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{{Short description|Separation of performers and audience}}
{{About|the performance convention|other uses|The Fourth Wall (disambiguation){{!}}The Fourth Wall}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
[[File:The Cherry Orchard MAT.jpg|thumb|300px|In [[Konstantin Stanislavski|Stanislavski]]'s [[List of productions directed by Konstantin Stanislavski|production]] of ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'' ([[Moscow Art Theatre]], 1904), a three-dimensional [[box set (theatre)|box set]] gives the illusion of a real room. The actors act as if unaware of the audience, separated by an invisible "fourth wall", defined by the [[proscenium]] arch.]]
[[File:Chicago Auditorium Building, interior from balcony.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[proscenium]] arch of the theatre in the [[Auditorium Building (Chicago)|Auditorium Building, Chicago]]. It is the frame decorated with square tiles that form the vertical rectangle separating the stage (''mostly behind the lowered curtain'') from the auditorium (''the area with seats'').]]

The '''fourth wall''' is a performance [[dramatic convention|convention]] in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates the actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes that the actors behave as if they cannot. From the 16th century onward, the rise of [[illusionism]] in staging practices—culminating in the [[realism (theatre)|realism]] and [[naturalism (theatre)|naturalism]] of the [[Nineteenth-century theatre|theatre of the 19th–century]]—which led to the development of the fourth wall concept.<ref name="Bell">{{cite book |last=Bell |first=Elizabeth S. |title=Theories of Performance |year=2008 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-1-4129-2637-9 |page=203}}</ref><ref name="Wallis">{{cite book |last1=Wallis |first1=Mick |last2=Shepherd |first2=Simon |title=Studying plays |year=1998 |publisher=Arnold |isbn=0-340-73156-7 |page=214}}</ref>

The [[metaphor]] relates to the [[mise-en-scène]] behind a [[proscenium|proscenium arch]]. When a scene is set indoors and three of the room's walls are depicted onstage—forming what is known as a [[Box set (theatre)|box set]]—the "fourth" wall lies along the line (technically called the [[proscenium]]) dividing the stage from the [[auditorium]], effectively where the audience sits. However, the ''fourth wall'' is a theatrical convention, not a feature of [[set design]]. Actors ignore the audience, focus entirely on the fictional world of the play, and maintain immersion in a state that theatre practitioner [[Konstantin Stanislavski]] called "public solitude"<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gray |first=Paul |title=Stanislavski and America: a critical chronology |journal=Tulane Drama Review |volume=9 |issue=2 |year=1964 |pages=21–60 |doi=10.2307/1125101 |jstor=1125101 }}</ref> —the ability to behave privately while being observed, or to be "alone in public." This convention applies regardless of the physical set, [[theater (building)|theatre building]], or actors' proximity to the audience.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hornby |first=Richard |title=Drama, Metadrama and Perception |publisher=Associated University Presses |year=1986 |isbn=9780838632718}}</ref> In practice, actors often respond subtly to audience reactions, adjusting timing—particularly for comedic moments—to ensure lines are heard clearly despite laughter.

{{Anchor|Breaking the fourth wall|Break the fourth wall}}
'''Breaking the fourth wall''' refers to any moment where this convention is violated. This may include actors speaking directly to the audience, acknowledging the fiction of the play, or referencing themselves as characters. Such moments draw attention to the otherwise invisible wall, making them a form of [[metatheatre]]. A similar [[metareference]] occurs when actors in television or film make eye contact with the camera, momentarily suspending the usual convention of ignoring it. The phrase "breaking the fourth wall" is now used broadly in reference to similar moments across various media, including [[video game]]s and [[book]]s.

