main index




Topical Tropes

Other Categories

TV Tropes Org
"The greatest moment in video games is when Solid Snake — the legendary Solid Snake, the icon Solid Snake — is on a military base, out to stop a nuclear-armed walking battle tank; he sees a surveillance camera, and he says, "A surveillance camera?!"

We are describing Captain Obvious here, on a trope page. You just read the quote and are reading this now.

He strives to be Mr. Exposition... But there's something wrong with his exposition. Most of the time, whatever he has to say should already be obvious — both to the viewers and to any other character with half a brain. After saying anything, another character might state "Gee, you think?" Or if someone's attempt at humor was disrupted, they might say Don't Explain the Joke.

In other words, Captain Obvious states the obvious. This means that his statements are self-evident.

In some cases, this is justified because Captain Obvious is also The Ditz, or so puzzled by something that he can't help but state, well, the obvious.

See also As You Know, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Narrating the Obvious, Shaped Like Itself, Department of Redundancy Department, Captain Obvious Aesop. Not to be confused with Captain Oblivious. Sometimes, may be demoted to Commander Contrarian, a commander who disagrees. It Makes Sense in Context is what fans will say when other people bring it up. Slightly justified if everybody else is Captain Oblivious.

This trope sometimes overlaps with Mathematician's Answer and Circular Reasoning, when Captain Obvious is stating the obvious to be a smartass or to avoid giving a more helpful answer to a question. It can also overlap with Non Answer if the answer is self-evident and clearly not what the questioner wanted to know.

Incidentally, do not confuse this trope with Lampshade Hanging. In the case of a Captain Obvious, a character notes something that is self-evident to the characters as well as to the audience (us). A Lampshade Hanging occurs when something that is obvious to us but should go unnoticed by the characters, is noticed by the characters. Note that you can click on the words in blue, and they will take you to a new article.

That was a description, on a website called TV Tropes, which can be found on the Internet.

Being one is often the cause of this reaction: You Can Talk? Obviously.

In-Universe Examples Only: (The folders below contain examples of this trope.)

Protip: The examples can be read by clicking the links or folders below!

Example subpages: (These subpages contain examples of this trope.)

Press this button to open all folders. If they are already open, this will close them instead.

    open/close all folders 

    Comedy (this folder is about Comedy) 
In this folder are all the examples of comedy not fitting anywhere else.
  • Stan Freberg, "St. George and the Dragonet":
    Chief: Say, did you take that .45 automatic into the lab to have them check on it?
    St. George: Yeah. You were right.
    Chief: I was right?
    St. George: Yeah. It was a gun.
  • Bill Engvall likes to do this to set up jokes, often ending with his Catch Phrase "Here's Your Sign".
    Random Guy: (points to a buck's head mounted on Bill's wall) "Ya' shoot that deer?"
    Bill: *beat* "Oh no. He tried to run through the wall and got stuck."
    • Granted that this is more of an Ask a Stupid Question... example, Bill still sometimes channels his inner Captain Obvious for his comedy act. Usually the "Here's Your Sign" jokes are about other people's stupid questions, but sometimes he himself just can't resist.
  • Dara O'Briain has a bit making fun of a cover story in the London Examiner titled "10 Symptoms You Should Not Ignore". The first 3 symptoms listed were rectal bleeding, loss of height, and sudden blindness.

    Professional Wrestling (this folder is about Professional Wrestling) 
All examples found in professional wrestling are here!
  • Professional wrestler-turned-WWE-commentator Tazz is in the habit of calling his broadcast partners "Captain Obvious", when they sum up something that the viewers just saw fifteen seconds ago.
  • TNA commentator Mike Tenay does the same thing whenever the wrestler Rellik is mentioned ("That's 'killer' spelled backwards.") Eric Young later started parodying Mike Tenay on this, referring to Rellik as Rellik-that's-killer-spelled-backwards, as if the entire thing was the guy's name.

This is the end of the article. There is nothing more for you to read on this page. Except for these links to similarly-themed pages. (We call them categories.) Oh, and by the way, you just read Captain Obvious trope! On TV Tropes! With your eyes! On a screen! On a computer! (Probably!) Now you're really sick of the joke!

TalismanAmeritrash Games    
Too Dumb to LiveOverdosed TropesMad Scientist
FanonJustForFun/Tropes of LegendCatchphrase
Before The Dark TimesExpositionCaptain's Log
But Wait, There's More!Pothole MagnetCrapsack World
Cannot Tell Fiction from RealityAdministrivia/In-Universe Examples OnlyCelebrity Resemblance
Funny Background EventFunny/Harry PotterBig Eater
Books That BiteAdministrivia/Images Without a SourceThe Catfish
CAPS LOCKSelf-Demonstrating Articlecat planet
Executive MeddlingNetworksLoophole Abuse
Captain ObliviousCharacters as DeviceThe Caretaker

alternative title(s): No Shit Sherlock; Naw Ya Think; Stating The Obvious; Well Duh
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from
Privacy Policy