Greek Chorus

Literally in this case.

Jimmy Olsen: Instead of always standing around, watching Lois and Clark, wondering what they're doing, what if we, uh... got lives of our own that were a little more interesting?
Perry White: Now son, you've just hit the bulls-eye. It's like we're supporting characters in some TV show that's only about them.

Jimmy Olsen: Yeah, it's like all we do is advance their plots!
—Lois and Clark, ""And the Answer Is..."

A minor character or group of minor characters who offer commentary and/or opinions on the actions of the main characters, usually by Breaking the Fourth Wall and addressing the audience directly. Often, they say what the audience is thinking (or should be thinking). While a lead character can do this himself, it doesn't make him a Greek Chorus; a proper Greek Chorus differs by being removed from the action and thus able to view it with something approaching objectivity. The role is frequently played by Those Two Guys.

Strictly speaking, an omniscient Narrator usually wouldn't qualify as a Greek Chorus. However, the lemony type who repeatedly breaks the Fourth Wall and makes asides to the audience to the point that they're a "character" unto themselves might reach the point where they overlap with it. If the narration is revealed to be by an actual main member, retroactively telling the story to someone else, it may count, but the important qualifier is that their opinions are objective and express what the audience would think (if they are retroactively self-deprecating of even their own actions, etc.).

Named for the choruses of ancient Greek theatre, who did exactly this.

The Snark Knight, if not the main character, often fits this role.

Compare this to Mystery Science Theater 3000, where the comments come from outside the story.

Examples of Greek Chorus include:

Anime and Manga

  • "Babbit" from Kodomo no Omocha is a Greek Chorus. Whether or not it is acknowledged by other characters depends on the situation (it seems to not really exist in serious situations, but may be noticed and perhaps smacked in sillier situations).
  • The Japanese senior citizens (identified in the anime as the town council elders) in the town around the Hinata Apartments act as a Greek Chorus in Love Hina. However, their pronouncements can be heard by any character who is close by, and they even give Keitaro a hard time once by keeping his sketchbook away from him, Monkey In The Middle style.
  • In the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena, the Kashira Shadow Players (or Shadow Play Girls) act as a Greek Chorus. Their shadow plays usually parallel the events of the episode, with varying degrees of subtlety. Once, though, they actually invite some characters (Utena, Anthy, and Akio) to see one of their plays, a subtle-as-a-kick-to-the-head story about Anthy and Akio's past. Additionally, when the shadow play (each of which ends with a question) is performed near Utena, Utena answers the question that is posed at the end.
  • Drosselmeyer in Princess Tutu.
  • The aliens observing Becky on Pani Poni Dash!.
  • The character Manzo the Saw when serving as narrator of Samurai Champloo. Often explains the history and culture behind the show's Anachronism Stew concepts.
  • Ninja Ninja in Afro Samurai.
  • A debatable example is Neya from Infinite Ryvius: For most of the show she is mostly there to echo and accent the feelings of the cast.
  • Fuu and Ryou from Sketchbook often fulfill this role, although their comments don't always seem to have any direct bearing on the show—which isn't helped by the fact that they're Cloudcuckoolanders..
  • Mahou Sensei Negima
    • Chachazero acts in this capacity on occasion.
    • Chamo also offers commentary on whatever is going on when he's not doing anything plot relevant.
    • More recently, Eva, Eishun, and Albireo have taken over this position, using Alberio's artifact to keep tabs on Negi and discuss his exploits.
  • Alpha Q is a Greek Chorus of one after his death in Transformers Energon. He keeps assuring the audience at the beginning that something cool will happen. Something cool does indeed happen: the end of the series.
  • An interesting case where the Greek Chorus is a rather important character in and of himself is Drosselmeyer, from Princess Tutu. It is, after all, a living storybook, and he is the author.
  • The Durarara!! anime features segments with online chatrooms with unidentified people casually discussing various events and rumors related to the plot. This seems to function as a Greek Chorus, except for the fact that over time, the audience will realize that several main characters are the participants in these conversations, and some of the conversations are spoken in deliberately misleading voices to keep you guessing as to who's who.


