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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|'''Nikki Reed (Rosalie Hale):''' So, Kristen, there must be something really special about you for [[Robert Pattinson]] to take such a liking to you and risk the lives of his entire family. Tell us about yourself.
'''[[Kristen Stewart]] (Bella Swan):''' Me? Oh, no. I'm just a hollow placeholder for all of the teenage girls in the audience to project their personalities onto. I have none of my own whatsoever.|''[[Twilight (
There are three things that can be referred to as an
# The viewpoint character; See [[Point of View]].
# A character who [[The Watson|asks questions the audience would ask]] and [[Meta Guy|says things the audience would say]].
# A character who the audience (or the children in the audience) doesn't just sympathize with, but are supposed to actively see themselves
'''This trope is about the third one, as the other two have tropes of their own.'''
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Compare [[Sliding Scale of Viewer Intelligence]].
[[Video Games]] usually use a variant of this, the [[Heroic Mime]]. [[This Loser Is You]] is an
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Kagome Higurashi from ''[[Inuyasha]]''.▼
▲* Kagome Higurashi from [[Inuyasha]].
* To some extent, Prince Ashitaka in ''Princess Mononoke.''
* Ryuk, in ''[[
** That and the sheer unadulterated joy of watching Light finally crash and burn.
* Kirie serves this purpose in ''[[Uzumaki]]'': asking the necessary questions as well as witnessing all the strange goings on in her cursed town; and her love interest, Suichi, plays the role of [[Author Avatar]], providing many of the answers that would have been difficult to provide otherwise.
* Saten Ruiko from ''[[
* In the fist half of ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', Bat and Lin both seem to exist mainly to have someone for Kenshiro to provide exposition during a sudden plot development.
* Kyon, the only [[Ordinary High School Student]] in [[Suzumiya Haruhi]]. This is probably also [[Stupid Sexy Flanders|the second reason]] why he is [[Launcher of a Thousand Ships|the most frequently shipped character]] in the fandom.
* [[Naive Newcomer]] Rakka serves as the audience surrogate in ''[[
* Chris Thorndyke from [[Sonic X]].
* Armor in the ''[[X-Men]]'' anime.
* ''[[Medaka Box]]'': Zenkichi Hitoyoshi is quite literally, the Normal of the main cast. He's often left to comment on the absurdity of the cast, but isn't without his own quirks and moments of badassery.
* One of the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Robin was introduced to the ''[[Batman]]'' comic in order to appeal to the young audience who bought the comic.
* Presumably, Jimmy Olsen existed for the same reason: to be ''[[Superman]]'''s normal, youthful buddy.
* ''[[Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' introduces Ironfist, a [[The Woobie|hugely sympathetic]] [[Ascended Fanboy]] who has been chronicling the adventures of his heroes, the Wreckers. [http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zG6crPZV6Io/S4axy7XFg7I/AAAAAAAAANI/0hiAvJIRP2M/s1600-h/Wreckers+Awareness+Week+Lo-Res.jpg This image] (created by [[Word of God|the author himself]]) makes it pretty explicit.
* In [[
▲== [[Fan Fiction]] ==
▲* In [[Toy Hammer (Fanfic)|Toy Hammer]], this role is passed between Michael, Alice and Vincent.
* Any reader-insert fanfiction, meaning the main character isn't often given a name and is addressed as "You" in the narrative, and "Your Name" in the dialogue. Amusingly, some of the reader-inserts have more personality than non-reader inserts.
== Film ==
* Luke Skywalker in the original ''[[Star Wars]]''.
* Director Bruce Robinson used this trope so literally that the second half of his titular duo in ''[[Withnail and I|Withnail & I]]'' doesn't even get a ''name.'' Paul McGann's character (credited as "...& I" in the credits, but revealed to be named "Marwood" in the script) is never named in the course of the film, allowing the audience to more easily identify with his misfortunes.
* J.K. Simmons as the unnamed CIA director in ''[[Burn After Reading]]''.
* Joe Black in ''[[Meet Joe Black]]'', particularly at the beginning (when he serves as the exploratory vehicle within Bill Paxton's estate), and the end, when he tears up watching the party-farewells and acts as the receptacle for Bill's summative reflections - essentially parroting the anticipated reaction of the audience watching the end of the movie.
* A refreshing example from ''[[Inception]]'' is Ariadne, who doesn't sit there, ask questions and let others do the work for her. She adapted easily to the dream world and was the one to {{spoiler|find out about Cobb's wife infiltrating his mind}}, afterward actively trying to help Cobb. Then, it was her idea to {{spoiler|go into the fourth level}} after Cobb and Eames had given up. In other words, she is the character who behaves as the audience would if they were in her place.
* ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show
== Literature ==
* The four hobbits (Merry and Pippin in particular) in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
** Bilbo in ''[[The Hobbit]]''.
** In his introduction to ''The Book of Lost Tales'', Christopher Tolkien supposes that the reason ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' was less popular than ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is that it lacked an
* Bella of ''[[Twilight (
* Firestorm in [[Less Than Three Comics]]' Brat Pack. Even though he should be the opposite, what with his family upbringing and all. Sometimes Mr Perfect will take this role.
* Italo Calvino's ''[[If on a winter's night a traveler]],'' written almost entirely in the second person, is centered around two readers: one as a stand-in for male readers, another for female.
* ''[[Harry Potter (
* [[The
* [[Neverwhere|Richard Mayhew.]]
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Cindel Towani, the little girl in the ''[[Star Wars|Ewok]]'' TV movies.
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the companions pretty much exist for this role, when they aren't [[The Watson]].
