List of fourth wall breaks and references in Hamster & Gretel

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As with many television series and various other media (including previous shows by Dan Povenmire), Hamster & Gretel occasionally may break the fourth wall, or make references to breaking it. Breaking the fourth wall means that one or more characters in a type of media are making direct contact with said media's audience, or make references to their status of being in a type of media; which is also defined as meta humor. Fourth wall breaks may also include metafictional music and visuals that normally should not be diegetic to the series.

The term "breaking the fourth wall" comes from theater, with the "fourth wall" referring to an imaginary wall at the front of the stage in a three-walled box set; the imaginary wall would act as a window for the audience so they can follow the story of the play, whereas it would be a regular wall for the characters in the play so they cannot interact with the audience (when they do, they essentially break down this imaginary wall).

This article will list the various times that Hamster & Gretel has either broken the fourth wall, or made references to breaking it. It is not going to list all of Gretel's Super Punches, however, and will only list the instances that directly break or reference the fourth wall (considering that Gretel's Super Punch is a running gag on its own with its own separate list of instances).

Season 1

• "Recipe for Disaster" – El Luchador's logo and overly long disclaimer are revealed to be diegetic, meta fictional "props", as evidenced that they can be seen from different angles and Gretel had to wait until the disclaimer is finished.
• "Math Punch" – When Gretel uses math to determine how fast the runaway train is going in order to save Kevin and Rodney, mathematical equations, as well as colorful letters saying "Math!" (something commonly associated with her punches) fly by; as she's finished and speeds up, these visual graphics drop down onto a man reading a newspaper on the bench, revealing that they're metafictional. This is also the first time that the words associated with Gretel's Super Punches are shown as metafictional objects that characters can interact with.
• "Cheer Cheer Bang Bang"
  • After high-fiving Fred too hard, Gretel notes she must've given her a Super Slap by accident, at which the words "Super Slap!" appear in colorful letters akin to her punches; Gretel then comments she has no idea where these letters are coming from.
  • At the end of the episode, when Fred alludes that Kevin deserves a Super Slap, and the words "Super Slap!" appear once again, Gretel states she must've left them here before and takes them away.
• "Neigh, It Ain't So!" – After she and Gretel make their pinky promise at the end of the episode, Bailey hears the Gretel-Bailey Pinky Promise jingle and asks where the music is coming from.
• "Saturday Homecoming Fever" – When Gretel yearns that she cannot wait to be a teenager, Hamster remarks that's never going to happen because they're a cartoon. When Gretel asks "What" in confusion, Hamster quickly says "Nothing".
• "Birthday Besties" – During the song My Best Friend Bailey's Birthday, Gretel makes colorful words appear that say "Best Friend Bailey's Birthday!" while singing; Kevin notices the words and fans them away.
• "I'm Bored"
  • As Gretel says "I'm so bored", this phrase is materialized into words coming out of her mouth and floating out of her room. These words, too, appear to be metafictional, as Kevin and Hamster panic when they notice it floating away towards Carolina.
  • A brief flashback explaining why Gretel doesn't have to do chores anymore has Dave also utter the phrase "I'm so bored", which get materialized in a similar way.
• "The Nightmarionette" – Like with El Luchador's logo, The Nightmarionette's logo when he is introduced is also metafictional, and can be seen at a different angle as Hamster and Gretel are flying towards him. Hamster then promptly throws said logo aside, making a sound of impact off-screen.
• "The Litigator vs. The Luchador"
  • When Gretel reappears, disguised as a middle-aged man to assist Kevin, her "goatee" is revealed to be Hamster when he briefly turns his head to look at the audience.
  • As Dave attempts to put a fedora on a platypus statue in the Fancy Pants clothing store, Carolina chides him to "stop bucking for a crossover", implying not only that they are aware that they're from a TV show, but that a fedora-wearing platypus references a character from another TV show, and that said character's appearance would make for a crossover episode.
• "Self-HEELP!"
  • After Stacy's song finishes with the phrase "positivity brings positiveness", a disclaimer states that this phrase is a registered trademark, but only "within this fictional universe."
  • Similarly, after Fred tells Charlie that his dream is dumb, another disclaimer states that the phrase "This dream is dumb" is also a registered trademark, but again, only "within this fictional universe."
• "My Invisible Friend" – As Fred and Hamster approach the Hardy-Har-Har Novelty Company in Brookville, she notices the jazz-style background music that's playing and wonders where it's coming from; Hamster reveals it comes from his playlist of detective jams.
• "Let's Sea What You've Got"
  • After Gretel calls a Giant Frosted Spiked Japanese Sea Urchin Punch, Bailey pokes at one of the letters that have appeared.
  • When Hamster brings in the Giant Otter to take care of the giant Japanese sea urchins, Kevin notes they've seen him before earlier this season. When Bailey asks what he's talking about, Kevin elaborates he meant from earlier in the summer.

Season 2

• "Everybody Loves Main Computer" - Hamster breaks the fourth wall by mentioning that his name comes first in the theme song.

Trivia

• The fourth wall break in "Let's Sea What You've Got" is similar to a couple of other fourth wall break jokes in the second season of Milo Murphy's Law, a previous show by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. These similar jokes appear in the episodes "Abducting Murphy's Law" and "The Goulash Legacy".