History Main / InterfaceSpoiler

*** Once you get the Camera rune, you can detect the presence of the game's {{Ambushing Enem|y}}ies -- Decayed Guardians pretending to be inert husks, Lizalfos blending in with the background, and buried Octoroks -- by pointing the camera at them. The ones that will attack are labeled. Similarly, the upgraded Stasis rune will also highlight enemies from a distance when used, as they're just as susceptible to being frozen by it as non-hidden ones, while wearing the Champion's Tunic will display their health bears above them.

[[InterfaceSpoiler/OtherMedia Examples from other media]]

InterfaceSpoiler/OtherMedia

'''Because this trope deals with spoilers, reader beware!'''
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!!Video Game Examples:

[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'':
** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII: Shadows of Amn'':
*** At the beginning of the game you meet a clone of the BigBad former love. If you right-click her, she says the same phrase as the original, giving a hint about their origins.
*** A minor case: the only characters with a portrait in dialogue boxes that do not join your party are the BigBad, TheDragon, and one in the penultimate chapter. Therefore, whenever you talk to a character who shows a portrait, you can be sure that first or later (s)he will be recruitable - and conversely that characters without won't be recruitable, even if they are recurring names from the first game such as [[spoiler:Quayle or Xzar]]. More relevant with Edwin, who initially is only a quest giver, even a bit hostile, and who could otherwise be expected to end the same as [[spoiler:Xzar]] if you already met the latter.
*** After the Enhanced Edition updated the first game with the engine of the second, this trope came to bg1 too. In the original game you could ask to some rare plausible characters to join you, only to be rejected, but now there is no surprise. It is mostly blatant with the new companion Dorn, who will dismiss you until you later reach a specific map and he becomes recruitable.
*** The same thing could happen with the only new companion of ''Throne of Bhaal''. This character is a former enemy of one of your adventures and such appearance at the beginning of the story is a great PlotTwist. It is not initially hinted that you can recruit this character at the end of the dialogue screen, except for the presence of a portrait and for the game sprite model being that of a normal character rather than a dedicated one as it previously was.
*** However, the same expansion pack zig-zags this issue. All your major enemies show a portrait, in part subverting the trope (you might expect to possibly recruit one later, considering that you start with a former enemy asking to join you). On the other side, this in part puts it online again as there are no new recruitable characters beyond the aforementioned one, so whenever you meet someone who has a portrait you can be sure that you will later fight him/her.
** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'':
*** The half-elf cleric Shadowheart is initially quite cagey about which of the many gods she worships and will only open up to you after you spend enough time with her... or you can open her status screen and scroll down to the "tags" subheading. Patch 7 just flat-out moves this info to the top of her character sheet.
*** Early on in the game, you meet a sweet old lady selling potions and herbs at the local refugee camp. While she's very knowledgeable, she seems like nothing more than a sweet old potion-brewer. Except for the fact that she's a level 5 NPC with 112 HP, 18 Strength and 16 Constitution at a point in the game where the party is likely at level 2 or 3. To make it even more obvious, if you examine her she is listed as a [[TheFairFolk Fey]] as opposed to a Human.
*** These oversights are largely fixed in the full release of the game, however during an optional fight with Ethel, there's a point where she will [[spoiler: teleport her hostage out of their cage and copy their appearance, forcing you into a game of SpotTheImposter. However, even in her illusionary form, Ethel has more hit points than her hostage does, and if she happens to pull this trick while concentrating on a spell, the interface will reveal which of the two hostages is still concentrating on the spell, thus foiling the ruse.]]
*** In a lesser example, Astarion, the elven rogue, doesn't divulge much about himself or his past at first. You can wait until it comes about naturally, or you can try to cross running water with him, at which point he'll start taking damage. Mouse over the status effect on his portrait, and it'll say that [[spoiler: running water eats away at vampiric flesh. This is only a lesser example because, while the character keeps his vampirism a secret from the party at first, the pallor, red eyes, fangs and neck scars make it easy enough to figure out]].
*** This is partly alleviated in the full release, as [[spoiler:the developers decided to expand the benefits Astarion gained from the tadpole to include crossing running water.]]
*** Astarion also claims to be a magistrate when met. The menu clearly displays his character background as [[FakeAristocrat Charlatan]]. Although in that case [[MetaphoricallyTrue both are true]]: [[spoiler:Astarion ''was'' a magistrate in his life, but that was two centuries ago and he has been forced to live in squalor since, only keeping the aristocratic facade as a lure for victims to give to his vampiric master]].
*** In Act III, the player becomes the target of Orin the Red, a bloodthirsty Changeling [[spoiler: and Bhaalspawn]] who takes to stalking you by disguising herself as various [=NPCs=]. While her disguises are perfect, she is always displayed as level 12 with a "Legendary Resistance" buff, even when she's impersonating noncombatants or [[spoiler: your own lower level party members]].
*** The fact that there are traps in an area tends to be given away by the on-screen dice rolls and display of "FailedASpotCheck".
*** The setting has ''many'' gods, but only six are actually talked about in various loading screens: Shar, Selûne, Mrykul, Bhaal, Bane, and Jergal. The first two are key figures in Shadowheart's questline from the start of the game to the very end, so they're not really a surprise, but the next three (collectively known as "The Dead Three") are [[spoiler:the ones behind the Absolute]] and the last one [[spoiler:[[GodWasMyCopilot turns out to have been Withers]]]].
*** From early in Act 1, there is talk of a mysterious and valuable artifact called the Nightsong. The nature of this artifact as [[spoiler:a person, namely [[DivineParentage Selune's daughter]], is not revealed until you meet her...unless you have [[AloofDarkHairedGirl Shadowheart]] with you, as most players will, and go to get the Spear of Night as [[GodOfDarkness Shar]] has told her to. The description of said weapon says it can be used to kill Nightsong.]]
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'': In Wellgarth there is one shop that has a blank spot in the list of wares, and townspeople speaking of the Jailer's Key being sold at a shop. Hmmm...
** In the Game Boy Color, Super Famicom, and mobile phone versions of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'', defeating Baramos [[spoiler:yields 65536 experience points for the party, indicating that he is not the final boss]].
** In the Playstation version of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' appears to send the players to the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon where they fight the lord of darkness Orgodemir, complete with final boss music. Except... it's the end of Disc one.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' has a DiscOneFinalDungeon that does ''very'' convincing impression of TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon...if not for the fact that half of the world map isn't accessible yet.
** The existence of secret playable classes may start to become obvious in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' when weapon types no member of your party can equip start appearing.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' has a few. There being multiple different weapon categories spoils that you don't have everyone yet when you have the seven characters featured in the intro movie and nobody has the ability to use Axes (nor have you found any yet). Another one is within the Bestiary, as sorting it alphabetically before the DiscOneFinalDungeon shows that there are pages and pages of ????? between "Very Devil" and "Vince", an alarmingly small portion of the alphabet for so many enemies ([[spoiler:they're "Vicious" enemies]]). Hidden Trophies in the [=PS4=] version are all story-related. When you go to confront the villain at Yggdrasil, there are still very many hidden trophies, so either the game has a huge PlayableEpilogue, or that final battle is a lot less final than you think.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestHeroesTheWorldTreesWoeAndTheBlightBelow'': The in-game manual tells you point-blank who will eventually join the party and in what order.
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'':
** If you exchange Guild Cards, some of the games' Guild Cards have the background of the highest stratum the player has reached. This can, for example, give away that the sixth stratum of ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyVBeyondTheMyth'' [[spoiler:is set in space]].
** Sometimes the reward for a sidequest can reveal that there's more to the quest than meets the eye. You might be asked to look for a missing child or investigate some strange phenomenon, with the reward being a lot of ental (usually around 30,000). Almost always, a quest with such a steep reward means that the seemingly-simple quest is really a {{Superboss}} quest in disguise.
** ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIVLegendsOfTheTitan'': The final floors of most of the dungeons have large swathes of untouched territory that can't be accessed. [[spoiler:At the time. Before entering the final dungeon, the guild takes a secret pass through these unexplored areas to gain access.]]
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' has this by the nature of its VancianMagic system. The player can immediately tell that there are eight levels of magic, even when they only have access to the first-level spells at the beginning of the game. The menu also spoils that there are {{Prestige Class}}es by the fact that even the dedicated white/black mages cannot learn the highest levels of magic in their non-prestige form.
** In the GBA remake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', most major non-party [=NPCs=] have portraits... and [[spoiler:the Dark Knight]]'s portrait is obviously [[spoiler:a darkened version of Leon's]]. The PSP remake improves this somewhat: [[spoiler:the Dark Knight now wears a helmet, but the rest of his armor and his pose are still identical to Leon's]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'':
*** Exclusive to the 3D versions, when you unlock the [[SoundTest Music box]] from Jammingway, some of the song titles will reveal characters and texts that you won't meet until later in the game. There's also some [[AltText additional descriptive text courtesy of Edward.]] Some of his descriptions ''outright state'' where the songs will play. For example, ''Red Wings - Short Version':' while it plays for the fight against the Dark Knight, [[spoiler:Edward mentions that it plays in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon the final dungeon]].]]
*** Not so much an Interface Spoiler as Interface Foreshadowing, but Tellah is seeking out the [[LastDiscMagic Meteor]] spell to take revenge on Golbez. He finally gets it, and supposedly even has access to it in RandomEncounters, but a quick check of the menu reveals that he does not and will never have enough MP to actually cast it, thus explaining why, when he eventually does cast it later on, it's [[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of his own life]].
*** Another comes when Baigan joins the party. That brings the party total to six, which is more than there's even room for on the menu screen, so it's no surprise when he turns out to be a monster plotting an ambush. This is even more obvious in later versions of the game: in the Platform/GameBoyAdvance version, every playable character has their CharacterPortrait appear onscreen when they speak. The fact that Baigan lacks a portrait is a dead giveaway that he's not playable. In the Platform/NintendoDS remake, Baigan uses a palette-swapped generic soldier model, in contrast to the rather distinct-looking (though still a palette swap, but not as obvious) helmetless sprite he had in prior versions of the game, which gives away that he's not a very important character, and certainly not playable.
*** In ''The After Years'', checking the Hooded Man's equipment shows he uses his left hand to hold his sword, which is a huge hint on who he really is.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'':
*** Faris is {{Bifauxnen}}. You learn it early, but it can be spoilered even earlier when you first change jobs: some of Faris's sprites in the first set of jobs that you get from the first crystal look somewhat feminine, which can tip off an observant player a bit before the actual reveal. Most versions downplay this, as none of the first set of jobs look overtly feminine on Faris, and all of the ones that give her a distinctly feminine appearance come after the reveal. ''However'', in the pre-''Pixel Remaster'' mobile/Steam versions of the game, the redrawn character sprites make Faris look quite blatantly female from the get-go, with some of her job sprites (including some obtained before the reveal) [[FanservicePack including a noticeable bust.]]
*** Exdeath's Castle, [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels as climactic as it is]], is [[DiscOneFinalDungeon not the final level]]. How do we know this? We're still missing all of the level 6 spells and almost half of the SummonMagic. Granted, this game has a tendency toward the GuideDangIt, so a player without a guide could think they simply missed all of that... but there's no reasoning away the gaping holes in the game's bestiary for the GBA version.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'':
*** You can go to the (empty) "Espers" menu right from the start of the game. Even though it's about a third of the way through before you properly find out what espers are and how they work.
*** The battle menu has a discrepancy between Terra and every other party member. At first, Terra can only attack and use magic, and there's a gap where her special ability would be. Characters like Locke and Edgar have their special abilities and a gap where magic would be. Anyone who's paying attention won't be at all surprised when other people learn to cast spells, or when Terra turns out to have a secret power. And if you still had any doubts, once Celes is recruited, she has both a special ability ''and'' magic on her battle menu, verifying that it's not just Terra's menu being formatted weirdly.
*** None of the permanent playable characters are ever mentioned by name until you are given a chance to [[HelloInsertNameHere choose what that name is.]] This means if you see a character mentioned by name and you're not given the chance to name them, you know for certain they'll never join your party. It also means that, when the name entry screen comes up for a certain ninja before he joins, or a certain airship-owning gambler even before you meet him, you know that they're going to be part of your crew eventually.
*** In the SNES version, you're eventually thrown into a battle with a yeti with unique sprites named Umaro. Later translations downplay this FiveSecondForeshadowing by just calling him "Yeti" in the battle screen, and you properly name him after the fight.
*** In the scenario where you have to save Terra from TheEmpire, you get to command Locke and a gang of moogles. All but one of them have fixed equipment that cannot be changed. The moogle whose gear can be swapped out freely will play a role later on.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** The digital re-release has an interface spoiler through its achievements notification. When you get to the absolute final battle against Sephiroth with only Cloud, you get to use Cloud's ultimate LimitBreak Omnislash. There's an achievement for this, but it pops up as soon as the cutscene leading to the one-on-one duel starts. This can cause new players to immediately know the game isn't quite done yet. It also pops up if the player loses the battle against [[OneWingedAngel Safer Sephiroth]].
*** Some of the achievements subvert this. For example, there's one for every character using their Level 4 Limit Break, including Aeris/Aerith's. Unless you're specifically going for it, [[spoiler:she won't have enough kills through normal play[[labelnote:Unlocking Limit Breaks]]youhave to use the first Limit in each level (e.g. Healing Wind) eight times to unlock the second one (e.g. Seal Evil), then kill 80 enemies ''with that specific character'' after getting their second Limit Break to unlock the next level. By the time Aerith dies, your party members will likely only have their first Level 2 Limit Break, and maybe their second.[[/labelnote]] before she's killed, and you won't be able to get the achievement on that playthrough. This also caused [[UrbanLegendOfZelda the old "Aerith comes back" rumors]] to spring back up, with the achievement cited as proof you can get her back.]]
*** In a subversion, long after [[spoiler:Aerith is dead]], you can still buy [[spoiler:staves, such as the Fairy Tale]], or win similar weapons, despite the fact that said character never comes back. By this point, they're only useful for the "Throw" command. Weapon-wise this is also played straight, however, due to the fact that [[spoiler:Aerith does ''not'' get an [[InfinityPlusOneSword ultimate weapon]] -- she won't need one where she's going]].
** The French translation did a Translation Spoiler by mistake: when you first arrive in Nibelheim with Sephiroth, Cloud asks him about his family. During [[spoiler:Sephiroth's MindRape of Cloud in the Whirlwind Maze]], Sephiroth answers "Ma mère s'appelait Jenova" (my mother's name was Jenova). But in the flashback in Kalm, he says "Ma mère était Jenova" (My mother was Jenova). Cue many players scratching their heads when he started to go psycho about the whole Jenova thing.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', Chapter 12 sees the player encountering various members of Avalanche as Cloud ascends the Sector 7 pillar. Early on, you'll find Biggs, who has been critically wounded fighting Shinra troops and passes on after having one last conversation with Cloud. However, checking the Chapter Select screen after completing the mission reveals that Biggs is listed as ''comatose'', not dead, which doesn't seem to make sense considering he was near the bottom of the pillar when it collapsed. This is a spoiler for TheReveal in the ending that Biggs survived and was moved to the Leaf House in Sector 5, where he awakens from his coma during the final cutscene.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'':
*** It's pretty obvious that Marcus, Blank, and Beatrix aren't permanent party members simply because they have no "Trance" bar.
*** Unlike the other members of your party, Zidane has Trance abilities that have nothing to do with his character class. Whereas everyone else's abilities augment their job-specific skills (Steiner the Knight does more damage; Garnet the Summoner casts stronger spells...), Zidane the Thief inexplicably gains access to a set of appallingly powerful offensive spells that ''always'' do maximum damage. Even though Zidane's backstory isn't explored until Disc 3, this is a strong hint that there's more to him than meets the eye.
*** If you play the Chocobo Hot and Cold mini-game as soon as you're able to on disc 1, you can obtain Chocographs that show areas which don't match the geography of the current continent, such as barren lands and icy fields compared to the mostly grassy lands you been traveling through. Looking up the "help" info for one of the graphs reveals that there's other continents you will explore besides the Mist Continent.
*** Garnet being a summoner is spoiled as soon as you get control of her at the start of the game, due to her Summon command already being available and her summons being listed in her ability list. Her summoning abilities aren't brought up in-story until later, when her mother extracts her summoning magic from her.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has a fairly subtle one; four of your starting characters have two ATB slots and get a third when they become [[TouchedByVorlons l'Cie]]. Vanille, however, already has three slots before this happens, because [[spoiler:she already was a l'Cie before supposedly getting transformed alongside the rest of them. This is also hinted at by her relatively high starting stats compared to the normal humans.]]
* ''VideoGame/GreedFall'': The Nauts claim to use magic to navigate the seas, but just looking at Vasco's stats will tell you they're lying -- he doesn't have a mana bar like the other party mages.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'', Sora obtains Riku's Enemy Card after their fourth and final battle. In the GBA and [=PS2=] versions, the card is just labeled "Riku", but in the ''[[UpdatedRerelease HD 1.5 ReMIX]]'' version, it's renamed Riku [[spoiler:Replica, spoiling his identity just before the following cutscene that also reveals this plot point]].
