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The Un-Reveal: Difference between revisions
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Contrast [[Emerging From the Shadows]].
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
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*** A later story arc (Issues 93-96) has Snake-Eyes' face fully revealed, right before he gets plastic surgery to look normal again. Of course, he gets captured and tortured by Cobra, culminating in getting a [[Reset Button|face full of hot coals.]]
* In [[Marvel Comics]]' ''[[Dark Reign (Comic Book)|Dark Reign]] Files'', Quasimodo is tasked with profiling and assessing various personalities who may be of use to [[Norman Osborn]] as the head of HAMMER. On the first page we see emails from Quasimodo to Osborn that detail his efforts to this end, blah blah; One of them concerns the identity of Facade, a minor Spider-Man villain whose identity was made into a huge mystery but never revealed. But the lower half of the paper is torn off and it ends with "Facade is-"
* ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' has V's identity. We're left guessing as to what sort of person he was and whether he was anyone we'd know -- or even whether he was speaking literally or metaphorically when denying the [[Luke, I Am Your Father]] possibility. We go through several fake [[Dream Sequence]] reveals, before Evey finally realizes that it's important that his identity never be revealed, and that she should instead take up his mantle.
** This is because V the man had long been lost so that V the persona could take his place. The identity of the man he was before he became V would never be as important as the idea. It becomes a deeply symbolic variation of [[Becoming the Mask]].
* Not a perfect example but when {{spoiler|Destruction}} is finally revealed by name in [[Sandman]] his name is given in Ancient Greek.
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* The [[Marvel Universe]] comic ''[[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]: Frontline'': in issue #10, two characters independently found out the secret of the war and were rushing to tell each other (neither of them knew that the same thing was what the other person was going to tell them). On the phone they said they should say it in person; when they meet in person and are about to say it they get interrupted by a battle. When they're finally safe, they point it out to each other in their notebooks, and when it looks like they're finally going to say it, the story ends.
* In an Italian ''[[Donald Duck]]'' story possibly retelling ''[[War and Peace]]'' with the ducks in the main roles, the threat of "cosacking" is repeatedly used and presumably being a fate worse than death, but we never learn what it is; at the end, the story's version of Daisy tries to force Donald to tell her, after they have married, but at the last minute he maintains it is such a horrible thing she is better off not knowing.
* In ''[[Blackest Night]] #5'', we see [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Hal Jordan]] and the leaders of all the other Corps reciting their [[Badass Creed|oaths]] simultaneously... except for [[
** Although readers only ''know'' this is an unreveal if they know that [[Geoff Johns]] has said the Orange Lantern oath hasn't been heard yet, and is his favourite. Otherwise you might conclude that Larfleeze simply doesn't ''have'' an oath (since he's not really in a Corps), or that it's the word "Mine!" (as stated in his ''Tales of the Corps'' factfile).
* Subverted in the first ''[[Batman]]/[[Grendel]]'' crossover; Batman doesn't know that Hunter Rose is Grendel but the reader does. During the final battle, Batman succeeds in unmasking Grendel, only to find that he had painted the Grendel mask pattern on his face with greasepaint.
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** It has a biohazard label on the container.
* ''[[Dragonheart]]'' begins this trope when the dragon tries to tell the hero his name, but gets interrupted before he can start.
* ''Cthulhu'' (2007). The movie ends with the protagonist {{spoiler|implored to "[[Human Sacrifice|Make sacrifice!]]" by the [[Big Bad]] (e.g. kill his lover and become leader of the cult); the movie ends before showing us his decision. Also we never see the [[Half
* The "Charles Dance Version" of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' has the Phantom twice removing his mask with his back to the viewer. We see the shocked reactions to his deformity, but not the deformed face itself.
* At the end of ''[[Lost in Translation (Film)|Lost in Translation]]'', {{spoiler|Bob whispers something into Charlotte's ear just before they part ways. The movie then ends without the audience knowing what was said. It can be assumed that it has something to do with whether or not they plan on getting back together, but that too is never revealed.}}
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* The opening to Frank Stockton's ''The Discourager of Hesitancy'', the sequel to ''The Lady or the Tiger'', is set up with the apparent intention of finally revealing what happened in the [[No Ending]] of the previous work. Instead it presents a similar problem without answering what happened in the last one, making this [[Older Than Radio]].
