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Nothing keeps audiences on the edge of their seats quite like a jaw-dropping identity reveal! Join us as we count down the most shocking and talked-about identity unveilings in TV history! Spoiler warning: we're diving deep into some of television's biggest bombshells, so viewer discretion is advised! Which reveal left you completely speechless? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Couldn't you find my balloon? Yeah, we found it. Welcome to WatchMojo and today
00:05we're counting down our picks for TV's most famous and talked-about
00:07unveilings of identities. We'll be getting into spoilers for various shows, so
00:11consider this your warning. But speeches are for campaigning. Now is the time for
00:16action. Number 20, Victoria Newman, The Boys. This reveal is quite literally the
00:22definition of mind-blowing. In the second season of The Boys, there's a deadly soup
00:26responsible for causing the heads of prominent characters to explode. For the
00:29record, I agree with you and I hate this, but you've got no proof. Folks are scared.
00:36Who this soup is happens to be a mystery, but in the finale of season two we
00:40discover that it's, shockingly, Victoria Newman. The lady who built an entire
00:43career out of trying to get checks and balances on soups happens to secretly be
00:46one, and also incredibly homicidal too. Victoria is not only a hypocrite, she's
00:50also an incredibly powerful murderous maniac. I don't know how to repay you for
00:54what you did. You know I can think of a way. Oh? You can give me a job. Ugh, so
01:03many
01:03people in this show are rotten to the core. Don't tell Victoria we said that
01:06though. We don't want her going after us next. Number 19, Sam's Killer, How to Get
01:10Away with Murder. This show is all about skirting the truth and deceiving the
01:13masses, and one of the most important mysteries from this critically acclaimed
01:16series is who killed Sam Keating. I am not leaving until you talk to me. Sam was
01:21the husband of Annalise Keating, a prominent professor and the main
01:24character. In the ninth episode of the first season we discover the truth. Wes
01:27Gibbons, a student of Annalise, was the killer. However, that's not all. The episode
01:30later reveals that Annalise was there during the murder and agreed to cover up
01:34Sam's death. Whoa, it's like twists on twists here. I'm so sorry.
01:41Don't be. This suspenseful reveal happened early in the show, but the drama and
01:46fallout from Sam's death lasted multiple additional seasons. Wes Gibbons isn't
01:50just a teacher's pet, he's arguably a teacher's personal assassin too. Number
01:5318, Roku, Avatar The Last Airbender. Roku is one of the most powerful entities out
01:58there. I know you can do it, Aang, for you have done it before. The solstice is ending.
02:06We must go our separate ways for now. Well, to clarify, we mean the avatar named Roku,
02:13not the electronics device named Roku, that you can use to binge Golden Girls episodes.
02:17Anyways, we already knew that this firebender was betrayed by Sozin, the great-grandpa of Zuko.
02:22But what we later found out was that Roku was also related to Zuko. Sozin was Zuko's paternal
02:27great-grandpa, while Roku was Zuko's maternal great-grandpa. Now Sozin and Roku weren't just
02:32two friends turned bitter enemies. They were recontextualized as both of Zuko's ancestors
02:36embroiled in a deadly rivalry. Why are you telling me this? Because understanding the
02:41struggle between your two great-grandfathers can help you better understand the battle
02:46within yourself. This added Wrinkle deeply affected Zuko, and changed how he saw things,
02:52eventually even leading to his redemption arc. Sometimes bombshells are necessary for character
02:56development. Number 17, The Gossip Girl Blogger. Gossip Girl. Lives of New York's ultra-elite rich
03:02kids get picked apart by scandalous blog posts and troubling text messages in this show.
03:06Beyond this is a central mystery. Who's the mischievous blogger known as Gossip Girl?
03:10If I wasn't born into this world, maybe I could write myself into it.