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', the final boss is referred to as a "mystery man" on the mission screen while you fight him, as if to conceal his identity, yet when you fight him, the boss's health bar clearly says that his name is [[spoiler:Riku]].
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', when Roxas levels up, the notice has a yellow border, just like [[spoiler:guest party members, foreshadowing the fact that Roxas is the DecoyProtagonist]].
* In ''VideoGame/RuneFactory4'', the FanArt exposition is presented by [[BigGood Ventuswill]] in her human form, which you can normally only see once you have completed pretty much everything else in the game.
** The item description for poison powder mentions that Leon might like it, despite it being available as a monster drop or random chest item before Leon's first appearance.
* ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'':
** In the Sega CD version, most important characters have a short introductory cutscene followed by a text one-liner. The only character whose intro is voiced instead of displaying text is [[spoiler:Ghaleon, who is revealed later in the game to be the BigBad]].
** Related to the above, if one uses Alex's Ocarina in the [=PlayStation=] remake to view the SoundTest, one of the track names spoils [[spoiler:Ghaleon being the Magic Emperor]].
* ''VideoGame/LunarDragonSong'':
** The game lets you find a chest (in a room that is mandatory to clear, no less) with [=Gideon3=]'s card inside. This happens even before you fight [=Gideon2=] at the end of the game. Quite the giveaway...
** You'll find claws for Gabi on sale long before you even meet her. And equipment for Rufus is available in only one town (though by then you've already met him, and he offered to join your party more than once), but unless you backtrack immediately after he joins [[spoiler:he gets killed by Gideon before you ever get the chance to shop for his equipment.]]
* ''VideoGame/LunarLux'': There are several hints in the UI indicating that there's [[spoiler:a second party member, who turns out to be Nickle, the Murk Slayer]].
** In the save/load screen, each file has two bullet points, with the first one having Bella's name.
** The [[StatusLine status bar]] on the bottom of the screen looks like it's divided symmetrically, yet Bella's status only takes up half of it.
** The Elixir item description states it heals 35 SP [[spoiler:to all party members]].
** The Sour Candy item and the Meter Boost support skill both refer to [[spoiler:the Anti Meter, but Bella only has a Lux Meter. This is because Nickle uses the Anti Meter to activate his Phase Form]].
* ''VideoGame/MagiNation'' zig-zags this:
** Checking the rings in the ringsmith will show what sorts of creatures there are in the area.
** The player will routinely get animite for core creatures - suggesting that they will be able to summon them.
* ''VideoGame/ChildrenOfMana'' has a similar situation: there are slots in your equipment screen for several weapons that you don't start with, and the gem inventory screen can rather taunt you with its emptiness.
* ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'': The skill tree in ''Leifthrasir'' reveals what locations your PlayerCharacter will be going to at least one chapter ahead of time.
* Shows up in ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'': The game leads you to believe that [[spoiler:opening the gate to the Sanctuary of Mana and acquiring the [[CosmicKeystone Sword of Mana]]]] will be the game's big finish. It's somewhat undermined by the fact that unless you've spent an inordinate amount of time LevelGrinding, you're nowhere near the level needed for your [[PrestigeClass second class change]], and at that point in the game, have no obvious way of getting the {{MacGuffin}}s needed for it anyways. (They can be obtained early, but it is unlikely to the point of GuideDangIt; they're plentiful later.)
* In ''VideoGame/{{Albion}}'', shops sell weapons none of the party can wield (in the early game), though it is justified and otherwise would be plenty of FridgeLogic. The weapons, themselves, are described with a list of character classes which can wield them, revealing whom you can expect in the party later. And equipment in ''Summoner'' actually lists the name of everyone who can use it, including equipment solely for characters you haven't yet recruited.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''
** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', the Cathedral of Shadows has 12 slots demons for use in fusion when you can only have 8 in your party at a time (the size expands by 2 twice before midgame).
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/Persona3Reload'':
*** The game does get around the "list expansion" business - there are no individual slots, just blank space. (Then again, in that game, your Persona headcount is set by your level, not the plot.)
*** The game pulls a fakeout at one point where the stairs to the next area of Tartarus don't appear until a certain plot event, so it looks like you hit the top of the tower. Thing is, if you've been keeping up with Elizabeth's requests to defeat the various Hand enemies, you'll see a quest available to get Gold Medals from the Hands in a block you haven't been to yet...
*** There are a ton of these around [[spoiler:Arcana Hanged Man]]. Despite all of your party members talking about how it's the final battle, it's pretty hard to miss that the Fool social link goes up to level ''6'' of 10 immediately before it. The Social Link only maxes out [[spoiler:after you make the choice that sets you on the path to the good ending]].
*** The Party believe that their mission will be over when they have beaten all of the Shadow monsters. There are twelve Shadows, and one or two appear every full moon. Sooner or later the player will notice that the in-game calendar carries on for months after the last scheduled Shadow fight.
** Comes back in ''VideoGame/Persona4'':
*** After defeating the DiscOneFinalBoss and reaching what appears to be an ending, [[spoiler:you're still at Level 9 for the Fool social link, giving away that it's a Bad Ending and there's still more plot to go. The Link doesn't reach level 10 until you've found the path to the real ending. The same goes for the Star Social Link, since it only reaches Rank 10 after you speak to Teddie again after identifying the real killer, and he only gains his ultimate Persona just before rejoining the party]].
*** After that, [[spoiler:the Judgement Social Link is unlocked and maxes out after apprehending the killer and defeating the "final" boss - but it's noticeable that there seems to be no more dungeon crawling after defeating said boss and, thus, no way to actually put to use the Ultimate Persona unlocked from the Link. This may have been intentional, at it's pretty much the ''only'' hint that there's still one more dungeon to go through for the true ending]].
*** The true killer might stand out in the original version as [[spoiler:the only major character to not have a Social Link]]. In the ''Golden'' remake, [[spoiler:this was changed and he's given a Social Link]], but at that point, the killer's identity was largely a LateArrivalSpoiler anyway. Still, if you did manage to go in unspoiled, you'd definitely raise an eyebrow upon seeing [[spoiler:his Arcana is the Jester -- another 0, like your Fool. Or that his Link will only raise during plot events once it's past a certain level. His Social Link only maxes out after you reach the path to the true ending]].
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'':
*** A relatively minor example: in the sixth Palace, you can look at your party's stats before you enter into any battles, giving away the identity and appearance of your new party member's Persona before the dramatic reveal in battle a few minutes later. Said party member is the only one besides Morgana who awakened a Persona prior to their debut battle, although this tidbit is disclosed a few days prior to starting the sixth Palace.
*** It's easy to narrow down who TheMole in the party is because [[spoiler:his Social Link doesn't give you any bonuses past Rank 6 when everyone else gives them up to Rank 10, and the bonuses he does get are all generic ones that are common to all party members like Baton Pass and Harison Recovery. Other subtle touches include him not appearing in the opening animation, and once he joins your party, he is referred to in the UI only by his family name, as opposed to every other member of the team.]] All but the last one of those is removed in ''Royal'', but as above, more like a Late Arrival Spoiler in that case.
*** The new party member in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'', Kasumi, awakens to her Persona in early October, when your party is likely to be in the mid-40s level-wise. If you look at her stats during her awakening battle, you'll notice she doesn't learn her next skill until Level ''75'', giving away that she doesn't properly join until much, much later, starting at 75.
*** You can learn Makoto's name through the in-game Text Log before it's properly revealed in-game hours later. Considering that other characters who are initially known by descriptions will retain this in the Text Log until their name is said, it's strange that Makoto is an exception.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers''
*** Sophia's "Persona," Pithos, does not have an arcana, and all of its ability names have question marks next to them. This indicates that it's not a real Persona, [[spoiler:and in the endgame, she awakens her true Persona, Pandora.]]
*** The first person you meet in Sendai is a woman who casually approaches you for some banter with a drawn portrait, but you do not see her personally again after another event in the same arc. The next time she pops up she's talking you across the phone and it turns out that she has a ''cut-in'', further implying that this is actually an important character...that seemingly does ''nothing'' even after apprehending the supposed culprit. This woman is [[spoiler:actually the ''true culprit'' of the in-game Metaverse incident.]]
*** Immediately after you complete [[DiscOneFinalDungeon the Osaka Jail]], you unlock the last Bond skill for purchase. This skill, a useful ability with a steep Bond point cost, indicates that the game isn't over just yet.
** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 [[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]]'' claims that Yamato Hotsuin does [[RetGone not exist]] in the Triangulum Arc, and that the Anguished One cannot be found. The Fate Level menu shows two empty spots for them.
** ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth''
*** It's perfectly possible to get a [[VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza StreetPass]] entry of a save file from during the period of the game when [[spoiler:Rei has been removed from the party, spoiling that Zen eventually becomes a stand-alone party-member.]]
*** If you're diligent in filling maps 100% and getting the related completion chests, you can unlock a weapon for Zen before the Fouth Dungeon's boss, the Clock Hand [[spoiler:the description of which name drops the final boss "The Clockwork God", as well as hinting to Zen's true nature as being one half of the God Chronos]].
*** Rei learns far fewer skills than Zen does, and learns her final skill at level 36 as opposed to Zen learning his final skill at level 63. [[spoiler:That's a good clue that she ends up leaving the party.]]
** ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth''
*** In the tutorial battles, you may notice that Makoto and Haru are higher level than most of the others. The two of them get kidnapped by Kamoshidaman, the ArcVillain of the first labyrinth, and only join your party after he is defeated.
*** Around the time you get to the end of [[DiscOneFinalDungeon the fourth labyrinth]], you get Ticket Request #33, but the requests for each labyrinth's OptionalBoss are numbered 40 or higher, so that's at least seven missing ticket requests. As you can probably tell, the fourth labyrinth is not actually the last dungeon.
** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' with a keen eye may notice that when they first defeat some of the Divine Powers leadership (Krishna, Maitreya, and Inanna in particular), [[spoiler:they're not made available for Fusion yet, as is typical of more modern ''SMT'' games; it wouldn't make sense for you to be able to fuse boss demons if they're still running around. This is a tip-off that they're not truly defeated. Also, Krishna simply vanishes the first time you defeat him, instead of shattering like the other bosses.]]
** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'', the Amatsu, an ''entire'' race of Demons that has been readily available for fusion in previous games, are left completely missing from the fusion list. [[spoiler:Most of the Amatsu were actually wiped out at Armageddon, with Aogami (Susano-O) and Tsukuyomi being the sole survivors.]]
** Rule of thumb for this franchise: If the game presents what appears to be the final dungeon or the final boss, experiment with some fusions. If you come up with any results more than about ten or so levels above where you are currently, you're not at the finish line yet.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''
** During a flashback, when Frog is recalling Cyrus's demise at the hands of Magus, Ozzie's dialogue is prefixed with OZZIE's name in all-caps, as you'd expect of an NPC, but Magus's dialogue is prefixed with a very PC-looking 'Magus'. The DS version rectifies the problem.
** The worst offender is the DS version's "Dojo", which shows Magus in tech ''screenshots'' and it shows his two techs. ''Before'' you get him. The Item Encyclopaedia also shows weapons, which includes a portion of the list with scythes. Now who do we know that uses that type of weapon?
** As soon as the player starts getting the Rocks that allow for Triple Techs without Crono when you CantDropTheHero, they'll become suspicious that [[HeroicSacrifice something]] will happen to him.
** As ''WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay'' points out, the Hero Medal's description is "Ups critical hit rate of Masamune," and Frog is the only one able to use it.
* In ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'':
** Before you even leave the first town, you get to talk to a vendor, who offers the game's blacksmithy screen. On the blacksmithy screen you can see a huge box, mostly blank, reserved for characters who can equip the particular weapon, spoiling very early on that this game will have tons upon tons of player characters.
** Later in the game, when you encounter the [[DiscOneFinalBoss disc one final boss]], the fact that your character box is not even half full yet is another tip that this is not nearly the end of the game yet.
** When you confront the [[spoiler:completed Dragon God, the battle menu calls the boss the "[=TimeDevourer=]", even though the real Time Devourer is a different entity who isn't fought until a bit later as the FinalBoss. However, dialogue after the battle reveals that the Dragon God was consumed by the Time Devourer and [[MouthOfSauron acting as its mouthpiece]], so the mislabeling might have been [[InvokedTrope intentional]].]]
* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheThirdPower'': During the prologue, Prince Gage briefly joins Arielle to return to the castle. Unlike Phillip, he's shown in the menu as a playable character, despite being aligned with the ObviouslyEvil Arkadyan Empire. [[spoiler:He ends up joining the party in order to oppose Emperor Noraskov.]]
* ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'' has a few examples of this. The "SP" folder on the inventory screen blatantly spoils two key item collection quests, and Jaster's TechTree unlocks the dual tech "Fated Passion", whose description (and animation) detail a romantic subplot that comes almost completely out of left field.
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'', you can quickly see how many characters will join your party at the end by looking at the vertical spaces left in the main menu. That's assuming you didn't read the manual, of course.
** The game also tries to trick you into thinking Nicolai is a main character. He's listed alongside the rest in the booklet, he's in your party at the very beginning, and is even the first character you control outside of combat. But checking his bio not only reveals that he is not what he claims to be, but is a bad guy as well!
* You can tell how many characters you'll get in ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'' and ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'' because the menu has six slots for them.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'':
