The Un-Reveal: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Naruto]]'' had its infamous Episode 101, the "Unmask Kakashi" episode. At the end, he takes off his mask to reveal... another lighter-colored mask.

** However, the one-off manga special this episode was based off didn't even reveal that to the main characters (and audience). Apparently, the ramen store-owner and waitress ''did'' see Kakashi's real face, and the reaction (all starry-eyed with the [[Luminescent Blush]]) seems to suggest that Kakashi is at least a borderline [[Bishonen]].

* In one of the last chapters of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Negi whispers to Asuna the name of the girl he likes. The reader doesn't get to know who it is.

 

* While the other New Warriors are trapped in various points in time the Sphinx sends Speedball to a kinetic dimension that is revealed to be a representation of time and the source of Speedball's bubbles and powers. One of the bubbles calls out to him and reveals a major revelation about the moment Robbie Baldwin became Speedball. Once he was rescued from the kinetic dimension he forgot what he learned. Later the Speedball who was rescued from the kinetic dimension is revealed to be a clone with the mind of one of his descendants in the future and killed by the Sphinx. When the real Speedball gets rescued he doesn't seem to remember the big secret he learned in the kinetic dimension either.

* [[Judge Dredd]]'s face is obscured from the readers in a similar fashion in the original comics, using bandages, panel borders, [[Face Framed in Shadow|darkness]] and the like. As an additional kicker, criminals that do see his face invariably die soon afterwards, keeping his looks a secret even within the story.

* The [[EC Comics|Haunt of Fear]] story ''Wolf Bait,'' which unusually has no supernatural elements at all, centers around four passengers (all of whom have an important reason for reaching the city) on a sleigh going speeding across the Russian tundra with a pack of starving wolves after them. They manage to delay them a few times with bullets and meat, but soon run out of both, and if the wolves reach the horses it's all over. They soon realize the only way to slow down the wolves long enough for them to escape is to sacrifice someone. Once they all come to agree on this, the decision takes but a second, and the other three throw themselves on the sacrifice and throw him/her to the wolves. It's all in shadow, and the reader has no idea who they picked.

 

* In a hilarious moment of ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', just before the final fight with Tai Lung, Po is given a pep talk from his adoptive father—and just when it seems Mr. Ping is about to admit that the panda is not his biological son (presumably to suggest he doesn't have to limit himself to a future in noodle-making), he instead reveals the secret ingredient of his special recipe. To clarify: the ''panda'''s adoptive father is a ''goose''. It's played for drama in [[Kung Fu Panda 2|the sequel]], becoming one of the twin engines driving the story.

* The carriage at the end of ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]''. For some reason, they ''never'' show who or what was pulling it in the first place given the fact that everyone in this version is an ''animal''...

** This is also true in the sequel, were as a result of a magic potion they drank both Fiona and her new husband Shrek are changed into humans (and Donkey into a [[White Stallion]]). When they change back into ogres at the end of the film (and Donkey back into um, guess), for some reason we only see Donkey transform back.

 

* ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' [[Playing with a Trope|played with this trope]] to emphasize the disinterest the main characters have in the situation. Several hints are given to various origin of the [[Zombie Apocalypse]]—a space shuttle exploding over England and showering debris, and GM crops being "to blame" for something on a newspaper headline, to name but a few. Finally, Shaun is watching the news report at the end of the episode. The announcer cheerfully reads, "We now know the outbreak was caused by large amounts of--" and Shaun changes the channel. A brief snippet is also heard on the TV saying, "Theories that the infection was caused by [[28 Days Later|rage-infected monkeys]] have now been dismissed as [[Curse Cut Short|bollo--]]"

* In the ''[[Grindhouse]]'' movie ''[[Planet Terror]]'', leading [[Badass]] El Wray has a mysterious past that accounts for his remarkable skill with knives and firearms. During the plot, the mystery is revealed. Unfortunately the relevant scenes take place in the never-filmed "missing reel".

* The made-for-TV Spielberg thriller ''[[Duel (film)|Duel]]'' never shows the crazed trucker's face.

 

* ''[[House of the Scorpion]]'' is set sometime in the future, but the exact year is never revealed. Matt reads a book that would have at least given a rough estimate, but he stops reading the book just before it says what year the book's author received a Nobel Peace Prize.

* The "wealthy and forgettable" god in ''[[American Gods]]'' whose odd traits (such as having everyone remember that he'd spoken, but nobody remembering what he'd said) never has his name or occupation revealed, despite the fact that such care was taken to describe him.

