Fanon (fiction)

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This article is about a type of fan fiction. For other meanings of the term "fanon" please see Fanon (disambiguation)

Fanon is a fact or ongoing situation (mostly in fan fiction stories) related to a television program, book, movie, or video game that has been used so much by fan writers or among the fandom that it has been more or less established as having happened in the fictional world, but it has not actually been established as having happened on the show, book or movie itself. Fanon is a portmanteau word of fan and canon. A more negative term for this is fanwankery.

The term is sometimes used pejoratively by purists to refer to such explanations as faulty or illogical given the nature of a story, or "common lore" copied amongst fans, especially in webpage proliferation, that actually contradicts a simpler explanation that was even alluded to in canon. This is especially common for foreign works which are sometimes mistranslated or to when backstory and exposition elsewhere in a work has not been ported over (for example, manga that was associated with a commercial anime, but of which only one has been translated.)

Fanon is sometimes well known by creators and may even be accepted as true (or at least as reasonable an explanation as any) to something they have not explicitly explained. On the other hand, some creators of serial works introduce facts in subsequent installments of their work which invalidate specific fanon.

In a series with a substantial Expanded Universe (official, but not necessarily canon, additions to the series proper), such as Star Wars, Star Trek, or Doctor Who, elements of fanon will sometimes become established as part of the expanded canon; this is particularly common when fans become contributors to the Expanded Universe.

A variation of fanon is "personal canon", which is a set of "fanon"-like facts that are accepted as canon by an individual fan or a group of fans. Proponents of "fanon" or "personal canon" have been known to be offended when these terms are used, as "fanon" facts have often become better accepted than canon. This is widespread among Star Trek fans; for example, the prequel TV series Star Trek: Enterprise is rejected by many Trek fans on the basis that it violates "fanon" regarding the history of the Federation (rather than canon facts seen on earlier series). Similarly, some Trek fans have also seen fit to reject and "decanonize" individual episodes or films that don't fit with their vision of the Star Trek universe (or, alternately, the perceived vision of the late Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry). Some consider such a selective view elitism, or simply an egotistical way to label stories one simply didn't like very much. Most recently, many Star Trek fans have indicated that they choose to not accept the finale episode of Enterprise as canon, for reasons ranging from anger over the fate of a major ongoing character to the fact that it was written by the series' unpopular creators to the perception of the episode as being insulting to fans of Enterprise (a perception shared by at least some of the Enterprise cast members).

Fanon can also be true for one version of the story, but not in another. For instance, fanon for a Japanese anime and manga series may be true in a manga version of a series, but not an anime version of a series, or vice versa.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

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A list of fanon facts

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Andromeda

  • There is some speculation that Andromeda may be linked to Star Trek, another franchise developed by Gene Roddenberry.
    • Star Trek: Enterprise episode 404 introduces Dr. Arik Soong, the grandfather of Dr. Noonien Soong, who is the creator of the androids Data and Lore (of Star Trek: The Next Generation). It is possible that the ancestors of the Nietzscheans in Andromeda are the genetics augments who hijacked the Klingon ship in the same episode, as there was a brief mention of Nietzsche in the episode. Either that or both take place in a universe where Nietzsche existed, so that he might be continually overquoted by a generic group of racial extremists.
    • Also the future technological mention of slipstream in Star Trek: Voyager episode 506, presumably linked the Systems Commonwealth of the Andromeda universe to be a possible future to the Star Trek universe.
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Battlestar Galactica (1978 ABC TV series)

  • The Battlestar Pegasus definitely survived the battle against Baltar's basestars and is now assisting the Galactica by continuing its campaign against the Cylons. This diverts Cylon resources that could otherwise have been deployed to hunt the refugee fleet.
  • Starbuck later managed to escape the desert planet he was marooned on by salvaging the Cylon wreckage to create a working ship that allowed him to reach the Galactica.
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Doctor Who

