History Main / CharacterNarrator

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' plays with this. Kuzco serves as narrator, giving his version of events and [[FirstPersonSmartass snarking about the onscreen action]]. Eventually he is told to shut up by the ''onscreen'' Kuzco, who by this time has realized that it's his own fault he's in this mess.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' has our eponymous protagonist narrating most of his misadventures and experiences during his residence at his new home in Bluffington, and everything is all written in his trusty journal.
* The travails of John Pettybone in Creator/TexAvery's ''WesternAnimation/DixielandDroopy'' are remarked upon by a narrator who goes unseen until the closing scene. It's Pee Wee Runt, the lead musician of a band of performing fleas that took up residence in John's fur.
--> ... for you see, he, that flea, Pee Wee, is me. See?
** A similar reveal is used for "The First Bad Man", where the narrator of the story of Dinosaur Dan, the first Texas outlaw, is none other than Dinosaur Dan himself, still in prison after a million years, asking is fellow Texans to let him out.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BlazeAndTheMonsterMachines'', there's Bump Bumperman, the announcer of the race competitions in Axle City, that serves as narrator for the crowd about the events that happen to Blaze and his friends to get into the race.

* [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel Art Garfunkel]] appears as a character in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode, "The Ballad of Buster Baxter". For the most part, he simply sings events off to the side, away from the main characters, but at one point, Buster criticizes his happy music as not being very sad, when he's singing about Buster being in a sad mood. At the end of the episode, the characters then uncomfortably realize they have no idea who this person that has been stalking them was.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoon "Blue Cat Blues" is told from Jerry's narrative as he tells of how Tom's heart was captured and subsequently broken by a girl cat who found greener pastures with the more affluent Butch.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episode "Mindy's Mystery", Sydney narrates most of the episode, describing Mindy's efforts to solve the mystery.
* ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'': Aerrow narrates the opening sequence.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya:'' Kyon is both the main character and the narrator, and he [[FirstPersonSmartass likes talking about the weirdness around him]] a lot.

* In a carry-over from the books, Claire is the voice-over narrator of ''Series/{{Outlander}}'' - a choice that initially makes sense, as the series follows her as a 1940s FishOutOfWater in 1740s Scotland. Oddly, one episode of season one features Jamie narrating instead of Claire, presumably in order to show the viewer events that Claire is not around to witness. In later seasons, Claire remains the narrator despite episodes frequently featuring action she doesn't know about.
* "The Grell" features narration from the Grell slave Jesha explaining that his master High Secretary Paul Kohler's plane was shot down by the Grell rebels, which marked the beginning of a struggle for survival for Grell and human alike.
* Mona Bailey's narration is heard throughout "What Will the Neighbors Think?".
* "Starcrossed" features narration from Michael Ryan explaining the war with the Hing, an alien race who invaded Earth in 2050, and its aftermath.
* "Abaddon" features narration from Gwen Hutchinson explaining the manner in which the North American Corporation has controlled the lives of its shareholders, previously called citizens, since its foundation in 2102.
* "Alien Shop" features narration from the alien shopkeeper explaining that he was sent to Earth as penance and that his mission is to help humans by giving them an item in the shop that they need to improve their lives.

* In the first episode of ''Series/TheSandman2022'', the titular character aka Dream narrates some portions of it, mainly by describing things that happen during his imprisonment.

** "The Grell" features narration from the Grell slave Jesha explaining that his master High Secretary Paul Kohler's plane was shot down by the Grell rebels, which marked the beginning of a struggle for survival for Grell and human alike.
** Mona Bailey's narration is heard throughout "What Will the Neighbors Think?".
** "Starcrossed" features narration from Michael Ryan explaining the war with the Hing, an alien race who invaded Earth in 2050, and its aftermath.
** "Abaddon" features narration from Gwen Hutchinson explaining the manner in which the North American Corporation has controlled the lives of its shareholders, previously called citizens, since its foundation in 2102.
** "Alien Shop" features narration from the alien shopkeeper explaining that he was sent to Earth as penance and that his mission is to help humans by giving them an item in the shop that they need to improve their lives.

* ''Literature/MoonBaseAlpha'': [[Literature/SpaceCase All]] [[Literature/SpacedOut2016 three]] [[Literature/WasteOfSpace books]] are narrated by [[TheProtagonist Dashiell Gibson]].

* ''Literature/TheLeagueOfSecretHeroes'' books tend to be narrated by Josie O'Malley.

* ''Literature/KingdomOnFire'': [[Literature/AShadowBrightAndBurning All]] [[Literature/APoisonDarkAndDrowning the]] books in the series are narrated from the POV of [[TheProtagonist Henrietta Howel]].
* ''Literature/TheLandMine'': The story is told from the perspective of Derek.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}:
** A fictionalized version of Creator/AndrewHussie appears in the comic as its narrator. He purports to be the author as well, but this doesn't stop the other characters from interacting with him in ways he doesn't like, [[spoiler:up to and including killing him]].

[[/folder]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The pilot episode introduces the show via a female narrator describing the world of Remnant; her cynicism and bitterness is countered by a more positive and optimistic male narrator, who is quickly introduced as [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]]. Her own response is narrated at the end of Volume 3, culminating in [[BigBad Salem's ]] on-screen introduction. Both of them narrate episodes from the world-building ''World of Remnant'' mini-series; Salem takes the Volume 2 segments and Ozpin, the Volume 3 ones. Ozpin also narrates the world-building ''WebAnimation/RWBYFairyTales'' episodes, appearing on-screen in the fifth episode to conclude his role in the mini-series.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}: The pilot episode introduces the show via a female narrator describing the world of Remnant; her cynicism and bitterness is countered by a more positive and optimistic male narrator, who is quickly introduced as [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]]. Her own response is narrated at the end of Volume 3, culminating in [[BigBad Salem's ]] on-screen introduction. Both of them narrate episodes from the world-building ''World of Remnant'' mini-series; Salem takes the Volume 2 segments and Ozpin, the Volume 3 ones. Ozpin also narrates the world-building ''WebAnimation/RWBYFairyTales'' episodes, appearing on-screen in the fifth episode to conclude his role in the mini-series.