Koefnoen steve jobs school biography

"Damn it Otacon, get a grip!"

Some series can go their entire lives without breaking the Fourth Wall once. Some series will occasionally break the Fourth Wall for a few moments of comedy, but outside of that the Fourth Wall is in full effect.

And then there are these.

A series with No Fourth Wall doesn't just break the fourth wall, it vaporizes it. There might as well not be one. Characters will make references to "the last episode" or "next issue". They'll criticize the production, writing, management or even the audience. In extreme cases, they'll refuse to go on acting. Expect there to be large amounts of Medium Awareness, such as characters in a comic pointing out the use of panels. No Fourth Wall often leads to characters being extremely Genre Savvy, or frequent lampshading of Genre Blindness.

A good way to test for whether it's merely Breaking the Fourth Wall or if there is No Fourth Wall at all is to check how important the breaking of the fourth wall is to the premise: If the moments of Breaking the Fourth Wall could be removed without readily changing the premise of the series, it's likely Breaking the Fourth Wall; if breaking it is such an important part of the series that removing it would noticeably change the series, it's No Fourth Wall.

See also:

• Animated Actors: An animation-specific subtrope, where animated characters are treated like they're actors in a production.
• Aside Glance: A milder form of this, when someone might glance at the fourth wall but otherwise keep it intact.
• Assuming the Audience's Age: When a Fourth-Wall Observer or characters in a work with no fourth wall assume the audience's age.
• Born in the Theatre: These Fourth Wall breaking jokes only work in the cinema and often lead to confusion if the film is watched on TV.
• Fourth-Wall Observer: When only one character

Somebody disguises themselves as a member of some group to sneak among them. However, it turns out everyone else in the area is similarily disguised. This is usually Played for Laughs.

A favorite scene is to have the primary detectives bust a criminal operation, only to learn that the criminals are cops running a sting. Depending on how much comedy the writers are going for, there may be three or four different police units involved. Oftentimes, it will be remarked upon that if they weren't keeping up the charade, the organization they're trying to bring down probably wouldn't exist.

Once the multiple operations are revealed, Jurisdiction Friction tends to ensue, with the squads arguing about who takes point, who can stick around, and who has to leave.

If they turn out to have been on the same side too, then it is Right Hand Versus Left Hand. Sometimes the result of a Gambit Pileup. May be part of revealing The Only Believer. Might also drive a character to demand: "Okay, will the real [X] please stand up?" — and then everybody stands up.

Compare/contrast Everyone Is a Tomato, I Am Spartacus and Resistance as Planned. Then there's Mole in Charge for when the leader is a mole, which may occur with this. See also Mutual Masquerade. For literal wolves, see Savage Wolves and Noble Wolf.

Due to the nature of this trope, unmarked spoilers abound.

Examples:

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