Jump to content

Twist ending

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ichelhof (talk | contribs) at 05:38, 25 July 2006 (→‎Influential books: ot uheard of Cf. Collins The Moonstone from 1860's). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A twist ending is an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction, which may contain a surprising irony, or cause the audience to review the story from a different perspective by revealing new information about the characters or plot. A twist ending is the conclusive form of plot twists.

This literary device is also referred to as a surprise ending.

Template:Spoiler-blank

Mechanics

Common Literary Devices

The twist ending often contains the use of a red herring, which usually appears in detective work, mystery fiction, and puzzle-solving situations. It is a false clue that leads investigators, readers, or solvers towards an incorrect solution. This device makes the twist ending have a greater impact on the reader in terms of being more surprising and unexpected. This device is very closely related to the literary term misdirection, which too attempts to lead both the protagonist and reader away from the correct answer by distracting them with another event. [1]

Another device that could possibly be used for the twist ending is the Cliffhanger, which is an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation. This is a twist ending since it ends abruptly, undermining reader's expectations and leaving an ambiguous feeling of mystery that provokes the reader to ask, "What will happen next?" However, this device can easily lead to negative connotations since it offers no resolution at all (see Negative Connotations), but does have the advantage of creating the Zeigarnik effect.

Deus ex machina refers to an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot. This device often creates a twist ending to a narrative because it unexpectedly resolves what appears to be an unsolvable situation. This device is often used to end a bleak story on a happy ending. An example is in William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies: Just as the protagonist Ralph is about to be killed by the band of "hunters" at the end of the story, a ship appears from nowhere onto the island. One of the ship's officers rescues Ralph, and he and the rest of the boys are then taken away from the island. The term is Latin and means "the god from machine"(literally "god out of machine"), and was originally used in Roman theatre when unlikely events were explained away by stating they were the actions of a god. [2]

The use of the Flashback device is also sometimes used in a twist ending. A character within the narrative may have information the reader has not yet been privileged to, but once revealed the reader may be given an answer to a mystery, given information that makes us see a character in a different light, or given a reason for an action we previously did not understand. See also Racconto.

The literary device Anagnorisis (or discovery) is the discovery of one's own identity or true character or of someone else's identity or true nature by the main character. This device could be utilized for the twist ending when a main character learns information about himself or about another's character that is unexpected and not foreseen by the reader. The most famous example of this is when Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother in ignorance, but later learns the truth of what he has done.

Peripeteia is a literary device that is the sudden reversal or unexpected change of the hero's fortunes, as when the conquering hero Agamemnon was brought down by his wife. This sometimes is used for a twist ending when the hero unexpectedly meets a horrible fate or is miraculously saved from a dangerous situation (see Deus Ex Machina). See also plot point.

Nonlinear story lines often result in twist endings. This literary device affects the structure of the story's framework since instead of unfolding in a traditional manner, the narrative reveals events that are occurring at other points in the story's timeline. This requires the reader to situate events correctly within their minds to piece together a correct timeline so they may fully understand the story. Often, information within the narrative is withheld until the story's climax, which usually reveals new information that may places the previous events in a different perspective. [3] [4]

Reverse chronology is a seldom-used literary device that places the traditional order of events in the exact opposite way they normally would appear. This usually accumulates to a twist ending since it is unknown, until the end of the story, what has caused this chain of events. The film Memento is one such example.

Poetic justice is a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished. In modern literature, this device is often used to create a twist ending by creating an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct.

In medias res is a literary technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the story rather than at its beginning. Information such as who these characters are, where they are, and what they are trying to do are revealed through a series of flashbacks. This device is often used for a twist ending when the reasons for the events that transpired in the beginning are not shown to the reader until the climax. See also Narrative hook and Foreshadowing.

Chekhov's gun is a literary device where a character or plot element is introduced early within the story but is not referenced to again until much later within the narrative. Much of modern literature and film use this device, showing an event that seems to be of rather trivial importance, but at the end the reader will discover that it was actually pivotal to the story's events. Similar to this literary device is a "plant". A "plant" is a preparatory device that is repeated throughout the story's duration. Upon arriving at the resolution, circumstances change enough to cause the "plant" to take on a new meaning. See also Foreshadowing.

