HELP: Setting up a plot twist

[Cavespider_17]

So I’m at the point where I’m preparing for one of the first major plot twists of my main story.

Up until now, hints have been dropped to the reader that a certain character isn’t who they claim to be.

The issue I have is dropping a give away or crumbs in the story to the other characters.

The character in question has been a spy since they were 7 years old - and have done countless missions. Made no mistakes. They are at the point in their life where their real persona doesn’t exist to them. “Who is Antonio Hamilton anyway? What sets them apart from who I am pretending to be? Does he even exist anymore?”

He often limits how strong he is in battle and has to act stupider than he really is. He has made “friends” as his persona. The way he’d put it is: “My false persona is friends with you. I on the other hand have no feelings towards you whatsoever. It is like we have never met.” Ie: he treats his personas as separate parts of himself.

Any advice on how to have him get caught would be fantastic. Bear in mind, being caught as a spy has horrific consequences - so the mistake will have to 100% have that in mind.

I appreciate the help in advance and I can give more information if needed!

 

[Steel_Justice]

I'm writing a plot twist into my project myself. I think the important thing at the end is that the plot twist makes sense to the reader when hindsight is considered, so as to not make it look like an Asspull. I also started early and I don't intend for it to be revealed for a while but when I do I hope it is believable.

So your character has been a spy since they were a child and has made no mistakes. Are those crumbs given to the characters or to the readers? There's a difference here, I been giving mine to the reader only for now. Is you character a part of the protagonist's group? What is their mission/purpose? Are the protagonists supposed to figure it out themselves or does it hit them when the reveal happens? And is there a possibility that if they are part of the protagonist's team that the bonds they build might be even a little bit real for your character?

 

[Cavespider_17]

I'm writing a plot twist into my project myself. I think the important thing at the end is that the plot twist makes sense to the reader when hindsight is considered, so as to not make it look like an Asspull. I also started early and I don't intend for it to be revealed for a while but when I do I hope it is believable.

So your character has been a spy since they were a child and has made no mistakes. Are those crumbs given to the characters or to the readers? There's a difference here, I been giving mine to the reader only for now. Is you character a part of the protagonist's group? What is their mission/purpose? Are the protagonists supposed to figure it out themselves or does it hit them when the reveal happens? And is there a possibility that if they are part of the protagonist's team that the bonds they build might be even a little bit real for your character?

Thanks for replying.

The reader already has hints that he isn't who he says he is. As his thoughts give away the restrictions he imposes on himself. However, he hasn't given any hints to the other characters at all. The only mild connection anyone could even claim is he has a Dragapult - a pokémon that is exclusively found in Kilgor, and at a pretty high level - but that's something that could easily be explained - "It was my grandmother's" or "We trained hard together" or "My other pokémon are no where near as strong," or even "I visited Kilgor once." - again something not super uncommon for people to do is make a pilgrimage to Kilgor, as it is where the Master Guard (the best Coltese Soldiers and Special Forces) are trained - as well as where the Master Elite (ruler of Kilgor) lives. Kilgor drivies from Kishinir (Kisihinir -> Kishinar -> Kishnar -> Kilshar -> Kilgar -> Kilgor), which was the nation which the islander's founding fathers and daughters created when they first crashed on the island in 1557.

The character's alignment is almost unknown really. He's very much in the grey area of alignment as he doesn't really act against the antagonists or protagonists - he will play the part his persona is required to play - so he is sort of aligned with the protagonists against one of the antagonists who is wanted - but if a protagonist gets in his way of his mission, he won't hesitate to turn on them if his persona requires it.

Part of his mission is to monitor the stones (elemental infused stones containing the souls of pokémon and boosts the type power on a live pokémon or gives the human a unique ability while in use) locations and seek out prophecy members and take them out if required to avoid the prophecy being completed - a mission dating back centuries, which has been handed down from person to person - the other part of his mission is to monitor the situation with Elktan and Colran (two nations who are at war) - as his persona is a member of the Elktan army. Elktan is winning for reference and the story takes place in a Colran town what is occupied by the Elktan forces. His persona stationed there.

