History Main / TheUnReveal

** Vaarsuvius's gender is left ambiguous, and multiple attempts by other characters to discern their gender end in [=Unreveals=]. For instance, when they're [[BalefulPolymorph turned into a lizard]], Belkar lifts their tail and comments: "You know, if I knew more about reptilian reproductive anatomy, I'm sure this would answer a lot of questions." When V's application to join the adventuring party is shown, there is an ink smudge in the blank for "Gender", which they refuse to correct, citing the possibility of getting ink on their robe, and remarking that the question is irrelevant anyway. When the other characters stop to use the men's and women's bathrooms, V doesn't have to go, and later it's mentioned that, while camping, V always turns invisible before peeing, to annoy Belkar.

** In the Tenmyouji ending, Tenmyouji states that he knows who Zero is, and then he and Quark [[spoiler:escape through the number 9 door, leaving everyone else behind forever,]] before he says who it is.

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EnvpRfsTPE one of the promotional videos]] for Music/{{Nightwish}}'s album ''Human. :II: Nature'', Troy Donockley claims that the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy29T7LBM_I "Harvest"]] contains the secret to the whole album and is about to explain what it is... when somebody offscreen tells him to put a mask on because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [[TheUnintelligible After that, you can't understand a thing he says for the rest of the video.]] Well played, Troy...

* The carriage at the end of ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood''. For some reason, they ''never'' show who or what was pulling it in the first place given the fact that everyone in this version [[FurryConfusion is an anthropomorphic animal]]…

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

** The Re:Mind DLC of VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII teases at the Master of Master's real name in a flashback seventy-five years before the game takes place. [[spoiler:Young Master Xehanort]] outright asks what is name is, but all the Master of Master's says is "My name is-" with the name itself the subject of PlotBasedVoiceCancellation. And judging from [[spoiler:Xehanort's]] expression, whatever the name is, it looks like he's heard it before.

* ''Letsplay/{{Gamingandstuff}}'': In Episode 13 of the ''Videogame/{{PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers}} of Sky'', he is using a webcam... but only features his neck and below.

* Old Jungle Saying: He who sees ComicStrip/ThePhantom's face unmasked will die a horrible death. In nearly 70 years of publishing, the only ones who've seen it and lived have been his family and associated hangers-on.

** Tom Siddell loves this trope. Chapter 38: Divine opens InMediasRes with an Annified Zimmie running through a dreamscape, and goes on to be about Annie being in some sort of coma hooked up to a heart monitor, and Zimmie [[JourneyToTheCentreOfTheMind entering her mind]] to wake her up and encountering a lot of symbolic stuff. The bonus strip, "Important", is [[{{Narrator}} Tea]] offering an explanation… [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1057 of how a heart monitor works]].

* On ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', in the Strong Bad Email [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail162.html the chair]], Strong Bad rips off his mask, gurgles in pain, says he'll never do it again, then offhandedly shows a picture of his parents. The catch? A new, high-backed chair means the audience can't see any of it. Even using a flash decompiler on the cartoon is of no help, as the photo is revealed to say [[http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/the_chair#Easter_Eggs "Nice try, dodongo!"]]. Naturally, the two unrevealed things are two of the biggest mysteries of Homestar Runner.

** Everyone else in Free Country understanding The Cheat's squeaking perfectly is just one of the running gags of the site. Mostly used for implied cuss words a la [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Kenny McCormick]]. (The Brothers Chaps have stated somewhere that they intend to reveal just how Strong Bad types with boxing gloves on someday, it's just that ''they don't know'' yet.)

** There's an in-universe version [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0852.html here.]] The readers already know it's Tarquin, but the characters don't.

** On the morning of the 1996 US presidential election, ''The New York Times'' crossword puzzle contained this clue: "Title for 39-Across tomorrow." The answer was MISTER PRESIDENT. The remarkable feature of the puzzle is that 39-Across could be answered either CLINTON or BOB DOLE (the two major candidates), and all the Down clues and answers that crossed it would work either way (e.g., "Black Halloween animal" could be either BAT or CAT depending on which answer you filled in at 39-Across). The complete crossword is available [[http://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/5/1996 here]].

* We have this with a ''Anime/KillLaKill'' fic, titled ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11037352/1/%E9%A3%9B%E9%B3%A5-Asuka Asuka]]'', in which it was never made clear if its either Ryuuko or Satsuki who's terminally ill and nicknamed "Asuka" or which of the sisters was narrating and, after [[spoiler: "Asuka" dies of her illness]], we still never find out who's who, let alone how old she was. The fact 'Asuka" is never called her real name, if she's referred to by such, in the narration doesn't help this.

