History Fanon / LiveActionTV

** Sheldon displays classic signs of Asperger's Syndrome, but the creators have shot down that idea. It doesn't stop the fans from making this guess though.

** Related to the above is the idea that Time Lords' individual timelines are relatively locked, explaining why the renegades usually meet in chronological order. "Time and the Rani" supports this, as a plot point relies on the Doctor and the Rani being the same age; "World Enough and Time"/"The Doctor Falls" contradicts it, with the Twelfth Doctor and Missy [[spoiler:meeting the Saxon Master]].

** There was a common dark fanon that Barbara Wright died early from cancer, contracted due to being irradiated on Skaro in "The Daleks". This was largely inspired by the fact that her actor, Jacqueline Hill, had died from breast cancer in her early sixties in real life. Creator/RussellTDavies disliked it enough to contradict it in canon with a line of dialogue in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'': "Death of the Doctor".

** "Dreamland" dealt with time paradoxes and body-switching. Everything gets set back to normal and the whole universe goes back to the way it was before the time rip — but Mulder's apartment is still cleaned up and has a waterbed, and Scully still has a dime and penny that were fused together by the warp in space-time, even though the events that caused both scenarios never happened. It could be explained that they weren't in the path of the snap-back. But how would time snap back for the whole universe then? A fan theory holds that the time loop in "Monday" later in the same season was triggered by the universe repairing itself and trying to get rid of Mulder's waterbed, the last remaining evidence of the paradox. This makes a surprising amount of sense when you watch the episode — the starting point for each loop is the waterbed springing a leak.
** Scully is frequently nicknamed "The Ice Queen' in fanfic, but never on the show.

** While never said in the show, a lot of fans believe that Kirk's tendencies towards self loathing and self blame come from SurvivorsGuilt over the Tarsus IV massacre. Less popular but still around is that he has an eating disorder coming from the lack of food on Tarsus as well, though this is mostly because of Shatner's real life eating disorders (obsessively working out and nearly starving himself) while playing Kirk.

* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Fanon stated for years that Mr. Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet, though this isn't backed up by anything on screen. Far from it; the existence of an all-Vulcan crew heavily suggests at least some senior officers would be older than Spock, especially considering Vulcans' longevity. This piece of fanon reached a head with ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', especially when the Vulcan T'Pol actually joins Starfleet later in the series. Several newsgroup members actually took it upon themselves to go through the entirety of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' to prove that the "Spock was the first" notion was not supported by canon, finding several examples in addition to the all-Vulcan Starfleet vessel mentioned.
** Another thing the fandom agrees on is that, because of their telepathy, Vulcans avoid physical contact like the plague, even though Vulcans on-screen have shown no qualms about touching or being touched. In fact, ''The Original Series'' established that for a long time it wasn't general knowledge among Vulcans that all Vulcans could mind-meld, and it takes training and concentration to be able to do it. Therefore, accidental touch-telepathy is not a thing.
** Spock being the first ever Vulcan-human hybrid (to live to adulthood) is not actually confirmed in canon, but you wouldn't know it from the fandom.
** Also on ''Star Trek'': Lt. Sulu was originally only given one name, but the fans came up with a first name for him: Hikaru. This name was then used in the sixth movie, thus [[AscendedFanon turning Fanon into Canon]].
*** Ditto with Nyota Uhura. It took almost 40 years before we heard ''that'' name on-screen (never mind that the name "Nyota" was suggested for the character by the very actress who played her -- Nichelle Nichols)! However this is a zig-zag as a number of an publications had postulated "Penda" as her given name, while others were adamant -- citing apparent comments by Gene Roddenberry -- that Uhura had only one name.
** When actor George Takei publicly came out, it raised further discussion of how often ''Trek'' simply avoided the topic of homosexuality, despite having once been a risk-taking, ground-breaking show. To "fix" this, the third in the big-screen rebooted "Kelvin timeline" films, ''Star Trek Beyond'' revealed that Sulu was gay himself and that he and his husband had a daughter. This led to cries from many, including Takei himself, that this created an impression that Sulu was closeted during the entire TV show. Creator/SimonPegg (who aside from playing Scotty also co-wrote the film) [[WordofGod responded]] to this explaining that the Sulu from the films was "different" from the Sulu of the original series and the two [[AuthorsSavingThrow did not share sexualities]]. Still this was worded in a way that some fans interpret both Sulus as bisexual even though Pegg is adamant that his Sulu is homosexual.
