Fourth wall

In a traditional theatre, the "fourth wall" is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage, through which the audience sees the action of the play. In video games, television, etc., speaking directly to or otherwise acknowledging the audience/player or real world can be referred to as "breaking the fourth wall," as it "deconstructs" the boundaries of the fictional world.

• Murphy who apparently speaks of "Game Magic" as the explanation to how you can talk to him on the docks while he's also out on the trawler at the same time.
• The bartender of the Blue Moon Inn, who says he won't tell the player where to find treasure because that "makes the game too easy".
  • If questioned what he means by "game", the bartender goes on to say Old School RuneScape is an online game where people use "magic boxes" ("big boxes on people's desktops and little ones people can carry") to talk to each other and play games.
• A conversation with Father Aereck, where the player can tell him that they are not from this world and that Old School RuneScape is just an online game.
• The man with a backpack by Musa Point, who will sometimes complain to the player that he doesn't have "a 'Teleport Home to Lumbridge' button like everyone else."
• During the quest Tower of Life, 'Transmute' The Alchemist asks the player if they've heard of equal trade. In which the player responds with "What, like 'sell 1k coal 200gp ea'".
• During Doric's Quest, when the player has the exact items needed in their inventory upon starting the quest.
• When using the orange egg sac or blue egg sac on Sraracha, the chatbox message states "In a scene so disgusting the artists refused to animate it, Sraracha brutally devours the egg sac.".
• A troll in Weiss named Yellow Snow comments that when talking to players, it's "like they only got two choices of what to ask" after a dialogue in which the player has two options of what to ask.
• If you ask King Arthur what he's doing in Gielinor, he responds by referencing the real world, saying "we will return to Britain in its time of greatest need. [For now] we're passing the time in Gielinor!"
• In some possible songs the player can sing during The Fremmenik Trials, the player makes references to hitting "zeroes" and having a skill at "ninety-nine".
• The player can ask Mac why he smells bad, to which he says bathing is "XP waste".
• Lazy cats, when asked about their age, used to mention "rune years" and "earth years" and the discrepancy between them. This was removed when their dialogue was updated.

• The examine texts of two separate tightropes, Rellekka and Falador, on their respective courses, mention that the camera can't be angled upwards.
• The examine text of Pillar (Brimhaven Agility Arena) makes mention of the "player".
• The examine text of the Wilderness sign north of Varrock warns the player to stop examining signs.
• One of the examine texts for a bar is Where everybody knows your screen name.
• When defeating another player in a PvP environment, two of the game messages that can be printed in celebration break the fourth wall:
  • Such a shame that [other player name] can't play this game.
  • [Other player name] probably logged out after that beating.
• Bob the cat's examine text is The Jagex cat. and similarly Cob the bat says The Jagex bat.
• In the examine text for dead blood serpent, My inventory is going to smell like iron for weeks.

• Old School RuneScape's first anniversary event allowed players to visit Prifddinas, where they could speak to the generals of the God Wars Dungeon. Two notable examples of the fourth wall being broken were found in these conversations:
  • When asking Kree'arra how the generals were able to keep the peace at the party, despite being fierce enemies, Kree'arra told the player they put their differences aside in gratitude of the developers “for bringing us to life in the first place”.
  • In conversation with K'ril Tsutsaroth, the general complained of losing a plate of food due to disconnecting from the server, threatening to unsubscribe from the game altogether and stop playing. In response, the player taunted K'ril, stating they were such an unpopular boss that new drops had to be introduced just to coax people into Zamorak’s Fortress.
• Before asking Hans if he had seen the gnome child’s hat during the 2016 Birthday event, the player justifies fronting Hans the question by saying he has been walking circles around the castle “since we were two dimensional”. This comment reflects an awareness of the game’s history, specifically the transition from RuneScape Classic to RuneScape 2.
• Upon the release of the cabbage picking skill during the 2016 launch of the Evolution of Cabbage, the player could indignantly ask the corresponding skill master, Kupus Varza, why this new skill wasn’t found on the Skills tab, to which Kupus would retort: “Seriously? Have you seen how little space there is left on that interface?”.
• During the 2017 Christmas event, Diango references the newly implemented Make-all interface: I reckon that would take you somewhere between 72 and 74 years even with the new make-all interface.
  • In the same event, the pixies will mention that Santa Claus has given them all of June off on holiday, even though June is not a month in Gielinor.
• During the 20th Anniversary event, Wizard Grayzag accidentally opens a portal to the Realm of Memories while trying to invent time travel to the Third Age. Grayzag laments that It's not the history of Gielinor I've unlocked - it's the history of RuneScape.
  • The Realm of Memories itself contains monsters that uses their historical models, as well as NPCs who used to be present in RuneScape or Old School RuneScape at some point but were later removed, such as Thrander and Big Mo.
• In the 2025 Halloween event, Death will quiz the player on what his favourite date is, with all the options being real life dates.
• During the 25th Anniversary event, Wizard Grayzag's son Gary opens another portal to the Realm of Memories, using 24 mementos that Gary says represents the experience players gain in each of Old School RuneScape's skills.

• The Mage of Zamorak who speaks about "right-clicking" him to get the teleport option.
• Doris who expresses her thankfulness for no longer having an "Attack" option.
• Phantuwti Fanstuwi Farsight, who tells the player to check their quest list when asked for a quest.
• Cecilia, who reacts to music played through the in-game music player during certain clue scroll steps.
• Rachael in the Burthorpe Games Room tells the player how to challenge others to board games by "using the right click option."
• While a bit more abstract, the Danger sign (Death Plateau) cutscene features a Thrower Troll turning to directly face the camera and throwing a rock at it.
• Straven, who tells the player to go to a "member's server" when asked about the Thieves' armband. This was later removed.
• The Astral Contact spell was originally named "NPC Contact", with its interface explicitly referring to the selectable targets as "characters."

• The Account Guide on Tutorial Island tells the player that the character they're playing on is their account and tells them about membership and bonds.
• Count Check talks to the player about secure passwords, email verification, and authenticating their account.
  • The random event variant of Count Check also explicitly refers to Jagex accounts, and recommends the player to 'upgrade' to one.
• The Account Security Tutor also talks about secure passwords, email verification, and authenticating the player's account.
• The Security Book found in various general stores and given to the player by the Security Guard at Port Sarim jail gives the player general tips on how to protect their account.
• The Lumbridge Guide who recommends the player visit the Old School RuneScape website for help and advice.
• The Town Crier loudly impels players to try out new additions released in the latest game update.
• Lanthus tells the player which worlds are dedicated Castle Wars worlds.

• Real life