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: ''Collateral Damage'' reveals the Elias Cummings never wanted the job as [[FBI Agent|FBI director]], but he was blackmailed into taking the job. It is never revealed what he was being blackmailed over, but Judge Cornelia "Nellie" Easter knows what it was, and states she would have done the same thing in his place. Perhaps he committed an act of justifiable murder.

 

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': Who was Adam before he was turned into the "Tri-borg" human/demon/cyborg Adam? "Not a man among us remembers".

* ''[[Cheers]]'': [[The Faceless|Vera]] gets pied in a food fight, so that she remains faceless.

* In ''[[Barney and Friends]]'', we for some reason neither see Baby Bop, BJ, and/or Riff emerge from their, um... ...home dimension nor see Barney turn back into a doll.

 

* Faith No More's song "Epic" repeatedly refers to "it" without ever explaining what "it" is.

 

* Old Jungle Saying: He who sees [[The Phantom (comic strip)|The Phantom]]'s face unmasked will die a horrible death. In nearly 70 years of publishing, the only ones who've seen it and lived have been his family and associated hangers-on.

* Frequently done in ''[[Footrot Flats]]''. Whenever anyone is about to say the Dog's first name, the dog [[Embarrassing First Name|actively prevents it from being said or revealed in any way]].

* ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'': Sarge and the Captain once conspire to see Beetle's eyes by scaring him so that his hat will jump off. When they do, it turns out he's wearing shades underneath.

 

* A "Pigs in Space" skit on ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' features the Swinetrek approaching the edge of the Universe, beyond which lies The Meaning of Life. Unfortunately, it's interrupted by a Muppet News Flash to announce that they're close to discovering The Meaning of Life. When we return to the sketch it's over, and the crew missed it as well (It was lunchtime, and apparently swill stroganoff is more important than the Meaning of Life). The narrator then reveals that he saw it, but when pressed further he chants "I know something you don't know!"

 

* On ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'', there's a round called ''Closed Quotes''. The chairman says the beginning of a quote, the panellists finish it in a humorous way, and the chairman reveals the real answer. At least once, Chairman Humph has neglected to give the answers because they're too boring, at one point just saying "Sod the answer, buy the book".

 

* ''[[Pokémon]]'': What exactly does Diglett look like beneath the ground? We know that they at least have feet, but that's about it.

** We never find out what Cubone and Marowak look like under their skull helmets, or Tangela under the vines, as well.

** The fate of Revan (and the Exile) are ''finally'' revealed in the backstory to [[The Old Republic]]. {{spoiler|They [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|died]] fighting the Sith Empire in the Unknown Regions.}}

*** {{spoiler|Actually, we learn that the Exile died, but Revan actually survived and makes an appearance.}}

** The game also utilized this in the final confrontation with {{spoiler|Kreia}}. The notes for {{spoiler|her}} voice actor in the script even explicitly spelled out the lack of a [[Luke, I Am Your Father]] moment.

* In ''[[Yoshi's Island]]'', {{spoiler|the end credits sequence shows the stork returning baby Mario and Luigi to their parents. but all that's shown is their feet.}}

* In ''[[Kinnikuman: Muscle Fight]]'', the Cross Bomber is used to reveal the identities of masked wrestlers and make references to scenes in the ''[[Kinnikuman]]'' manga. If the Hell Missionaries perform the Cross Bomber on Kinnikuman, they won't be able to reveal Kinnikuman's true identity. Instead the following happens: if Kinnikuman is hit with the Cross Bomber at full health, it's revealed that he wears a spare mask underneath<ref>A reference to the fight against Warsman</ref>; if Kinnikuman is hit with the Cross Bomber at 50-75% health, he loses his arm instead<ref>A reference to a scene before the match against the Hell Missionaries</ref>; and, finally if Kinnikuman is hit at low health, it turns out that Kinnikuman is actually Terryman<ref>A reference to Terryman disguising himself as Kinnikuman during the 7 Devil Choujin arc</ref>.

 

* There are a decent amount of things that go unrevealed in ''[[Shikkoku no Sharnoth]]''. Among them, we never learn the original identity of Jane Doe.

* When late for school one day in ''[[A Profile]]'', Rizu accidentally puts on some underwear that doesn't belong to her. We're not told what it is, but we're told that it's not a thong. It's implied to be more embarrassing than ''that''.

 

* On ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', in the Strong Bad Email [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail162.html the chair], Strong Bad rips off his mask, gurgles in pain, says he'll never do it again, then offhandedly shows a picture of his parents. The catch? A new, high-backed chair means the audience can't see any of it. Even using a flash decompiler on the cartoon is of no help, as the photo is revealed to say [http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/the_chair#Easter_Eggs "Nice try, dodongo!"]. Naturally, the two Unrevealed things are two of the biggest mysteries of Homestar Runner.