==History==
[[File:Stage Layout Plan.jpg|thumb|right|Typical stage, fourth wall being the house]] 
The acceptance of the fourth wall's transparency is part of the [[suspension of disbelief]] that allows audiences to experience fictional events as real.<ref name="Wallis" /> The concept is often attributed to philosopher, critic and dramatist [[Denis Diderot]], who wrote in 1758 that actors and writers should "imagine a huge wall across the front of the stage, separating you from the audience, and behave exactly as if the curtain had never risen".<ref name=Cuddon-2012>{{cite book|last=Cuddon|first=J. A.|title=Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory|year=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-32600-8}}</ref> In 1987, critic [[Vincent Canby]] described the fourth wall as "that invisible scrim that forever separates the audience from the stage."<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/28/movies/film-view-sex-can-spoil-the-scene.html |title=Film view: sex can spoil the scene |last=Canby |first=Vincent |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=28 June 1987 |page=A.17 |access-date=3 July 2007 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727063446/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/28/movies/film-view-sex-can-spoil-the-scene.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Diderot's "un grand mur" became "the fourth wall" to [[Leigh Hunt]] when in 1807 referring to [[John Bannister (actor)|Mr. Bannister]], wrote:  
*No actor enters so well into the spirit of his audience as well as his author, for he engages your attention immediately by seeming to care nothing about you ; the stage appears to be his own room, of which the audience compose the fourth wall.<ref>Critical Essays on the Performers of the London Theatres, Leigh Hunt, 1807, page 60</ref>

In the late 19th century, the concept was also referred to as "fourth wall theory" possibly arising from an article by [[Henry Irving]] in February 1879 explaining a stage device used in a production of Hamlet:
*It should never be forgotten that the stage has four walls, though the fourth is only theoretical, and I believe it to be in every sense advantageous that the audience should be left to imagine, if they like, either that the pictures are on this fourth wall, or that Hamlet is painting them from his imagination. Whichever view be adopted, the result then is that the mind is concentrated upon the impressive language of the poet, instead of being diverted from it by some mechanical device.<ref>{{Citation |author=Henry Irving |title=An Actor's Notes on Shakespeare, The Nineteenth Century, February 1879 |date=1877 |pages=179 v |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uga1.32108056880340&seq=274}}</ref>

The first known use of "fourth wall theory" follows later that month in a comment on that article in the Glasgow Evening Post.<ref>Glasgow Evening Post, 13 February 1879, page 2</ref>

===Theatre===
The fourth wall was not a recognized concept in much of early dramatic history. Classical plays from [[Theatre of ancient Greece|ancient Greece]] through the Renaissance frequently included direct addresses to the audience, such as [[aside]]s and [[Soliloquy|soliloquies]].

The fourth wall became an established convention with the rise of modern [[Realism (theatre)|realistic theatre]], which has led some artists to draw direct attention to it for dramatic or comic effect when a boundary is "broken" when an actor or character addresses the audience directly.<ref name="Bell" /><ref name="Abelman">{{cite book |last=Abelman |first=Robert |title=Reaching a critical mass: a critical analysis of television entertainment |year=1998 |publisher=L. Erlbaum Associates |isbn=0-8058-2199-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781622492886/page/8 8–11] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781622492886/page/8 }}</ref> Breaking the fourth wall is especially common in [[pantomime]] and children's theatre where—for example, a character might ask the children for help, as when [[Peter Pan (character)|Peter Pan]] appeals to the audience to applaud in an effort to revive the fading [[Tinker Bell]] ("If you believe in fairies, clap your hands!").

