"A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break? That's like... sixteen walls!"
—Wade Wilson, Deadpool (2016)
"The fourth wall is the imaginary wall that separates the audience from the actors on stage, and by removing it, even momentarily, you force people to stop feeling immersed in the fiction, waking them from the spell you’ve cast on them, and generally making them feel silly for getting so carried away with the fiction."
Stephen Colbert: I sometimes feel that my movements are being watched by otherworldly beings just beyond the veil of my perception.
Neil Gaiman: Possibly on the other side of a giant television screen? I have that too.
Neil Gaiman: Possibly on the other side of a giant television screen? I have that too.
Carl: This is a cartoon, sir.
Major Monogram: Carl, what have I told you about breaking the fourth wall?
We'd better let that poor, abused Fourth Wall recover from all the breakage we've inflicted on it...!
Hey! Yeah, you! I'm down here, busting my ass, while you sit on yours watching me jump around? How is that fair?
I love what you've done with the place. Had the wall removed and all these people put in!
The truth was a burning green crack through my brain. Weapon statistics hanging in the air, glimpsed out of the corner of my eye. Endless repetition of the act of shooting, time slowing down to show off my moves. The paranoid feel of someone controlling my every step. I was in a computer game. Funny as Hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of.
80s Raphael: (to the camera) Some people just can't handle change.
Hun: (follows his gaze) Why do you keep doing that? Who are you talking to?! There's no one there!
Hun: (follows his gaze) Why do you keep doing that? Who are you talking to?! There's no one there!
Orihime: Okay, seriously, Mr. Toshiro? You need to quit breaking the fourth wall. That's twice in two chapters.
Toshiro: Don't blame me, blame the hack writing the dialogue! Um... oh, crap, i mean... blame... God?
Orihime: That's three times! That's it, go sit in the corner until you learn to start respecting the laws of the fictional universe.
Bear: “I’m so happy to be with all of you for the holidays. Oh, and with all of you out there, too!”
Kynan: I find it vaguely unsettling when the entire cast suddenly looks up and addresses the viewers. It’s like, at some level, they’re aware of our constant surveillance, but they choose not to acknowledge it - until we least suspect it!
Kynan: I may be overthinking it. But can they see me picking my nose?
Ah, welcome back. You may have noticed that this room has begun to deteriorate as a result of narrative contradiction.
— The Narrator, The Stanley Parable
See, that's the kind of shit that got us an M-rating.
— The Terror Mask, Splatterhouse
I'd make a joke about this, but Pixton
would probably just censor it.
would probably just censor it.— Ally, Eternal Night
Fourth wall! YOU'RE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL!!!
— Chris Griffin, Family Guy
Ya know, folks, dis is da scariest part of da picture!
Colonel: Raiden, turn the game console off right now!
Raiden: What did you say?
Colonel: The mission is a failure! Cut the power right now!
Raiden: What's wrong with you?
Colonel: Don't worry, it's a game. It's a game just like usual.
Rosemary: You'll ruin your eyes playing so close to the TV.
Raiden: What did you say?
Colonel: The mission is a failure! Cut the power right now!
Raiden: What's wrong with you?
Colonel: Don't worry, it's a game. It's a game just like usual.
Rosemary: You'll ruin your eyes playing so close to the TV.
ALL THE KING'S HORSES AND ALL THE KING'S MEN, COULDN'T PUT THE 4TH WALL BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!
— The Fourth Wall Gag from LuigiFan00001.
And this instrumental break is also mine.
— Stingy from LazyTown, The Mine Song
Handsome Jack: I'll remember that.
UI Text: Handsome Jack will remember that.
(Jack looks up at the UI text and points at it in confusion)
Handsome Jack: What the hell is that?
James: I don't get it, why didn't we do this from the start?
Jessie: We have to fill a half-hour.
Jessie: We have to fill a half-hour.
Jill: (aloud, to herself) "Wait a second: big empty room, no background music... I just entered a boss chamber, didn't I?"