** Nurse Chapel's rank is never stated in the show itself, so the fandom universally agreed to give her the rank of junior-grade lieutenant (which later shows tend to give their medical officers, such as Dr. Bashir), and that she was promoted to lieutenant commander for the first film (to reach commander for the fourth film). However, the official metadata for the franchise (which can also be found in her bio data on the official Star Trek website) reveals that her rank on board the ''Enterprise'' was brevet ensign and that she was promoted to lieutenant for the first film (reaching commander for the fourth film). Most fans don't know this, and the few that do usually ignore it in favour of the long-established fanon ranks.
** Fans often refer to Kirk's Enterprise as the flagship of the Federation. While Enterprise-D was the flagship, nothing on-screen suggests that NCC 1701 was anything other that one of a dozen Constitution-class starships. (At least not during the timeframe of the TV series. ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' is unambiguous that the NCC-1701-A is Starfleet's flagship by that time.)
** It's commonly suggested (often taken as fact) that [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'s bio-neural gel packs, which arrange information in a similar manner to the human brain, are the reason Voyager's holograms had a tendency to become sentient (while those on the Enterprise-D did not). However, it was never stated on the show.
** Because alcohol does not affect Vulcans in the same way it does humans, fans often turn to chocolate or copious amounts of sugar when they need to get Spock drunk. This does have some deuterocanonical basis, as it shows up in the ''Film/{{Star Trek IV|The Voyage Home}}'' novelization as an explanation for why Spock spends most of the movie acting loopy.
** A common theory about B'Leanna Torres's spirit animal (given her half-Klingon heritage and the fact that she tried to kill it) is that it was a tribble.
** Sources to base fanon on are quite popular in the Star Trek fandom. This shows from how they've erected two big wikipedia-clones: "Memory Alpha" for canon information and "Memory Beta" for everything licensed, but non canon. On the date of this writing, Memory Beta has well over 41,000 articles, 6,000 more than Alpha.
** Before ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' Trek fandom at large agreed that Zephram Cochrane's vessel, which he used to test his newly-invented warp engine, was called the ''Bonaventure''. In fact, they accused the film of violating canon due to this. This bit of fanon is based on a line from ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' that the ''Bonaventure'' was the "first ship to have warp drive installed". Not only is the animated series of dubious canonical status at best (due to Paramount and Roddenberry refusing to consider it as canon), but the ship shown was clearly a Federation starship, not a privately constructed experimental craft. Assuming the ''Bonaventure'' is canon, she was simply the first Federation Starship to be warp-capable, not the ship Cochrane used.
** Fanon is so pervasive among Trekkies that many of the supposed "canon violations" of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' were not canon violations at all, but merely new facts which blew away established fanon. Among them was the idea that Starfleet did not exist prior to the forming of the Federation; that Vulcans were, one and all, the noble, honorable people that Spock himself was (despite the starship-load of evidence to the contrary) and were incapable of lying or arrogance; that humans did not encounter Klingons until the early 23rd century (based on a line from [=McCoy=] about when hostilities began), and that the initial encounter with Klingons led to decades of war and the loss of much life (based on Picard's declaration that first contact with Klingons was "disastrous"); that the one-world government on Earth was formed in 2150 (based off speculation from Dr. Crusher about just one country holding out); that Andorians have four genders (based off a line that Andorian wedding ceremonies require four people); not to mention the apparently large number of fans who apparently believed that the [[RubberForeheadAliens Klingon foreheads]] were a mutation that happened between the original series and the movies. Rather than accept that the foreheads were natural but something caused them to go away for a while, fans were vocal that Klingons of the past had smooth foreheads, and that this was canon. Even the episodes explaining this didn't shut them up. Much of this fanon was aided by ''Star Trek'' novels, which are not canon, but it doesn't stop fans from accepting them as such.
** The Vulcan example is particularly amusing in that the fanon drowned out the canon so much that "new facts" weren't even new. In the two episodes of the Original Series where Vulcans other than Spock had any onscreen role, they were shown to carry purely emotional grudges (Spock and Sarek over their longstanding dispute regarding Spock's career), or were duplicitous and cold-bloodedly willing to allow an innocent person to die for their own personal benefit (Spock's fiance T'Pring). The ''Klingons'' had representatives who came off as more noble and genuinely honorable than the Vulcans.
** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", Guinan persuades Worf to try prune juice, and he calls it "a warrior's drink". By ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', this has become his TrademarkFavoriteFood. Fanon assumes that any other Klingon who tastes it will have the same reaction. In the ''Literature/StarTrekTheNextGenerationRelaunch'' novel ''Q & A'', we're told that prune juice is now the Federation's ''primary export'' to the Empire.
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'':
** Serena Southerlyn is every subsequent female lawyer's fabulously bitter/sarcastic/promiscuous best friend. Particularly prominent in [[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit SVU]] Alex/Olivia fics, it must be said, proving the age-old trope that beautiful blonde ADA BirdsOfAFeather will be stuck together in fanfiction.
** Abbie Carmichael seems to be gay in a terrifying number of fics, considering how [[BlondeRepublicanSexKitten conservative]] she was, and the fate of her successor (you sort of don't care if she's paired with Olivia Benson).
** Based off a line by Goren in an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' than Van Buren had tried repeatedly to get him back from Staten Island, the "detective, first-grade" she was going to replace Fontana with when she got stuck with [[EnsignNewbie Detective Cassady]] was going to be Mike Logan.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'':
** Despite the fact that we've only seen them dating men, Olivia and Alex on ''Law & Order: SVU'' are claimed as lesbians by the show's large lesbian fanbase. Some of these fans were outraged when, in the episode "Ghost", Alex told Olivia about the man she'd been seeing. The term "manvil" was coined to describe the show supposedly [[{{Anvilicious}} dropping anvils]] that Alex likes men. Said accusation [[NoBisexuals neatly ignores the possibility of bisexuality]], but as always {{Subtext}} is where you find it. And of course, it wasn't nearly so bad as Serena Southerlyn's [[AssPull last minute coming out]]. WordOfGod declared that there was, in fact, [[UnresolvedSexualTension UST]] between the two women. The actress who plays Alex basically admitted that something was going on:
--->'''Stephanie March''': I'm not saying we're not... I'm not saying we're not in love.
** Another common piece of fanon pertaining to Alex Cabot is that Liz Donnelly is her godmother/stepmother/aunt.
** George and Alex being best friends and bonding over their LGBT identities is common in A/O fics as well
** The overwhelming majority of the fandom has concluded that Rafael Barba is bisexual (helped along by the fact that his actor, Raul Esparza, is openly bisexual in real life).
** Fin calling Olivia "baby girl".
** Elizabeth Stabler is called "Lizzie" by the fandom so often that most of the fans have forgotten that she is actually never referred to by this name even once.
** Kathy Stabler is often assumed to be a nurse even though where she works is never directly stated.
** George is usually written having a strained relationship with his family, based on him being gay and a line during a season three episode mentioning that his family was strictly traditional.
** Rafael having gone to Harvard on scholarship was accepted by fans quite a while before it was confirmed onscreen.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Fandom reacted badly to Andrew being seen heading off for a night on the town with two attractive women, since he's "obviously" gay; it's actually [[AmbiguouslyGay more ambiguous]] with hints of possible bisexuality. Creator/JossWhedon has since stated that [[http://whedonesque.com/comments/15286#207889 Andrew was supposed to be headed off for a night on the town with a mixed-sex group]]. Remember, it's Italy.
** There's also the fanon that Spike absolutely hates his last name, Pratt. Admittedly, since he never mentions it and goes by William the Bloody, which was actually an insult, before going by Spike, it's logical. (Also, "prat", usually with only one t but it makes no difference to the pronunciation, is slang for "idiot" in Britain.)
** There was a belief among some fans that "Buffy" was a nickname, and the Slayer's "real" first name was actually "Elizabeth". This has been {{Jossed}}--most notably by [[spoiler:''her grave stone'']], but there still seems to be a faction that clings to it (in the real world, "Buffy" derives from "Elizabeth" through the toddler mispronunciation "Ewizabuff").
** After she came out during the fourth season, the fandom quietly decided that Willow had a huge crush on Giles' girlfriend Jenny during the second season. It's one of those things that just makes ''sense'', what with Jenny inspiring Willow to start dabble in magic, the thing that later would become a not-so-subtle metaphor for lesbian sex. It is also canon that Willow has called Jenny her favorite teacher during that time frame. Given that Jenny was the computer teacher, she may have also inadvertently helped initiate Willow's hacking abilities too. Whether she had/has similar feelings for Buffy is debatable.
