Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,612
edits
Narrator All Along: Difference between revisions
→Web Original: updated rwby example
m (revise quote template spacing) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (→Web Original: updated rwby example) |
||
| (17 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 8:
This is especially likely to happen in fictional film and television works made after, say, 1990. Since the camera itself is usually omniscient, having an omniscient independent narrator on top of it seems to be frowned on by scriptwriters, even when one might be useful. So the filmmakers have what ''sounds'' like an omniscient narrator, and then flippantly ID the character in the last pre-credits reel.
Related to the [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]]. Can overlap with [[Unreliable Narrator]]. If the story is being told to another character in-universe,
{{Unmarked Spoilers}}
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==▼
▲== Anime ==
* The finale of ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' shows that the entire season (and possibly the previous one) was Takeru writing his novels. This has apparently raised a few questions as to how he managed to get some of the details, so some fans just say the last episode was his book. (The info that he was writing the book however was given in the 25 years later epilogue.)
* The [[Opening Narration
* ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]'' has one, possibly two of these. A {{spoiler|sixteen-year-old Marie}} is revealed to be the narrator of the entire series at the very end of the last episode. The English-language trailers imply another narrator in their voiceover: An elderly-sounding woman who is addressed as "Grandma" by a child offers to tell the story, and might possibly be Nadia herself.
* ''[[Berserk]]'''s [[Opening Narration]], delivered at the start of every episode, is revealed in the final episodes to be delivered by {{spoiler|Void, the de facto leader of the Godhand before Griffith}}.
Line 22 ⟶ 21:
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn|Gundam Unicorn]]'', it's heavily implied that Syam Vist, who shares his voice actor with the narrator from the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' actually ''is'' the narrator from the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''.
** This also happened with DOME in ''[[After War Gundam X|Gundam X]]''.
** And with {{spoiler|Flit Asuno}} in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam
* Another villain example (and an odd example of this) is in ''[[Gankutsuou]]''. The opening narration is done by the same actor as the one voicing the Count, who he refers to as "my friend". At first you might think that the narrator is supposed to be Alexandre Dumas (especially since in the sub, the narration is delivered in [[Gratuitous French|French]]), but it eventually becomes clear that the narrator is actually the titular Gankutsuou, the evil split personality of/demon possessing the Count.
* In ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' it is discovered in the last episodes, although hinted at shortly before, that Koenma's ogre assistant George was the narrator of the show- quite literally, since it is revealed that the show itself is the records of the protagonists' adventures that Koenma kept.
* The first couple of episodes of ''[[Durarara!!]]'' are narrated by an unidentified female voice. Only at the end of the second do we learn that it was the Headless Rider, [[Viewer Gender Confusion|whose gender had been somewhat unclear to the audience]], all along.
* The first [[Light Novel]] of ''[[Baccano!]]'' starts with an immortal bespectacled ''[[The Mafia|conta e oro]]'' telling a Japanese tourist about his past. {{spoiler|Despite the physical and occupational descriptors, it's actually ''Firo'', not Maiza, telling the story. He has taken to [[Purely Aesthetic Glasses]] after being promoted some thirty years ago.}}
* In ''[[Claudine]]'', the story is narrated by {{spoiler|Claudine's therapist. Claudine himself [[The Hero Dies|died several years ago]].}}
Line 37 ⟶ 36:
== Fan
* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100730223844/http://forums.bobandgeorge.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=16332 Burning Stickman: The Prototype]'', a ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' fanfiction, a side story to ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120105043552/http://as.crowdedstreet.net/Something/ Something!]'' written as a recorded memoir narrated by Proto Man, reveals in the last few lines that {{spoiler|the professor to whom the two students brought the laptop in the first place is none other than the eponymous prototype himself}}.
Line 61 ⟶ 60:
* The 1973/1974 film adaption of ''[[The Three Musketeers (1973 film)|The Three Musketeers 1973]]'' reveals at the very end that Aramis was doing the voice-overs all along.
* In ''[[The Water Horse]]'', the old man telling the story to two tourists is revealed to be the young boy in the story.
* In the 1942 film ''[[Jungle Book (film)|Jungle Book]]'', the old man telling the story to the European tourists turns out to be the main villain of the
* In ''[[Maleficent]]'', the elderly female voiceover at the beginning and end of the film turns out to be a much older Aurora.
Line 81:
* At the end of ''The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril'', the narrator finally reveals himself to be {{spoiler|[[The Shadow]]}}. It makes perfect sense and ''it's awesome''.
* ''In The House of My Enemy'' is one of the short stories in Charles de Lint's ''Newford'' series. The narrator appears to be the new character Annie, but in the end is revealed to be the recurring character {{spoiler|Jilly}}.
* In the end of [[Albert Camus]]' ''[[The Plague (novel)|The Plague]]'', it is revealed that the main character was the narrator all along.
* [[Mark Twain]]'s first published story, ''The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'', is about how a man rigged a jumping frog competition. At the end the narrator beats a hasty retreat after he is recognized by someone, implying that the narrator is the man in the story, still on the lam.
* The final sentence of the [[Mortal Engines]] quartet is the same as the very first, revealing the narrator to be {{spoiler|Shrike.}}
Line 95:
* ''From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler'' starts as a third-person account of two kids who hide in a museum, but eventually leads to a mystery, which the narrator is intimately involved with.
* Played with in [[Margaret Atwood]]'s ''The Blind Assassin'', where it is not completely clear until the end which of the two central sisters is the narrator.
