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{{trope}}
[[File:Monkey-Joe2.jpg|link=Squirrel Girl|
{{quote|''"Pinkie Pie, Who knows the shows audience, and isn't afraid to address them represents the Element of: [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|Fourth Wall Humor]]"''
|'''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|Twilight Sparkle]]''', '''''[[My Little Pony: Camaraderie Is Supernatural]]''''', "The Elements of Parody"}}
{{quote|'''Abed:''' Shirley, would you like to spin off with me? I'm just riffing here, but maybe we could open a hair salon.
'''Shirley:''' I don't understand, Abed. Is this you being "meta"?
|'''[[Community]]'''}}
The Fourth Wall can be [[No Fourth Wall|a fragile thing]], but some are more fragile than others. Oft times, it stands just outside the sight of the characters, completely unnoticed, even though we all know it's there. But sometimes, even when everyone else can't see, there's someone who notices that there happens to be a script, or that someone's watching him, or that they're living life on a set. That someone is a '''Fourth Wall Observer'''.
As you can probably guess, this trope is about that one guy in the group who knows [[Medium Awareness|his life takes place behind a
Compare [[Meta Guy]], who is the stage below this: completely [[Genre Savvy]], but not necessarily knowledgeable of the Fourth Wall. Also compare [[Red Pill, Blue Pill]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* Apparently, most main characters in ''[[Gokinjo Monogatari]]'' and ''[[Paradise Kiss]]''. In ''[[Paradise Kiss]]'', Yukari goes as far as to dispute the story summary with author Ai Yazawa.
* ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'' has Koe the bat, who narrates to the audience, as well as acting as a censor by flying between the camera and any inappropriate shots - no one knows who he keeps talking to all the time.
* ''[[Love Hina]]'': Has Mutsumi and Su doing this from time to time, For example:
** Mutsumi talking to Naru about a letter from Keitaro
{{quote|"Don't you
** Su talking to Keitaro about his
{{quote|"Can't ya just put a band aid on it and make it better in the next scene like ya normally do?"}}
** The anime
{{quote|"Well. I suppose that's all the screen time I'm getting this time."}}
* Many tankobon volumes of manga (ie, any individual-series manga you'd pick up in a shop) have additional sketches or comments from the author between chapters. Some of these are just random blurbs of information about the author and what went on when making the series, others fall into this, bordering into [[No Fourth Wall]] territory. A particular set of examples in several of the tankoban volumes of Fruits Basket are single-panel reactions from characters stating their disdain at not being featured as prominently in that particular volume, with another talking about the one with the most focus, or whoever's on the cover. Some go as far as to have the characters actually holding the very book themselves.
* In ''AnotherHOLiC'', the
* Jessie, James and Meowth in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'', particularly in the English dub, frequently reference the writers, the artists, the audience, the half-hour time slot, and the fact that they're in a "cartoon"—and if they're in a movie, they're sure to appreciate being "on the big screen". None of the other characters seem to notice this.
** Or do they?
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* Himeko and Bossun from ''[[Sket Dance]]''.
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
* [[Deadpool]] of [[Marvel Comics]] is known for being able to see through the fourth wall and snap it in two if he wants to. The reasoning is because he's a very special kind of insane, which occasionally allows him to perceive things others cannot. From being able to see the yellow boxes that he thinks in, to referring to the last time he showed up by issue number, Deadpool's odd observations are even occasionally plot points; for example, Deadpool is unaffected by
▲== Comic Books ==
** Likewise [[She
▲* [[Deadpool]] of [[Marvel Comics]] is known for being able to see through the fourth wall and snap it in two if he wants to. The reasoning is because he's a very special kind of insane, which occasionally allows him to perceive things others cannot. From being able to see the yellow boxes that he thinks in, to referring to the last time he showed up by issue number, Deadpool's odd observations are even occasionally plot points; for example, Deadpool is unaffected by Marvel's recent massive retcon of the past twenty years of Spiderman's history, leaving some fans to speculate it was put there as an editorial escape plan if necessary.
▲** Likewise [[She Hulk]] is known for knowing about the fourth wall. She has arguments with editors and artists, has at least one time used panels to win a fight or skip over boring parts of a story, and has complained about advertisements or used them to her advantage.