** In one e-mail, Strong Bad asks Coach Z if his skin is green or if he just runs around wearing footy pajamas all the time. Coach Z responds with "Oh, I've got footies all right. {{spoiler|''Airthlete's'' footies."}}

* ''[[Halo Legends]]'' does this with the Forerunner's appearance on several levels. We finally get to see what a Forerunner looks like after nearly 10 years of waiting...but all the ones we see are wearing [[Power Armor]] so we don't know what they look like underneath. Then [[Word of God]] announced that ''Halo Origins'' was only a possibly-rampant Cortana's interpretation of the data she had collected, so the Forerunner weren't necessarily bipedal horned humanoids with five fingers.

 

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', the elven wizard Vaarsuvius's gender is left ambiguous, and multiple attempts by other characters to discern his/her gender end in Unreveals. For instance, when he/she is [[Baleful Polymorph|turned into a lizard]], Belkar lifts his/her tail and comments: "You know, if I knew more about reptilian reproductive anatomy, I'm sure this would answer a lot of questions." When V's application to join the adventuring party is shown, there is an ink smudge in the blank for "Gender", which he/she refuses to correct, citing the possibility of getting ink on his/her robe, and remarking that the question is irrelevant anyway. When the other characters stop to use the men's and women's bathrooms, V doesn't have to go, and later it's mentioned that, while camping, V always turns invisible before peeing, to annoy Belkar.

** Late on a dragon attempts to get revenge on him/her by killing his "mate" who appears to be just as ambiguously gendered. This is made more complicated by his/her children being adopted (and who refer to V and "mate" as "Parent" and "Other Parent").

* In ''[[Frankie and Stein]]'', Karl's going upstairs, thinking there's an intruder in the house, and we all know what he's gonna find up there is a [[Frankenstein's Monster]], and he's probably going to freak out... but then this happens [http://frankieandstein.com/2012/04/23/page-63/ instead.]

 

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6TuC3olGws This] [[Youtube Poop]]. Probably a good thing, given [[Squick|what he decides not to reveal]].

* One of the many ''[[Tumblr]]'' blogs for ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', [http://junebug-answers.tumblr.com Junebug Answers], had everyone asking what Junebug's cutie mark is, since it didn't appear in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E10 Secret of My Excess|the show]], being obscured by her saddlebags. She decides to reveal it, only to have Spike jump in front of the camera and block our view of her flank.

* [[That Guy With The Glasses]] music reviewer [[Todd in the Shadows]] has [[The Gimmick]] of [[The Faceless|never revealing his face]] by doing his reviews in silhouette and wearing a mask for appearances elsewhere. When [[The Nostalgia Chick]]'s Makeover Fairy tries to improve his image, she lifts up his mask, [[Take Our Word for It|screams in terror]], and replaces it. All shot from behind Todd, of course.

 

* ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'', "Fighting Families": [[No Name Given|Arnold]] has just been drawn out by random to participate in a gameshow "Fighting Families", but the person doing the draw adds: "There seems to be a smudge over the last name..." A similar sequence happens in "Eugene, Eugene!": Arnold has been cast in a school play, and the casting person adds "I can't read my own handwriting..." An interview with the show creator made years after the show ended heavily implies his name is Shortman (he said his grandpa called him it regularly and it apparently wasn't just a nickname).

* Done so much on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' about [[Separate Simpsons Geography Thing|its location]] that it could become a drinking game; each time they Unreveal the precise location of Springfield, take a shot. Some examples include:

** Also, all of the Decepticons' besides [[Big Bad|Megatron's]] (a Cybertronian VTOL jet, which briefly appeared for only a few seconds in the first episode) Cybertron modes, judging by their kibble. All of the Autobots' Cybertron modes, however, are completely revealed over the course of the show.

* [[The Emperor's New Groove]]:

[pauses]

[Kronk holds up a map of the two parties' trails, showing Yzma's and Kronk's falling down a canyon halfway through]

 

* ''[[Code Geass]]'': Lelouch learns C.C.'s real name by accidentally seeing some of her memories, but an obtrusive sound effect (water dripping) keeps the audience from hearing it (and then he goes back to calling her C.C. later on). This also ends up becoming a more standard form of The Unreveal, since her real name is ''never'' revealed within the series despite ample opportunities.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion|The End of Evangelion]]'' was originally going to play this type of Unreveal straight, as {{spoiler|Gendo's final words to Ritsuko before killing her}} were supposed to be drowned out by an explosion. The sound effect ended up not being used, but Anno still wanted the line to not be heard, so Gendo moves his mouth but has no dialogue. Anno apparently did tell {{spoiler|Yuriko Yamaguchi, Ritsuko's seiyuu}}, what Gendo said, but no one else knows.

