History Main / TrollingCreator

** Many of the more ridiculous looking Mobile Armors or battleships (especially the Zanscare machines in ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'') were Tomino's response to Sunrise wanting toy models to sell. He'd see just how stupid looking he could make them and still have them accepted. Apparently something similar was going on with the names of the machines as well, which is why you have Mobile Suits named things like "Gouf", "Hamma-Hamma", "Zssa", and "[[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Birkenau]]".

** After ''VideoGame/Tekken8'' was announced, Harada made an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G0Ejwj8ICs announcement]] for their calls for more details about the game. Said announcement consisted of him wearing a shirt with the date for that year's Video Game Awards show, and a brief addition in English:

* Horikoshi Kohei seems to positively delight in tweaking ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fans about the "UA traitor" subplot. After the idea was introduced, it went untouched for such a long time that some readers wondered if it had been abandoned entirely; allegedly, when asked about it during an interview, Horikoshi claimed he'd forgotten about the plot thread, which very few readers believed. Then in Chapter 241, Kaminari (the fandom's #1 suspect) seemingly performed the Paranormal Liberation Front's hand gesture during a mock interview, driving the EpilepticTrees through the roof...and in the very next chapter Horikoshi took an axe to them by having Principal Nezu very definitively state "Whoever the traitor is, it's ''not'' one of the students" after reviewing all the information they'd gathered. [[spoiler:And then the traitor turned out to be one of the students - - namely Yuga Aoyama, [[TheDogWasTheMastermind who was not focused on enough to show any evidence for or against said role]] and whose reasons to be the traitor, while sympathetic[[note]] he was Quirkless and his parents desperately made a deal with All For One to give him a Quirk in exchange for his spying namely his navel laser[[/note]] also were not foreshadowed[[note]]the navel laser is AwesomeButImpractical and hurts him if he overuses it because his body was literally not made for it, but nearly everybody else in the class has a potential for being hurt by their Quirks if they overuse it such as Denki or even Todoroki, so it was not exactly the biggest of clues.[[/note]].

* Horikoshi Kohei seems to positively delight in tweaking ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fans about the "UA traitor" subplot. After the idea was introduced, it went untouched for such a long time that some readers wondered if it had been abandoned entirely; allegedly, when asked about it during an interview, Horikoshi claimed he'd forgotten about the plot thread, which very few readers believed. Then in Chapter 241, Kaminari (the fandom's #1 suspect) seemingly performed the Paranormal Liberation Front's hand gesture during a mock interview, driving the EpilepticTrees through the roof...and in the very next chapter Horikoshi took an axe to them by having Principal Nezu very definitively state "Whoever the traitor is, it's ''not'' one of the students" after reviewing all the information they'd gathered.

* The creators of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' can be like this. They admitted to doing things like intentionally giving [[TheScrappy the Murderous Moppets]] more screentime and bringing back the Ghost Pirate (who viewers didn't care much about) at every opportunity. The episode ''The Revenge Society'' was a playful TakeThatAudience. It took the long-awaited return of the most competent villain on the show, Phantom Limb, and turned him into a raving lunatic (he got better), and also revealed that the entire ORB MacGuffin hunt from the previous season was completely pointless.

* Creator/JhonenVasquez [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/37036d8f1d3fc85da6a3cebb9c7cb56e/tumblr_mmk20orkbq1qg60xro2_500.jpg occasionally]] enjoys [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/567578f47f724440a0bfc5d0acdbc817/tumblr_mmk20orkbq1qg60xro1_1280.jpg prodding his fans.]]

* The first season of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' ended on a cliffhanger as everyone waited to learn who Cartman's father was. The reveal was promised to come on April 1, but after teasing the answer with "Now, finally, the shocking truth about Cartman's lineage…" Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone threw in an April Fools Joke at the public with "Not Without my Anus", an episode starring Terrence and Phillip, the boys' favorite Canadian TV stars. Cartman's father's identity ''is'' mentioned during "Not Without My Anus," but it's almost completely drowned out by Terrence and Phillip's laughter, so it's extremely easy to miss, and was not properly revealed until several weeks later. Many viewers were not pleased. Oh, and [[spoiler:the identity of Cartman's father was subject to a RetCon years later anyhow.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Creator/AlexHirsch went to the trouble of creating a fake spoiler image, leaking it to the fanbase, and then [[http://i.imgur.com/YlMO5Hz.jpg tweeting about it]] a few days after it was deemed to be inaccurate. The hoax was revealed over a year later when an episode aired that disproved the leaked image, and [[https://twitter.com/_alexhirsch/status/536054960018825217 Hirsch himself admitted to the gambit]]. He later explained that he did this because the fanbase [[IKnewIt prematurely put together the clues to one of the show's biggest mysteries]], and he wanted to lead them off the trail while figuring out how to deal with such a problem. Ironically, the RedHerring may have helped fans get ''closer'' to the full picture, as even those who weren't fooled started paying more attention to the character shown in the fake "leak", leading to many correctly guessing the ''actual'' role the character played in the show's mythos.

