Plot twist

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A plot twist is a change ("twist") in the direction or expected outcome of the plot of a film, television series, video game, novel, 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 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. Revealing the existence of a plot twist often spoils 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. 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 genre ^[1] with multiple twists^[2] 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 novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.^{[citation needed]} 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. Sheppard describes the events leading to the murder, his own discovery of the body, and Poirot's attempts to cut through the red herrings 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 to create a plot twist, but her book became a bestseller.

In the bestselling Harry Potter series, Snape was believed to be among the main antagonists. However, in the last book he is discovered to be a triple agent.

The music video for the song Smack My Bitch Up by The Prodigy uses a plot twist as well. The video is shown from the point of view of an unidentified person whose hands are all we see. During the video the character gets excessively drunk, snorts cocaine, gets into a fight, and finally takes home a stripper and has sex with her. We are led to believe the main character is a man, but at the very end, we see the character look at a mirror, and it is revealed that in fact, it is a woman.

Probably the most famous plot twist of all was in the 1980 science-fiction epic film, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. In the climax of the film, Luke Skywalker is declining 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; "No, I am your father."

References

^ Marzolph, Ulrich (2006), The Arabian Nights Reader, Wayne State University Press, pp. 240-2, ISBN 0814332595
^ Pinault, David (1992), Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights, Brill Publishers, pp. 93, 95, 97, ISBN 9004095306

Plot twist

Examples of plot twists

References

See also