Basic Trope: The cover of a work spoils an important plot twist.
- Straight: The movie "Bob and the Monsters" has a picture of Bob as a werewolf on the cover, despite the fact that Bob doesn't even turn into a werewolf until halfway through the movie.
- Exaggerated: The cover shows the entire ending of the movie with full context as to what's happening.
- Downplayed:
- The cover shows Bob as a werewolf, but he's behind the rest of the cast and could easily just be mistaken for another werewolf. It's more of foreshadowing than a complete spoiler.
- Bob doesn't become a werewolf until around 15 minutes into the movie, but it's still shown on the cover.
- A scene at the end of the movie is shown on the cover, but it doesn't spoil many important plot elements without context as to what's happening.
- Justified: Bob becoming a werewolf is an important part of the movie, even though it doesn't happen until later.
- Inverted:
- Covers Always Lie: Bob is shown as a werewolf, despite the fact that there aren't even any werewolves in the movie.
- Superdickery: The cover implies one thing, while the story says another.
- Subverted: A werewolf is shown right behind Bob on the cover, and there are signs pointing to the fact that Bob will become a werewolf... but he actually becomes a werecat.
- Double Subverted: However, Alice as a zombie is also seen on the cover, and Alice also becomes a zombie.
- Parodied: The cover has arrows pointing to the werewolf that state "That's Bob!". However, everyone in the movie is shocked when Bob becomes a werewolf later in the film.
- Zig-Zagged: A werewolf version of Bob is shown on the cover. Bob later becomes a werewolf... but it turns out it was All Just a Dream. Then he becomes a werewolf again... but that was actually Alice. This continues for the rest of the movie until the ending scene shows him finally becoming a werewolf for real... but then The Stinger implies that may not have happened.
- Averted: The cover of the work doesn't spoil anything.
- Enforced:
- "The werewolf design looks really cool, let's show it on the cover!" "But Bob doesn't even become a werewolf until later..." "Eh, let's put it there anyway!"
- The movie is based on an existing work, where the plot twist is so well-known that it's basically a Foregone Conclusion and maybe the only thing that most people know about the work.
- The cover is based on an early draft which had Bob as a werewolf from the very start.
- Lampshaded: "Bob turned into a werewolf... just like they showed on the cover!"
- Invoked: Bob intentionally becomes a werewolf so that the cover art will come true.
- Exploited: Due to the movie's cover art showing the events of the film, the characters can figure out what happens next.
- Defied:
- The film's producers veto any cover art that spoils important plot elements.
- Bob is aware of the cover art for his movie, and avoids any scenarios where he'd be likely to turn into a werewolf.
- Discussed: "Huh. I could've sworn there was a poster that showed you as a werewolf..."
- Conversed: "That scene doesn't even happen until the end, and they used it as the cover art?!"
- Implied: There's a scene late in the movie that implies that Bob could've become a werewolf, but it's never specified if he actually does.
- Played for Horror:
- Alice finds a film poster titled "Alice's Death" and with a picture of her dead on the cover. True enough, she dies.
- Alice finds a film poster titled "Alice's Slaughter" and with a picture of her as a Serial Killer on the cover. She is driven to homicidal insanity by the poster.
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