  • The Doctor Who universe has its own version of the Doctor Who television series, known as Professor X. (This is canon in some spin-off novels.)
  • The real reason that Davros survived the betrayal by the Daleks was that he prepared defenses in his life support chair after learning about the treacherous nature of his creations from the Doctor.
  • The reason that the Time Lords never showed disapproval of the Doctor failing to prevent the creation of the Daleks in Genesis of the Daleks was that that they were aware that the Doctor's intervention inadvertently allowed Davros to survive when his creations turned on him. When he was revived, his presence created profound schisms in the Daleks which crippled their threat to the universe. Thus they considered the Doctor's mission accomplished.
  • The Daleks have two timelines. One that existed prior to the Doctor's invention in Genesis of the Daleks and the other, after it, in which Davros survives because of the Doctor's inadvertent intervention. Davros causes a schism in the Dalek Empire which will later cause the Empire to collapse and the Daleks to fail.
  • The Colin Baker era story, The Two Doctors, depicts the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Jamie on a mission for the Time Lords. The Doctor's origins and the Time Lords were not introduced until the final Troughton serial (The War Games) where he calls them for help. This resulted in his trial, forced regeneration, and exile to Earth, while Jamie and Zoe are returned to their respective eras with no memory of the Doctor past their first adventure. Fans have theorized that the Doctor's exile didn't occur immediately: the Doctor and Jamie were on secret missions for a period prior to exile with this period possibly erased from both of their memories before the beginning of the Doctor's exile period and eventual regeneration. This is supported by the fact that contrary to most regeneration episodes, the change-over from Troughton to the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) occurred off-screen between the end of The War Games and the beginning of the next story, Spearhead from Space. It also provides an in-story explanation for the change in appearance of the Second Doctor and Jamie due to the actors being twenty years older. Furthermore, in The Five Doctors, the second Doctor is not fooled by the false images of Jamie and Zoe because he knows that they have no memory of him past their first adventure. The Second Doctor's presence without a companion at the beginning of this story clearly indicates that he was travelling alone for at least part of this period, which he was never seen to do onscreen. Because season 6 was Troughton's final season, fans often call this theoretical period Season 6B. (This is canon in some spin-off novels.)
  • Ace has the last name McShane. (This is canon in some spin-off novels and the Big Finish Productions audio plays.)
  • Ace has the last name Gale. (This is canon in some later spin-off novels. The inconsistency is eventually explained to some extent.)
  • The unproduced second serial The Masters of Luxor may have a place in continuity.
  • Fans have chosen for the most part to ignore or rationalize away a scene in The War Machines in which a character refers to the Doctor as "Doctor Who".
  • Fan speculation has it that the story Inferno portrays a fascist parallel England ruled over by a parallel version of the Doctor, rather than a fascist parallel England ruled by an un-named and unknown Big Brother figure. (This is canon in some spin-off novels.)
  • The Jon Pertwee era of the series, featuring the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, takes place in the 1980s. (This is actually a case of fanon supporting facts that were initially established but later ignored by canon - see UNIT dating controversy.)
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Digimon Adventure

  • The anime ends with the death of Oikawa after Belial Vamdemon's defeat, anything occurring afterwards didn't actually happen and is not admissible for evidence in shipper wars, though it has made for some good fanfics. (The epilogue, which was created later, was controversial amongst fans)
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Dragon Ball Z

  • Chi-Chi uses a frying pan as a weapon, often to reprimand Son Goku or her sons (Son Gohan and Son Goten).
  • Bulma is very bad at cooking.
  • Trunks will marry either Pan or Marron.
  • Korin Tower was built in honor of Olibu.
  • Saiyans bite their mate's neck and create a psychic bond between them, that can transmit thoughts and feelings.
  • The co-directors of the "Saiyaman movie" in the Great Saiyaman Saga are the sons of Commander Red and Assistant Black.
  • "Vegeta" is a regnal name. Supported by the fact that Vegeta's father was referred to as "King Vegeta" during the flashback to the Saiyan Homeworld's destruction in the Frieza Saga. Also, the Saiyan homeworld itself was known as Planet Vegeta, at least in the dub.
  • Kuririn names his daughter after his ex-girlfriend.
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Gargoyles

  • The English gargoyles were close allies of King Arthur during his reign.
  • According to the series creator, Greg Weisman, the gargoyle Lexington is homosexual. He noted that he felt his superiors would never have allowed him to present that fact in the canon.
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Godzilla

  • Appearing only once in an issue of G-Fan Magazine, one fiction in their fan stories section attempts to solve the discrepancy in the dual origins offered for Space Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla by essentially stating that Godzilla's 'removal' from history in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah never happened but that it was simply a case of Godzilla undergoing yet more mutation by exposure to modern nuclear weaponry and waste, thus he was believed to no longer exist until the Godzillasauraus was supposedly bombarded with modern nuclear energy. admittedly, this isn't a half bad theory and would certainly explain the continuity gap that is presented by the film since technically the first origin offered, that Biollante may have been involved, albeit indirectly, in Space Godzilla's creation could not happen because if Godzilla had indeed been prevented from being exposed to the original nuclear energy that transformed him. Although this story was never made canon, it does explain later continuity gaffes in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. These continuity hiccups include
  • The fact that those people killed by Godzilla in previous appearances were still dead after his 'removal' from the original timeline. If Godzilla's removal from history actually took place, these people should in fact be living and well.
  • Weapons devised to battle Godzilla had still come into existence during the events of previous movies. Godzilla's removal from his place in history means there should not have been a Super X or Super X-II, and thus the Super X-III should in fact have been referred to simply as the Super X in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Cadmium bombs would never have existed.
  • The biggest continuity gaffe is that the Oxygen Destroyer itself and knowledge of it's existence still existed in the Heisei timeline. If indeed Godzilla had been removed from his original place in history, there could BE no public knowledge in Japan of the Oxygen Destroyer because the monster would never have come about. As a result, Dr. Serizawa would never have unleashed his weapon on Godzilla. Thus, Destoryah could never have come into existence. Thus, Destoroyah cannot exist.
  • As a result of the above, Biollante should not only not exist, Dr. Serizawa should still be very much alive.
  • The world still REMEMBERS that Godzilla existed. If time travel is supposed to have sweeping, and immediate changes in the timeline, then only those people who travelled back in time could still have ANY memories of Godzilla.
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Halo

