Worst SFF Plot Twists to Encounter
- Thread starter Liosse de Velishaf
- Start date
- Status
I remember I was dating this girl and I told her (stupid me) that I did a bit of writing. She then enthusiastically told me about a "novel idea" she had. Being the kind person I am--when I want to get laid, LOLZ AMIRITE?--I listened to her story. Lo and behold, the twist was:
"... and really it was all a dream. Isn't that a cool idea?"
/facepalm
Yeah, cool idea.
"... and really it was all a dream. Isn't that a cool idea?"
/facepalm
Yeah, cool idea.
Gah!
The evil wizard is really... wait for it... your MC's long-lost brother!
The evil king is really... wait for it... your MC's long lost father!
The evil queen is really... wait for it... ah, fuck it.
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2005
- Messages
- 11,792
- Reaction score
- 4,698
- Location
- Wicked Little Town
- Website
- cathellisen.com
I think I'm going to put...Then Jek woke up, and discovered it had all been a dream, and he was really a straight white boy living in Milwaukee. at the end of my novel.
I think it would have been awesome if the Hardy Boys books had ended with them being saved by their boyfriends.
Uh, yeah, the first one.
If we're going to be all on topic, the plot twists I find irritating are the ones where some previously absent and/or unknown god stomps in and saves the day, averting an otherwise unpreventable disaster. That's cheating.
If we're going to be all on topic, the plot twists I find irritating are the ones where some previously absent and/or unknown god stomps in and saves the day, averting an otherwise unpreventable disaster. That's cheating.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2006
- Messages
- 1,380
- Reaction score
- 288
After going through hell to complete his quest, the MC discovers he all s/he needed was back home the whole time! Goes back to a tearful reunion and saves the world all in one chapter.
1) MC related to Evil Overlord in some manner.
2) Evil Overlord could not be killed in past-they only managed to seal him away. But MC is gonna kill him now- with much reduced knowledge.
3) MC's parents are not real parents. (phew.....)
And a few others. I would say the farmer boy becomes hero one but I realize why writers often use that so I won't criticize that.
2) Evil Overlord could not be killed in past-they only managed to seal him away. But MC is gonna kill him now- with much reduced knowledge.
3) MC's parents are not real parents. (phew.....)
And a few others. I would say the farmer boy becomes hero one but I realize why writers often use that so I won't criticize that.
I used to read the Hardy Boys all the time when I was a kid. But the only Nancy Drew I've ever read was a crossover between Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, so I had no idea Nancy and friends were saved by their boyfriends all the time. Is that true, and if so... what's the point?
By the way, the it was all a dream twist is something I've used perhaps twice in my life, tops, when I was really young and hadn't thought through the story well enough and had to end the whole thing quickly.
But Deus ex Machina has been done for thousands of years. By now it surely is a tradition and not cheating. Really? Please?
I used to read the Hardy Boys all the time when I was a kid. But the only Nancy Drew I've ever read was a crossover between Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, so I had no idea Nancy and friends were saved by their boyfriends all the time. Is that true, and if so... what's the point?
There is none. It's all "exciting" and "mysterious" paint by numbers.
Course, it took me a dozen of them to realize this, as a kid.
The boyfriends saving them every damn time was the real dealbreaker, though, not the predictability.
I'm going to put something similair. Then a page or two describing the life of a straight white boy in Milwaukee, before finishing with...Then he woke up again and discovered the Milwaukee thing was a dream, and he was really the son of the Evil Emperor of Gnaaz, and the Saviour of all Mankind.
I think it was the sexism inherent in the system: that, being female, they're unable to save themselves until the Strong Males show up to set things aright.
Or, is that what you meant?
Or, is that what you meant?
I think it was the sexism inherent in the system: that, being female, they're unable to save themselves until the Strong Males show up to set things aright.
Or, is that what you meant?
Presumably.
And I assume it was meant to be funny, Jimmy, though I'll admit it just reads to me as yet another male thinking misogyny is funny.
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2007
- Messages
- 479
- Reaction score
- 82
- Location
- Central Generica
- Website
- www.mscottfiction.com
Here's one:
- Wizard thinks that everyone has forgotten his birthday
- Wizard, furious, decides to destroy the world
- Here's the rub: Wizard's friends have only pretended to forget his birthday.
In fact, they are throwing him a surprise birthday party.
- Hilarity ensues
(Too bad Wizard was such a poor sport and destroyed half the world before he realized his error. Oops.)
- Wizard thinks that everyone has forgotten his birthday
- Wizard, furious, decides to destroy the world
- Here's the rub: Wizard's friends have only pretended to forget his birthday.
In fact, they are throwing him a surprise birthday party.
- Hilarity ensues
(Too bad Wizard was such a poor sport and destroyed half the world before he realized his error. Oops.)
Stories where the main characters are aliens commenting on human behaviour, but it's worded to make it sound like it's the other way around. Right until the end, where the twist is revealed.
This is a fun and unexpected plot twist the first time you read it. After that, it's far too predictable.
This is a fun and unexpected plot twist the first time you read it. After that, it's far too predictable.
- Joined
- May 10, 2005
- Messages
- 5,329
- Reaction score
- 794
- Location
- Boca Raton - Mouth of the Rat
- Website
- beyondtourism.wordpress.com
The Wizard of Oz.
All you really needed to do Dorothy was click your heels together and say there is no place like home three times.
Why couldn't she just tell her that at the beginning of the movie?
Note: I really do like The Wizard of Oz. I think it's a fantastic movie. It's just that one part that irks me.
All you really needed to do Dorothy was click your heels together and say there is no place like home three times.
Why couldn't she just tell her that at the beginning of the movie?
Note: I really do like The Wizard of Oz. I think it's a fantastic movie. It's just that one part that irks me.
- Status