Spoilered Rotten

Sir Simon Milligan: Hecubus, have you seen the movie Presumed Innocent?
Manservant Hecubus: Yes, I have, Master, and his wife killed her!
Sir Simon Milligan: But Hecubus, I haven't seen the movie yet! [turns to the audience and points at Hecubus] Evil!

— The Kids in the Hall

Some tropes just have Spoilers built into them. It's either because the specifically deal with spoilers in fiction or because they give away the endings or very important twist (like which important characters live and die just in one instant) of their works, so even naming these tropes along with a work is a spoiler in itself. This means that ALL examples on the respective trope pages are a spoiler by default, without exceptions.

Advertisement:

These tropes fall into four possible categories: A) Tropes/other pages with "spoiler" in the title and/or pages specifically about spoilers in fiction. B) Tropes that immediately spoil the outcome of the work just by naming the trope alongside with the work (emphasis is on "rotten" here) C) The same like type B but on (and only on) character pages. D) Any combination of types A, B and C.

For a trope to be eligible for type B, C or D of this list it must fulfill all four of these requirements:

1. It must give away HUGE plot points about the resolution of the main premise of the work, so it should be both an ending trope AND a plot twist trope at the same time (death trope optional), so minor plot points/story arcs don't count.
2. The trope cannot happen in the exposition of a work or the introduction of a character (this often is the reason why death tropes fail to make this list) ^note for example, a trope like Half the Man He Used to Be would be a massive spoiler on a character page if it's an important character and happens near or at the end of the series BUT it also can happen from the very start (like a group of characters find such a person lying around in e.g. a post-apocalyptic wasteland) and may not be an Omnipresent Trope, that means it must surprise the audience.
3. It must immediately tell you the outcome of the work and/or change the tone or even genre of the work and you will never be able to see the work in the same light again after you have read the spoiler. To test this, imagine the trope page and check if all listed examples are spoilers by default. If not, don't add it.
4. There is no more explanation necessary, just the appearance of the trope on the work's list is a spoiler in itself. To test this, take a random show and imagine you know that absolute basic premise and this trope is appearing as a Zero Content Example in the Main or characters section. If the show is immediately spoiled now (reading the example text is not necessary), it belongs on this list. If it needs further elaboration, it does not, and you shouldn't add it.

Advertisement:

Note: This list had huge issues and needed some massive rework. Don't just add tropes that could be spoilers or even that often are spoilers or any random death, ending, plot twist or even adaption trope (there are other lists for that). ONLY list tropes that fulfill ALL FOUR requirements. Also, check the discussion page before adding or removing anything.

Either way, be wary of reading examples in these tropes, these are the most spoilers you'll ever get. You've been warned all along.

---

Tropes or Administrivia pages about spoilers

Main topic:

• Spoiler

Site policies:

• Handling Spoilers
• Self-Fulfilling Spoiler
• Spoilers Off
• You Have Been Warned

Sub-categories:

• Death Tropes
• Ending Tropes
• Index All Along
• Plot Twist

• All There in the Stinger
• All There Is to Know About "The Crying Game"
• Captain Obvious Reveal
• Complete Monster: Examples listed under this trope will inevitably list every horrible thing the villain does onscreen.
• Do Not Spoil This Ending
• Equipment Spoiler
• First-Episode Twist
• Foiler Footage
• Foregone Conclusion: The audience already knows how the story is going to end even if they've just seen the work for the first time and haven't heard any spoilers prior to watching it.
• The Good Guys Always Win (is not Type B or D as it's an Omnipresent Trope)
• Hair Color Spoiler
• Interface Spoiler
• It Was His Sled: A work is so well-known that even people who haven't seen it are familiar with the twist ending.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: If you don't start watching a series from the beginning, you'll get spoilers on what is revealed in the earlier episodes.
• Mandatory Twist Ending
• Musical Spoiler
• Never the Obvious Suspect
• Oh, and X Dies (not type D because it could be a Lying Creator)
• Spoil at Your Own Risk
• Spoiled by the Cast List
• Spoiled by the Format: The nature of the medium gives away that a character will survive or that the climax hasn't happened yet.
• Spoiled by the Manual
• Spoiled by the Merchandise: The work's merchandise gives away spoilers.
• Spoiler Cover
• Spoiler Hound
• Spoiler Opening
• Spoiling Shout Out
• Trailers Always Spoil: Trailers for the film give spoilers.
• Trope Telegraphing
• The Un-Reveal

Advertisement:

Tropes that immediately tell you the outcome of the story with no more explanation necessary

• The Bad Guy Wins: The story ends with the villain being victorious.
• Cosmic Horror Reveal
• Cruel Twist Ending: The story abruptly ends with the protagonist suffering just to be cruel.
• Detective Mole
• Downer Ending: The story ends on a tragic note.
• Dump Them All
• Earth All Along: The ending reveals that the alien world was actually Earth.
• The Ending Changes Everything
• Everybody Did It
• Everyone Is a Tomato
• The Hero Dies
• Karmic Twist Ending
• Kill 'Em All: The story ends with everyone killed off.
• The Killer in Me
• Narrative Backpedaling
• Nested Story Reveal
• Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending
• Replaced with Replica
• Reset Button Ending
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The story ends with the protagonist dying and their efforts turning out to be pointless.
• The Story That Never Was
• Sudden Downer Ending: The story abruptly ends on a tragic note.
• Surprisingly Happy Ending
• They Do
• Worthless Treasure Twist

Character fate tropes

• Actually a Doombot: That wasn't the real villain, it was just a robot or clone.
• And Then John Was a Zombie
• Backstory Invader
• Big Bad Slippage
• Bus Crash: A character who was phased out of the series gets killed off before they have a chance to return.
• Canon Character All Along: A character initially appearing to be created for the adaptation is revealed to actually be the adaptation's interpretation of an already established character.
• Dead All Along: The ending reveals that a character was deceased the whole time.
• Death by Adaptation: The adaptation kills off a character who remained alive in the original work.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: A major character gets killed off in a contrived manner.
• Evil All Along: A character thought to be good turns out to be evil.
• Final Girl: A female character who survives the events of the story while everyone else dies.
• Good All Along: A character thought to be a villain turns out to actually be a good guy.
• Heel–Face Return
• Karma Houdini: A character does something bad and never gets punished for what they did.
• Killed Off for Real: A character is permanently killed off in a setting where resurrections are possible.
• Sent Into Hiding: A character whose very existence is kept secret in-universe.
• Spared by the Adaptation: A character who died in the original work remains alive in the adaptation.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: A character who survived the first movie gets killed off in the sequel.
• Tomato in the Mirror: A character unaware of their true nature ends up surprised when they learn their secret.
• True Final Boss
• Villain Reveals the Secret

Combinations of the above types

• Meta Twist
• Not His Sled: An adaptation of a well-known story changes the ending so that people expecting it to be exactly like the original story will be surprised.
• Spoiler Title
• Walking Spoiler: A character who is difficult to talk about without giving away spoilers.

---