Aplot twist is aliterary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of theplot in a work of fiction.[1] When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as atwist ending orsurprise ending.[2] It may change the audience's perception of the preceding events, or introduce a new conflict that places it in a different context. A plot twist may beforeshadowed, to prepare the audience to accept it, but it usually comes with some element of surprise. There are various methods used to execute a plot twist, such as withholding information from the audience, or misleading them with ambiguous or false information. Not every plot has a twist, but some have multiple lesser ones, and some are defined by a single major twist.
Since the effectiveness of a plot twist usually relies on the audience's not having expected it, revealing a plot twist to readers or viewers in advance is commonly regarded as aspoiler. Even revealing the fact that a work contains plot twists – especially at the ending – can also be controversial, as it changes the audience's expectations. However, at least one study suggests that this does not affect the enjoyment of a work.[3]
Many television series, especially incrime fiction, use plot twists as a theme in every episode and some base their whole premise on the twist; for example,The Twilight Zone andTales of the Unexpected.[citation needed]
An early example of the romance genre[4] with multiple twists[5] was theArabian 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 a corpse 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 reveals the murderer to be the investigator's own slave.
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Literary analysts have identified several common categories of plot twists, based on how they are executed.
Anagnorisis, or discovery, is the protagonist's sudden recognition of his or her own or another character's true identity or nature.[6] Through this technique, previously unforeseen character information is revealed. A notable example of anagnorisis occurs inOedipus Rex:Oedipuskills his father andmarries his mother in ignorance, learning the truth only toward the climax of the play.[7] The earliest use of this device as a twist ending in amurder mystery was in "The Three Apples", a medievalArabian Nights tale, where the protagonistJa'far ibn Yahya discovers by chance a key item towards the end of the story that reveals the culprit behind the murder to have been his own slave all along.[8][9]
Flashback, or analepsis, a sudden, vivid reversion to a past event,[10] surprises the reader with previously unknown information that solves a mystery, places a character in a different light, or reveals the reason for a previously inexplicable action. TheAlfred Hitchcock filmMarnie employed this type of surprise ending. Sometimes this is combined with the above category, as the flashback may reveal the true identity of one of the characters, or that the protagonist is related to one of the villain's past victims, asSergio Leone did withCharles Bronson's character inOnce Upon a Time in the West orFrederick Forsyth'sThe Odessa File.
Acliffhanger, or cliffhanger ending, is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction. A cliffhanger is hoped to incentivize the audience to return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma. A notable example is in the 1980Star Wars filmThe Empire Strikes Back: protagonistLuke Skywalker, who was told byObi-Wan Kenobi in the previous film that the antagonistDarth Vader had killed his father, is told by Vader that he is Luke’s father.
Anunreliable narrator twists the ending by revealing, almost always at the end of the narrative, that the narrator has manipulated or fabricated the preceding story, thus forcing the reader to question his or her prior assumptions about the text.[11] Thismotif is often used withinnoir fiction andfilms, notably in the filmThe Usual Suspects. An unreliable narrator motif was employed by Agatha Christie inThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd, a novel that generated much controversy due to critics' contention that it was unfair to trick the reader in such a manipulative manner.[12] Another example of unreliable narration is a character who has been revealed to be insane and thus causes the audience to question the previous narrative; notable examples of this are in theTerry Gilliam filmBrazil;Chuck Palahniuk's novelFight Club (andDavid Fincher'sfilm adaptation);Gene Wolfe's novelBook of the New Sun; the second episode ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents, "Premonition"; the 1920 German silent horror filmThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari;Iain Pears'sAn Instance of the Fingerpost;Shutter Island; andKim Newman'sLife's Lottery. The term "unreliable narrator" is sometimes applied to films (such as the aforementionedBrazil andShutter Island) which do not feature anyvoice-over narration in a conventional sense, but whose protagonists are still considered "narrators" in the sense that the film is presented from their perspective and the audience mainly encounters the narrative anddiegesis through that character's point of view.[13]
Peripeteia is a sudden reversal of the protagonist's fortune, whether for good or ill, that emerges naturally from the character's circumstances.[14] Unlike thedeus ex machina device, peripeteia must be logical within the frame of the story. An example of a reversal for ill would beAgamemnon's sudden murder at the hands of his wifeClytemnestra inAeschylus'The Oresteia or the inescapable situationKate Hudson's character finds herself in at the end ofThe Skeleton Key. This type of ending was a common twist ending utilised byThe Twilight Zone, most effectively in the episode "Time Enough at Last" whereBurgess Meredith's character is robbed of all his hope by a simple but devastating accident with his eyeglasses. A positive reversal of fortune would be Nicholas Van Orton's suicide attempt after mistakenly believing himself to have accidentally killed his brother, only to land safely in the midst of his own birthday party, in the filmThe Game.
