Church of the Fourth Wall

The Church of the Fourth Wall is a fictional organization created by Rob Rogers.

History

The Church of the Fourth Wall began as a running in-joke satirizing both organized religion and those who vehemently objected to the breaking of the Fourth Wall in LNH stories. Members of the Church object to the constant interference by LNH Writers in the day-to-day lives of Looniverse residents. The fact that this objection is itself a breaking of the fourth wall is an irony apparently lost on the Church's membership.

"I guess all those sorts of things are why the Church of the Fourth Wall has such an attraction to some people. The notion that the fourth wall is a danger, and that the Church has ways to seal it off so that the nasty things on the other side can't get us... That must be extremely appealing to anyone who feels helpless against the bullying of the Writers."

–Invisible-Intangible-Inaudible Lass, Birth of a Villain #35

According to the net.heroine Fourth Wall Lass, the Church's history began thousands of years ago.

"Alien comic book writers came to the Looniearth and taught some of the ancient human cultures how to sneak across the fourth wall. Those aliens set up organisations in each culture they had contact with to teach loonihumanity about fourth wall techniques, and after the aliens left many of those groups eventually died out or degenerated into religious cults of the 'mystery religion' type. Later still, there was a schism in one group, and one faction tried to wrest control of the power base. They failed, and during the time that it took them to regather their strength, their dogma underwent a radical shift to hate and fear breaking the fourth wall. *That's* basically where the Church of the Fourth Wall started."

—Fourth Wall Lass, Birth of a Villain #24

Over the years, the Church has attempted various schemes to try to prevent or limit interaction between the Looniverse and its creators. In the Birth of a Villain storyline, the Church allied itself with the villain wReamicus Maximus in an effort to stabilize the Looniverse by allowing only one writer – Dave Van Domelen – to participate. When the Legion of Net.Heroes opposed its plan, the Church abandoned wReamicus, joining forces with the Nodakommandos instead and naming David R. Henry, rather than Van Domelen, as its "One True Writer."

The failure of that plan proved catastrophic for the Church, as its headquarters – the Washington.gov-based Cathedral of Hate – was destroyed, and the Church itself was driven underground. The Church received an unexpected boon when its members discovered the abandoned In-Continuity Cafe, a building that allowed them to access any point in the Looniverse. Making the cafe its new base of operations, the Church began forging new alliances with enemies of the LNH, bringing together the members of the Surreptitious Seven and helping the criminal mastermind Mynabird evade capture.

The Church's current plan involves creating so many storylines and plot complications for the LNH that the writers will be unwilling to participate, eventually abandoning the Looniverse altogether.

Church members see themselves as revolutionaries and freedom fighters, helping to deliver their universe from the hands of capricious and cruel cosmic beings. The Church's critics, however, see it differently:

"Having seen some of what the Church gets up to, I think that closing off the fourth wall is only its first priority and then after that it has taking over the world and generally being tyrannical psychopathic nutburgers running a close second. They might talk a lot about protecting people, but I've noticed that they tend to shrug off collateral damage as acceptable losses."

—Fourth Wall Lass, Birth of a Villain #35

Members

The leader of the Church of the Fourth Wall is Father Brown, an aged, grey-skinned cleric who is almost always dressed in a hooded robe. Although much of the world views Father Brown as a dangerous religious fanatic, he nonetheless received the 2000 Nobel Prize for Peace – which he shared with wReamicus Maximus after the two patched up their differences in an agreement brokered by President Bill Clinton.

Brown's many assistants include Deacon-Split-the-Difference and Felonious Monk.

Enemies

The Church of the Fourth Wall has made enemies of heroes and villains alike. In addition to battling the LNH, the Church's zealous opposition to contact between the Looniverse and other universes has drawn it into conflict with visitors from other dimensions, such as Future Girl and Chinese Guy. Avatars of writers, such as Deja Dude and the Dvandom Stranger, also draw the Church's ire. The Church's greatest enemies, however, are probably the heroes Fourth Wall Lass and Fourth Wall Demolisher Lad.