History Main / NarratorAllAlong

* ''Fanfic/{{Appledashery}}'': This story ([[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/149893/appledashery link here]]) is mostly told in the third person but is shown in brief first-person interludes to be chronicled by an in-universe character familiar with the protagonist. It's not clear who until, in one of the main (up to this point) third-person chapters, the Cutie Mark Crusaders enter the scene and the narration suddenly switches to "I" after [[spoiler:Scootaloo]] is addressed, although this is admittedly not a particularly shocking or critical reveal (and occurs relatively early in the {{Doorstopper}}).
* ''[[Fanfic/BurningStickmanThePrototype Burning Stickman: The Prototype]]'': In this ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' fanfiction ([[http://forums.bobandgeorge.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=16332 link here]]), 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]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BlackStar'' starts with an OpeningNarration about how astronaut John Blackstar wound up in an alternate universe fighting the forces of evil, and then ends by revealing it's been the main character speaking all along: "I am John Blackstar!"

* ''WesternAnimation/BlackStar starts with an OpeningNarration about how astronaut John Blackstar wound up in an alternate universe fighting the forces of evil, and then ends by revealing it's been the main character speaking all along: "I am John Blackstar!"

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': The narrator heavily implies he's [[spoiler:Issun in the role of celestial envoy]]; presumably many years down the road, given the change in voice tone.
* ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'': The narrator of the game turns out to be [[spoiler:an older Kuni]].
* ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'' is narrated by Lt. Parker, whose identity is carefully maintained ambiguous e.g. [[FeaturelessProtagonist by always obscuring his face]]. It is not until the final mission briefing that we get indication that the narrator is indeed him ([[spoiler:Webb addresses the narrator as Parker]]). Similarly, the ''Soviet Assault'' is probably narrated by Romanov.
* Almost this in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': You learn the name of the narrator during the opening sequence, but it's only during the ending do you learn that he's [[spoiler: Orran's grandson]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'': The reveal that the narrator is a character in the story comes fairly early. But the ''circumstances'' of the narration are revealed just before the end and are a bit more of a twist: [[spoiler:he is recounting the story to Zia while they wait for the main character to return from the final level.]]
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'': We've been hearing The Narrator talk for 1½ games before she ever says "I" and comes into the story in her own right. [[spoiler:It's Gaia, one of the Titans.]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has an interesting subversion that, for some players, is a little hard to place. Yuna narrates the plot in past-tense, as if recounting what has happened after it is already over. In the regular ending, no real reason is given for why she was narrating in the past tense, after the fact- it appears to just be a design choice. But if you do the right things during the plot, you get an extra cutscene at the end of the game where [[spoiler: Tidus is once again summoned by the Fayth, as a sort of reward for Yuna's efforts. Yuna sees him, jumps into the sea, and runs to meet him. Turns out that she was narrating to him the entire game, recounting the things that happened since they were last together. Granted, she DOES say "you" in reference to someone the entire game, but it's still a surprise to realize that she's not talking to herself or Tidus despite his "death", and that he actually came back, and she is actually talking TO him]].

* Only after completing the final quest in ''VideoGame/ChampionsOfNorrath'' (console version) do you find out that the narrator is [[spoiler:Vanarhost, the vampire boss of the Underworld]].
* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' has a small-scale example in the intro:
-->''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.''
* The ending of ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' reveals that [[spoiler:a grown up Mithra]] was the narrator of the game, having been [[spoiler:telling the story of her father to a group of children]].
-->[[spoiler:'''Mithra:''' And that... was how my father lived.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'': The prologue and a few scenes during the game are narrated by a mysterious voice which also exists in-universe (it speaks to Spyro several times). Just before the final level, it is revealed to be the voice of The Chronicler, who is watching events unfold as he writes them into the GreatBigBookOfEverything. He then returns to his previous (and true) role to give a few words of hope after what is otherwise a borderline DownerEnding.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' reveals that the narrator of the game is none other than [[spoiler:Creator/JaneAusten]].
* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/PennyArcadeAdventures'', where the narrator at the beginning of the first game asks you not to dwell on his identity. [[spoiler:This isn't brought up again until near the end of the fourth (last) game, where he is revealed as the last God for the group to fight]].
* In the epilogue of ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'' it is revealed that Lady Alvane, who told the bulk of the story, actually is the heroine April Ryan in her later years.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', [[spoiler: Chara, the first fallen child]] is implied to be the narrator for the game, due to the narrator's familiarity with things they liked and places they knew [[spoiler:while they were alive]]. [[AmbiguousSituation Whether this means they're a good person or not is up to interpretation.]]
* Much like past games in the series, ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'' has an WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. Unlike the past games, however, this one has a narrator explaining what happened to everyone. At the end of epilogue, this is revealed to be none other than [[spoiler:''[[SuddenlySpeaking Crash himself]]'']].
* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac: Repentance'': The final ending reveals that the narrator of the Opening and Epilogue is [[spoiler:Isaac's Dad, telling the events of the game to Isaac as a bedtime story. This is foreshadowed during the Ascent to reach the Home floor, in one of the last flashbacks Dad's tone gets lower and he sounds much more like the usual narrational voice]]. Edmund [=McMillen=] casually dropped the narrator's identity on Twitter in response to a question before ''Repentance'' was released, but it was presented as small trivia. In-game the reveal is more important than the tweet implied it was.
* ''VideoGame/LANoire'': Not directly addressed in-game, but nevertheless present. When players hear the narration in the tutorial levels at the beginning of the game, they don't usually think much of it because once the game begins proper, the narrator is gone. But the identity of the narrator is actually a character that's only introduced in the final hours in the game: Herschel Biggs, Phelp's final partner. Playing the tutorial levels again after this realization [[RewatchBonus gives an entirely new meaning to the narration]]. The narration is, in a way, ''Bigg's eulogy for Phelps.'' Phelp's story isn't the heroic tale the player thought it was, but rather the tragedy of a man who was willing to lose everything to make the case. Bigg's statements about "the case that makes you and the case that breaks you" [[FridgeBrilliance makes a lot more sense in hindsight]] given the context of the game's ending.
* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'': At the end of the game [[spoiler:Ori is revealed to be the Narrator, having become the new spirit tree.]]
* In ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'', it turns out fairly early on that the narrator is [[spoiler:Areelu Vorlesh, the Architect of the Worldwound]]. The context of their narration varies, depending on the player's choices.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' animation director Rob Coleman says that Creator/GeorgeLucas told him that the OpeningScroll to each movie is actually [=R2-D2=] explaining the story to the keeper of The Journal of The Whills 100 years after the events of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', hence the famous text giving the setting as "a long time ago".