Breaking the fourth wall

Breaking the Fourth Wall is a term used when a video game character acknowledges that they are in a video game. Many of the Mario games, especially the Paper Mario games are known for breaking the fourth wall.

Real World Interaction
Some Mario game characters will explain how to use the controls. Game Interaction could also happen when a character directly hits the screen causing it to either break or tilt. Some characters will even directly talk to the player.

Messages
The most common type of fourth wall break in a Mario game. Usually, after the player has beaten the game, a message that says "Thank you for playing" or other types of that statement will appear on the screen.

Other Game References
Some characters will reference other characters or elements from other games outside their games. This usually happens in the Paper Mario games.

Super Mario Bros. series
In this video game series, usually the message "Thank you so much for playing the game" will appear at the end of the screen.

Paper Mario series
In Paper Mario, few characters break the fourth wall: In Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, many characters break the fourth wall most notably Goombella and Professor Frankly.
 * When Mario is fighting the Koopa Bros. while in the fake Bowseer suit, they will say that there should be a sequel called "Paper Bowser".


 * Professor Frankly addresses the player directly to listen up to his explanation and Mario's partner will comply that who is Frankly talking to.
 * Lord Crump even breaks the fourth wall. While disguised as Four-Eyes, he talks to the player knowning he/she knows who he is and threathens him/her not to tell Mario. This also leaves the partner confused to who he was talking to.