* In ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'', Dr. Kit Bennett appears to know [[Series/DoctorWho the Tenth Doctor]], Literature/SherlockHolmes, and Dr. John Watson in their futures. At the end of her introductory episode, she shows the Doctor a locket that seems to tell him ''exactly'' who she is... But Holmes and Watson are left in the dark and so are the readers.
* The ''Naruto'' oneshot ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10811584/1/Family-Resemblance Family Resemblance]]'' is about Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Sakura arguing who a newborn Sarada looks like. When Sasuke tries to give his opinion, he stops himself mid-sentence. It's unclear if Sasuke thinks Sarada looks like his brother Itachi or his mother Mikoto.

* [[Creator/DetsniyOffSkiword Profesor Layton Vs Jack The Raper]] does this with [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper Jack The Raper]] at one point, where his FaceFramedInShadow is revealed, except the characters don't recognize it.

** In a hilarious moment, just before the final fight with Tai Lung, Po is given a pep talk from his adoptive father -- and just when it seems Mr. Ping is about to admit that the panda is not his biological son (presumably to suggest he doesn't have to limit himself to a future in noodle-making), he instead reveals the secret ingredient of his special recipe. To clarify: the ''panda'''s adoptive father is a ''goose''. However, in [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2 the sequel]], Po trying to figure out [[OrphansOrdeal how and why his birth parents abandoned him]] becomes one of the twin engines driving the story.

* In ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'', there's a running gag in which Trusty the Bloodhound is about to mention some sage-like advice his grandfather Old Reliable used to give him, only to be told that he's already told it to the main characters some time before. At the very end when he's about to tell it to Lady and the Tramp's puppies, he realizes that he's completely forgotten what Old Reliable said to him now, so we the audience never learn what the advice was.

* A "Pigs in Space" skit on ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' features the Swinetrek approaching the edge of the Universe, beyond which lies The Meaning of Life. Unfortunately, it's interrupted by a Muppet News Flash to announce that they're close to discovering The Meaning of Life. When we return to the sketch it's over, and the crew missed it as well (It was lunchtime, and apparently swill stroganoff is more important than the Meaning of Life). The narrator then reveals that he saw it, but when pressed further he chants "I know something you don't know!"

* When King Trode finally gets turned from a troll back to a human at the end of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII''. [[spoiler: he looks pretty much exactly the same. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtqZzkR9rus&t=4m42s Naturally Yangus finds this hilarious.]]]]

** There's actually a behind the scenes reason for that. One of Disney's rules they set for Square was that Mickey Mouse could not be featured prominently in the game, as they didn't want the game to piggyback off his popularity. They could show him, at most as a quick cameo for a few seconds. Square got around that by making him the "King" who Donald and Goofy are searching for, but never manage to catch up to until the very end of the game, where he is still in shadow except for one brief (ie: the cameo) moment where he turns and you can see his face. It works too, because even though the "King" is obviously Mickey (personal seal is the Mouse symbol, Minnie is his queen and Donald, Goofy and Daisy are his court) his name is never mentioned and he never shows up until that one scene. If Disney was mad about Square playing around with their rule they never said as much, because ''KH'' was such a massive success they gave Square unrestricted access to Mickey from that point onwards, hence Mickey becoming a major player in later games.

* A discouragingly large amount of the plot of ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' goes unexplained, despite constantly dropped hints that the ''next'' bit of dialogue or the ''next'' cutscene will explain something important, and the game being made by Squaresoft, a company that loves its exposition so much its works will usually go into detail about anything and everything they can. The biggest [=unreveal=], and the only one the game goes out of its way to point out to the player, is the significance of Ashley's dead family; maybe he genuinely had a wife and son who were killed by thugs during a family picnic... or maybe he murdered an innocent family in the course of his duties as a soldier, and through a combination of his own grief and advanced brainwashing techniques, managed to convince himself they were his family rather than face up to the truth.

* On ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', in the Strong Bad Email [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail162.html the chair]], Strong Bad rips off his mask, gurgles in pain, says he'll never do it again, then offhandedly shows a picture of his parents. The catch? A new, high-backed chair means the audience can't see any of it. Even using a flash decompiler on the cartoon is of no help, as the photo is revealed to say [[http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/the_chair#Easter_Eggs "Nice try, dodongo!"]]. Naturally, the two [=Unrevealed=] things are two of the biggest mysteries of Homestar Runner.

* The cast of ''Webcomic/CuantaVida'' does some investigation into [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the nature of the nonsensical war]] they're fighting, but ultimately come up completely empty. WordOfGod is that the comic takes place twenty years after VideoGame/TeamFortress2, so the [[spoiler: automated nature of the war's recruitment and supplies really ''has'' just been left on after the end, and there isn't anything to find.]]

