PLEASE READ THE BLOG BEFORE MAKING ANY COMMENTS. THIS BLOG MIGHT ALSO CONTAIN SPOILERS.
You’ve watched the movie Deadpool, have you? If you haven’t, it’s okay. In Deadpool, the main character (named Deadpool) mostly talks to the audience. Well, he’s breaking something called “the fourth wall”, which you might have already heard of. If not, you’ve just heard of it. BUT STILL, what on earth is the “fourth wall”, and how is it used in the media?
“Let’s Get Real”
The fourth wall is an imaginary wall that separates the audience with the actors/characters. The audience can see the wall, but the actors act as nobody is watching them/ like the wall isn’t there. So this means that the expression “breaking the 4th wall” is just when the actor(s)/character(s) do one of the following:
- Talking to the audience
- Referencing characters/universes that are not there’s
- questioning their existence
- confirming their fictionality
- and being aware that they are in a movie/TV show/video game
Still confused? Here are some examples from movies/video games.
Deadpool? More like DeadWALL
Of course. Deadpool obviously has to make on this list. There are many examples of the fun-loving mercenary constantly breaking the 4th wall, but most of the famous examples are in the Deadpool comic books. From naming the issues of the series, to mentioning DC’s Batman, there are simply too much to mention in this blog.
Kid Sickofus, er, Kid Icarus
As you might already know, Kid Icarus: Uprising is one of my favorite games I like to talk about in my blogs. This one is in her because of the several times the 4th wall has been broken. For example, in the tutorial, Palutena is literally telling Pit the controls of the game, such as “Press the L Button”, Pit also complains about the gameplay in the tutorial as well. There are also many different references as well, such as Dr Mario, Metroid, and Nintendogs and Cats. Pit also complains in the second-to-last chapter if it’s WRONG TO EXPLORE A LEVEL. There also is a time where Viridi tells Pit to SAVE HIS GAME. And the most famous reference of all, Pit mentioning the games loading screen. With Viridi complaining that “they’re (the player) are going to hear you”.
Doki Doki: CURSE YOU MONIKA!
WARNING: THIS SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
If you are a meme fanperson, then you might already know about this horror game. This dark “bait and switch” game starts to be a cute, charming game… at the start. But then as you get further into the game, the game takes a darker turn, with lovable characters committing suicide, and the game showing bloodshed. One of the most notable characters (who also has become a meme) is the bubbly but dark main antagonist, Monika. She literally is the one that wants you to kill people, SO YOU CAN PROGRESS THROUGH THE GAME. So, spoiler alert, Monika is aware that she is in a video game, and it’s revealed that she does not have a love for the protagonist (who is male), but she has feelings for the PLAYER (you if you play the game), which makes you feel pretty awkward if you are playing the game and you are a girl.
SPOILERS END HERE.
There are many other examples of characters breaking the 4th wall, but I can’t fit ALL of them in one blog.
Happy gaming/watching!
– Nova Subedi
(I used to many slashes, didn’t I?)