  • Events in the Halo series are ambiguously tied to the earlier Marathon series. Dates Halo takes place in match a strangely blank section in the Marathon timeline, for example. This example is notably unique, as the connections between the game series are official canon, but are left open-ended enough to be judged by the player, not by them.
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Harry Potter

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Highlander

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James Bond

  • There are only nine 00 agents (001-009). In fact, Ian Fleming mentions an 0010 in his novel, Moonraker and a later book by Raymond Benson mentions an 0012. On a related note, some fanon states that M is in fact the original 001, the first 00-agent; nothing in Fleming supports this.
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Knight Rider

  • KITT, the car on Knight Rider, is actually built around a Cylon brain that crash-landed on earth at the end of Galactica 1980.
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The Legend of Zelda

  • All of the Links are descendants of the Hero of Time. (It was never stated in a Zelda game or interview whether or not the Links are related except for Wind Waker, where the King of Red Lions states (after being asked whether or not this Link is the Hero of Time), "This one has no connection to the legendary one." Though the Links may not be descendants of the Hero of Time, they may be reincarnations of him according to Ganondorf's quote from Wind Waker: "Surely, you are the Hero of Time reborn!"
  • The Link who will appear in The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, is actually the adult Link from Wind Waker.

This has been denied by the creator of the Zelda series at E³ 2005. He claims that the Link who will appear in Twilight Princess, is not that Link, but rather is from several decades BEFORE Wind Waker, and also several decades AFTER Ocarina of Time. However, no distinct answer has been given about whether or not the Links from each game are connected.

  • A few odd, though not widespread, theories regarding Zelda's timeline, are that the Kokiri have grown to adulthood by the time of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and that that game's Link is actually the brother of the Zelda of that time, but was separated from her for reasons unknown, and that (since at the time no distinct information was given on how much time actually passed between Ocarina of Time and Link to the Past, which even to this day still have the greatest direct timeline connection) Link either married Zelda in Ocarina of Time or else that he married Malon. None of these theories have ever been confirmed however.
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Naruto

  • Umino Iruka's family name was originally fanon. Masashi Kishimoto (the author of Naruto) decided to canonize the name, and it was included in the Naruto Databooks.
  • Momochi Zabuza is widely considered to have a romantic relationship with his apprentice, Haku. However, this has never been confirmed by Masashi Kishimoto, and is strictly fan-based.
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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

  • The full name of the evil organization THRUSH is the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity. In fact the meaning of THRUSH was never revealed in the TV series; however, one of the many original novels based upon the series suggested the above meaning.
  • Illya Kuryakin was born and grew up in the then-Soviet Ukraine, and lost most of his family to the invading Germans during World War II. This particular item was never stated on the TV shows, but has become a staple of much MFU fan fiction.
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Marathon

  • The main character is the 10th Mjolnir Mark IV cyborg covertly brought aboard the colony ship Marathon.
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Mario video games

  • Wario and Waluigi are brothers (or at least half-brothers).
  • The Mario Brothers were born in the Mushroom Kingdom, but transported to our world and raised in New York (TV shows, movies, and games, are all contradictory on this matter). Furthermore, the ending to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island shows both Mario and Luigi held by parents in a Mushroom Kingdom style house, suggesting they never came from Earth.
  • Mario and Luigi's last name is Mario, providing a better explanation for their title of "The Mario Bros." They were first given this last name in the controversial Super Mario Bros. movie.
  • Bowser's father is named Morton, and his second-youngest son has this name out of respect.
  • The green Yoshi seen in Yoshi's Island is the same Yoshi as is seen in games such as Super Mario World and the Party games.
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Mega Man video games