** Looking at the costume options for "Malak Number Two", or even just playing as him and reading the tutorial for his controls, will reveal he'll eventually be called [[DeadGuyJunior "Laphicet"]].
** The Artes list and tutorials for Velvet describe her Break Soul as putting her in "therion form" ''long'' before therions are mentioned in the plot.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', you can tell if a companion will join your group permanently because their character and inventory screens have an [[RelationshipValues approval bar]], while those of temporary followers do not. Temporary followers also don't gain any experience. Also, characters from the various origin stories that will show up later in the game have a background to their character portrait, but ones that will leave forever have a plain black background.
** They try to avert this in the ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' ExpansionPack. [[spoiler:Mhairi will never survive her Joining]], but she will acquire experience and gain/lose approval in the brief time she's with you. But it's revealed in another way: if you check the character info screen, you'll notice her contribution to overall party damage always stays at 0% even after she's attacked.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', every companion has a special [[SkillScoresAndPerks skill tree]] unique to them, except for one, which tips you off that they're a temporary companion. It's [[spoiler:Bethany/Carver, who leave after Act 1, either dying in the Deep Roads, becoming a Grey Warden, or joining their respective organization (Carver joins the Templars, Bethany is forced into the Circle of Magi). However, if they do not die, they can be brought back for the two DLC expansions (''Mark of the Assassin'' and ''Legacy''); in this event they do have unique skill trees.]]
*** Late in Act 1 of the game, you will receive a quest from a minor nobleman asking you to find his wife, whom he believes ran off with her lover. Too bad that immediately upon finishing the conversation you receive the notification that you accepted the quest "The First Sacrifice", which not only implies that there is more to this than a lovers' spat and that you're unlikely to find this woman, but also that this is likely to become a problem ''again'' later on. [[spoiler:Three years after this quest, the killer also takes the life of the player character's mother, which they spend the rest of the game blaming themself over.]]
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', the PlayerCharacter is not crowned Inquisitor until a certain point in the story, so before that all [=NPCs=] and party members refer to them as "Herald of Andraste" or just "Herald" in dialogue. The game slips up a few times, though, with one of Vivienne's greetings, a banter between her and Cole, and a few minor [=NPCs=] calling you by the wrong title too early.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'': [[spoiler:Shandra]] dies a plot related death a while before the end of the game, but functions in all ways like a normal party member, including an approval rating and even what seems to be a romance option... [[spoiler:[[PlayerPunch which can never be completed]].]]
* One of the access points in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' is labeled "Near the Tower" in the fast travel menu, even before the Tower actually appears.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'' has a rare case of a ''sprite'' spoiler, although it's rather subtle: [[spoiler:Lufia's in-battle and menu sprite shows her wielding a polearm, though it's not her actual weapon of choice in gameplay. Female, blue-haired and using a polearm]]--think back to the beginning of the game. Who else meets that criteria?
* ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'''s DialogueTree, as noted in [[http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Ultima%20VII/Update%204/index.html this]] LetsPlay:
-->It's important to note here that Klog is lying. Characters normally don't tell you they know nothing about a topic; you usually just don't get the topic to ask them about. Since Klog '''does''' have these topics, it means he '''does''' know something, but it will be quite some time before we can coax the truth out of him.
* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'''s save stats [[spoiler:show your current partner. Towards the beginning of the game this will spoil that you get more than one party member.]] This is actually a fix to the even worse Interface Spoiler in the original Japanese version, where [[spoiler:your save stats showed the week number instead of your partner's name, explicitly revealing that the game doesn't end at the end of the first week.]] If you save your game immediately after defeating [[spoiler:the boss of Week 2]], your save will show "[[spoiler:Beat]] Day 1". This spoils [[spoiler:Beat doing a HeelFaceTurn and becoming Neku's partner, a twist so unexpected that the BigBad never saw it coming]].
** If you're a big spender, you can unlock the ability descriptions for some of [[spoiler: Beat's]] personal equipment--which directly refer to [[spoiler: him specifically using it]]--several days before [[spoiler: he becomes your partner.]] Granted, you can get personal equipment belonging to almost every character in the game, both heroes and villains.
* ''VideoGame/NeoTheWorldEndsWithYou'':
** The Noisepedia sorts enemy Players by their faction and has the faction leader listed at the end. The fact that [[spoiler:Kanon]] isn't listed after the two types of [[spoiler:Variabeauties]] enemies spoils that you won't be fighting them.
** Subverted with the Social Network, in which characters are laid out in a large diagram with lines connecting related characters, so you can tell who's related to whom. The Ruinbringers start out just below Rindo, but are moved to [[spoiler:next to the Shinjuku Reapers]], with their initial position likely to avoid spoiling that [[spoiler:Shiba, the Game Master of the Shinjuku Reapers, also leads the Ruinbringers.]]
** Near the end of the game, you can unlock a Social Network ability that shows the level at which pins with evolutions can evolve, and also which character needs to equip certain pins for them to mutate (as opposed to whether it can evolve just appearing as "???"). [[spoiler:This shows that some pins need to be equipped to Minamimoto to mutate, all of which can only be obtained well after he leaves the party, spoiling that he eventually comes back (in Another Day).]]
** Veterans of the first game know [[spoiler:a pin deck has 6 pins]]. So when looking around the menu and observing [[spoiler:there are 6 inputs for pins and how each party member can only equip one type with no overlap between them (at least without Social Network upgrades), it's not much of a logical leap to deduce the Wicked Twisters will end up with 6 people.]]
* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'':
** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''
*** The fact that enemies you don't use Tattle on have their entries given to you for the log (by searching in Professor Frankly's trash) if you can't fight them again supplies some spoilers. In particular, there's the fact that [[spoiler:while Marilyn and Beldam are fought again, Vivian is not.]]
*** Each time you get a Crystal Star, the game will tell you about its special powers in battle and what they do. So when you get [[spoiler:the Ruby Star in Chapter 4]] only to move on without learning about its abilities, you know something's up. Another big hint is the fact that [[spoiler:if you happened to have been using the W badge at the time Mario suddenly changes to his default clothes out of the blue after the fight]].
*** Whenever Goombella uses Tattle on an enemy, their place of origin, so to speak, is mentioned in their entry. Because certain enemies can be encountered before then (Most notably in the Glitz Pit and the Pit of 100 Trials), this can lead to you finding out about a particular place before you actually get there.
*** A minor glitch produces a minor spoiler: if you get the secret party member [[spoiler:Ms. Mowz]] at first opportunity, have a different party member active, and use a healing item outside of battle, it will allow you to use the item on [[spoiler:Bobbery]], even if you haven't ''met'' him yet.
** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''
*** The pause menu has a "Chapters" tab that shows descriptions of the chapters you've visited so far in the game. [[spoiler:When Dimentio "ends your game" and sends you to the Underwhere, you unlock the description for Chapter 7-1, even though you aren't supposed to know that the Underwhere is Chapter 7-1 yet!]]
*** You can obtain Tippi's card rather early in the game, potentially during the second chapter, by completing only the first 10 floors of the Pit of 100 Trials. The card contains a ''glaring'' spoiler in its description that is clearly written with the intention of the player doing the Pit late into the game, outlining the fact that [[spoiler:"Her name was Timpani before Merlon turned her into a Pixl."]] possibly long before either the fact [[spoiler: Tippi [[WasOnceAMan was human]] or that her name was Timpani - which is especially egregious as Timpani's name will have ''already'' been seen and continue to appear in the mysterious intermissions between chapters -]] are revealed.
** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'':
*** The Toad Alert accessory is a bell that rings when you're near a Toad on the overworld. It also rings a lot while fighting the Paper Macho Gooper Blooper and Mega Pokey, spoiling that you're going to free Toads trapped inside them after you defeat them.
*** The Sidestepper is an enemy you can fight in the second streamer area. If you check its description in the MonsterCompendium, it says that it's "[[spoiler:as sharp as Scissors]]"; notice the capitalization. Being the last streamer boss in the game, and how it fits the theme of the others, you can easily predict its surprise appearance ahead of time.
*** You can get a statue of the Paper Macho Buzzy Beetle in the Ice Vellumental Mountain, halfway through the fourth streamer. This is an optional miniboss that you might not have fought yet. However, if you read its description, it says "[[spoiler:The personal pet of Scissors, stripped of its paper armor and Kamek's magic.]]" You're not supposed to know about [[spoiler:Scissors]] nor [[spoiler:Kamek getting captured]] at this point in the game, and these happen at the end of the fifth streamer area.
* In ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'', you can pick up various equippable items that can only be used by Russell and Elena as early as chapter 2. They don't even show signs of wanting to join forces with you until chapter 4.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'':
** The records screen shows the names of all your party members, including a guest, right from the beginning. Especially noteworthy for giving away that [[spoiler:Asch will be fighting on your side later on in the game, who early on is portrayed as an antagonist. But if you check Asch's status screen while he's with you, you'll notice his pool of Titles is much smaller than the rest of the party, which hints that he won't be staying for long.]]
** In Baticul, one of the citizens mentions that Princess Natalia is a master of the bow. The store in Baticul sells bows. None of your other party members can equip bows. Granted, since Natalia is shown in the opening, this could count as {{Foreshadowing}}.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'', the game gives you battle tips after winning fights early in the story. It's possible to receive a tip on [[spoiler:using Princess Alisha, which mentions her by name before she even gives Sorey her name in a cutscene.]]
* The ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series does this as new menu items are added. Especially in the remakes, where new ones that weren't in the original are added -- in the PSP version of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'', you have to play through the bonus mode to unlock an option.
** The ''Disgaea'' character creation/reincarnation screen also "spoils" the existence of class tiers once you start unlocking them, though the levels needed for each tier to unlock varies with each class, and there are certain classes that don't unlock unless you meet special requirements. Same with ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom''.
** In ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'', however, character creation occurs on a RingMenu where new choices expand the ring.
* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', the first time the player meets a future member of the party, an entry about him/her appears in the journal, in the "Party members" section. It is a kind of spoiler, because some of them join the player's party late after the first meeting.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
** When you reach the Tower of Salvation, Remiel tells you [[spoiler:the reason Colette was brought there was to die and become the new body for Martel. Colette then proceeds to complete the transformation into a lifeless being]]. This would be an emotional scene if not for the fact that right after [[spoiler:Colette completes the transformation and]] is supposedly dead you get a message that says "[[spoiler:Colette Learned Judgement]]!"
** Another example is when you finish said DiscOneFinalDungeon and aren't told to insert the actual second disc yet.
* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'':
** In the first area you visit outside of your DoomedHometown -- the road to some seemingly-unimportant swamp ruins -- the minimap reads "The Mere of Dead Men". Now, the player ''character'' knows the apt name of the creepy swamp their home village is built on, but the player isn't supposed to know that yet. Also, one of the initially greyed-out prestige classes is [[spoiler:Neverwinter Nine]], potentially spoiling the offer [[spoiler:Lord Nasher]] makes to you much later in the game.
** Since the developers didn't bother to change the names of [=NPCs=] on-the-fly and weren't willing to outright lie to the player, you can tell that someone's going to try and deceive you about their identity if the overhead label that appears when you mouse over them says something vague, like "Man", instead of their actual name. ''Mask of the Betrayer'' demonstrates a plot-scripted character name change (Kaelyn the Dove can append a similar animal moniker to the end of your name), so we can put this down to Obsidian not caring enough.
** The identity of the main enemy of act one, the Githyanki, is revealed to the player by the interface almost immediately, but it takes most of the act for the characters to learn.
* ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'':
** In both this game and its sequel, the squad selection screen has silhouettes of unrecruited party members.
** A minor one: when Shepard, Anderson and Nihlus view the transmission from Eden Prime, the subtitles identify the name of one of the soldiers under fire as Ashley, a good 10-15 minutes before she's properly introduced, while giving the other soldier a generic rank.
** The moment you gain control of Shepard in the first game, you can go to the Squad screen with three points to give to your character. When you check out the Charm and Intimidate skills, it cheerfully informs you that you'll be allowed more points for them once you become a Spectre. This despite the fact that you're still a whole cutscene away from even knowing you're up for it.
** During the opening moments of the first mission, you're given the option of removing Shepard and Alenko's helmets, but not Jenkins. [[spoiler:Jenkins dies the moment they enter combat]].
** During the Noveria mission, the player comes across some bugs which, when aimed at, are identified as "Rachni". Naturally your party cannot see this, and will wonder what those bugs were until TheReveal.
** The target of Garrus's personal mission claims he's someone else. The subtitles don't agree.
** Right at the beginning, on the ship, there's a greyed out option to open the galaxy map. If you try, it tells you that only the captain can do that, which is a pretty strong indicator that you will soon be in charge of the ship.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
** The silhouettes are replaced with datacards with information about your future party members, since the point of the main quests is to recruit them. However, others that Cerberus wouldn't have been aware of (or would they?) like [[spoiler:Legion]] also have a datacard on your squad menu.
** In the prologue, the identity of your rescuers is initially unknown and Jacob makes a big point of telling you that it's Cerberus. Except that each of the five or so computers that you can interact with prior to that point are all named 'Cerberus Laptop'.
** [[spoiler:Legion]] is addressed by the name in the subtitles upon your first meeting, then reverts to [[spoiler:"geth"]] the next time you speak.
*** The existence of a [[spoiler:geth squadmate]] is also partially spoiled by one of the upgrades you can pickup in the levels unlocked after Horizon being "[[spoiler:Geth Shield Strength]]". However, they try to disguise it by having its description refer to "squad members who use [[spoiler:Geth shield technology]]",
** When you go into the Collector ship and find out the truth about them, the dialogue wheel, as usual, pops up before TheReveal has actually been said, and one of the dialogue options reads [[spoiler:"The Collectors are Protheans!"]]
** If you go and customize your armor after the first mission (post-resurrection), you're allowed to pick what clothes you wear on the ''Normandy'', which at this point is totally illogical given that the ship was destroyed in the tutorial level. Thus, the appearance of the second ''Normandy'' is somewhat less surprising.
** One of the DLC packs available on the Cerberus Network explicitly notes that it is an alternate costume for [[spoiler:Garrus]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':
** If you import your character from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', the game gives you a quick review of all the decisions you've made thus far. Most of them are expected, but one of them is the choice of whether or not you saved Maelon's data, which is treated as a fairly minor decision when you make it. This makes it clear that the data is going to have an impact later on regarding [[spoiler:the genophage cure]].
** Scanning all of the systems for Search-and-Rescue assets as soon as possible makes searching for similar assets later in the game a breeze. Each system has a percentage marker (up to 100%) located next to it that dials down after some main missions. Thus, it's easy to see at a glance what systems need to be visited (even for side missions that may have popped up), taking a lot of the guesswork out of the supposedly-sprawling galaxy.
* The "fill-in-the-blanks" party menu also appears in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire''. Basically, Creator/BioWare is '''very''' fond of this.
** The "Force Sight" ability in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' is not learned until you get Visas Marr in the party, unless you use first-person view with Kreia. If you happen to do that in the Polar Academy [[spoiler:you will see that Atris is shaded slightly red, revealing that she is gradually falling to the dark side]].
** In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', Wild Flower has ''two'' portraits, one for each spirit possessing her. When Ya Zhen (the evil spirit) reveals that he may aid you in return for your support, it comes as little surprise.
** Some of the portraits are obscured with a big ol' "?" (and they're only silhouettes of heads) so it can be hard to tell who you can end up with. Even if you ''were'' expecting there to be [[EleventhHourRanger another party member]] during the Siege of Dirge since there was an open spot, you might not have expected it to be TheDragon. (You might have, if you were paying enough attention to the dialogue, but that's legitimate {{Foreshadowing}} and not this trope.)
* ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'' features a Quip mechanic, where sometimes lines that characters say in cutscenes become equippable. They can gain these lines before they join your party, however, highlighting your incoming members.
