10 Genius Movie Moments When Unreliable Narrators Changed EVERYTHING
8. The Narrator Was Tyler Durden - Fight Club
Tyler Durden is one of the most iconic and memorable characters in movie history. He was eccentric, unafraid to do things that others would be afraid to do, and in terms of Edward Norton's character, was everything he wished he could be and more.
Herein lies the point of the character. Tyler Durden was never real in terms of Brad Pitt's iteration, he was a part of The Narrator's mind that allowed him to be what he wanted to be. To live like he wanted to live without fear or reservations.
There is an iconic scene in Fight Club in which Pitt explains very clearly to Norton that they are the same person, and how and why he was created. However, this isn't and has never been the big reveal. It delves into the details, but the penny begins to drop in the previous scene, where The Narrator hops across the country looking for Durden.
He cannot find Pitt's character anywhere, until he speaks to a bartender who is a part of Project Mayhem, who explains that he himself had already visited last week to ask about security before addressing him as Mr. Durden. It's not until after that that he is called Tyler by Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) and has everything spelled out for him by the personification of Durden.