* In ''[[Sonic X]]'', the last episode, Sonic kneels down before Amy, offering her a flower. In the original version, his mouth moves but no sound comes out, but whatever he says makes Amy happy enough to hug him. Unfortunately in the dubbed version, they actually gave him voiced words ("I'll always be around," or something like that) which didn't quite carry the same emotion.

 

* In the first half of ''[[Kill Bill]]'', The Bride's real name is in fact drowned out by a loud noise every time someone says it. Though observant viewers can see it printed on her plane ticket (twice).

** However, her name is actually said in the first lines of the film, but no-one realizes this until the second movie. Bill calls her Kiddo throughout, and her name is {{spoiler|Beatrix Kiddo}}.

 

* ''[[That '70s Show]]'': We can't hear Fes introducing himself over the school bell, so he remains a [[No Name Given]] character.

* In one episode of ''[[Father Ted]]'', Mrs Doyle's full name is spoken out loud several times in quick succession, but each time her first name is obscured by a loud noise.

** This was also done with the family's last name. Various tricks are used to keep the viewer from ever learning it throughout the show's run. In the final episode, a character finally speaks it into a microphone, but a feedback whine makes it impossible for the viewer to hear.

 

* ''Her Name Is'' replaces any personal details of the woman in question with music - except for the fact she's married.

* The liner notes for [[KMFDM]]'s ''Symbols'' album show the 5-symbol title in the lyrics for "Down and Out", but it's bleeped on the recording.

 

* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'', "Father Time": Timmy is talking to a kid whose nickname is Dad (naturally, his future father; Timmy's here because of [[Time Travel]]). When he's mentioning his real name, a truck is whizzing by blowing its horn. "Dad" is pointing to a girl he says has a beautiful name. We don't get to hear since yet another truck is whizzing by. But guess what everyone calls her: Mom (of course, Timmy's mom in the future).

* ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'', "The Junkman Cometh": Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen travel into space via an open-cockpit rocket (as has been the case in many episodes, and even the original movie). When Sheen wonders how they can survive without spacesuits, Jimmy responds as if nothing could be more elementary, but his explanation is conveniently drowned out by Carl suddenly breaking into song in the background, and done later in the episode when Sheen asks how they get to the moon so fast rather than taking several days.

 

 

 

* In ''[[The Italian Job]]'', the characters find themselves in a literal cliffhanger, in a bus that's precariously balanced on the edge of a cliff. [[Michael Caine]] announces, "Hang on, lads, I've got a great idea!" The end credits sadly prevent us from finding out what that is.

** The cliffhanger would have been resolved in a sequel: helicopters would be used to save the bus, and the grateful gang would soon discover that it is the Mafia that has saved them, and the sequel would have been about stealing the gold bullion back from them. Unfortunately, the sequel was never made.

 

* In ''[[Nightside|Just Another Judgement Day]]'', John Taylor and a companion barely manage to outmaneuver a homicidal tyranosaur, in order to reach a secret door inside its cage. After meeting the occupant, they're booted out into the cage, where the tyranosaur awaits. Confronting this peril, John (the narrator) simply comments "Luckily, I thought of something", after which the author cuts to the next chapter, leaving their method of escape unstated.

* In [[Jasper Fforde]]'s ''[[Thursday Next|One of Our Thursdays Is Missing]]'', how Thursday escaped Fan Fic. She even tells another character—but not the reader.

 

* ''[[The X-Files]]'' addressed its most flagrant gap of logic in this way—a fan of Mulder and Scully's asked them how they got out of Antarctica (after being stranded there half-dressed without any vehicles or anyone knowing where they were) in [[The Movie]]; they started to explain, quibbled over a minor detail, then were cut off by the end credits before we found out anything. This was a multi-layer joke: the character asking the questions the show's fans had so often asked was herself a fan, a [[Shout-Out]] to a popular [[Fanfic]] author who had died just a few months prior.

* This type of cutoff can be used as a [[Cliff Hanger]] (''[[Benson]]'''s 1986 finale, for instance) or [[No Ending]] as well.

* One episode of ''[[Without a Trace]]'' involves the separate abductions of a white girl and a black girl. Near the end of the episode Jack Malone gets a phone call stating that one of the girls was found dead, but doesn't say which. The last scene has Jack walking up to a bench where the two mothers are waiting...and fades to black.