** Unfortunately, with Marvel becoming [[Darker and Edgier]] by the minute, she's seen doing this less and less.
*** The current excuse for removing this aspect of her character is that She-Hulk is no longer aware of the fourth wall, and has forgotten all these instances of knowing about it. The times when she was, have been explained away as a "side-effect of her gamma
*** Also, think about it a little bit; if She-Hulk knows about the [[Fourth Wall]], doesn't that kind of make Deadpool less special? ([[Squirrel Girl]] below is okay; she's obscure enough not to form a problem. Or at least she ''was''.)
*** According to some sources, she still has the ability but just lets Deadpool have all the fun with it instead.
** There's also [[Squirrel Girl]] and her squirrels, [[Fun Personified]].
*** When Deadpool and Squirrel Girl team up in a [[Great Lakes Avengers|GLA]] special, the Fourth Wall doesn't so much break as slink away quietly with its tail between its legs. Rather than explain to her in detail what happened to her boyfriend Speedball, Deadpool just hands a copy of the relevant comic to Squirrel Girl and lets her read it.
** Most of the characters written by Fabian Nicieza become Fourth Wall Observers during the recap pages. They are allowed to, because the recap pages are not in continuity (a clause even Deadpool is forced to follow).
*** Which doesn't prevent him from, in the story, wishing that the recap page were in continuity so he might have a clue about what the hell was going on.
**** Amazingly, these recap pages ''are'' in continuity for [[Squirrel Girl]].
** And of the [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] villain category, there is the Purple Man (at least in his Alias
* While [[The Joker]] is occasionally like this in normal comics as well, in the ''Emperor Joker'' storyline, where he gains 99% of [[Superman|Mr. Mxyzptlk's]] powers, he becomes one of these big time, occasionally making references to the comic and the industry, which the other characters usually ignore. Among the best of these that he did was sticking a "Why Didn't Anyone Call In To Save Me" sign on Jason Todd's skeleton (a reference to the fact that DC used a phone-in poll to decide whether he would live or die), and, faced with the fact that he couldn't erase Batman from existence due to his obsessions, yells at the artist to stop redrawing him.
** Mxyzptlk himself is Fourth Wall Savvy. In a recent{{when}} issue of ''Batman/Superman'':
{{quote|"I wanted you all to have a little more fun. And to sell a whole bunch of issues."
[offpanel Superman] "What?"
"Nothing." }}
** ''[[Ambush Bug]]'' is another example from [[The DCU]]. He and [[Squirrel Girl]] are sort of like both [[Distaff Counterpart]]s and [[Alternate Company Equivalent|alternates of each other.]]
** As is ''[[Animal Man]]''. His entire series played with the Fourth Wall constantly. Later on, he temporarily [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|ascended to a higher plane of existence]] which upgraded his powers and also caused him to learn all of his life was a comic book. He temporarily suffered a [[Heroic BSOD]] until he was able to use it to his advantage. He begged [[Grant Morrison|the author of the comic]] for his family to be brought back to life after the author supposedly killed them all to make him [[Darker and Edgier]]. [[Deus Ex Machina|The author was leaving the book anyways, so he agreed.]] When Animal Man [[Rage Against the Author|called the author out]] on his [[Writer on Board]] agenda towards showing the evils of eating meat, the author admitted it, but then quickly threw together a bunch of crappy [[supervillains]] to fight Animal Man to teach him a lesson while he both [[Lampshade Hanging|apologized]] for it and then [[Author Tract|ranted]] about how [[Humans Are
*** He
* In a ''[[The Simpsons (Comic Book)|Simpsons
* The ''[[Incredible Hulk]]'' used to pal around with a group of super-powered do-gooders called ''The Pantheon''. Except Paris wasn't quite the do-gooder they thought. In addition to causing outright chaos, he speaks to the reader, is aware when the end of the book is coming up and at one point, turns the book
* In issue 66 of ''[[Alpha Flight]]'', Whitman Knapp becomes one of these for the length of the issue, treating the writer with sarcasm. {{spoiler|It turns out to be a delusion created by the Dreamqueen.}}
* Again with the Hulk. Rick Jones, long-time superhero sidekick, has developed
* Flint Dartson of ''[[A Loonatics Tale]]'' is renowned for constantly breaking the fourth wall. While he may not make it known to the other characters, he continually acts knowing that there is a script and author causing the events around them.