*** S8 makes it a little less debatable since Willow grills Satsu on what Buffy's like in bed (including how she sounds when she orgasms). [[BlatantLies Then she denies ever having a crush on Buffy]] to Buffy after telling Buffy to be careful with Satsu. Buffy in turn, almost petulantly, denies having a crush on Willow because Willow denied to Buffy first. Later on, in another issue, Kennedy starts showing jealousy, telling Buffy, "But you put the moves on Red and I'll kill you like a chicken."
--->'''Willow''': And just so you know... I never wanted to sleep with you either.
--->'''Buffy''': What are you talking about?
--->'''Willow''': I'm sayin' it's a good thing you didn't try your little experiment on me. 'Cause it wouldn't have worked, Summers. You're not even on my list.
--->'''Buffy''': What list? There's a list?
--->'''Willow''': Yep. And you're not on it. Not my type.
--->'''Buffy''': Oh, yeah? Well, then, you're not on my list either!
--->'''Willow''': Good. I don't want to be.
--->'''Buffy''': Sure you do. It's a very distinguished list. It has people like um...Creator/JudiDench and UsefulNotes/EleanorRoosevelt on it.
--->'''Willow''': Eww. Just got the visual.
--->'''Buffy''': And other people too. Those are just examples off the top of my head.
*** Then there's season 9 which opens with Buffy after a night of drinking and partying, thinking she did the naughty with Willow and her ''very heavily'' suggesting they did. This was after asking if her married ex had porn then tried hitting on him. [[spoiler: This was right at the time Andrew brought back the Buffybot and put Buffy's mind into it in a bid to lure out the BigBad, so not only can her behavior be excused on account of being wonky, if Willow was serious about sleeping with Buffy then she did it with the bot, not the Slayer, [[MindScrew kinda]].]]
** Many Spike-centric fanfics tend to mention Angelus sodomizing Spike at some point during their eighteen years of being in 'The Whirlwind" together, but this is never mentioned in canon. In fact the only time it was even hinted that they had any kind of sex is in Angel, season 5x21 'Power Play', when Spike balks at being called Angel's 'intimate' by Ilyria, but then amends it:
--->'''Spike''': Angel and me have never been intimate. Except that one...
*** Joss Whedon has also stated that Angel and Spike have had at least one sexual encounter, which technically makes this pairing canon, but there was nothing to hint at it being non-consensual.
** Fanfic tends to portray Anya and Tara as best friends, since neither canonically had one.
** Conventional wisdom is that Anya starting life as a human was a {{Retcon}}, but this was in fact part of the character from her first appearance. Giles refers in "The Wish" to the destruction of her power center making her an ordinary woman ''again''. The original script, available on the DVD, included a line about her becoming Anyanka after she summoned a demon who cursed her.
** There is also a common idea that vampires can choose "mates" from the humans around them. Not "mates" in the sense of turning someone into a vampire for companionship, but that a human can be bitten and marked by a vampire, thus taking a form of ownership over that particular human. This would, in turn, offer a sort of protection from other vampires, who would sense the mark, and leave that human alone. There is nothing, repeat ''nothing'', in the Buffy or Angel series that indicates a vampire could do this, or would even be inclined to do so. They are much more likely to either kill or turn a person.
*** There's more fanon about Buffyverse vampires. Like that they have a psychic connection with the vampires they sire, which is ''sometimes'' true, but that only showed up once, and even then it was only in the form of Angel [[PsychicDreamsForEveryone dreaming about the other vampire's kills]]; it didn't let Angel control him as it does in fanfiction. The fandom also seems to believe that a newly turned vampire is called a 'fledgling.' They are never once referred to as such in canon. Also, while vampires do get stronger with age, there's no particular point at which a vampire becomes a 'master'; it just seems to be a general term used for the leader of a large group of vampires, who is typically the strongest because vampires usually operate on KlingonPromotion and AsskickingEqualsAuthority.
** Dawn's middle name was never revealed during the course of the show. An early ''Buffy'' fanfic writer decided that her middle name was "Marie", and it spread to the point that you won't find too many examples of ''Buffy'' fan fiction that, if her full name is recited, doesn't have her named Dawn Marie Summers.
*** This has since become AscendedFanon. During a Q&A, one fan asked Creator/JossWhedon if it was true that Dawn's middle name was "Marie" and he sort of shrugged and said, "Sure, we'll go with that. Dawn Marie Summers." He then made a hand movement that was vaguely like crossing one's self and said, "[[GratuitousLatin Pax vobiscum]], its official. Her middle name is Marie."
