tomato surprise

English

Noun

tomato surprise (plural tomato surprises)

1. A plot twist in which the reader or viewer is suddenly made aware of an important fundamental detail that changes the whole perspective of the story.
   • 1974, Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact (volume 93, page 6)

     […] stories are written in the "tomato surprise" format: that is, the author saves the stunning surprise until the very last line of the story. It wasn't even a good technique when Verdi used it in Il Trovatore.

   • 2020, Danielle Spencer, Metagnosis: Revelatory Narratives of Health and Identity (page 189)

     There are several classic tomato surprises which editors see over and over: the one about the evil, horrid aliens that turn out in the last paragraph to be humans from earth; […]

See also

• deus ex machina