* ''VideoGame/SuikodenI'':
** There's a somewhat subtle one in that Sanchez, who you go to to change your team, is not listed on the Tablet of Stars, which reveals which of the 108 Stars of Destiny you've recruited. [[spoiler:It's because he's not on your side; he's TheMole.]]
** Also, you know if any character you talk to is important to the story: Their face appears in the text box if they're important.
** Another one is if you pick up on a plot point about the Soul Eater rune: every time someone important to Tir dies, another spell of the Soul Eater is unlocked. Considering you start off with one level, you can imply there will be three important plotline deaths. One of them can be subverted if you meet the conditions for the GoldenEnding.
* ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' avoids this by taking a while before it gives you the Tablet of Stars. [[spoiler:In doing so, it hides that one of your allies, Sialeeds, is set to betray you.]] However, there is another interface-based hint that [[spoiler:Sialeeds isn't actually a Star of Destiny liked you'd expect her to be from her role in the early story]]. Specifically, [[spoiler:her rune slots. She's a mage who's stuck a permanently-attached Wind Rune on her right hand, unable to upgrade to the more powerful Cyclone Rune (something that's decidedly less common in ''Suikoden V'' than it was in earlier games of the series), and more tellingly she never unlocks a left hand slot (let alone a head slot) no matter how hard you LevelGrind her, which ever since multiple rune slots were introduced in ''Suikoden II'' has been practically unheard of for mage characters]].
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'''s pause screen includes a section devoted to Dragoon Spirits (enough to hold 8 of them) and the Addition section has a column devoted to SP gain (the meter built up that allows Dragoon transformations). Furthermore, the status section lists Magic Attack and Magic Hit (accuracy) on each profile, a stat that can only be useful to Dragoons. It's quite clear early on (after Lavitz gains his) that everyone in your party will eventually become a Dragoon.
* ''VideoGame/StarOcean'':
** In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'', [[spoiler:in the weapon compendium, while the actual weapons are not revealed until you get them, it is staggered by playable characters. As soon as you get Lymle, you'll see that Faize's total amount of weapons is significantly smaller than Edge and Reimi's, revealing how he'll leave the party eventually.]]
** In the remake of ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', each playable character's name is rendered in ALL CAPS, so it's easy to determine who will (Or has the potential to) join the team.
** ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'''s EncyclopediaExposita has the party members listed at the top of the Peoples section. Harmless enough with most characters joining as soon as you meet them, yet problematic for Albel and Mirage, the former [[HeelFaceTurn starting out]] as [[BloodKnight a vicious enemy soldier]] and the latter spending over 3/4ths of the game on the sidelines due to [[PromotedToPlayable not originally being in the]] [[UpdatedReRelease party at all]]. If you're the kind of person who looks through the Encyclopedia thoroughly, you can find some spoilerific details on Maria a couple of dozen hours before you even meet her.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', if you find an NPC with unusual dialogue options, even if they don't cause anything to happen at that time, odds are they will be involved with a quest at some point in the future. The same is also true if the NPC simply ''lacks'' the usual dialogue options (latest rumors, little advice, little secret, etc.) This example can also apply to most of the other games in the series as well.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', in the quest journal, there is decorative knotwork surrounding the name of the quest. This varies depending on the type of quest (main quests, guild quests, Daedric quests, etc.) For many quests this isn't a problem, but for some of the Daedric quests, [[spoiler:"A Night to Remember"]] being a perfect example, it may not be obvious at first. Finding this out can be a major twist.[[labelnote:example]]like when [[spoiler:Sam Guevenne]] is revealed to really be [[spoiler:Sanguine]][[/labelnote]]
* The game ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' uses static sprites for its enemies, which are usually larger than your characters (that is to say, they occupy 2x2 squares at least, while party members occupy 1x2). So when you encounter an enemy that has animation and is the same size as your party members, you know they'll be fighting alongside you at some point (unless that enemy [[spoiler:was already playable, like Oersted or Straybow)]]. This happens no less than three times.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' reveals the eighth Gym Leader's identity if you check the statues at the Gym's entrance. Hilariously, the Gym guide didn't know and he's stationed ''right next to them''.
** Another one from ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', though minor. When capturing a Pokémon, the ball will shake up to 3 times before stopping to indicate a successful capture as a means of building suspense. Except how many times a ball will shake is actually a rough indicator of your chances of capturing the Pokémon outright. For example, when going up against a legendary and your chances of capture are say less than 10%, once you see the ball connect, it's a capture, as every other time it'll simply "miss." This basically ruins any sort of suspense this was supposed to create.
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue FireRed and LeafGreen]]'' have a "Braille Code Check" heading in the credits displayed upon beating the Elite Four. Unlike ''Ruby and Sapphire'', Braille doesn't appear anywhere in these games until ''after'' the Elite Four, so the credits spoil its inclusion in a post-game quest. (As does [[{{Feelies}} the braille guide packaged with the game.]])
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', the fact that you get to explore Kanto after beating the Johto League was meant to be a surprise. The remakes make no secret of the fact that they contain two regions instead of just one.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' introduces the seemingly random (though rather strange) N, who challenges you to a Pokémon battle... and gets an animated sprite, an honour reserved for significant characters only. He also shares similar views to [[AnimalWrongsGroup Team Plasma]], wholeheartedly believing in their Pokémon liberation goals, and constantly guilt-trips the player character into not battling. Sure enough, that's the BigBad... until [[TheManBehindTheMan Ghetsis]] is introduced.
** Can be invoked through the miracle of Wonder Trade in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', ''VideoGame/PokemonOmegaRubyAndAlphaSapphire'', and ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''. It's possible (but ''very'' unlikely) to Wonder Trade one of your ComMons and receive a Pokémon that you normally cannot obtain until the post-game. Bonus points for if you happen to get [[spoiler:one of the Ultra Beasts]] in ''Sun and Moon'', or a Solgaleo/Lunala and you wonder why it's named "[[spoiler:Nebby]]."
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', the eight gyms' emblems being available for your profile by default gives away the relatively minor spoiler that [[spoiler:Team Yell and the Dark Gym are one and the same organisation]].
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', Togekiss's "number defeated" task has exactly ''one'' entry, as opposed to most non-legendary 'mons who get multiple entries with increasingly-larger numbers. So if you happen to obtain a Togekiss before [[spoiler:fighting Volo]], it gives away the fact that you'll be fighting one important trainer who uses a Togekiss.
* There is a minor case in ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoMelodyOfElemia''. It's easy to tell from the Reyvateils' status screen that exactly [[spoiler:three]] of them will join the party at some point.
* ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'':
** The Area Jump menu in ''GO 2'' has an icon for each area, with the areas you can't visit yet displaying static. There are 6 icons, which would imply that there are 6 areas in all... except this trope is subverted when you gain access to a 7th area, and the original 6 icons move over to make room for 7 more (6 of which initially display static). This is subverted ''again'' in the EndgamePlus, where on two more occasions several icons scoot over to make room for another, eventually ending up with 15 icons that take up every last bit of real estate on the screen.
** In the first game, looking up one of your starting team members (Minamisawa Atsushi) in the Player Binder lists his recruitment method as "other", while everyone else who joins during the storyline is listed as "story". [[spoiler:So it comes as no surprise when this player leaves the team early on, and shows up as an opponent later.]]
* ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' has a "Story" section on the menu in case [[NowWhereWasIGoingAgain you lose track of where you should be headed]] that shows a diagram of events. Given the game's [[TimeyWimeyBall mechanics and plot]], this is pretty much required. However, any event where you can do something more will have a line trailing off where another event connects later. Following up on the mysterious loose ends is a good way to figure out when you need to go to solve plot-related problems. Whoever decided to name certain skills has some explaining to do. [[spoiler:Was it ''really'' necessary to name half the DeadAllAlong guy's skills things relating to ghosts and/or death?]]
* Do ''not'' examine the achievements of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' too closely if you don't want to know that [[spoiler:Adria ends up betraying the heroes, since one achievement is for defeating her as a boss, with a demonic portrait.]] Or who dies early in the game ([[spoiler:Deckard Cain]] has no conversation achievements outside of the act in which you met [[spoiler:him]]). Or who the Stranger is (it's less obvious, but several of the Stranger's conversations are listed for [[spoiler:the archangel Tyrael's]] conversation achievement).
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'' rather cleverly. The different armor types in the game have "racial mods" (i.e. bonuses) for three races: human, elven, and dwarven. Despite this, you never actually recruit a dwarf in the entire game.
* The [[ZipMode Bonfire travel menu]] in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' expands to fit only the areas you've uncovered for most of the game. However, once you reach [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalDungeon Drangleic Castle]]]], the menu shows how many locations are in the game, blacking out the ones you've not been to. [[spoiler:There will still be about a half-dozen blank spots after Drangleic Castle, indicating that it's not the final dungeon as you've been led to believe.]] It will also show the bonfires in each location in order, showing if you missed one by there being a blank spot between two usable ones.
* In ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'', there are blank, greyed out squares in the skills menu blocking the ultimate skills for every character, which only open up after you complete Chapter 8. However, at the end of Chapter 7, [[spoiler:one of your allies reveals themselves to be TheMole, betrays you to the BigBad, and leaves the party. While you may think they will have a change of heart and rejoin later so that they can learn those skills, they do not, ultimately subverting the trope. Oddly enough, the interface does not lie. The traitor can learn their ultimate skills, but only on a NewGamePlus.]]
* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'': You're at the end of chapter 4, you've apparently defeated the BigBad and you're going into the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon to activate the Earth Crystal. But wait... there's still two more empty slots in the Job screen!
* ''VideoGame/FantasyLife'':
** The game makes new areas available via progression of a storyline divided in several chapters. Another mechanic lets you unlock new game features as a reward for certain in-game accomplishments. One set of these makes new items available in shops and works in such a way that the possibility to get extra items in the shops from the second town only becomes visible once it has been unlocked for the FirstTown. The story initially gives the impression that there are only three places that qualify as towns in the game and that unlocking the option for the third town is the only way to buy some of the crafting materials. Hey, what do you mean "choose this for extra items from travelling merchants and the store in Elderwood." ? ''What'' store in Elderwood? That place is just a forest full of monsters with no settlement of any kind. Well, it does have a strange statue and a bridge that can't be crossed...
** The challenges needed to rank up in some classes will also mention the locations meant to be secret until a certain point of the story by name.
** The existence of some job ranks is initially hidden, but there are two blank spaces between each set of job+rank combinations in the achievement list.
* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' displays race icons in the status window when you mouse over an NPC. This can ruin a bit of a surprise if the character's race ''wasn't'' intended to be obvious, as in the case of [[spoiler:Gar the "World's Smartest Orc"]], who is revealed to be a human before you even talk to him, despite the fact that figuring out his secret requires decent conversation skills. The Mysterious Apparition is an even worse example, being a projection of the BigBad: [[spoiler:his icon is that of a human, but at that point of the story everyone still considers the main villain to be Arronax, who is an elf, and the truth isn't revealed until the final dungeon]].
* The in-game map in ''VideoGame/WildArms3'' lets you view the (empty) sections for Telepath Towers and Millennium Puzzles ''long'' before you'll come across -- or even ''learn about'' -- either of these types of locations.
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' includes a tab for every act in the game in the quest log, so you'll know just how long the story will last and that you're not going to be killing the BigBad whenever you face him, or who you ''think'' is him.
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'':
** Reading up on the Bestiary will often reveal what kind of monster you'll be facing in a side quest, even when it's supposed to be a mystery. Also, creatures that you fight will have their weaknesses displayed for you, so you'll know that you won't be killing any Godlings, [[spoiler:but will eventually face the Crones]].
** In ''Hearts of Stone'', just seeing the new Gwent cards for Gaunter O'Dimm will be your first clue that he's not just some powerful mage as you're initially led to believe, but something ''more'' insidious.
** Another Gwent related one. The Mysterious Elf, whose identity remains a secret for much of the game has Gwent card of his own. When playing against opponents who use this card it is simply labeled "Mysterious Elf". However, it's possible to get a copy of your own before learning the Elf's identity in story, and the 'new card' notification practically blurts out his real name: [[spoiler:Avallac'h]].
* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', sometimes the game's loading screen tooltips (which change with each chapter) actually hint at events in that chapter. [[spoiler:For example, the one in the endgame that tells you what fearsome and lethal creatures werewolves are - one of the game's last bosses is a werewolf, and it's an unkillable PuzzleBoss]]. It's also not exactly a great idea to play as a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Malkavian]] on the first playthrough, partly because the jokes are funnier once you understand the subtext, but mostly because a Malkavian PlayerCharacter [[MadOracle will pre-empt big plot reveals]] and reference them in dialogue. For instance, when playing as a Malkavian and meeting [[MsFanservice Jeanette]] for the first time, the Malkavian will flat-out tell her that [[spoiler:s/he knows that her and her sister are actually just different sides to an individual with multiple personality disorder]], though in a roundabout way that uses a metaphor about Roman gods.
* In ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaReBirth1'':
** The party learn at one point that an arms deal between Avenir and [[spoiler:the fake Blanc]] is about to go down at Avenir Storage No.2. The dungeon that's unlocked a couple of cutscenes later, and which you travel to to try and bust the deal, is named "Avenir Storage No.''4''". This is a pretty big giveaway that the party have been fed some fake info: [[spoiler:the arms deal is actually going on elsewhere while Ganache keeps the party occupied]].
** The Steam achievements for the ''Re;Birth'' remakes also spoil the existence of certain playable characters, such as the ability to unlock [[spoiler:the CPU candidates]] in ''Re;Birth 1''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'':
** Played with during the friendship event with Undyne; when she asks you what you want to drink, each option has a little text for its description; the one for tea says that it is the "blatantly correct choice."
** The soundtrack has a track named "Song that might play when you fight Sans" that [[ZigZaggingTrope plays with expectations]]. It's never played in the game and is in fact not even in the game files. Additionally, you normally don't fight Sans. And when you do, it's to the tune of Megalovania.
* ''VideoGame/GrandiaII'':
** In the Steam version, one of the achievements spoils the name of the FinalBoss. This is especially bad since said boss' name contains the name of another character, who is initially presented as good but turns out to be evil.
** Two playable characters die: [[spoiler:Millenia and Mareg]]. You gain an item that refunds all of the Special Coins you spent of the latter's moves, but no such thing is done for the former, implying a DisneyDeath.
* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'':
** The skill tree [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sc4Gt8aM2ss/UlIJaAF-UUI/AAAAAAAAHbw/4WalsuOtrfE/s1600/PathOfExile+Passive+Skill+Tree.png is a gigantic web of attributes and bonuses]], with each of the 6 character classes beginning in the area of the web best suited to their core stat. An astute player will notice that there's a 7th slot in the middle of the tree, and will be tipped off to the existence of a secret 7th class.
** Early on in a new league, the game announces to all players whenever someone reaches a milestone for the first time, such as killing endgame bosses. In Harvest league, this told everyone that the league's new NPC ended up [[FaceHeelTurn turning against the player]].
* ''VideoGame/XMenLegends II: Rise of Apocalypse'' has three characters (in the console versions, at least) marked with a question mark at all times in the selection, making clear some unlockables are there. And the identity of one is spoiled by the Review Computer, where one of the collectible items listed is "ComicBook/IronMan armor".