** Many fans have taken the statement that "no weapon forged" can kill the Judge to mean that he is specifically immune to weapons that were forged, and the reason a rocket launcher was able to kill him is because it was ''manufactured''. This is not actually strictly contradicted in the series, but Buffy's line, "That was then. This is now.", and the fact that the Judge was apparently cut to pieces in the past seems to indicate that the line was ''descriptive'' rather than proscriptive, and it's simply a case of weapons technology having advanced to the point that a text written hundreds of years ago is no longer applicable. Additionally, it's only stated that the Judge cannot be ''killed'' by any weapon, not that they cannot harm him at all.
** A less popular but not uncommon piece of fanon is that Tara and, by extension, Willow were stoners. This is supported only by Tara wearing a shirt with a marijuana leaf on it in one episode and a line in a later episode that implied the two watch ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' while high. Flimsy prompting, yet the fanon seems to have caught on.
** It's pretty accepted that Dru and Spike did each other's make-up (and hair dye) thanks to Drusilla's eyeliner game being perfect even with no reflection.
** The [[TheMusicMeister villain]] of the MusicalEpisode is not named ([[IHaveManyNames though he mentions having a hundred]]), but the credits say "Sweet makeup by..." Fans thus started calling him "Sweet," which became AscendedFanon when "Walk Through the Fire" got an official music video.

* With 500+ significant characters in 17 seasons, ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has a fairly hefty showing of this, to the point where some of the fanon actually conflicts with ''itself'', and not just canon. Rangerwiki, a PR Wiki, has a [[http://web.archive.org/web/20120327151238/http://www.rangerwiki.com:80/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=extra:fanon list]] of some of the more common instances of fanon.
** One notable example of ''PR'' fanon becoming canon happened in 2002: a long-time fan began writing for the show in its tenth season, and made multiple references to an older fandom-wide missing episode hoax in a pivotal episode, suddenly canonizing the hoax's storyline... though as [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] [[WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers points out]], it probably would have a) not explained everything and b) sucked.
** Some of the more popular bits of fanon are:
*** Billy's last name (he was never given one in-show, but the fans made it up, and when the official website was put together, they just [[ThrowItIn threw it in]]).
*** After the death of actress Thuy Trang in 2001, the fandom has generally agreed that her character Trini Kwan [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim passed away as well]].
*** Z Delgado of SPD is the daughter of Danny Delgado of Wild Force.
*** One bit of fanon acknowledged by the creators is the idea that ''Operation Overdrive'''s Mack was created as a SexBot, to explain why Hartford would create a robotic "son" that's already an adult (or at least almost). According to WordOfGod, concerns were raised about this during the show's production, but dismissed because Bruce Kalish didn't think anyone would be warped enough to reach that conclusion. He was wrong.
*** Some fans have theorized that Jason and Kim were in a relationship during ''[[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie]]''. Some even go further and speculate that Jason was the other guy mentioned in the infamous DearJohnLetter from ''[[Series/PowerRangersZeo Zeo]]''.
** Somewhere between fanon, ActorAllusion and fandom inside-joke is the idea that Taylor (from Series/PowerRangersWildForce) and Tommy (from... well, everything) hooked up. This is because their actors were in a sex scene together on the MTV show ''Undressed''.
** The organization of evil forces seen in ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' is never referred to in that series as the "United Alliance of Evil". That name comes from a throwaway line in ''Series/PowerRangersZeo''.
** Fan-speculation abounded for literally two decades when some noticed that the episodes in late season 1 had no Zyuranger counterparts and the obvious Dairanger/Zyuranger splicing in early season 2. These extra episodes produced by Toei were called [=Zyu2=] by fans. There's been tons of speculation about them since, some of which has been confirmed, some of which has been {{Jossed}} by stunt coordinator Jeff Pruitt posting some [=Zyu2=] footage on his Website/YouTube channel. Here's a basic rundown of the big ones.
*** Many of the monsters thought to be killed by the Power Blaster had zord battles (confirmed)
*** One monster was aided by Lokar (Jossed)
*** One monster battled the Dragonzord Battle Mode and couldn't be used for that reason (Jossed)
*** The effect on the monster in the Thunderzord battles indicate its death (confirmed), meaning superimposed explosion for Ultrazord, slash for Megazord.
