller to become flight-worthy again. Once active, it unlocks a galaxy-wide network of hyperspace gates, pushing the galaxy into a new golden age of prosperity. Also, it crossed 30 parsecs in a matter of minutes which is a staggering record for hyperdrives.

* They're RAMPANT in ''[[Mitsumete Knight (Video Game)|Mitsumete Knight]]''. This game thrives for a rich storyline, and a lot of events are built around and triggered by those. The game's TV Tropes Character Sheet is a testament of this, with a lot of info masked due to spoilers.

** Rose in particular holds a number of them.

* In [[Dragon Quest V]] the main character isn't [[The Chosen One]] prophesied to save the world. His son is. Thus it makes sense why you never ran into the legendary hero on your travels until you're far into the game: He hadn't been born yet.

* ''[[Hotel Dusk: Room 215]]'' has one in the final chapter. You learn that Osterzone is actually Dunning Smith, who resolves ''every'' mystery that was brought up in the previous chapters (what happened to Bradley, where Mila's father is, how Iris' sister got the money to settle the lawsuit, etc.). It should be noted that Dunning himself doesn't come out and reveal his identity; you figure it out by using a coding machine while sealed inside of an airtight basement chamber that Dunning locked you in.

* [[Mother Three|Mother 3]]: The [[Big Bad]] only makes an appearance when the party's going for the final Needle... and by then you know full well who he is. {{spoiler|Porky Minch. And he's all grown up... literally.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|Porky}}: Who knows? I may be 100 years old, or even 1000 years old. But I'm still the same kid at heart!}}

* ''[[Call of Duty]] [[Modern Warfare]] 2'' had every mission begin with text on screen telling you the name of the mission and where it was taking place. Late in the game, one of the [[Yanks With Tanks|Ranger]] missions starts with you in a bunker, with no text telling you where you are. You navigate through the bunker, filled with wounded soldiers, shaking violently from nearby explosions that are causing debris to fall from the ceiling, until you finally exit, go around a corner and see {{spoiler|a war-torn Washington D.C. in flames.}} Only then does the title text come on screen.

* ''[[Call of Duty]] [[Call of Duty: Black Ops (Video Game)|Black Ops]]'' of course, had: {{spoiler|''[[My Name Is Inigo Montoya|My name is Viktor Reznov, and I will have my revenge!]]''}}

* Big Daddy in the original ''[[Gungrave]]'' is depicted as dead throughout the game. Not quite. He was actually used as a guinea pig for Harry's undead soldier program and lives on in the form of a twisted monster--hemonster—he's really the final boss of the game.

* [[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]: "[[Oh Crap|Oh my god]], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAb5AKm7rvo#t=1m45s you're a SPY!]"

* The main character of [[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]], Alex Mercer, is trying to find out how he became the mutant with [[Badass]] [[Cursed Withwith Awesome|powers]] that he is. When he finally does, it turns out that {{spoiler|he's not really Alex Mercer at all. He is the Blacklight virus that infected the corpse of the real Mercer and copied his body when he was shot after releasing the Virus on the city. The protagonist only thought itself to be Mercer because it retained some of his memories as it does with all the people it infects and consumes.}}

* In the second half of [[Portal 2 (Video Game)|Portal 2]], after listening to several recordings of late Aperture Science CEO Cave Johnson talking to a cheerful secretary by the name of Caroline, it's revealed that {{spoiler|1=GLaDOS was built as an attempt by the terminally ill Johnson to cheat death by [[Brain Uploading|uploading his mind]] into an immortal AI network...and while Johnson seems to have died before the project was ready, he left instructions that Caroline should be uploaded, against her will if necessary, in his place.}}

* ''[[The Orion Conspiracy (Video Game)|The Orion Conspiracy]]'' has a number of reveals. The first one is that {{spoiler|Gates is an undercover agent who has been trying to dig up dirt on the space station and gave Devlin the note about his son's death being murder}}. The second one is that {{spoiler|there are xenomorphs (aliens) running loose, killing off crew members and impersonating them}}. The third one is that {{spoiler|Captain Shannon murdered both Danny and Kaufmann. Why? Because he is a [[Complete Monster]] who killed Danny as revenge for his wife's death, and he killed Kaufmann to frame Devlin. He was also going to kill Devlin}}. The fourth one is that {{spoiler|Mogami-Hudson discovered the xenomorphs in statis in the asteroid and released some of them, hoping to get their technology in return}}. The fifth one is that {{spoiler|Doctor Chu, Waterman, and Lowe are dead and that you were interacting with xenomorphs disguised as them}}.

* ''[[Vagrant Story]]'': Lea Monde '''is''' the Gran Grimoire. And Sydney had the key to inheriting its powers all along--thealong—the tattoo on his back.

* [[Xenogears (Video Game)|Xenogears]]: OH JESUS. From the top:

** The homepage says "a buttload more informal than Wikipedia", so let's go with some more. The ending to the third game: even after [[Big Bad]] Dahlia Hawthorne has been defeated for good, there still isn't an actual suspect for the murder. After some further testimony and debate, Phoenix accuses Prosecutor Godot. What makes this a surprise is that so far there's been absolutely nothing to even suggest that person was anywhere NEAR the murder as it happened. But it's not out of nowhere; because the player has to prove they've actually been paying attention by answering "Who do you think the witness saw?" just before [[The Reveal]].