===Cinema===
[[File:ReeferMadness 12.JPG|thumb|left|upright=1.15|Josef Forte, as Dr. Alfred Carroll, breaks the fourth wall to warn viewers at the end of ''[[Reefer Madness]]'', 1936.]]
One of the earliest recorded breakings of the fourth wall in serious cinema was in [[Mary MacLane]]'s 1918 silent film ''[[Men Who Have Made Love to Me]]'', in which the enigmatic author – who portrays herself – interrupts the vignettes onscreen to address the audience directly.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-mary-maclane/ |title=Mary MacLane – Women Film Pioneers Project |website=wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu |access-date=12 November 2018 |archive-date=21 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221003109/https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-mary-maclane/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Oliver Hardy]] often broke the fourth wall in his films with [[Stan Laurel]], when he would stare directly at the camera to seek sympathy from viewers. [[Groucho Marx]] spoke directly to the audience in ''[[Animal Crackers (1930 film)|Animal Crackers]]'' (1930), and ''[[Horse Feathers]]'' (1932), in the latter film advising them to "go out to the lobby" during [[Chico Marx]]'s piano interlude. Comedy films by [[Mel Brooks]], [[Monty Python]], and [[Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker]] frequently broke the fourth wall, such that with these films "the fourth wall is so flimsy and so frequently shattered that it might as well not exist", according to ''[[The A.V. Club]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.avclub.com/article/supercut-breaks-cinemas-fabled-fourth-wall-literal-233065 | title=This supercut breaks cinema's fabled fourth wall hundreds of times | first=Joe | last=Blevins | date=1 March 2016 | access-date=19 August 2016 | work=[[The A.V. Club]] | archive-date=27 August 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827203924/http://www.avclub.com/article/supercut-breaks-cinemas-fabled-fourth-wall-literal-233065 | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Woody Allen]] broke the fourth wall repeatedly in his movie ''[[Annie Hall]]'' (1977), as he explained, "because I felt many of the people in the audience had the same feelings and the same problems. I wanted to talk to them directly and confront them."<ref>{{cite book |last=Björkman |first=Stig |author-link=Stig Björkman |title=Woody Allen on Woody Allen |year=1995 |orig-year=1993 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |isbn=0-571-17335-7 |page=77}}</ref> His 1985 film ''[[The Purple Rose of Cairo]]'' features the breaking of the fourth wall as a central plot point.<ref name="Downing 2016 p.">{{cite book | last=Downing | first=Crystal | title=Salvation from cinema : the medium is the message | year=2016 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-1-138-91393-6 | oclc=908375992 }}</ref>

[[Jerry Lewis]] wrote in his 1971 book ''The Total Filmmaker'', "Some film-makers believe you should never have an actor look directly into the camera. They maintain it makes the audience uneasy, and interrupts the screen story. I think that is nonsense, and usually I have my actors, in a single, look direct into the camera at least once in a film, if a point is to be served."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Total Filmmaker |first=Jerry |last=Lewis |year=1971 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9780446669269 |page=120}}</ref> [[Martin and Lewis]] look directly at the audience in ''You're Never Too Young'' (1955), and Lewis and co-star [[Stella Stevens]] each look directly into the camera several times in ''[[The Nutty Professor (1963 film)|The Nutty Professor]]'' (1963), and Lewis' character holds a pantomime conversation with the audience in ''[[The Disorderly Orderly]]'' (1964). The final scene of ''[[The Patsy (1964 film)|The Patsy]]'' (1964) is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/7njkDCAlFTQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200229102145/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7njkDCAlFTQ Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=7njkDCAlFTQ |title=The Patsy Movie Ending |date=9 January 2015 |publisher=dino4ever |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/jerry-lewis-b-joseph-levitch-newark-new-jersey-1926-res-hollywood/ |first=Michael |last=Stern |date=21 August 2017 |title=Jerry Lewis: b. Joseph Levitch, Newark New Jersey, res. Hollywood |publisher=brightlightsfilm.com}}</ref>

One of the most surprising dramatic examples occurs at the very end of the 1971 [[John Schlesinger]] film, ''[[Sunday Bloody Sunday (film)|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]'', when the main character, played by [[Peter Finch]], directly addresses the audience,<ref>{{cite web | last1=Cooke | first1=Rachel | title=Fifty years on, this film is still the Sunday Bloody Sunday best | work=The Guardian | date=2 May 2021 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/02/fifty-years-on-this-film-is-still-sunday-bloody-sunday-best }}</ref> there being nothing in the characterisation or narrative up to that point to indicate that this may be a featured device.

The 2022 film ''[[Persuasion (2022 film)|Persuasion]]'' was criticized for its modernization take on the classic 1817 [[Jane Austen]] novel by having the main protagonist [[Anne Elliot]] (played by [[Dakota Johnson]]) constantly breaking the fourth wall by interacting with the audience.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Walsh |first1=Savannah |title=Persuasion and the Risky Business of Breaking the Fourth Wall |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/07/persuasion-and-the-risky-business-of-breaking-the-fourth-wall |magazine=Vanity Fair |access-date=23 August 2022 |archive-date=12 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812065757/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/07/persuasion-and-the-risky-business-of-breaking-the-fourth-wall |url-status=live }}</ref>

