History Main / NoticingTheFourthWall

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': You may not be able to tell by the confusing finale, but this was the true secret of Paradigm City: [[spoiler:the reason nobody remembers what happened prior to 40 years ago is because they didn't ''exist'' prior to 40 years ago. The entire setting is one giant simulation, controlled by a particularly troubled film director playing god, who was BroughtDownToNormal and turned into a cast member with LaserGuidedAmnesia when the protagonist of the 'previous' series, which was set in said '40 years ago'' but was effectively in another world that is now wiped from reality, realized he was in a show and wanted some level of autonomy in how the script played out - by waging a metaphysical giant robot war on his author. The only question remaining is if the simulation is a virtual world or all in the director's head, but either way, Roger manages to break through to the real world and negotiate with her]].

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': You may not be able to tell by the confusing finale, but this was the true secret of Paradigm City: [[spoiler:the reason nobody remembers what happened prior to 40 years ago is because they didn't ''exist'' prior to 40 years ago. The entire setting is one giant simulation; the only question remaining is if it is a virtual setting or the mindscape, all of which is indirectly controlled by a particularly troubled film director in the 'real' world. Roger manages to break through and negotiate with her... somehow]].

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': You may not be able to tell by the confusing finale, but this was the true secret of Paradigm City: [[spoiler:the reason nobody remembers what happened prior to 40 years ago is because they didn't ''exist'' prior to 40 years ago. The entire setting is one giant simulation; the only question remaining is if it is a virtual setting or the mindscape of a particularly troubled film director, who Roger manages to 'negotiate' with]].

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': You may not be able to tell by the confusing finale, but this was the true secret of Paradigm City: [[spoiler:the reason nobody remembers what happened prior to 40 years ago is because they didn't ''exist'' prior to 40 years ago.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': If you play as a complete and unrepentant sociopath who slaughters mooks, guards, small children, heroes, TV stars, and anyone else stupid enough to get in your way, you'll awaken the demon overlord [[spoiler:Chara]] from the sleep of the dead with your violence. They'll call you out on defining their purpose through every EXP you ever earned. Then they'll attack ''you'' with such force that ''the game screen fills up with DPS-nines and the entire underground dies''. [[spoiler:''And they'll never go back to sleep'']].

* In ''WebVideo/HalfLifeButTheAIIsSelfAware'', Dr. Coomer was already a CloudCuckoolander, but he [[GoMadFromTheRevelation gets worse]] after attempting to climb up a cliff to escape Black Mesa only to discover ''[[SurpriseCreepy "there's nothing there."]]'' He later reveals that he [[DreamApocalypse feels intense pain]] whenever Gordon shuts the game off, and even tries to [[GrandTheftMe steal Gordon's body to escape it.]]

* One of the [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/sandrewswann-s-proposal proposals]] for the nature of [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP-001]] is that [[spoiler:it is the collective of writers and editors of the SCP Foundation website itself, portraying them as careless or malevolent gods who rewrite reality at a whim. [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou And the Foundation have prepared countermeasures to kill the authors if it becomes absolutely necessary]], even though they're aware this may destroy reality.]]
** It's implied that [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2786 SCP-2786,]] a being that can jump between different narratives and insert itself to solve every plotline quickly, finally realized during containment that not only were the "universes" it was entering works of fiction, its reality ''itself'' was also a work of fiction (the above SCP-001 is linked), and thus it's nothing but a fictional character. It's also implied this realization ''[[DespairEventHorizon completely broke the entity]]''.

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': You may not be able to tell by the confusing finale, but this was the true secret of Paradigm City: [[spoiler: the reason nobody remembers what happened prior to 40 years ago is because they didn't ''exist'' prior to 40 years ago.]]

* In the music video for Denki Groove's "Mononoke Dance", [[spoiler: after a terrifying night at a ''{{yokai}}'' [[NightParadeOfOneHundredDemons dance party]], the biggest shock comes when the guy realizes he and his girlfriend are just crudely-animated papercraft puppets.]]