The Unreliable narrator is a literary device in which the credibility of the narrator, either first-person or third-person, is seriously compromised. The use of this device often results in a twist ending. This is because the narrator of the story is revealed, almost always at the end of the narrative, to either have manipulated or fabricated the story the reader has just been following. This added information makes the reader question the entire story he just received and must determine which portions, if any, are true. This motif is often used in noir fiction and films, most famously in the film The Usual Suspects which produced multiple imitators (such as The Rich Man's Wife). [5]

Irony is a literary device that creates a gap or incongruity between what a writer says and what is understood. Often in narratives this works to create a twist of fate where an eventual event reverts back on a previous one.

Common Story Elements

Schizophrenia is a narrative element often used to create a twist ending for the reader. A typical example would be that the protagonist is searching for a killer, but at the narrative's conclusion it is revealed to the character that the killer is in fact himself, yet was unaware of his guilt because of his schizophrenic condition. This story element is most famously used in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which was so effective in its execution of the twist ending that it inspired a stream of imitations (such as William Castle's Homicidal in 1961). See also Dissociative identity disorder and Mental illness.

Simulated reality is a narrative motif often found within works containing a twist ending. It describes a hypothetical environment that, although experienced as real, is actually a highly detailed simulation of reality. Narratives that utilize this device usually present to the reader the idea that what they are experiencing is real, but at the story's conclusion reveal that it is, in fact, a simulated reality. This motif is often found within science fiction literature (most notably in Philip K. Dick's works) and in science-fiction films (such as the recent Matrix films).

Conspiracies is an often used narrative element that usually features characters who, upon discovering a secretive conspiracy, may not be able to tell what is true about the conspiracy, or even what is real: rumors, lies, propaganda, and counter-propaganda build upon one another until what is conspiracy and what is coincidence becomes an unmanageable question. This, in some ways, is similar to simulated reality because it features a hidden organizations manipulating what the characters perceive to be true and factual. This motif is often found in political thrillers. See also Paranoia.

Multiple Antagonists is another often employed narrative tactic that results in a twist ending. This occurs in a story when instead of there being one villain, as the reader is lead to believe, there is in fact two or more villains. This fact is usually not revealed at the story's climax. Agatha Christie utilized this ploy several times in her mysteries, where the detective would reveal the murderer, and then continue to reveal their accomplice(s).

A Confidence trick (aka confidence game, con, or scam) is another story element that is used to create a twist ending. In a con, a character (known as a con artist) will attempt to intentionally mislead another character (known as the "mark"), usually with the goal of financial or other gain. The mark is encouraged to believe that they will obtain money dishonestly by cheating a third party (usually just a shill of the con artist). However, the character is stunned to find that, due to what appears to be an error in pulling off the scam, they are the one who loses money. Often, the reader is as ignorant as the mark and thus is also stunned at this revelation. The writer most often associated with this tactic is David Mamet, whose films such as House of Games cons both the characters and the audience with a clever scam.

Spiritual possession is a narrative element seldom used to create a twist ending, but when used effectively it could completely surprise the reader. An example is when a character, whom both the protagonist and the reader assume to be acting on their own free will, is in fact being controlled and manipulated by spiritual forces. This element is almost always restricted to horror and fantasy fiction. Less often, the fact that a character was not under paranormal coercion (such as in the film Vertigo) provides the twist.

Gender confusion is another typical story element that leads to a twist ending. The use of this device usually centers around the fact that, throughout the majority of the film, the reader and other characters are led to believe someone is of one particular gender, but it is revealed at the film's climax that they are in fact of the other gender. Made popular by Hitchcock's Psycho, this is also a common motif in the Italian film genre Giallo. See also Transsexualism and Transgender.

Sexual orientation is similar to gender confusion since it involves the manipulation of the sexuality of the character. Most often found within dramas, this narrative element is used to create a twist ending when a character's sexual preference is withheld from the reader until the story's conclusion. Usually the reader is led to believe that the character is sexually attracted to a member of the opposite sex, but is revealed to in fact prefer members of their own gender. See Heterosexuality and Homosexuality.

Betrayal is a story element that occurs between two or more characters. Often referred to as a double cross, this element is used for a twist ending when a character has placed his trust into another character, only to have that other character betray him. This element can become more complex when the writer chooses to have the character, who was double crossed, betray the other character as well. This instance is referred to as a triple cross. In rare instances, there have been more counter-betrayals, but this is often considered overly complex and usually leads to negative connotations.

Cloning is a narrative element often explored in science fiction. This element is often utilized as a twist ending when the protagonist, who believes to be his own individual throughout the story, discovers at the narrative's conclusion that he is, in fact, either a clone of another character, or is genetically grown in some manner. This story has become more common in modern literature due to the increase in technology that makes these instances theoretically possible. Often these twists are cautionary in nature, warning society about the direction it may take if it pursues such avenues.

