Fourth Wall Observer: Difference between revisions

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* 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 ;;[[xxxHolic]];; story written by Nisio Isin, Yuuko Ichihara says that something is "most vexexing". When Watanuki asks if she just stuttered, she replies "No. Merely a typo."

* 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.

* 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?

{{quote|'''Jessie:''' Prepare for trouble like you've never seen!

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[offpanel Superman] "What?"

"Nothing." }}

** ''[[Ambush Bug]]'' is another example from [[The DCU]]. He and [[Squirrel Girl]] are sort of like both [[Distaff Counterpart~~|Distaff Counterparts~~]] and [[Alternate Company Equivalent|alternates of each other.]]

** ''[[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 Bastards]] so eating meat is wrong. Since then, he's learned to live with it, although he still comments on it from time to time. For instance, when he's asked for help from other superheroes, he usually says something like "Oh God, I hope it's not another crossover where they kill off a bunch of C-List heroes like me."

*** He's lost the fourth-wall breaking with his current incarnation in the [[New 52]], apart from the odd [[Continuity Nod]] referencing Morrison's defining run.

* In a ''[[Simpsons]] Comics'' Hallowe'en story, after multiple alien invasions and random people spending several panels ranting about conspiracy theories, Sideshow Bob turns up to tell the ~~Truth -- they~~'re "all merely pen and ink creations trapped in a juvenile comic book!" He gets laughed at at first, but proves his case by pointing out the comic book panels and then forcing everyone to look at the reader.

* In a ''[[Simpsons]] Comics'' Hallowe'en story, after multiple alien invasions and random people spending several panels ranting about conspiracy theories, Sideshow Bob turns up to tell the Truth—they're "all merely pen and ink creations trapped in a juvenile comic book!" He gets laughed at at first, but proves his case by pointing out the comic book panels and then forcing everyone to look at the reader.

* 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 OFF. Creepy.

* 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.}}

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{{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]].

** The Sniper (who mentions respawning) and Soldier (who recognizes that his rockets are subject to random-chance [[Critical Hit~~|Critical Hits~~]]) can also count.

** The Sniper (who mentions respawning) and Soldier (who recognizes that his rockets are subject to random-chance [[Critical Hit]]s) can also count.

* 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~~|Visual Novels~~]], 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 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]] 2'', player character Chuck Greene, always says something relevant when you have him put on new clothes. Get him to [[Cross Dresser]], and he'll express discomfort, saying things like "Um...Seriously?", "Uh..." "If you say so..." and "[[Star Wars|I got a bad feeling about this.]]" These seem to be his only moments.

* [[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.

* If a certain bartender in ''[[Runescape]]'' is asked where a brave adventurer might find her or his fortune, he fears that giving away hints will make the 'computer game' too easy. One of the options on the resulting dialogue tree triggers an amusing conversation in which the bartender attempts to explain things by heavily breaking the fourth wall, only for the player character to give up and tell him that he is obviously mad.

* 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 relizes that his life is all fragmented still shots and the fact that he can see his thoughts and words hanging in thought/speech bubbles in the air. The same voice then tells him that he's in a computer game. Once again, he instantly sees "weapon statistics hanging in the air, endless repetition of the act of shooting, time slowing down to show off my moves, the feel that someone is controlling my every step."

* 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 relizes that his life is all fragmented still shots and the fact that he can see his thoughts and words hanging in thought/speech bubbles in the air. The same voice then tells him that he's in a computer game. Once again, he instantly sees "weapon statistics hanging in the air, endless repetition of the act of shooting, time slowing down to show off my moves, the feel that someone is controlling my every step."

* Every [[World of Warcraft]] player character, and I'm not referring to chat and player controlled actions, eg "Not Enough Rage".

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** And then there's Doc Scratch, who is perfectly aware of the readers thanks to being [[The Omniscient]]. He even pranks us and ''[[Take That Me|calls the author a fool]]''.

* [http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20070515 Joel] in ''[[Concession]]''. In fact it was recently revealed that {{spoiler|1=spiritual awareness involves [http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20101008 knowledge of the fourth wall.]}}

* 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.

* 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 [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.

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** 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 webcomic, and in fact attack the party solely because they wouldn't exist otherwise. They also operate the [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot]], bringing letters to other characters who have no clue who sent them. Of course, the humans think they're insane. All this is perfect, because in ''[[Exalted]]'' [[The Fair Folk]] very much treat themselves, each other, and Creation as fiction and story-telling, and they've even been compared to role-players.

* In ''[[Persona 4 TW]]'', Teddy is this; it's more or less his new gimmick instead of Bear-puns and -kuma [[Verbal Tic~~|Verbal Tics~~]]. Hasn't [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|started talking directly to the audience yet]], though.

* 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]].

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* 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: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' suspect Pinkie Pie of being this. She gives a number of [[Aside Glance~~|Aside Glances~~]] throughout the series, although [[Word of God]] [http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/03/pinkie-pies-4th-wall-antics-denied.html chalks these up to animation errors]. However, at the end of the pilot she asks the audience if they're as excited as she is about Twilight coming to live in Ponyville, and at the end of "Over A Barrel" she briefly holds open the [[Iris Out]].

* Some fans of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' suspect Pinkie Pie of being this. She gives a number of [[Aside Glance]]s throughout the series, although [[Word of God]] [http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/03/pinkie-pies-4th-wall-antics-denied.html chalks these up to animation errors]. However, at the end of the pilot she asks the audience if they're as excited as she is about Twilight coming to live in Ponyville, and at the end of "Over A Barrel" she briefly holds open the [[Iris Out]].

** 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 4th wall-observing moments.

* [[Word of God|Greg Weisman]] had the idea that Puck in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' would be able to do this, but [[Executive Meddling]] prevented it.