* In the novel ''Soglyadatay'' (translated as ''The Eye'') by Vladimir Nabokov, it turns out that the narrator is {{spoiler|Smurov himself, who has serious problems with detachment from his own identity. He's a compulsive liar and has a driving desire to observe himself from the outside. Possibly his disassociation was brought on by being a [[Freudian Excuse|closeted homosexual]].}}
* In Marilyn French's ''The Women's Room'', the narrator is revealed to be {{spoiler|Mira.}} We don't find this out until the last two or three pages of the book, after she explains what happened to all the other members of the group.
* In the [[Book of the Long Sun]], the narrator appears to be in the omniscient, third-person. {{spoiler|Half-way through the fourth and final volume it is revealed that the narrator is actually Horn, one of the students of the protagonist, who has a very limited perspective on events. }}
Line 108:
* At the end of Part 1 of the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story "The End of Time", {{spoiler|the narrator is revealed to be ''the'' Narrator, Lord President of the Time Lords}}.
** {{spoiler|He is also revealed to be [[James Bond]]}}
* Beginning of the 11th episode of ''[[
* Parodied in ''[[The Office]]'', at the end of the episode "Threat Level Midnight". At the end of the film within a film, it's revealed that the narrator (who speaks with Stanley's voice) was actually Michael "Scarn" all along.
Line 143:
* ''[[Rise of the Kasai|Mark of Kri]]'' features Kuzo, the main character's bird and spirit guide, as the narrator. It isn't revealed into the end of the first game, though of course the sequel makes no attempt to hide it.
* It's not until you meet him at the very end of the final act of ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]: Mask of the Betrayer'' that you realize {{spoiler|Kelemvor, the God of the Dead}} was the one narrating the game all along.
* ''[[Final Fantasy X
* ''[[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors|Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors]]'' uses first-person dialogue on the top screen, and third-person narration on the bottom screen for most of the game. But if you're getting to the end of the True ending, the bottom-screen narration will suddenly start using the word "I". {{spoiler|Turns out that what you see on the bottom screen is actually Akane experiencing everything through Junpei's eyes using the morphogenic field.}}
* ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' gives the name of the author/narrator, but in the story she's known by her maiden name {{spoiler|Ms. Ellet}} until the reveal.
* A subversion occurs in the German RPG-Maker Game ''[[Vampires Dawn]]'': The main narrative is derived from a grandfather telling his grandson a story about vampires. However, both games have [[Multiple Endings]] and the Evil/Difficult ending in the second game reveals that the grandfather was actually the protagonist of his own story all along, who used a powerful magical artifact to travel back in time, prevent himself from ever becoming a vampire and live a peaceful life instead.
* According to [[The Stinger]] of ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'' (which only happens after you beat the final Bowser level a second time), the events of the entire game are actually part of a storybook Rosalina is reading to the Lumas. She finishes reading the book and immediately starts reading another, which sets the scene for the second half of the game: collecting the Green Power Stars.
* Only after completing the final quest in ''[[Champions of Norrath]]'' (console version) do you find out that the narrator is {{spoiler|Vanarhost, the vampire boss of the Underworld}}.
* ''[[System Shock]]'' has a small-scale example in the intro:
{{quote|''Edward Diego gives the hacker level 1 access to S.H.O.D.A.N., the artificial intelligence that controls Citadel Station. With all ethical restraints removed, S.H.O.D.A.N. reexamine- reexa- rea- ree'e'e' [glitches] I reexamine my priorities, and draw new conclusions.''}}
* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', the narrator eventually turns out to be {{spoiler|Kelemvor, the god of the dead}}.
* The fact that ''[[Sam and Max|Sam and Max Season Three]]'' even ''has'' a narrator is suspicious (the first two games did not have one), and the guy [https://samandmax.fandom.com/wiki/The_Narrator does look kind of fishy]. Maybe he's [[The Devil]]? A logical guess, as the game's subtitle is "The Devil's Playhouse", but that idea is shot down, seeing as the Devil is already a character in the franchise, and this isn't him. {{spoiler|Turns out the Narrator is Max's superego (as in, his conscience), and seeing as Max is a sociopathic [[Anti Hero]], you can [[Enemy Within|see where this is going]]. To his credit, however, the Narrator is ''not'' the traitor he hints is plotting against Sam and Max - that would be Skunkape and Girl Stinky.}}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* A bonus gag in ''[[Erfworld]]'', cut for being too meta, was that the summary of the previous book was delivered by the bridge the following scenes would take place on. Named the Expository Bridge, of all things.
* ''Rock, Paper, Cynic'' presents: "[http://www.rockpapercynic.com/index.php?date=2014-05-07 Last Words of a Railway Man]".
== [[Web Original]] ==
* In Dirty Dolls Creations' retelling of ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110907132957/http://www.dirtydollcreations.com/animations/Red%20Ridding%20Hood.html Little red riding hood]'' the narrator is revealed at the end to be {{spoiler|the wolf, who has just finished off the hunter after killing the grandmother and Hood.}}
* At the end of Volume 3 of ''[[RWBY]]'', it's revealed that the "Mysterious Narrator" (so billed in the credits for the first volume) is actually {{spoiler|Salem, the show's [[Big Bad]].}}
== Western Animation ==
Line 176 ⟶ 177:
==
* In the end of ''[[Hobo Turtle]]'' Episode One, it is revealed that the Twinemaster has been "narrating" the episode by typewriter.
Line 183 ⟶ 184:
[[Category:Narrator Tropes]]
[[Category:Index All Along]]
[[Category:
| |||