Cults is a narrative element often similar to Conspiracies when used for a twist ending. In fiction, this element is often referring to a secret organization or group that are not revealed until the story's climax; these cults, however, are often destructive cults and have sinister goals. Usually, characters that the protagonist meets and relies on for help are revealed to be in league with this sinister sect at the story's conclusion. These cults also are often revealed to have been manipulating events surrounding the protagonist and that he actually has been tricked into helping their cause from the very beginning. Because of this characteristic, cults can be similar to simulated reality. Ira Levin's novel Rosemary's Baby, and the subsequent film version, is one of the most famous and influential examples of this, creating a whole trend of stories that modeled themselves after it.

Undead is another often used narrative element. When this is used for a twist ending, it is usually in reference to a character who the reader as well as the characters themselves within the story, believes to be alive. However, at the story's climax, it is revealed that the character is in fact dead and not among the living. This device has seen a resurgence in modern narrative fiction due to the success of M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense.

The death of the protagonist (or main character) can sometimes be considered a twist ending. This event becomes surprising to the reader because the plot device, character shield, is totally disregarded and the character is killed off unexpectedly. The character shield is a conventional plot device where the character is protected throughout the narrative, both to allow the movement of the plot and also to allow the reader to have someone to follow through the story. This device is utilized in the majority of stories written and is done so frequently that it becomes habit within the reader to expect this protection. However, when the main character is killed off it becomes a unexpected and jarring event for the reader. A modern example of this would be the startling demise of Daniel Craig's character in Layer Cake.

A Dream sequence is a story element that can be used to create a twist ending, depending on how it is presented to the reader. Normally these sequences are obviously separated from the main story, but this element becomes a surprise ending when it is revealed to the reader that all the previous events were in fact a dream; a combination of flashbacks, a fantasies, and visions. Often, what the reader has just witnessed are manipulations and distortions of reality created by the main character and it is revealed at the story's end what really happened and what were indeed the causes of those dream-like images. Film director David Lynch is known for films that utilize this element. In some regards this is similar to the story element simulated reality.

A quibble is a story element that can be used to create a twist ending. This involves discovering a flaw in the rules or a bargain that had appeared to control the ending, so the situation can be changed. Shylock's triumph in A Merchant of Venice appeared certain until Portia observed that his bargain called only for flesh, and so he could not shed a drop of Antonio's blood.

The Rashomon effect, named after Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon, is the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it. Films and literature that feature this concept tell the same individual event but in different several different forms, altering key elements within the event. The reason for these changes and alterations are because characters are misperceiving the event. This misinterpretation could be a result of the narrator holding something back, lying to cover up an act, or simply that the positioning of the character has affected their original perception of the event. Such modern examples of this include Basic, Courage Under Fire, A Very Long Engagement, The Outrage, and Hero. [6]

Amnesia is another story element that tends to lend itself in creating a twist ending. Amnesia is when the memory of an individual is disturbed in some way. Usually this causes the person to either completely forget events from their past or cause them to alter these events, abstracting the truth of their past. Film noir has often used this technique in creating mysteries where the protagonist does not know who he is and must search for his identity. Usually his quest leads him to surprising revelations about himself as well as others. These type of films also have a strong sense of paranoia since the character does not know whom to trust. The film Memento used this element in a unique way, portraying Anterograde amnesia and presented in reversed chronological order. See also Repressed memory, Alzheimers disease, and Lacunar amnesia. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Negative connotations

Plot holes may emerge when a twist ending is utilized at the story's conclusion. Often narratives may have a twist ending purely for shock value and may, as a result, become inconsistent with several events that occurred earlier in the story. This also causes disruptions in Continuity.

A suspension of disbelief must exist for a twist ending to be accepted by the reader. Sometimes twist endings are unrealistic and seem unlikely to occur and, without the audience's cooperation, may fall flat.

The use of a cliffhanger may lead to no resolution at all, creating an anticlimax to the story that the reader has already invested much time into. This could cause the reader to reflect badly upon the story and thus provide a negative experience. An example of this negative effect is the horror film genre where they use this device to a great extent. In these instances, the filmmakers will suddenly reveal that the villain is not dead at the film's conclusion (usually to ensure a sequel if the movie is a success).

