http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotHisSled

What happens when a work of fiction, so old or so well-known that knowing its ending doesn't even count as a spoiler, is adapted into a new installment? Mostly the adapters choose to keep the main plot points, so the twist ending will stay, and thus there will be no twist at all. But that's not the only option!

Sometimes the production team do want the viewers to be surprised, and so they will change the twist at the end. This is, of course, especially prone to leaving plot holes if the producers do not change the rest of the plot that leads to the original ending accordingly, leaving the new twist hanging over the plot as if suspended by wires.

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If poorly done, it can lead to outcries of They Changed It, Now It Sucks! from fans of the original work for needlessly diverging from an important plot point and possibly even changing the creator's intended themes in the process, on top of poking holes into a plot that was perfectly sound before. When well done, though, it can lead to genuine surprise, a satisfying new resolution, and an excellent application of Death of the Author, in other words, awesomeness.

As a clarification, this Trope deals with Adaptations and Alternate Continuities; de-twisted sequels fall under Meta Twist. Also, if the plot twist was added by a more successful adaptation and removed by a later adaptation/reboot, the later adaptation/reboot counts here since the audience was expecting the earlier imitation; the original, however, would not count and that instance should be taken to Lost in Imitation.

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Sub trope of Meta Twist, contrast with It Was His Sled, the trope that leads to this. If a Twist Ending overlaps, see Adaptational Alternate Ending.

Note: This is a Spoilered Rotten trope, that means that EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE on this list is a spoiler by default and most of them will be unmarked. This is your last warning, only proceed if you really believe you can handle this list. In fact, these spoilers are even more dangerous than the usual variety, since it's impossible to not spoil the twist ending from the moment the name of the work is stated if you're familiar with the original, as well as spoil yourself on both versions if you aren't.

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Examples:

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Anime & Manga

Comic Books

Comic Strips

Readers of the original E.C. Segar Popeye comics will be surprised to find out that not only was Bluto a minor oneshot villain in a 1932 story (as opposed to his recurring nemesis in the animated cartoons), but that Popeye did not use his spinach to defeat him, settling for the Twisker Punch instead.

Fan Works

Films — Animation

Films — Live-Action

Literature

Live-Action TV

Poetry

Puppet Shows

In the Sesame Street episode, "Birdie and the Beast", after Big Bird befriends the Beast, the Witch's curse upon the Beast is broken. However, rather than turn the Beast back into a human, the Beast's hair is straightened out. When a surprised Big Bird tells the Beast that he's still a beast, The Beast tells him that he's always been a beast, and that the Witch's curse just messed up his hair.

Theatre

Theme Parks

The haunted house adaptation of The Wolfman (2010) at Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights event in 2009 was the first hint anyone got of the ending of the film: the werewolf gets shot. In the house, however, the fatal shot is performed by a nameless hunter.

Video Games

Visual Novels

Zig-zagged all over the place in Case 2 of Dai Gyakuten Saiban, which is loosely based on The Adventure of the Speckled Band. Firstly, though there is a snake involved in the case, it isn't the cause of death. Secondly, a character named Grimesby Roylott appears, who was the killer in the original story. But then it turns out "Roylott" is actually a disguise for a young ballerina named Nikomina Borchevik. But she's still the killer . But while the original Roylott was a ruthless man who willingly murdered his family for their inheritance, Nikomina is an Anti-Villain who never even meant to kill anyone: she accidentally pushed the victim and ended up breaking his neck it turns out the victim didn't die, so it wasn't even a murder . This trope is also common in Sherlock Holmes' Joint Reasoning sessions, where many of his deductions are based on the solutions to some of the real Holmes stories. In most cases though, they turn out to be wrong here.

. But .

Web Animation

Both of the original books that Homestar Runner was based on were adapted into full cartoons years later, and, in both cases, the ending is changed (though Homestar still expects the original ending in each case.) In Strongest Man in the World, Pom Pom refuses to share the trophy that Homestar helped him win. In Where My Hat Is At?, Homestar fails to get the winning run for his game because a) his team is far behind, b) the game isn't close to over, and c) Homestar ran onto the field illegally.

In the RWBY Chibi Christmas Episode "Nondescript Holiday Spectacular!", Torchwick and Neo decide to pull a How the Character Stole Christmas and steals everyone's Christmas spirit. In his attempt to escape, Team RWBY is happy through other means, Torchwick is infected by the spirit, his heart grows three times... and proceeds to have a heart attack.

Webcomics

Darths & Droids is an adaptation of the Star Wars movies, so naturally Darth Vader will turn out to be Luke and Leia's father, Anakin. And since the comic goes in chronological order, it'll be even less of a surprise, since Anakin was a player character first. Vader is actually their mother, Padme. Anakin was Killed Off for Real

Web Videos

One of the most famous scenes of Pride and Prejudice is the one where Mr. Collins proposes to Lizzie Bennet and keeps mistaking her adamant "No"s for attempts to flirt with him. In the modernized adaptation The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, the scene is foreshadowed in Mr. Collins' introduction, where it's mentioned he and Lizzie were jokingly "married" while they were children, hinting he expects her to follow up on their Childhood Marriage Promise. However, when the scene arrives Lizzie mistakenly thinks he's about to propose, only for the confused Collins to explain he's just making a business offer. The series also teases the possibility of George Wickham marrying Lydia like he did in the novel with them being shown together in Las Vegas and Lydia opening a later video with an announcement that she's married — only to reveal immediately after that she was just joking and isn't dumb enough to accidentally marry someone in Vegas. George uploading a sex tape of him and Lydia online without Lydia's knowledge is substituted for the marriage scandal instead.



Western Animation