03:15While that answer is revealed in the finale, in the end it's shockingly revealed to be Dan
03:19Humphreys. Dan was an outcast from Brooklyn who used his online identity to work his way
03:23into the world of the wealthy. Originally, it wasn't meant to be him, though. Eric Vander Woodson
03:27was planned to be Gossip Girl, but when people started guessing that, the writers pivoted to Dan
03:31instead. Dan as Gossip Girl wasn't the most well-received plot twist, but the reveal was a genuine
03:44wildcard nevertheless. Number 16, Doctor Manhattan. Watchmen. What happens to one of the most powerful
03:49superheroes ever after calling it quits on the spotlight? The answer is ditching retirement on
03:53Mars for a life in Tulsa. In the Watchmen miniseries, we find out that Cal Abar is actually
04:09Dr. Manhattan. The reveal and explanation occur in episodes 7 and 8, and it's a shocking twist.
04:14Not just because of the identity reveal, but also because the revelation happens through his wife,
04:18Angela, beating his brains in. After the original comic, Doctor Manhattan and Melon fell in love
04:22with Angela Abar. He then suppressed his godlike abilities for a chance at a normal life with her.
04:38It's kind of sweet, but then again, marriage to a walking nuke is also pretty terrifying.
04:42Number 15, Principal Skinner. The Simpsons. For the longest time, we assumed that Seymour Skinner
04:46was the typical quirky principal we knew and loved, but we were actually lied to.
04:50That man is the real Seymour Skinner. You see, the principal and the pauper revealed that Skinner
04:56was a fake this entire time. The real Skinner was believed to have been a sergeant who died in
04:59the Vietnam War. As a result, his friend Arnim Tamzarian took up his name in his memory. It's a
05:04pretty weird shakeup to the canon. In fact, this controversial episode is widely argued to be the
05:09moment that The Simpsons started to dip in quality. Judge Snyder. By authority of the city of
05:13Springfield, I hereby confer upon you the name of Seymour Skinner, as well as his past, present,
05:19future, and mother. No game?
05:21And I further decree that everything will be just like it was before all this happened.
05:26Some twists work out and change a franchise for the better, and some just make a mess of the lore
05:30for no good reason. Number 14, Sauron. The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power. This series set in
05:35the Lord of the Rings world leaned heavily into Sauron. More specifically, there was a mystery
05:39surrounding who could actually be him since this show is a prequel. The answer would be Halbran.
05:43I alone can see your greatness. I alone can see your light.
05:54He was a sneaky person, but to find out that he's actually the biggest bad of this franchise
05:58and one of the poster boys for evil was an interesting plot point. This wasn't the show's
06:01only shocking reveal. Rings of Power also revealed that a character called The Stranger was a younger
06:06version of Gandalf. The Sauron twist, though, also did lots of damage to the elf Galadriel,
06:10who had a strong connection to Halbran.
06:12We were brought together for a purpose.
06:16This is it.
06:18You bind me to the light, and I bind you to power.
06:25Together, we can save this middle earth.
06:28Finding out that he's Sauron evidently complicated their dynamic, to say the least.
06:33Number 13, Grant Ward, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
06:35If you remember the film Captain America the Winter Soldier, you were likely stunned by the
06:39reveal that Hydra had secretly infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. for decades.
06:42The new Hydra grew, a beautiful parasite, inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
06:49For 70 years, Hydra has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not
06:58cooperate, history was changed.
07:02Well, that idea trickled down from the movies to TV, too, so the plot point came back to
07:06bite.
07:06Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Grant Ward was a fan-favorite S.H.I.E.L.D.
07:09agent, who we thought
07:10was a good guy, except, well, the episode Turn, Turn, Turn came out and showed that he was
07:14actually a Hydra mole.
07:15Yikes.
07:16This not only tied the show neatly into the second Captain America movie, but also devastated
07:20fans who were blindsided by the twist of Grant's true allegiance.
07:23That straight version of you is something else.
07:25I don't even think Romanoff could pull that one.
07:29Well, it wasn't without its complications.
07:31Everybody's got secrets.
07:32Number 12.
07:33Vecna, Stranger Things.
07:35Be careful who you torment, because they could come back as pure nightmare fuel to haunt you.
