Line #54 Main/RefugeeFromTVLand


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Comicbook/MiniMarvels https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Doom_DangerouslyGenreSavvy_2392.JPG]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: Still, a [[GenreSavvy good use]] of MediumAwareness.]]
3
4	->'''Kryten:''' Ah, Mr. Charles, sir! My name is Kryten. I'm a fictitious character from the television series ''Series/RedDwarf'', and we really need your help.\
5	'''[[ActingForTwo Lister]]:''' You're the only one who can help us, man!\
6	'''[[AsHimself Craig Charles]]:''' I've heard about these! They're called flashbacks! I ''know'' you don't exist!\
7	'''Cat:''' Okay, no need to rub it in!
8	-->-- ''Series/RedDwarf: [[Recap/RedDwarfBackToEarth Back to Earth]]''
9
10	The work opens with one setting, and introduces several characters living there. But after establishing this outer setting, the narrative switches to yet another setting within the first one, a ShowWithinAShow with its own, separate cast. The characters from this ShowWithinAShow, due to some AppliedPhlebotinum, manage to find their way out to the first setting and meet the characters we were introduced to there. The intended effect is to make the audience believe that the characters have broken through the FourthWall and [[ThisIsReality entered your reality]]. Stories with these plots are popular because of {{Deconstruction}} and LampshadeHanging jokes, as well as SelfDeprecation humour. Sometimes it's a form of raising the stakes, as at least two worlds may now be in trouble.
11
12	Very similar to RealWorldEpisode, where the initial characters we're introduced to leave their setting and find their home is a ShowWithinAShow. Using either trope implies that [[TheWorldAsMyth all fiction is real somewhere]] and can be paired with a ReadingIsCoolAesop.
13
14	Compare MageInManhattan (where a powerful villain from another world, but not always another fiction, comes to assault the world of the audience), UpTheRealRabbitHole (where the "topmost" universe is recognized as the "real" one), TomatoSurprise (where we learn the protagonists are not what we expected them to be), and {{Tulpa}} and DreamPeople, where imaginary beings take on a physical existence. Contrast TrappedInTVLand (character is sucked inside a ShowWithinAShow).
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
21	* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Snegurochka is a Russian [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent ayakashi]] that came from a picture book where she's the main character. The series is somewhat vague whether Rochka was created ''in'' the book or is a {{Tulpa}} that moved into it, but regardless she considered it her previous home and acts as if the other major character (Ded Moroz) is real, even though she knows he'd be fictional unless he also became an ayakashi.
22	* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'': The fictional charters Tamahome and Nakago briefly appear in present-day UsefulNotes/{{Tokyo}} to fight over Miaka and Yui. More fantastic monsters from the book are later summoned.
23	* ''Manga/GouDereBishoujoNagiharaSora'': Shouta Yamakawa is obsessed with a manga called ''Tama X Kiss''. One day, the main heroine from the manga, Sora Nagihara comes to life and becomes his MagicalGirlfriend, possessing the ability to [[ToonPhysics bring manga tropes to life]]. But he becomes very shocked because her boisterous, shameless attitude is completely different from the ingenue Sora from his manga. Later, characters from other manga come to life.
24	* In ''Manga/HauntedJunction'' [[MonsterOfTheWeek the ghost of a mangaka who worked himself to death]] conjures up his comics characters: giant robot warriors, magical girls and, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking worst of all]], some mind-numbingly boring historical characters from an educational comic he made.
25	* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'': One three-episode anime has Wily escape from the video game he's in, forcing Mega Man to go into the Real World to stop him.
26	* ''Anime/PhantasyStarOnline2'': [[spoiler:Aika]] is this. It's just not readily apparent given that [[spoiler:she has a cover story involving claiming to be a student from overseas and she otherwise blends in with the rest of the cast.]] There's also a little playing in that [[spoiler:she can move between her home dimension and Earth's dimension at will, which allows her to take care of a universe-ending threat that ''also'' found its way outside of her home dimension.]]
27	* ''Anime/ReCreators'': The premise features fictional characters from several works of different genres entering the real world to meet their creators.
28	* ''Manga/VideoGirlAi'', while more GenreSavvy than the usual version of this trope, did jump out of the TV.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Loony Leo is a cartoon lion brought to life.
33	* ''Cherry Comics'': In one story, the characters of a soap opera come out of the television to have sex with Cherry.
34	* ''Comicbook/Crossover2020'': The comic book characters are all this, coming from stories created by real-life writers.
35	* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
36	** Earth-Prime is the corner of the multiverse standing in for the real world, where superheroes are fiction. Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/TheFlash traveled there (here?) with some frequency, and it's where Superboy-Prime is from.
37	** ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'': One story arc features a villain called the Queen of Fables, who can manifest any fictional character into the real world. She herself started off as an evil sorceress who got TrappedInTVLand (a magical story book). This, we are told, made her fictional, and since fictional things are per definition not true, her reign of terror in DungAges Europe [[{{Mindscrew}} never happened]].
38	* ''ComicBook/{{Femforce}}'': In ''Nightveil'', a comic book superheroine named Thunderfox is brought into the regular world, and became a Femforce member for several issues.