Comic Books

  • The (usually civilian) supporting cast of a superhero title are usually this trope, sometimes extended to the superhero's entire hometown. For example, Lois Lane, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen (and frequently the rest of Metropolis) for Superman, the Gotham police department for Batman, the staff of the Daily Bugle for Spider-Man, etc.


Film

  • C3P0 and R2-D2 in Star Wars.
  • The Muses in the Disney version of |Hercules also take the "chorus" part as its more musical meaning. And the "greek" part as its more Greek meaning.
  • The comic relief pirates Ragetti and Pintel (the skinny one-eyed one and the short bald one) in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
  • The film Mighty Aphrodite, despite being set in the present, features an actual ancient Greek chorus that the main character has conversations with.
  • Not Another Teen Movie featured various random Genre Savvy characters who made snarky comments in regards to the trite teen movie cliches/conventions the main characters were expressing.
  • Gonzo (playing Charles Dickens) and Rizzo the Rat in The Muppet Christmas Carol.
  • The narrator of 300, who doesn't bother to hide his bias favoring the Spartans. Sensible, considering that he was one himself and telling of the tale to other Spartans.
  • Shinoda's Double Suicide features the black-clad bunraku stagehands. They are silent with emphasis.
  • The DJ from The Warriors.
  • Stubby Kaye and Nat "King" Cole as the Balladeers in Cat Ballou.
  • The band in There's Something About Mary.
  • In Stardust, the princes who were slain linger behind as ghosts, unable to pass on to the afterlife until the next heir to the throne is found. Being unable to interact with the physical world, either, they can only observe and comment on whatever unfolds before them.
  • Senor Love Daddy and the three people sitting across from the Korean grocer in Do the Right Thing.
  • The two local farmers in State And Main.
  • Four guards comment on Lord Washizu's fortunes in Throne of Blood.
  • The dishwashers in the Danish hospital horror The Kingdom.
  • The cowboy at the bar in the bowling alley in The Big Lebowski. Subverted in that the Cowboy thinks the story is a Western, when its actually a parody of Film Noir.
  • The Criminologist ("THAT MAN HAS NO NECK!") in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
  • The Grave-Robber of Repo! The Genetic Opera.
  • Corey Feldman's character (you heard me) in The 'Burbs.
  • The mariachi owls in Rango.
  • The slugs in Flushed Away dabble with this. Most of the songs they perform are reminiscent of what's going on in the story at that moment, to the point that it starts to feel like narration. For example, they sing a parody of "Bella Notte" in a scene where two characters are falling in love.
  • Timon and Pumbaa in The Lion King 1 1/2.
  • Allan-a-Dale (voiced by Roger Miller) in Disney's animated version of Robin Hood.
  • The goldfish in the tank in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.
  • The Shadow Puppets in Sita Sings the Blues.
  • If you tried to actually make sense of David Lynch's Inland Empire, you could see the hookers as such.


Literature

  • The Narrator fulfills this role in The Dark Tower, except for the parts where he actually appears in the book.
  • The dead princes in Stardust.
  • The teenage boys in The Virgin Suicides.
  • The Oompa Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which fits in quite nicely because they are a chorus.
  • Illium by Dan Simmons plays with this in its intro. The story begins with the narrator laying out the basics of the story in dramatic fashion, much in the same style as an actual Greek Chorus ("Sing, O Muse..."). Then it's revealed that the narrator is, in fact, the main character speaking in the first person and that he has, in fact, been resurrected from the dead specifically to tell you the story. He actually lampshades the trope:

If I am to be the unwilling Chorus of this tale, then I can start the story anywhere I choose. I choose to start it here. [And the plot begins]


Live Action TV

  • The marvelous narrator (Jim Dale) in Pushing Daisies.
  • In an episode in season 4 of Angel, Lorne plays this solo, narrating the events of the episode to an unseen audience, as part of a performance in a bar. At the end of the episode we see that the whole time the bar was totally empty. Mind Screw, anyone?
  • Jimmy Olsen and Perry White fill this role in Lois and Clark : The New Adventures of Superman. They even lampshaded this in one episode.