  • Most or all of the characters from the original series were killed at some point prior to the Mega Man X series in an event called the "Cataclysm." Usually this is assumed to involve Zero being activated and subsequently going on a crazed homicidal rampage (similar to that seen in Mega Man X4).
  • Bass and Roll are a couple.
  • Kalinka Cossack, like her father, is a capable roboticist.
  • Mega Man Zero takes place in the 23rd century. (This has been contradicted in the canon, as the game is set at least one hundred years after the MMX series, and Mega Man X: Command Mission canonically takes place in the 23rd century.)
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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, onwards

  • Billy Cranston of Earth and Cestria of Aquitar get married and have two heirs to the Aquitian throne named James and Cera. Upon marriage, they become the king and queen of Aquitar, respectively. This idea came about from the fact that Billy has proven himself to be a capable leader of the Power Rangers, thereby giving enough evidence that Billy should be king. This has come about from the fact that we never see Billy again after the episode Rangers of Two Worlds, part 2.
  • Billy's last name is technically unknown, but generally assumed to be "Cranston". His last name was never revealed in the show; it comes from unused Saban materials.
  • The Scorpion Rain hoax, later aluded to (though never outright mentioned) in the firmly in-canon episode Forever Red
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Mobile Suit Gundam

  • The demise of the Zeon officer Colonel M'Quve is depicted in the TV series but, like many other scenes, was cut out for the movie compilations. Many fans have specualted that the battle resulting in Makube's death never happened in the movies. Thus he survived the entire war and took Dozle's (Dozuru) widow and infant daughter Mineva, the last surviving members of the Zabi family into hiding (Mineva would play a small part later in Zeta Gundam), though there are no lines in the movie that clearly state this as the sequel series Zeta Gundam still had yet to be conceived. Hiroyuki Kitakubo's work, Char's Deleted Affair: A Portrait of A Young Comet, in Gundam Ace, an official magazine publiciation, attempts to rectify the matter by having M'Quve killed during the Zeon withdrawal to Axis.
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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED/Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

  • In the Japanese version of the show, many of the character names were spelled with Roman characters in ways that made little grammatical sense in any Western language (including names like "Mwu La Fllaga" which would be difficult to pronounce). Despite the fact that official English spellings have been released, some fans continue to cling to the Japanese spellings, claiming the English translation to be of "poor" quality (despite no similar objections coming up to the Bandai English translations of other Gundam series).
  • The first episode of the series strongly implies that the parents and sister of main protagonist Shinn Asuka were killed by errant shot fired by Kira Yamato, the protagonist of Gundam SEED. It was widely assumed that Shinn blamed Kira (not knowing his actual identity, merely the mobile suit he piloted) for their deaths. However, there was never any direct indication Shinn was aware of who fired the shot, or even of the presence of Kira's Freedom Gundam. When Shinn later encountered Kira's mobile suit in combat, he expressed no anger toward it (or even a sign of recongizing the machine at all), confirming that he was indeed unaware that it might have caused the deaths of his family. Despite this, some fans still insist that Shinn blames Kira, and a few have even claimed it was a continuity error that he was not enraged upon seeing the mobile suit.
  • The ring which Athrun Zala gave to Cagalli Yula Athha on his departure for PLANT was an engagement ring. While it seems to have significance on that level (and Cagalli's wearing or not wearing the ring is significant), there is nothing definitive spoken between the two to suggest that it is.
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Mortal Kombat

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Neon Genesis Evangelion

  • Lt Maya Ibuki is a lesbian, attracted to her "sempai" Dr Ritsuko Akagi. This was based on a scene in Evangelion: Death and Rebirth where she perceived the being collecting her soul as Ritsuko. Several fans have declared this as "evidence" of a lesbian relationship between the two.
  • A relationship between Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami would be incestuous, on the premise that she is a clone of his mother. Conversely she has been genetically engineered (and hence presumably had her DNA cleaned up), and there is no evidence of them having had a mother-son or brother-sister emotional relationship.
  • Touji Suzuhara's younger sister, who is injured by Unit 01 and in hospital from then on, is named Mari.
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New Mobile Report Gundam Wing

  • Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell, and Trowa Barton and Quatre Winner are gay couples. While interviews with the creators reveal that Trowa and Quatre were indeed intended to be homosexual, there is no support either intra- or extra-textually for the homosexuality of Heero and Duo.
  • Wu Fei Chang is a misogynist. While Wu Fei shows a dislike for the idea of women entering combat, this is due to a tragedy in his past.
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The Prisoner