Deus ex machina is a Latin term meaning "god from the machine." It refers to an unexpected, artificial or improbable character, device or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction to resolve a situation or untangle a plot.[15] InAncient Greek theater, the "deus ex machina" ('ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός') was the character of a Greek god literally brought onto the stage via a crane (μηχανῆς—mechanes), after which a seemingly insoluble problem is brought to a satisfactory resolution by the god's will. The term is now used pejoratively for any improbable or unexpected contrivance by which an author resolves the complications of the plot in a play or novel, and which has not been convincingly prepared for in the preceding action; the discovery of a lost will was a favorite resort of Victorian novelists.[16]
Ared herring is a false clue intended to lead investigators toward an incorrect solution.[17] This device usually appears indetective novels andmystery fiction. The red herring is a type ofmisdirection, a device intended to distract theprotagonist, and by extension the reader, away from the correct answer or from the site of pertinent clues or action. The Indian murder mystery filmGupt: The Hidden Truth cast many veteran actors who had usually played villainous roles in previous Indian films as red herrings in this film to deceive the audience into suspecting them.
In the bestselling novelThe Da Vinci Code, the misdeeds of a key character named "Bishop Aringarosa" draw attention away from the true master villain ("Aringarosa" literally translates as "pink herring"). In theWilliam Diehl novelPrimal Fear (also adapted into afilm), a defendant namedAaron Stampler is accused of brutally murdering the Archbishop of Chicago. He is revealed to have adissociative identity disorder, and is not executed on plea of insanity. Near the end, Aaron's lawyer discovers that he feigned his insanity to avoid the death penalty. Agatha Christie's classicAnd Then There Were None is another famous example and includes the term as well in a murder ploy where the intended victims are made to guess that one of them will be killed through an act of treachery.
The complete second timeline of the sixth season of the television seriesLost is a red herring: initially, this second timeline seems to be analternate timeline in whichOceanic 815 never crashes (the main timeline revolves around the crashing of such plane onan island). However, one of the last scenes reveals that this timeline is "a place" where the characters of the series meet after they have died, similar to theBardo orLimbo concept. A red herring can also be used as a form of falseforeshadowing.
Afalse protagonist is a character presented at the start of the story as the main character, but then disposed of, usually killed to emphasize that they will not return. An example isPsycho's Marion Crane (portrayed byJanet Leigh), who is brutally murdered about halfway through the film. Another instance is the filmExecutive Decision, in which thespecial-forces team leader, played by highly-billed action starSteven Seagal, is killed shortly after the mission begins. The character ofCasey Becker (played by then A-list actressDrew Barrymore) inScream is killed in the first fifteen minutes. An example in literature and television isNed Stark in theGame of Thrones franchise, who is killed before the end of the first book/season, despite receiving the most focus of the ensemble of characters.
Anon-linear narrative works by revealing plot and character in non-chronological order.[18] This technique requires the reader to attempt to piece together the timeline in order to fully understand the story. A twist ending can occur as the result of information that is held until the climax and which places characters or events in a different perspective. Some of the earliest known uses of non-linear story telling occur inThe Odyssey, a work that is largely told in flashback via the narratorOdysseus.The Aeneid, anotherepic poem, uses a similar approach; it begins with the main protagonist,Aeneas, telling stories about the end of theTrojan War and the first half of his journey toDido, queen ofCarthage. The nonlinear approach has been used in works such as the filmsMulholland Drive,Sin City,Saw IV,Premonition,Arrival,Pulp Fiction,Memento,Babel, the television showsLost,How to Get Away with Murder,How I Met Your Mother (especially in many episodes in the later seasons),Heroes,Westworld, the bookCatch-22, andWandaVision.[19][20]
Reverse chronology works by revealing the plot in reverse order, i.e., from final event to initial event.[21] Unlike chronological storylines, which progress through causes before reaching a final effect, reverse chronological storylines reveal the final effect before tracing the causes leading up to it; therefore, the initial cause represents a "twist ending". Examples employing this technique include the filmsIrréversible,Memento,Happy End and5x2, the playBetrayal byHarold Pinter, andMartin Amis'Time's Arrow.Stephen Sondheim andGeorge Furth'sMerrily We Roll Along and the1934 Kaufman and Hart play that inspired it both tell the story of the main characters in reverse order.