Post by Louise Lane on May 11, 2006 10:07:24 GMT -5
I found this on Wikipedia
Fanon is a fact or ongoing situation 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.
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 not to 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.
And the Smallville example of fanon.
Chloe Sullivan is Lois Lane. Fans point to the fact that you can spell "Lois Lane" by using some of the letters in "Chloe Sullivan". This fanon persisted even after Lois Lane was introduced as a different character on the series - as Chloe's cousin. Fans point to Chloe using "Lois Lane" as a penname on an article and Lois admitting to not being interested in journalism. The appearance of Lois on the series has caused this fanon to be modified somewhat: Lois will eventually die, and Chloe will move to Metropolis, and became the "real Lois". It has been pointed out by fans that Chloe is a "bleached blonde," and that her real hair colour is actually darker, and closer to the hair colour of the canon/comic Lois.
Well, all I gonna to say is. Let them have their fanon while the Cloises have the canon.
Fanon is a fact or ongoing situation 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.
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 not to 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.
And the Smallville example of fanon.
Chloe Sullivan is Lois Lane. Fans point to the fact that you can spell "Lois Lane" by using some of the letters in "Chloe Sullivan". This fanon persisted even after Lois Lane was introduced as a different character on the series - as Chloe's cousin. Fans point to Chloe using "Lois Lane" as a penname on an article and Lois admitting to not being interested in journalism. The appearance of Lois on the series has caused this fanon to be modified somewhat: Lois will eventually die, and Chloe will move to Metropolis, and became the "real Lois". It has been pointed out by fans that Chloe is a "bleached blonde," and that her real hair colour is actually darker, and closer to the hair colour of the canon/comic Lois.
Well, all I gonna to say is. Let them have their fanon while the Cloises have the canon.