  • Number 6 is John Drake, the hero of Patrick McGoohan's previous series Danger Man aka Secret Agent. McGoohan has publicly denied it, although series co-creator and script editor George Markstein always maintained it was true. The established canon contains some minor hints that Drake and Number Six might be the same person, in particular "Potter", a character who appears in the Danger Man episode "Koroshi" and in the Prisoner episode "The Girl Who Was Death" (which was based on an unused Danger Man script). Potter only appears in Prisoner, however, in a story within a story whose relation to actual events in Six's life is rendered very questionable by the end of the episode. Certain officially licensed novels based on The Prisoner state definitely that Number Six is John Drake (but they also state facts that most Prisoner fans would be hesitant to see as canon, such as the entire Village being an experiment by extraterrestrials.)
  • In "The Chimes of Big Ben" Nadia "strangely has no number". This claim is even repeated on the back of some video boxes, but it is based on a misreading of the episode; Nadia is clearly and openly assigned the number 8, and even though she later angrily declares "I'm no Number Eight, or Number anything else!" it's a statement with no more actual force than Six's declaration "I am not a number, I am a free man!"
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Ranma ½

  • The Joketsuzoku (Amazons only in the English translation) are male haters, only use them for breeding stock, and other anti-male associations. Note that while Shampoo and Cologne do hate Mousse (the only major male Joketsuzoku seen), they have a personal vendetta, and thus it doesn't work as evidence either way.
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ReBoot

  • Official sources say Phong is the command.com of Mainframe. Other sources say he speaks for the true command.com, who is an unseen character through the rest of the series (he or she may be a zero binome, a one binome, a numeral, a robot-like sprite, a data sprite or even, unlikely but probable, a good virus).
  • During Season Three, Phong knew all along that Enzo ("Matrix"), AndrAIa, and Frisket survived the game. In Matrix's dream in "Number 7", as Bob and Dot leave to meet Number One he looks at them with a certain expression on his face, knowing Matrix (in the form of Megabyte) will confront them. He may have been trying to contact him through some psychic connection in the same way as with Dot in "Idenity Crisis, Part 2", while being tortured by Megabyte.
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Resident Evil

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Robotech

  • The Jack Mckinney Robotech novelizations, especially The End of The Circle are widely panned by Robotech fans and many choose to ignore some of the events depicted in them. Series creator Carl Macek has stated that The End of The Circle bears little resemblance to what were to be his plans for Robotech III: The Odyssey, except that his notes did involve a causal loop via time travel which explains why Admiral Hunter and the Robotech Expeditionary Force failed to return to Earth in the final Robotech TV Episode: Symphony of Light. Something involving Hunter and the REF was to happen in the past that that would give rise to the events in the first Robotech Episode. Thus, fans mostly assume that Scott Bernard's search for Rick Hunter and the SDF3 (which was presumably supposed to be the premise of The Odyssey) is either a one way trip for Scott (if he finds them) or a total failure.
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A Series Of Unfortunate Events

  • The "Beatrice" mentioned various times by Lemony Snicket is the Baudelaire orphans' mother. This is often further extended to also say that Count Olaf is actually Mr. Baudelaire. As of yet, this has neither been proven or disproven.
  • Mr. Poe is working with Count Olaf. Again, this has not been confirmed by Lemony Snicket as true.
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The Simpsons

  • The 48 short-length Simpsons cartoons aired as "bumper" material on The Tracey Ullman Show, where the Simpson family, some other characters, and a few catchphrases originated, are not part of the show's canon. This is widely assumed by Simpsons fans for several reasons: Continuity established in the shorts was routinely ignored on the half-hour show, even from the very first season (for example, Maggie speaks intelligibly a few times in the shorts); Lisa's characterization is completely changed (on the full-length program she is normally intelligent, mature, and reserved, while in the "Ullman shorts" she is as much a rambunctious troublemaker as Bart); and while many episodes of the half-hour show make direct reference to the plots of previous episodes going back to the first season, there are no clear allusions to the stories of the early shorts. In the entire lengthy run of the half-hour program, the only direct references to the Ullman shorts occur in episodes which fall outside regular continuity (including a Halloween episode and a retrospective about the show).
  • Governor Mary Bailey and Bea Simmons are related.
  • Milhouse Van Houten and the Shelbyville Milhouse are cousins.
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Smallville

  • Lex's mother, Lillian, had red hair. The episode "Memoria," from Season Three, showed a brown haired Lillian, yet the fanon persists.
  • Nell Potter and Lionel Luthor used to be lovers.
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Space Battleship Yamato movies (Star Blazers)

  • The 1983 movie Final Yamato is set in the Year 2203. According to publications about the 1980-81 TV series Yamato III (aka Star Blazers: The Bolar Wars), Yamato III is set in the Year 2205. Many fans believe that because Yamato III did not measure up to the standards set by the previous two TV series (it was cut from a planned 52 episodes to a 25 episode series and it shows in the choppy animation and pacing), producers intended to remove the Bolar Wars from the continuity by setting Final Yamato two years earlier. In the opening narraration for Final Yamato, however, references are made to the Bolar Federation and to Garuman, thus establishing their importance in events between Be Forever Yamato and Final Yamato. As a result, many fans have also taken it upon themselves to switch the dates for the Bolar Wars and Final Yamato.
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Star Blazers: The Quest for Iscandar.