Readers may also feel cheated when the author utilizes a red herring. This is a deliberate attempt by the author to trick the reader into believing something that is not true, and thus may seem to be a cheap tactic to garner greater shock value in the reader.

Unexpected and surprising actions taken by characters within the narrative may in fact cause them to be out of character, that is their actions are inconsistent with the character's personality that has been established in the past. This is usually seen as negative since it destroys the credibility of the overall story, shows a lack of focus, and damages the foundation that the story previously had established.

Genre conventions

Stories are usually grouped into categories depending on what elements are within the story. These elements create conventions thorughout the genre; reoccurring events, themes, and motifs that gives the genre an identity and thus making it recognizable. However, the constant reoccurring use of these elements within a genre has often made stories predictable and has made these elements into cliches. As a result, certain genres follow a pattern (or formula) in producing a twist ending (see List of cliché lists).

Horror genre

Many horror stories end with a twist ending to show either:

  • "It's not over yet!"
  • "Don't worry, the surviving characters won't live happily ever after."

This frequently involves revelations such as:

  • The killer/monster isn't really dead
  • Some monster eggs/offspring have survived
  • One of the survivors (usually the hero's love interest) has actually been infected/possessed by the evil force or, in the case of a woman, is pregnant with its baby
  • The government plans to silence all witnesses
  • The last surviving character dies/is killed offscreen

In film, many horror movies (and indeed, most titles in the survival horror video game genre) seem obligated to have a twist ending (see List of horror movie clichés).

Mystery genre

Many mystery stories seem to follow at least one of the following conventions in creating a surprise revelation (the unveiling of the killer):

  • The most obvious suspect is never the real killer
  • The character you least suspect (either because he has an airtight alibi or is the least likely to have committed the act) will be revealed to be the real killer
    • Or, sometimes the obvious suspect is the killer, but then he turns out to have an accomplice who nobody knew about (who is usually the last character you expect), or there is an entirely different scheme afoot that neither the detective nor the killer knew about (a scheme perpetrated by the last person you'd expect). This twist is used frequently by James Patterson.
  • In film, the killer is never an unknown actor but always a recognizable face or named actor.
  • In film, if the camera lingers on an object for an unnecessary length of time, then that object is a vital clue and will play an important part in the story's revelation (see flashing arrow). This method is also present in literature, only that an object is described for a longer duration, but it is usually harder to notice.

There have been several authors who have proposed a series of "rules" or "guidelines" for the writer to follow in crafting a detective story. These rules often limit who the actual killer may be and what kind of motivation they can have, thus often creating general trends amongst the twist endings of the mystery genre. Such authors who composed lists of this nature include S. S. Van Dine[11], Father Knox [12], Grobius Shortling, and G. K. Chesterton. See also detective fiction.

Literature

Influential books

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of Agatha Christie's most well-known and most controversial novels. The novel's innovative twist ending has had a significant impact on the genre by creating the unreliable narrator literary device which was at that time seldom used. Unfortunately there was a strong negative reaction to this usage at the time since many readers viewed this method as deceptive and unfair. Today, however, the ending is considered a milestone in detective fiction in introducing a new literary technique. [13]

Murder on the Orient Express is another novel by Agatha Christie and is unique since Christie utilizes a twist ending that goes against conventional detective stories. Christie takes the general convention of finding one killer amongst several suspects and reversed it by making all the suspects a killer; they were all part in an elaborate plot to "execute" the murder victim, whom they felt deserved to be punished.[14]

And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians), yet another novel by Agatha Christie, featured a unique method of unfolding the mystery that was utilized in countless other literary works and films (including most recently Mindhunters and Identity). The unfolding method is that out of a group of possible suspects, one suspect would be killed off one at a time until there was only one surviving member (presumably the murderer himself). Here again Christie takes the general convetion of finding one killer amongst several suspects and reverses it, but by doing the polar opposite of what she did in Murder on the Orient Express... no killer is found by the novel's climatic ending. The only surviving member is innocent of the crimes and unable to determine who in fact committed the murders; it is only revealed later in the story's denouement about what really occurred.[15]

Authors often associated with twist endings

Template:Spoilers O. Henry was famed for his short stories, which often featured clever twist endings. A famous example was his story "The Gift of the Magi" which featured a cleverly ironic ending. His particularly strong and unexpected twist endings are to this day sometimes called "O. Henry Endings" after their most famous and consistent practitioner. [16]

Saki (Hector Hugh Munro), like O. Henry, was a short story writer known for his unexpected endings, usually ironic in nature. One of his most notable tales is "The Open Window," which was essentially a tale-within-a-tale employing the technique of the unreliable narrator.