07:38Vecna cemented himself as a monstrous villain when he showed up in Season 4 of Stranger Things,
07:43but he wasn't always the ruler of the Upside Down.
07:45Don't cry, Chrissy.
07:50It's time for your suffering.
07:54He was once Henry Creole, or One, a test subject cruelly experimented on like the character Eleven.
08:00We were shown Vecna's brutality and knew he had villainous plans, but this reveal made us see him differently.
08:05The glimpse at his tortured backstory undeniably painted him in new light, and while we still
08:09weren't rooting for Vecna, we were saddened to see how mistreated Henry Creole was.
08:12Everyone is just waiting.
08:19Waiting for it all to be over.
08:23Maybe in another life, things could have turned out differently for him.
08:27Number 11.
08:27Michael, The Good Place.
08:29Despite being a show that revolves around people living in heaven, there's actually a lot of
08:32problems in the titular Good Place, and during the Season 1 finale, Eleanor comes to a world-shattering
08:37realization.
08:39Holy mother-forking shirtball.
08:44What?
08:45Wow.
08:48Okay.
08:49Okay.
08:51Woo!
08:51No one is actually in The Good Place.
08:53Instead, everyone's been in The Bad Place the whole time.
08:56This then means that Michael isn't an angelic figure, but actually a demon.
08:59The Good Place was his ultimate creation.
09:01A place that was supposed to be a paradise on the surface, but was really just another level
09:04of misery.
09:05You ruined everything, you know that?
09:08The truth about Michael and The Good Place stunned audiences and provided many more seasons
09:12of material to work with.
09:13We're pretty much convinced now that Michael is the ultimate gaslighter.
09:17Number 10.
09:17Agatha, WandaVision.
09:19Who's the big bad of this Disney Plus series?
09:20Is it Wanda Maximoff?
09:22White Vision?
09:22Mephisto?
09:23Well, the answer was actually Agatha all along.
09:25You didn't think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?
09:34The name's Agatha Harkness.
09:36It's lovely to finally meet you, dear.
09:39WandaVision definitely explored the idea of the Scarlet Witch doing some morally questionable
09:43things.
09:44However, the show later revealed that Wanda's next-door neighbor, Agnes, was actually manipulating
09:48key events in Westview.
09:49Not to mention that Agnes wasn't actually Agnes, her real name was Agatha Harkness.
09:53Ultimately, Agatha wanted power and manipulating Wanda was how she sought to get it.
09:57Your magic's no good here.
10:11By changing a small side character into a chaotic witch, Agatha quickly became a major
10:15draw.
10:16She even got her own spin-off series set after WandaVision.
10:19Magic in the MCU would hardly be as fun without Agatha there to stir up some mischief.
10:23Number 9.
10:24The Real Mr. Robot.
10:25Mr. Robot.
10:25Hackers hold quite a lot of power, and in Mr. Robot, these destructive men and women with
10:29a keyboard prove to be pretty dangerous.
10:31Elliot, in particular, isn't someone to mess with.
10:33He gets recruited into a rebellion by a man named Mr. Robot to fight greedy corporations.
10:37What's the project?
10:39That'll come later.
10:40I just wanted you to see the place.
10:42But there's a pretty big twist.
10:44Throughout the course of the show, we gradually learn that Elliot and Mr. Robot are actually
10:47the same person.
10:48That's right.
10:49Christian Slater was an alternate personality in Rami Malek's head the whole time.
10:53Admittedly, the suspenseful twist definitely has some big Fight Club vibes.
10:56That being said, the show's intriguing story and masterful acting performances make sure
11:00that this twist feels like an organic, holy cow moment.
11:02Who I am?
11:10It isn't real.
11:12Number 8.
11:13The Ice Truck Killer.
11:14Dexter.
11:14A serial killer working for the Miami PD secretly hunts down other serial killers.
11:18That's the gist of Dexter, and in its first season, there's a villain called the Ice Truck
11:22Killer.
11:22And when he started, you know, working on me, I was blindfolded, so...
11:28Did you hear anything?
11:30Did he have an accent or anything?
11:32He didn't talk much.
