History Main / TheWatcher

** There was also The Witness (not to be confused with The Witness from ''The New Universe'' mentioned above), an elderly {{Seer}} from ComicBook/{{Bishop}}'s future who warned him about the "X-Traitor" that Bishop would hunt for throughout the '90s. Though his identity was never confirmed, the Witness was heavily implied to be [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Gambit}}, while the X-traitor he warned Bishop about was eventually confirmed to be ComicBook/ProfessorX in his ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} persona]].

* Tempus Fuginaut from ''Tales From The Dark Multiverse'' is the watcher of the Dark Multiverse, where [[FinaglesLaw the multiverse runs on the hopes and fears of the heroes and villains that thrive in the prime multiverse]]. There, he witnesses several well known DC events diverging for the worst compared to what happened in the original timeline(s), such as [[ComicBook/{{KnightFall}} Batman failing to take back his position from Azrael and seeing Gotham turning into a fortified city where criminal live in fear lest be killed by him or his goons]], or the one time where [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Lois Lane became The Eradicator and became hell-bent on those who let Superman die in vain, villain and heroes alike]]...however, unlike Uatu...he really, REALLY sucks at his job to preventing them to hop into the main multiverse...can't blame Duke to beat him down, eh?

* Uatu the Watcher, a Creator/MarvelComics character (introduced in ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' #13) who lives on the moon, watches everything in every comic, and occasionally pontificates to the readership about it. He always loudly proclaimed "Yes, it is I the Watcher, who is always watching, but must not interfere", roughly every other sentence as if people were going to forget it. Which to be fair is probably a valid concern because quite notably, in spite of his CatchPhrase, he almost always ended up interfering ''anyway''. A hilarious example of him actually not interfering comes when the ComicBook/RedHulk, who [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punched Uatu]] when he was on his Villain Sue trip, appears about to die. Uatu shows up and tells him "[[SarcasmMode Sadly]] I am forbidden to intervene" and stands there so he can watch him get sucked into a black hole. This character is the TropeNamer.

** In ''Comicbook/OriginalSin'' #0, new ComicBook/{{Nova}} Sam Alexander asks ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica why Uatu watches everything. After a beat, Cap admits that they have no idea. Nova later learns that Uatu is looking for a world where his father (who was the cause of the Watchers' "no-interference" policy) was right.
** At the end of ''Original Sin'', [[spoiler:ComicBook/NickFury becomes Uatu's successor The Unseen, as punishment for his actions.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Virgil in ''WebVideo/Lonelygirl15''. He's not the only "watcher" in the series, but he's the only example of "The Watcher".
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Eleenin relies on her allies and fairies to fight, because she doesn't have any offensive prowess of her own. Although its because she believes in ThePowerOfFriendship, not because she's a DirtyCoward.

* Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein portrayed Deep Throat this way in their book ''All the President's Men'', and the movie follows suit. Understandable, as Nixon was known to [[YouHaveFailedMe fire anyone who he even thought was against him]]; indeed, Woodward and Bernstein were so certain their contact would be killed they made it clear they would not reveal his identity until after he died. (Although Deep Throat, AKA W. Mark Felt, beat them to it.)

* Tempus Fuginaut from ''Tales From The Dark Multiverse'' is the watcher of the Dark Multiverse, where [[FinaglesLaw the multiverse runs on the hopes and fears of the heroes and villains that thrive in the prime multiverse]]. There, he witnesses several well known DC events diverging for the worst compared to what happened in the original timeline(s), such as [[ComicBook/{{KnightFall}} Batman failing to take back his position from Azrael and seeing Gotham turning into a fortified city where criminal live in fear lest be killed by him or his goons]], or the one time where [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Lois Lane became The Eradicator and became hell-bent on those who let Superman die in vain, villain and heroes alike]].

* The Watchers make a brief cameo in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''. [[spoiler:Creator/StanLee is apparently a consultant. And they find him boring.]]

Not to be confused with the MysteriousWatcher — who observes the characters from afar for their own purposes — though the two can certainly overlap. Also not to be confused with the person on the ''other'' side of the TV screen[=/=]FourthWall, nor the EvilOverlooker, which is a box art phenomenon.

* Tempus Fuginaut from ''Tales From The Dark Multiverse'' is the watcher of the Dark Multiverse, where [[FinaglesLaw the multiverse runs on the hopes and fears of the heroes and villains that thrive in the prime multiverse.]] There, he witnesses several well known DC events diverging for the worst compared to what happened in the original timeline(s), such as [[ComicBook/{{KnightFall}} Batman failing to take back his position from Azrael and seeing Gotham turning into a fortified city where criminal live in fear lest be killed by him or his goons]], or the one time where [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Lois Lane became The Eradicator and became hell-bent on those who let Superman die in vain, villain and heroes alike.]]