Philip K. Dick is a writer of sci-fi and cyberpunk fiction. He has written several collections of short stories, many of which have been adapted to films. His stories often feature twist endings, relying on science fiction and futuristic technology to create unexpected occurrences that are not physically possible in our modern world. In fact, his use of the twist ending was so common that readers often expected there to be one at the end of one of his stories. Some examples include A Scanner Darkly and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. [17] [18]

Dashiell Hammett is one of the notorious writers of hard-boiled fiction (also called noir fiction). His works often include a puzzle plot with a twist ending that can be deduced from clues that were scattered throughout the story.

Jeffrey Deaver is a best-selling mystery writer who has written several short stories (in addition to novels) featuring an unexpected revelation. He has written an entire compilation entitled Twisted that specifically focuses on the twist ending.

Jeffrey Archer is a British author who also specializes in the short story and has released several compilation books focusing purely on the utilization of the twist ending device. Such compilations include A Twist in the Tale and Twelve Red Herrings.

John Biguenet has written several short stories that employed the twist ending device. In his short story compilation The Torturer's Apprentice : Stories, he includes the use of many ironic and unexpected endings.

W.W. Jacobs has written several novels, but his short stories are what really make Jacobs stand out. His classic story "The Monkey's Paw" features a very ambiguous ending, which is surprising since it lets the reader decide for themselves what really did happen. "The Toll House" is another important example.

Agatha Christie is one of the great mystery writers who is known for incorporating the twist ending device so effortlessly into her narratives. Her novels often invented the types of twist endings we often see today in film and literature, even ones that go against total conventionalism we often see in detective fiction.

Patricia Highsmith has written many short stories, which are often macabre, satirical, and tinged with black humor. Her stories often take places in peaceful, American towns but with evil and corruption lying secretly underneath its surface.

Shirley Jackson's The Lottery is also a famous example that employs a twist ending.

Chuck Palahniuk is also known for twist endings, especially his novels Fight Club and Invisible Monsters.

James Patterson has often used a particular variant of the twist ending. In many of his Alex Cross stories, the prime suspect does turn out to be the primary villain, but after the villain is caught (or killed), it is discovered that either s/he had a secret accomplice, or that the villain was in fact being hoodwinked himself by a larger scheme. Usually this accomplice or mastermind was pretending to be helping Alex Cross solve the case.

Dan Brown, famed author of Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons frequently uses twist endings in his novels, whereby characters who assist the protagonists often turn out to be the villains themselves.

J.K. Rowling, famous British author of the Harry Potter series, always reveals, at the end of each book, that the villain and evil plot is different than Harry, his friends, and the reader are led to believe, though she does reveal the subtle hints of the real evil person and plot given throughout the book.

Film

Influential films

Often cited by critics as one of the pioneers in twist endings, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) is a German Expressionist film that features the classic motif of the unreliable narrator that would be utilized countless other times within film, including notably The Usual Suspects which itself revived this literary technique and influenced other modern films.

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is one of the first films to employ the twist-ending motif of schizophrenia. The film started a series of films during the 1960s that featured this motif, such as several films directed William Castle or produced by Hammer Film Productions. The film also became quite influential within the Italian Giallo genre, which features schizophrenia as one of its key motifs.

The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is the first modern film to utilize the narrative element of a ghost who is unaware of his own death. This revelation had been used previously within other films, such as Carnival of Souls in 1962, but usually resulted in severe continuity errors. The Sixth Sense was so successful in its execution that it inspired several imitators. Examples of these imitators include several Asian horror films, such as Inner Senses, The Eye, and Omen, and modern American films, such as The Others.

Influential styles

Film noir, a genre of film from the forties and fifties often derived from hard boiled novels, usually features a detective trying to solve a mystery that often leads to a surprising revelation. These films are very psychological in nature, drawing heavily on Freudianism as its underlying psychology. Noirs also featured the themes of existentialism, alienation and paranoia. Also, the genre usually incorporated very complex narrative structure that would serve as a precursor to the non-linear psychological thrillers of today. Such popular examples include Murder, My Sweet and Black Angel. [19]

The German film genre Krimi was a style of film very influential on the Italian giallo. This genre were films based on the works of British mystery writer Edgar Wallace and features the motif of a masked killer who, after investigations by either the police or a private investigator, is unmasked at the film's climax. This style is very similar to Italian giallos as they too usually featured the same story format. [20]