Select theatrical screenings of [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s 2024 science fiction epic ''[[Megalopolis (film)|Megalopolis]]'', including its private industry screenings and world premiere at the [[2024 Cannes Film Festival]], had a person walk on stage in front of the projection screen and address the protagonist, Cesar, who seemingly breaks the fourth wall by replying in real time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gq.com/story/megalopolis-is-even-wilder-than-youve-heard |title=''Megalopolis'' is Even Wilder Than You Might've Heard |last=LeBeau |first=Ariel |website=[[GQ]] |date=May 22, 2024 |access-date=May 22, 2024 |url-access=limited |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522135824/https://www.gq.com/story/megalopolis-is-even-wilder-than-youve-heard |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Television===
On television, the fourth wall has broken throughout the history of the medium.

Fourth wall breakage is common in comedy, and is used frequently by [[Bugs Bunny]] and other characters in ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' and other later animated shows,<ref>{{cite journal | last = Batkin | first = Jane | title = Rethinking the rabbit: revolution, identity and connection in Looney Tunes | journal = [[Animation Studies Online Journal]] | volume = 11 | date = 2016 }}</ref> as well as the live-action 1960s sketch comedy of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', which the troupe also brought to their feature films.<ref>{{cite news|first=William|last=Langley|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/comedy/10948113/Monty-Python-Will-the-wrinkly-revolutionaries-have-the-last-laugh.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/comedy/10948113/Monty-Python-Will-the-wrinkly-revolutionaries-have-the-last-laugh.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Monty Python : Will the wrinkly revolutionaries have the last laugh?|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London, England|date=5 July 2014|access-date=15 May 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> With animated characters, this typically involves pretending that the characters are played by real actors, rather than acknowledging their true nature as animated drawings. George Burns regularly broke the fourth wall on ''[[The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show]]'' (1950).<ref>{{cite journal | last = Barth | first = Josie Torres | title = Sitting Closer to the Screen: Early Televisual Address, the Unsettling of the Domestic Sphere, and Close Reading Historical TV | journal = Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies | volume = 34 | issue =  3  | date = 2019 | pages = 31–61 | doi = 10.1215/02705346-7772375 | s2cid = 211651602 }}</ref>

Another convention of breaking the fourth wall is often seen on [[mockumentary]] sitcoms, including ''[[The Office (American TV series)|The Office]]''. Mockumentary shows that break the fourth wall poke fun at the documentary genre with the intention of increasing the satiric tone of the show. Characters in ''[[The Office (American TV series)|The Office]]'' directly speak to the audience during interview sequences. Characters are removed from the rest of the group to speak and reflect on their experiences. The person behind the camera, the interviewer, is also referenced when the characters gaze and speak straight to the camera. The interviewer, however, is only indirectly spoken to and remains hidden. This technique, when used in shows with complex genres, serves to heighten the comic tone of the show while also proving that the camera itself is far from a passive onlooker.<ref>Savorelli, Antonio. Beyond Sitcom: New Directions in American Television Comedy. North Carolina: McFarland, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-5992-6}}</ref>

