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As R.L. Stine once said, "Every story ever told can be broken downwards into iii parts. The beginning. The middle. And the plot twist."

The legendary plot twist is a staple in near every genre and medium of storytelling — i that's fun to read but hard to write. To assistance you become a veritable Chubby Checker, here's a definitive resource that's all virtually the art of the twist.

What is a plot twist?

A plot twist is a story development that readers exercise not expect in which either something shocking happens or something shocking is revealed. Mostly, the storyteller volition gear up expectations then "twist" those expectations by revealing new information through subsequent plot points.

The criteria for a plot twist tends to be fabricated upwardly of the following:

1. Information technology must be narratively audio,
2. It must be unexpected, and
3. Information technology might be foreshadowed.

To no-ane's surprise, plot twists are especially prevalent in mysteries, thrillers, and suspense fiction. However, the twist takes no prisoners and has reared its caput in about every genre out in that location, which brings us to…

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50+ plot twist ideas in popular civilisation

If y'all seek inspiration for crafting your own twists, at that place's no amend place to starting time than with some of the well-nigh popular unexpected plot-turns in film and literature. But be warned: there exist spoilers ahead. With that in mind, hither are over 50 examples of plot twists in motion picture and literature.

Want to read some of the best, near twisted thrillers and suspense books out at that place? Check out these 50 best suspense books of all time, or our listing of 23 psychological thrillers that will make your head spin.

I Am Your Father

Mum's the word when it comes to family secrets, correct? Not then fast. This is the plot twist that concerns a revelation virtually the central character's family. It could be that in that location is a surprising reveal regarding parentage — or perhaps it'southward uncovered that the protagonist was an orphan all along.

Made legendary by Star Wars, this type of plot twist is nevertheless widespread in all genres and mediums, as in that location'south no drama quite similar family drama. Equally George Carlin once said: "The other night I ate at a existent prissy family unit restaurant. Every table had an argument going."'

1. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. In a pivotal battle, Luke discovers that Darth Vader, his ultimate nemesis, is actually his begetter.
2. Angels & Demons. Robert Langdon is shocked by the revelation that the late pope'due south aide is really His Holyness'southward's son — conceived through artificial insemination.
3. Shutter Island. During an investigation of a disappearance from a remote aviary, U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels realizes that he himself is the missing patient — and the husband and murderer of the woman that he had been trying to locate.

More than plot twist examples of this flavor:

4. The Man From Earth. Correct before he dies from a heart attack, Will learns that the unaging Professor John Oldman is actually his male parent.
5. Oldboy.  Mysteriously imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-su falls in love with a young restaurant chef who is later revealed to be his daughter.
6. The Kite Runner. Amir has mixed feelings when he discovers that his closest childhood friend, Hassan, is his half-blood brother.

Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Image: Disney

It Was Me All Forth

In which protagonists' worst enemies is actually themselves. This plot twist turns the magnifying glass inward to reveal that there was something off about the main character all along. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book — and when executed expertly, it can blow people'due south minds away!

7. Fight Club. The narrator of the movie meets Tyler Durden, a soap salesman, and together they first a local "Fight Club." In time, he realizes that he himself is Tyler Durden.
8. Gone Daughter. Amy Dunne is revealed to be alive — and also the mastermind backside the framing of her husband, Nick Dunne, for her own "death."
9. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Dr. James Sheppard, the first-person narrator of the novel, comes out as the murderer in the case that Hercule Poirot had been investigating.

More plot twist examples of this flavor:

10. The Usual Suspects. Roger "Verbal" Kint, a small-time con homo, is interrogated by the law who promise to chase downward the mob boss Keyser Söze. A fax later confirms too late that Kint is Söze himself.
11. Orphan Black. Sarah Manning is right to be confused when she spies a daughter who looks only like her past the train: she is just ane of hundreds of clones.

Will The Real Evil Guy Delight Stand?

In which the reveal of the villain (or anti-villain) is a surprise to audiences. Maybe they're a pocket-size character or someone entirely unexpected (such as a close friend or relative of the protagonist).

Generally, this plot twist requires some corporeality of foreshadowing, so as to trigger an "Oh, I should've known" reaction from audiences.

12. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Harry battles through three perilous stages of the Triwizard Tournament to find that the real villain has been nether his olfactory organ throughout the entire novel: Barty Hunker, Jr. in disguise equally Harry's mentor, Alastor "Mad-Heart" Moody.
13. Psycho. In a turn of events, the person who kills Marion Crane in the shower at Bates Motel is not the overbearing Mrs Bates — rather, her son Norman, who has been masquerading as his dead mother this whole time.
14. Frozen. An eternal snowstorm unveils the actual antagonist in the story: Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, youngest of 13 sons and 1 of Anna'due south suitors.

