User:LinguistAtLarge/Captain Obvious

Captain Obvious is a recurring pop culture fictional superhero who announces already self-evident truths. Consequently, the term has become a sarcastic expression which refers to someone who states the obvious or makes painfully self-evident statements. It implies the speaker is slow-witted, having thought the stated (obvious) fact was not obvious at all. The term has been used in many online publications and printed literature, and was used as early as 1998. The Captain Obvious character has appeared in media such as newspapers, books, film, television, radio, and comics.

Expression
The term Captain Obvious is commonly used in the form of "thank you, Captain Obvious" in response to an overly obvious statement, or in some form of "to play Captain Obvious", for example "I'm playing Captain Obvious here", as a preemptive preface to an obvious statement.

The term Captain Obvious has been compared to other terms that contain the word captain, such as Captain Crunch, Captain Kirk, Captain Kidd, and Captain Hook.

Superhero character
Captain Obvious characters have appeared in anime, manga, comic books, movies, books, television shows, video games, webcomics, and dramas. Captain Obvious is a recurring character in the Cyanide and Happiness webcomic, and also appears in other webcomics. The superhero character was used by a University of Chicago comedy troupe to state the obvious. In an episode of the improvisational comedy TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Colin Mochrie was assigned the role of playing a superhero named Captain Obvious, who then in character, stood and looked around stating "I am standing; I am looking around."

In culture
The expression Captain Obvious has appeared in album titles, such as Thank You Captain Obvious, by Machine Go Boom, and Calling Captain Obvious by The Freefall Effect. It has appeared on radio and TV shows. Captain Obvious was a segment of radio show The Shebang broadcast in Sydney, Australia, and World Wrestling Entertainment commentator Tazz often calls his broadcast partners Captain Obvious when they rehash something that viewers just saw. In literature, Captain Obvious is the protagonist of a children's novel by David Landrum called Captain Obvious: When Tomorrow Never Comes.