History Main / GameChanger

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* ''{{VideoGame/Metroid}}: Zero Mission'': Samus destroys Mother Brain and blows up the Space Pirate's base on Zebes, just as she did in the original game. [[spoiler: Then pirate ships ambush her starship and send her crashing back down to the surface, now without a suit, weaponless, and with little hope of escape.]]

This is often used as a StockPhrase or at least implied through the dialogue. Compare WhamEpisode and SeventhEpisodeTwist. Not to be confused with GameBreaker.

* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Learning about Sozin's Comet and the utter destruction the Fire Nation could use it for was a game changer in that it gave the heroes a limited time frame to accomplish the premise of the series, learn the four elements and defeat the Fire Lord.

The long-term goals of the characters' do not change, but the situation itself is altered. This is more likely to occur on a micro scale whereas NothingIsTheSameAnyMore works on the macro scale, but that isn't always the case. If it was a battle then no one has won the "war" by the change in situation. They may have won a decisive battle, but that's it. Somehow, someone has just gained a major advantage

** The Codex reveals that Humanity is responsible for introducing one in the form of Carriers, the concept of which was entirely new to the various Council races, thus [[Loophole Abuse not subject]] to the same limitations as Dreadnoughts under the Treaty of Farixen. This allowed the Alliance to build numerous Carriers to supplement their large SpaceNavy, all whilst continuing to abide by the terms of the treaty.

** The Codex reveals that Humanity is responsible for introducing one in the form of Carriers, the concept of which was entirely new to the various Council races, thus ''[[LoopholeAbuse not]]'' subject to the rules of the Treaty of Farixen. This allowed the Alliance to build a large SpaceNavy, whilst abiding by the limitation on Dreadnoughts stipulated by the Treaty.

** Humanity are responsible for introducing one in the form of Carriers, the concept of which was entirely new to the various Council races, thus ''[[LoopholeAbuse not]]'' subject to the rules of the Treaty of Farixen. This allowed the Alliance to rapidly begin building a large SpaceNavy, despite the limitation on Dreadnoughts allowed under the Treaty.

* When the Reapers finally launch their invasion in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' it's clear that their technological and numeric advantages are insurmountable. All anyone can do with conventional warfare is slow the Reapers down as they blitzkrieg the home worlds and colonies of several Citadel races, including Earth. Then Liara discovers plans for a super weapon in the Prothean ruins on Mars that may be able to wipe them out. Building the weapon, dubbed [[OperationBlank Project Crucible]], becomes the Citadel's only hope. On another note, the invasion finally convinces the Council that the Reapers are real, and the Turians in particular start actively helping Shepard.

* The One Ring of Power is TGC in ''Film/TheHobbit'' that acts as a James Bond device for Bilbo Baggins. That same Ring becomes NothingIsTheSameAnymore in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' when it's revealed to be Sauron's SoulJar, with which he could reclaim all of Middle Earth under his iron rule.

* In ''Film/TronLegacy'', Kevin Flynn explains to Sam that with his arrival into the Grid that the previous stalemate between Flynn and Clu is given a shake-up. [[spoiler: This is what Clu was expecting by summoning Sam to the arcade, hoping to egg Flynn out of his self-exile. Flynn initially tries to ignore the bait but Sam doesn't like trying to stay still.]]

* When gunpowder first appeared on the battlefield, it was a GameChanger that likely won the day for the army that used it. Over the few next centuries, it became NothingIsTheSameAnymore as ballistic weapons replaced swords and shields for every modern army on Earth.

* When gunpowder first appeared on the battlefield, it was TGC that likely won the day for the army that used it. It has since become NITSA because ballistic weapons have replaced swords and shields for every modern army on Earth which did not happen for a few more centuries.

* ''{{Babylon 5}}'': The results of Sheridan's visit to Z'ha'dum ([[spoiler: mainly the nuking of the Shadows' center of power]]) "opened an unexpected door" (in the words of Kosh II/Ulkesh), which [[spoiler: emboldened the Vorlons to unleash their planet killers and go all out destroying any worlds "touched" by Shadows--and the Shadows to reciprocate in this escalation. This turn of events showed the younger races just how dysfunctional and dangerous the Vorlons' and Shadows' guardianship had become. Sheridan gathers a massive fleet of the younger races to confront both the Shadow and Vorlon fleets near a targeted planet of six billion sentient beings, and calls them out on their unfitness as guardians, and persuades them to leave the galaxy as their moral exposure becomes apparent to all.]] Thus had the events of "Z'ha'dum" not happened, the current war would arguably end up being just one more of a millennial cycle of wars orchestrated by the Shadows [[spoiler: and Vorlons]], rather than [[spoiler: the last of them]].

* The Game Changer in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' is the unexpected dubbing of Po as The Dragon Warrior, a clumsy giant panda who turns out be a preternaturally talented martial artist of considerable power with the right instruction who also enables his colleagues to find a happiness they did know they needed.