** Throughout the fifth game the question we've been building up to is whether the Yatagarasu is Kay's father Byrne Faraday, as Kay claims, or Calisto Yew, as Yew claims. In the penultimate challenge of the game we find out that the answer is neither option. The Yatagarasu was actually ''three people''--Faraday—Faraday, Yew, and Faraday's partner Detective Badd, putting their respective skills together to commit the thefts. Compared to that the reveal of the [[Big Bad]] is almost minor.

* ''[[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight]]''. In the Fate route Saber is revealed to be {{spoiler|King Arthur (or [[Distaff Counterpart|Arturia]])}}, the Holy Grail is actually {{spoiler|an [[Artifact of Doom]] [[Jackass Genie]]}} and {{spoiler|that random priest at the very start}} is the [[Big Bad]]. In Unlimited Blade Works route Archer is actually {{spoiler|a [[Future Badass]] version of Shirou}}. In Heaven's Feel route {{spoiler|Sakura is Rin's younger sister who was given to the evil Matou family and during eleven years was subject of horrendous domestic abuse and [[Training Fromfrom Hell]] in order to become a vessel of the Holy Grail}}.

* ''[[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (Visual Novel)|Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors]]'' has its first major reveal during the Safe Ending, where you find out that Ace is Gentarou Hongou, the CEO of Cradle Pharmaceuticals and the perpetrator of the first Nonary Game. {{spoiler|Except he isn't Zero. Zero, as revealed by the True Ending, is June, and that you've actually been playing as her, not Junpei, the whole time. [[It Makes Sense in Context]].}}

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' is just aching to make a couple billion of these.

* [[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Sarda]] was Onion Kid!!!

* Parodied in [https://web.archive.org/web/20160322015320/http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2005-12-01 this] strip from ''[[Dominic Deegan]]''.

* At the climax of an earlier plotline of ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', it's revealed that literally every detail of the plotline was all part of an elaborate publicity stunt orchestrated by ''FOX News''.

* ''[[YuYU+ME: Me Dreamdream]]'' - when the reader finds out that everything in Part 1 has been a [[All Just a Dream|dream]].

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140218141836/http://mortifer.smackjeeves.com/ Mortifer,] being more or less a [[Wham! Episode|Wham Series]] [[Growing the Beard|in later chapters]], has plenty of these. The most notable, however, is chapter 18. William Aussek, Sam's [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] new CO, is actually Joey Von Krause in disguise. And Joey is actually a demon, with [[Playing Withwith Fire|flame powers]]. And his eyepatch hides a gaping wound with a small light deep inside instead of an eye. And then he kills Sam, who's a viewpoint character. There are several other examples, such as the reveal that Vlademyre Hynner, Joey's old boss who was [[Brick Joke|introduced in the first chapter, then forgotten]], is the new leader of the southern black market, or the reveal that [[Badass Preacher]] Zebidiah is actually a demon under Vlad's control, or the reveal that Joey's [[TalkingInner to ThemselfDialogue|hallucinations]] are actually Rashnu trying to get him to redeem himself, or the reveal that Joey's plan thee whole time has been to use his William Aussek identity to eliminate Sintec and the black market for good -- moregood—more or less the opposite of what the audience thought he was planning, etc. etc. And what's better, all of them [[Foreshadowing|manage to make perfect sense in retrospect]] -- well—well, [[Shocking Swerve|except for]] the whole Zebidiah = demon bit.

* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130608174054/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter006/ib034.html Dara drops her knowledge on Caspian].

* Why is [[Yehuda Moon and The Kick StandKickstand Cyclery|Yehuda Moon]] hated so much by Sister Sprocket? How did he get involved in the Kickstand in the first place? It's because he's a [[Soapbox Sadie]], right? {{spoiler|Actually, his work on a housing development inadvertently destroyed the forest, taking with it the Shakers' way of life with it. Selling their bikes is his way of paying penance.}}

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20140209182714/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2283 Satan is doing his charming sell when the door to Hell opens with pleas for help and he slams down on it.]

* ''[[Ruby Quest (Roleplay)|Ruby Quest]]'' has several moments that would qualify, but the biggest is probably "Today is october 31st".

* In ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'s [[Darker and Edgier|Reconstruction series]]'', the fact that [[Only Sane Man|Church]] is the [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|Alpha AI]] would definitely qualify.

* In ''[[Wormtooth Nation (Web Video)|Wormtooth Nation]]'', it's revealed that wormtooth gas, an invisible, odorless gas that causes permanent [[Easy Amnesia]] and has caused numerous problems for the protagonists, actually causes people to live forever in small doses. The entire population of the City moved down to the subterranean world in order to gain immortality, but after an unknown but presumably very long period of time everyone had been "nixed" so often that no one remembers this fact, nor the way back to the surface.

{{quote| '''StanRoger:''' GiveI'm itnot upRoger, Roger!<brI'm />the Phantom!

[[Category:AcceptableOmnipresent Breaks From RealityTropes]]

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