  • The first Gamilons (Gamilus) seen during the battles in the Solar System (including Major Bane and Colonel Ganz) had the skin color of ordinary Earth humans, in this case Caucasian skintone. Also, in the first appearances of leader Desslok, he had a more mauve skin tone. Like the Klingon issue on Star Trek, this has never been explained but a widespread postulation (found on some fan web sites) jokingly suggests that the Gamilons were originally filmed under bad lighting and that Desslok had that film crew shot.
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Star Trek

  • Ensign Pavel Chekov served on the USS Enterprise in the period depicted in the first season of Star Trek before being promoted to the bridge crew in the second season and encountered Khan Noonien Singh during that time.
  • The reason why Mr. Spock was so emotional during his time with Captain Christopher Pike was that he was briefly dabbling with emotion in his youth.
  • The Klingon homeworld is also known as Klinzhai.
  • The ridged-forehead Klingons that debuted in Star Trek: The Motion Picture are sometimes unofficially referred to as Imperial Klingons thus denoting a difference between them and the more human-looking Klingons of TOS. A related piece of fanon is that the human-looking Klingons were discommoded as a race (origin: the DC Comics graphic novel, Debt of Honor). Various episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine have contradicted all of this, while an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise aired in 2005 has indicated that the smooth-headed Klingons were the product of genetic tampering using human DNA.
  • Fleet Captain is a rank between Captain and Commodore.
  • The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture were followed by a new five-year mission. (The movie was based upon a script for a never-produced second Trek series, and the new five-year mission is referenced in the Star Trek Expanded Universe, but has yet to be acknowledged in canon.)
  • Uhura's first name is Nyota. (Although some novels have chosen Nyota and some reference guides give this as her first name, no first name for the character has ever been mentioned on screen, and Gene Roddenberry said that Uhura had only one name, which meant "Freedom" in Swahili.) In the early 1980s, a fan-produced book series, The Best of Trek suggested that Uhura's first name is Penda but this was not widely adopted by the fan community. On the other hand, Sulu's first name, Hikaru, which was considered fanon for years, became part of official canon when it was mentioned in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The fact the writers didn't take the opportunity in that film to officially give Uhura a first name, too, is seen as confirmation she doesn't have one. (In the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, it seems that Kirk may murmur "Nyota" when speaking to Uhura at one point.)
  • Mr. Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet. This has been suggested by non-canon novels and comic books, but has never been established in any television series or movies. Some could even call Commander T'Pol the first Vulcan in Starfleet, although the organisation she joined, the Earth Starfleet, should not be confused with Spock's Federation Starfleet.
  • Dr. McCoy is divorced, and has a grown daughter named Joanna. A script introducing Joanna was nearly produced, and several non-canon novels refer to her. The novel "Shadows on the Sun" expanded on this concept and gave the name of Dr. McCoy's wife as Joocelyn Treadway, however the novel is not concidered canon.
  • The new Enterprise NCC-1701-A given to Kirk at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was formerly the U.S.S. Yorktown. This has been suggested by non-canon sources but was never stated on screen.
  • Lt. Saavik is half-Vulcan and half-Romulan and stays behind on Vulcan at the start of Star Trek IV because she is pregnant with Spock's child as a result of helping him through the pon farr mating drive in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Both these major plot points were included in the early scripts of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV, respectively, but were dropped from the final versions and thus are not considered canonical. A scene in which Spock and Kirk discuss Saavik's mixed heritage was actually filmed for Star Trek II but was cut from the film.
  • Willard Decker of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is the son of Commodore Matthew Decker of the TOS episode "The Doomsday Machine." Although widely accepted by fans, this relationship has never been established in on-screen canon.
  • The mechanics of the Vulcan nerve pinch have been the subject of much fanon speculation over the years. See the article for a couple of examples.
  • Trelane, a powerful being encountered in the TOS episode "The Squire of Gothos" is a member of the Q Continuum. This speculation has been widespread since The Q was introduced in 1987, however it has never been confirmed in canon. An officially licenced novel, Q-Squared by Peter David suggests Trelane is a Q, however novels are not considered canon.
  • Kirk's exact rank in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and later films is the subject of much speculation. Officially, on screen, he is never referred to as anything other than Admiral, but fanon speculation has suggested that his full rank at the time of TMP was Rear Admiral (or another form of Admiral).
  • Some fans prefer to ignore the existence of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner, which is widely regarded as the weakest of the original Star Trek films. Gene Roddenberry commented that he considered some elements of the film to be "apocryphal at best," but the film was never officially ejected from canon. It should be noted however that several writers for The Next Generation have stated that there is an unwritten rule that no events in this movie are to be refered to in further writings.
  • The complete name of Yeoman J.M. Colt in TOS pilot The Cage and the episode The Menagerie (using original footages from The Cage) is Julie Margareth Colt. A few short stories use that name (there is also one short storie using the name Jeanne-Marie Colt) but it is nowhere to be seen in the canon.
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Star Trek: The Animated Series