* In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'', potential party members are clearly marked on the map by name, the only thing on the map to be so highlighted, even if they're not yet ready to join you. Particularly noteworthy in the case of Grieving Mother, who, shrouded in her PerceptionFilter, looks and acts like a generic village NPC and would otherwise be easily mistaken for a minor quest giver until the player starts a conversation.
* In ''VideoGame/FateExtra'', looking at the playable Caster's information can spoil her true identity as [[spoiler:Tamano-no-Mae]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'': By the time you reach the castle of [[BigBad The Dark Lord]] you may notice that the journal sections for Monsters, Grub, Armor and Weapons are halfway full at most, spoiling that there's still plenty of stuff happening after it.
* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' is bad for this.
*** Though absent from the original PSP releases in Japan, the English PC releases featured voice acting for party members, even those who didn't joint until the sequel games. This is rather notable when you face [[spoiler:the bracers in Grancel]], as two of them are voiced and two of them are not. Guess which two become party members in future games.
*** In ''Second Chapter'', you briefly get [[spoiler:a seemingly-innocent 11-year-old girl named Renne]] to join your party as a non-combatant NPC. However, if you happen to look at [[spoiler:her health, you'll notice that it's far higher than your party members, and far, ''far'' higher than any allied NPC you have ever encountered. It's a pretty big giveaway that she's actually an Ouroboros Enforcer in disguise.]]
** ''The 3rd'' features a guide-book that lists off the benefits provided by "support" characters. This includes a comprehensive list of all the party members you get over the course of the game, including spoiler characters like [[spoiler:Renne and Richard.]]
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'': From ''Cold Steel III'', players can see a map that covers the entire nation of Erebonia. During the field exercises that take place each month, the students of the branch campus make camp at locations called Ex Camps. When one sees the map of Erebonia, they can also see all the locations marked "Ex Camp" on the map, no matter how early in the game they are. This can spoil the locations of the future field exercises if the player hasn't progressed far enough in the story.
* Possibly the biggest hook of ''Advent Dark Force'', an updated re-release of ''VideoGame/FairyFencerF'', is that you get to play two new gameplay routes with new stories. These are the [[spoiler:Vile God Story and Evil Goddess Story and the fact that there even ''exists'' an Evil Goddess is intended as a pretty major plot revelation in the Evil Goddess Story as there is nothing in the other two stories that even hints at this. However, the trophies/achievements for these are named "Vile God Story Cleared" and "Evil Goddess Story Cleared" and trophy guides for ''Advent Dark Force'' don't generally go to any effort to hide the names of these story modes.]]
* A minor one in ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}''. At one point, Lancer joins your party after having been an AffablyEvil villain for most of the game up to that point. If you open the menu, [[spoiler: he clearly isn't listed among your party members, spoiling that he will leave very shortly after, before you get any chance to use him in a battle. In fact, you never even get to fight with him in your team]].
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'':
** As you go around the world you can unlock the eight character's jobs as sub-jobs for the others in special shrines, but once you unlock all of them, you will see there is a big gap between them in the job menu. [[spoiler:This spoils there are 4 additional jobs, each guarded by a powerful OptionalBoss.]]
** In the Steam release, the achievments for completing chapters have visible descriptions of the events that happen, completely out in the open for everyone to see.
** A minor but useful one: enemy weaknesses always follow the same order (Swords → Polearms → Daggers → Axes → Bows → Staffs → Fire → Ice → Lightning → Wind → Light → Dark). This makes it easier to guess at any remaining weaknesses you haven't uncovered yet. For example, if an enemy has a displayed weakness to Daggers and still has an empty box to the left of that, you know it has to be either Swords or Polearms.
** A quite large one occurs with a certain sidequest available in Bolderfall after finishing Therion's first chapter. The fact that it's titled [[spoiler:"Daughter of the Dark God"]] blatantly gives away that [[spoiler:Lyblac isn't an ordinary woman and is up to something involving Galdera]].
* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'':
** A non-menu example. At each of the inns you visit, your room will contain exactly eight beds. No points for guessing how many people end up joining your party. (Granted, this doesn't spoil the GuestStarPartyMember in Chapter 7, who doesn't stick around long enough to use any of these inns).
** The music credits list every song in the game, roughly in the order that you hear them. They reach the ending, where you're at... and then keep going for quite a while, spoiling much of the extensive post-game content. The last few tracks are missing the contextual subtitles, which Tat least preserves the surprise of how they're used.
* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' takes place over several days with each new day acting as a chapter for the game. You fight the BigBad at the end of day five, but then the game transitions to day six, hinting that Eve's defeat isn't the true end of the game. You're also given the opportunity to collect and sort items you had Wayne hold onto as well as getting several healing items for free without being told why. Moments later, you're fighting the TrueFinalBoss.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine''. After a certain character betrays the party, in the final dungeon, you acquire their ultimate weapon. You're getting that character back, right? [[spoiler:You fight her as a boss immediately afterwards, and the fight ends in her death. The weapon might as well never have existed.]]
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'':
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'':
*** Checking the achievement list in will more or less make clear [[spoiler:Fiora rejoins you at some point]]. To be fair, it's the most telegraphed spoiler in the game and bigger reveals are much better covered, but there you go. There's also one empty space in the affinity chart artwork for the party.
*** The fact that the quests you get in some places, such as [[spoiler:Alcamoth or Mechonis]] are ALL "timed", meaning you can't do them after a certain point, will also spoil for you that some large scale event is likely to occur in (or to) these places, and that the quests present will become [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost forever]].
*** There's also the fact there are no Heart-to-Hearts anywhere on [[spoiler:Mechonis]]...
*** And then there's the fact that the [[WombLevel Bionis' Interior]] and Prison Island have a collectibles list, but seemingly no collectibles to find. The former's map also clearly expands far, far beyond what can be explored upon your arrival.
*** An early point in the game features a notable Aversion that practically qualifies as an Interface RedHerring. During the attack on your DoomedHometown, [[spoiler:Dunban]] temporarily joins your party. If you go to his equipment screen, you'll notice his current gear can't be removed. Naturally the player would suspect he'd either be KilledOffForReal (heck, he pretty much has all the qualities of a SacrificialLion) or at least would never join your party again. In fact... [[spoiler:he ''does'' rejoin you later as a fully customisable, playable character. It's his ''sister'', the protagonist's ChildhoodFriend / LoveInterest, who's killed in the attack, and she ''did'' have fully customisable equipment at the time.]]
*** Played straight with Dickson, Mumkhar, and [[spoiler:Alvis]], who are temporarily controllable but have fixed equipment, lack a Skill trait, and only have two very basic Arts. It's pretty clear they'll never be permanent party members.
*** The Strange class of collectables are "named" by certain party members. The Rumble Box collectable, which was named by Riki, can be found before you first meet him.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX''
*** There's an area in NLA called the [[spoiler:Mimeosome Maintenance Center]].
*** The first time you have a Heart-to-Heart with each of your different party members, you'll receive an achievement for it. Not so much for characters that are DownloadableContent for Japan [[spoiler:and ''The Master Sniper'' though...]] Heart-to-Hearts are also recorded on the map when they're found out and/or completed, and there's also an achievement for maxing out a party member's affinity, unless they're once again for said DLC characters in Japan [[spoiler:and for Lao]].
*** During character creation, you can pick from a rather wild variety of skin, hair and eye colors, as well as some extremely non-human eyes. Moreover, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight nobody feels moved to comment about it]] if you do. [[spoiler:This is because you're customizing your mimeosome, rather than a biological human body. Nobody comments because they all know you're a tricked-out robot, even if you don't at first.]] For that matter, in character creation ''none'' of the eye designs [[spoiler:look all that natural]].
*** Chapter 3 introduces you to the Prone race with the implication that they were behind the destruction of Earth, and the base you encounter them in also has [[MechaMook Puge and Pugilith]] support. Chapter 4 then formally introduces the Ganglion coalition as a whole, which the Prone are just one race in. However, the enemy index entries on the Prone, Puges and Pugiliths (accessible as soon as you engage any of them in combat) mention the Ganglion before you even hear of them in-story. On another note, the entry for the Prone lists them with "Cavern Clan" in parentheses, [[spoiler:indicating that not only are the Prone divided into two races/clans, there are a few mission-exclusive fights with Tree Clan Prone, the aforementioned second Prone clan that becomes one of your allies]]. On a ''further'' note, there's an Achievement called [[spoiler:Cavern Clan Immigration]], implying [[spoiler:the seemingly AlwaysChaoticEvil clan of Prone will become allies too.]]
*** The "[Race] Immigration" achievements usually don't spoil much seeing as the race names won't mean much until you meet them, with two exceptions: the one listed above is one, but you get "[[spoiler:Definian]] Immigration" for completing a quest that involves the HeelFaceTurn of ''one'' of their race, and it isn't until the post game that only a couple more join in.
*** It might seem a little odd that the Enforcer healing skill is called "Repair". It removes debuffs as well as heals, so maybe it's just named a little thematically for the high-tech setting of ''Xenoblade Chronicles X''? [[spoiler:Well, yes, but there's a bit more to it than that. This even ties in to Irina mentioning getting repaired during an early affinity mission and she herself having the art.]]
*** Ever wonder why the empty bottom left section of NLA has a survey percentage number like the rest of the districts?
*** Irina and Gwin of Team Irina can join you on missions, despite technically being part of another BLADE team, with Irina even leading it as Team Irina. They have another member, Marcus, who curiously never actually becomes playable. [[spoiler:There's a fairly good reason for that, and it involves a lot of Ganglion missiles.]]
*** One of the categories in the Enemy Index is [[spoiler:Chimeroids]], and a category of Criticals Up and Slayer augments exist for this enemy type, all of which can be seen long before you encounter them.
*** After you defeat Luxaar for good and go through the cutscene, you earn a story achievement. [[spoiler:But because the progress says ''4/5'', you know there's still more...]]
*** Subverted before proceeding to Chapter 11. Both of Gwin's Affinity Missions need to be completed to begin, [[spoiler:but nothing happens to Gwin at all]].
*** During ''Serial Thriller'', Eleanora provides two leads on a serial killer at large. One is located in Sylvalum, the other in Oblivia. Taking one good look at the [=FrontierNav=] grid, the Affinity Chart, or simply remembering the names of every NPC will indicate which one is the correct lead.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'':
*** You gain access to the [[{{Mons}} Blade]] Library, which keeps track of all the unique Blades you've summoned/obtained. It also shows the silhouettes of every single Blade you haven't obtained yet. Some of them will look rather familiar and they also appear at the top of list alongside those of Rex, Nia, and Tora's, [[spoiler:which makes it evident that both Morag and Zeke become party members eventually]].
*** The fact that [[spoiler:Mòrag will join the party]] is practically given away if the party decides to do a sidequest in Mor Ardain the second it becomes available. The sidequest in question leads to a murder investigation, but you are [[AbilityRequiredToProceed blocked from proceeding until you get the help of someone familiar with Mor Ardain]]. At that point, there's really only one candidate for this: [[spoiler:Mòrag]].
*** Similarly, while the game tries to avert this by giving a GuestStarPartyMember a full skill tree, exp gain, customizable moves, and favored consumables, the fact that they can't bond with any Blades besides their starting one, and that said starting Blade's affinity level never increases, should raise some eyebrows.
*** Some items will list the names of locations you haven't actually been to yet in their "Obtained at" description.
*** Done with Floren in the Mercenary Missions menu. Assigning Floren to a job that requires a Blade of a specific gender reveals that Floren's a guy, but the boy himself never tells the party this until the end of his sidequest, in which they all react with complete surprise.
*** During chapter 1, Nia, Jin, and Malos all join Rex's party. The fact that Nia is the only one of the three whose party artwork is in the same style as Rex's should make it clear which of the three will end up being a permanent party member.
*** The Indoline Praetorium doesn't have any Heart-to-Hearts, there are no quests after the initial ones, and there aren't any Merc Missions to increase its stores' inventories, a clue that something major will happen to the place later on.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Zig-zagged. Similar to the previous game's Blade Library the game features a Hero Roster that showcases the game's recruitable Heroes. It's played straight in that once again you can see the silhouettes of Heroes that you haven't recruited, [[spoiler:one in particular is clearly a silhouette of a Consul/Moebius, the game's main enemy faction, while another is clearly one of the robot assassins you occasionally fight in sidequests, neither of which you'd ever expect to assist the heroes, let alone join the party]]. Additionally, it manages to spoil a certain plot point, as two of the silhouettes are [[spoiler:Smoldering Cammuravi and Glorysong Miyabi, the former of whom ''dies'' during the story and the latter of whom has ''been'' dead since the start, indicating that [[BackFromTheDead neither of them are going to stay dead]] if they end up joining the party.]] However, it also averts it in that it DOESN'T show the silhouettes of the final two Heroes, which hides that [[spoiler:Melia and Nia from the first and second games respectively return as post-game Heroes]].
* In ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'', several revelations can be spoiled like this:
** Camellia wears a mysterious necklace she dismisses as an ornament, but mousing over it in the inventory shows that it makes her CharacterAlignment undetectable. She's also a divine spellcaster, and she's able to use the scrolls of "Protection from Good" and "Protection from Law" that your evil enemies drop, which require you to be of the opposing alignment. [[ChaoticEvil Guess what?]] Trying to level up as a paladin or other class that requires a good and/or lawful alignment will also tell you why you can't. Of course, not that it isn't clear from her [[ObviouslyEvil blatantly shady and bloodthirsty attitude]].
** Nenio is subtler and requires paying closer attention. Close inspection of her stats will show that she doesn't get a bonus skill rank or feat, despite being human, and that she has two increased abilities and a decreased ability, as opposed to a human who would have one increased ability. [[AsianFoxSpirit She's actually a Kitsune]].
** Wendaug can be identified as a demon worshipper early by looking through all her special abilities, which lists her deity as the demon goddess Lamashtu. This is also revealed if the player levels her up in a divine class such as cleric or inquisitor.
* Mostly due to its Citizen Menu, ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'' does this in a number of ways:
** It's pretty easy to figure out there's something up with Dorothy Crane when she's introduced as a nurse in the Pembroke Hospital but listed in the citizen menu as the pillar of Whitechapel, making her a major figure in a completely separate district.
** Depending on if and when you study the Swanborough Cordial, you might learn about Mason Swanborough's existence and role in the scheme almost a full chapter before being able to speak to him at all.
** Harriet Jones having no hints and being completely absent from the citizen menu despite seeming fairly unremarkable makes it pretty clear that something's going to happen to her.
* ''VideoGame/{{Recettear}}'': Each recruitable character in the game uses a specific type of weapon. All weapon types are listed in the item fusion menu from the beginning. This includes the oddball [[spoiler:"Claw" and "Parts"]] weapon types, hinting that [[spoiler:Griff, the brooding demon]] and [[spoiler:Arma, the robot girl]] can eventually be recruited (which doesn't happen until very late in the game).
* ''VideoGame/TechnoMageReturnOfEternity'': Throughout the game, Melvin discovers the [[PlotCoupon Crystals of Eternity]], which have a specialised part of the inventory to be held in. Once he collects the fourth one, due to that many being seen in the visions they grant him, he assumes he has the whole set. The specialised inventory space shows an empty slot, spoiling the fact that there's a fifth crystal.
* ''VideoGame/KlonoaHeroesDensetsuNoStarMedal'': You know a leaving member of your party is gonna come back eventually when you can still buy weapons and gear for them. For instance, you can still buy gear for Guntz after he leaves to chase Janga, and shops will still have gear for Klonoa after he's put in a coma by Janga's poison.
[[/folder]]

