Interactive Narrator: Difference between revisions

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'''''[[No Real Life Examples Please|No Real Life Examples Possible]]'''''

== Anime ==

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* The narrator in ''[[Samurai Pizza Cats]]'' would break the [[Fourth Wall]] with the characters and engage in [[Lampshade Hanging]] with them. He even had his family kidnapped by the Big Cheese, as part of a plan to finally defeat the cats. The same show once decimated the concept by having the narrator "accidentally" read the lines of the wrong episode.

* The [[Narrator]] in ''[[Keroro Gunsou|Sgt. Frog]]'' also plays with the fourth wall a few times: he often gets yelled at, threatened, or outright attacked by the characters in the show for revealing their inner thoughts or reading an unflattering description of them. In episode 31, Keroro gets stranded in the middle of nowhere after his new hover-bike conks out, and he passes the time by trying to strike up a conversation with the [[Narrator]].

** In one episode of the dub, where an [[Identical Stranger]] of Angol Mois shows up, the narrator comments "The last episode had [[Literal Split Personality|two Momokas]], and now two Angol Mois?" He threatens to quit if two Keroros show up, and a few episodes later makes good on his threat when Keroro accidentally [[~~Mes~~ a Crowd|clones himself a thousand times over]] (though he returns by the end of the episode, once the clones are gone), with a stuffy-sounding British woman briefly taking his place.

** In one episode of the dub, where an [[Identical Stranger]] of Angol Mois shows up, the narrator comments "The last episode had [[Literal Split Personality|two Momokas]], and now two Angol Mois?" He threatens to quit if two Keroros show up, and a few episodes later makes good on his threat when Keroro accidentally [[Me's a Crowd|clones himself a thousand times over]] (though he returns by the end of the episode, once the clones are gone), with a stuffy-sounding British woman briefly taking his place.

** The English dub, which would be a [[Gag Dub]] if this wasn't already a [[Gag Series]], will sometimes even play this with the ''subtitles'' which are supposed to be translating the on-screen Japanese text. On at least one occasion, the narrator and "Mister Caption" have gotten into an argument and started flinging insults at each other.

{{quote| '''Caption:''' ''The Narrator sucks!''<br />

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* In the fan-made ''[[Earthbound]]'' radio play ''[[Fobbies Are Borange]]'', the characters have a hostile relationship with the narrator. {{spoiler|In the end, it turns out that the narrator was the [[Big Bad]] all along.}}

* In the BBC's adaptation of ''[[Dead Souls]]'', the narrator is actually following Chichikov around, telling the story as he goes. He is nearly constantly on Chichikov's nerves, since he is prone to giving unflattering descriptions or switching around what Chichikov is thinking and what he actually says aloud. At the end of the story, Chichikov {{spoiler|is chased out of town by a bunch of very angry townspeople, and manages to leave the narrator behind as he flees.}}

* There are a lot of examples of this in ''[[I'm Sorry ~~Ill~~ Read That Again (Radio)|I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again]]'', done in various ways. On one occasion, for instance, David Hatch is introducing that week's episode of the serial and breaks off to comment on how bad the plot is, saying that it's just as believable as him saying that suddenly there was a huge explosion and [the cast] all disappeared in a puff of smoke. They promptly do just that, and once he's brought them back, John Cleese berates him for being power mad. Hatch proceeds to narrate a series of disasters culminating in Cleese landing in a vat of simmering tapioka pudding as an object lesson to everybody else.

* There are a lot of examples of this in ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (Radio)|I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again]]'', done in various ways. On one occasion, for instance, David Hatch is introducing that week's episode of the serial and breaks off to comment on how bad the plot is, saying that it's just as believable as him saying that suddenly there was a huge explosion and [the cast] all disappeared in a puff of smoke. They promptly do just that, and once he's brought them back, John Cleese berates him for being power mad. Hatch proceeds to narrate a series of disasters culminating in Cleese landing in a vat of simmering tapioka pudding as an object lesson to everybody else.

{{quote| '''David Hatch:''' What's the matter?<br />

'''Graeme Garden:''' I'm not complaining. }}

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* The narrator in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' games is also [[Big Bad]] Shao Kahn. In some games, when he wins a fight, the narrator will sometimes say "I win" instead of "Shao Kahn wins".

