Fictional fictional character

When a fictional character's primary existence is in a media outlet that, itself, is fictional, that character is a "fictional fictional character." This is usually, but not necessarily, done for comedic effect. For example, when John Ritter played the role of Garry Lejeune in the motion picture Noises Off, and Garry played the role of Roger Tramplemain in the stage production of Nothing On, Roger became a fictional fictional character, since Nothing On exists only within the realm of Noises Off.

The extent to which this can be comically confusing is summed up in the following quote, taken from a behind-the-scenes sequence at the end of the Stargate SG-1 episode "Wormhole X-Treme!": "I'm Christian Bocher, portraying the character of Raymond Gunne, who portrays the character of Dr Levant, which is based on the character Daniel Jackson, portrayed by the actor Michael Shanks, originally portrayed by the actor James Spader in the feature film. Are you okay?"

There are virtually no examples of fictional fictional fictional characters, perhaps because most people simply can't comprehend that many 'layers' of fiction.

Perhaps the most notorious fictional fictional character is Suicide Squid, whose eponymous comic book doesn't even exist in other media — it all started as an "in-joke" among the regular posters on a Usenet newsgroup.

Even when the character within the "story within a story" is based on a real person or a person from legend, the character takes on the sense of being a "fictional fictional character" by virtue of the setting, even though in fact the character remains a "real fictional character" or even a real person in truth.

Deeply Nested Fiction
To date, there are no cited examples of "fictional fictional fictional characters" -- that is, a case where a story within a story itself has a story within a story, and both of the nested stories were are fictional to their respective frame. For example, while plays such as I Hate Hamlet or movies such as A Midwinter's Tale feature stories on productions of Hamlet, which in turn features a production (or part of one) of The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet is an actual play so the characters in The Murder of Gonzago would not qualify at this level.

Individual characters

 * Itchy and Scratchy
 * Suicide Squid

Shakespeare

 * A Midsummer Night's Dream
 * Hamlet
 * Love's Labours Lost

Other examples

 * Noises Off
 * Wormhole X-Treme!