Editing Fourth Wall Breaks

[[Image:Literal4thwallbreak.PNG|thumb|Literally breaking the fourth wall.]]

Sometimes, the [[characters]] '''break the [[Wikipedia:Fourth wall|fourth wall]]''' by displaying awareness that they are in an Internet cartoon.

Fourth wall breakages are common in [[Strong Bad Email]]s; Strong Bad often addresses the viewers, and references to his "[[email show]]" are made. Some of these supposed "fourth wall breaks" may be explained by assuming that Strong Bad has a live [[Wikipedia:webcam|webcam]] show in which he answers e-mails, or that he is talking to an imaginary audience, but in other instances the characters actually refer to the fact that they are in cartoons, which is a real fourth wall break. Excluding Strong Bad Emails that involve a character addressing the viewers, here is a list of fourth wall breakages in the toons.

== Big Toons ==
*[[The King of Town DVD]] &mdash; In the commentary, Strong Bad calls the toon a cartoon several times.
*[[In Search of the Yello Dello]] &mdash; The TV announcer says that [[the Yello Dello]] is "the most rare and beautiful bird in this entire cartoon."
*[[Where's The Cheat?]] &mdash; While reassuring Strong Mad, Strong Bad says "Don't worry, big guy. We'll cut to a montage. I mean, find [[The Cheat]]."
*[[Shopping for Danger]]
**[[Silent Rip]] informs [[Gunhaver]] the "Cheat Commandos Headquarters playset is under attack".
**At the end, Gunhaver screams, "Next episode, [[Blue Laser]]! Next episode!"
*[[Weclome Back]]
**All of the characters punch in on a time clock after returning from vacation, possibly implying that they work in a studio.
**Marzipan wonders whether anyone has been "taking care of the website".
**Homestar Runner says "It's time to get this www-dot-show back on the road-dot-com."
*[[2 Part Episode: Part 1]]
**As [[Green Helmets]] take him away, Gunhaver remarks, "At least let a Cheat Commanding Officer be escorted out by someone who isn't available in a discount three pack."
**Silent Rip proclaims it's impossible to break into the "Headquarters Playset". 
**Gunhaver commands Silent Rip and [[Crackotage]], "be continued!"
*[[2 Part Episode: Part 2]]
**Subtlefuge says each [[Toppleganger]] is "sold separately with rifle and gear."
**The Headquarters Playset is revealed to have a battery compartment and electronic lights and sounds.

== Shorts ==
*[[The System is Down]] &mdash; There are references to both the [[Error Page]] and [[homestarrunner.com]] being down.
*[[Cheat Commandos (toon)|Cheat Commandos]] &mdash; Gunhaver breaks the fourth wall ''within'' the [[Homestar Runner universe]] itself by saying, "Quick, everyone! To the Action Figure Storage Vehicle!"
*[[Commandos in the Classroom]] &mdash; Gunhaver mentions that "[[Buy All Our Playsets and Toys!!|buying all our playsets and toys]]" is a positive thing.
*[[Sbemail 150?!?]]
**The [[Female Lappy 486]] is startled by the viewer's arrival and says Strong Bad "is understairs. Tell whim I love..."
**Strong Sad has prepared storyboards to help Strong Bad with the email.
*[[No Hands On Deck!]] &mdash; Homestar says, "I'd better get back to work if I'm gonna build a deck in this cartoon!"
*[[One Two, One Two]] &mdash; [[Homsar]]'s [[bowler hat]] bounces off the edge of the screen when he is singing.
*[[The Next Epi-Snowed]] &mdash; [[Agent Chimendez]] explains that he is an "expanded universe character".
*[[Loading Screens]]
**The singers mention that this is a cartoon several times.
**Coach Z in particular describes loading screens as a "looping animation".
*[[Where My Hat is At? (toon)]] &mdash; Homestar, annoyed at [[The Umpire]] for telling him information he already knew, tells him "we sorta established that in the first scene."
*[[The Animated Adventures of Puppet Homestar]]  &mdash; Puppet Homestar breaks the fourth wall by showing disgust over Puppet Strong Sad's line "-until he finally went" (who is narrating the toon). He also describes [[Doreauxgard]] and [[Marshie]] as being "the only puppets left".

