Stories/shows where the antagonist is completely hidden until the climax?

starsmidnight

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Long story short, I was watching an anime (won’t tell the title since it’ll probably be spoilers) where the true antagonist was hidden and completely unmentioned until the very end. In that whole space of time, the anime made it seem like another party was the villain.


I get that it’s probably for the “shock” factor like “Oh wow! I would have never guessed the TRUE villain is that one all along” (LITERALLY! Because there was no mention of the villain’s existence period!) thus becoming kinda a redemption arc for the “villain” (“He wasn’t the bad guy at all!”). But yea anyways, what do you guys think? Do you like it? Do you dislike it? Do you think creators themselves should implement this “hidden antagonist” trope? Or do you prefer it if the antagonist is exposed from the start?
 
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Hidden antagonists always shock and make things interesting. An exposed antagonist combined with a hidden one is better.
 

BenJepheneT

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Just so I could confirm we're on the same topic here, we're talking about hidden antagonists, not Deus Ex Antago-machina. Antagonists that make us go ooooooh I never even thought about it and not what the fuck kinda bullshit is this.

And by that I mean clues/hints and Red Herrings. Not Off Screen Explainatron 3000™ Exposition Edition®.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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I agree with Bene, deus ex machina antagonists are lame and usually cause an absolute train wreck. You spend all the time building up the plot and then you get the info, well, yes, guys, the true enemies were along these guys you never even heard about.

Like really? Were our heroes to stupid to catch on to the big evil master scheme and that they were played like a fiddle? And what are even the benefits for the antagonist to stay hidden?
 

LostLibrarian

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I personally dislike hidden antagonists (out of nowhere). A story has a theme, often the fight between X and Y in some form, and the antagonist it the representation of one of the sides. I also don't go to watch the some sport finals between Team A and Team B and at the end it's Team C who for some stupid reason gets another shot.

The "puppet player in the dark" is a nice motif, but it needs to be established early. Show the "main antagonist uneasy, clueless, asking for help from someone unknown" whatever. Or introduce the hidden antagonist later, but as the start of another journey/arc. That's often done for series/trilogies where the hero wins his story against the big evil, but actually loses because the real evil hides somewhere else. This is great if it's done right, but the main point is, that the hidden antagonist gets another book and his own climax.

"The middle part of a story belongs to the antagonist". So end your climax with that same antagonist.
If you want a shadow figure, make the hunt for it a theme. Or give him his own story after he is uncovered.
But don't switch your antagonist right before the climax just because your main antagonist became boring during the 300 chapters of manga/light novel that dragged on for way too long...
 
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Nerothemajin

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I don't dislike hidden antagonists, especially if they are mentioned in some cryptic way so the watchers/readers won't understand until the big reveal, I love it especially when they're always there on the background as a sub character that interacts with the protagonists but doesn't get much spotlight until the end.
 

JayDirex

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The "puppet player in the dark" is a nice motif, but it needs to be established early. Show the "main antagonist uneasy, clueless, asking for help from someone unknown" whatever.

Exactly! I mean, the most successful film that pulled that off in the modern era was the 1995 film THE USUAL SUSPECTS A Freaking MASTERPIECE of CRIME CINEMA. (it's also the type of stuff I write, by the way) BUT ANYWAY the answer is NO! because writing something good with that type of ending is the exception, not the rule. And I'll be darned if some "web novelist" can pull it off.

 

Leti

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If I remembered correctly, there is a manga about mafias where nobody knows the identity of the boss, and anyone who tried to expose him is executed. I'm not sure that's how mafia works, though.

Another example is a webnovel about
a knight who tried to rescue his fiancé from a vampire who lived in a castle only to realize everything is a plot made by his best friend to become immortal. In the end, he can't save anyone .

Both examples are quite good, but not the best I have read. In the first one, the antagonist stays hidden. In the second one, everyone is a pawn of the true antagonist whether they knew it or not.

What I liked the most? The third example. Our heroine is a little girl living in France and everyone starts dying. No one is aware she was a witch who kill and eat peoole, even the heroine herself. Our heroine is the antagonist, shocking right?
 

starsmidnight

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If I remembered correctly, there is a manga about mafias where nobody knows the identity of the boss, and anyone who tried to expose him is executed. I'm not sure that's how mafia works, though.

Another example is a webnovel about
a knight who tried to rescue his fiancé from a vampire who lived in a castle only to realize everything is a plot made by his best friend to become immortal. In the end, he can't save anyone .

Both examples are quite good, but not the best I have read. In the first one, the antagonist stays hidden. In the second one, everyone is a pawn of the true antagonist whether they knew it or not.

What I liked the most? The third example. Our heroine is a little girl living in France and everyone starts dying. No one is aware she was a witch who kill and eat peoole, even the heroine herself. Our heroine is the antagonist, shocking right?
Holy shit i know i’m a little late to reply but what’s the name of the last example? That’s super dark but it sounds really interesting!
 
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