!! Non-Video Game Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* This actually occurs in ''Manga/FireEmblemChampionsSword''. Each chapter begins with a recap page telling the story so far and giving profiles of each of the main characters and others who are relevant to the current chapter. That's all well and good... until the final chapter gives a recap profile for a character who hasn't appeared for around 5 issues and who it'd have no good reason to recap. It was foreshadowed that they were a ChekhovsGunman earlier on, but this kills any remaining subtlety.
* In ContinuityReboot ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'', the ToBeContinued card depicts Princess Serenity holding a staff-length version of the [[MagicWand Cutie Moon Rod]] as a [[StaffOfAuthority sceptre]], well before the story arc that introduces the weapon itself.
* Averted in-universe in ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''. There are more than a dozen different ways for the heroes to upgrade their {{Evolving Weapon}}s, but each hero's StatOVision doesn't display information about any method they don't already know about.
* There is a good reason why the short description of ''Manga/ShimejiSimulation'' only gives the most watered-down description about it being a usual SliceOfLife story in [[Website/TheOtherWiki Wikipedia]][[note]]Ironically the work's page on wikipedia lists the manga's official genre as {{surreal|ism}} comedy, which blatantly spoils the fact that this is not an average SliceOfLife manga[[/note]] and in [=MangaDex=]. Talking about the whole of manga's contents gives away and spoils the manga's well-known TomatoSurprise twist that the world [[spoiler:is revealed to be a simulation.]] It's especially much worse since this only becomes true in Chapter 30.
* The Netflix result for ''Anime/GlitterForceDokiDoki'' has [[spoiler: The Golden Crown of Wisdom]] as its thumbnail despite not being introduced until later in the show. Not only that, but the preview video also spoils [[spoiler: Regina and Glitter Ace]].
* The anime adaptation of ''Literature/LogHorizon'' invokes this by doing absolutely nothing to hide the fact that Rondel is actually a [[NonPlayerCharacter Person of the Land]], even though the visual nature of the adaptation means a few glaring indicators of that (such as the fact that his ID window uses the green NPC background rather than the blue one Players use) are now out in the open.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* On Platform/ArchiveOfOurOwn, every fic shows the tags the author has added, which usually include characters. This can spoil the appearance of some characters, or who is in a relationship with who, or even characters' {{Secret Identit|y}}ies from the source material, if the reader hasn't caught up yet.
* Chapter 10 of ''FanFic/SonicGenerationsFriendshipIsTimeless'' corresponds to the rival battle between Sonic and Shadow from [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations the original game]]. However, Shadow's name in the chapter title has a question mark next to it, spoiling the fact that [[spoiler:the rival battle against Shadow is a BaitAndSwitchBoss]].
* An in-universe example in ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'': Rosalia's ambush of Kirito and Silica is foiled not by Kirito's Detecting skill, but because the name tag hovering over Rosalia's head is poking out on either side of the tree she's trying to hide behind.
* In any ''Webcomic/TheGamer''-like story, the main character's SuddenGameInterface can do much to reveal knowledge that could have easily remained hidden.
* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Subtle ones happen occasionally with the out-of-universe dice rolls. The author generally sticks to the official statblocks for monsters, so when one of them has an atypical stat (for example, the bandits in ''The Forest of Terrors'' having overly-high AC and better gear than they should), it's often a clue that there's something subversive happening (in this case, Spectra later discovering the bandits were city guards in disguise.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* The credits of ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' list [[spoiler:The Tank Gang]]'s voice actors before their appearance in TheStinger.
* The credits of ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'' lists [[spoiler:"Never Gonna Give You Up"]] as part of the soundtrack despite not being played in the movie. [[spoiler:Then it turns out TheStinger is a JustForFun/RickRoll.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* Subtitle creation is usually done by third-parties, and often they transcribe dialogue directly from the script. These subtitles usually display the name of a speaker if they are off-screen, but sometimes you ''don't'' want the viewer to know who is speaking offscreen just yet, if their identity is supposed to be a secret for now. This kind of interface spoiler is especially bad when it accidentally reveals who the HiddenVillain is, or exposes a main character as being EvilAllAlong.
* Subtitles can also spoil the sudden deaths of characters, if only by a couple of seconds. If the caption says something like, "I know you won't kill me. You promi-", you know the speaker's about to get shot.
* With film adaptions of popular franchises, it's not uncommon to unveil a major character in TheStinger as a way of hyping the next installment (or to include an old favorite in a cameo). Of course, these scenes are often after the closing credits have included the surprise character in the cast list.
** ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' credits [[spoiler:Toho as the owners of Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah. Toho's characters aren't even referenced until the post-credits scene]].
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' averts this [[spoiler:by crediting the voice actor and creators of Howard The Duck immediately after his surprise reveal]].
* In the Coppola Restoration box set of ''Film/TheGodfather'' and its sequels, the backgrounds of the disc menus contain three important death scenes. ''The Godfather''[='s=] menu shows [[spoiler:Vito Corleone lying dead in his tomato garden]]. ''Part II''[='s=] menu shows [[spoiler:Michael Corleone standing in his study, which in the film is when his brother Fredo is murdered offscreen on his order]]. ''Part III''[='s=] menu shows someone hanged; [[spoiler:while it's easy to think that it's Michael given that it's the final film and considering the previous two discs' menus, it's actually a corrupt banker]].
* In the DVD of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', the menu includes the scene where [[spoiler:Palpatine attacks Mace Windu and the other Jedi]] before showing you the options.
* In ''Film/RogueOne: A Franchise/StarWars Story'', there are title cards for every planet featured, except for [[spoiler:Mustafar from ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'']], because it would've given away Darth Vader's presence [[spoiler:as he has his own private base there]].
* ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' introduces every important character with a profile listing their talents and wacky trivia. The only teammate to not get one is Slipknot, which is an immediate giveaway that his character is the {{Redshirt}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* With the likes of Kindle and other e-book readers, it's very easy too see the index of any given book at any time and, if the author names the chapters, this has the potential to be spoilery.
* In almost every ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' novel, there is a glossary of terminology and artwork of the various [[HumongousMecha BattleMechs]], dropships, and vehicles mentioned in the novel. This can often give away what shows up later in the story. For example, in the franchises' debut novel, ''Decision At Thunder Rift'', a planet is attacked by a band of pirates using a small selection of dilapidated battlemechs, mostly light mechs like the 'Locust' and 'Stinger'. Yet the glossary lists heavies like the 'Rifleman' and 'Crusader'. In the book's second act, a conspiracy is revealed and a Draconis Combine dropship lands carrying a platoon that uses these mechs.
* In the original three ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books, Herald Talia reads about the tragic deaths of the [[LastOfHisKind Last Herald-Mage]] Vanyel Ashkevron, who died [[YouShallNotPass preventing an enemy army]] from entering Valdemar; and of the later Herald [[PlayingWithFire Lavan Firestorm]], who [[SuperpowerMeltdown immolated himself and a Karsite army]] after his Companion was shot. Naturally when the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' and ''Brightly Burning'' come out their protagonists are DoomedByCanon. The title of the trilogy also foretells doom for all the ''other'' Herald-Mages; all of them are dead before Vanyel meets his fate.
* The first ''ComicBook/{{Hilda}}'' book contains a map of the area around Hilda's home with several locations specifically labeled. [[SubvertedTrope However, they never show up in the actual story.]]
* The ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure of the Priory School" includes a [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/The_Return_of_Sherlock_Holmes%2C_edition_published_in_1905_by_McClure%2C_Phillips_%26_Co.%2C_New_York..djvu/page150-1970px-The_Return_of_Sherlock_Holmes%2C_edition_published_in_1905_by_McClure%2C_Phillips_%26_Co.%2C_New_York..djvu.jpg hand-drawn map]] which is shown fairly early in the story, but immediately reveals clues that aren't found until later--including, most notably, "[[spoiler:Heidegger]]'s Body" long before the character's death is discovered.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The ''Literature/XWingSeries'' falls victim to this via proper formatting. [[spoiler:Capital ship names are italicized, so anytime someone refers to [[BigBad Ysanne Isard's]] [[TheAlcatraz secret prison]] as ''Lusankya'', it spoils the big reveal that it's actually a starship.]]
* Both consciously averted and played straight in some editions of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. For instance, in the deluxe paperback edition of ''The Way of Kings'', one of the illustrations is a spoiler in what it depicts, and is thus given a more generic name in the index; but if you accidentally open the book to the back endpapers, [[spoiler:the map is not a duplicate of the one in front but shows a completely different realm that isn't even hinted at for most of the book]].
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', a Web Serial Novel, is published as a series of blog posts, with each post tagged with the characters appearing in it. However, the character tags sometimes include minor spoilers, such as revealing Atlas' name before he's named in story, or revealing the identity of Golem early. Subverted with the Echidna clones, which each have their own, named character tags despite only appearing briefly and never being named in story.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Technically, any series that features a RomanticFalseLead as an element of a LoveTriangle could be seen as this. You can easily tell which of the romantic rivals is going to finish in front because one's part of the main cast and the other's credited as a guest star.
* ''Series/TwentyFour''
** The show made a habit of silencing its signature beeping clock whenever a major character has been killed, to the point that when [[spoiler:Tony Almeida]] returned in season 7 after [[MetaTwist having seemingly been given a silent clock in season 5]], the producers pointed out that unlike most of those other times, there were still other sounds audible while the clock was onscreen. Come ''[[Series/TwentyFourLiveAnotherDay Live Another Day]]'', and despite absolutely ''no'' indication that he wasn't about to die, the episode which ended with [[spoiler:President Heller acquiescing to Margot Al-Harazi's demands, allowing her to kill him with a missile from the stolen drones]] had a normal, beeping clock. Sure enough, the following week's episode revealed that Jack had found a way to save him.
** At the beginning of the fifth season's premiere, Dennis Haysbert is introduced as being a "special guest appearance", thus indicating that (like other guest stars) he won't be making any additional appearances past that episode. A few moments later, [[spoiler:his character (David Palmer) is shot and killed by a sniper]].
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** The [[TransformationTrinket henshin belt]] from ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' has 4 buttons on it, confirming from the moment that the belt is shown that Ryotaro will be possessed by 4 different Imagin for 4 different forms (not counting his base form, [[JokeCharacter Plat Form]]), each one ColorCodedForYourConvenience so that you know that not only will he be possessed by all-Yellow and all-Purple imagin, but they'll end up joining his side. [[spoiler:Then along comes Sieg, who not only lacks a button with his corresponding color (white), but he uses an entirely different belt to transform, although it's not as big of a twist due to how rarely it's used. There's also his MidSeasonUpgrade and SuperMode, which rely on outside devices, thus being a complete subversion]]. New Den-O, from the same series, subverts this trope entirely, since he can transform into his main form, Strike Form, regardless of which Imagin is possessing him (since they turn into weapons for him to wield as opposed to having him change forms), [[spoiler:and the one exception - Deneb, who lets New Den-O transform into Vega Form - also subverts this, due to the fact that there is no green button on the belt]].
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', being a show themed around fictional video games, displays a character select screen whenever any of the heroes transform into their superpowered alter-egos. The screen includes all five main Kamen Riders even before they actually appear for the first time, as well as two portraits with question marks that are filled in over the course of the show.
* ''Series/{{Ozark}}'': The pilot episode teases that Wendy, who is the wife of the main character and being played by Creator/LauraLinney, might get killed and be a case of DecoyProtagonist. Audiences might fall for it if they hadn't noticed Linney's eyes on the poster of the show in the Netflix interface.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' plays fair with the Machine-eye view, so when in "Firewall" Caroline Turing is framed by a yellow box[[note]]meaning she knows about the Machine[[/note]], viewers who notice get an early hint she's more than just another VictimOfTheWeek.
* If a PreviouslyOn segment features clips from a seemingly minor moment or character, it's almost guaranteed to become important again in that episode. ''Series/GameOfThrones'' was notorious for this, for example.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'':
** The second season had a case of this similar to ''The Wheel of Time'' below for actors listed by the playback UI of Amazon Prime, as it reveals Renee's last name to be [[spoiler:Picard, making her Jean-Luc Picard's ancestor]]. It's also an example where [[ObviousRulePatch the UI was updated to cover this up]] later on, having Renee's last name not shown even after TheReveal.
** The Third Series also had this, as the subtitles for the third episode identfies the creatures piloting the enemy ship [[spoiler:as 'Changelings']] before their presence is revealed in-story.
* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'':
** Since Amazon Prime lets you know the role any actor currently on screen is playing while the playback UI is up, viewers can immediately know [[spoiler: Rand's mother was named Tigraine Mantear,]] despite their name not being mentioned even once during the episode, [[spoiler: while readers would not discover it or its significance until the fourth book.]]
** Again in the first season finale, [[spoiler: Moiraine and Rand encounter a man in the Blight they (and supposedly the audience) believe to be the Dark One, tempting Rand to choose the Dark, except the playback names the character as "Ishamael 'The Man'", who book readers (and viewers who randomly notised his name-drop from the Dark-friend Dina) will know to be [[TheDragon the Highest amongst The Forsaken.]]]] Unlike [[spoiler: Tigraine Mantear]] in the previous episode, his actor Fares Fares isn't listed in the episode's end credits, probably meaning it's still supposed to be a mystery.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The teaser reveal for Solgaleo and Lunala GX in the ''TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}}'' Trading Card Game blotted out several of the various stats for the Pokémon in question on their card. While fans initially thought this was to just add to the suspense of revealing these cards' capabilities, it turned out that this was to avoid an InterfaceSpoiler revealing that [[spoiler:Solgaleo and Lunala are both Stage 2 evolved Pokémon, although Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have previously never been part of an evolution line. In addition, the two legendaries being evolved forms of Cosmoem was a major spoiler for [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon that generation of video games]]]].
* Any tabletop game with a "roll for perception" mechanic can easily become this. After all, if your game master asks for a perception roll, even if you fail it, you know there's almost certainly something there (because why ask if there isn't?).
* TabletopGame/{{Chess}}: Part and parcel of chess problems and studies. The problem's caption outright tells that there's a checkmate in a set amount of moves (or, in the case of studies, that there's a way to win or draw) by force in this position, and you only have to find it.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' once [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] this to deliver a reveal. After the climax of the ''War of the Spark'' story, several planeswalkers ended up fleeing to the far ends of the multiverse in the aftermath of the conflict. This major arc was followed by a few minor, self-contained visits to various planes (Eldraine, Ikoria, Kaldheim, a return to Theros and Zendikar), followed by a new plane called Strixhaven. This appeared to be another self-contained arc, until people saw the new character [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=513560 Professor Onyx]]. She appears to be a brand-new planeswalker, but her card types describe her as 'Legendary Planeswalker - [[ProdigalHero Liliana]]'.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:TV Tropes]]
