I’ve always been in awe when I get caught off-guard with a plot twist. The really masterful ones are written in such as way that, if you were paying attention, you would’ve seen it coming. They’ve been dropping little hints all throughout as the story was being told. But you were too busy or too distracted to notice them. Then, when the big reveal comes, you can’t believe it and it just makes you want to re-experience it just to see what you’ve missed.

There have been a lot of great plot twists in any media that relies on storytelling. Whether it be movies, television and, yes, even comics, video games and cartoons, there are a lot of them that have some amazing plot twists. Well, I would like to focus on what I think are the absolute best plot twists in these forms of geek media. So, I’ll be picking my favorite plot twist from each form of media and explain why. Of course, since I’ll be talking about the big reveal, be warned that there are SPOILERS incoming. You have been warned.

Movies: The Usual Suspects

Now, I understand that, when most people are asked what is the best plot twist in movies, they’ll probably say The Sixth Sense. Honestly, that’s a pretty good choice. I’m not going to deny that. While that would be the most popular choice, I don’t think it has the best plot twist in movie history. For my money, that honor goes to The Usual Suspects.

In The Usual Suspects, a small time disabled con man named Verbal Kint is being interrogated by the police regarding his involvement with a criminal mastermind named Keyser Soze. The film is basically Verbal Kint’s “testimony” on how Keyser Soze got him wrapped up in a massacre that happened on a ship. However, it’s revealed at the end that Verbal Kint’s story, at the very least most of the details, are untrue and he was just making up a story by picking up details from the interview room and wrapping it all up in his tale.

The biggest reason why I say The Usual Suspects has the best plot twist in all of movies is how you actually believe the story. Normally, I would be upset with this sort of twist as it’s almost like the “it’s all just a dream” scenario. Even so, the execution is done so incredibly that I can forgive it. Also, the reveal is done in a very clever way by overlapping these same details found around the room while you hear Verbal/Keyser saying these same words. It’s not explained to you but it’s done in such a way that you can figure it out just as the detective doing the interview puts it all together. Finally, The Usual Suspects was released four whole years before The Sixth Sense, meaning this film was made before adding plot twists to your movie became popular.

Television: The Good Place

Honestly, there aren’t that many really good plot twists in the land of television. Most of the time, these so-called plot twists are just there to try to get ratings or the writers just ran out of ideas or, at worst, just publicity stunts to try to save a struggling television show. That’s why picking The Good Place as the best plot twist in all of television was easy because, not only is it a really good plot twist, it’s also one of the best plot twists ever.

In the first season of The Good Place, you meet up with Eleanor Shellstrop who just died and has been taken to “the good place” because of all the good things she’s done while alive. The thing is, they brought in the wrong Eleanor Shellstrop as this one was a pretty crummy person. So, in order to belong in “the good place,” she gets her soulmate, Chidi Anagonye, who was an ethics professor, to teach her how to be a good person. At season finale of the first season, it’s revealed that she, Chidi and the other two main characters are actually in “the bad place” and they were put together as it was planned that they would unintentionally emotionally torture each other for at least a thousand years.

What makes The Good Place’s big reveal exceptional is it’s very hard to predict. For one, it’s a sitcom so you wouldn’t think there would be a plot twist. All of the bad things happening to the main characters can be chalked up to typical sitcom antics. Another reason why it’s so good is the fact that the writers have actually laid out all of the clues for the viewer. So, once the reveal is done, it’s fun to actually look back at all of the little hints they’ve been dropping throughout the season. Finally, it’s a mindblowing reveal as it turns the entire premise of the show on its head.

Cartoons: Gravity Falls

I’m so glad that, as I’ve gotten older, cartoon have also matured along with me. Sure, we can still have some silly and simple animated shows but there is also room for cartoons with more adult themes while still being a little silly. As such, cartoon have also tried to add plot twists to their stories. Things like the Ice King‘s story in Adventure Time and what happened to fan favorite Maes Hughes in Fullmetal Alchemist comes to mind. However, for me, the best plot twist comes from Disney‘s Gravity Falls.