 

* ''[[Tweenies]]'', "Being Really Old": The last lines of dialog are the titular characters (kids not more than 5 years old) asking one of their caretakers at playgroup (he's really old), and they go: "How old are you?" "Well, if you must know..." Cut to credits.

 

* In an episode of the short-lived sketch show ''The Long Hot Satsuma'', there's a [[Running Gag]] of a failed investigative journalist trying to find the true identity of one Adolf Hitler. At the end of the episode, he bursts into the BBC, and accuses one of the announcers. She says "Don't be stupid. Mind you, it's one of my colleagues..." "Which one?!" "This one." We hear the sound of a door creaking, and...the episode ends. (Which means every announcer who'll ever announce after that is accused of being Adolf Hitler...)

 

{{quote|'''Nick Scryer:''' I remember everything now! ''(cuts to "To Be Continued")''}}

** The game didn't sell well enough, so we will never know what he remembered. It is heavily implied in the story that the big reveal was that Nick was killed and resurrected with no memories. In fact, during the hallucination scene, it is explicitly stated by a nameless voice as one of the distant memories deep in his brain.

* ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]: Tides of Time'' ends with {{spoiler|Ecco disappearing into time. [[Word of God]] says he indeed had a [[Xanatos Gambit|specific idea in mind, and it involved the Atlanteans]]...but then there was no Ecco 3.}}

 

* ''[[South Park]]'', "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride": Stan phones into a cable-access talk show hosted by Jesus and asks him for his opinions on homosexuality. They're cut off by the next program, however.

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' cuts to the end credits (or the pre-credits commercial break on Nick's broadcasts) at the end of the Krusty Krab training video when the narrator is about to reveal the Krabby Patty Secret Recipe. "What you've all been waiting for, the Krabby Patty Secret Recipe i--"

'''Sport Announcer:''' "Viene, le pega! GOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL" }}

 

* Events in the real world conspired to produce a sort of unintentional Unreveal in the premiere episode of ''[[CSI New York]]'', as [[The Summation]] was unexpectedly cut off by the announcement of Yassir Arafat's death. Of course, this has been known to happen in fictional TV shows: an episode of the original ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987]]'' opens with the gang watching a mystery series when their friend April O'Neil breaks in over [[The Summation]] to bring in a special report.

* The so-called "Heidi Game" of American football, where the game was cut-off with 65 seconds to go and the score 32-29 , Jets-Raiders, in favor of NBC showing ''Heidi'' the movie. What happened in those final 65 seconds, you ask? The Raiders score 14 points and win the game.

 

* In ''[[Dodgeball]]'', Gary Cole's ESPN announcer character says "a double-fault final-play elimination hasn't occurred since the Helsinki episode of 1919. And I think we all remember how that turned out!"

* Most any story set in the [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|near-future]] United States will have an "Xth Amendment" gag, about some vague but hilarious amendment to the U.S. Constitution that passed between now and the story's timeframe. Here's an example from the movie ''[[Demolition Man]]'':

'''John Spartan:''' I don't wanna know. President... }}

 

* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Mr. Burns rolls up his sleeves to single-handedly take down the Loch Ness Monster. Cut to the monster already captured, and Burns saying "I was a little worried when he swallowed me, but, well, you know the rest."

** Burns seems to be a fan of this trope. In another episode, Bart and Lisa try to escape Mr. Burns' clutches by sliding down a vent into the basement of his mansion. When they arrive, they find that Burns is already there, even though he'd been with them on the ground floor three seconds earlier. "That's impossible!" says Bart, "how did you get there before we did?" "Oh, I'll explain later," Burns replies. He doesn't.

* In an episode of ''[[G.I. Joe: Renegades]]'', Snake Eyes is captured by Zartan and the Dreadnocks. While Snake's back is turned Zartan explains why he likes to take trophies and snatches the mask off. He and the Dreadnocks react with an unnerved expression, and then promptly replaces the mask.

 

* A [[Real Life]] example occurred when Alistair Cooke had to record an episode of "Letter from America" dealing with the impending resignation of [[Richard Nixon]] from the Presidency. The show was scheduled for broadcast after Nixon made his announcement but had to be recorded beforehand, so the only thing Cooke could do was to give a summary of the mounting Watergate scandal and then, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, declare: "... and the rest -- you know."

** [[Dave Barry]] once did a column about the presidential election in which this was supposed to be the joke. (He didn't want to stay up to find out the outcome and asked the editor to fill in the blanks with the appropriate name). Unfortunately, this was the 2000 presidential election, and [[Self-Demonstrating Article|you know the rest]].

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Un-Reveal]]