This is a list of tropes concerning a character having a realization about something.
See also Surprise Tropes.
Tropes:
- Beam of Enlightenment
- Beautiful All Along: A supposedly plain or unattractive character is revealed to be beautiful.
- Being Watched: Realizing someone has been secretly watching you.
- Confirm Before Reveal: A character asks a quick question about something they're about to reveal before revealing it.
- Dangerous Interrogative: A character realizes that they are about to enter a world of hurt when being asked a question.
- Delayed Reaction: It takes someone longer to realize something than they should.
- Epiphany Comeback
- "Eureka!" Moment
- Face Realization: A character realizes they're not as evil as they initially thought.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Realizing something causes a person to go insane.
- Heel Realization: Someone is ashamed to discover that they have been the bad guy.
- Ignored Epiphany: A villain considers redeeming themselves, then decides not to.
- Jerkass Realization: Someone realizes that they've been a jerk.
- Late to the Realization
- Love Epiphany: The moment a character realizes they love another character.
- Belated Love Epiphany: A character only realizes they love another after their loved one is no longer available (they've met someone else, moved far away, died etc).
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: A character realizes they love someone because they get jealous if someone else shows interest in them.
- Love Revelation Epiphany
- The Love Slap of Epiphany
- Mirror Reveal: A character who's been transformed realizes their fate when they look in a mirror.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Someone becomes horrified and ashamed at the realization that they did something very bad.
- "No More Holding Back" Speech
- Noticing the Fourth Wall
- Oh, Crap!: A character is shocked at the realization that they are in big trouble.
- Delayed "Oh, Crap!"
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Someone talks about something and then gets shocked once the implications of what they're talking about hits them.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": A whole bunch of people react badly to the realization that they are screwed.
- Personal Horror
- Post–Wake-Up Realization: Someone who just woke up is oblivious to the situation until they fully wake up.
- Self-Care Epiphany
- Something We Forgot
- This Is Gonna Suck: A character realizes something bad is going to happen and acknowledges it in a calm or deadpan manner, rather than freaking out.
- "We're Live" Realization
- What Have I Become?
