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A plot twist is a change ("twist") in the direction or expected outcome of the plot of a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television series, video game, novel
Novel

File:2009 stapelweise Neuerscheinungen im Buchladen.JPGA novel is today a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern Romance and in the tradition of the novella....
, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation. Some "twists" are foreshadowed
Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a technique used by authors to provide clues for the reader to be able to predict what might occur later in the story. In other words, it is a Literary technique in which an author drops subtle hints about Plot developments to come later in the narrative....
 and can thus be predicted by many viewers/readers, whereas others are a complete shock.

When a plot twist happens near the end of a story, especially if it changes one's view of the preceding events, it is known as a twist ending
Twist ending

A twist ending or surprise ending is an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction, and which often contains irony or causes the audience to reevaluate the narrative or characters....
.

Revealing the existence of a plot twist often spoils
Spoiler (media)

A spoiler is a summary or description of a narrative that relates Plot elements not revealed early in the narrative itself. Moreover, because enjoyment of a narrative sometimes depends upon the dramatic tension and suspense which undergird it, this early revelation of plot elements can "spoil" the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrat...
 a movie, since the majority of the movie generally builds up to the plot twist.

A device used to undermine the expectations of the audience is the false protagonist
False protagonist

In fiction, a false protagonist is a technique for making a scene more jarring or a character more memorable by fooling the audience's preconceptions regarding who the story is really about....
.






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A plot twist is a change ("twist") in the direction or expected outcome of the plot of a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, television series, video game, novel
Novel

File:2009 stapelweise Neuerscheinungen im Buchladen.JPGA novel is today a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern Romance and in the tradition of the novella....
, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation. Some "twists" are foreshadowed
Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a technique used by authors to provide clues for the reader to be able to predict what might occur later in the story. In other words, it is a Literary technique in which an author drops subtle hints about Plot developments to come later in the narrative....
 and can thus be predicted by many viewers/readers, whereas others are a complete shock.

When a plot twist happens near the end of a story, especially if it changes one's view of the preceding events, it is known as a twist ending
Twist ending

A twist ending or surprise ending is an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction, and which often contains irony or causes the audience to reevaluate the narrative or characters....
.

Revealing the existence of a plot twist often spoils
Spoiler (media)

A spoiler is a summary or description of a narrative that relates Plot elements not revealed early in the narrative itself. Moreover, because enjoyment of a narrative sometimes depends upon the dramatic tension and suspense which undergird it, this early revelation of plot elements can "spoil" the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrat...
 a movie, since the majority of the movie generally builds up to the plot twist.

A device used to undermine the expectations of the audience is the false protagonist
False protagonist

In fiction, a false protagonist is a technique for making a scene more jarring or a character more memorable by fooling the audience's preconceptions regarding who the story is really about....
. It involves presenting a character at the start of the film as the main character, but then disposing of this character, usually killing them. It is a red herring.

Examples of plot twists

An early example of the murder mystery
Crime fiction

Crime fiction is the genre of fiction that deals with crimes, their detection, criminals and their Motive s. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred....
 genre with multiple twists was the the Arabian Nights tale "The Three Apples". It begins with a fisherman discovering a locked chest. The first twist occurs when the chest is broken open and the dead body is found inside. The initial search for the murderer fails, and a twist occurs when two men appear, separately claiming to be the murderer. A complex chain of events finally reveal the murderer to be the investigator's own slave.

An early and well-known plot twist occurs in the 1926 Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie

Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, Order of the British Empire , commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English people crime writer of novels, short stories and Play ....
 novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins in June 1926 in literature and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on the 19th of the same month....
. The story is told in the first person by Dr. James Sheppard, the local doctor, who fulfills the role of sidekick to Christie's detective Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot is a fictional character Belgium detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories that were published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era....
. Sheppard describes the events leading to the murder, his own discovery of the body, and Poirot's attempts to cut through the red herring
Red herring

Red herring may refer to:* Red herring , a deliberate attempt to change a subject or divert an argument* Red herring , a technique used in literature to mislead the audience...
s and false leads. The plot twist occurs when Poirot identifies the murderer as Dr. Sheppard himself. The novel is then shown to be the doctor's confession. Christie was criticized by many for utilizing an unreliable narrator
Unreliable narrator

In fiction an unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The use of this type of narrator is called unreliable narration and is a narrative mode that can be developed by the author for a number of reasons, though usually to make a negative statement about the narrator....
 to create a plot twist, but her book became a bestseller.

Probably the most famous plot twist of all was in the 1980 science-fiction epic film, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 in film space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett....
. In the climax of the film, Luke Skywalker is declining and Darth Vader's offer to join the dark side because he's convinced Vader murdered his father. However, Darth Vader reveals the truth about his lineage in the famous line; "I am your father."

See also

  • Climax (narrative)
    Climax (narrative)

    The climax or turning point of a narrative work is its point of highest tension or drama in which the solution is given....
  • Literary technique
    Literary technique

    A literary technique or literary device is an identifiable rule of thumb, convention or structure that is employed in literature and storytelling....
  • MacGuffin
    MacGuffin

    A MacGuffin is a plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story, but the details of which are of little or no importance otherwise....
  • Twist ending
    Twist ending

    A twist ending or surprise ending is an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction, and which often contains irony or causes the audience to reevaluate the narrative or characters....