* An interesting case in ''[[Supergod]]'' in which the Dajjal was talking out loud while the narrator was also making an [[Apocalyptic Log]]. Since he is [[The Omniscient]], then he is probably aware of the fourth wall.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* While other characters ignore the [[Fourth Wall]], Shadi from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The
== [[Film]] ==
* Genie from Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' is one of these; though his insights usually [[The Genie Knows Jack Nicholson|have more to do with real world events, celebrities, and popular characters]] than actually referencing the fourth wall, he still has the same effect on the other characters. The cartoon series discusses this at one point, where Aladdin explains to Jasmine that Genie is just referencing things that don't exist yet, and basically admits that he just ignores him when he does this.
* ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]'' is an interesting variation. The main character can hear the narrator and recognizes a sort of fourth wall, but the narrator is actually someone in his world whose writing dictates his life. In fact, they eventually meet.
* In ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]'', the titular character routinely addresses the audience.
* The Graverobber
* Boris Yelnikoff from [[Woody Allen]]´s ''[[Whatever Works]]''
* Paul in ''[[Funny Games]]''
* This trope's inverse is basically [[Truman Show Plot|the plot]] of ''[[The Truman Show]]''
** [[Completely Missing the Point|The fourth wall can only see one character?]]
*** More like every character can see the fourth wall except one.
* In a Finnish comedy film from the ''[[Uuno Turhapuro]]'' series, a waiter has been tricked, by two alcoholics, into drinking a full bottle of vodka. Later, when a lady enters the restaurant, and listens to the waiter singing a song, she glances around, and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xCfjTjleOo declares] with an enlightened face: "I see. This must be a Finnish movie. There's no other explanation for the presence of so many drunkards in one scene."
* The titular character becomes this after returning to his fictional life at the end of ''[[Last Action Hero]]''.
* [[Mel Brooks]] plays this for laughs (of course), not that his films have [[No Fourth Wall|much of a fourth wall left to observe]]. At one point in ''[[Blazing Saddles]],'' for example, some characters go to a movie theater where they watch ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' to find out what will happen to them next.
** There's also a scene in ''[[Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'' where all the characters consult the movie's script to resolve an issue in Robin's archery tournament. Fourth wall? [[No Fourth Wall|What fourth wall?]]
** And in ''[[Spaceballs]]'', Helmet finds out where the heroes escaped to... by watching ''[[Spaceballs]]''. This includes fast-forwarding past the embarrassing scenes that happened to the bad guys, and accidentally finding the scene where they are watching ''Spaceballs'', causing [[Mind Screw|a very confusing conversation]] about defining the concept of "now".
* Deadpool in his [[Deadpool (film)|2016 feature film]]. He can even notice and comment on nested [[Flashback (video game)|Flashback]]s:
{{quote|A [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|fourth wall break]] inside a [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|fourth wall break]]. That's like... [[Good with Numbers|sixteen walls]]!}}
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* Kaitlyn Werhner, from the story ''[[Dark Red Mind]]'', [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|is well aware that she is fictional,]] [[Rage Against the Author|knows she's being written,]] [[Lampshade Hanging|points out certain tropes that occur,]] [[No Fourth Wall|and even tries to hurry dialogue along so the reader doesn't become bored.]] She's not just a fourth wall observer. She's a fourth wall ''manipulator''.
* Ed in ''The Chronicles of Blarnia''.
{{quote|'''Susan:''' ...Do you think we might be in a children's book?
'''Ed:''' Of course we are, if you look down you can see the page numbers. }}
* One of the Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy from ''[[The Star Diaries|Memoirs of a Space Traveller]]'' by [[Stanislaw Lem]] is about a scientist that succeeds in creating sentient AI in the form of computer-generated phantoms living in a digital world. One of this beings is aware of how things are (or rather foreknows it), and is held by the others as a madman. It is suggested in the story that its characters may well be in the same situation.