The Italian film genre Giallo incorporates crime, mystery, suspense, and horror genres. The narratives often feature the literary device called a red herring that is meant to lead the viewer astray from the real truth by making what is not the answer appear to be so, which makes the final revelation all the more effective. The genre also usually features the motif of schizophrenia, where protagonists search for the killer without knowing that they themselves are the killers for whom they are searching. [21]

J-Horror, along with K-Horror and the entire Asian horror film genre, often incorporates classical horror elements along with complex and psychological plots. The films often feature a ghostly figure who is unable to rest because of a trauma in his or her past life. The main characters, who themselves are being tormented by these ghosts, often investigate the reason for these hauntings with the revelation not coming until the film's final reels. This revelation will place meaning to many of the images and sounds the viewer witnesses throughout the film. However, often these films feature a more complex and clever twist ending, whether it be that the characters themselves are dead, the characters are seeing fabrications of their own minds rather than ghosts, or the film is left open for interpretation. [22]

Surrealist films attempt to manifest elements of the unconscious mind onto the screen through visual imagery. Often, film directors incorporate surrealism into a traditional narrative, making it difficult for the viewer to determine what is actually happening within the story and what are purely psychological manifestations. These films often feature inexplicable events that occur within the framework of the linear story, making the audience attempt to understand the meaning of these occurrences. Often, these films feature ambiguous endings that make the viewer question the reality of the situation on the film; whether if the entire story that they have just witnessed is in fact purely psychological and factious. Unconventional director David Lynch is often associated with these type of films, while other more "mainstream" examples would include Fight Club and A Beautiful Mind.

Directors often associated with twist endings

Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan is famous for his recurring use of the "twist" device within his films. The most notable of these, The Sixth Sense, has influenced various works of film and literature with its startling revelation. Unfortunately, it has now become expectant of Shyamalan to always incorporate a twist ending into his narratives, thus creating a bias within the viewer.

Writer-director David Mamet is known for crafting expertly played con films, with House of Games being his most tricky and deceptive film. Other films featuring clever scams with twist endings include The Spanish Prisoner and Heist.

Writer-director David Lynch is known for surreal and mind-bending films. His films often conclude with an unexpected revelation, most famously in Mulholland Dr., relying on dream sequences, flashbacks, and nonlinear narratives to create complex and enigmatic storylines. Other films that include twist endings are Lost Highway and Eraserhead.

Writer-director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is similar to Lynch in that he too delves in surrealism and features ambiguous and unexpected denouements, with Cure being his best known example. The director deliberately leaves out information from his films to leave it open to audience for interpretations.

Writer-director Shinya Tsukamoto is again a very cerebral and surreal filmmaker. His films, such as Tetsuo, feature unexpected revelations and imagery that makes the viewer question the reality of the entire film. His films may at first appear to be nonsensical and confusing, but the visuals are in fact manifestations of the character's inner psyche and all have a specific meaning. It is up to the audience to place the pieces together to reveal the startling answer.

Director Takashi Miike, a cult favorite director, is notorious for concluding his films with what seems to be deliberately ambiguous or unsatisfying endings. However, the subsequent discussions about the meaning of these endings has added to his cult status. Often, his endings are totally different in tone to the rest of the film and seem to be random and out of place. Most famously is Miike's Dead or Alive which for the entire duration is a gritty Yakuza crime drama, but suddenly ends on a cartoonish, apocolyptic, and fantastical ending. Other examples include Gozu and Audition.

Director Alfred Hitchcock is often associated with 'twist endings' even though very few of his films are known to feature twists and in some films, like Vertigo, are revealed much earlier then the end, though some would consider the legendary ironic end to be a twist. Other films in his canon which feature unexpected revelations are most often his psychological mysteries, such as Rebecca, Spellbound, and Marnie. However, he is most famous for the twist ending in his film Psycho.

Director Brian DePalma's psychological thrillers are often cited as being heavily influenced by Hitchcock, with DePalma's narratives often being similar in structure and theme as Hitchcock's. However, DePalma also has made several mainstream efforts such as the complex paranoia thriller Mission: Impossible. His films often conclude upon a surprise denouncement where the protagonist often misperceives an event and draws the wrong conclusions. Films with such a twist ending include Body Double, Dressed to Kill, and Obsession, which all pay an obvious homage to Hitchcock.