** In the show's final episode, we finally learn the importance of the Zodiac Wheel that appears at the beginning and end of every episode. [[spoiler:Its purpose is suitably grand and epic... and also ends up [[RedHerring completely pointless to the story]]. Hirsch later admitted that it was always meant more as a RuleOfCool way of showing major character connections than anything else.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': In November 2016, series creator Daron Nefcy sent out a context-less [[https://i.reddituploads.com/0abbf616881e4c989c9dcf96a54ffa79?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=e957586edcf06c718e56e2c615e387e9 "Sorry not sorry" tweet]] that left her followers baffled as to what she was talking about. Two hours later, "[[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS2E27BonBonTheBirthdayClown Bon Bon the Birthday Clown]]" first aired, enraging many shippers.
* The Super Bowl LIII halftime show playing "Sicko Mode" instead of "Sweet Victory" as everybody requested while also giving the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' cast little screen time might have been the [=NFL=] attempting to troll the notoriously-unsatisfiable ''[=SpongeBob=]'' fandom. Originally, fans gave Nickelodeon heat for this, but they clarified that the song lineup wasn't their decision.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' showrunner Frank Angones revealed on his Tumblr that at least one character shown on the season 3 poster would not survive the season 2 finale, and they would be a major character to boot. Fan speculation ran wild... until the finale aired, and the deaths were shown: [[spoiler:one of the Lil' Bulbs, two of Gyro's clones (technically filling the "major character" criteria, particularly since Gyro had forgotten which one of him was the original), and [[CompanionCube Watermelon!Mickey Mouse]].]] And yes, all of them were on the poster.

* The creators of ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' promised that while Raphael was currently the leader, Leonardo would eventually step up to become the leader of the team like in every other incarnation. [[spoiler:Splinter teased that he may bceome the leader during the last few seconds of the '''''series finale'''''.]] In ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheMovie'', set after the series, [[spoiler:Raphael is captured and Leo must step up to become the leader in his absence.]]

* Creator/LittleKuriboh isn't usually this, but he ''does'' like his AprilFoolsDay pranks! A good example is [[https://youtu.be/U3J4X5_AU6o&feature=relmfu episode 7.5]] of ''LetsPlay/MarikPlaysBloodlines'', with the official description [[TheUnreveal 'In which all your questions are answered.']]

** While it came out that Sakurai wasn't the one that chose to make [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]] playable, the reveal trailer did poke fun at ''Franchise/FireEmblem''[='s=] reputation in the ''Smash'' community when Sothis quips "[[MemeAcknowledgment Too many swordsmen, are there?]]"

* Creator/MickHerron initially promoted 2023 spy novel ''Literature/TheSecretHours'' as a standalone book, not part of his Literature/JacksonLamb series. In an [[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/10/author-mick-herron-slough-house-slow-horses-spy-fiction-secret-hours-interview interview with the Guardian]] he stated that although it's in the same [[TheVerse shared setting]], "Jackson Lamb’s name is never mentioned". [[spoiler:Lamb is one of the main characters, but it's mostly set in 1994 Berlin and he was using an alias]].

** The channel is notable for pulling April Fools' pranks on viewers. Perhaps the most (in)famous example was in 2017, where they aired the season 3 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' completely unannounced at the exact same time that a new episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'''s fifth season was supposed to air, causing it to get delayed until the week after. Not very many people were amused by this.
*** Of course, Genndy Tartakovsky himself has been pulling this for all of Season 5, and nowhere is it more obvious than the series's penultimate episode. The preview of the episode showed nothing except Jack coming across a large group of ruined robotic warriors, many of them giant, and remarking on how he knew that place, which many fans also recognized as [[spoiler:the lair of The Guardian from Season 3, who protected the time portal that Jack was apparently ''destined'' to use]]. Then we find out that [[spoiler:that portal was destroyed as well, and the Guardian is nowhere to be seen; only his red sunglasses in front of the destroyed portal, which are cracked.]] And that's not even mentioning the cruel cliffhanger at the end of the episode, which he complements by ''not showing so much as a second from the next episode.'' What makes this worse is that [[spoiler:The Guardian]]'s [[Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson voice actor]] was credited for the season, but he only provided voice work for the sixth episode, in which he [[TheBusCameBack reprised some returning characters he voiced before]] (none of which were [[spoiler:the Guardian]]) and provided the voice for a member of a trio of dogs that ruin Scaramouche's attempt to contact Aku, meaning that Tartakovsky has been stringing fans along in the cruelest possible way.