* Two [[Older Than Radio]] examples in ''[[Effi Briest (Literature)|Effi Briest]]'': the author repeatedly evades revealing details of the story of the Chinese man's ghost. In one scene, Rosawitha sits down with Frau Kruse and asks her to tell the story; as Frau Kruse begins to speak, the narration follows another character out into the courtyard, then Rosawitha comes into the courtyard and says, "I must say that story about the Chinaman is very queer." Later, one character asks another about it, and gets the answer, "An extraordinary story, but not for now. We've other things on our minds." That's it! The reader never learns more.
* This effects both the protagonist and antagonist of ''[[The Chronicles of Prydain]]''. Taran, the protagonist, is an orphan with no family linage in a land where familial descent is ''everything''. It starts weighing on him so much he eventually goes [[Gene Hunting]], but comes up empty. It's finally revealed that even his mentor, [[Big Good]] Dallben, has no idea who his real parents are ([[Red Herring|it had been alluded to previously]] that Dallben was keeping the information secret, but that turns out to be nothing but unfounded speculation on Taran's part). Meanwhile, Arawn, the antagonist, is notable for being a [[Shape Shifter]]. One of the key facts of his villain mythology is that only one person has ever seen his true face and lived to tell the tale, setting up a [[Chekhov's Gun]] regarding his true appearance. When he's finally defeated, he reverts to his true form, which falls face-down on the ground, but because he's a [[Load
* In ''[[Deryni|The Quest for Saint Camber]]'', after an apparition appears to Kelson {{spoiler|during his duel with Conall}} and does a [[Godly Sidestep]], Kelson and Dhugal meet a cowled man on the beach near Castle Coroth. The man still won't give his name or admit appearing to Duncan years before, but he does draw a sigil in the sand that shows them a vision of Camber on his bier. Though there's no clue as to where or when the vision actually happened, Kelson finds a tiny ''shiral'' crystal bead (like those sewn into Camber's netted shroud) in the sand.
* Throughout ''The Lost World'', the sequel to ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', by [[Michael Crichton]], the protagonists argue the feasibility of so many carnivores in a so closely confined space with so little prey in relation to their numbers. Near the end, one of said protagonists reveals that he came up with a good explanation but the reader never finds out what this is (probably because Crichton couldn't think of any and just didn't want to leave the question imply a [[Lampshade Hanging]]).
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* ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]''. Hundreds of plot points are unexplained, after the readers are informed of just how incomprehensible everything is if you don't know what they mean. Heck, "The Sugar Bowl" could easily be this trope's name. Also, Lemony Snicket sometimes takes the above plot points to an extreme of this trope, resulting in a chapter beginning that is poorly related (if ever excused by that) to the following chapter.
* At the end of ''[[Cold Comfort Farm]]'', Ada Doom explains to Flora Poste the wrong that Amos did her father, and what her "rights" are, but the reader never finds out. Flora follows up with "and did the goat die?", but not even she finds out the answer to that. And we never discover what "something nasty in the woodshed" Aunt Ada saw.
* ''[[Nineteen Eighty
** Those intentions are, however, revealed later in the book by an actual Party member. Of course, there's no guarantee it's not a lie. But considering that it's about the most horrible thing they could admit to, and the fact that their entire goal with Winston is to break him rather than deceive him, that's not very likely.
*** It's strongly implied that the Party wrote Goldstein's book, anyway
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* The original ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic (TV)|Battlestar Galactica Classic]]'' uses '''centons''' as units of time. A character asks "What '''is''' a centon?" Cut to another scene.
* A rare real-life version of this happened with the National Geographic Channel's highly-publicised television special in 2003. Supervised by leading Egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawaas, the show was a first-time stunt in the history of TV - The television crew and Hawass' expedition used a robot to peer into a narrow shaft that opens into the queen's chamber of the Great Pyramid - Within the shaft Hawass found another stone block, possibly a door, and Hawass was made a laughingstock in front of live TV audiences from 140 countries. Poor guy.
* [[Played for Laughs]] on the [[April Fools' Day]] 2011 episode of ''[[The Price Is Right]]''. Throughout the whole show, host Drew Carey hypes up a "10,000th something", which at the end is {{spoiler|nothing}}.
* Wilson, Tim Taylor's neighbor in ''[[Home Improvement]]'', always has the lower half of his face obscured from the viewers, usually by the fence which separates his yard from Tim's. In the few episodes when a full body shot of Wilson is shown, he is only shown from behind. There was even one episode where Wilson attends a party at Tim's house, but in every close-up of his face, there is always some other item in front of him to prevent the viewers from seeing the lower half of his face.