== Holiday Toons ==
*[[The House That Gave Sucky Treats]]
**At the beginning of the toon, Homestar tells the viewers to "pick a treat and drag it on top of us". 
**During the end discussion, Homestar asks if the viewers have voted yet (a feature for that year's toon) and then later requests that the characters repeat stuff they have already said to freak "them" out, both indicating that the characters know they are being watched and hand-waving the animation loop.
*[[Halloween Fairstival]]
**After Strong Sad says that hiccups have to be laughed out, Strong Bad says "Whoa! That sounds like a segue!"
**In the Homsar easter egg, Homsar walks across all sides of the screen.
*[[Homestar Presents: Presents]]
**Strong Bad informs the viewers that Homestar runs around frantically from [[Decemberween]] to New Year's.
**In the Easter egg, there is a poster on the wall that reads, "Left Out Characters' Support Group & Buffet."
*[[Halloween Potion-ma-jig]]
**Throughout the [[Wikipedia:cold open|cold open]], Homestar directly addresses the viewer.
**When Homestar comes upon Homsar, he remarks "Oh, great. The secret guy," and then comments on the choices that Homsar "gives" him.
**Then when he reaches the [[Cliffs#Creepy Cliff|Creepy Cliff]], he refers to it as a "cool new background."
**In the [[The Goblin|Goblin]] ending, Marzipan declares the end of the scene.
*[[More Fan Costumes]] &mdash; Strong Bad comments that [[Coach Z]], [[The King of Town]] and [[Marzipan]] are the least popular ''Homestar Runner'' characters.
*[[Let us give TANKS!]]
**[[Blue Laser Commander]] reminds [[Ripberger]] he was only available for a limited time with three proofs of purchase.
**Silent Rip says he's thankful for the "Blue Laser Thanksgiving action playset".
**All the Commandos and Blue Laser members sing "Buy all our playsets and toys!"
*[[Jibblies 2]]
**Strong Bad refers to the cast of the Homestar Runner cartoons as "characters".
**Also, Strong Sad asks if there was a Jibblies 1, referring to the name of the toon.
*[[Fan Costumes '07]] &mdash; Strong Bad mentions that [[Crack Stuntman]] is a character who voices a character from a cartoon ([[Cheat Commandos]]) inside a cartoon ([[Homestar Runner (body of work)|Homestar Runner]]).
*[[Toikey TV]] &mdash; Gunhaver informs the other Cheat Commandos that all they got was "another lame Thanksgiving special."
*[[Trogday 08]] &mdash; Strong Bad scolds "you internet [[type]]s" for ruining Trogdor, as well as "zombies, pirates, ninjas and Strong Bad."
*[[Costume Commercial]] &mdash; Strong Sad tries to correct the announcer when he calls Strong Sad's line, "SAFE-T LOS-R Accessories".
*[[A Death-Defying Decemberween]]
**Homestar refers to himself as "Homestar Runner.com".
**Bubs's epitaph for Homestar also has the words "Here Lies Homestar Runner.com" written on it.
*[[April Fool 09]] &mdash; Strong Bad explains why the website is named after Homestar Runner and not him.
* [[ Doomy Tales of the Macabre]] &mdash; This toon contains several fourth wall breaks.  Marzipan reads her lines from a cue card, Strong Bad types Strong Sad's narration, and Strong Sad addresses the audience at the end.

