Spoiler (media)

A spoiler is a summary or description of a narrative (or part of a narrative) that relates plot elements not revealed early in the narrative itself. Moreover, because enjoyment of the plot sometimes depends solely on dramatic tension and suspense, this early revelation of plot elements can "spoil" the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrative would otherwise have experienced.

Examples of spoilers

Darth Vader's "secret" revealed to Luke is one of the most famous movie plot twists of all time. An IMDb poll on 10 November 2003http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2003-11-10 asked users to choose which one of a set of movie spoilers was too infamous to be considered a spoiler anymore; Vader's true identity was a clear winner, by a forty-percent margin.

Related Topics:
Darth Vader - Luke - IMDb - Poll

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After the three prequels have come out (clearly showing the origins and identity of Vader), this secret has been nullified.

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Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

A classic spoiler example occurred in 1999. Someone calling himself Mr. Spoilsport posted a message to the newsgroup alt.fan.starwars and spoiled the long awaited Star Wars film, '. The post caused some subscribers to the Star Wars newsgroup to read the spoiler without having to open the article, since the spoiler was put in the subject field of the message.

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This angered many alt.fan.starwars subscribers, since although they were fans of Star Wars, many had been waiting 20 years for the prequel, and running up to premiere of the film, they had been making a conscious effort not to read any spoilers. Although the original posts by Mr. Spoilsport have been deleted and wiped from the Internet by angry alt.fan.starwars moderators, many of the replies are still available here: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=mr+spoilsport+group:alt.fan.starwars&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&c2coff=1&as_drrb=b&as_mind=1&as_minm=2&as_miny=1999&as_maxd=1&as_maxm=4&as_maxy=1999&filter=0.

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The plot detail "Snape kills Dumbledore" along with a list of chapter titles were leaked on the Usenet group alt.fan.harrypotter as early as July 14, 2005 -- two days before the official release date. By July 15, the spoiler had traveled far and wide across the internet: so many YTMNDs were made about Dumbledore's death that the site's webmaster received a direct cease and desist letter from Scholastic's attorneys. A number of direct scans from the book were also leaked, with the spoiler highlighted to attract viewers' attention. This leakage enabled a number of depraved troublemakers to run around midnight release parties shouting the spoilers, as seen in http://pottercrash.ytmnd.com/ Tom Hanks Finds New Harry Potter Book is a popular example of these spoilers. It is a parody of Cast Away where Tom Hanks finds the 6th book in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and right afterward a plane flies by revealing said spoiler. In the month since the book's release, the spoiler has grown to become one of the most popular and widespread ever.

Related Topics:
Snape - Dumbledore - Usenet - July 14 - 2005 - July 15 - YTMND - Cease and desist - Scholastic - Cast Away - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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Final Fantasy VII

In the world of video games, the spoiler that Sephiroth kills Aeris is a popular spoiler, especially among online gaming communities such as GameFAQs and IGN. It is so widespread that even people who have never played the Final Fantasy series have heard of the spoiler.

Related Topics:
Video game - Sephiroth - Aeris - GameFAQs - IGN - Final Fantasy

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Jeopardy!

In 2004, Ken Jennings was amassing record winnings on the TV game show "Jeopardy!" Immediately after the show where he lost was taped, several media reports and Internet newsgroups posted information about Jennings' loss (the information presumably by audience members who attended the taping). Production officials with "Jeopardy!" and Jennings himself repeatedly refused to divulge or verify information and rumors surrounding the loss until the actual show aired, but viewers had already been tipped.

Related Topics:
2004 - Ken Jennings - Game show - Jeopardy!

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Million Dollar Baby

In 2005 the spoiler controversy hit mainstream media when Million Dollar Baby was nominated for the Academy Award's Best Picture. In discussing the film, which was released in late 2004, newspapers, magazines, and television news routinely revealed that Hilary Swank's character becomes fully paralyzed and later dies when Clint Eastwood's character takes her off life support.

Related Topics:
2005 - Million Dollar Baby - Academy Award - 2004

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Psycho

The secret identity and name of the killer has become a classic in every sense of the word.

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The Crying Game

This movie is infamous for having its "secret" being frequently cited in a special context. The movie Shallow Hal tells it in a scene.

Related Topics:
A special context - Shallow Hal

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The Usual Suspects

The movie is infamous for often being subjected to spoilers (mostly on the Internet), especially by telling the secret identity of "Keyser Sose".

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Citizen Kane

In a Peanuts strip, Lucy is watching the movie on TV, telling Linus she's never seen it before. Linus says he has seen it several times, then tells her that "Rosebud" is Kane's childhood sled. She sits there for a panel, staring at the TV, and then emits the time-honored Peanuts anguished cry: "ARRGH!"

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Monkey Island

At the end of The Curse of Monkey Island adventure game, Guybrush Threepwood asks LeChuck what is the secret of Monkey Island, and he tries to guess by suggesting the "secrets" of classic movies (although they are unnamed): Citizen Kane, Soylent Green, The Crying Game, Old Yeller and Chinatown.

Related Topics:
The Curse of Monkey Island - Adventure game - Guybrush Threepwood - LeChuck - Citizen Kane - Soylent Green - The Crying Game - Old Yeller - Chinatown

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Fight Club

The fact that Tyler Durden and the narrator are one and the same is hinted here and there in the movie but only revealed at the end, thus making it a typical spoiler.

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Soylent Green

The sentence "Soylent Green is people!" has become a classic.

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Generally speaking

In most detective movies, the identity of the culprit is a spoiler.

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