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 a narrative sometimes depends upon the dramatic tension and suspense which undergird it, this early revelation of plot elements can "spoil" the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrative would otherwise have experienced. Look up plot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The term spoiler is often associated with specialist internet sites and in newsgroup postings. Usually, the spoiling information is preceded by a warning ('SPOILER!'), or the spoiler itself has to be highlighted before it can be visibly read on the web page by those keen for details and not fazed at the thought of such potentially plot-revealing information. Occasionally, these warnings are omitted, accidentally or deliberately (see below), and some unwitting readers have had films, books, television programmes and other works that they were looking forward to experiencing spoiled. A newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... A chained book in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side, and within protective covers. ...

There is in this information age an increasing problem for those who would prefer to avoid spoilers to entirely do so, especially for fans ahead of high-profile media releases. Some persons may reveal spoilers for their own malicious pleasure – consciously ruining a narrative experience for others. An example of this would be putting a major plot point that one is aware of (e.g. "So, such-and-such a character DIES!!!") in the subject line of a post on a message board or in an internet chatroom. These can be reported to moderators and such posts taken down, the posters blacklisted, but after the damage is done. A university computer lab containing many desktop PCs The transition of communication technology: Oral Culture, Manuscript Culture, Print Culture, and Information Age Information Age is a name given to a period after the industrial age and before the Knowledge Economy. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A chat room is an online forum where people can chat online (talk by broadcasting messages to people on the same forum in real time). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

On Usenet, the common method for obscuring spoiler information is to precede it with many blank lines known as 'spoiler space' – traditionally enough to push the information in question on to the next screen of a 25-line terminal. A simple cipher called ROT13 is also used in newsgroups to obscure spoilers, but is rarely used for this purpose elsewhere. Usenet (USEr NETwork) is a global, distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Data terminal. ... ROT13 replaces each letter by its partner 13 characters further along the alphabet. ...

One notorious British example of a spoiler was a piece of graffiti near London's Leicester Square around the time the film The Usual Suspects was released to great media hype. An arrow had been drawn to one of the characters on a huge poster for the film with the legend, "It's him!" – thus revealing the plot-hinging twist of the film's climax. Another example involved comedian Stephen Fry revealing on TV the solution to the mystery in Agatha Christie's celebrated stage play The Mousetrap, for comic effect on the supposed grounds that its record-breaking, decades-spanning run meant that everyone must already have seen the play. Graffiti (strictly, as singular, graffito, from the Italian — graffiti being the plural) are images or letters applied without permission to publicly viewable surfaces such as walls or bridges. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Leicester Square at night in 2005: a view towards the northeast corner. ... The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American movie written by Christopher McQuarrie (who earned an Oscar for the screenplay) and directed by Bryan Singer. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890—12 January 1976), also known as Dame Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... St. ...

See also

• Teaser trailer
• Movie trailer
• Film criticism

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Trailer (film). ... Theatrical trailers are film advertisements for films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown; they are commonly known as previews of coming attractions. ... Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. ...

External links

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• TV Spoilers
• StillSpoiled - Tv Spoiler Blog
• Moviecheat
• Moviepooper
• Moviemuckers
• Ruined Endings
• Movie stories scene-by-scene
• StarWars Spoiler a collection of spoiler content on Star Wars
• What now-infamous spoiler shouldn´t be considered a spoiler anymore? (2003 Internet Movie Database poll)
• A List of Spoilers
• Spoil That Film