** And in one instance, the lower half of his face is revealed, only for the top part to be covered with a mask.
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*** {{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 ''[[Yoshis Island (Video Game)|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.}}
* Shy Guys, recurring enemies in the ''[[Super Mario Bros]]'' series, wear masks, and many games at one point mention what their identity would be. In ''[[Mario Tennis]]'', if Shy Guy wins a match, he will step up to get the trophy, but trips and falls down, his mask falling off. He is facing the other way, but Luigi, being able to see his face perfectly, looks astonished. This again happens in ''Mario Strikers Charged'', except no one appears to have seen it.
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* The [[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy|Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything]] in [http://wayofthemetagamer.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/32960 this] ''[[The Way of the Metagamer]]'' comic.
** Ripping your own comic to shreds to conceal "42"? Talk about overkill!
* In the ''[[Paper Mario (Video Game)|Paper Mario]]'' [[Fan Web Comics|fan comic]] ''[http://acastledivided.weebly.com/ A Castle Divided]'', Yoshi Kid (a.k.a. the Great Gonzales Jr.) is about to tell Goombario what his real name is when he gets cut off. This was obviously done because the Yoshi partner is [[Hello, Insert Name Here|named by the player]], thus ''has'' no official real name.
* Recently in ''[[Misfile]]'', fans got a [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1557 tease] of what boy-Ash used to look like.
* In ''[[Bob and George (Webcomic)|Bob and George]]'' [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/050413c I give you . . . Mega Man X].
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* The Serpent's identity in ''[[Zap (Webcomic)|Zap]]''. It was so obvious that a guest comic spoiled it months before it was officially revealed. One may argue that this was just a setup, and the real reveal was {{spoiler|Zap's identity instead}}.
* The cast of [[Cuanta Vida]] does some investigation into [[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|the nature of the nonsensical war]] they're fighting, but ultimately come up completely empty. [[Word of God]] is that the comic takes place twenty years after [[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]], so the {{spoiler|automated nature of the war's recruitment and supplies really ''has'' just been left on after the end, and there isn't anything to find.}}
* 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 [[
== Web Original ==
* [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 (Animation)|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 (Animation)/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.
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* An episode of the ''[[Batman (TV)|Batman]]'' TV show which had a cliffhanger with Batman and Robin in a literally impossible trap to escape from. Cut to next week, they open with Batman and Robin speeding away in the Batmobile, with Robin declaring "I'll never figure out how we were able to escape that one!", and Batman declaring "Just be glad we did, Robin!"
* In the series 4 finale of ''[[Hustle]]'', the group are stranded on a dinghy when Danny says "I've got a great idea" as an homage to ''[[The Italian Job]]''.
* The [[Grand Finale]] of ''[[JAG]]'' features a variation of this; after nine years of [[Will They or Won't They?]], Harm and Mac finally resolve their [[UST]] and get engaged. Slight problem; Mac has been reassigned to head the San Diego JAG office while Harm has been promoted to a position in London. As they announce their engagement at the JAG team's favorite bar, they decide to flip a coin; heads, Mac would resign her commission and join Harm in London, tails, Harm would resign and join Mac in San Diego. The show ends in mid-flip, the coin suspended in the air.
* At the end [[Viva Las Vegas|Las Vegas episode]] of ''[[Lie to Me (TV)|Lie to Me]]'', Cal is given one million dollars in chips as a thank you for solving the case. He promptly bets it all at a roulette table, but the episode ends before it is revealed whether he won. However, since [[Status Quo Is God]], and everything is seemingly back to normal in the next episode, one can assume that he lost.
* One episode of ''[[Without a Trace (TV)|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.
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** 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.
{{quote| '''Voice:''' Oh God, Nick Scryer, HE'S DEAD!}}
* In ''[[The Godfather (Video Game)|The Godfather]]'', when you meet The Trojan for his last contract hit, Aldo comments on how he still doesn't know The Trojan, prompting The Trojan to say that they will get better acquainted. It seems to set up the reveal of his name, but after you complete that hit, [[What Happened to The Mouse?|he disappears and is never seen again]].
* ''[[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.}}
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== Real Life ==
* 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
** In ''Pogo'', the result of the election of 1952 is announced by a character who can't quite make out the name, but is fairly sure that it contains the letters E, E, N, O, S -- the intersection of "Stevenson" and "Eisenhower".
** On the morning of the 1996 US presidential election, a crossword contained a clue asking for the name of the new president (who wouldn't be known until the late evening). It was cunningly constructed so that either "BOBDOLE" or "CLINTON" (the two major candidates) would work!
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