Another approach to breaking the fourth wall is through a central [[Narration|narrator character]] who is part of the show's events, but at times speaks directly to the audience. For example, [[Francis Urquhart]] in the British TV drama series ''[[House of Cards (British TV series)|House of Cards]]'', ''[[To Play the King]]'' and ''[[The Final Cut (TV serial)|The Final Cut]]'' addresses the audience several times during each episode, giving the viewer comments on his own actions on the show.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cartmell|first=Deborah|title=The Cambridge Companion to Literature on Screen|year=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521614863|page=244}}</ref> The same technique is also used, though less frequently, in the American adaptation of ''[[House of Cards (American TV series)|House of Cards]]'' by main character [[Frank Underwood (House of Cards)|Frank Underwood]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Macaulay |first=Scott |url=http://filmmakermagazine.com/69368-breaking-the-fourth-wall-supercut/ |title=Breaking the Fourth Wall Supercut |magazine=[[Filmmaker (magazine)|Filmmaker]] |date=24 April 2013 |access-date=5 July 2013 |archive-date=1 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601140736/http://filmmakermagazine.com/69368-breaking-the-fourth-wall-supercut/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Netflix]] series ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series)|A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'', based on [[Daniel Handler]]'s book series [[A Series of Unfortunate Events|of the same name]], incorporates some of the narrative elements from the books by having Lemony Snicket as a [[Narration|narrator character]] (played by [[Patrick Warburton]]) speaking directly to the television viewer that frequently breaks the fourth wall to explain various literary wordplay in a manner similar to the book's narration.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/01/13/a-series-of-unfortunate-events-netflix-2004-film-comparison/96533010/ | title = How Netflix's 'Series of Unfortunate Events' outshines the 2004 film | first = Kelly | last = Lawler | date = 13 January 2017 | access-date = 13 January 2017 | work = [[USA Today]] | archive-date = 6 March 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200306214827/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/01/13/a-series-of-unfortunate-events-netflix-2004-film-comparison/96533010/ | url-status = live }}</ref> The protagonist of ''[[Fleabag]]'' also frequently uses the technique to provide exposition, internal monologues, and a running commentary to the audience.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Benji|title=Fleabag, episode 4 review: another superb, poignant episode that was both shocking and shockingly good|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2019/03/25/fleabag-episode-4-review-another-superb-poignant-episode-shocking/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2019/03/25/fleabag-episode-4-review-another-superb-poignant-episode-shocking/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=31 March 2019|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=25 March 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Every episode of the sitcom ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' breaks the fourth wall during the introduction by the character [[Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell)|Zack Morris]]. Most episodes have several other fourth wall breaks. This is similar to how ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'', ''[[Clarissa Explains It All]]'' and ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'' use fourth wall breaks to set up stories or have characters comment on situations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/best-television-shows-characters-break-fourth-wall/|title=10 Best Shows Where Characters Break The Fourth Wall, Ranked|first=Matthew|last=Wilkinson|date=January 21, 2020|accessdate=May 11, 2021|work=Screen Rant|archive-date=2 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002140253/https://screenrant.com/best-television-shows-characters-break-fourth-wall/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]]'s ''[[Shameless (American TV series)|Shameless]]'' has a main character breaking the fourth wall at every episode's beginning to deliberately criticize and threaten the viewers to emphasize the morally deficient plots and characters likely in an deliberate attempt to turn away any naïve viewers to maintain the exclusiveness of the series, only to add to its popularity.

Furthermore, breaking the fourth wall can also be used in [[Meta-reference|meta-referencing]] in order to draw attention to or invite reflection about a specific in-universe issue. An example of this is in the first episode of the final season of the show [[Attack on Titan (season 4)|''Attack on Titan'']], where a newly introduced character, [[Falco Grice]], starts to hallucinate about events that took place in the last 3 seasons. This [[literary device]] utilises [[Self-reference|self-referencing]] to trigger media-awareness in the recipient, used to signpost the drastic shift in perspective from the Eldian to the Marleyan side, and can be employed in all sorts of media.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/AzHdMVyRE6E Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201218043221/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzHdMVyRE6E Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|title=TVアニメ「進撃の巨人」The Final Season放送記念生放送 スタッフ兵団座談会#1| date=18 December 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzHdMVyRE6E|language=en|access-date=2021-09-06}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The use of breaking the fourth wall in television has sometimes been unintentional. In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "[[The Caves of Androzani]]", the character of Morgus looks directly at the camera when thinking aloud. This was due to actor [[John Normington]] misunderstanding a stage direction,<ref>Doctor Who Magazine #279, 30 June 1999, Archive: The Caves Of Androzani by Andrew Pixley, Marvel Comics UK Ltd.</ref> but the episode's director, [[Graeme Harper]], felt that this helped increase dramatic tension, and decided not to reshoot the scenes.<ref>The Caves Of Androzani, DVD commentary</ref>

[[Interactive television (narrative technique)|Interactive]] children's show characters also commonly break the fourth wall to "help" the audience with the episodes of the shows.