* In one of the later seasons of
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* In one of the later seasons of the ''[[The X-Files|X-Files]]'' a movie producer witnesses a skeleton assemble itself and walk/dance around the room. When talking about it later on he says: "It was either animatronics or CGI." For the record it was the latter.
* Originally, [[William Shatner|Denny Crane]] was the only one who knew that ''[[Boston Legal]]'' was a TV show. In later seasons other characters, particularly Jerry Espenson, start to notice as well.
* If Abed on ''[[Community]]'' had a job description (other than "student"), it would be "Fourth Wall Observer." He believes the world to be like TV, and because he's a character in a TV show, it is. He can even ''predict the future'' thanks to his knowledge of tropes. Heaven knows why he doesn't have a handle here.
** Abed does break the [[Fourth Wall]] occasionally. In one episode opening skit, the other characters ask him if he can stop acting like everything is a TV show. His reply? "That's kind of my gimmick... but we did lean on that pretty hard last week, so I guess I can lay low for an episode." He has no further lines that episode. And, yes, the previous episode had been particularly Abed-heavy.
** This gets even better when Jeff starts to understand Abed's way of thinking a little bit after some time, slightly becoming a [[Meta Guy]] himself. More frequently referring to 'seasons' and 'episodes' as well.
* The
* Effy from ''[[Skins]]'' does this quite often, most noticeably in the final shot of the finale of series two.
* Played with in ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', which was sort of a [[Show Within a Show]]. The "outer" show's fourth wall remained largely intact, while
* The eponymous character in ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'' turns to the [[Fourth Wall]] in the middle of scenes to talk about his [[Dysfunctional Family]] directly with the audience. No one else in the show seems to notice.
* [[Made in Canada]] lead character Richard Strong would [[Cold Open|open every episode]] with a short rant about a topic that would turn out to be pivotal to the episode's plot and explain to the audience mid-episode where he stood with his own scheme [[Gambit Pileup|amidst the stack of other zany schemes.]] The episode ends with either the winner looking to the camera and saying "I think that went well" or the loser saying [[Oh Crap|"This is not good."]]
* ''[[Lovejoy]]'' regularly speaks to the audience, usually to share a [[Deadpan Snarker|witty observation]]. No one else seems to notice or comment on this, though [[The Ojou|Lady Jane]] does giggle once when she overhears him.
* One visitor in ''[[The Cube (film)|The Cube]]'' is a film critic who tells the man that he's just a character in a teleplay, and produces a TV to show him the ending.
* Tracy Jordan on ''[[30
{{quote|''We're all on a [[Show Within a Show]]! My real name is [[Tracy Morgan]]!''}}
* Wanda and Vision during episode seven of ''[[WandaVision]]'', which replicates the style of shows such as ''[[Modern Family]]''. In the previous episode, which mimics ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'', their sons Tommy and Billy address the Fourth Wall.
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s [[Triple H]] holds the crown of fourth-wall breaking. From hinting at his [[Real Life]] marriage to Stephanie McMahon to cracking jokes about the referees, the sound crew, the cameramen, and how the [[Heel]]/[[Baby Face]] relationship works. Some of his [[Crowning Moment of Funny|more humorous]] examples are:
** To an audience at a ''Raw'' taping: "And for the millions, who, five minutes ago, were watching at home. ''(crowd boos)'' Oh, come on! It's like, 11:08, guys, we're off the air!"
** After a microphone malfunctions at a press conference: "Crack sound team we got here. Where'd you buy these things, Wal-Mart? I think we're gonna be auctioning them off later, you might wanna get a receipt."
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* The whole "Cm Punk will leave the company with the title" story has kind of turned punk into a fourth wall observer. Every story connected to it revolved around real life issues. Its very evident when punk had promos with Cena because theres an obvious contrast when Punk is talking about the stuff that make all the smarks cheer their heads off while Cena stays totally in character and treats Punk like the evil Heel
== [[Video Games]] ==
* [[Final Fantasy VI|Kefka]] in ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' is at least a minor example. One of his victory quotes is [[
{{quote|'''Kefka''': After all, she's a - good ol' friend of mine!}}
* The [[Jerkass|Scout]] in ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' refers to himself as a [[Class and Level System|class]], the battlefield as a map, and taunts people by telling them to [[Rage Quit]].