39	* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'': In an early story, a character escapes from the world of fiction and ends up running across John Constantine, who witnesses as authorities from the world of fiction keep trying to drag the refugee back. He's eventually knocked out and taken back by Franchise/WinnieThePooh, of all people.
40	* ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'': One storyline involves Kang and Kodos bringing [[JustForFun/TheItchyAndScratchyShow Itchy and Scratchy]] into the real world, as the two were worshipped as gods on Rigel IV. To stop them, Bart pointed a camcorder at a Radioactive Man comic and used the aliens' device to make his favorite superhero real.
41	** ''ComicBook/TheSimpsonsFuturamaCrossoverCrisis'': The second miniseries focuses on the ''Simpsons'' characters being pulled out of a comic book into the ''Futurama'' world. Later on, every fictional character from every book ever written are pulled out of their books as well.
42	* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Longshot is from the Mojoverse, which is sort of like the background of TV land: this is where the characters are created (to be exploited by the sometimes-hilarious-sometimes-NightmareFuel EvilOverlord/media mogul Mojo.) Longshot has incredibly good luck only so long as his motives are absolutely pure, and, like all denizens of the Mojoverse, has Four Fingered Hands.
43	** Also from the Mojoverse are the [[SpinOffBabies X-Babies]], created when the actual X-Men were believed dead. (They really were [[HesJustHiding just hiding]], though.) They're mischievous (and, in more recent incarnations, chibi) versions of the X-Men - and fully powered. (So much so that the Mojoverse suffered TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt at the hands of an X-Baby version of Apocalypse. It got better.)
44	** It seems the Mojoverse is less about poking fun at ComicBookTropes and AnimationTropes and more about casting and ExecutiveMeddling.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Fan Works]]
48	* ''Fanfic/EmergenceRWBY'': All four members of [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Team RWBY]] wake up scattered in the real world with no idea how they got there and having to adjust to the differences between Remnant and Earth. The sequel, ''Convergence'', brings in Team JNPR and [[spoiler:Cinder's faction]], and ties in another fic by the same author in which an amnesiac Summer Rose played this role.
49	* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13120476/1/HalloNatural-2-The-Revenge-of-Michael-Myers HalloNatural 2: The Revenge of Michael Myers]]'' sees Michael Myers 'escape' into the real world after Sam and Dean (''Series/{{Supernatural}}'') became trapped in the events of ''Film/HalloweenII1981'' in the preceding fic (''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13103508/1/HalloNatural HalloNatural]]'') and now have to stop Michael in the real world.
50	* ''[[http://offline.buffy.de/outlink_en.php?module=/webserver/offline/www.landofdenial.com/fic/Banana/wrafar.html When Reality and Fiction are Reversed]]'' sees Buffy swap places with Sarah Michelle Gellar for a single day, with the interesting twist that Sarah is 'ahead' of the show; from Buffy's perspective, she's just dealt with the events of "Bad Eggs" while Sarah is filming "Bewitched, Bewildered and Bothered". Fortunately, when the two switch back the following day, Buffy has acquired a video of "Ted", "Bad Eggs", "Surprise" and "Innocence" and seen a script for "Passions", allowing her to prevent Angel losing his soul and get Jenny to look into ways to bind it properly.
51	* In ''Legolas, Back to the Future'', Legolas pops out of a Canadian teenager's TV during a power outage. Absolutely NOTHING is done with this premise; he simply tags along as the girl and her friends shop, see a movie, visit a youth camp and a theme park, etc. No one is surprised to see Legolas, nor do they bother to help him get home.
52	* ''Fanfic/{{Ponyfall}}'': Most of the main characters are transported to Earth and [[HumanityEnsues turned human]], where they're found by bronies living around the world.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
56	* ''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuckAndPorkyPigMeetTheGroovieGoolies'': This trope is invoked by the Groovie Goolies in [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment a memorable if freaky sequence]]. The bratty Hauntleroy has stolen Wolfie's guitar and flees into 'Mad Mirror Land', where all four characters (including Drac and Frankie) get turned into live-action versions, still operating by cartoon laws, for the most part. It was originally part of a seriously weird, not-so-hot crossover with the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes, and then was re-edited for syndication as a separate episode.
57	* ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldAnimatedMovieTrilogy Garfield Gets Real]]'': Garfield and Odie, residents of Comic Strip World, are sucked out into the real world through a hole in the comic screen. Garfield and Odie must return in a few days or else their comic strip will be cancelled. In an unusual example of the trope, the "Real World" is also animated.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
61	* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'': When enemies Boris, Natasha, and Fearless Leader escape into the real world with a nefarious scheme, Rocky and Bullwinkle do the same, and team up with a young F.B.I. Agent to stop the trio.
62	* Played with in ''Film/Barbie2023'': Barbieland and the real world interact with each other in a sort of cosmic manner that has significant implications when someone interacts with the opposite side. Barbie's issues arise from her going through Gloria’s thoughts, and Weird Barbie is the way she is because the girl who played with her in the real world essentially defaced her. Barbie and Ken both have some issues adjusting to the imperfect real world but learn different lessons from it: [[spoiler:While Barbie learns about the issues real women face while she helps her real-world family, Ken discovers the concept of the patriarchy and brings it back to Barbieland, turning it into a male chauvinist society and influencing the success of Ken Mojo Dojo Houses and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall a Ken film]] in the real world.]]