11:35Or he'd whisper.
11:35Dexter and his foster sister, Debra, theorized that he killed his victims in an ice truck,
11:40hence the name.
11:40Later on, Dexter would learn who the murderer was, and it was intense.
11:43The killer was Brian Moser, aka Dexter's older brother.
11:46You see, he and Brian both witnessed their mom's death when they were young, but Dexter
11:50was later adopted by the Morgan family, while Brian wasn't.
11:52The lack of an authority figure arguably led Brian to give in to his darkness, and become
11:56a monstrous murderer.
11:58I didn't even know you existed.
12:00Of course you didn't.
12:03Harry wanted to keep you all to himself.
12:07And while you were being raised by the Morgan family, I only had the memory of a family.
12:14Yikes.
12:15This family's got problems.
12:16Number 7.
12:17Nina Myers, 24.
12:18The first season for 24 is a pretty wild ride.
12:20Through a blackmailing scheme, counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer is forced to kill a senator
12:25named David Palmer.
12:26Drazen's people who are holding your daughter hostage want me dead.
12:29You're asking a lot, Jack.
12:31Senator, they had my wife and daughter earlier this morning, and I still managed to save your
12:35life.
12:35I'm not coming there to harm you in any way.
12:37I give you my words, sir.
12:38Jack tries stopping this assassination, but someone inside the counter-terrorist unit throws
12:42a wrench into his plans.
12:43This rat is soon discovered to be Nina Myers.
12:45Nina was basically second in command at Jack's organization.
12:48Yelling at you.
13:09So the fact that she was a mole who was so high up the food chain proved to be surprising.
13:13Making matters worse, Nina later kills Jack's wife, Terry.
13:15This would prove to be a defining moment in his life, and an event that sent him on a
13:19disturbing downward spiral.
13:21Nina Myers doesn't mess around.
13:23Number 6.
13:23Red John, The Mentalist
13:25It shouldn't be understated just how dangerous Red John was.
13:28Sure, Patrick Jane defeated lots of bad guys in his time on The Mentalist, but Red John
13:32was a different breed.
13:33He told me to ask you a question.
13:36What's that?
13:37He said to ask you, do you give up yet?
13:41That's because he killed Patrick's daughter as well as his wife.
13:44In the eighth episode of season six, we'd finally learn Red John's identity, and it was
13:47Sheriff Thomas McAllister.
13:49Red was a looming threat throughout the show, and while it was satisfying to learn who he
13:52was, not all fans exactly loved the twist.
13:55Such a big bad was ultimately a pretty minor character in the grand scheme of things.
13:58I have no delusions.
14:01I built a secret empire.
14:03I control the lives of thousands of people.
14:06My word is life and death, and nobody knows who I am.
14:09Now, if that's not grandeur, I don't know what you call it.
14:12Some fans liked that, but some didn't.
14:14Regardless, though, Patrick finally being able to beat Red after this reveal was an undeniable
14:18victory.
14:19Number 5.
14:20O Il Nam, Squid Game
14:21If there's a trend here, it's that a lot of big bads are people you'd never expect.
14:25Sure enough, that's the case in Squid Game.
14:26The first season introduces us to O Il Nam, an elderly man participating in the Deadly
14:30Games.
14:48When he loses one of the rounds to Gi-hun, we assume that he's axed.
14:51However, that's not the case at all.
14:52The season one finale, One Lucky Day, peels back the curtain to show that O Il Nam is
14:56not only alive, but actually the one controlling the games.
15:16That's right, an unassuming elderly man created this monstrosity and even started playing in
15:20them for his own entertainment.
15:21Any sympathy we may have felt for him is effectively gone now.
15:24Simply put, this dude's deranged.
15:26Number 4.
15:27The Bent Neck Lady
15:28The Haunting of Hill House
15:29For her entire life, Nell Crane was haunted by a terrifying apparition known as the Bent
15:33Neck Lady.
15:34She was an incredibly scary sleep paralysis demon that kept her in her constant fear.
15:46Things got so bad that eventually Nell had enough and took her own life.