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': [=StarClan=] take this attitude toward the living characters, believing that interfering directly with the physical world would make the living cats their "playthings". This hasn't stopped them from occasionally making their will ''very'' clear, such as when [[spoiler:they cause lightning to strike a specific tree, causing it to fall over and create a handy bridge to an important island, while simultaneously killing off a traitorous warrior attempting to usurp [=WindClan=]'s leadership.]]
** Actually, [[spoiler:there is no concrete proof that [=StarClan=] was responsible for the lightning strike. Some of the characters ''assume'' it was a message from [=StarClan=], but [=StarClan=] never takes responisbility for it, and for all we know it could have been a freak lightning strike]]. It's more likely that [=StarClan=] wasn't responsible because they've never done anything that drastic before.
* Invoked in the ''Watchers'' series by Peter Lerangis. It was a [[CutShort six book series]] based on observers (who act like the ChessMaster). It mainly focused on the Watchers' interference with ordinary teenagers who got caught up in weird situations involving MindUploading / CreepyTwins, being TrappedInThePast, CloningBlues, stuck on an island of ElderlyImmortal or (even worse) GroundHogDayLoop... The TagLine was "They see what we can't see."

** As Uatu is no doubt well aware, his mere ''presence'' is a degree of interference. Earth's heroes long ago learned that Uatu only shows up in person when something really big is about to happen, so just by allowing himself to be seen he gives them a passive warning without technically breaking the rules.

* Philemon from the [[VideoGame/{{Persona}} first]] [[VideoGame/{{Persona 2}} two]] ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'' games is mostly this, limiting his direct actions to giving the heroes the power to summon avatars of their inner psyche and [[spoiler:pressing the ResetButton when his EvilCounterpart manages to destroy the world]]. In subsequent games in the series, he simply lets his servant Igor do all the work.

* also from the Marvel Multiverse, we have The One Above All and The Living Tribunal, number 1 and number 2 most powerful beings in Marvel respectively, they only get involved when there are threats to the multiverse

* Meta Knight acts as the Mentor for ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' in the [[Anime/KirbyOfTheStars anime]] adaptation, and tends to act this way rather a lot of the time, often serving as MrExposition. Although he and his henchmen do take the odd opportunity to display how badass they are on a regular basis, Meta Knight seems happy to leave the problem solving to Fumu and the ass kicking to Kirby.

[[folder:Webcomic]]

* Uatu the Watcher, a Creator/MarvelComics character (introduced in ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' #13) who lives on the moon, watches everything in every comic, and occasionally pontificates to the readership about it. He always loudly proclaimed "Yes, it is I the Watcher, who is always watching, but must not interfere", roughly every other sentence as if people were going to forget it. Which to be fair is probably a valid concern because quite notably, in spite of this expression, he almost always ended up interfering ''anyway''. A hilarious example of him actually not interfering comes when the ComicBook/RedHulk, who punched Uatut, appears about to die. Uatu shows up and tells him "[[SarcasmMode Sadly]] I am forbidden to intervene" and stands there so he can watch him get sucked into a black hole. This character is the TropeNamer.

** In ''Comicbook/OriginalSin'' #0, new Nova Sam Alexander asks Iron Man and Captain America why Uatu watches everything. After a beat, Cap admits that they have no idea. Nova later learns that Uatu is looking for a world where his father (who was the cause of the Watchers' "no-interference" policy) was right.
** At the end of ''Original Sin'', [[spoiler:Nick Fury becomes Uatu's successor The Unseen, as punishment for his actions.]]

* In Creator/TeresaEdgerton's ''Literature/{{Celydonn}}'' books, Dame Ceinwen often plays this role - she considers it part of the responsibility of having great power that she must not interfere too much.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': The Ellimist claims to be this at first. Later, it is revealed that although both he and his evil counterpart Crayak would love to be more proactive, they tie each other's cosmic hands. Every time we see one of them do something, the other has agreed behind the scenes to let them do it as a part of a compromise, because otherwise they could cancel each other out endlessly. The trick to making progress in their "game", for the Ellimist, is hoping that the Animorphs will have the right reaction to the limited help or information he is able to give them, and/or that Crayak won't realize the true significance of a "move".
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': This is the role of anyone viewing a memory in a Pensieve. Simultaneous viewers can still interact with each other.

* ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'': Sigma ends up summoning Servant Watcher, a mysterious being or group of beings that can shape shift into various forms. Since Watcher is intangible and Sigma is the only person who can see and hear them, Watcher passively observes the Holy Grail War. They are seemingly aware of everything that happens in the city, though they cannot see the future, the past, or read minds, and gives Sigma warnings and advice, though they claim that they are putting Sigma through tests to turn him into True Lancer.

* Uatu the Watcher, a Creator/MarvelComics character (introduced in ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' #13) who lives on the moon, watches everything in every comic, and occasionally pontificates to the readership about it. He always loudly proclaimed "Yes, it is I the Watcher, who is always watching, but must not interfere", roughly every other sentence as if people were going to forget it. Which to be fair is probably a valid concern because quite notably, in spite of this expression, he almost always ended up interfering ''anyway''. A hilarious example of him actually not interfering comes when the ComicBook/RedHulk, who punched Uatu while on his VillainSue trip, appears about to die. Uatu shows up and tells him "[[SarcasmMode Sadly]] I am forbidden to intervene" and stands there so he can watch him get sucked into a black hole. This character is the TropeNamer.

-->-- '''Uatu''', ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' #13...and many times after

Not to be confused with the MysteriousWatcher--who observes the characters from afar for their own purposes--though the two can certainly overlap. Also not to be confused with the person on the ''other'' side of the TV screen[=/=]FourthWall, nor the EvilOverlooker, which is a box art phenomenon.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Future Hiro took on this role in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' when he told Peter to "save the cheerleader," and again when he told his past self how to stop the bomb.

* Parodied heavily with the "Observers" of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
* The Ancients in ''Series/{{Stargate}}''. And if we say they don't interfere, ''[[NeglectfulPrecursors we mean it]]''. The number of times Ancients interfered in the plot can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and every time, the individual who did so was genuinely punished by the rest. On two occasions an Ancient has evaded punishment by sacrificing all their powers and becoming human, then using just their superior ''knowledge'' to interfere.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' has several people in Watcher-like roles (often emissaries of the PowersThatBe, or those within the Powers That Be but secretly working against them, e.g. Mr. X).
* The Watchers of ''Series/GhostWhisperer'', who annoy Melinda with their inability to give straight answers.

* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': The Observer and his organization are a group of bald men with advanced technology and almost no emotions (or taste buds) who observe major events in history, but seem to be showing up more and more frequently in the present day (OnceAnEpisode, to be exact). Their purpose is unknown; they may be time travelers, immortals, or interdimensional police. They do sometimes interfere by communicating with the main characters in order to [[spoiler:prevent the two universes from destroying each other]], but they justify it as righting previous errors.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Time Lords. Again, while they were officially supposed to never interfere, a lot of them were ''really'' bad at it. Notably, their doctrine of noninterference was largely self-imposed; they made that decision in the first place because they're almost all ''horribly corrupt'', and the doctrine is basically there to keep them from screwing up and/or conquering everything else.
** Played straight with The Watcher from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Logopolis]]", who watched the Doctor and his companions throughout the serial, and was revealed to be [[spoiler: a manifestation of the Fourth Doctor, which {{Foreshadow}}s his regeneration into the Fifth Doctor.]]
* On ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'', Angel shows up in the early episodes only to offer Buffy cryptic messages about upcoming threats. Despite their name, Giles and the other members of the Council of Watchers act more like {{Mentors}}, and occasionally fight demons themselves.
** Played straight(er) in [[Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer the movie]], where there was only ONE Immortal Watcher, who has trained TheChosenOne's for centuries. [[spoiler: He was allowed to do so by the BigBad, so that the BigBad would have some entertainment every now and again. Of course, TheWatcher DOES intervene to save Buffy's life, and shortly afterwards dies for it.]]

* Season 5 of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' features the Chronicoms, a race of alien androids sent to observe life on Earth but never interfere, [[GodzillaThreshold unless it's to prevent an extinction-level event]].

* Season 5 of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' features the Chronicoms, a race of alien androids sent to observe life on Earth but never interfere, [[GodzillaThreshold unless it's to prevent an exception-level event]].

-->--'''Uatu''', ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' #13...and many times after

* Osaragi from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' doesn't actively participate in plots, but she does take notice of all the things going on with Iino, and the situation in middle school. Thankfully, this means she can see the good points of those who are shunned, like Iino and Ishigami.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Eleenin relies on her allies and fairies to fight, because she doesn't have an offensive prowess of her own. Although its because she believes in ThePowerOfFriendship, not because she's a DirtyCoward.

* We find out on Series/{{Supernatural}} that John Winchester's entire family was this which is what led to his father's death pre-series.