===Video games===
Given their interactive nature, nearly all video games break the fourth wall by asking for the player's participation and having [[user interface]] elements on the screen (such as explanations of the game's controls) that address the player rather than their character. Methods of fourth wall breaking within the narrative include having the character face the direction of the player/screen, having a self-aware character that recognizes that they are in a video game, or having secret or bonus content set outside the game's narrative that can either extend the game world (such as with the use of false documents) or provide "behind the scenes" type content. Such cases typically create a video game that includes a [[metafiction]] narrative, commonly presently characters in the game incorporating knowledge they are in a video game.<ref name="wired vg meta">{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2016/01/metafiction-games/ | title = The Best New Videogames Are All About ... Videogames | first = Julie | last = Muncy | date = January 10, 2016 | accessdate = June 18, 2021 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | archive-date = 27 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160327004328/http://www.wired.com/2016/01/metafiction-games/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

For example, in ''[[Doki Doki Literature Club!]]'', one of the characters named [[Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club!)|Monika]] is aware that she is a part of a video game, and at the end, communicates with the player. To progress further in the story, the player must remove the {{mono|monika.chr}} file (an action they take outside of the game, i.e. through the computer's [[file system]]).<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/10/doki-doki-literature-club-makes-the-case-for-break.html | title = Doki Doki Literature Club Makes The Case For Breaking The Fourth Wall | first = Holly | last = Green | date = October 25, 2017 | access-date = August 5, 2019 | work = [[Paste (magazine)|Paste]] | archive-date = 5 August 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190805215044/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/10/doki-doki-literature-club-makes-the-case-for-break.html | url-status = live }}</ref> The plot of the game ''[[OneShot]]'' revolves around the fictional universe of the game being a [[Simulated reality|simulation]] running on the player's computer, with certain characters being aware of this fact and sometimes communicating directly with the player.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/oneshot-review | title = Wot I Think: OneShot | first = John | last = Walker | date = 12 December 2016 | access-date = 16 February 2021 | work = [[Rock, Paper, Shotgun]] | archive-date = 9 February 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210209163718/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/oneshot-review | url-status = live }}</ref> In other cases of metafictional video games, the game alters the player's expectation of how the game should behave, which may make the player question if their own game system is at fault, helping to increase the immersion of the game.<ref name="wired vg meta"/>

But since video games are inherently much more interactive than traditional films and literature, defining what truly breaks the fourth wall in the video game medium becomes difficult.<ref name="Gamasutra circular">{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/a-circular-wall-reformulating-the-fourth-wall-for-video-games | title = A Circular Wall? Reformulating the Fourth Wall for Video Games | first = Steven | last = Conway | date = 22 July 2009 | access-date = 23 January 2017 | work = [[Gamasutra]] | archive-date = 5 October 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161005141051/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132475/a_circular_wall_reformulating_the_.php?print=1 | url-status = live }}</ref> Steven Conway, writing for ''[[Gamasutra]]'', suggests that in video games, many purported examples of breaking the fourth wall are actually better understood as ''relocations'' of the fourth wall or expansions of the "[[Magic circle (virtual worlds)|magic circle]]" (the fictional game world) to encompass the player.<ref name="Gamasutra circular" /> This is in contrast to traditional fourth wall breaks, which break the audience's illusion or [[suspension of disbelief]], by acknowledging them directly.<ref name="Gamasutra circular"/> Conway argues that this expansion of the magic circle in video games actually serves to more fully immerse a player into the fictional world rather than take the viewer out of the fictional world, as is more common in traditional fourth wall breaks. An example of this expansion of the magic circle can be found in the game ''[[Evidence: The Last Ritual]]'', in which the player receives an in-game email at their real-life email address and must visit out-of-game websites to solve some of the puzzles in the game. Other games may expand the magic circle to include the game's hardware. For example, ''[[X-Men (1993 video game)|X-Men]]'' for the Mega Drive/Genesis requires players to reset their game console at a certain point to reset the X-Men's in-game Hazard Room, while ''[[Metal Gear Solid (1998 video game)|Metal Gear Solid]]'' asks the player to put the [[DualShock]] controller on their neck to simulate a back massage being given in-game.<ref name="Gamasutra circular"/>