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* The ''MLB: The Show'' series does an admirable job making its in-game presentation as if it were a TV broadcast, but occasionally, the commentators will break the fourth wall. During a cutscene of a frustrated pitcher, Rex Hudler will comment that "he's using words we can't use in the video game!". And if you get a generous call at the plate as the year's cover athlete, Dave Campbell will remark, "See, that's the kind of call you get when they put you on the cover on the game." Conversely, if Roy Halladay (opposing franchise ''MLB 2K11'''s cover boy) has a bad call go against him, Campbell will opine that Halladay would have gotten the call if he was on ''their'' cover.
* In the ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' [[Visual Novel]]s, most of the cast seems to be able to read Keiichi's exact thoughts, with the excuse that his expressions are very easy to read. But then sometimes, they will somehow do it [[Mind Screw|when he's in another room and has nothing to do with the current situation...]]
* In ''[[Dead Rising
* [[Deadpool]] carries his [[Medium Awareness]] into video games with him. You fight him in ''[[Marvel Ultimate Alliance]] 2'' because he declares that it's time for an "obligatory [[Mini Boss|mini-boss]] fight". In ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'' he [[Nerdgasm|geeks out]] over meeting ''[[Street Fighter]]'' characters (and thinks that KOing them means he gets the cover of Street Fighter V), makes "[[X-Men (video game)|Welcome to Die]]!" and "[[Marvel vs. Capcom 2|Curleh mustache]]" jokes upon seeing Magneto, criticizes [[Bionic Commando|Spencer]]'s [[You Don't Look Like You|redesign]], beats opponents with their own health bars, grabs the camera to address the player... long story short, he knows he's in a video game.
{{quote|'''Deadpool''': "[[Taunt Button|Taunt Button!]]"}}
* If a certain bartender in ''[[
* In ''[[Max Payne]]'', an unknown person turns Max into a Fourth Wall Observer. During one of Max's hallucinations on the drug V, he is told by an unknown person that he is in a graphic novel (what the cutscenes are presented as). He instantly
* Every ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' player character, and I'm not referring to chat and player controlled actions, eg "Not Enough Rage".
==
* Cherry from ''[[RPG World]]'' is quasi-Fourth Wall Savvy. She keeps questioning the tropes of the game in which they exist.
* ''[[Drowtales]]'': Kiel "has an imaginary friend who just happens to be wherever the camera is."
* In ''[[The
** Think of it this way: Most of the characters have a jackhammer with which to dig a hole (size varies with the character) through the [[Fourth Wall]], through which they can look at and interact with our world. The Oracle? He gets an ''Earthmover'', and is very well acquainted with the controls.
** In particular, the demon roaches who are always loitering around can break the fourth wall at will, and do so at every possible opportunity.
* Tea, the white-haired girl in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', appears in some between-chapter bonus pages to talk directly to the reader. Since author Tom Siddell has stated that all strips (except for the one in which he himself appears alongside Tea) are [[canon]], it can be deduced that Tea has the power to see our world and know about her own world's true nature.
* Just about every single character in ''[http://www.jaydenandcrusader.com Jayden and Crusader]''.
* The four kids (and Karkat) from ''[[Homestuck]]'' each get a few pages after their introduction for fourth wall breaking, though after that they are stuck with an intact fourth wall for the rest of the story.
** Jack Noir ''had'' a Fourth Wall, but someone stole it. The fourth wall eventually becomes a plot point.
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* The protagonist of ''[[A Beginner's Guide to the End of the Universe]]'' is not a full-fledged Fourth Wall Observer who knows he's in a comic, but he's the only person in the world who is aware of the game mechanics of the [[RPG Mechanics Verse]]. All of the other characters just brush off his references to them as nonsense.
* Penny from ''[[Out at Home]]'' behaves this way regularly, most recently [http://www.out-at-home.com/archives/1580 here].
* Erin from ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130719023505/http://www.drunkduck.com/Dragon_City/ Dragon City]'' pretty much knows it's there. The rest of her family is quasi-aware of it because she often gets in trouble for breaking the fourth wall, but for the most part, everyone else pretends they don't know.
