Basic Trope: Rather than end how you think it will, the story takes a sharp turn and ends a different way.
- Straight: Bob was seemingly murdered by his wife Alice. At the end, it's revealed he wasn't. He committed suicide and framed his wife.
- Exaggerated: Bob was seemingly murdered by his wife Alice, but it's later revealed he killed himself. Only, he's not dead. And Alice couldn't have killed Bob because she died a long time ago and we've been following her ghost. And then it turns out that the whole thing was a simulation.
- Downplayed: Bob wasn't murdered by Alice. He killed himself, but she helped him. She's then arrested for assisted suicide instead of murder.
- Justified: If Bob having committed suicide were known, it would ruin his plans. So, he tried to cast as much suspicion on his wife as he could and tried to hide as much evidence that he killed himself as possible. But he couldn't hide or cast everything.
- Inverted: The work opens with Bob dead and Alice seemingly having killed him. By the end of the first scene, it's revealed that Bob actually killed himself and the rest of the work is trying to find out why. So, a twist beginning.
- Subverted: It really seems like they're leading to a twist ending where Alice didn't kill Bob because the clues are too obvious for the ending to be straightforward, but then it turns out that Alice actually did kill Bob.
- Double Subverted: Then the detective investigating the murder realizes there's a clue that was never addressed. He looks into it and discovers that Bob actually did kill himself.
- Parodied: During the summation, the detective reveals that Alice didn't murder Bob...because they're all mannequins. We then see the entire cast as mannequins and a cameo from M. Night Shyamalan who looks around and mutters "Amateurs".
- Zig Zagged: It seems it really wasn't Alice, only it turns out it was! However, that was all a manipulation by an unknown third party, however they were contracted by her as a plot to seem innocent by default, so it really was her. Or was it?
- Averted: The story ends in a very linear and predictable fashion, without any surprising revelations.
- Enforced:
- The story of Bob's suspected murder is part of a series that always has a twist ending.
- The hero's actor died in an on-set accident during the shooting of what should have been the hero's triumph and his doubles weren't alike enough for the non-battle scenes that were to follow.
- Lampshaded: "It's a murder mystery, there's always a twist somewhere in the case."
- Invoked: Alice is afraid of how it would look if Bob killed himself, so she withholds the evidence of his suicide. She only plans to reveal the truth if there's a chance she'll be fingered for his death.
- Exploited: Bob killed himself, but Charlie helped him. When Charlie sees that the investigation is focusing on Alice, he helps out the investigation as much as possible then runs. By the time the investigators realize what happened, Charlie's fled to a country that has a non-extradition treaty with his municipality.
- Defied: Alice realizes that people will suspect her for Bob's murder until the surprise revelation, so she brings forth airtight evidence that Bob killed himself as soon as possible.
- Discussed: "This isn't like in the movies, a giant pterodactyl isn't going to swoop down and change everything in the end of the third act.
- Conversed: "This show always has a Twist Ending. By now you'd think the characters might make some contingency plans for inevitable pterodactyl attacks."
- Implied: The detectives arrest Alice after a standard investigation reveals she's the one who murdered Bob. However the detectives close the case with a bad feeling they can never put their finger on, and viewers who rewatch the episode can deduce she was framed from background evidence.
- Deconstructed: Just when the mystery seems wrapped up, a shocking revelation turns everything on its head. However, rather than accept this turn of events the detectives realize it's a little too convenient and see it as a last, desperate gambit by one of the suspects and react accordingly.
- Reconstructed: Only to realize that this strange twist of the case was unavoidable and would have happened whatever they had done.
- Played For Laughs: The Mouse falls on the real culprit, panicking them into dropping key incriminating evidence.
- Played For Drama: Diabolus ex Machina, And Then John Was a Zombie.
Back to Twist Ending.