More plot twist examples of this flavor:

15. Sherlock. Even Sherlock isn't able to place Jim Moriarty, a minor grapheme who disguises himself as Molly Hooper'southward gay beau, as his greatest nemesis until it's too late.
16. Iron Human. Tony Stark discovers that the human who wants him killed is his sometime friend and mentor, Obadiah Rock.

Love The Manner You Lie

In which it's revealed that the narrator has been unreliable all along — either due to pure subjectivity or their selfish wish to misrepresent the facts.

Because of the nature of this type of plot twist, information technology is almost ever told past a commencement-person narrator.

17. Nosotros Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Rosemary Cooke starts her story in the middle to disguise the fact that her missing sister is actually a chimpanzee.
18. Atonement. Non until the postscript is information technology revealed that Briony Tallis had fabricated the previous sections of her story to give Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis the happy ending that they never got because of her.
19. Life of Pi. Pi Patel tells a story about cannibalization and survival on the open ocean that may or may not exist well-nigh zoo animals.

More plot twist examples of this flavour:

20. Never Let Me Become. Kathy, the narrator, holds back the truth that she and all of her classmates at Hailsham are really clones who are raised to have their organs harvested.
21. Fingersmith. Sue Trinder sets out to swindle Maud Lilly's fortune — only to fall in love with her and face an uncomfortable truth.

Saoirse Ronan as Briony Tallis in Amende (2007). Image: Focus Features

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!

The hero's successfully solved the riddle or problem. Great. Fourth dimension to pop open the champagne, right?

Non quite. Sometimes the hero's actions make the situation fifty-fifty worse than earlier. We borrowed this headline from the site Telly Tropes because it fits this plot twist perfectly: the hero accidentally breaks the globe. Perhaps they trigger an apocalypse or perchance the antidote that the hero acquires is actually poison. Either manner, it's something that the hero must at present fix — or else.

22. The Incredibles. Mr. Incredible helps a mysterious benefactor destroy a trigger-happy robot merely to notice that his actions have actually helped the evil Syndrome develop the perfect killing machine.
23. Ender's Game. 10-year onetime Andrew "Ender" Wiggin fulfills his state of war grooming by leading simulated wars confronting an alien race — just to realize that the "simulations" were actual battles and he'due south unwittingly committed genocide.
24. Zootopia. Judy Hopps, police officer extraordinaire, successfully locates Zootopia'due south missing predators — which immediately cases a public frenzy of fear, detest, and bigotry.

Oh Crap, That Wasn't The Actual Concluding Dominate

Congratulations, hero! You've figured out the identity of your nemesis, gone to farthermost lengths to hunt them down, engaged in ferocious battle with them and emerged victorious from information technology — only to discover that they weren't actually your last boss. There's someone (or something) bigger and badder backside the scenes, controlling the strings of the marionette. Oopsie.

25. Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne has subdued The Scarecrow when Henri Ducard, Bruce's old mentor, shows up and reveals that he is Ra's al Ghul.
26. Iron Human being 3. Tony Stark is thrown for a loop when he discovers that the Mandarin is really a bad English histrion named Trevor Slattery who has been hired by Aldrich Killian to act every bit a decoy.
27. Howl'southward Moving Castle. Howl and Sophie manage to kill the Witch of the Waste matter — only to notice that the Witch'south fire demon, Miss Angorian, was the real villain all along.

I Dreamed A Dream That This Dream Was Fake

This is the one in which the entire story turns out to be all a dream — and it'south then well-known that its appearance at the finish of a story is almost a punchline these days. That said, authors and filmmakers even so go along to find new means to re-invent this twist today.

28. Twilight Zone, "The Midnight Sun." The last moments reveal that the predicament of the Earth falling into the sunday was entirely Norma'south fever dream: the Earth is actually moving away from the sunday, which means that the earth is freezing to death.
29. Inception. A notwithstanding-spinning pinnacle at the end of the film hints that Dominick "Dom" Cobb may or may not still be stuck in an eternal dream.

More plot twist examples of this flavour:

30. A Beautiful Mind. A brilliant mathematician suffering from schizophrenia is shown to have been hallucinating friends, enemies, and moments the entire time.
31. Jacob'south Ladder. The ordeals of Jacob Singer, a war veteran of Vietnam who is being haunted by frightening visions and fragmented fantasies, give way to the reveal that Jacob died in Vietnam and it was all a dream.

Must Pretend Harder to Look Alive

If it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, and swims like a duck, and then it's probably a duck… except in stories. We're talking about the ones in which we realize (mayhap as well late) that a grapheme has been dead along!

