Fourth wall: Difference between revisions

{{quote|What's this {{button|wii|1}}, you say? You need not worry. The great being that watches us will know what it is.|Thoreau|Super Paper Mario}}

'''''Note:''' Video games frequently break the fourth wall in order to address the player with directions (e.g. "Press A to jump"). These instances are not to be recorded here, unless the characters otherwise show awareness that they are in a video game due to the remark.''

 

[[File:Pianta breaking fourth wall.png|thumb|A Pianta ponders whether this is the end of the game.]]

On the title screen, the characters ground pound to make the title and two [[Super Acorn]]s appear.

If the player gets a perfect score in every stage, a message comes up saying "''Congratulations! What an amazing job! You are the [''nth''] Yoshi to adventure on Yoshi's Island.''" The number to be shown here is the number of lives spent before the game's completion plus one (for example, if the player has lost 300 lives before completing the game, the message says that they are the 301st Yoshi).

In [[5-Volt]]'s stage, if the player fails a [[microgame]], she may ask, "Did your hand slip?" If the same thing occurs in Ashley & [[Red (WarioWare series)|Red]]'s stage, Ashley may say, "You must be cursed..." Additionally, there are several other voice clips whether the player wins or loses a microgame, like Wario saying, "Aw, what you do?!" after the player loses three times in a row and Mona occasionally saying, "Aren't you clever?" when the player avoids a trick.  

During the [[Wario Deluxe]] stage, Wario asks if the player is ready to collect their reward, and turns into Wario Deluxe. He then says, "Do your worst. Next to me, you're all number 2!" He eventually starts using his powers to hide the control hints, before saying "Getting too tough, kid? You can always give up!" After that, [[Lulu]] pops some balloons on his hot air balloon and jumps on him to grab the gold potty, after which she looks at the screen and says, "Hey! Hey you! I'll take care of Wario here. You go and win this thing!"

[[File:Waluigi camelot.png|thumb|Waluigi, holding up the Camelot sign in the opening to ''Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour'']]

[[Birdo]] breaks the fourth wall by kissing the screen if she gets an eagle or better, or shoots eggs at the screen if she gets worse than a bogey. [[Yoshi]] breaks the fourth wall by turning into an egg and rolling into the screen if he gets worse than a bogey. [[Bowser Jr.]] breaks the fourth wall by using his [[Magic Paintbrush]] to paint the screen if he gets an eagle, albatross, hole in one, or bogey.

[[File:Bowser's Fence Fury.png|thumb|[[Donkey Kong]] hitting the screen in Bowser's Fence Fury.]]

A young Toad in [[Petalburg]] says, "There's this one game that just absolutely rules. It's called 'Fire Emblem'...". This reference was written shortly after the international release of [[fireemblem: Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade|''Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade'']], the first game in the series to be released outside Japan and seventh installment overall. ''Paper Mario'' and ''Fire Emblem'' are both developed by [[Intelligent Systems]]. In the Japanese version of the game, the Toad kid mentions ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' for the [[Family Computer]] instead. Later on, he states that he is a fan of [[Luigi]] and says he wants a game called "Paper Luigi". Afterwards, he mentions that he is actually playing the game ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' and ends up beating it before the player does.<ref>[http://legendsoflocalization.com/legit-translation-or-clever-fire-emblem-advertisement/ Legit Translation… or Clever Fire Emblem Advertisement?]</ref>

Just before Mario begins [[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door#Chapter 5: The Key to Pirates|Chapter 5]], [[Professor Frankly]] is about to tell them very important and long information concerning [[the Thousand-Year Door]]. He asks if they are ready to hear it, and then says, "''And you there! In front of the TV! You listen up, too!''". Mario's current partner out questions Professor Frankly (for example, [[Mini-Yoshi|Yoshi]] says to him, "''Did someone pile-drive your head, or what? I don't see any TV here, nutjob!''". [[Vivian]] remarks, "''What to say... ARE YOU TALKING TO NO ONE?!?''" Goombella even says, "''Yeesh. First me, then you! Why do we always have to break through the fourth wall?''") Frankly yells at them, saying to disregard it as he continues. Later during the chapter, [[Lord Crump]] (under his alias, "Four Eyes") tells the player that they'd better not tell Mario who he really is, though it is impossible to even use Mario to attack him until the end of the chapter. Outside of the room which contains the [[black chest]], Goombella says in her tattle, "We're inside Pirate's Grotto. There's a sunken ship here.