** Chapter 42: Catalyst also opens InMediasRes with Annie and Smitty running away from something ("That didn't exactly go to plan!"), meeting up with Mr Eglamore and Parley, and them all running. We then cut to Annie telling the story to Kat. When Kat asks what they were running from, Annie says she'd rather talk about Kat's SecretAdmirer. Eventually, we get a flashback to shortly before it happened ... and then we see the scene from pretty much the same perspective, ''still'' with no sign of what they're running from.

** On a related note, it is known to the characters and the audience that the [[DomedHometown Great Barrier]] keeps monsters out of the City during the day and recharges at night, leaving the City vulnerable to moster attacks for several hours each night. The exact nature of this barrier, however, is left ambiguous, as is [[CityInABottle whatever exists outside of the barrier, if anything]]. In [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-17-page-11 Chapter 17]], Bud and Harley end up near the Outer Barrier while on patrol one night, and the following page reveals what they see: [[spoiler:a short wall overgrown with flowers, with everything above concealed by static, indicating that the Great Barrier is under the same amnesia effect mentioned above]].

* ''Letsplay/{{Gamingandstuff}}'': In Episode 13 of the Videogame/{{PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers}} of Sky he is using a webcam...but only features his neck and below

** A boy is born with a genetic abnormality that will eventually lead to an early death. Every year on his birthday, the boy asks his father for a small, yellow ball. Eventually, the boy's disease becomes too severe and he ends up on his deathbed. Knowing his father is curious about his birthday requests, he tells his father "The reason I always asked for a small, yellow ball was..." then dies.

* The 1950's novelty song by Phil Harris, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2H6qC23RPY "The Thing"]], has the protaganist struggling to rid himself of a !!!, which is drummed over every time it is mentioned.

* ''Series/{{Tweenies}}'', "Being Really Old": The last lines of dialog are the titular characters (kids not more than 5 years old) asking one of their caretakers at playgroup (he's really old): "How old are you?" "Well, if you must know..." Cut to credits.

* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin: Tides of Time'' ends with [[spoiler: Ecco disappearing into time. WordOfGod says he indeed [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had a specific idea in mind, and it involved the Atlanteans]]...but then there was no ''Ecco 3''.]]

* In ''WebComic/BobAndGeorge'' [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/050413c I give you . . . Mega Man X]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'', the true name of Sweetgrass Voice, [[TheUnpronounceable on account of its being a demon.]]
** Also, Ed's real name. [[spoiler: But in the end, he chose Ed.]]
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has done this twice: once with the history behind Sarah and Tedd's rivalry, and once with [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-07-01 Ellen's odd sleeping habits]]. Both eventually got resolved.
** It has been done again, this time with Tedd's [[spoiler:magical impairment]]. This also eventually gets resolved.

* The [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything]] in [[http://wayofthemetagamer.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/32960 this]] ''Webcomic/TheWayOfTheMetagamer'' comic.
** Ripping your own comic to shreds to conceal "42"? Talk about overkill!

* This ''Webcomic/{{Nedroid}}'' [[http://www.nedroid.com/beartatoparty/rightbug-beartato2.gif fan art]]. For those interested, Webcomic/{{Nedroid}} himself later answered this question on [[http://nedroid.com/about-2/ his "about" page.]]

* In the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' [[FanWebComics fan comic]] ''[[http://acastledivided.weebly.com/ A Castle Divided]]'', Yoshi Kid (a.k.a. the Great Gonzales Jr.) is about to tell Goombario what his real name is when he gets cut off. This was obviously done because the Yoshi partner is [[HelloInsertNameHere named by the player]], thus ''has'' no official real name.

** Also, [[http://www.thewotch.com/index.php?epDate=2006-03-20 this conversation]].
* The Serpent's identity in ''Webcomic/{{Zap}}''. It was so obvious that a guest comic spoiled it months before it was officially revealed. One may argue that this was just a setup, and the real reveal was [[spoiler: Zap's identity instead]].

[[caption-width-right:330:[[MultilayerFacade A second]] DominoMask ''and'' FaceFramedInShadow? Well played, [[CoatHatMask Tuxedo Mask]].]]

* PlayedForLaughs ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'':

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'':

** After defeating [[[HumanoidAbomination Darth Nihilus]], you get the option to remove his mask or let one of your companions do it. If you do it yourself, his cloak simply collapses, revealing nothing beneath, implying that Nihilus' physical body has long corroded. If your companion does it, the body remains, but his face is hidden by SceneryCensor. If asked, your companion will say that Nihilus looked like "A man. Nothing more.

** One story arc has Haley start speaking in a cypher as a result of trauma partly caused by her (at the time) unrequited love for Elan. A cleric tells her that her affliction will clear up when she is ready to reveal the secret, so in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0309.html this strip]], she tries to tell Elan various secrets (but none of them is ''the'' secret that will cure her). Decrypted, her secrets are: "Elan, I'm in love with you. Completely in love. ? My dad is being held ransom by an evil dictator. ? I'm not really in the Thieves' Guild anymore. ? I cheat at solitaire. ? I have a tattoo you've never seen. ? I kissed a girl once. – OK, OK, more than once! ? Elan, it turns out I may not be exactly what you would call..."