Jimmy Olsen: Chief.
Perry White: Yeah?
Jimmy Olsen: Instead of always standing around watching Lois and Clark, wondering what they're doing, we got to get lives of our own that are little more interesting.
Perry White: Son, you just hit the bull's eye. It's like we're supporting characters in some t.v. show and it's only about them.
Jimmy Olsen: Yeah! It's like all we do is advance their plots.

  • Lizzie McGuire's animated self.
  • Statler and Waldorf in The Muppet Show are a heckling Greek Chorus.
  • Don and Herb Penguin in Beakman's World.
  • Angel, Animal, Wimp, and Genius in Herman's Head
  • Doctor Who
    • In the First Doctor story/The Gunfighters called/A ballad kept track of/Events to befall/Lynda Baron performed it/Tristram Cary wrote the tune/And the song was called "The Ballad/Of the Last Chance Saloon".
    • In the later serial Vengeance on Varos, this role falls to married couple Arak and Etta, who are watching the events of the episode on television.
  • Hurley, Miles, and Frank Lapidus act like this in the later seasons of Lost.
  • On Friends, Phoebe's guitar songs often take this form.
  • Early in the fourth season of Hannah Montana, Rico had one in the form of a gospel choir that followed him around and sang about his words and actions.
  • Future!Ted in How I Met Your Mother often qualifies, providing a great deal of snarky, hindsight-enhanced commentary on his and his friends' actions. He often freezes the entire universe so that he can basically say "lol no" whenever a character makes an inaccurate prediction or does something that is going to eventually bite them in the ass.


Music

I think I'm in love (Probably just hungry)
I think I'm your friend (Probably just lonely)
I think you got me in a spin now (Probably just turning)
I think I'm a fool for you babe (Probably just yearning)
I think I can rock and roll (Probably just twisting)
I think I wanna tell the world (Probably ain't listening)
I think I can fly (Probably just falling)
I think I'm the life and soul (Probably just snorting)
I think I can hit the mark (Probably just aiming)
I think my name is on your lips (Probably complaining)


Theater

  • In the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, the choruses usually represent women or old men who do nothing except comment on what's happening. There are exceptions to this, especially The Suppliants by Aeschylus, in which the chorus represents the protagonists, and The Eumenides, also by Aeschylus, in which the chorus represents the antagonists.
    • Many of the comedies of Aristophanes are named after the roles played by chorus: The Frogs, The Birds, The Wasps, etc.
    • Aristole complained about the later ones in Poetics, though, pointing out that the chorus was becoming more and more detached from the plays, and so less and less commentary on them.
  • Inherit the Wind has the reporter E. K. Hornbeck providing commentary... in verse.
  • Crystal, Chiffon and Ronnette in Little Shop of Horrors. They're an interesting example. Sometimes they're a straight Greek Chorus, existing outside the play and commenting on it to the audience. Sometimes they're full cast members, interacting with the other characters and having no special out-of-character knowledge. You can keep track by the costumes; when they're characters the girls wear worn-down clothing appropriate to residents of Skid Row, and when they're a Greek Chorus they've changed into sparkly dresses. Are they a Greek Chorus slipping into the play itself to amuse themselves? Are the two versions different characters? Nobody knows. They're weird.
  • Che in Evita, both the stage and film versions.
  • The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro relies heavily on its Greek Chorus to voice characters' thoughts, particularly during the protagonist's childhood when he is neither seen nor heard.
  • In Mamma Mia!, this trope is taken literally: citizens of the Greek island where the main characters live often provide a chorus for the songs. They also make their own opinions on the action obvious on occasion.
  • A host of dead-eyed townsfolk at dramatic junctures in the stage version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
  • The Liebeslieders in A Little Night Music.
  • The Bird Girls from Seussical the Musical play this role, actually narrating the story more than the Cat in the Hat, despite his self-assigned role as narrator.
  • Trouble In Tahiti has a jazz vocal trio described in the Dramatis Personae as "a Greek Chorus born of the radio commercial." Their odes to Suburbia ironically contrast with the play's action.
  • Legally Blonde, Elle's sorority sisters, the Delta Nu girls. "Margot, Serena, Pilar? What are you doing here?" "This (indicating Elle's ex with a new girlfriend) is a tragedy. And every tragedy needs a Greek chorus!"
  • The Dreamers in The Secret Garden, a chorus of ghosts who haunt the house.
  • The Love Of The Nightingale has two, a male and female. The male chorus are the ones recounting the plot. The female chorus is Procne's tribal women companions who warn her of danger.
  • Britten's The Rape Of Lucretia has a Male and a Female chorus - a tenor and a soprano. Kinda one-person choruses...
  • Spider Man Turn Off the Dark has a "Geek Chorus" of comic book nerds.
    • Only in Version 1.0 -- they were dropped for the rewritten version that actually opened on Broadway.
  • Those Two Guys Salarino (or Salerio) and Solanio in The Merchant of Venice extract plot details from other characters and discuss plot-relevant offstage happenings (Bassanio's departure, Shylock's attempts to take legal action, etc).
  • Rusty, Urleen and Wendy Jo in Footloose. Rusty is less detached, being a character from the original movie (and part of the Beta Couple), but Urleen and Wendy Jo were written into the musical version to provide both this trope and 80's-style backup singing. (Wendy Jo also appeared in the movie.)
  • Woody Allen's play God mocks this trope.