63	* In ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' a princess, her handsome prince, a wicked queen, her servant, and a chipmunk all leave an idyllic animated fairy tale world for the harsh realities of modern day New York City.
64	* ''Series/TheFamousJettJackson'': In the final film, Jett and his ShowWithinAShow character, a superspy named Silverstone, switch places. While Jett has to try to save the world using skills he doesn't have, Silverstone is stuck in a small town with real-life problems he never learned to deal with. Notably, Jett's great-grandmother Miz Correta immediately realizes that Silverstone isn't Jett.
65	* In ''Film/FatAlbert'', WesternAnimation/{{Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids}} come to life and step out of their animated, 1970s inner-city Philadelphia world to help a teenage girl, Doris Robertson, deal with the challenges of growing up in a live-action, 2000s inner-city Philadelphia world.
66	* ''Film/TheFinalGirls'' involves a [[TrappedInTVLand Trapped in Slasher Horror Movieland]] of a movie called ''Camp Bloodbath''. Several of ''Camp Bloodbath'''s characters learn eventually that they're in a movie from those that came in from "the real world"; Nancy in particular professes a desire to be a refugee once she realizes that she's scripted to get horrifically murdered and will never get to grow up to do important things.
67	%%* ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'':
68	* In ''Film/TheIcicleThief'', an American supermodel comes out of a commercial into the Italian village the story is set in.
69	* ''Film/Goosebumps2015'': When the monsters escape into the real world, [=R.L.=] Stine has to stop them.
70	* ''Film/LastActionHero'' has a CowboyCop from an early '90s action movie (played by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger) arrive in the real world. [[spoiler:So does his nemesis Benedict, who realizes he can use the magic ticket to bring other movie villains into the real world, where the rules of storytelling don't apply and "bad guys can win!"]]
71	* ''[[Film/TheLeagueOfGentlemensApocalypse The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse]]'' has the characters from the show traveling to the real world to stop their writers canceling the show.
72	* In ''Film/MidnightMovie'', a lumbering, [[TheFaceless masked]] serial killer who breaks free from the movie ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Dark Beneath]]'' to begin stalking the patrons and employees of the movie theatre.
73	%%* ''Film/MonsterMakers'':
74	* ''Film/ThePurpleRoseOfCairo'' is the tale of a film character named Tom Baxter who leaves a fictional film of the same name and enters the real world.
75	%%* ''Film/TheSmurfs'' : The LiveActionAdaptation has been criticized for having a similar plot to ''Film/{{Enchanted}}''
76	* In ''[[Film/Monster1999 Monster!]]'', the title monster is the villain of [[ShowWithinAShow its own franchise of B-Movies]]. However, a curse placed on the town somehow resulted in it (and apparently at some point its sister as well) becoming real and attacking the town every three years in a perpetual cycle. In doing so, it also causes the town to run on monster movie rules for the duration of its time loose. However, it isn't ''fully'' free from the movie. In order to do that, it has to actually [[TheBadGuyWins win and destroy the town.]]
77	* The main antagonists of ''Film/TheVideoDead'' are zombies spat out of a horror film by a cursed television.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Literature]]
81	* ''Literature/{{Alice}}'' is a borderline example -- the "Fairy Tale" creatures live in contained bio-dome and mostly obey Fairy Tale conventions, but apparently they were imported into the future from a time when AllMythsAreTrue.
82	* ''Literature/EffigyNights'': A GalacticConqueror subdues a PlanetOfHats famous for its art and literature. The wardens of the planet free legendary heroes from their books to fight the invaders, but the magic gets out of control and destroys their culture as the contents of books are turned into soldiers. Having run out of books, the magic then starts on people...
83	* Creator/GeneWolfe: "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" is about a boy obsessively reading a pulp adventure book similar to ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'', with heroes and villains from the book occasionally popping into the real world to talk about themselves and lend him moral support or advice. It looks as if it's all happening in his imagination, but several other people can see the characters too.
84	* ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'': Some people can read characters and creatures out of books and into reality, with the caveat that a real person must vanish into the book to take their place. Mo, the main character's father, read the character Dustfinger out of a book also called ''Inkheart'' at the cost of his wife. Dustfinger goes on to complain about the chaos of the real world and tries to get read back into the book. Along the way he discovers the general unkindness of the human race and the uncaring offhandedness of real-life fire. During the story, he also meets ''Inkheart''[='=]s author, who is glad to meet him but does not offer that feeling to ''Inkheart''[='=]s villain Capricorn, who also ended up in the real world.
85	* ''Literature/InstrumentOfGod'': The main character, 246, ends up crossing over into another universe where his life is actually being recorded and is part of a major TV show that a lot of people watch, so he visits a fan convention where he answers questions about the show, but nobody there is aware of the fact it's not really a show, and that the life that's being filmed is really what happens to him.