"Often enough there are a number of individuals in a crowd peering back at [the painter]. They invite us momentarily into their world, like characters on a stage sometimes do, breaking the fourth-wall illusion in favour of a direct communication between subject and artist, performer and audience."
Noa: "I'm a country girl! I can't keep track of all this geographical data!"
Asuma: (calmly) "Don't worry, I'll explain two pages later."
(exactly two pages later, Asuma pulls out a map of Tokyo and a pointer)
—Mobile Police Patlabor, during police pursuit in chapter 1
Play that one!
— Guise, Sentinels of the Multiverse The Videogame
Get those Japanese words off of me.
— Geha the Gale, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
Freakazoid: Who are you? What have you done with the others?!
Dr. Mystico: There’ll be time for questions later.
Freakazoid: No there won’t! The show’s over in ten minutes.
Dr. Mystico: WELL, IF YOU HADN’T WASTED ALL THAT TIME IN THE PLANE, I—! (cuts himself off and smiles awkwardly at the camera)
No breaking the fourth wall in the halls.
—The Principal of the Thing, Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning
This is Joker. I've infiltrated the theater.
"Stop repeating what I just said! You've been doing that for a while now! YOU'RE JUST WASTING PANELS!!! It's already bad enough that we've got tons of things that need to be drawn for the first chapter!!"
Won't open, huh? I bet they didn't even put anything on the other side. Bah! Patch in the rest of the castle, you cowards!
— Bowser, Paper Mario: The Origami King
Dingo: Do you think this scene should have been cut? We were so worried when the boys were writing it, but now we're glad! It's better than some of the previous scenes I think.
Left Head: At least ours was better visually.
Dennis: At least ours was committed, it wasn't just a string of pussy jokes.
Left Head: At least ours was better visually.
Dennis: At least ours was committed, it wasn't just a string of pussy jokes.
"There's one thing you're better at than I am: And that's kissing Vince McMahon's ass. You're as good as kissing Vince's ass as Hulk Hogan was. I don't know if you're as good as 'Dwayne', though. He's a pretty good ass kisser. Always was and still is. Whoops, I'm breaking the fourth wall..."
—CM Punk's pipe bomb promo 3 weeks before Money in the Bank 2011
Master Hand: IS EVERYONE ON DRUGS?!
SMG4: [Appearing out of nowhere] No, you're just in an SMG4 video.
SMG4: [Appearing out of nowhere] No, you're just in an SMG4 video.
— SMG4, "Stupid Smash Bros."
Mario: Luigi? What are you doing here?
Luigi: This is like my 53rd part-time job. Who do you think pays for all your damages, and why do you think I'm not in a lot of episodes?
Luigi: This is like my 53rd part-time job. Who do you think pays for all your damages, and why do you think I'm not in a lot of episodes?
— SMG4, "Wild, Wild Mario"
"Run, run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm—" [He runs out of the beacon's range and loses his Super-Speed] "-wondering how many more times we're gonna milk this joke..."
— The Gingerbread Man, 50 Ways to Die in Minecraft', "50 Ways to Expire in Minecraft Four"
"I'm gonna get to you."
— Cecille, Sesame Street
Villager Scout: We are the Villager Scouts. We serve under the Villager King.
Boop: Who's the Villager King?
Villager Scout: What? You don't know what's going on? Ah, I guess I can explain it to you.
Boop: That'd be great! Me and the rest of the viewers don't really know what's happening.
Boop: Who's the Villager King?
Villager Scout: What? You don't know what's going on? Ah, I guess I can explain it to you.
Boop: That'd be great! Me and the rest of the viewers don't really know what's happening.
"Lincoln was right; it *does* help talking to you guys."
— Ronnie Anne Santiago, The Loud House, "The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos"
"Too bad my AI is shit."
— Sylvester if you lose him during a chase, Dave.EXE
Larry: Oh golly...! Uh, what's your name?
Scallion 1: They've never given me a name. I've been around since show one and I still don't have a name!
Scallion 1: They've never given me a name. I've been around since show one and I still don't have a name!
— VeggieTales, "Larry's High Silk Hat"