** The idea that the "K.O." acronym in [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace KO-35]] stands for "Karovan Outpost", and that it's just one part of a larger "Karovan Empire". In-show, Andros always just called himself "human" (with the HandWave that "Earth isn't the only planet where humans live"), and it was never made clear if KO-35 was his people's planet of origin.
** Although he did say he was from 'a space colony' in his introduction episode.
** A theory put in the comments of WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers that explains the plotholes concerning Thrax from ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'' is that he was a two-bit conman. Thrax wasn't his real name; to build himself up he pretended to be a villain the Sentinel Knight fought and then claimed to be Rita and Zedd's son. He doesn't have the strength to fight the Rangers and thus cons the other villains into doing it for him.
** Due to their actors being brothers, some fans think that the ''Ninja Steel'' Blue Ranger is a descendant of ''Dino Charge'' Koda's younger brother.
* There is a mounting wave of fanon locating the home of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' somewhere in New Jersey -- sometimes in the midst of the Pine Barrens, sometimes in Edgewater, and sometimes in Creator/CharlesAddams' own hometown of Westfield.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
** Many fanfics have River referring to herself exclusively in the third person. This only occurred on two occasions in canon, one of which was in sarcasm.
** The fans are adamant that Book was a former Operative, to the point of decrying ''The Shepherd's Tale'' which says otherwise, and many people considering it [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]].
** Likewise, the belief that River's parents knew what the Academy was and had been either paid or coerced into sending her there, possibly even having conceived her solely for that purpose, is fairly widespread. This is implied in the episode "Safe", where River is shown to be TheUnfavorite and they brush off Simon as imagining things when he shows them her coded letters, but it's never directly stated and it's possible they really did believe nothing was wrong, or else realized Simon was right but were too afraid of losing their money and status to do anything about it.
** A common fan theory is that Zoe refused to got out with Wash until he shaved his mustache, or that she made shaving it a condition of further dating/marriage.
** There's a persistent fanon that Inara would lose her Companion license if she began an ongoing unpaid sexual relationship with Mal, although fanon differs as to whether this is because Companions aren't allowed to have unpaid relationships with '''anyone''', or if it's specifically because of Mal's disreputable character. There's nothing in canon to support either idea.
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'':
** Fans have been known to take a deleted scene where Elosha refers to a jealous god starting a war on Kobol as canon -- despite it being, y'know, ''deleted'' -- and thus extrapolating that the Thirteenth Tribe were monotheists. The most current WordOfGod is that they were polytheists like the others (as evidenced by their Temple of Aurora), and the exodus from Kobol was the result of man "stealing fire" from the gods by creating life. The last five survivors of the Thirteenth Tribe became monotheists after meeting the monotheistic Centurions.
** There was also a very common misconception that Tigh and Adama had served together during the First Cylon War. This was actually shown not to be the case in Season 2, Episode 1, Scattered. They met years after the war, on a freighter. It apparently didn't register with many fans, which is why there was a general uproar when [[spoiler:Tigh turned out to be a Cylon]].
** No one's ever said there are twelve Lords of Kobol, but it's taken for granted by many a fan. Given that they've mentioned gods outside the traditional twelve Olympians and have only used "Lord of Kobol" as a synonym for "god", not a subset, there are probably more than twelve. ''The Caprican'' establishes that Illumini, the second major city on Gemenon, is built around a huge pantheon devoted to dozens of deities.
*** In the Original Series episode "Lost Planet of the Gods", it is explained that the Lords of Kobol were the leaders of that highly advanced civilization until they are wiped out in a vaguely-mentioned ecological disaster. Long afterward, they were deified by their descendants, the inhabitants of the Twelve Colonies. The last Lord of Kobol was the Ninth Lord of Kobol, into whose tomb Adama enters looking for a map to Earth (which he finds, and which is then immediately destroyed when the Cylons attack Kobol). Side-note: In order to enter the tomb, Adama uses his Council of Twelve Badge of Office as a key. The other surviving Council Members also had them, but didn't seem to realize their true significance, and Council Members elected after the Destruction didn't have them.
** Leah Cairns (the actress who played Racetrack) mentioned in several interviews that she believed her character had UnresolvedSexualTension with Helo (who was a former Raptor pilot himself), and that she purposely played Racetrack in this mindset during the show. It's never been overtly suggested what's going on between Racetrack and Helo (even though there are a couple of broad hints), but most fans consider that fact canon.