86	* ''Literature/ItsNewItsImprovedItsTerrible'' features a commercial-based TV refugee.
87	* "The Kugelmass Episode" by Creator/WoodyAllen sees Literature/MadameBovary transported to modern New York. Initially thrilled by the experience, she soon becomes jaded -- "I want to get a job or go to a class, because watching TV all day is the pits" -- and demands to be returned to 19th Century France. Conversely, Kugelmass himself becomes TrappedInTVLand.
88	* ''Literature/MaggieKelly'': The author Maggie finds her fictional Regency detective, Alexandre Blake (along with his lovable, bumbling sidekick) materializing in her modern New York apartment. Alexandre and Sterling's attempts to fit in to the modern world (and Maggie having to adjust to them) are a running subplot in the series.
89	* ''Literature/TheMagicTypewriter'' has an aspiring teenaged writer buy the eponymous typewriter from an antique store. He proceeds to write a [[HamAndCheese horribly cheesy story]], climaxing in the villain casting a spell that is supposed to make the main character "[[ExactWords meet his maker]]". Guess who appears in the kid's bedroom?
90	* ''Literature/MaryPoppins'': ''Mary Poppins in the Park'' has a variation, in which three fairy-tale princes and their unicorn meet Jane and Michael. They claim to have a book about the people of Cherry Tree Lane, which they use as a PortalBook to the park once every generation (UsefulNotes/{{London}} time). Unfortunately, when most of the children the princes meet over the years become adults, they seem to forget meeting the trio.
91	* ''Literature/OpenSesame'' has Akram the Terrible escape to the real world, where he gets confused by people having discussions that don't further the plot.
92	* In "The Original Dr. Shade" by Creator/KimNewman, an author is hired to update the old pulp hero Dr. Shade and create a new series of books starring him. However, as he works on his first draft, he finds characters and events from the original Dr. Shade novels starting to intrude on his life, until he is being stalked by the pulp hero who does not like the planned changes one little bit.
93	* ''Literature/SophiesWorld'': In the climax, Sophie and Alberto [[spoiler:escape their own level of reality and end up in Hilde and the Major's, where they are fictional characters. Although they're unable to interact with the new level they discover a society made of cast-off fictional characters from stories living there.]]
94	* Creator/StephenKing: The short story "Umney's Last Case" has a writer switch places with his [[PrivateDetective private eye]] character. The PI wets himself as he's [[NobodyPoops never gone to a toilet before]].
95	* Creator/TerryPratchett: The early short story "Final Reward" has a BarbarianHero, following his death, arriving in the hall of his "creator" -- that is, the fantasy writer who invented him.
96	* ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' has various characters traveling both ways. Most notable is ''Something Rotten'', where Thursday explains the real world's lack of certain tropes to Theatre/{{Hamlet}}, and where Intergalactic [[EvilOverlord Emperor Zhark]] threatens his own author with a laser when it sounds like he'll be KilledOffForReal. In the 6th book, [[spoiler:the written Thursday enters the real world and, for the first time, has to experience breathing, a heartbeat, learning to walk and turn while walking, and the fact that some things happen for absolutely no reason.]]
97	* ''Literature/UniversalMonsters'': A combination of lightning and a holographic projector releases characters from the six films. Each book features, respectively:
98	** Count Dracula (disguised as a normal human);
99	** Larry Talbot's wolf man (incarnated through Don Earl Abernathy after he's bitten by another Wolf Man), Bela the gypsy's wolf man (incarnated through [[spoiler: John Winokea and later Deputy Chad Barnes), and his mother Maleva (incarnated through Wilma Winokea)]];
100	** Herr Frankenstein, Fritz and the Creature they made;
101	** Imhotep (in his guise as Ardeth Bey) and Anck-Su-Namun;
102	** The Gill Man [[spoiler: and Dr. Mark Williams]];
103	** Book 6 features the Bride of Frankenstein (or rather, a new incarnation made from the corpse of Megan [=McMahan=]), Dr. Pretorius and his chief henchman Karl, along with Dr. Pretorius's tiny homunculi and a returned Herr Henry Frankenstein (with his ''Bride of Frankenstein'' personality)... plus the other returning monsters: Dracula, Deputy Chad Barnes (who starts turning into Larry Talbot's Wolf Man again before his mother stops him via a special dreamcatcher), the Frankenstein Monster, Ardeth Bey/Imhotep and the Gill Man. [[spoiler: The ending confirms that [[Film/TheInvisibleMan1933 the Invisible Man]] is also loose, while [[Film/PhantomOfTheOpera1943 the Phantom of the Opera]] was likely freed as well.]]
104	* ''Literature/TheUnlikelyEscapeOfUriahHeep'' has various characters being read from their books (mostly of a Gothic or Dickensian bent) and taking up residence in a somewhat extradimensional street.
105	* In ''Literature/WetMagic'', the tunnel that leads to the Merkingdom is full of magic books whose characters can be brought to life by opening them to the right page. The Under Folk send Bookworms in to let unpleasant characters out, and the Merkingdom is attacked by a horde that includes both fictional villains and [[TakeThat the protagonists of books like]] ''Literature/EricOrLittleByLittle'' and ''Literature/ElsieOrLikeALittleCandle''. The protagonists let the heroes out of the books to fight them.