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the elven wizard Vaarsuvius's gender is left ambiguous, and multiple attempts by other characters to discern their gender end in [=Unreveals=]. For instance, when they're [[BalefulPolymorph turned into a lizard]], Belkar lifts their tail and comments: "You know, if I knew more about reptilian reproductive anatomy, I'm sure this would answer a lot of questions." When V's application to join the adventuring party is shown, there is an ink smudge in the blank for "Gender", which they refuse to correct, citing the possibility of getting ink on their robe, and remarking that the question is irrelevant anyway. When the other characters stop to use the men's and women's bathrooms, V doesn't have to go, and later it's mentioned that, while camping, V always turns invisible before peeing, to annoy Belkar.

It appears that a TheReveal is being set up... [[SubvertedTrope but there's no reveal in the end.]]

It appears that a [[TheReveal reveal]] is being set up... [[SubvertedTrope but there's no reveal in the end.]]

* The first half of the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' / ''Franchise/StarWars'' crossover fic ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'' teases the possibility of learning [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords Darth Nihilus's]] real name by having Nihilus's spirit [[WithholdingTheirName censor any mention of his original name]] in the flashbacks that Jaune sees while DreamingOfTimesGoneBy. In the chapter "[[Recap/JauneArcLordOfHungerGnawing Gnawing]]", it seems that Nihilus is finally about to do a GivenNameReveal during a flashback where he's introducing himself to Darth Traya... only for Traya to cut him off at the last second and tell him that it doesn't matter what his name once was.

* The first half of the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' / ''Franchise/StarWars'' crossover fic ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'' teases the possibility of learning [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords Darth Nihilus's]] real name by having Nihilus's spirit [[WithholdingTheirName censor any mention of his original name]] in the flashbacks that Jaune sees while DreamingOfTimesGoneBy. In the chapter "[[Recap/JauneArcLordOfHungerGnawing Gnawing]]", it seems that Nihilus is finally about to do a GivenNameReveal during a flashback where he's introducing himself to Darth Traya... only for Traya to cut him off at the last second and tell him that it doesn't matter.

* It hasn't been revealed (yet) how Verity Carter from ''FanFic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' was ponified without becoming a TechnicallyLivingZombie and ExtremeDoormat. Other stories have been incredibly tight-lipped about whatever it was that ponified her, to the point of it almost becoming a RunningGag.

* In ''Fanfic/PinkPersonalHellAndAlteringFate'', there is so much foreshadowing that the revelation that Dominic is really Nickel Steel isn't exactly much of a shock. If anything, the "twist" isn't so much ''who'' Nickel Steel really was, but ''how'' Dominic became Nickel Steel.
* [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/38135/Who-We-Are "Who We Are"]] is centered around [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight and the other Mane Six]] learning that one of them (besides Twilight) has been a changeling the whole time. Halfway through, it becomes apparent that the real point is that, after everything they have gone through together, their personalities and friendships are completely genuine, and when Twilight is finally able to unmask the changeling, she refuses to look [[spoiler:and so does everypony else. The changeling reveals herself to the others of her own volition later, and the others reaffirm their love and acceptance, but the narration does not display who she is]].
* In ''FanFic/TheCaptainOfTheVirtualConsole'', despite catching a Dugtrio, Red and Gancena never find out what its body looks like.

* We have this with a Anime/KillLaKill fic, titled ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11037352/1/%E9%A3%9B%E9%B3%A5-Asuka Asuka]]'', in which it was never made clear if its either Ryuuko or Satsuki who's terminally ill and nicknamed "Asuka" or which of the sisters was narrating and, after [[spoiler: "Asuka" dies of her illness]], we still never find out who's who, let alone how old she was. The fact 'Asuka" is never called her real name, if she's referred to by such, in the narration doesn't help this.

* [[Creator/DetsniyOffSkiword Profesor Layton Vs Jack The Raper]] does this with [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper Jack The Raper]] at one point, where his FaceFramedInShadow is revealed, except the characters don't recognize it.

* ''Fanfic/TheGreatStarshipBattle'' ends abruptly without revealing who the "mysterious benefactor" is.
* Shego's real name isn't revealed in ''Fanfic/TheTouchOfGreenFire'' or its two sequels. It's only hinted that it begins with an "s" but isn't "Shannon".
* The ''Naruto'' oneshot ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10811584/1/Family-Resemblance Family Resemblance]]'' is about Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Sakura arguing who a newborn Sarada looks like. When Sasuke tries to give his opinion, he stops himself mid-sentence. It's unclear if Sasuke thinks Sarada looks like his brother Itachi or his mother Mikoto.