  • The 22 episodes of this animated series are not considered part of the Star Trek canon by Paramount Pictures (reportedly due to a request by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry). As a result, TAS provides a rare occasion in which officially licenced story developments shown on screen, which normally would fit the definition of canon, are instead rendered fanon. This is very controversial among Trek fans, as TAS established several major elements of the Trek universe, including details about Spock's childhood, and the introduction of the Enterprise's first captain, Robert April, which are not considered official and therefore may be contradicted by future movies or TV series. References to TAS occasionally sneak into scripts for recent Trek series, most recently the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes "The Catwalk" and "The Forge" which included direct references to concepts from the TAS episode "Yesteryear". TAS references are widespread in the Expanded Universe of novels and comic books. The animated series also provided the answer to the question of what the T. stood for. It turned out to be Tiberius. The evil Kirk from the mirror universe was given the name in a trilogy of novels written by William Shatner which places Kirk, and Tiberius, in the world of Star Trek: The Next Generation, after having resurrected Kirk in a novel which was to be the official sequel to Generations.
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Star Trek: Enterprise

  • Fanon clashes with canon on many aspects of this prequel series, with many fans alleging the series violates continuity with the rest of the Star Trek universe, even though many of these facts are based upon fanon, and not accepted canon (see the show's main entry for a list of alleged violations). An example is the treatment of Vulcans on this series, which goes against the culture developed for the race by fans over the years which has never been actually confirmed in canon.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation

  • The insignia for Fleet Admiral is five gold pips within a gold collar rectangle.
  • In the novel Vendetta, The 'doomsday machine' from the TOS episode of the same name, is revealed to be a prototype for a much larger and far more dangerous machine. A Ferengi is assimilated into the Borg for the first time, and the final product version of the Doomsday Machine, which would NOT have directly consumed earth, would instead skirt around that Solar System and head directly into Borg Space.
  • In the novel Probe, which is intended as a direct sequel to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the alien device which appears in Star Trek IV once again encounters the Enterprise and relates a tale of its creators battling against and losing to the Borg, however they were not assimilated. supposedly, the Borg also damaged the probe itself.
  • In the novel Planet X, the second crossover between the X-Men and Star Trek: the Next Generation, Captain Picard fell in love with Ororo Monroe, aka Storm.
  • In the novel Dark Spectre, V'Ger, the former Voyager 6 space probe, is revealed to have been assimilated into the Borg, who then constructed it's massive ship and sent it back to Earth.
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Star Wars

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Street Fighter series

  • Charlie's last name is Nash. This is taken from the fact that Nash is his name in the Japanese versions of the games.
  • The scar on Cammy's left cheek was delivered by Vega
  • Ryu and Chun-Li have the last names of Hoshi and Zhang, respectively. Likewise, Guile's first name is William(Middle initial "F"). These names were only given in the movie.
  • Ibuki is the daughter of Geki.
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The Supermarionation TV series of Gerry Anderson

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Tintin

  • Tintin is always known under his sole name, which implies that "Tintin" is a nickname. Apparently, after several spin-off comics from Belgium, it seems that Tintin's real name is "Augustin van Kuifje". Still, it is doubtful since it was not made by Hergé and the "real name" is composed by Tintin's name in Wallish ("Kuifje") and a typical French first name ending by "tin" (resolving in the syllable-repetition nickname "Tintin").
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The Transformers

