History Main / MetAGuy

** Karkat has some elements of this [[spoiler: possibly due to his ancestor's ability to remember other universes]]. In Karkat's very first log of [[AnArc Hivebent]], he is confused that Gamzee can get hold of Faygo (since they are aliens), and when he meets his pre-scratch Ancestors he complains about how [[FlatCharacter flat and shallow their characterisation mostly is]] compared to him and his friends. Kankri has a noxious variant in that he criticises the '[[AllIssuesArePoliticalIssues pr96lematic]]' elements of the world from inside his own universe, as if he were a sociologically-inclined fan complaining about UnfortunateImplications in his fandom on {{tumblr}}. At one point he [[CharacterFilibuster lectures]] [[FunnySchizophrenia Mituna]] for being too much like a stereotype of TheMentallyDisturbed, even though (from their perspective) Mituna cannot help acting that way.

Very common in [[TheParody parodies]]. Not to be confused with [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} Meta]] ''[[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} Knight]]''. See GenreSavvy and DeadpanSnarker.

** The 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" features the War Doctor, a previously unknown incarnation just before the new series started. As such, he essentially takes the role of a classic series fan complaining about all the changes the new series has done.

** In If You Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em, Rainbow Dash [[spoiler: (after barfing in her special room the day before the contest)]] groans and says if she were a human, she'd be dead. Doubles as a Take That when she adds she'd probably be barfing even more if someone tried to make a movie like that, referencing Equestria Girls. Word of God is that it was put in due to the author's intense hatred of the movie.

->Hey pal, '''I''' [[{{Lampshade Hanging}} hang the lampshades]] around here.
-->--'''Ivan the Intern''', ''Webvideo/{{The Game Overthinker}}''

* Leggy Starlitz in the Creator/BruceSterling novel ''Literature/{{Zeitgeist}}'' is so genre savvy he uses narrative to change reality. The antagonist [[TheMafiya Greek Mafiya]] MagnificentBastard, Mehmet Ozbey, discovers this power, and goes on to use [[JamesBond Bond]]-style ActionHero tropes for his own nefarious purposes. Leggy's young daughter Zenobia is particularly adept. At one point she's [[spoiler: dancing on the ceiling, saying "Look Dad! I'm being impossible!"]]

* [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Cranky Kong]] is like this. In between hints, he'll complain about how overblown and overrated the game's graphics and story is.

* TheBoondocks comic has Michael Caesar, who occasionally makes SelfReferential jokes and comments (which Huey usually tries to ignore).

* Halo of ''GrrlPower''. When you have superpowers ''and'' you co-own a comic book store that sells superhero comics, you get self-referential. Before she signs up as a superhero, she sits and considers whether she has any 'bad' superpowers that will plague her, like having Wolverine's regeneration so she would get seriously hurt regularly.
** This specific example is defied by Maxima immediately afterward, pointing out that, to these characters, this ''isn't'' fiction, and thus the consequences of those "bad powers" might not actually apply.

* Chisame the computer geek in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. Ironic since she herself is just as weird as any of the other characters, and getting weirder- the more she struggles to stay normal, the more bizarre stuff happens. Up to the point she becomes a semi-MagicalGirl, whereupon she [[strike:gets bored with reality]] gives up on the reality she knew and dives headfirst into the abnormal, and gives up the MetaGuy thing except in extreme cases. Such as [[CrazyAwesome Jack Rakan]].

** In If You Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em, Rainbow Dash [[spoiler: After barfing in her special room the day before the contest.]] Groans and says if she were a human, she'd be dead. Doubles as a Take That when she adds she'd probably be barfing even more if someone tried to make a movie like that, referencing Equestria Girls. Word of God is that it was put in due to the author's intense hatred of the movie.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the writers seem to be fitting Donna out for this role for the Doctor, being a brash, gobby thirtysomething woman. She [[LampshadeHanging comments on how fantastic]] things like a "translation circuit" are, calls the Doctor out on his TechnicalPacifist traits and knew the best place to find him was where there was [[WeirdnessMagnet anything weird going on]].

** In {{The Sarah Jane Adventures}}, when The Doctor guest stars, as Matt Smith, after a minute Sarah Jane (A Tom Baker-era Companion, who met the David Tennant doctor) recognizes him, and says, "Don't you see? It's the Doctor." Jo Grant (A Pertwee-era Companion), blurts out "What Doctor? *The* Doctor? *My* Doctor?". A common trope in long term Doctor Who fandom is to refer to the actor who you first connected to in the role as 'my Doctor' (ie, 'my Doctor is Peter Davison').

--> Wash: "Psychics? Really? That sounds like something out of science fiction"
--> Zoe: "Dear… we live on a spaceship"

* [[BadassNormal Usopp and Nami] tend to be this in OnePiece, which makes sense being that they are the only members of the [[BadassCrew Straw Hats]] with no special powers.

* Xigbar takes on this role in KingdomHearts: Dream Drop Distance. At the height of the story's climax, he starts an exposition dump by saying, "Let's hit all these plot points in order" and openly lampshades how convoluted and wrapped up in itself the series' plot has become.

* Oh hey. Nice to see you here. It's me, {{Deadpool}}. Ever since I was told by Loki that I was a comic book character, I do this, sometimes [[BreakingTheFourthWall bashing the fourth wall in]] until [[NoFourthWall it doesn't exist anymore]]. Everbody thinks I'm insane in-universe, though, so no one takes me seriously.

* As will SquirrelGirl (once claiming that it was okay to break the fourth wall in recap pages, another time actually being interrupted during a recap) and her two squirrel partners, Monkey Joe and Tippy Toe.
* Keith Giffen's AmbushBug was one of the first characters to do this, [[OlderThanTheyThink making this older than they think.]]

** [[DependingOnTheWriter Ususally]] [[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan anyway]]...

* [[{{ButtMonkey}} Conrad Verner]] of the ''MassEffect'' series manages to be ''both types at the same time.''

* {{Batman}}'s nemesis SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker has played this role to an extent some times. One issue even had him directly addressing the audience at the start while recapping the events of the previous issue. It is apparently a canon fact that the Joker is so batshit crazy that he's actually aware of practically everything having to do with the DCU, including events of stories that haven't happened anymore and, conceivably, the fact that it's all just comic books. It's described on multiple occasions as "supersanity." The disturbing part is that this could explain the Joker's behavior in the first place; it's possible that he's a psychotic killer because ''he knows his actions don't matter.'' Nobody he hurts is real. He's beyond solipsism... and ''he's right''. In fact, the more atrocities he commits, the more comics he appears in!

->''"Ah, another one of the puzzles which the Freeman is most famous for solving. I eagerly await the Freeman's solution."''

* [[GenreSavvy Ziggy]] from ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', with [[BonnieScotland Flynn]] running a close second. 'Ranger Blue' opens with the entire team quizzing [[TeenGenius Doctor K]] on things like why their Zords have 'big, googly anime eyes', why they need to yell [[ByThePowerOfGreyskull "RPM, get in gear!"]] whenever they morph, and how come things tend to spontaneously explode behind them when they do.

* {{Phelous}} of ''ThatGuyWithTheGlasses'', a notorious DeadpanSnarker who constantly [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] ''everything''. All of his reviews include a few jabs at the whole review show format, but it tends to be played up even more in crossovers.