People make an assumption that their characters don't know what they're thinking.
Some even assume that what they're thinking doesn't affect their characters.
In film, books, comics, television, and other similar things, this is known as a Fourth Wall. The wall that blocks off the characters from knowing what they are, and that something else is happening. Your character may be completely unaffected by your pet's death, or you might write it in somehow as a coping mechanism, but always they are detached from you.
What happens when a character learns they're a character? What happens when they learn to communicate, or perhaps even manipulate the world they're in?
--It will be interesting to see how Trilogee lets the audience in. Midwives are standing by. Zoe
- Kalki chuckles musically. "You people and your limited dimensionality. I've already broken the sixth and eighth walls."
- GrayZero just shakes her head. "Being overt about it, though? How very impolite. I must say I do not approve."
Theories
An interesting way to look at the Fourth Wall. When it's broken, the mindstate of the character and the player can be linked. So what are the essential first three walls that a character needs to establish and/or break first? (there are always those who play with these boundaries, of course) Here's a breakdown of walls:
- First wall--Knowledge of environment. The character sees its surroundings. Accepts them as the working environment.
- Second wall--Knowledge of others. Character recognizes other entities as being other entities. Individuals. Distinct characters.
- Third wall--Self-knowledge. The character becomes self aware.
- Fourth wall--Already mentioned here. Character becomes aware of its player in the alternate reality across the screen.
- Fourth-and-a-half--The character invades the dreams of the player, subconsciously.
- Fifth wall--Other characters from the same environment begin to infringe on the player's mindstate.
- Fifth-and-a-half--Other player's characters invade the player's dreams, unintentionally.
- Sixth wall--When the virtual environment of the character invades the world of the player, if only mentally. Perceptions altered. i.e. the World starts to look like Puzzlebox.
- Personally, if I ever hit this point, I'd go in search of some very powerful drugs. Either that or lay off of the very powerful drugs.
- Sixth-and-a-half--Dreaming in the Mess.
- Seventh wall--Puzzlebox is the Red King. Waking Life.
This is perhaps trying to break it down too much, but it's an interesting system to work with. The division between the person and the persona is fascinating to me...it's often a very fractal borderline that can and should be futzed with.
Are there more walls? Eighth? Tenth? There are no laws saying the imaginary 'room' we see into from our own world has to be a cube. What about a dodecahedron? Or...a sphere? Spheres have only one wall, and all points are equal from the center...
All of this musing made perfect sense at 4 in the morning, honestly! --Coalesce
- Edited: Knowledge of self likely comes last, and makes it a more complete mirror-image. Much more accurate developmentally. --C
- It still does, to me anyway. I've got an in-progress diagram going in MAX5, I'll post a link once it's done. -Kayle