* In ''[[Bastion]]'', the narrator is Rucks, one of the last survivors of the Calamity and {{spoiler|the one responsible for creating the Bastion}}. He provides running commentary on [[The Hero|the Kid's]] journey, as well as [[Heroic Mime|his voice]] when he talks to the other survivors.

* The narrator of the Source Mod [[The Stanley Parable]] seems to gently nudge you in the direction that leads to freedom. And by gently, we mean he gives you the solution to a puzzle almost completely upfront. If you try to go [[Off the Rails]] in any way however, he quickly grows annoyed at your attempts and will try to stop your progress in any way he can, giving you a [[The Reason You Suck Speech]] along the way.

* The narrator of the Source Mod [[The Stanley Parable]] seems to gently nudge you in the direction that leads to freedom. And by gently, we mean he gives you the solution to a puzzle almost completely upfront. If you try to go [[Off the Rails]] in any way however, he quickly grows annoyed at your attempts and will try to stop your progress in any way he can, giving you a [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] along the way.

* [[The Stinger]] of ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'' reveals that Rosalina was actually narrating the game's plot via a storybook she was reading to the Lumas. At the end of "The Perfect Run", she writes herself into her own book to give Mario/Luigi the final Power Star.

* The Narrator in ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (Video Game)|Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse]]'' turns out to be an interesting subversion. {{spoiler|In the final episode he's revealed to actually exist within Sam & Max's universe, as the personification of Max's super-ego, and lives inside his brain. Even after we learn this, however, he continues to narrate somewhat and [[Fourth Wall Observer|address the audience beyond the fourth wall]].}}

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* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''

** In one episode, Mojo Jojo kidnapped the narrator and took his place, which granted him control over the universe.

** In another episode where Mojo Jojo turns the entire world into dogs ([[~~Its~~ a Long Story]]), the narrator called him out on it. In response, Mojo Jojo turns the narrator into a dog too.

** In another episode where Mojo Jojo turns the entire world into dogs ([[It's a Long Story]]), the narrator called him out on it. In response, Mojo Jojo turns the narrator into a dog too.

** In another episode, HIM brainwashes the whole town into hating the Powerpuff Girls. The narrator screams at the girls, "Oh for crying out loud, would you three shut up for once!? Always crying and moaning about something... sheesh, you give me a headache!"

* The ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]''-type Narrator on ''[[Sheep in The Big City]]'' frequently berates the characters, who can answer back snappily, and sometimes has his booth invaded by other characters (at one point, he is actually beaten up for criticizing one character's plotline). Unlike ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'', however, this narrator was actually given a backstory (his name was Ben Plotz) and was frequently shown onscreen, recording his narration in a studio booth.

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** In ''How to Be a Gentleman,'' Goofy exacts his revenge on the unseen voice that's been tormenting him for so long... with a giant club.

** And speaking of ''[[House of Mouse]]'', there were a few instances of [[John Cleese (Creator)|John Cleese]] lending some narration. Usually without the interaction, but in one particular cartoon, ''The Nutcracker'', Cleese not only argues with the characters and gets flustered by the confusing casting (including flat-out lying to Donald about the Rat King's ultimate fate to get him to actually do the part), but he also manages to kick Ludwig von Drake out of the picture (temporarily, to his great frustration).

* Protagonist Kuzco narrates the first half of ''[[The ~~Emperors~~ New Groove (Disney)|The Emperors New Groove]]'' in extremely snarky fashion, even complaining when other characters are given more screen time than him. When on-screen Kuzco finally begins to turn away from being a [[Jerkass]], he tells narrator-Kuzco to shut up and go away. He does, and there is no narration in the second half of the film.

* Protagonist Kuzco narrates the first half of ''[[The Emperor's New Groove (Disney)|The Emperors New Groove]]'' in extremely snarky fashion, even complaining when other characters are given more screen time than him. When on-screen Kuzco finally begins to turn away from being a [[Jerkass]], he tells narrator-Kuzco to shut up and go away. He does, and there is no narration in the second half of the film.

* ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'''s narrator talks with the characters at least once per story...

** The most extreme example of narrator-character interaction is "And Tigger too", when Tigger and Roo got stuck in a tree, the narrator ''tips the book on its side'' to allow Tigger to slide down to safety. (In the Disney version, all the action takes place inside a book, and includes other gags of this nature)