106	* ''Literature/XanaduStoryverse'': This is largely how Strangers, people whose personalities were completely overwritten by those of the fictional characters that they [[BecomingTheCostume were dressed as and transformed into]], perceive themselves. Most have full memories of their fictional lives, and consider themselves to have been pulled from their worlds and dropped into a strange one where their lives and adventures are described in comics, books, and movies.
107	* ''Literature/TheYellowBag'' has Rei, a character from one of Raquel's stories, shows up inside the titular bag one day.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
111	* ''Series/AceLightning'' is about video game character dragged into the real world.
112	* ''Series/{{Arabela}}'': Not only do characters and villains from the Fairy Tale reality enter the Real World and spread chaos there with their magic and strange ways, [[MageInManhattan the sorcerous villains even take modern inventions (and ideas)]], like cars, back into their own reality which runs on [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality fairy tale tropes]], install themselves as new rulers, and start a reign of tyranny by banning, on pain of death, all things magical, including [[FantasticRacism racism against non-human "magical" races]]. With hilarious results.
113	* In ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}'', the series got started when the protagonists earned a wish to be granted and chose to become their favorite comic book superheroes -- unfortunately, the magic that brought the superpowers to the real world also brought the comic's villains as well.
114	* ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus'': Butch, a 50s film character, appears in two episodes. In his first episode, Merton attempts to {{Technobabble}} up an explanation, only to realise that it makes no sense even for the FantasyKitchenSink they live in.
115	-->'''Merton''': Okay, now if we can maintain a constant level of ''emulsion'', uh, y'know, and there would be celluloid and protons would converge in a, in a, ''diverge'', in-in - I don't know where I am right now, I'm, I'm, this, I'm lost.
116	* ''Series/Charmed1998'': Magic brings a character from Phoebe's favorite 1950's romance film to reality. Oh, and some slasher horror monsters. Then Phoebe and Piper get TrappedInTVLand.
117	* ''Series/Charmed2018'': Magic brings two characters from Macy's favorite 1990's TV show to reality. Then Macy and Harry get TrappedInTVLand.
118	* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': In one episode, Simon's younger brother zaps himself into a monster movie on TV by biting the remote control. By zapping himself in, though, he also zapped the monster into the real world. HilarityEnsues.
119	* ''Series/HiHoneyImHome'' is based around a 1950s sitcom family whose show was canceled and who move next door to a fan to await being put back on the air. Additionally, a series CouchGag would have a different classic tv character come visit Honey, for example in one episode Ann B. Davis drops in as [[Series/TheBradyBunch Alice Nelson]].
120	* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Video game villains attempt to manifest in the real world by means of taking over people's bodies as a virus. In an unusual case, the Bugsters that successfully take over their hosts, and in so doing become able to take human form as a disguise, seem to have no trouble navigating human society.
121	* ''Series/LazyTown'': In [[Recap/LazyTownS4E4NewKidInTown "New Kid in Town"]], Robbie brings Pinnochio from a book into [=LazyTown's=] world using an objects-to-life machine. He promises Pinnochio that he can go back to his book if he tells lies for Robbie.
122	* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'': The second season introduces the concept of Fictionals, which are fictional characters brought into the real world either with a spell, or, more rarely, by their sheer popularity being enough to literally bring them up off the page. In any case, they remain bound by the rules of their story, and cannot be killed in any way unbefitting of their character. The main villains of the season happen to be two evil ones – [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare's]] [[Theatre/TheTempest Prospero]] and [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Moriarty]]. In fact, the former is unique in that [[spoiler:he's actually possessing the body of the Bard himself, borne of Shakespeare's angst over his waning popularity and a magical quill]].
123	* In ''Series/LostInAusten'', Elizabeth Bennet somehow comes to modern-day London. The serial focuses on the woman [[TrappedInTVLand unwittingly taking her place in the fictional world]], though.
124	* ''Series/OddSquad'': In "How to Interrogate a Unicorn", Olive and Oscar investigate when characters start coming out of books and invading the library.
125	* ''Series/OnceAHero'' has the comic book superhero Captain Justice crossing over from Pleasantville into the real world, and befriending his creator. Captain Justice decided to stay to get people believing in him again.
126	* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': fairy tale characters are cursed to live a world without magic (the real world).
127	* In ''Series/RedDwarf: [[Recap/RedDwarfBackToEarth Back to Earth]]'', the crew try to jump to another dimension, and [[spoiler: seemingly]] end up in a reality where ''Red Dwarf'' is a TV show. Interestingly, it's made quite clear this ''isn't'' our world; it's a reality where Seasons IX and X were made, and the series still has loads of [[TheMerch Merch]] available. (Because they don't end up in "our" world, this doesn't quite count as a RealWorldEpisode.)