  • An undocumented Autobot exists, named "Bumblejumper." This is due to a Microman toy released as a part of the Transformers Toyline that combined features of Bumblebee and Cliffjumper and was released in the packaging of either. (The Dreamwave comics eventually introduced "Bumper," a character based on the "Bumblejumper" toy, into their canon.)
  • The Decepticon jets - Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet - are collectively known as the Seekers. The latter three are also known as "Coneheads".
  • Optimus Prime's facemask is supposedly removable in various fanfictions and he has a mouth. Interestingly enough, though the Marvel comics series based on the line initially denied this near the end of the original 80 issue run with a depectiong of Powermaster Optimus Prime without the facemask and nothing but a speaker from which he voice would emnante, their second series, Transformers: Generation 2 seems to uphold this as Prime has mechanized 'teeth' shown to be under the faceplate after Megatron nearly beats him to death, shattering half of the facemask, and steals the physical embodiment of the Creation Matrix. The Transformers television series has debunked this however in the episode Dark Awakening, as no sign of teeth was visible in the hole visible in the facemask. However, as these are different continuities altogether and have no real ties outside of Beast Wars, which is itself a separate continuity, this could be either true or false depending upon one's personal point of view. In addition, throughout the animated series, including Transformers the Movie and all Japanese episodes of the Transformers which features Prime, the facemask actually moved as though there was indeed a set of movable jaws, much as Spider-man's mask was shown to move in the various animated shows produced by Marvel. marvel also had a hand in the animated Transformers series, so this simply muddles the waters even further.
  • The Transformers were supposed to part of the mainstream Marvel Universe, but the reason none of the classic Marvel Heroes appeared to do anything about it, to this day remains unknown.

Although some people believed the Transformers were supposed to be part of the mainstream Marvel Universe when the series first began, this appears to have only been true for the original four part Transformers miniseries which preceeded the later 80 issue run, as Spider-Man appears during the third issue of the mini-series, which was released shortly after the events of the Secret Wars, in which Spider-Man brought to Earth the alien symbiote which would later become one half of the character called Venom. The only series which Marvel produced that did direct crossover with the Transformers was G.I. Joe, and the crossover again took place for the launching of Generation 2.

However, at the same time, Circut Breaker, a chracter created explicity for the Transformers comic and first appearing in issue 5 of the comic does appear in the Secret Wars II mini-series, and explicitly mentions the Transformers, further complicating matters.

In addition, the Marvel UK Transformers character Death's Head has also interacted with Marvel Universe characters. However this occured after he was taken through time by the Doctor (not generally considered a resident of the Marvel or Transformers universes), and he may have been transported through universes as well.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters)

  • Yugi Muto (Yugi Mutou in the English-language manga and Japanese versions) in an orphan (although it has been specifically stated that his father is abroad while we see his mother in the original Japanese anime and in interviews with the series' creator, Kazuki Takahashi. In addition to that, Yugi's mother is seen in Volume 5 of the manga and in an episode of the Japanese version of the TV series).
  • Seto Kaiba was a victim of physical child abuse. This assumption came about when a panel in early chapters of the manga depicted a younger Seto wearing a dog collar, being forced to study under piles of books with a riding crop held at his neck by his father (who is sneering, while Seto is frantically huddled over his work). The young Seto had indications of either beads of sweat. The intrepretation would cause some fans to imply that Seto was being physically abused. Note that while it is canon that Seto was verbally and emotionally abused as a child by Gozaburo, it is never stated that the abuse was physical.
  • Ryo Bakura is said to be British because of his dub accent. In the original versions he is clearly Japanese.
  • Serenity Wheeler (Shizuka Kawai in the Japanese versions) is said to have sung a lullaby to Seto Kaiba.
  • Katsuya Jonouchi's name is fanon to be shortened to 'Jou', notwithstanding that this is his family name and it is extremely impolite in Japan to shorten a last name. His last name is never shortened in any official version of the story.
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Yu Yu Hakusho

  • Hiei is said to love sweets of all kinds, especially ice cream, which he supposedly refers to as sweet snow. In fact, in the anime/manga, the only thing Hiei is ever seen having eaten/drank is coffee.
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Zoids

  • Stroemer and Elena survived the meteor strike in ZAC 2056; Elena became the president of the Helic Republic under an assumed name (There is some evidence in the canon to support this).
  • The Organoids bonded to the Liger Zero and Berserk Fury in the New Century Zero anime are Zeke and Shadow respectively from Chaotic Century and Guardian Force.
  • Bit Cloud is descended from Van Freiheit and Fiona from Chaotic Century and Guardian Force. Similarly, Vega Obscura is descended from Raven. Similarly, Sarah, who bears more then just a passing resemblance to Reise from Guardian Force is his mother.
  • Bit Cloud has an older brother called Isaac.
  • Chris Tasker and Kirkland have a relationship.
  • Fuzors is set in the future of New Century Zero (It is actually set in its own continuity).
  • RD is the son or decendant of Bit Cloud.
  • In Fuzors, the Energy Liger is actually the Alpha Zoid, and is piloted by RD’s Father (This assumption was often mistaken for fact, even after it was proven otherwise in the series).
  • Genesis is in the far future of one of the previous series (This is yet to be confirmed; Genesis may be its own continuity like Fuzors).
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