Director Dario Argento is known to be a prolific worker within the giallo genre, and often is accredited to have done the best work within that genre. His films has caused a great impact within the horror genre and many other giallo films has used Argento's films as models with which to build their films upon. His films feature many of the motfis common to the genre, including red herrings, a psychologically complex plot, and such story elements as schizophrenia and gender confusion, all which work together to create often surprising twist endings to his films. Such films to contain startling revelations include Deep Red and Tenebrae.

Television

Alfred Hitchcock Presents screen image

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, there were many anthology series of suspense that were shown each week featuring a half hour story. Many of the episodes on these shows included a twist ending. The most notable of these series are The Twilight Zone (e.g. "To Serve Man") and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (e.g. "Lamb to the Slaughter").

There also has been a strong presence of murder-mystery shows that features a detective attempting to solve a baffling crime. Usually, the episode features a single mystery that leads to a twist ending where the culprit is revealed at the show's climax. The most notable examples of this are Murder, She Wrote and Ellery Queen.

In recent years, more and more ongoing television dramas are employing the "twist" device, sometimes using them nearly every episode. 24 would use the twist device to end each episode on a cliffhanger, causing audience members to return next week to find out what will happen next. Lost would have a twist revealing something about the featured character in each episode, like Hurley's imaginary friend at the asylum or Locke having actually been in a wheelchair until he landed on the island.

Examples

Video games

With video games becoming more cinematic, they occasionally employ twist endings. An early example of this is the ending sequence of Phantasy Star 2, where the villains are shown to be Terrans. One of the very first, and most famous, is upon beating the game Metroid, the hero would take off "his" space suit/armor, and reveal that Samus Aran was, in fact, a woman.

Genres

Adventure games are the most well known category of video games to feature of twist ending within the plot. The reason for this is that the plot is more important and held in higher regard than game play. Some adventure games, in fact, have minimal gameplay in order to keep the plot involving and the pacing efficient. Several examples include Sanitarium, Gabriel Knight, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, and The Last Express.

Survival horror games is another genre of video games that have a strong presence of twist endings within its stories. The reason is that these games are more psychological in nature, thus relying more on story than on action to get inside the mind of the player. The goal of these games is to play with the player's mind and utilizing the narrative device of the twist ending accomplishes this goal greatly.

Influential games

File:Deus ex - in game screenshot.jpg
Deus Ex

Deus Ex is often accredited as having some of the most startling twists in a video game narrative. Drawing from a multitude of conspiracy theories, Deus Ex interweaves a complex and multi-layered narrative that involves global conspiracies, mind-altering events, and unconventional and original story telling [23] [24].

Examples

Comic books

Cover of Batman: The Long Halloween

Several comic stories have used the "twist ending", to a lesser popularity. Several famous "twist endings" include:

  • Batman: The Long Halloween - The murderous "Holiday" character is revealed to be two people acting independently of each other: Gilda Dent (wife of district attorney turned Batman villain Harvey "Two-Face" Dent) was the original killer, having targeted members of the Falcon crime family for death to try and cripple the organization so that Harvey would be able to spend more time with her, so they could start a family. She quit after barely surviving an attempt on her life by the Falcone crime family and after she suspected that Harvey murdered Alberto Falcone, son of crime boss Carmen Falcone in retaliation for the attempt on the life of his wife. In truth though, Alberto faked his death and began targeting his own father's syndicate out of revenge for years of neglect by his father and ultimately took full credit for the murders that Gilda Dent committed.
  • Avengers Dissassembled - A controversial storyline by writer Brian Bendis, revealed that the mastermind behind a series of attacks on the Avengers team, that resulted in the deaths of several high profile team members, was the Scarlet Witch. The storyline was heavily condemned by fans due to Brian Bendis disregarding the Scarlet Witch's entire past and painting the character as a barely restrained psychopath who murdered her friends and loved ones in a fit of madness egged on by hallucinations of her two dead children (who Bendis falsely referred to as always being figments of Wanda's imagination, even though every writer before him had established that they were real).
  • The Judas Contract - Another controversial twist end story, it featured New Teen Titans writer Marv Wolfman shocking audiences by not only having the spy known as Terra succeed in betraying the Teen Titans but also die at the end of the story trying to kill the group, as opposed to having the popular character redeem herself and betray her fellow villains in order to free the Teen Titans.
  • Identity Crisis - The highly controversial "Identity Crisis" mini-series published by DC Comics provided a murder mystery of a serial killer attacking and killing the loved ones of the heroes of the fabled Justice League. The revelation of the murderer Jean Loring as well as the added twist revelation/retcon that Batman's descent into a borderline fascist behavior in the last ten years of stories being the result of Batman being mindwiped when he refused to allow the League to lobotomize the villainous Dr. Light so as to prevent Light from bragging about how he had raped the wife of JLA member Elongated Man to the press, served to be a controversial ending to the series.
  • Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow - This two-part story, hyped as the "final" story of Superman, ends with the twist that Superman faked his death after a bloody final battle with his arch-rivals, opting instead to simply removing his super-powers via Gold Kryptonite and assumed a new name and identity, leading to him finally marrying Lois Lane and living happily ever after.
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Batman, after brutally beating Superman in one-on-one combat with help from battle armor and kryptonite, suddenly drops dead from a heart attack. At his funeral however, Superman hears a pulse as Robin waits to dig Batman up from the ground. In the end, Batman relocates to the underground caverns with his followers and prepares to continue his war on crime and corruption in Gotham, this time covertly.
  • Thunderbolts: At the end of the very first issue, the supposed group of heroes is revealed to be the Masters of Evil in disguise. This twist is notable for how long it was kept hidden--Peter David even helped Kurt Busiek keep it secret by having Marvel rewrite the solicitation for the team's first ever appearance in The Incredible Hulk. To date, the ending of Thunderbolts #1 is considered by most comic book fans to be one of the greatest twists of all time.