== Strong Bad Emails ==
*[[island]]
**When Yami Yugi asks what Strong Bad would do if he were stuck on a desert island, Strong Bad nonchalantly replies, "I suspect it would be like most cartoons".
**Later, [[Homestar Runner|Homestar]] imitates [[Main Page 3]], with similar effects.
*[[the process]] &mdash; Strong Bad says "you can usually click on certain words and make little pictures of dumb stuff pop up."
*[[couch patch]] &mdash; Strong Bad points out that the couch patch is clearly already present in Homestar's flashback.
*[[monument]] &mdash; Homestar peeks out from behind the black as he sings, "Here comes the Thnikkaman!"
*[[flashback]]
**Strong Bad breaks the fourth wall saying that his flashback can't be viewed in anything but widescreen.
**Homestar says he's usually behind the black.
<!-- *[[old comics]] &mdash; Strong Bad says that he and Homestar were used in a comic that was printed at least 60 years ago. Since they are [[Ages|obviously not that old]], he is pointing out the fact that he and Homestar are unaging cartoon characters. -->
*[[virus]] &mdash; The effects of [[the virus]] cause several fourth wall breakages.
*[[part-time job]] &mdash; Strong Bad peeks around the edge of the black on his way to [[Bubs' Concession Stand]].
*[[dreamail]]
**Strong Bad says "Allow me to ... hit you with the pink border", and after that a pink border appears on the screen instead of the routine border.
**At the end he admits he should have used a fluffy white cloud border instead.
*[[best thing]] &mdash; [[Teeg Dougland]] informs [[Limozeen]] about the cancellation of ''[[Limozeen: "but they're in space!"]]'' during the ''Limozeen'' cartoon.
*[[bottom 10]] &mdash; After the end of the email, Strong Bad acknowledges that there are no Easter eggs at the end.
*[[lady...ing]] &mdash; The Cheat displays a laserdisc of a [[Marshmallow's Last Stand]]-era Email, to which Strong Bad replies "Oh, yeah. Boy, those old cartoons still pack a wallop."
*[[highschool]] &mdash; Strong Bad says that he was "probably just like other cartoons" in his high school days.
*[[senior prom]] &mdash; After Strong Bad says that he's "taking Delilelia to see David Coppafeel perform" and gets up, the camera zooms out to reveal him actually standing on the right side, causing him to jump out of view.
*[[from work]] &mdash; Strong Bad complains that what he imagines doesn't appear while Homestar's imagination does become visible.
*[[the paper]] &mdash; Strong Bad claims he can remember the birth of [[The Paper]] "like it was about to happen in a wavy flashback," which follows this line.
*[[original]] &mdash; The entire email is about the "actor" playing [[Bubs]], [[Original Bubs]], being replaced.
*[[your edge]] &mdash; While in a deep, dark hole where only his eyes are visible, Strong Bad comments that he "suddenly feel[s] so easy to animate".
*[[independent]] &mdash; Strong Bad refers to the cast of the Homestar Runner cartoons as "characters".