Every bit you might expect, this plot twist shows up most often in the genres of science fiction, horror, and sometimes cosmic horror (which blends the 2). However, it will sometimes make its way into the mainstream, with One thousand. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense beingness a prime number case.

32. The Others. When a family appears at Grace Stewart's house one day, she thinks that her house has been overrun — but soon comes to the epiphany that she and her children are expressionless and that they are the bodily spirits haunting the house.
33. The Sixth Sense. Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe begins working with a boy who claims that he can run into ghosts. It'due south not until the final deed that he realizes that he himself is a ghost.
34. The Twilight Zone, "The Hitch-Hiker." A young woman driving cross-country across America keeps encountering a homo at the side of road. Only when she calls for help does realizes that she was killed in a motorcar accident days agone — and the hitch-hiker who says gently, "I belileve you lot're going my way," is Death.

Inger Stevens as Nan Adams in episode sixteen ofTwilight Zone, "The Hitch-hiker" (1960). Epitome: CBS Productions

Non Too Dead To Ruin Everyone'southward Twenty-four hours

In which every hero'due south worst nightmare comes true and villains only seem dead. In other words: someone who'due south supposed to exist expressionless isn't actually dead and can pop back into the main storyline similar the moles in Whack-a-Mole. Likewise, this plot twist is used across the board to foil the protagonist, then it may exist worth it to tread carefully.

35. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry Potter's climactic run into with Sirius Black triggers the revelation that Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort's secret henchman, is nonetheless live — and has been bearded as Ron'due south rat this whole time.
36. Saw. In a twisted game of life and death for two trapped victims, the "corpse" that had lain prone on the ground for most of the scenes rises and reveals himself every bit the real Jigsaw Killer.
37. Wreck-Information technology Ralph. In Sugar Rush's pivotal race, Vanellope's glitch shows that King Candy is in authenticity a fame-hungry auto-racer from another game named Turbo, who is supposed to take been unplugged and gone entirely from the arcade.

Bet You Thought Y'all'd Seen The Last Of Me, Suckers

In which anyone who ever uttered, "Well, this death seems final," since the 1800s is proven incorrect. One of the first famous instances of it occurred in 1893 when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tried to kill off Sherlock Holmes in "The Final Problem." In that location was such a public outcry that Doyle was compelled to miraculously resurrect the detective.

Though some debate that information technology's a cheap trick to bring a character back to life, it'due south still a common occurrence due to fan demand — particularly in today's Net-driven culture. So as long as people enhance a ruckus online over the deaths of their favorite characters, we'll probably proceed to see this plot twist live a long life.

38. Lord of the Rings. Previously presumed dead after falling off the Bridge of Khazad-dûm during a battle with a Balrog, Gandalf makes a surprise improvement.
39. The Walking Dead, "Heads Upwards." Glenn Rhee plunges straight into a mass of bloodthirsty walkers but miraculously survives and makes a return in the 3rd episode of the sixth season.
40. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Aslan, the King of Beasts, is seemingly killed past the White Witch on the Rock Table — until dawn breaks and he is resurrected, thanks to the workings of a Deeper Magic.

Damnit, Where'south Kansas?

In a delightful twist within the realm of plot twists, the homo being isn't the one causing trouble this time around. Instead, the setting of the story take center stage. Found particularly in science fiction and alternating reality stories, its authentication is an unanticipated moment in which the protagonist (and the audience) has to wonder: "Where are we, actually?"

41. The Truman Show. As the unsuspecting star of a decades-long reality show, Truman Burbank does not realize that he has lived in a massive and elaborate television set phase since nativity.
42. Planet of the Apes. Astronauts crash-land on an unknown planet ruled by an advanced society of talking apes. Their discovery of the remains of the Statue of Liberty clues them into the realization that they are in the future and that it was Earth all along!
43. Oryx and Crake. In flashbacks, the existent reason for the post-apocalyptic world is revealed: Crake distributed a wonder drug to engender a global pandemic and wipe the earth'due south slate make clean.

More than plot twist examples of this flavor:

44. The Good Place. Witnessing a hell of an argument between her friends sets upward Eleanor Shellstrop'due south epiphany: the Good Place has been the Bad Identify this whole fourth dimension.
45. The Village. A bullheaded girl discovers that her 19th-century "village" is entirely fake and the villagers are really captives of a social experiment conducted past a history professor.