Video Games

  • Lazarus and Eliza in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Eliza is a mainstream newscaster, whereas Lazarus is a radio talk show host who deals with conspiracy theories. Usually more often than not, their broadcasts will deal with the current situation at hand with the player.
  • The Star FOX (and Wolf) pilots in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Snake's allies from the Metal Gear Solid series arguably count, but differ slightly, in that Snake himself is contributing to the discussion while he fights.
  • In the DS version of Disgaea, once you win (or get a Nonstandard Game Over), an option appears to turn on a prinny commentator, who often makes snarky comments on the game's goings-on.
  • By the 7th Arc of Umineko no Naku Koro ni, there are two pairs of these: Featherine and Ange in Dawn, and Furfur and Zepar in Requiem.


Web Original

  • Ultra-annoying side characters Peeper and Greasy, at the Super-Hero School Whateley Academy in the Whateley Universe. They even run a semi-legal campus radio station to broadcast their usually-offensive thoughts, and they provide the running commentary for the battles during the end-of-term Combat Finals. Unfortunately, they're utterly focused on the breasts of the hotter girls on campus, with the protagonists being some of their favorite targets.


Web Comics

  • In Order of the Stick, the Demon Cockroaches follow Xykon and Redcloak around providing comic relief.
    • They actually do get directly involved with the main action in recent strips however, where one of them tries to talk the Monster in the Dark out of a Heel Face Turn, warn the others about O-Chul's escape, and then gets skewered by the paladin's improvised spear.
    • Even before that Miko used one to light a fire (they can do that) to make an escape.
    • Belkar also lit a fire with one, to cook stew.
  • Irregular Webcomic has a literal Greek Chorus,[1] and a link to this page.
  • Neko the Kitty often uses a character situated outside the panels to deliver an extra gag. In recent strips, this has been Neko commenting on the action whether he appears in the strip or not.


Western Animation

  • Tino in The Weekenders. Although, since he's one of the main characters, he's not quite removed from the action.
  • Kang and Kodos from some of the later Treehouse of House of Horror episodes of The Simpsons where they appear in a final scene and give a quick remark on the preceeding story.
  • Disney's |Hercules has a literal Greek chorus, of course.
  • Rango features the mariachi owls, though that might make them a Tex-Mex chorus.
  • When the townspeople in Twelve Ounce Mouse start malfunctioning, they sing questions about the characters.
  • The mouse and snake from Fish Hooks.
  • In an episode of Phineas and Ferb, the band "Love Handel" follows a delivery driver around, singing songs about everything he's doing, and near the end of the episode, they reference their transformation from "a pop metal band into a rousing Greek Chorus".


Real Life

  • Sportscasters sometimes adopt this approach, alternately involving themselves with the event through sideline interviews, or standing aside to comment on the action and build up viewers' excitement.


And thus ended the trope page.

  1. ↑ hint: read it phonetically
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