History Main / ExploitingTheFourthWall

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': In episode "Simian Says", Mojo Jojo kidnapped TheNarrator so that ''he'' could narrate the episode instead, his narration forcing the Powerpuff Girls to do everything he described them doing. Done earlier iin the comic book story "See You Later, Narrator."

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': In one episode, Mojo Jojo kidnapped TheNarrator so that ''he'' could narrate the episode instead, his narration forcing the Powerpuff Girls to do everything he described them doing.

** In another Bugs Bunny short, Bugs defeats the bad guy by breaking the film in order to escape a trap. Done earlier in "My Favorite Duck" with Daffy breaking the film then telling his version of how the cartoon ends.

** In another Bugs Bunny short, Bugs defeats the bad guy by breaking the film in order to escape a trap.

* ''WebVideo/ScootertrixTheAbridged'': Pinkie Pie can create {{Plot Hole}}s and invoke OffscreenTeleportation -- she's basically a minor RealityWarper whenever the camera ''isn't'' on her. In Episode 7, she uses this to get herself and Fluttershy down from the mountain, and in Episode 16, she uses it to get movie tickets for herself and all her friends, even thought the movie was completely sold out.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' had an episode where Spongebob, desperate to tell Mr. Krabs something important, states that he knows a shortcut to the Krusty Krab to prompt a scene transition via a wave of bubbles. Spongebob's shortcut is jumping ''onto'' those bubbles to get carried into the next scene.

* ''WebAnimation/AnimatorVsAnimation'': These videos are based on this trope. The Animation (a stick figure) interacts with everything from various applications' interfaces to icons on the desktop to system menus, trying to destroy the Animator (the mouse cursor).

[[quoteright:226:[[Webcomic/AmazingSuperPowers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/exploiting_the_fourth_wall_6.png]]]]

[[quoteright:226:[[Webcomic/AmazingSuperPowers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/exploiting_the_fourth_wall_6.jpg]]]]

* Let’s just say this happens ''[[NoFourthWall a lot]]'' in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''.

* ''Real Screen Comics #42'' featured Fauntleroy Fox of ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow'' fame revealed to Crawford Crow that he owned and read a stash of ''Fox and the Crow'' comics, meaning he could see through any disguise he used previously. Crawford got around the genre-savviness by trying something new, and then threatening to move away without paying Fauntleroy and conning him out of 10 bucks to stay.

* ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1904}}'': When Tinkerbell is injured, Peter [[BreakingTheFourthWall asks the audience to clap]] to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve express their belief in fairies]], telling them that their applause will save her life.

* ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1904}}'': When Tinkerbell is injured, Peter and company save her life by getting the audience to chant "I do believe in fairies, I do, I do".

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In one episode Mojo Jojo kidnapped TheNarrator so that ''he'' could narrate the episode instead, his narration forcing the Powerpuff Girls to do everything he described them doing.

* In ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound}}'', Ness and his friends defeat Giygas by getting the entire world to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve unite in a prayer for his defeat.]] Then Paula asks you, the player, to join in. Effectively, you defeat Giygas just by wanting him dead badly enough.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'': If ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is attacked during his Level 3 Hyper combo, he will bludgeon his opponent with his Health Bar and Hyper Meter.
* In ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound}}'', Ness and his friends defeat Giygas by getting the entire world to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve unite in a prayer for his defeat.]] Then Paula asks you, the player, to join in. Effectively, you defeat Giygas just by wanting him dead badly enough.

* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' utilizes this concept quite a bit, primarily through [[spoiler:Monika. At various points, she gradually reprograms the game to be more to her liking, mainly attempting to break out of her role as TheNotLoveInterest. One particular point has her present a poem to the player that is just a glitched display of red and green boxes, followed by her apologizing for it and awkwardly having the game proceed to the poem-sharing gameplay. If this scene is viewed in a fullscreen display, the glitched poem would [[PaintingTheMedium seemingly crash the computer]] until Monika reappears to put everything back on track]]. The game's developer deliberately avoided looking at any media related to the aforementioned ''Undertale'' during development due to the similar use of metafictional concepts.
* In ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'', Shanty has the ability to leap onto walls, which she can use to dodge or attack. But as there's no logical "wall" to cling to, she instead clings to the sides of the screen, freezing the stage background in place until she gets off.

** In another strip, the team makes plans for that night, and then, to avoid many hours of waiting, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0155.html Haley simply announces "Later that evening...]]

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/SheHulk'', She-Hulk escapes from a trap by ripping a hole in the page, leading the other characters across two pages of ads, and ripping back into the story at a later point in the story.

* [[Recap/EdEddNEddyS5E2EveryWhichWayButEd One episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' revolves entirely around this trope. Eddy reveals that he managed to swipe a Jawbreaker from Johnny and tries to show how he did it with a flashback. However, other kids from the cul-de-sac begin hijacking his story to tell stories about their own past until the eds get lost within the stories themselves, forcing them to try and find their way back to the start.

* Similarly, Chuckles the Silly Piggy from ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'' once performed a HostileShowTakeover by tying up the Narrator and taking his place.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', this happens in-universe when the Nega-Chin, a villain from a [[ShowWithinAShow comic book]], goes to the writer's house and fights him to get him to write a story where he wins.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' presents the stories like they're being read from a book. When Tigger gets stuck at the top of a tree, the InteractiveNarrator gets him down by turning the book sideways so Tigger can stand on the text, then tilting the book so Tigger can slide down to the ground.

* [[Recap/EdEddNEddyS5E17EveryWhichWayButEd One episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' revolves entirely around this trope. Eddy reveals that he managed to swipe a Jawbreaker from Johnny and tries to show how he did it with a flashback. However, other kids from the cul-de-sac begin hijacking his story to tell stories about their own past until the eds get lost within the stories themselves, forcing them to try and find their way back to the start.

* [[Recap/EdEddNEddyS5E17EveryWhichWayButEd One episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' revolves entirely around this trope. Eddy reveals that he managed to swipe a Jawbreaker from Jonny and tries to show how he did it with a flashback. However, other kids from the cul-de-sac begin hijacking his story to tell stories about their own past until the eds get lost within the stories themselves, forcing them to try and find their way back to the start.