Invisible Good People

"This guy looks nice," said no-1 probably always of the greasy-haired, beaked-nosed silhouette lurking in the far corner of the room. However, believe it or not, that'south the premise of this plot twist that deals importantly with misconceptions and wrong first impressions: someone who seems "off" turns out to really exist good. Information technology's a nice reminder in and of itself that in that location are good people everywhere, if you just try to await for them.

46. Harry Potter and the Magician'southward Rock. Harry Potter is surprised to be told that his most hated professor at Hogwarts, Severus Snape, has been helping him survive some tricky situations throughout the entire schoolhouse twelvemonth.
47. I Am Legend. In a world beset past vampirism, Robert Neville comes to the uncomfortable realization that he is the monster in the eyes of the infected — non the other way around.
48. Pride and Prejudice. Information technology takes a botched marriage proposal and many declined dances for Elizabeth Bennett to suspect that Mr. Darcy, Lord of Pemberley, has a heart of gilt under his stick-in-the-mud exterior.

More plot twist examples of this flavour:

49. Toy Story. Woody and Buzz are under the impression that Sid's mutated toys are savages until they footstep out and help put Fizz back together.
50. Dear, Simon. Simon Spier doesn't expect to cantankerous paths again with Bram Greenfeld in his search for "Blue," his pen pal and the other closeted gay pupil at his high school.

Gasp Cistron

In which the twist is an unexpected plot event that attempts to achieve one objective only: brand the audience gasp. Jane the Virgin, a satirical romantic one-act drama, is maybe the queen of this sort of plot development: each episode parodies all the expletive-worthy twists and turns of a Latin telenovela. Exclamation betoken!

51. Game of Thrones. Eddard Stark, the head of Business firm Stark and Lord of Winterfell, is beheaded by Joffrey Lannister.
52. Jane The Virgin. Michael Cordero, Jr. dies abruptly in the season iii finale from an aortic dissection.

This Herring Was More Salmon Than Blood-red

Sometimes a plot twist comes out of nowhere, without warning or many clues. Whether that's an indicator of a good twist or not is upwardly for contend. However, it still registers every bit an unexpected event that takes audiences past surprise — which is why we're including a special department for movies and films that fall into this category.

53. The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is befuddled to observe that the Wizard of Oz is a middle-aged man using a microphone.
54. The Prestige. Robert Angier, a rival stage wizard, doesn't realize that "Alfred Borden" is actually a double act of twin brothers until it'south besides late.
55. Gossip Daughter. The terminate of the series pans to a shot of Dan Humphrey, revealing that he was Gossip Girl all along.

Did we say that at that place were only 55 examples in this listing? Well, how about THIS twist: here are fifteen more!

10+ plot twist ideas for y'all

Now that you have an idea of what plot twists look similar, you might detect it easier to write your own. Only in case you're nevertheless struggling to come up with a twist, hither are some hypothetical scenarios to jumpstart your thinking.

56. Character A is persuaded by Grapheme B that it is all a dream — when it's really not.

57. A gift from CHARACTER B to Graphic symbol A is really a trap.

58. Information technology is revealed that the NARRATOR is Decease.

59. An ARCHAEOLOGIST at a dig comes across his own skeleton.

sixty. Graphic symbol A discovers the real identity of CHARACTER B through an old yearbook.

61. It is revealed that all the sounds that Grapheme A has heard throughout his life has been inside his ain head.

62. CHARACTER A believes he is in Hell. Information technology's actually Globe.

63. It is revealed that Grapheme A and Graphic symbol B are not themselves because they were torso-swapped.

64. Grapheme A is informed that the previous events were actually function of an alternate reality simulation.

65. It is revealed that SANTA CLAUS is real.

66. A promise that Character A and Grapheme B made when they were children is non really what they recollect information technology to exist.

67. Graphic symbol A is set up with Grapheme B, a rich pol, and finds herself falling in love with Graphic symbol B'S GIRLFRIEND.

68. Character A goes on a series of blind dates without realizing that it is all being filmed for the next experimental flavour of The Bachelor.

69. A central strength of CHARACTER A becomes a cardinal weakness.

70. CHARACTER A experiences puzzling and unexplained flashbacks considering she is the reincarnation of GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Now, over to you lot

A well-written plot twist makes for some of the most exciting, mind-blowing, and dramatic stories in history, which is why it's and then important to get it right. Here's the second plot twist for this postal service: it'due south now up to y'all to write your ain.

If yous're looking for fifty-fifty more inspiration, you tin endeavor out Reedsy'southward plot generator tool, which will create plot twists out of sparse air (...sort of).

Are you writing your own plot twists? How is it going? If you'd like to share your experiences or bounce ideas off of us, just annotate below.

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Source: https://blog.reedsy.com/plot-twist-ideas-examples/

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