Gravity Falls follows twins Dipper and Mabel as they’re sent to stay with their Great Uncle (Grunkle) Stan who runs the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap filled with kitschy oddities, in the titular small town. While there, Dipper finds a mysterious journal detailed supernatural beings and occurrences that are in the area. Dipper becomes obsessed with it but Grunkle Stan dismisses it as fiction. But even as early as the first episode, it’s obvious Grunkle Stan knows more than he is letting on as he’s actually using the journals for a machine in the basement of the Mystery Shack. The twist comes in the season 2 episode, Not What It Seems. The machine Grunkle Stan activates and he opens a portal to another dimension… so that his twin brother, Ford, can finally come home.

Although this is a rather cliche twist, Gravity Falls makes this twist work for several reasons. For one, this isn’t just a throwaway twist. There was a lot of foreshadowing regarding Grunkle Stan’s deception so it feels much more satisfying when it’s revealed. Second, the twin isn’t just a secondary character but becomes a main player in the story. Finally, Ford actually has a connection with Bill Cypher, the main antagonist of the series. So, it does feel like everything ties up together in a neat little package.

Comics: Swamp Thing

It’s fairly common for comics to have plot twists. Some of them are pretty good, like Terra‘s true identity in Teen Titans, and some are pretty bad, like Captain America being a Hydra agent all this time. But the biggest problem is, a lot of the time, these plot twists get retconned or they ultimately don’t affect continuity in the long run. There is one plot twist from the comics that has yet to be retconned and has actually made an impact after its reveal. That plot twist deals with the DC character, Swamp Thing.

Alec Holland was a scientist who was working on a formula that might end world hunger by enabling plants to grow anywhere. However, criminals bomb Alec’s laboratory along with him and his formula. When he wakes up, Alec is horrified to see that the formula has affected his body. Now, he looks more like a humanoid plant than human. Alec then tries to find a way to reverse this and revert to becoming a human once again. The twist comes in Saga of the Swamp Thing issue 21, Anatomy Lesson. After the Swamp Thing “died”, a doctor starts dissecting him in the hopes to find out the secret to Alec Holland’s original formula. However, during the “autopsy,” the doctor discovers that the Swamp Thing’s vital organ are merely decorative and don’t actually function. He then deduces that the Swamp Thing isn’t actually Alex Holland. He never was. Rather, Swamp Thing is a plant-like creature with just the memories of Alec Holland!

This was an incredible plot twist and actually changed not only the character but the entire DC Universe. This twist changed the entire tone of Swamp Thing from more sci-fi horror to a more supernatural with an ecological edge. Also, since Swamp Thing was never Alec Holland, this ended his quest to find a “cure” as there wasn’t one! Finally, this change to the character allowed Swamp Thing to have a greater purpose in the DC Universe as a whole. He wasn’t just some plant-like monster. Rather, Swamp Thing is now the living embodiment of The Green, a supernatural force that connects all plant life.

Video Games: Doki Doki Literature Club

Ever since they started adding stories to video games, there have been a lot of excellent plot twists to come from there. There’s the secret revolving around Braid‘s protagonist’s relationship with his love interest. There’s the one surrounding James Sunderland‘s motivations when it comes to finding his dead wife in Silent Hill 2. There’s also Aerith‘s fate in Final Fantasy VII. They’re all really great but, when it comes to plot twists in video games, I have to say the best one is from Doki Doki Literature Club.

Doki Doki Literature Club initially plays like a lighthearted visual novel. You start out playing as a guy who joins the school’s literature club and you start building relationships with the girls there. However, at a certain point, things get incredibly messed up as one of the girls, the main love interest, unalives herself. The game then restarts but the game continues on as if the main love interest never existed. As you keep playing, things become crazier as the game seems to start glitching out. Finally, in the end, it’s revealed that Monika, the president of the Literature Club knows she’s a video game character and has been changing the game program in order to get you, the player and not the in-game character you control, to fall in love with her!

Doki Doki Literature Club’s plot twist works as it is the entire game. It initially subverts your expectations as, on the surface, it just seems like a visual novel with dating elements. Once things start getting crazy, it goes all out! Macabre and unsettling imagery and scenarios start happening. Characters start acting out in weird ways. The game starts glitching out. And, all the while, you do slowly figure out it’s all Monika’s doing! The twist also breaks the fourth wall in incredible ways, as if Monika is actively going through the game’s code and doing things to it. In fact, the only way to get to the game’s ending is by going through one of the game’s data files and deleting Monika from it. So, in a way, your playing a game that’s playing with you as well!

What is your favorite plot twist of all time? Let me know in the comments section below!