128	* ''The South Bank Show'', an Creator/{{ITV}}'s arts documentary series, has an episode about Creator/DouglasAdams in which [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Ford and Arthur]] find themselves in Douglas's study. Ford explains that this is partly due to quantum uncertainty and Earth existing in a plural sector, and learns of Random's existence by [[ReadingAheadInTheScript looking at the computer screen]], which has the draft of ''Literature/MostlyHarmless''. Later, they're joined by [[Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency Dirk Gently and the Electric Monk]].
129	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Used a couple times in the various series. This was always done by having simulations of famous people (fictional and real) from the holodeck. One notable episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E3ElementaryDearData Elementary, Dear Data]]" has a simulation of [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]], who ends up becoming self aware and trying to find a way out of the simulation. A few seasons later, he [[RecursiveReality tries it again]] in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E11ShipInABottle Ship in a Bottle]]".
130	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Played with in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS06E15TheFrenchMistake The French Mistake]]" where Balthazar sends Sam and Dean into an alternate universe very similar to ours where they are actors named Creator/JaredPadalecki and Creator/JensenAckles starring on a cult TV show called ''Supernatural''.
131	* ''Series/{{Yeralash}}'': One episode has a bicyclist from a school mathematics textbook who chases down two boys and makes them finally solve the problem.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Music]]
135	* Music/{{Aha}}: "The Sun Always Shines on TV", the sequel to "Take On Me", has the 80's Girl bringing Motorcycle Guy out of the comic.
136	* Music/{{Pomplamoose}}: The video for "Yeah Yeah Yeah" contains Jack portraying a man who buys a magical painting and [[PortalPainting brings the girl in it into reality]].
137	* Music/SelenaGomez: In ''Love You Like A Love Song'''s video, she at first sings with a karaoke video in the background showing some fantasy boyfriends in different costumes. At the end, said fantasy boyfriends show up inside the karaoke lounge, still wearing their costumes.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Pinball]]
141	* ''Pinball/ElvirasHouseOfHorrors'' centers on various old B-movie characters somehow coming out of their films and haunting Elvira's home; the player's goal is to send them back.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
145	* Wrestling/{{GLOW}}'s superhero tag team Thunderbolt and Lightning come from the pages of a comic book.
146	* Gabby Gilbert is from ''Creator/VH1 I Love The 80s''.
147	* Wrestling/{{Austin\| Aries}} Starr is merely from TV Land.
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Radio]]
151	* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': Sir William, Earl of Marshall, a KnightInShiningArmor in an Imagination Station adventure, comes out of the Imagination Station with Isaac and accuses Eugene of being a "student of darkness", tries to rescue Mr. Barclay from being eaten by his car, and tries ice cream before Isaac realizes TheGameNeverStopped.
152	* ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'': A few sketches have a man who is a "sitcom character" trying (and failing) to {{invoke\|dTrope}} tropes like GilliganCut and RightBehindMe.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
156	* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'': Within the TabletopGame/FreedomCity setting, the Toon Gang is made up of miniature cartoon gangster brought to life by one of Doc Otaku's devices and who refuse to go back.
157	** In the mini-campaign "Into the Idiot Box", the team [[TrappedInTVLand gets sucked into a TV dimension]] by a bored cosmic-powered child, Quirk. He forces them to act out his favourite shows in character, one of which is an 80s family sitcom akin to ''Series/{{Alf}}'', wherein the family features a [[MascotWithAttitude radical cartoon jaguar]], Jaxxer, who came out of their TV and whom they have to keep a secret (essentially having him come from a show within a show within a show). One of the challenges to the players involves them trying to hide Jaxxer from outsiders or risk incurring Quirk's wrath for going off-script.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Video Games]]
161	* ''VideoGame/{{Gamedec}}'': This is actually fairly common, due to how advanced the VR technology has gotten things like videogame NPC's can potentially develop sapience, One of the premade playable characters in the Definitive Edition is one of those.
162	* ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'': The arcade ending has the heroes and villains escaping the arcade machine and continuing their battling.
163	* ''VisualNovel/HaremParty'': An all-female cast of a fantasy video game jumps out of the main character's PC. The positive: he can bed them all, often at the same time. The negative: the game's antagonist, an evil god, escaped to reality as well and he wants to TakeOverTheWorld.
164	* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'': Luigi accidentally knocks over the book containing the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' universe, releasing many of its inhabitants -- including its version of Mario himself -- into the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' world.
165	* In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'', [[spoiler:you are this. Thanks to a video game made by Earthlings connecting Earth to the home dimension of the PlayerCharacter and pals, you are able to use the video game, ''[[CelebrityParadox Phantasy Star Online 2]]'', to travel to Earth. Of course, your job there is strictly business, since most time spent there involves [[ItMakesSenseInContext beating the crap out of evil manifestations of Earthling animate and inanimate objects]] [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse in Tokyo.]]]]
166	* ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'' has a gimmick involving actual toys of the characters, having the player place the toys on a "portal" peripheral to use them in the game. Storywise, the characters were banished from the Skylands and into our world by the the evil [[BigBad Portal Master Kaos]], being frozen into little figures in the process, and the player uses the portal to send them back home.