Other examples include the idle animation of [[Sonic the Hedgehog (character)|Sonic the Hedgehog]] in his games where the on-screen character would look to the player and tap his foot impatiently if left alone for a while, a character in [[Super Paper Mario]] referring to the player as ‘the great being’ and one level of ''[[Max Payne (video game)|Max Payne]]'' has the eponymous character come to the realization he and other characters are in a video game and narrates what the player sees as part of the UI.<ref name="Gamasutra circular" /> ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'', which included a sanity meter, would simulate various common computer glitches to the player as the sanity meter drained, including the [[Blue Screen of Death]].<ref name="Gamasutra circular" /> ''[[The Stanley Parable]]'' is also a well-known example of this, as the narrator from the game constantly tries to reason with the player, even going so far as to beg the player to switch off the game at one point.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2011/08/the-stanley-parable/ | title = Brilliant Indie Game The Stanley Parable Will Mess With Your Head | first = Jason | last = Schreier | date = August 14, 2011 | access-date = August 5, 2019 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|wired]] | archive-date = 27 November 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201127064155/https://www.wired.com/2011/08/the-stanley-parable/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Literature===
[[File:Little Nemo 1907-12-01 panel 3.jpg|thumb|right|alt=|Flip, Nemo, and Impie breaking the fourth wall by breaking apart the panel's outlines and detaching the letters of the title within their comic book ''[[Little Nemo]]'']]

The method of breaking the fourth wall in literature is a [[metalepsis]] (the transgression of narrative levels), which is a technique often used in [[metafiction]]. The metafiction genre occurs when a character within a literary work acknowledges the reality that they are in fact a fictitious being.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/metafiction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727010818/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/metafiction |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 July 2019 |title=Definition of Metafiction |website=Lexico Dictionaries &#124; English}}</ref> The use of the fourth wall in literature can be traced back as far as ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' and ''[[Don Quixote]]''. ''[[Northanger Abbey]]'' is a late modern era example.<ref>{{cite web|publisher = Brigham Young University|date = 2017|first = Jason|last = Godfrey|title = Perceived Preceptor: Narrator's role in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey|url = https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3695&context=facpub|access-date = 25 August 2021|archive-date = 20 February 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220220011542/https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3695&context=facpub|url-status = live}}</ref>

It was popularized in the early 20th century during the [[Postmodern literature|Post-Modern literary movement]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Metafiction – The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction |last=Waugh |first=Patricia |publisher=Routledge |year=1984 }}</ref> Artists like [[Virginia Woolf]] in ''[[To the Lighthouse]]'' and [[Kurt Vonnegut]] in ''[[Breakfast of Champions]]'' used the genre to question the accepted knowledge and sources of the culture.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://commons.clarku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=surj |title=Metafiction as Genre Fiction |access-date=12 March 2018 |archive-date=13 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313092325/https://commons.clarku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=surj |url-status=live }}</ref> The use of metafiction or breaking the fourth wall in literature varies from that on stage in that the experience is not communal but personal to the reader and develops a self-consciousness within the character/reader relationship that works to build trust and expand thought. This does not involve an acknowledgment of a character's fictive nature.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Dramaturgy and Architecture |last=Turner |first=Cathy |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |year=2015 }}</ref> Breaking the fourth wall in literature is not always metafiction.

Modern examples of breaking the fourth wall include Ada Palmer's ''Terra Ignota'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://crookedtimber.org/2017/04/18/a-dialog-on-narrative-voice-complicity-and-intimacy/ |title=A Dialog on Narrative Voice, Complicity, and Intimacy |date=18 April 2017 |website=Crooked Timber |access-date=12 March 2018 |archive-date=13 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313092632/http://crookedtimber.org/2017/04/18/a-dialog-on-narrative-voice-complicity-and-intimacy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and William Goldman's ''[[The Princess Bride (novel)|The Princess Bride]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.tor.com/2015/12/24/meta-irony-narrative-frames-and-the-princess-bride/ |title=Meta, Irony, Narrative, Frames, and The Princess Bride |first=Jo |last=Walton |date=24 December 2015 |website=Tor.com |access-date=12 March 2018 |archive-date=13 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313092424/https://www.tor.com/2015/12/24/meta-irony-narrative-frames-and-the-princess-bride/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Aside]]
* [[Audience participation]]
* [[Breaking character]]
* [[Kubrick stare]]
* [[List of narrative techniques]]
* [[Meta-reference]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Metafictional techniques]]
[[Category:Stage terminology]]
[[Category:Film and video terminology]]