Anime & Manga
Fakir: What do you know?
Autor: Everything you want to know.
Autor: Everything you want to know.
Noa: Arrgh! I'm a country girl, I can't keep up with all this geographical data!
Asuma: Don't worry, I'll explain it two pages later.
Asuma: Don't worry, I'll explain it two pages later.
— Patlabor, manga chapter 1
Film —Live-Action
Basil Exposition: Hello, Austin. This is Basil Exposition, Chief of British Intelligence. You're Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, and you're with Agent Mrs. Kensington. The year is 1967, and you're talking on a picture phone.
Austin Powers: We know all that, Exposition.
Basil: I just wanted to be extremely clear so that everyone knows what's going on at any given time.
Austin Powers: We know all that, Exposition.
Basil: I just wanted to be extremely clear so that everyone knows what's going on at any given time.
Miss Piggy: Um, why are you telling me all this?
Lady Holiday: It's plot exposition. It has to go somewhere.
Lady Holiday: It's plot exposition. It has to go somewhere.
Literature
Hermione: Aren't you two ever going to read Hogwarts: A History?
Ron: What's the point? You know it by heart, we can just ask you.
Ron: What's the point? You know it by heart, we can just ask you.
Live-Action TV
"You're like a textbook with arms."
— Buffy on Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel: What do we know about telekinesis?
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: Ahh, yes. The power of moving things with one's mind. [beat] That's pretty much it.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: Ahh, yes. The power of moving things with one's mind. [beat] That's pretty much it.
"Meandering exposition is kind of my thing."
— Harold Finch, Person of Interest
Sam: Oh, my guess is, he'll take the Trans-Canada Highway to New Brunswick, then maybe catch the 1 and take the scenic route along the coast of Maine. 95 through New Hampshire to the Mass Pike, and then cut over to the Merritt Parkway round Milford.
Toby: 'Something really kinda freakish about you, you know that?
Sam: Yeah.
Toby: 'Something really kinda freakish about you, you know that?
Sam: Yeah.
— The West Wing, "Celestial Navigation"
Hathaway: I wouldn't read too much into the absence of a 'Goodbye Cruel World', sir. Statistically, the instances of suicide notes in Graham's demographic is in the 12-to-20% range.
Lewis: Where do you get this stuff?
Hathaway: The back of cereal boxes.
Lewis: Some days, I'm grateful you're on our side.
Lewis: Where do you get this stuff?
Hathaway: The back of cereal boxes.
Lewis: Some days, I'm grateful you're on our side.
— Lewis
Three: You have an answer for everything, don't you?
Android: Yes, I am an excellent source of information.
Android: Yes, I am an excellent source of information.
Helga: When do you intend to put into operation your ingenious plan to commandeer a captured British Wellington bomber, with artificial smoke belching from the engine, from which you will leap disguised as British airmen, hoping to be picked up by the Resistance and taken to their secret headquarters, so you may infiltrate the Resistance, escape and organise their capture?
Herr Flick: Congratulations Helga, you have expounded the plot well.
Herr Flick: Congratulations Helga, you have expounded the plot well.
Music
A sense of humor is not my forte
A sense of purpose is all-important
I'm the man with the answer
A sense of purpose is all-important
I'm the man with the answer
—Telex, "The Man With the Answer"
Video Games
"I'm spouting exposition again, aren't I? Apologies.'
—Sir Hammerlock, Borderlands 2
"Thanks for the exposition, Gloucester boy."
—Judith to Lorenz, Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Amy: Oh, Omochao, you're the master exposition!
Omochao: Yeah. It's kinda my deal, isn't it?
Omochao: Yeah. It's kinda my deal, isn't it?
Webcomics
Ms. Pauling: What do you guys know about New Zealand?
Spy: That you're about to tell us about it at length.
Spy: That you're about to tell us about it at length.
Web Video
Narrator: "An example of this is Saya Takagi, from Highschool of the Dead, who, due to her outstanding intellect, will often analyze the group's condition and sum it up for the audience."
—from WatchMojo.com's Top 10 Anime Cliches (from 2:20-2:31 here
)
)Western Animation
"The year, Blah, Blah, Blah. The place, blah blah blah."
—Father Time, Histeria!
Lisa: Dad! The flash must have scrambled their circuits!
Homer: What are you, the narrator?
Homer: What are you, the narrator?
Stan: Just one thing, Morgan Freeman: how come every time something convoluted needs explaining, you show up?
Morgan Freeman: Because every time I show up and explain something, I earn a freckle.
Morgan Freeman: Because every time I show up and explain something, I earn a freckle.
— South Park (later repeated in South Park: The Stick of Truth)
Shredder: Only mutants are immune to the Mesmerizer's beam. Humans like myself can't be near it when they set it off!
Krang: You don't have to explain it to me. I invented it, remember?
Shredder: I wasn't explaining it to you! (points at the camera) I was explaining it to them.
Krang: You don't have to explain it to me. I invented it, remember?
Shredder: I wasn't explaining it to you! (points at the camera) I was explaining it to them.
—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, "Super-Rocksteady and Mighty-Bebop"
"Thank you, Mr. Exposition."
— Slappy Squirrel, Animaniacs
Grim: What is this place?
Mandy: I'm sure a writer's convenience will turn up and fill us in.
Mandy: I'm sure a writer's convenience will turn up and fill us in.
—The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, "Which Came First?"
"Professor Exposition, Explainer of things! He’s clarifying plot points to explain away confusion!"
Back at the Barnyard, "Man’s Best Fiend"
Real Life
"Tony has all the exposition, which is always the hardest part of doing any script... It's like in a theatre piece: actors really hate having to deliver exposition. It's called 'heavy lifting', and that's his job. Spike's a badass, because he said so. Tony does that great."
Interviewer: Will Harry and Ron ever read Hogwarts, a History?
J. K. Rowling: Never. [Laughter.] It’s a gift to me, because all my exposition can be dressed up as, “When are you going to read it?” So Hermione fills in the reader as well, so I could never let them read it.
J. K. Rowling: Never. [Laughter.] It’s a gift to me, because all my exposition can be dressed up as, “When are you going to read it?” So Hermione fills in the reader as well, so I could never let them read it.