* ''[[http://www.kongregate.com/games/EddyParanoia/inquisitive-dave Inquisitive Dave]]'' begins as a side-scrolling adventure game, but [[spoiler: after the evil wizard Zardolph is defeated,]] he comes back with the knowledge that their entire world is just a video game, and this knowledge had given him the power to [[spoiler: escape the game and become a virus, destroying every system "because only through chaos can they know true freedom!"]] This leads to [[spoiler: a final confrontation with him at the top of his tower, where the trick to beating him is to hide in an alcove his magic can't reach and refuse to fight back. As a villain character, the point of Zardolph's existence is to fight the hero, so if the hero doesn't fight him, his existence is redundant. Thus, he disappears]]. After the credits, the creators reveal [[spoiler: to Dave that Zardolph hadn't really escaped their control; it was just a test of Dave's lateral thinking.]]
** This LetsPlay ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1RpEs_GTy0 video]]'' explains that [[spoiler: the whole point of the game was for the amusement of the audience, and it is pointed out that the system and the player are being watched. The player is given his freedom from the game, and the video watcher is called a voyeur. From the perspective of the watcher this seems like ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=12982154780A08060100&page=0 Breaking The 5th Wall]]'' as the player and audience are separate entities.]]

** It's implied that [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2786 SCP-2786]], a being that can jump between different narratives and insert itself to solve every plotline quickly, finally realized during containment that not only were the "universes" it was entering works of fiction, its reality ''itself'' was also a work of fiction (the above SCP-001 is linked), and thus it's nothing but a fictional character. It's also implied this realization ''[[DespairEventHorizon completely broke the entity]]''.

* One of the [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/sandrewswann-s-proposal proposals]] for the nature of [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP-001]] is that [[spoiler:it is the collective of writers and editors of the SCP Foundation website itself, portraying them as careless or malevolent gods who rewrite reality at a whim. [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou And the Foundation have prepared countermeasures to kill the authors if it becomes absolutely necessary]], even though they're aware this may destroy reality.]]

* In ''Machinima/HalfLifeButTheAIIsSelfAware'', Dr. Coomer was already a CloudCuckoolander, but he [[GoMadFromTheRevelation gets worse]] after attempting to climb up a cliff to escape Black Mesa only to discover ''[[SurpriseCreepy "there's nothing there."]]'' He later reveals that he [[DreamApocalypse feels intense pain]] whenever Gordon shuts the game off, and even tries to [[GrandTheftMe steal Gordon's body to escape it.]]

* Happens in-universe in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'': Buzz Lightyear is initially convinced he is a real space ranger, and not a toy, and only learns otherwise when he sees a commercial for a Buzz Lightyear toy like himself.

* In the music video for Denki Groove's "Mononoke Dance", [[spoiler: after a terrifying night at a ''{{yokai}}'' dance party, the biggest shock comes when the guy realizes he and his girlfriend are just crudely-animated papercraft puppets.]]

[[caption-width-right:250: Oh crap, hide!]]

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}''

* The above quote from ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'', who is able to notice it because an overdose of "Brain Grub" grants him superhuman intelligence. He then uses his mental powers to make the show smarter, turning it into a boring intellectual program. With that in mind, the show [[NoFourthWall regularly broke the fourth wall]] with all its characters, both before and long after the episode in question.

** This was also parodied in a [[TheSimpsons Simpsons]] comic book, where Sideshow Bob revealed this fact to his prison guards. The scene ends complete with panel-grabbing.

* ''Comicbook/TheSimpsons'' "Treehouse of Horror" comic "Immigration of the Body Snatchers" ends this way. After a parade of {{Shout Out}}s to twist endings from ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968'' and even ''Creator/MontyPython,'' Sideshow Bob shouts that none of it is real and they're all just ink on paper. Everyone laughs at him... until he points to the surrounding panels and to the reader.