* In ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'':
** The Sidereal fate-ninja Nemen Yi dodges attacks by jumping between panels and utilizes skewed perspective to do things that should be impossible (such as slashing three people standing ten feet apart with a single strike). On one page she even [[Frame Break|breaks off part of the nearest frame]] and uses it as an [[Improvised Weapon]], which other characters still cannot see. (In ''[[Exalted]]'', Sidereals can see and manipulate Fate in a way no other human can.) However, she does not acknowledge the audience.
** [[The Fair Folk]] take this to the next level: They're fully aware that they exist in a
* In ''[[Persona 4 TW]]'', Teddy is this; it's more or less his new gimmick instead of Bear-puns and -kuma [[Verbal Tic]]s. Hasn't [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|started talking directly to the audience yet]], though.
* Everyone in the [[Mega Crossover]] [[Fanfic|fan]][[Web Comic|comic]] ''[[Roommates 2007|Roommates]]'' (and persumably in its [[Spin-Off]] s ''[[Girls Next Door]]'' and ''[[Down the Street]]'') has [[Meta Guy|some]] [[Genre Savvy|level]] of [[Medium Awareness]]... But the [[Good Omens]] guys take the cake: They know the author, his/her phone number and [[Word of God|according to author comments]] Crowley [[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You|steals his/her beer]].
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Digeri Dingo from ''[[Taz-Mania]]''. So very much.
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]''{{'}}s Perry the Platypus frequently [[Aside Glance|looks at the camera]] and [[Silent Snarker|sighs or rolls his eyes]].
* Garfield and Binky get this in one short on ''[[Garfield and Friends]]''. Binky even frightens the cartoonist resulting in him and Garfield being drawn badly.
* Sammy the Fish becomes one of these in an episode of the Canadian stop-motion series ''What It's Like Being Alone''.
* Some fans of ''[[My Little Pony:
** And in "A Friend in Deed", we get a look into Pinkie's mind (apparently her Friend-Making Checklist is made of ''felt'' in her head), only for her to hold up one of the felt-checks from her mind and grin at the audience. Probably one of the more blatant
* [[Word of God|Greg Weisman]] had the idea that Puck in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' would be able to do this, but [[Executive Meddling]] prevented it.
** Which would have been ingeniously in-character, since he breaks the fourth wall at the end of ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''...
* In what has got to be a consolation for the above, in the Weisman-run ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', the Green Goblin was shown to see through the fourth wall on occasion, and in one instance of this, quotes/paraphrases lines from Puck in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''.
* In ''[[Batman: The Brave
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
▲== Web Original ==
* Gavin Taylore in ''[[Kate Modern]]'' becomes one of these, when he's going crazy. Most memorably when he attempts to [[Rage Against the Author|confront the executive producer of the show]] for making his life hell.
▲* While other characters ignore the [[Fourth Wall]], Shadi from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'' has the job of protecting it.
* In the [[Interactive Comic|Interactive]] [[Text Adventure]] ''[[The Motley Two]]'', Rambar Devito has this attribute as part and parcel of his [[Psychic Powers]]. Other characters can "hear" the extradimensional voices telling them what to do (I.E. the readers), but only Rambar can talk back to them.
* James in ''[[TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life (web video)|TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life]]'' tends to apply his knowledge of tropes to his life, with varying degrees of success.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* John Carmack, in a similar vein to the ''[[The X-Files|X-Files]]'' example above, after decades of designing game engines, could apparently look at ''anything'' in real life and determine what type of CG technology was being used to render it.
** Having computer graphics as a hobby has a similar effect, only the results are geared more towards being able to tell what primitives and texture components you'd need to recreate what you see in the computer.
*** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150101073906/http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/ykybrtlw.html You know you've been raytracing too long when...] you think to yourself "cool lens flare effect" while you're watching [[The Tetris Effect|
* Anyone who has a lucid dream. For those who don't know what they are, in a nutshell, they're dreams that you're aware they're dreams
** Without enough awareness, you can take full control as a [[Reality Warper]] or will yourself awake.
* In Real Life, there is a variant of paranoid schizophrenia now named "[[Truman Show Plot|Truman syndrome]]", in which the patient believes that their lives are actually a television show. This may be the best and most controversial example of [[Defictionalization]] ''ever''.
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[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Metafiction Demanded This Index]]
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