15:50However, her death revealed something horrible.
15:52Nell was the Bent Neck Lady this whole time.
15:54Mike Flanagan's other horror show, Midnight Mass, also featured an unsettling reveal.
15:58And that show is how Father Paul was a spooky immortal priest.
16:01Nell's situation is arguably more messed up though.
16:03It was her destiny to become the nightmarish woman who haunted her dreams.
16:06I feel like I've been here before.
16:09We have.
16:11All of us have.
16:14So many times and we didn't know it.
16:18All of us.
16:19She was forced to fulfill a prophecy of trauma, which is a punishment that's simply far too
16:23cruel.
16:24Number 3.
16:25Heisenberg, Breaking Bad
16:26Though the audience knew from the jump that Walter White was the drug kingpin known as
16:29Heisenberg, those close to Walt didn't know right away.
16:32Hey Hank, I was just getting ready to leave.
16:34Do you want a drink?
16:36Um, yeah, sure.
16:38Thanks.
16:39Perfect.
16:40Some characters had to find out the hard way, like Walt's brother-in-law, DEA agent Hank Schrader.
16:45While Hank was using Walt's bathroom, he found a poetry book with handwriting that matched
16:48the handwriting of Gale.
16:49Gale was a chemist known to have had ties with Heisenberg.
16:52It wasn't long until Hank put the pieces together after that, which led to an intense confrontation
16:56with Walt.
16:56All along it was you!
16:59You son of a bitch.
17:01The fallout from this would be felt throughout the rest of the series.
17:04Hank is often treated like a meme within the fandom, but moments like this remind us that
17:07he's a highly skilled character.
17:09Number 2.
17:09President Morty, Rick and Morty.
17:11Politics is known to be an explosive battlefield with controversial figures and unpopular politicians,
17:16but the time Morty became president was an especially low point.
17:19Morty is not what he seems.
17:21Yeah, well, no Morty seems like a president.
17:24He won?
17:25Throughout this cartoon, we met many different multiversal variants of the titular Rick and
17:29Morty duo.
17:29Some of them are cool, but some are cutthroat.
17:32President Morty is one of the cutthroat ones.
17:33In fact, we later learned this presidential variant is actually Evil Morty, a version we
17:37saw back in Season 1.
17:38Yeah, apparently he not only managed to win the presidency, but he also used his new power
17:42to take down anyone who dared to oppose him.
17:44President Morty is a dangerous look at what normal Morty could become if he went down a
17:48much darker path.
17:49Did you think my force field would be down the second time?
17:51I was expressing disapproval of your dialogue.
17:54Disapprove all you want.
17:56Tonight, the quality of dialogue stops mattering.
18:05Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo's Aria, Songs from Iran, reimagining
18:11Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
18:14Check out the full track and album below.
18:31Number one, Benjamin Linus, Lost.
18:34When this dude first appeared on Lost, he masqueraded as Henry Gale, a mild-mannered man
18:37who got stuck on our favorite mysterious island when his hot air balloon crashed.
18:41It's one of them.
18:42I have no idea what she's talking about.
18:44She's crazy.
18:46How long has he been up there?
18:47Since last night.
18:49Please just cut me down.
18:51My name is Henry Gale.
18:52I'm from Minnesota.
18:53However, over the course of numerous episodes, we gradually discovered that he wasn't the
18:57real Gale.
18:58He was actually Benjamin Linus, the leader of an antagonistic group known as The Others.
19:01Look, we're just going to say it.
19:02Benjamin Linus is the GOAT.
19:04Sorry, he might not be the most physically imposing character, but he's the perfect representation
19:08of brain over brawn.
19:09Who are you people?
19:13We're the good guys, Michael.
19:16Not long after we met Benjamin Linus, he became widely considered one of television's greatest
19:20villains ever made.
19:21This slow-burned reveal was the perfect introduction of someone whose most deadly weapons are his
19:24words.
19:26Are there any iconic identity twists in TV that we missed?
19:29Share all of the interesting tidbits down in the comments.
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