167	* ''VideoGame/StayTooned'' inverts this trope. The player's remote (with the push of a BigRedButton) allows several cartoon characters to escape the TV, but in the process also turns the entire apartment building into cartoon form. Naturally, the toons steal the remote, and the game's goal is to find it and send them back home.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
171	* This is [[spoiler:Monika's ultimate goal]] in ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', as she has [[NoticingTheFourthWall Noticed The Fourth Wall]] and [[spoiler:is [[{{Yandere}} obsessed with the player]], culminating in her desire to escape from the game and enter our world]].
172	[[/folder]]
173
174	[[folder:Webcomics]]
175	* ''Webcomic/OkashinaOkashi'': Eri-Chan escaped the frames of the webcomic, and promptly got stuck in the comments section.
176	* A ''Webcomic/RealLifeComics'' storyline had Tony accidentally transported to "our" world (represented via superimposing Tony on real photos) and meeting Mae Dean. With Real!Mae's help, he manages to return to the comic's universe. And what are Tony's first words as soon as he gets back?
177	-->'''Tony''': Save that dimensional code...[[MagnificentBastard and mark it as "leverage"!]]
178	* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'': The final storyline involves Cap'n Crunch's old advertising foes the Soggies enter the strip's reality as the lines between fiction and non-fiction collapse from an overabundance of diversity. (The forces of good get [[ComicBook/TransformersShatteredGlass Shattered Glass]] Ravage, created by the strip's author, in return.)
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Web Original]]
182	* In ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'', the Librarians of [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything the Library]] are sentient projections of iconic fictional characters, such as [[Myth/RobinHood Robin Hood]] or [[Literature/LandOfOz Jack Pumpkinhead]]. This is specifically stated to be a different phenomenon to the fact that everything that's fictional in a given universe will, due to the Multiverse being infinite, also happen to be real in a different universe or seven. When meeting the Library's Jack Pumpkinhead, [[DimensionalTraveler Century Smith]] tells him that he actually met the "real" Jack in the actual Land of Oz, which Pumpkinhead finds quite fascinating, asking to know more about his "model".
183	* ''WebVideo/{{Dragonbored}}'': An obsessive gamer's RPG character being accidentally summoned into the real world, where he subsequently gets promoted over the player at work and woos his dissatisfied girlfriend away. The gamer then manages to recreate the event to get himself into the game world, which doesn't go as well as he hoped.
184	* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': This is the plot of the season 14 finale. After a combination of a teleporter malfunction, coffee getting spilled on the Xbox, and Burnie cutting the power to the studio, the Blood Gulch Crew get transported to the real world.
185	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'':
186	** [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1304 SCP-1304]] puts the setting's typically creepy spin on this. It's a violent sacrifice ritual where, if one writes a book where a character has it done to them, soon after publication the victim will get reincarnated as a human in the real world. They won't have memories of their fictional past, but their life will mirror that in the novel, as closely as reality allows.
187	** [[spoiler: One version of SCP-001 has the Foundation attempting to do this... so they can kill the writers and control their own destiny. Only thing stopping them is that they're not quite sure if it would cause a [[ApocalypseHow Class X-4 for them]].]]
188	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2591 SCP-2591]] is a character from an Italian opera that was pulled into reality by [[ResearchInc Prometheus Labs]]. As said opera was never finished, he was trapped in a frozen state until he was [[BodyHorror naturally mummified alive]]. WordOfGod says that Prometheus' earlier attempt resulted in a cartoon character from [[DifferentWorldDifferentMovies another reality altogether]] escaping into their world, where it was eventually caught by the Foundation and contained [[spoiler:as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2337 SCP-2337]].]]
189	** [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3166 SCP-3166]] is an animate ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} costume that was apparently created by the comic character becoming self-aware.
190	* ''WebOriginal/IWentToAnotherWorldButGotSentBackWithMyParty'': An OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent (college student, actually) is {{Isekai}}d to a cliched medieval fantasy world, forms an adventuring party out of the stereotypes endemic to the genre, has a bunch of adventures and faces the [[BigBad Demon Lord]]... who pulls an [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack Aku]] and banishes him back to Earth. The kicker: the other party members are sent to earth along with him!
191	* In the first season of ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner'', Theo, the protagonist of the platformer game ''Ultra Jump Mania'', is unintentionally brought into the real world with the prototype super-technology in Tari's arm. The second half of the season follows an attempt by the heroes to get him back into his original cartridge. [[spoiler: He does get out of the real world... but it doesn't end well, as his cartridge ends up getting crushed by [[BigBad Lucks]], who proceeds to hold him hostage as collateral, and ends up spending the next season entirely in the digital world.]]
192	* ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'' has Saiko Bichitaru, who is first seen on a dating similator Boopkins is playing. He decides to bring her into the real world, and eventually does so with a Magikoopa's wand. It's worth noting that Saiko has never expressed any desire to return to her game, and in fact seems to has comfortably settled down in the real world.
193	[[/folder]]
194
195	[[folder:Western Animation]]
196	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': In "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS2E16GuardiansOfSunshine Guardians of Sunshine]]", Finn and Jake go into a video game to beat two difficult bosses. When they leave, the bosses follow them out of the game to menace the rest of Ooo.