* ''Comicbook/TheSimpsons'' "Treehouse of Horror" comic "Immigration of the Body Snatchers" ends this way. After a parade of {{Shout Out}}s to twist endings from ''Series/TheTwilightZone,'' ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968'' and even ''Creator/MontyPython,'' Sideshow Bob shouts that none of it is real and they're all just ink on paper. Everyone laughs at him... until he points to the surrounding panels and to the reader.

* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'': Each of the Shadow Crystal Holders interacted with a mysterious figure, who told them about the virtual nature of the world. This causes them to GoMadFromTheRevelation, making [[spoiler:Jevil turn into TheHedonist, [[BloodKnight fighting others for pleasure]], and drives Spamton to create a plan to free himself of the game.]]

** It's implied that [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2786 SCP-2786]], a being that can jump between different narratives and insert itself to solve every plotline quickly like a kind of MarySue, finally realized during containment that not only were the "universes" it was entering works of fiction, its reality ''itself'' was also a work of fiction (the above SCP-001 is linked), and thus it's nothing but a fictional character. It's also implied this realization ''[[DespairEventHorizon completely broke the entity]]''.

* ''VideoGame/{{deltarune}}'' features BonusBoss [[spoiler: Jevil]], who, after speaking to a yet unknown person, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation started to see the entire universe as one big game]]. If you refuse to fight him after [[spoiler: opening his cell]], he even calls you out on it.

* ''Eyebeam'' has a version that was combined with AllJustADream, [[http://eyebeam.com/toons/index.php?num=85 these]] [[http://eyebeam.com/toons/index.php?num=86 three]] [[http://eyebeam.com/toons/index.php?num=87 strips]].

* Done in [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3886 this]] ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' comic.
* Characters of ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'' have this sudden awareness in [[http://www.explosm.net/comics/375/ this one]].

** In another ad, Sheldon wants to know why the TBS logo is in his Chinese food. Leonard tells him to ignore it because they aren't supposed to know they are on TV.

* A ShowWithinAShow example from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. The Moriarty character from a SherlockHolmes reenactment miraculously learns that he's not only a fictional character but that he's a computer generated recreation of said character.

** Creator/GrantMorrison was punished for this by having his AuthorAvatar (codename: The Writer) drafted into Franchise/TheDCU Suicide Squad.

* The entire plot of the Korean Netflix series ''Extraordinary You''. The main character of the series realises that she's a side character in a romance comic, and sets out to take her story into her own hands. Unfortunately, this is quite the task as during the Scenes of the comic, she must act her part or everything resets.

* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'': In "Your World is An Illusion", Holo-Jane convinces K.O. that his world is an illusion, and he starts to notice things like [[ConspicuouslyLightPatch he can only pick up rocks that aren't part of the background]], [[Motionblur he gets extra arms when he moves them too fast]], and big impacts produce a HitFlash. After K.O. suffers a brief existential crisis, Holo-Jane assures him that even if his world isn't "real", his experiences and feelings are real.

* The above quote from ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'', who is able to notice it because an overdose of "Brain Grub" grants him superhuman intelligence. He then uses his mental powers to make the show smarter, turning it into a boring intellectual program. With that in mind, the show [[NoFourthWall regularly broke the fourth wall]] with all its characters, both before and long after the episode in question.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Done In-Universe, when Timmy wishes the Crimson Chin out of his comic and shows him he's fictional, he suffers a HeroicBSOD. When he's returned to the comic, every panel is just him sucking his thumb in a fetal position. After Timmy gives him a pep talk about how his actions still matter to the people living in his world, the Crimson Chin continues his superheroic and retains MediumAwareness in following appearances.

* In ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'', one short has the girls encounter one of the silhouetted background characters that were prominent in Volume 1. They mention how creepy they are, how they never seem to talk to them and how some of them look like them, in which we see a Ruby version who bashfully waves hi to them.
** Episode 6 decided to break the fourth wall's legs when [[spoiler:Chibi Pyrrha]], whose canonical counterpart was gruesomely KilledOffForReal at the end of Volume 3, shows up and Chibi Nora telling everyone that "Nothing. Bad. Ever Happened. ''Ever''."