== Games ==
*[[Blue Laserdisc Challenge]] &mdash; If the player succeeds in beating the game, Gunhaver bellows, "Next state-of-the-art laserdisc game, Blue Laser! Next state-of-the-art laserdisc game!"
*[[Peasant's Quest]]
**If Rather Dashing says "[[Unusual Greetings#Haldo|Haldo]]" to [[Dongolev]] without first talking to [[Mendelev]], he will say, "What'd you read that in PQ Stragedy<!--sic--> Guide? Go talk to my brother first."
**If the player types "throw baby" before the baby has been acquired, the game will say that the player must have "misread the walkthrough on [[Wikipedia:GameFAQs|GameFAQS]]."
**If "get broom" is typed in Naked Ned's house, the game will say, "No no. The broom is in the foreground and you can't take things in the foreground. You don't see me all typing 'get browser window', do you?"
**When at the inn, the inn "takes up the entire screen."
**When on the screen with [[Kerrek]], typing "make friends with Kerrek" results in the message "Look, it didn't work for Strongbad<!--sic--> and it's not going to work for you either."
*[[Stinkoman 20X6]]
**When [[1-Up]] requests Stinkoman's help, Stinkoman says that he already helped him in Level 4.
**At the beginning of Level 6, Stinkoman appears to be playing his own game.
**At the beginning of Level -0, Stinkoman addresses the player while he's stuck sad inside the wall.
**At the end of Level -0, Stinkoman says he has to get through Level 9 and Level 10 to get to 1-Up and [[Pan Pan]]. 
**At the opening cinematic of level 9, the [[Shadowy Figure]] says, "So he thinks he can get to level 10, eh?"
*[[Thy Dungeonman 3]]
**If the player talks to some of the characters, they mention events that happened "screens" or "seconds" ago.
**Many characters will reference past, apparently unconnected scenes (such as the dungeon trap at the start).
**In the area that doesn't exist, various objects are listed as "not being there".
**In the same scene, the description reads that "some words are in capital letters".
**When you look at the stairs in the tavern, the description will say "They're just for show.
**Sheesh, maybe these graphics weren't such a good idea after all."
**The intro also references the addition of graphics.
*[[Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People]] &mdash; As well as what is noted below, Strong Bad sometimes appears to talk to the players, often objecting to a certain action the player is trying to perform.
*[[SBCG4AP Tutorial]]
**Strong Bad guides the player throughout the tutorial.
**Strong Sad also complains about being in the tutorial and Bubs screws up a line during his scene.
**After the tutorial concludes, he states, "Hey, where's my money?! I'm getting paid for this, right?"
*[[Homestar Ruiner]]
**Strong Bad asks Coach Z to summarize the rules of the Race "for all the kids playing at home."
**When Strong Bad first disguises as Homestar, he quotes the [[Main Pages]].
**After kicking everybody out of his house, he types, "There you have it; the videogame adaptation of how I beat the snot out of Homestar Runner."
*[[Strong Badia the Free]]
**After Strong Bad exclaims, "Onward to Strong Badia! Strong Badia, the free!" Homestar remarks, "Hey, that's the name of this..." but Strong Bad cuts him off before he can finish. 
**Also, when Strong Bad talks to Homsar after putting all the Homsartifacts in the pylon, Homsar tells Strong Bad that he will have to face a punishingly difficult dungeon and disappointing end cutscene.
*[[Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective]]
**[[Dangeresque (character)|Dangeresque]] asks [[Renaldo]] and [[Dangeresque Too]] to join him in one last case "for old this movie's sake".
**Dangeresque also informs Renaldo that his epic battle with [[The Monster]] is going to be in the movie trailer.
**When Dangeresque asks Dangeresque Too how long he knew that [[Uzi Bazooka]] was an imposter, he replies, "Pretty much from the beginning of the movie."
**When Extended Play is first loaded, Strong Bad introduces the "DVD extras section" directly to the viewers, telling them to load up the map and click on a location to get started.
*[[8-Bit is Enough]]
**When he picks up the logic board, Strong Bad comments that he'll "just put the logic board in the machine and we can end this episode early!"
**In the finale, where Strong Bad's in-game model suddenly changes to resemble his concept drawing from [[SBCG4AP Advertisement]], he remarked: "<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Telltale Games]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> ''finally'' listened to me!"

== Teen Girl Squad ==
*[[Teen Girl Squad Issue 8|Issue 8]] &mdash; Cheerleader sings "It's over! It's over! Strong Bad says it's over" at the end of the issue.
*[[Teen Girl Squad Issue 10|Issue 10]] &mdash; In an Easter egg, Cheerleader says it's their "Tenth Issue-versary".
*[[Teen Girl Squad Issue 11|Issue 11]] &mdash; Cheerleader is seen reading the script for the issue, and asking how "uggs" is spelled.
*[[Teen Girl Squad Issue 13|Issue 13]] &mdash; The Ugly One comments to Narrator Strong Bad on the creativity (or lack thereof) of her demise.
*[[Teen Girl Squad Issue 14|Issue 14]] &mdash; Quarterback asks The Ugly One to accompany him to the end credits.
*[[Cave Girl Squad]]
**One of the girls apologizes to Strong Bad after pointing out an anachronism regarding the dinosaur egg.
**The girls inform Anubis that "wearing animal heads is so 3rd issue!"