* ''[[Mister Rogers' Neighborhood]]'': When Fred Rogers is alone with the camera, he's a parental character. But when he's with a friend, they become the parental figure and Mr. Rogers becomes a child on behalf of the audience.
* Penny fills this role for non-geeky fans of ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''. Whenever one of the guys makes an obscure reference to something in geek culture, Penny's always there to sarcastically ask what the heck they're talking about, when many viewers were wondering the exact same thing.
** For everyone else, it's Sheldon, an ambitious nerd without his friends' more overt flaws (Howard's lechery, Rag's gynophobia, and Leonard's generic geekery).
* Jim's mugging for the camera on ''[[The Office]]'' often reflects how the audience perceives the ridiculous events on screen.
* ''[[Lost]]'' did this a couple times to acknowledge fans' desire for answers. In season 1, Hurley gets frustrated at one point with all the mysterious happenings on the Island, saying that he wants answers. Then, in the epilogue, "The New Man in Charge," Ben comes to visit the guys at the DHARMA packing plant. As he turns to go, one of them says "Wait! You can't just leave without giving us any answers!" which is exactly what the viewers were all thinking at that point.
* Similar to the [[The Big Bang Theory|Penny]] example above, Agent Booth on ''[[Bones]]'' responds to Bones and the other squints just like any non-anthropologist in the audience would, making them explain the more complicated concepts in laymen's terms and sometimes lampshading their [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]:
{{quote|
'''Booth''': What's that?
'''Dr. Hodgins''': It's a common domestic container.
'''Booth''': Oh, like a jar. Why can't we just say "a jar"? }}
* In the first episode of ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'', Rick Grimes acts as this for the audience. He was in a coma before the beginning of the episode, so he wasn't sure what exactly was going on. Morgan explains that the world has been overrun by zombies (or as they're referred to as on the show, walkers, which is an abbreviation of the walking dead), and if you get bitten, you're a goner (with some exceptions). He also warns him that while a single zombie normally isn't dangerous, a horde of zombies is the last thing Rick wants to see. Inevitably, he ''does'' encounter a horde of zombies near the end of the first episode.
== Theatre ==
* In ''The Insect Play'', the Tramp (known as the Vagrant in some translations) is the only human character present for most of the play. He mostly serves to draw analogies between human societies and insect societies.
== Video Games ==
* Chell from ''[[Portal]]'', the [[Space Marine]] from ''[[Doom]]'', and most protagonists in the ''[[Five Nights at Freddy's (franchise)|Five Nights at Freddy's]]'' fracnhise. None of them [[Heroic Mime| has any dialogue]] nor much personality to speak of, and [[First-Person Shooter| you never see their faces]] (except Chell, whose face is seen briefly), because the player is supposed to see them as their avatar.
== Web Animation ==
* Raimi Matthews of ''[[Broken Saints]]'' fame fits this pretty well, especially for American audiences (even though he's actually [[Author Appeal|Canadian-American]]...)
== Web Original ==
* Sophie in ''[[Kate Modern]]'', a minor character who is a fan of Kate's videos. On her [[Character Blog|Bebo profile]], she would often [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|break]] the [[Fourth Wall]] to directly communicate with "other" fans.
* [[Innocent Flower Girl|Hanami]] in ''[[Tasakeru]]''.
* "Make Them Look and Sound Like the Audience, Against All Logic" is #4 of ''[[Cracked.com]]'''s [http://www.cracked.com/article_19183_6-tricks-movies-use-to-make-sure-you-root-right-guy.html 6 Tricks Movies Use to Make Sure You Root for the Right Guy].
== Web Comics ==
* Amity Vii of ''[[Miamaska]]''. Seen clearing up plot holes [http://miamaska.tidalcomics.com/index.php?strip_id=31 here] and [http://miamaska.tidalcomics.com/index.php?strip_id=33 here]! She clears up [[No Pronunciation Guide|pronunciation problems]] for the audience [http://miamaska.tidalcomics.com/index.php?strip_id=32 as] [http://miamaska.tidalcomics.com/index.php?strip_id=43 well].
== Western Animation ==
* Ahsoka in ''[[Star Wars:
** Which might explain the outfit.
* Orko on ''[[He-Man and
* Most of the princes and princesses in the [[Disney Animated Canon]].
* Spike from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Later, Big Macintosh takes up the role of representing the [[Periphery Demographic]] in "Lesson Zero", where he, despite the most muscular pony on the show at the time, shows genuine interest in owning an old doll meant for girls. Sound familiar?
** Rainbow Dash in "Read It and Weep". She passes off reading as uncool, until she picks up a book and discovers that she likes it. Several [[Periphery Demographic|older fans]] compared this to how they first got into the show.
* Beast Boy acts as this sometimes in ''[[Teen Titans (
* Kid Flash in ''[[Young Justice (
* Yeardley Smith is this for the viewer of ''[[
** She very often does the same in DVD commentaries of the regular series.
** Lisa, Yeardley Smith's character, often fills this roll on the series proper (whenever Comic Book Guy isn't around):
{{quote|
'''Homer''': I thought Smithers did it.
'''Lisa''' (under her breath): That would have made a lot more sense. }}
** Frank Grimes in the infamous eighth-season ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|Simpsons]]'' episode "Homer's Enemy". The character's sole purpose was to represent a realistic person from [[Real Life|our universe]]
* Gus in ''[[Recess]]'' can be considered one, as he seems the most confused about the main six's schemes
* Fry in the first season of ''[[Futurama]]'', although he started to move away from this role once he became more accustomed to life in the 31st century.
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