Something good inside? 'Cause that's how it always is in video games... right?♡"

After [[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door#Chapter 6: 3 Days of Excess|Chapter 6]], when Bowser makes it to [[Rawk Hawk]]'s secret training facility, Rawk Hawk appears. As soon as he appears, he points at the camera insultingly asking the player if they forgot him. If the player returns to the [[Excess Express]], a young [[Toad (species)|Toad]] appears in Cabin 007. Should the player talk to him, he asks Mario a quiz: "What did [[Bowser]] nab in the last ''[[Paper Mario]]''?" The options are "The Star Cookie", "The [[Star Rod (Paper Mario)|Star Rod]]", and "Someone's Lunch".

In the [[Palace of Shadow]], if Mario allows the [[Dry Bones]] to force him to the center of the room, Mario's partner warns him that the floor will swallow them up. If Mario does not move to prevent this, his partner screams that they are doomed. If [[Mini-Yoshi|Yoshi]] is Mario's partner at the time, he says, "''Awww, game over, man! WHOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!''"

Several characters, the first one being [[Bestovius]], refer to a certain button when explaining how to perform an action. When Mario asks what they mean by pressing that certain button, the [[List of characters|character]] assures them not to worry, and that the great being that watches them (the player) will know what it means. For example, when encountered, [[Thoreau]] says: "''What's this {{button|wii|1}}, you say? You need not worry. The great being that watches us will know what it is.''" However, during [[Garson]]'s story "Stylish Moves," he states that Mario can perform one by shaking the Wii Remote; when Mario asks what the remote is, Garson replies, "''What? What's a {{button|wii|Wiimote}}? ...Don't worry. As long as the player gets it, we're fine,''" outright stating the existence of the player instead of alluding to them.

When using [[Solid Snake]]'s codec on [[Sonic|Sonic the Hedgehog]] on [[Shadow Moses Island]], [[Otacon]] says that people are excited that he is in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''. In the codec on Mario, [[List of Smash Taunt characters#Colonel Roy Campbell|Colonel Roy Campbell]] says that Mario made his first appearance in [[List of games by date#1981|1981]], and in [[Jigglypuff]]'s codec, he says that it takes all kinds of energy in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''; Colonel also mentions the ''[[WarioWare (series)|WarioWare]]'' games in Wario's codec. In [[Pit (character)|Pit]]'s codec, Otacon says that Pit has gone through "''countless trials over the years''", to which Snake replies, "''And by 'trials', you mean '[[Game Over]]s'?''" Finally, when Snake uses his codec on [[Mr. Game & Watch]], Otacon talks about his first appearance, 1980, and his console, [[Game & Watch]]. There are other Codec Conversations that break the fourth wall as well.

There is a scene in [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl#The Subspace Emissary|The Subspace Emissary]] mode where Snake reveals himself after being hidden in his cardboard box for a long time. While facing towards the screen, he says "''Kept you waiting, huh?''" There are no other characters in his vicinity during the scene, so he must have been talking to the player - in reference to the fact that a brief scene of him hidden in the cardboard box was shown much earlier in the Subspace Emissary storyline. This is the only time the characters say a full sentence, excluding [[Pokémon]].

During the ending sequence, there is a scene where Mario, Princess Toadstool, Yoshi, Toad, and the [[Toad Minister|Chancellor]] wave at the player, with the words "''THANK YOU''" displayed at the top of the screen. The scene ends as the camera irises out on Mario, who then winks at the player.

When [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]] was talking to [[Bowser]] about the election to be [[Mushroom Kingdom]]'s ruler, [[Larry Koopa|Cheatsy Koopa]] looks at the watcher and says, "''Bad King Dad? (laughs) Are you kidding?''". After he says this, King Koopa says, "''What are you laughing at?''" because he does not understand that Cheatsy was laughing at the audience.

When [[Oogtar]] exclaims "Merry Cave Christmas, Mario-dude!", Mario tells the audience, "Wouldn't it be nice if every day were Christmas?" Mario might either be talking to the audience or Oogtar.