==DVDs==
*[[strongbad_email.exe]] &mdash; On all of the disks, if the viewer doesn't make a selection in the Bonus Stuff menu, Strong Bad will enter and say "Time's up, choosy! I'm playing Trogdor!", and plays [[TROGDOR!]] for a little bit.
*[[strongbad_email.exe Disc One]]
**Strong Bad tells [[The Paper]] to "show these morons what to do".
**The Paper will then tell the viewer to make a choice.
*[[strongbad_email.exe Disc Three]] &mdash; Homestar and Strong Bad wonder where the viewer is and Homestar suggests that perhaps they are making a sandwich.
**Strong Bad orders the viewer to bring them some [[cold ones]].
*[[strongbad_email.exe Disc Four]]
**Homestar proclaims, "Look at me! I'm on TVD!"
**The [[Lappy 486#Female Lappy 486|Female Lappy 486]] asks Strong Bad what's taking the viewers so long.
*[[strongbad_email.exe Disc Five]] &mdash; Strong Bad complains the viewer took so long the Lappy's screensaver turned on.
*[[Everything Else, Volume 1]]
**Strong Bad says there are no emails on the DVD.
**Homestar tells the viewer to make a choice.
*[[Everything Else, Volume 2]] &mdash; Homestar complains that the viewer is taking too long deciding and tries to eat some of the menu items.

==Other==
*[[Where the Crap Are We?]] &mdash; Strong Bad beats the left side of the screen.
*[[First Time Here?]] <!-- &mdash; Sets the stage for fourth wall breakages, especially when Strong Bad says "I'm the real reason you're here" and asks people to "check him out". -->
*[[Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 8.0]] &mdash; Homestar says, "This is Homestar Runner from HomestarRunner.com".
*[[Strong Sad#Character_Video_Transcript|Strong Sad]] &mdash; On Strong Sad's character page, he complains about making a "character page" and later runs his finger down the left side of the screen.
*[[Not the 100th Email!!!]] <!-- &mdash; References to the 404 page and the user poking around the site. -->
*[[Store]] &mdash; Most of the [[Store Thank You Messages|thank you messages]] break the fourth wall, especially [[Store Thank You Messages#Back Door Message|the "bonus" message]].
*[[Podstar Runner]]
**In the original ending video for the emails and music videos, Strong Bad asks, "What am I doing in this tiny box?" and shatters the screen trying to get out.
**In the 2008 ending, Strong Bad leaves a "face print" on the iPod's screen and tells the viewer to use a "shimmy cloth".
*[[The Limozeen Advantage]] &mdash; Teeg Dougland informs [[Limozeen]] that they have been relegated to DVD bonus content.
*[[SBCG4AP Advertisement]]
**Strong Bad later says, "Gimme that camera!" and walks around his house with it.
**He acknowledges the change in animation style by asking the viewers to witness "all 3 of the glorious D's".
**Homestar claims to have a "low polygon count".
*[[Page Load Error]] <!-- &mdash; Strong Sad addresses the viewers while he and [[The Deleteheads]] camp out in a Mozilla Firefox error page. -->
*[[Hremail 62]] &mdash; Homestar Runner scolds the announcer for pronouncing the word 'drawer' correctly.
*[[Sbemailiarized!]]
**Strong Bad refers to the site's other videos as cartoons.
**[[Matt Chapman]] knocks the word "CREATORS" offscreen when he starts ranting at [[Mike Chapman]]'s idea.
**Strong Bad calls the idea a "4th wall type thing".

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