* When conman Dmitri brings orphan Anya before Princess Sophia, he thought he'd drilled Anya on every fact about the lost Princess WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}. But when Princess Sophia asks how she'd escaped the palace during the uprising, Anya replies with something only the actual Princess Anastasia could know. It is then that Dmitri realizes that Anya really is the missing Romanov princess.

* ''Franchise/StarWars''. This is basically the meaning behind the title of ''Film/ANewHope'' and ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. Without Luke's involvement helping to bring down the Sith, including learning the ways of the force and bringing back the Jedi Order, the Rebellion would never have won.

** The Clone Troopers in AttackOfTheClones are TGC when they arrive on Geonosis to rescue the overwhelmed Jedi. They become NothingIsTheSameAnymore when they obey General Order 66 and eradicate the Jedi, leaving Emperor Palpatine as Lord And Master of the Galaxy.
* Film/TheDarkKnight: The Joker killing the Batman impersonators was cited by Bruce as crossing the line, while Alfred points out that him becoming Batman to begin with is what made the mob so desperate.

* The Game Changer in HowToTrainYourDragon is Hiccup discovering that dragons and humans are ''not'' mutual adversaries. The "kill on sight" directive in the Viking Handbook is fanaticism, and the dragons are raiding the Viking village under orders from an EvilBoss. The dragon revolution against the Red Death cements this change into NothingIsTheSameAnymore.

* None of the OAS's efforts to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle succeeded, because their ranks were riddled with police informers. The Game Changer in Frederick Forsythe's TheDayOfTheJackal comes when the OAS leaders contract the services of a British assassin, about whom the French Secret Service know almost nothing.
* The final book of Literature/CodexAlera sees the first use of catapults, loaded with spheres containing fire furies (which can be produced by people with even moderate firecrafting ability) which prove incredibly devastating on the level of a [[PersonOfMassDestruction High Lord]], several characters note that if Alera survives the Vord this is going to be a game changer for their civilization, because now the destructive power of a High Lord is in the hands of the common people.

* In OnceUponATime, Storybrooke is a town in Maine where all the denizens of a fairy-tale world were sent by the powerful curse of Snow White's enemy, the Evil Queen Regina and live in an amnesiac state unaware of their true identities. Here, they do not age. The narrative revolves around Snow's daughter, [[TheHero Emma]], the very reluctant designated curse breaker. [[spoiler: She succeeds in breaking the curse in the first-season finale.]]

* From LawAndOrder, two men riding the train together make a Devil's Pact: each would murder the other's antagonist, thinking the police would fail to connect them to their crimes. Their scheme almost worked [[spoiler: until detectives discovered the suspects routinely rode the [[StrangersOnATrainPlotMurder same train together]]]]. This game-changing fact moved the prosecutor's cases from iffy circumstances to roll-over confessions.

* FlashGordon is the game changer in his series: before he arrived on Mongo, various worlds under Ming's thumb were fighting each other. Flash slowly convinced the various worlds to set aside their differences and concentrate instead on overthrowing Ming the Merciless.

* In {{Alundra}}, the researcher Septimus explains how he sought out the village of Inoa to research what's afflicting the inhabitants with cursed nightmares, only to discover he can't actually do anything to stop it (and getting a bit depressed over it), and how everything changed when Alundra, who can enter and change people's dreams, washed up ashore of the village near the beginning of the game.

* Hanyuu in ''{{Higurashi no Naku Koro ni}}''

* in WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime the [[StoryArc Iacon relic hunt]] took a marked upswing when the outnumbered Autobots got the Forge of Solus Prime (a hammer capable [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower of forging anything]]) from [[spoiler: a defecting Dreadwing]], allowing Optimus to build a space bridge to meet the Decepticon forces on Cybertron looking for the Omega Lock, as without it they couldn't make the journey. Another game changer happened in the second season finale, where [[spoiler: the Decepticons discovered the location of the Autobot base and destroyed it, the Auobots being scattered around the world to hide from them]].
* AvatarTheLastAirbender: Learning about Sozin's Comet and the utter destruction the Fire Nation could use it for was a game changer in that it gave the heroes a limited time frame to accomplish the premise of the series, learn the four elements and defeat the Fire Lord.

[[folder:Literature]]

[[folder: Literature]]
* The magic ring found by Bilbo Baggins in [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien's]] {{The Hobbit}} gave Bilbo the power of invisibility, which allowed him to aid the dwarves far more than an ordinary hobbit could have done. Ultimately, this ring would shape the destiny of all of Middle Earth.

* The One Ring of Power is TGC in TheHobbit that acts as a James Bond device for Bilbo Baggins. That same Ring becomes NothingIsTheSameAnymore in TheLordOfTheRings when it's revealed to be Sauron's SoulJar, with which he could reclaim all of Middle Earth under his iron rule.

This is often used as a StockPhrase or at least implied through the dialogue. Compare WhamEpisode and SeventhEpisodeTwist.

** Gecko Moria follows on the heels of Jimbei and Crocodile as newly-former Shichibukai, let loose on the sea.

** [[spoiler: Trafalgar Law and [[IKnewIt Buggy the Clown]] are now Shichibukai]].