An antagonist is going to find out he is a spy. And not just any antagonist either, arguably the strongest in battle. It isn't personal, it's just business. He finds out he is a spy - and catches him as an Elktan Guardsman (the guard is like the special forces of their world), and not an antagonist. A few of the protagonists will be broken by the reveal - his persona's friends in particular take it hard, although James, my main character will take it the worst as his persona is planning on fostering James.

At one point he does think about keeping James as a foster child after the mission, and retiring from being a spy - but at the same time, if James gets in the way of his mission before then, he won't hesitate to do what he has to do. Mostly due to the fact he has been trained to the point where Kilgor must always come first.

 

[Steel_Justice]

That was a lot to take in. The part with Dragapult could be a good place to start. Those reasons do sound reasonable as a throw away excuse but if someone were to look into his personal history then what do they find? If he used the grandmother excuse then what happens when someone looks into his grandmother's history? Or does he even have a grandmother? Or a home to trace back to?

So his mission is to monitor those stones and be an assassin when need be. If that mission has been handed down then it could stand to reason that patterns exist like those people being killed in similar ways or people realizing the ones killed all have that certain quality to them. In addition, someone who knows this character well or spends a lot of time with them could be someone to keep an eye on. Spy or not, he has movement patterns, something that can be observed.

If a major Antagonist is to catch him then they can use what I listed above in addition to more methods. You could figuratively use wolves to catch wolves. Your character may not make mistakes but who's to say that a counter-spy can't piece things together and report it to the Antagonist? Or perhaps the Antagonist does it themselves and that's how they catch the spy in their normal persona.

From what I've seen in spy fiction the way to catch a spy is to look for patterns and monitor/look into someone who is suspicious. This goes double if the spy is particularly notorious or has done high profile jobs.

 

[Cavespider_17]

That was a lot to take in. The part with Dragapult could be a good place to start. Those reasons do sound reasonable as a throw away excuse but if someone were to look into his personal history then what do they find? If he used the grandmother excuse then what happens when someone looks into his grandmother's history? Or does he even have a grandmother? Or a home to trace back to?

So his mission is to monitor those stones and be an assassin when need be. If that mission has been handed down then it could stand to reason that patterns exist like those people being killed in similar ways or people realizing the ones killed all have that certain quality to them. In addition, someone who knows this character well or spends a lot of time with them could be someone to keep an eye on. Spy or not, he has movement patterns, something that can be observed.

If a major Antagonist is to catch him then they can use what I listed above in addition to more methods. You could figuratively use wolves to catch wolves. Your character may not make mistakes but who's to say that a counter-spy can't piece things together and report it to the Antagonist? Or perhaps the Antagonist does it themselves and that's how they catch the spy in their normal persona.

From what I've seen in spy fiction the way to catch a spy is to look for patterns and monitor/look into someone who is suspicious. This goes double if the spy is particularly notorious or has done high profile jobs.

Apologies for the info-dump.

His history is pretty much non-existant, because of being trained at such a young age - although his real name is very well known for being the best spy in their world. He grew up in Kilgor though - until he was 7, in which case he was planted on his first mission. His family doesn't really exist - due to the fact he is tied to someone very important in Coltese history. It was like he never existed and his name is something soldiers would tell to each other like a ghost story.

Regarding his kills, he could potentially be tracked that way - but he could also frame it on the masked vigilante - which I might do to throw the other characters off.

Only a few people would see him daily. He is a very detached person due to being raised to do this from such a young age, each of his personalities and personas are a switch. In fact he has been in conversations about himself - which is pretty freaky - he doesn't really have much of an ego, as he knows one mistake will cost him dear.

The antagonist who catches him is head of interrogation, intelligence and foreign affairs - the third most powerful man in said country - and has dealt with spies in the past.

I could maybe have him remove his self imposed restrictions in battle and reveal his true skill as a trainer, which could lead to a really messy battle sequencee but it might work. - Thanks