* On Website/TVTropes, spoiler placement [[Administrivia/SelfFulfillingSpoiler can give away]] what they're trying to hide:[[note]]Many of these practices are not allowed for exactly this reason; see Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. However, other cases like trope-specific tabs are unavoidable, and as such it's strongly recommended to finish a work you're into before going to its pages if you really want to enjoy it the way the creator intended.[[/note]]
* If AlwaysSaveTheGirl has a spoilered out description, the love interest most likely died.
* If you're on the character page for any work with a mystery central to the plot and you see [[WalkingSpoiler someone whose description is 90% spoiler-tagged]], congrats, you have probably just found the villain.
* Even if the work tries to avoid this by having a separate "Antagonists" section and warning of unmarked spoilers in there, it's still very easy to find the villain. If a character has a deceptively small list of tropes in the normal characters section, and a one-line spoiler underneath their profile, said spoiler will almost ''always'' be "For tropes pertaining to them after TheReveal, see the Antagonists section." The opposite can also happen, which is even worse.
* In works that have acting/voice acting involved, if a mysterious character's actor/voice actor is spoilered out, chances are whoever plays the character already plays someone in the current cast (and is either that character, or is otherwise closely connected to said character. If it's a character that as far as you know doesn't or can't talk, even an all-spoilered out blotch where a voice actor's name or a quote would go is a giveaway that they break their silence at some point.
* If said WalkingSpoiler suddenly dies half-way through the first episode, then even the sheer ''number'' of tropes associated with them, spoilered out or not, can spoil that they're NotQuiteDead and will come back at some point.
* If part of someone's ''name'' is spoilered out, you've probably got a TomatoInTheMirror on your hands.
* It's common to see a trope description take some form of "Looks like it's going to be subverted, [[spoiler:but then it's played straight.]] The spoiler tag isn't really hiding anything in such cases. Then again, even if you don't insert the "looks like it's going to be subverted" part but just add a spoiler tag just after the unspoilered part of some trope description, you're actually strongly hinting at some kind of trope subversion.
* If a work seems cheerful and bright, but has a DarthWiki/DarthWiki or NightmareFuel tab, chances are you are looking at a DisguisedHorrorStory and/or a SugarApocalypse.
* In a similar vein, if a work (usually a video game) seems to have an ExcusePlot or [[NoPlotNoProblem no plot at all]], but you see multiple AudienceReactions tabs (SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and TearJerker, especially), then what seems to be a work with barebones storytelling ''isn't''.
* Any mention of a villain that mentions he's TheDragon, and then a short spoiler in parentheses. In most cases you can guess that this villain will be the true BigBad, CoDragons along with a second villain or not going to last long.
* If the BigBad entry on a page mentions a villain's name but there is a spoiler in the entry then it is a safe bet that this villain is just the DiskOneFinalBoss or working with a second HiddenVillain.
* A similar case to the ''Ace Attorney'' example can occur on TV Tropes character pages too. If a named character from a work is built up as important, but doesn't have an entry at all on the characters page, chances are it's because they're an alias for someone who ''does'' have an entry. The same happens if the character has a character page entry, but no image to go with it. In that case it's a safe bet that their appearance is the same as someone else's.
* The sheer ''number'' of tropes present on their page can also reveal the amount of screentime a character might have. Character seems important, but doesn't have many tropes? You can either guess that they won't return or maybe it will be like the above where it's an alias.
* If you see a character's entry, yet there's a trope that doesn't seem to fit what they were doing before? Probably means they'll return later on.
* The generally frowned-upon format of dedicating spoiler tags just to a character's gender, either because of a reveal involving them, or because it isn't their true gender, will usually be very obvious no matter how the spoilers are added. In the former case, either the gender distribution of the work is even enough that simply their gender isn't enough to reveal anything, or the gender ratio is heavily skewed in one direction and their gender only has any need to be spoilered at all if they are in the minority gender, which would stick out like a sore thumb anyway. In the latter case, it still sticks out like a sore thumb and hints at a reveal the reader probably wouldn't be suspecting if the spoiler tags weren't there or applied differently.
* Similarly to the above, if a character is referred to by a gender-neutral pronoun such as "they" or "them" despite not being presented as such in the work itself, it could be a sign that their gender is not what you're initially led to believe it is.
* DeathTropes as listed on a character page is sort of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. On one hand, spoiling the name of the trope (which is actually forbidden) will give the reader nothing to go on, so curiosity may entice them to highlight it anyway. On the other hand, leaving the name of a trope like KilledOffForReal or DeadAllAlong ends up covering up approximately nothing.
* If a seemingly innocuous character has their own dedicated page, or their character folder has a warning that says that the folder has unmarked spoilers, then odds are they're far more relevant than they appear.
* If you wish to edit a page that has spoiler tropes on it, there's nothing you can do except try to avoid the very visible spoilers. [[spoiler:Or just watch/read the work in question before you edit. Of course, there are also the pages ''about'' spoilers...]]
* Similarly, if you want to avoid spoilers, ''don't'' click the "Related" tab. This subpage lists ''every'' page on the wiki that has a pothole to the page you're viewing.
* On the SugarWiki/BetterThanItSounds pages, it can be easy to tell what a franchise is depending on the amount of examples. For example, ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' has about 26 entries, and not a lot of other things have that many.
* On pages which have different color palettes, like YMMV or Darth Wiki, a link that was hidden within a spoiler used to be faintly visible. This was fixed, though hovering the mouse over a spoiler tag and finding a hidden link will cause the cursor react to a clickable link, which on some browsers shows the URL for the link. This is why some editors frown upon hiding links in spoiler tags.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games-Related]]
* It's generally not a good idea to look at the [[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard ESRB rating description of a game]] before playing it, as many of them are very detailed as to why the game received its rating, which often means describing a CruelAndUnusualDeath in vivid detail, which can sometimes make it obvious who dies and how. [[DrivenToSuicide Suicides]] and {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s are also specifically mentioned. Justified, in that the point of ESRB descriptions is to inform parents who are looking to see if a game that they intend to buy for their child is going to be suitable for the child. Occasionally the sample lines of suggestive or disturbing dialogue can be ''major'' spoilers, like this example from the ratings page of ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa 2|Goodbye Despair}}'': [[spoiler:"Some of them tried to have children with Junko's dead body."]], a double whammy as it also spoils the original ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa|Trigger Happy Havoc}}''.
* The Platform/PlayStation4 disables its internal recording features when a game enters a point designated as a "blocked scene", with a popup to explain this. If said popup appears at the start of a seemingly innocuous cutscene, you can be sure a WhamEpisode is coming.
* Speedruns (unless they are watched through some live stream). Time needed to complete the speedrun can be immediately guessed thanks to the video's length. Zig-zagged by WebVideo/GamesDoneQuick recordings on [=YouTube=], which include huge chunks of the broadcast before and after the run as if to make it impossible to guess, then tell you directly in the title anyways.
* When talking about ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', if you decide to quote one of Sans's, Napstablook's, Metaton's, or Papyrus's more spoilerrific quotes without spoiling the identity of the speaker, you should probably quote them with proper capitalization instead rather than with their capitalization quirks (AllLowercaseLetters for Sans and Napstablook, {{CAPS LOCK}} for Metaton and Papyrus).
* The [=YouTube=] channel for ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' averts this for pro matches. If two teams have a "best of 7" series, they will always post seven videos, even if the series ended in a 4-0 sweep; the unnecessary videos will simply be repeats of previous matches. They even edit the videos so that they aren't the same running time as the previous match they're duplicating.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'': Katie has hearing problems, so she often turns on the subtitles on video games. Unfortunately, the dialogue often doesn't keep up with the subtitles, leading to a point where [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/to-the-victim-go-the-spoilers Katie knew someone would die]] before he actually did.
-->In a perfect world, I'm pretty sure we would only be given one clause at a time, it would appear on-screen while that clause was actually being spoken, and it would never end with "(death gurgle)".
* In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'', [[spoiler:Jocelyne Brown]] is a closeted trans woman who has mentioned this fact exactly once on-panel, a significant length after her first appearance. Shortly after this reveal, all of the old comics tagged with her birth name were updated to use her proper name, giving the reveal away to anyone who hadn't read that far yet. A later comic {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this in the AltText.
-->sooner or later [Joyce and Becky] are gonna hafta look down at the tags
* In the print version of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', all volumes have titles along the lines of "[[CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank]]". Agatha is not officially revealed to be a Heterodyne until the third volume.
* Discussed in ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic.'' In one strip's [[TheRant commentary]], David Morgan-Mar discusses how hard it is for physical books to disguise how much more of the story remains, since any reader can ''see'' how many pages are left. However, an author could surprise their readers by ending the actual story much ''sooner'' than the end of the book, and filling the rest of the pages with an unrelated short story, or ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''-style appendices.
* In ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'', members of MissionControl and the crew are given a title card with their nationality, their age, their spoken languages, their job, whether they are TheImmune or not and extra info during their introduction. In Chapter 1, one such card is given to Onni, who lasts only a few pages during which he's shown refusing to join the crew and ultimately getting left behind when his younger sister and cousin leave their home military base. Guess who reappears via the literal magic of dream world interactions in Chapter 7, becomes an unexpected addition to MissionControl in Chapter 10, and graduates to actual protagonist status in Adventure II?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Media]]
* ''The Huffington Post'' loves to tease readers with clickbait lines such as "You'll Never Guess This Celebrity!", but the URL for the page frequently includes the article's headline (kevin-bacon-shift-your-shopping-for-good), so hovering your mouse over the link reveals the answer 99% of the time and saves you from having to actually read the article.
* If you are watching ''WebAnimation/DoubleRainboom'' for the first time, do so on [=YouTube=] and not on the official website, as the disclaimer on the bottom of the page spoils the fact that [[spoiler:the story's actually a crossover.]]
** [=YouTube=] spoils it too, thanks to the "related video" list.
** The description on [=YouTube=], which is where most people will go to first, and what will be mostly visible on a recommended videos list, clearly starts with "SPOILERS BELOW" (and on the recommended videos, that's all that is displayed), implying that you may not want to check it yet.
* Crossing with LateArrivalSpoiler, sometimes thumbnails can be too revealing when one checks out a whole playlist. And there are cases like the Creator/RoosterTeeth player showing the thumbnail of the next episode once you finish a video.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Every volume's final episode includes TheStinger, which occurs after the end credits roll. The end credits always lists characters in appearance order. If a new character's first speaking role is in the stinger, their name appears on the list before their scene occurs. While this technically occurs in both the Volume 1 and 2 stingers for Cinder and Raven, respectively, Roman already knew who Cinder was long before the audience found out. However, the audience was as mystified as Yang by Raven's first appearance in Volume 2, so the end-credits reveal her name to the audience before Yang; as the stinger scene is a dream sequence, Yang doesn't have Raven's Volume 2 appearance confirmed to her until half-way through Volume 3.
* Choose-Your-Own-Adventures videos on [=YouTube=], or videos with heavy use of the Annotations, could fall for this if they used repeated clips for their bad endings, as viewers can look at the url of the video in question and turn the video into a game of Click The New Link. Removal of annotations has rendered this a moot point.
* This is essentially the reason for the existence of Polsy, which lets you display [=YouTube=] videos on a separate screen; so Website/SomethingAwful {{Lets Play}}ers can host their videos on [=YouTube=] without the Related Videos spoiling the story.
* NFL Sunday Ticket's online streaming app will pop up alerts for scoring plays. However, since the video is often a play or two behind, you often get the score alert before seeing the ball snapped.
* Website/{{IMDB}} can reveal a WalkingSpoiler if the actor is credited as a too-revealing name. Back when there were character pages, clicking one could reveal an awful truth. Though there still is a minor one when clicking the character name, given it shows images and quotes that might be revealing.
* If you type certain search terms into a search engine, such as Google, you can get somewhat spoileriffic results from even the suggested search terms. For an example from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', "Reiner Braun [[spoiler:is a Titan]]." If a character is KilledOffForReal (especially if ItWasHisSled), Google will happily ruin it for you by suggesting "death" the instant you type in their name.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuh8Im3Lo3E6VtvOD9uebrgTS3YKzzooc TheRealNinjaBoy's Nomad Adventure]] is an aversion of this. For context, the Nomad Adventure is a ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' run in [[FinalDeathMode Hardcore Mode]]. [[spoiler:He dies in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTyK-0V4aoQ Part 15]], about 17 minutes into the video, but in an example similar to [[ComicStrip/{{Frazz}} Frazz's]] SpoiledByTheFormat aversion, there's about 15 minutes of a black screen in order to throw viewers off of his trail.]] He lampshades this in the comments section.
-->'''[=TheRealNinjaBoy=]:''' It's to [[spoiler:hide how long the episode actual is]], all done on purpose...If the episode [[spoiler:is a lot shorter than the previous ones]] then it'd show that [[spoiler:I died at some point so blank space to hide the fact that I died]]
* LetsPlay/NorthernLion acknowledged in episode 4 of his ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' playthrough that his viewers would be able to guess whether he would succeed or fail a given boss fight based on how close to the end of the episode it was. At the time, the counter and scrub bar were constantly visible below the video instead of as an overlay that only appears when you mouse over it. This could apply to any Let's Play that always ends its episodes at a logical point such as the end of a level.
* This came up as FiveSecondForeshadowing when WebAnimation/{{hololive}} English members Nanashi Mumei and Ceres Fauna [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0uWjPoiMRY were playing]] ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' together. Fauna, FriendToAllLivingThings, caught Mumei killing a cow and entered {{Yandere}} mode, [[DissonantSerenity serenely]] asking Mumei to check her inventory for any fresh meat she might have gotten from somewhere, and then encouraging Mumei to go to bed while Fauna stayed up for just a little longer, while Mumei nervously eyed a nearby pool of lava.
-->'''Mumei:''' (''lying in bed'') Okay, good-night!\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night, Mumei.\\
'''Mumei:''' Good-night!\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night.\\
(''beat'')\\
'''Mumei:''' Good-night.\\
'''Fauna:''' Good-night.\\
''faunaceres has made the advancement [Hot Stuff]''[[note]]Fill a bucket with lava, a powerful environmental hazard and griefing tool[[/note]]\\
'''Mumei:''' [[OhCrap GUH! G-GOOD-NIGHT! GOOD-NIGHT!]]\\
'''Fauna:''' ...\\
'''Mumei:''' (''strained'') IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED, FAUNA! IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED, FAUNA!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' in which Poof is introduced is sometimes broadcasted as a two-parter and not in a single episode. Poof only gets his name at the end of the second part (a RunningGag in the episode is several characters coming up with various names for Poof). The first part, however (which ends shortly after Poof is born) clearly has Poof's name written in the end credits (and just to drive the point across, it's written as "Baby Poof", making absolutely sure people know who this is referring to).
* In the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', [[spoiler:Superboy]] is still promoted in the fourth season's intro despite [[spoiler:being seemingly killed four episodes in]], an early foreshadowing for [[spoiler:him actually being trapped in the Phantom Zone]].
[[/folder]]

** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'':

* ''VideoGame/{{Extermination}}'' doesn't reveal the story and mechanics behind the infection until a little bit later in the game after starting out. Opening the menu as soon as the game starts shows an infection meter, which spoils the mechanic related to it.

* On Platform/AO3, every fic shows the tags the author has added, which usually include characters. This can spoil the appearance of some characters, or who is in a relationship with who, or even characters' {{Secret Identit|y}}ies from the source material, if the reader hasn't caught up yet.

*** This is mostly averted with Nero in regards to his [[spoiler:Devil Trigger and Devil Bringer. In the story, Nero lost both after his demonic arm was torn off, and the buttons that used to control them have either been reassigned or replaced by another function, which is evident when you compare his control layout to the other playable characters. For better [[DamnYouMuscleMemory or for worse]], this hides the fact that Nero gets both back at the end of the game. However, this trope is played straight if you look at a specific menu; opening Nero's button configuration would reveal that two actions in the list are suspiciously labeled as "(UNUSED)". Once he has re-acquired his lost demonic powers, they will be properly labeled in the button configuration. The player can then reassign the two new actions as there is no longer any purpose in keeping the old button assignments.]]

** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] by ''VideoGame/GodOfWar2018'' and sequel ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok Ragnarok]]'' in many cases, which do not list things like [[spoiler:the Blades of Chaos]] until they're unlocked. This even applies to the pre-order Shield skins: if you don't have them, there isn't even an empty spot in the menu to remind you that you don't have them.

** Averted with region and dungeon names. Particularly toward the later expansions there's a general rule of [[WordSaladTitle using esoteric names]] if something more specific would be a spoiler, because new players can check their Friend and Free Company list and see these names completely uncensored. This is why one region is named Mare Lamentorum and not [[spoiler:The Moon]] or [[spoiler:Lunar Surface]], for instance. This can also get amusing when at least three areas in the game begin with the word "Castrum", which often resulted in a few amusing WhosOnFirst exchanges.

* In order to [[AvertedTrope avert]] SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear in ''[[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'', all the items a hero carried before they are no longer playable for the rest on the game are dropped at the start of the following mission. While convenient, players will quickly become savvy enough to realize that means they will never use a hero again, even if, in terms of story, it does not look like it's going to be the case. For example, [[spoiler:while it does not look like Jaina is going to leave Arthas's party during the Human campaign, the moment all her items are lying on the floor at the start of Mission 5, the player can acknowledge she's leaving]].

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' has this by the nature of its VancianMagic system. The player can pretty much immediately see that there are eight levels of magic, even when they only have access to the first-level spells at the beginning of the game. It also spoils that there are {{Prestige Class}}es by the fact that even the dedicated white/black mages cannot learn the highest levels of magic in their non-prestige form.
** In the GBA remake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', major non-party [=NPCs=] have portraits...and [[spoiler:the Dark Knight]]'s portrait is obviously [[spoiler:Leon's portrait, darkened]]. The PSP remake improves this somewhat: [[spoiler:the Dark Knight wears a helmet, but the rest of his armor and his stare are still identical to Leon's]].

*** Exclusive to the 3D versions, when you unlock the [[SoundTest Music box]] from Jammingway, some of the song titles will reveal characters and texts that you won't meet until later in the game. There is also [[AltText additional descriptions courtesy of Edward.]] Some of his descriptions ''outright states'' where they play. For example: ''Red Wings - Short Version,'' while it plays for the fight against the Dark Knight, [[spoiler:Edward mentions that it plays in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon the final dungeon]].]]
*** Not so much an Interface Spoiler as Interface Foreshadowing, but Tellah is seeking out the spell [[LastDiscMagic Meteor]] for purposes of revenge. He finally gets it, and supposedly even has access to it in RandomEncounters, but a quick check of the menu reveals that he does not and will never have enough magic power to actually cast it, thus explaining why, when he eventually does cast it later on, it's [[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of his own life]].
*** Another comes when Baigan joins the party. That brings the party total to six, which is more than can even physically fit in the menu screen, so it's no surprise when he turns out to be lying. This is even more obvious in later versions of the game: in the Platform/GameBoyAdvance version, every playable character has their CharacterPortrait appear onscreen when they speak. The fact that Baigan lacks a portrait is a dead giveaway that he's not playable. In the Platform/NintendoDS remake, Baigan uses a palette-swapped generic soldier model, in contrast to the rather distinct-looking (though still a palette swap, but not as obvious) helmetless sprite he had in prior versions of the game, which gives away that he's not a very important character, and certainly not playable.

*** Faris is {{Bifauxnen}}. You learn it early, but it can be spoilered even earlier when you first change jobs: some of Faris's sprites in the first set of jobs that you get from the first crystal look somewhat feminine, which can tip off an observant player a bit before the actual reveal. Though, this is a more minor example, as none of the first set of jobs look too overtly feminine on Faris, and all of the jobs that give Faris a distinctly feminine appearance come after the reveal. .....At least, in the older versions of the game. In the mobile and Steam versions of ''Final Fantasy V'', all of the character sprites were completely redone, and Faris looks blatantly female from the moment you first see her, as all of her new sprites, including those for jobs obtained before the reveal, [[FanservicePack seem to have been designed to look as feminine as possible, even including a large and quite noticable bust in some jobs.]]
*** Exdeath's Castle, [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels as climactic as it is]], is [[DiscOneFinalDungeon not the final level]]. How do we know this? We're still missing all of the level 6 spells, and almost half of the SummonMagic. Granted, this game has a tendency toward the GuideDangIt, so a player without a guide could think they simply missed all of that...but there's no reasoning away the gaping holes in the game's bestiary for the GBA version.

*** You can always go to the (empty) "esper" menu. Even though it's about a third of the way through before you properly find out what espers are and how they work.
*** Also, the battle menu, specifically the discrepancy between Terra and every other party member. At first, she can only use magic, and there's a gap where her special ability would be. Similarly, characters like Locke and Edgar have their special abilities, and a gap where the magic would be. Think people will eventually be able to cast spells, or that Terra will develop a secret power? And if you still had any doubts, once Celes is recruited she has both a special ability ''and'' magic on her battle menu, verifying that it's not just weird formatting of Terra's menu.
*** A lesser example is that none of the permanent playable characters are ever mentioned by name until you are given a chance to [[HelloInsertNameHere choose what that name is.]] This means that if you see a character mentioned by name and you are not given the chance to name them, you know for certain they will never join your party. It also means that, when the name entry screen comes up for a certain ninja before he joins, or a certain airship-owning gambler even before you meet him, you know that they are going to be part of your crew eventually.
*** Similarly, in the SNES version, you're eventually thrown into a battle with a yeti with unique sprites named Umaro. Later translations downplay this FiveSecondForeshadowing by just calling him "Yeti" in the battle screen, and you properly name him after the fight.
*** In the scenario where you have to save Terra from TheEmpire, you get to command Locke and a gang of moogles. All but one of them won't allow you to change their equipment. The moogle whose gear can be changed freely will play a role later on.

*** The digital re-release has an interface spoiler through its achievements notification. When you get to the absolute final battle against Sephiroth with only Cloud, you get to use Cloud's ultimate LimitBreak Omnislash and there's an achievement for it. However, the achievement for Omnislash pops up as soon as the cut scene leading to the one on one battle starts. This can cause new players to immediately know the game isn't quite done yet. It also pops up if the player loses the battle against his OneWingedAngel form.
*** There's an subversion in the achievements as well. There's an achievement for every character using their Level 4 Limit Break, including Aeris/Aerith's. Unless you're specifically going for it, [[spoiler:she won't have enough kills through normal play[[labelnote:Unlocking Limit Breaks]]You have to use the first Limit in each level(e.g. Healing Wind) eight times to unlock the second one(e.g. Seal Evil), then kill 80 enemies ''with the specific character'' after getting the second Limit Break to unlock the next level. At the time Aerith dies, your party members wil likely only have their first Level 2 Limit Break, and maybe their second.[[/labelnote]] before she's killed, and you won't be able to get the achievement on that playthrough. It also caused a variation on the old "Aerith comes back" rumors with the achievement cited as proof you can get her back.]]
*** In a similar subversion, long after [[spoiler:Aerith is dead]], you can still buy [[spoiler:staffs, such as the Fairy Tale]], or win similar weapons, despite the fact that said character never comes back. At this point they are only useful for the "Throw" command. Weapon-wise this is also played straight, however, due to the fact that [[spoiler:Aerith does NOT get an [[InfinityPlusOneSword ultimate weapon]]]].
** The French translation did a Translation Spoiler by mistake: when you first arrive in Nibelheim with Sephiroth, Cloud asks him about his family. During [[spoiler:Sephiroth's MindRape of Cloud in the Whirlwind Maze]], Sephiroth answers "Ma mère s'appelait Jenova" (my mother's name was Jenova). But in the flashback in Kalm, he says "Ma mère était Jenova" (My mother was Jenova). Cue many players scratching theirs heads when he started to go psycho about the whole Jenova thing.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', Chapter 12 sees the player encountering various members of Avalanche as Cloud ascends the Sector 7 pillar. Early on, you'll find Biggs, who has been critically wounded fighting Shinra troops and passes on after having one last conversation with Cloud. However, checking the Chapter Select screen after completing the mission reveals that Biggs is listed as ''comatose'', not dead, which wouldn't make sense considering that he was near the bottom of the pillar when it collapsed. This is a spoiler for TheReveal in the ending that Biggs survived and was moved to the Leaf House in Sector 5, where he awakens from his coma during the final cutscene.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', where there's a certain character that enters your party long after you've met. You even get the chance to rename this character, odd as it might seem.

*** Unlike the other members of your party, Zidane has Trance abilities that have nothing to do with his character class. Whereas everyone else's abilities augment their job-specific skills (Steiner the Knight does more damage; Garnet the Summoner casts stronger spells...), Zidane the Thief inexplicably gains access to a set of appallingly powerful offensive spells that will ''always'' do maximum damage. Even though Zidane's backstory isn't explored until Disc 3, this is a strong hint that there's more to him than meets the eye.
*** If you play the Chocobo Hot and Cold mini-game as soon as you're able to on disc 1, you can obtain Chocographs that show areas that don't match the geography of the current continent, such as barren lands and icy fields compared to the mostly grassy lands you been traveling through. Looking up the "help" info for one of the graphs reveals that there's other continents you will explore besides the Mist Continent.
*** Garnet being a summoner is spoiled as soon as you get control of her at the start of the game due to her Summon command already being available as well as her summons being listed in her ability list. Her summoning abilities isn't brought up until later when her mother extracts her summoning magic from her.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has a fairly subtle one; four of your starting characters have two ATB slots and get a third when they become [[TouchedByVorlons l'Cie]]. Vanille, however, already has three slots before this happens, because [[spoiler:she already was a l'Cie before supposedly getting transformed alongside the rest of them, a fact also hinted at by her relatively high starting stats compared to the normal humans.]]

** Averted, however, with the Eye of the Storm. The player will assume that Orothe is the last zone in the game - simply because they need four [=MacGuffins=], they have them already, and they also have four items needed to bypass obstacles. The player will assume they are going to the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon where they will face Korg, Zet, and Morag. Only to end up with a ''fifth'' zone: Aderial.

*** Averted for Fuuka though, where she plays a purely supporting role but if you go into your party menu you'll find she has a full set of combat stats like everyone else despite never actually entering battle like Mitsuru does.
*** Also averted in that the member of your party who suffers a PlotlineDeath has a full set of learnable skills all the way into the Lv 70s, just like every other party member. By the time the character in question dies, your party is likely to be Level 45-50. In fact, the game also fakes you out by having two associated party members stop learning new skills right before the aforementioned death. This is due to their remaining skills being part of their second-tier Personas, which they don't awaken to until after said death.

*** Averted in regards to the Enepedia. It will [[spoiler:not show the enemies from the Clock Tower until you actually reach that dungeon]].

* Averted in ''VideoGame/NieR'', where the menu screen interface actually changes completely once you gain access to Grimoire Weiss shortly into the game. Before that, pretty much the only thing you could see was a list of your consumable items; these menu items get changed into completely different and much more comprehensive menus once you pick up Weiss.

* ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'' has a rare case of a ''sprite'' spoiler, although it's rather subtle: [[spoiler:Lufia's in-battle and menu sprite shows her wielding a polearm, though it's not her actual weapon of choice in gameplay. Female, blue-haired and using a polearm]]--think back to the beginning of the game. Who else meets that criteria? Averted in ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'' for the SecretCharacter. The Equip Menu has only enough space for the twelve main party members, but that's because [[spoiler:the Egg Dragon]] can't equip any gear.

** Averted with the save file. [[spoiler:On the first week of the game, the save file does not specify Week 1 to avoid spoiling that the game has multiple weeks.]]

** This is also averted in the same game during the mission on [[spoiler:Palaven]]. When [[spoiler:Garrus]] talks off screen they are listed as [[spoiler:Turian Soldier]] in the subtitles. It's not until Shepard and the player actually see them that they are then listed under their own name.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda''. When first encountering the Kett and Remnant on Habitat 7 at the start of the game, they are simply identified as "Unknown". They only get their proper names after you learn their names.

* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' displays race icons in the status window when you mouse over an NPC. This can ruin a bit of a surprise if the character's race ''wasn't'' intended to be obvious, as in the case of [[spoiler:Gar the "World's Smartest Orc"]], who is revealed to be a human before you even talk to him, despite the fact that figuring out his secret requires decent conversation skills. The Mysterious Apparition is an even worse example, being a projection of the BigBad: [[spoiler:his icon is that of a human, but at that point of the story everyone still considers the main villain to be Arronax, who is an elf, and the truth isn't revealed until the final dungeon]]. Averted with Stennar [=RockCutter=], a dwarf [[spoiler:posing as gnome]], whose icon matches his physical appearance rather than his actual race.

** Averted with the [[https://tobyfox.bandcamp.com/album/undertale-soundtrack soundtrack]], which only lets you preview the first 77 tracks on the Bandcamp app and website; the spoiler-tastic remainder of the tracks require you to purchase the soundtrack.

** The [=PS4=] and Vita rerelease [[AvertedTrope avoids]] the trappings of Achievements/Trophies spoiling the plot by having them either be jokes or related to the port-exclusive Dog Shrine.

** Averted in Primrose's route. At the end of [[WhamEpisode Chapter 3]], when [[spoiler:Simeon is revealed as the leader of the Obsidians and the man behind the murder of Primrose's father]], his name is changed to [[spoiler:Simeon, the Puppet Master]].

* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', the games mark which units will you be forced to deploy next chapter. It gives away which series will be the focus next chapter, though sometimes this means they might just [[MidSeasonUpgrade get a new robot]] or [[BigDamnHeroes will appear midway the fight to save the day]]. This is a good thing, since if they're low in upgrades that's your chance to not get stuck in an {{unwinnable}} situation, but still. The Z2 games feature another one in that every unit's map sprite faces either to the left (if it's a protagonist) or to the right (if it's an antagonist). If someone joins up but they're facing right, expect a betrayal (though this part is averted in Z3). The fact that [[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199 the crashed ship on Enceladus]] was [[spoiler:the Yukikaze]] was a plot point that wasn't revealed until the end of a scenario in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV''. However, if you move your cursor over the ship, the map data flat out tells you its name.

** Averted by ''VideoGame/XCOM2''. Now the camera has a chance of panning for any shot taken, even if it's non-lethal - hell, even if it ''misses''.

* Completely {{averted|Trope}} during LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}}'s LetsPlay of ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''. Part 2 of chapter 9 is set up to be the final video of the LP, and as such the navigation at the top of the video does not show a "next" button. This navigation shows up again during the "credits", again no next button. [[spoiler:After Hades interrupts the credits and gives his speech to Pit and Lady Palutena,]] the final shot now shows a next button on the navigation. He does it again in chapter 23.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'': Averted on [[http://www.stevenuniversethemovie.com/ the movie's official website]]; [[spoiler:Spinel’s]] section in the character page lists her name as a set of question marks and uses her silhouette from the original teaser instead of a proper character render. Her image is also the only unselectable one, and attempting to find the url for it by going through the source code will only grant you "gem_question" in lieu of an actual name.