* The author of ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'', [=NeoArtimus=], had a nice record of {{teasing|Creator}}, and occasionally {{lying|Creator}} to fans during the development of the series. This said, the ending of [[ScheduleSlip the rather long awaited]] ''Part 4/4'' pushed her straight into troll territory. [[note]]WordOfGod does confirm that the main reason to do this way was practical; the conclusion would have been too long otherwise.[[/note]]
-->''To be concluded...\\
In Part 5/4''\\
[[spoiler:''The reason there is a part 5/4 is because it simply got way too long. Heck, part 5 still is probably going to be the longest part even being split like this. I really want to take my time on this part as I've seen lots of stories be ruined by a sloppy ending.'']]

* ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalisIV: Since players complained that the "comet sighted" event only showed one possible choice (which caused a -1 stability drop), the developers added many new choices, but they all result in the same outcome as the original one.

* When the ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'' fangame ''VideoGame/HoloCure'' announced [[https://twitter.com/HoloCureGame/status/1656778815102914560 the game's release to Steam]], the announced was dressed up as a formal letter, which many in both the video game and ''Hololive'' fandom associate with bad news (such as a game cancelation or idol graduation/termination), which isn't helped by the wording of the first half of the letter implying bad news.

** This isn't the first time it's happened. There was a leak of a Cure Symphony in ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure''. [[spoiler:It never came to be, and was intentionally made to throw off people who uncovered the identity of Cure Sunshine in Heartcatch a year earlier.]]

* When summaries and magazines announced that, after [[ArcFatigue a long, long stretch or episodes]], Ash and co. from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' were finally in Nimbasa Town, people assumed that the "town" part was a mistake, as the gang were supposed to go to Nimbasa ''City'' for Ash's next Gym. When the episode aired, we learned that, yes, they were in Nimbasa ''Town'', and still had a while to go before they reached Nimbasa City. Understandably, Ash and his friends are pretty shocked by this. It helps that he's [[BlatantLies a friend]] of Creator/AtsuhiroTomioka.

** The writers have occasionally teased the audience by making it look like they're finally going to reveal [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield which state Springfield is in.]] Examples include Lisa about to point it out on a US map just before Bart walks in front of the camera and a celebrity cameo flying to Springfield by going to the airport and buying a plane ticket to "the state where Springfield is located."

* Thomas Astruc, the creator of ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' qualifies as one. He teased his viewers that Chloe would never get a Miraculous (she got the Bee Miraculous in season 2), Felix won't ever appear (he made his first appearance in the 23rd produced episode of season 3), Mayura will be Hawkmoth's boss (she's treated more like his ally), there will be a zombie apocalypse in Paris (there was one in Zombizou though), and that Gabriel will use the Peacock Miraculous to save the city, but he will be too ashamed to wear a dress, so he will let Paris die instead and there is a rumor he lied to his audience by believing Chloe will never get redeemed post-Battle of the Miraculous.

* ''WebOriginal/WellBeRightBack'': In a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCp5q0O0bdI behind-the-scenes video]] showing off how [=TapeWorm=] makes her videos using real VHS tapes, she is about to explain how the [=TeleBlue=] cable boxes work before it cuts to a TV test pattern.

* ''WebOriginal/WellBeRightBack'': In a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCp5q0O0bdI behind-the-scenes video]] showing off how [=TapeWorm=] makes her videos using real VHS tapes, she is about to explain how the [=TeleBlue=] cable boxes work before it cuts to a TV test pattern.---> '''Dan:''' Goddammit Ross!!! Aaaagh!!!

---> '''Dan:''' Goddammit Ross!!! Aaaagh!!!

* ''Animation/AgentAli'': On 29th Februaury 2020, the official ''Agent Ali'' [=YouTube=] channel posted a video titled [[https://youtu.be/QlQzwrtJIxM ejen "ali the movie FULL 2019."]] Instead of the actual film, however, the video is an animated loop of [[TeamPet Comot]] dancing to the movie's "Mamak Maju" song for the same duration as that of the movie.