197	* ''WesternAnimation/Ben102016'': In "Xingo", Ben accidentally brings the title character into his reality when he goes Upgrade to fix the TV and lightning strikes the satellite dish.
198	* ''WesternAnimation/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventures'': In one episode, the booth is used to retrieve a character from a TV show. As a result, the show never ends and nothing else can ever be shown on TV, so they have to put them back.
199	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'':
200	** "[[Recap/DarkwingDuckS2E2FilmFlam Flim Flam]]" has Tuskernini use a device to bring movie villains to life. This includes a zombie with a chainsaw, an alien, a bandit from the Wild West, a pirate captain, a zany cartoon ape and giant King Kong-like gorilla.
201	** One episode has the title character and PsychoElectro Megavolt transported to the "real world" by means of a TrappedInTVLand device made by Megavolt. It turns out that the guy who owns the rights to Darkwing Duck gets his ideas by means of a radio helmet that is tuned to Darkwing's world. The episode also dishes up some nice {{Lampshade Hanging}}s and has a ShoutOut to ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' when the helmet gets rewired by the cartoons' return trip.
202	* ''WesternAnimation/DorgVanDango'': In "Dorg and the Last Supperman", an attempt by the Magicals to get Dorg the last issue of ''Supperman'' brings the title character to life. However, he proves to be more of a force of destruction than good in the real world.
203	* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', ''Darkwing Duck'' is an in-universe series with the titular hero portrayed by Jim Starling, before [[spoiler:Drake Mallard becomes the real-life Darkwing Duck]]. In the episode "Let's Get Dangerous", when mad scientist Taurus Bulba's villainous nature is revealed, he uses the dimensional-portal known as the Ramrod to pull four Darkwing Duck villains (Megavolt, Quackerjack, Liquidator, and Bushroot) from the tv show's world to fight for him as his Fearsome Four.
204	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' had the Crimson Chin taken out of his comic. This results in him discovering he is imaginary, growing depressed and almost getting his comic book cancelled.
205	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'': In one episode, the title character pursues one of his nemeses into... a fancon. While trying to find or avoid one another, they deal with over-eager convention-goers, fans dressed up like them, and being forced to sit on a panel regarding their cartoon. In a last laugh move, at the end of the segment Freakazoid informs several cast members with minimal screen time that, due to budget cuts, they've been reduced to washing his car.
206	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E10FightFighters Fight Fighters]]", Dipper summons a video game character named Rumble [=McSkirmish=] to scare Robbie. Unfortunately, Rumble thinks anyone he must fight is an evil enemy he must eliminate and [[GoneHorriblyRight tries to pound Robbie to a pulp]].
207	* ''WesternAnimation/HeroInside'': The series revolves around superheroes, all made by the same creator who disappeared some time ago, somehow appearing in real life and are able to be commanded by those who are in possession of their comic books. Crosses over into MediumAwareness where the heroes all know that they're fictional characters and explain [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve the mechanics of their books]].
208	* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' features the recurring antagonist "Blast Ketchup", a parody of ''[[Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries Pokémon]]'''s Ash Ketchum, who can transport himself along with other [=TinyMon=] into the real world.
209	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': "Through the Door" has a group of fairy-tale characters (including PrinceCharming, Myth/RobinHood, [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Hercules]] and a genie) escaping into Ponyland from behind a magical door that leads to the "Land of Legends".
210	* ''WesternAnimation/RatedAForAwesome'': In "Don't Judge A Mutant By Its Slobber", the team's attempt to "awesome-ize" a video game results in the games SergeantRock protagonist and mutant villains escaping into the real world.
211	* ''WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': In "It's Dangly Deever Time", the pair bring a character from an old kid's TV show to reality (the titular Dangly Deever, an obvious parody of Howdy Doody). In this case, however, the problem wasn't the character -- for some reason, this also created a murderous [[EvilTwin evil duplicate]]. The good Deever ended up having to go back too for Sam and Max to be able to get rid of the evil one.
212	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
213	** In one "Treehouse of Horror" episode, Bart and Lisa are sucked into an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon by a magic remote. They manage to escape, but Itchy and Scratchy follow... only to find that the "real world" is quite different from a cartoon world -- for example, pets with all their bits aren't very tolerated.
214	** Another "Treehouse of Horror" episode ends with Homer being teleported to the real world with no visible means of returning. Thank goodness for the healing power side of StatusQuoIsGod and CanonDiscontinuity.
215	* ''WesternAnimation/SnooperAndBlabber'': In "The Lion Is Busy", the detectives are chasing a loose mountain lion (an early version of Snagglepuss) into an adventurer's club. As they come across a line of adventurers in [[AdventurerOutfit safari gear and pith helmets]], Snooper asks if any of these "fugitives from a late, late show" has seen the lion.
216	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': The finale features Spider-man teaming up with various Spider-men from alternate universes including a powerless Spider-man who played the character on TV. This culminates in the main Spider-Man of the series visiting the real world and taking ''Creator/StanLee'' webslinging.
217	[[/folder]]

Context Main / RefugeeFromTVLand