Authors

The authors most often associated with the twist ending are Frank Miller, Marv Wolfman, Brad Meltzer, Alan Moore, the Norwegian artist Jason, and manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo.

Anime

Twist Endings in anime series are usually more complex than twist endings in other genres, usually because many anime series consist of many, many twists and unexpected plot developments spread out over the course of a series, so the final twists in a series are often more complicated than twist endings in conventional mysteries (it is not terribly uncommon for the twists to be so complex that it is hard for many viewers to figure out just what was going on at times).

Feature films

Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue (1997) directed by Satoshi Kon is a notable example of anime that features a twist ending. The film is a psychological thriller that bends the character's reality and the viewer's perceptions resulting in unexpected revelations in the plot.

Series

Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably the most famous example of an anime series with a twist ending. The series actually contains two different endings because of the TV network and fans of the show's negative response to the series' original twist ending (which featured a major jump in time within the series, in terms of the two-part finale showing the aftermath of "Instrumentality" while controversially avoiding showing the carrying out of "Instrumentality") made the show's creators (led by series writer-director Hideaki Anno) rework the ending bring a more viewer friendly, though very much overtly contempt-filled conclusion that showed Instrumentality being carried out. While the movie ending garnered more favorable reviews than the original ending, many fans were still unhappy with what they deemed was Gainax overtly bashing it's show's fans, most notably in a scene at the start of the film where one character is shown masturbating over one of the female characters, a scene many felt was Gainax attacking fans of the show who were more interested in the romantic subplots of the series and who wanted the show to end in a cliched fashion regarding the main hero getting the girl and living happily ever after (which ironically is the ending that the movie features).

Neon Genesis Evangelion's imfamous ending(s) spawned a special term, "Gainax ending," named after Gainax, the production studio that created the series. The term "Gainax ending" became the term for an ambiguous twist ending that has little to nothing to do with the actual series and is used rather that an ending that provides closure to the show's main storylines.

RahXephon begins as a conventional mecha series but quickly transcends to a unique experience when the film delves into mind-bending twists leading up to a surprising twist ending.

Serial Experiments Lain raises questions about God, the collective unconscious, the Internet, conspiracy theories and many other themes common in cyberpunk literature, all of which accumulate to a mind-altering and jolting experience with surprising revelations.

Last Exile begins as a steampunk story set on a bizarre alternate world (called Prester), but turns into a mystery that results in the revelation that the humans on Prester are descended from colonists who came to Prester on a colony ship, called Exile.

Examples

See also

Literary devices and techniques

Genres

References

Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]
  5. ^ [5]
  6. ^ [6]
  7. ^ [7]
  8. ^ [8]
  9. ^ [9]
  10. ^ [10]
  11. ^ [11]
  12. ^ [12]
  13. ^ [13]
  14. ^ [14]
  15. ^ [15]
  16. ^ [16]
  17. ^ [17]
  18. ^ [18]
  19. ^ [19]
  20. ^ [20]
  21. ^ [21]
  22. ^ [22]
  23. ^ [23]
  24. ^ [24]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twist_ending&oldid=65700269"