*** This particular example is fanon becoming quasi-canon. Cairns was shown a Racetrack/Helo fanfic, and found the idea of her character having UnresolvedSexualTension with Helo hilarious... but also interesting. So she threw that characterization into her performance.

* ''Series/TheShield'' has Ronnie Gardocki, an AscendedExtra character who was the subject to much fanon as far as fans of the character grafting onto him a personality of Ronnie being a geeky cop who fell in with the bad crowd that was the Strike Team, as opposed to be being inherently corrupt. While the show and actor David Rees Snell largely embraced this fandom-based viewpoint towards the character (indeed, a plot point in the season seven premier was based around the notion of Ronnie having never killed a man in cold blood until that episode), it didn't stop the actor from acknowledging [[DracoInLeatherPants how his fans often downplayed his character's willingness to do bad things]], [[MisaimedFandom pointing out that Ronnie had to been somewhat evil in order to have been recruited into the Strike Team]].

* The ''Series/{{Alias}}'' fandom was eaten alive by various pieces of fanon that rapidly became totally disconnected from the actual characters and events seen on the show, especially where Irian Derevko was concerned. Many of these were ship-linked, but not, and enormous fury was unleashed when it became clear that the series had no chance of following the path the fanon assumed.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Fanfic featuring Anna before she became human will almost invariably call her 'Anael', a piece of Fanon Anna's actress herself agreed with. This was indirectly {{Jossed}} with the introduction of a new angel character named Anael in Season 13's "Devil's Bargain".
** It's surprisingly accepted that Dean was either sexually abused (by someone else, [[RonTheDeathEater not John]]) or at least used sex inappropriately when he was younger. Hell, even his [[Creator/JensenAckles actor]] thinks he prostituted himself to pay the bills.
** The brothers have been MistakenForGay on multiple occasions, denied it, and have had numerous heterosexual relationships. Some fans are convinced that they're not only gay, that they're [[NoBisexuals only gay]], and they are interested in each other. This was directly {{jossed}} by canon in a FandomNod, yet it hasn't stopped the shippers. Then again, this is the same fandom that believes the ''actors'' themselves are dating, to the extent of believing that their longtime girlfriends, now wives, are both TheBeard and hired by CW marketing.
** A much more popular theory is that Dean is a closeted bisexual (be certain of hearing about [[StupidSexyFlanders Doctor]] [[GuiltyPleasure Sexy]]). Since Castiel's introduction in Season Four, this is often accompanied by the belief that [[FanPreferredPairing he and Castiel]] are romantically involved. The showrunner (which?) and Creator/JensenAckles have both rejected this interpretation.[[note]]Though at least on the Destiel side, Creator/MishaCollins tends to support the pairing more often than not[[/note]] Writers in Season 10 tried to offer a compromise in the episode "Fan Fiction" (yes, really), welcoming fans to invoke DeathOfTheAuthor and [[FanonDiscontinuity dismiss whatever parts of canon don't work for them]] if they'd prefer to stick to their fanon.
*** A lot of bisexual-Dean fanworks also interpret his father John as a HeteronormativeCrusader to explain why Dean [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday acts so aggressively heterosexual]] with the reasoning that he didn't want to disappoint his father or was afraid of how he'd react if he found out his son wasn't straight. While John [[ParentalAbandonment wasn't exactly an exemplar of parenting]] in canon, there's no real evidence that he was specifically homophobic or anti-LGBT.
** It was also popular to interpret Castiel as asexual based on his abject failure to sleep with the prostitute Dean hired for him in a season 5 episode and his general cluelessness about romance and sex compared to other angels like Gabriel or Balthazar who happily indulged in sex with humans, or gay based on the aforementioned failing-to-sleep-with-a-prostitute scene and his HoYay with Dean. The final season confirmed that he really did have romantic feelings for Dean, but the exact nature of his sexuality beyond "not heterosexual" is still murky especially since he did express romantic/sexual interest in a couple of female characters during seasons 7-9.
** A review for one ''Supernatural'' fanfic said that "Dean wouldn't be able to call Sam 'Samantha' anymore". As a matter of fact, Dean has never used that particular insult outside of fanfics (and not this one, other ones). Apparently this meme got to the point of the reviewer thinking it had happened in the show. While Dean never called Sam that however, Crowley has as one of his endless ways of [[{{Troll}} pulling Sam's pigtails]].
** After [[DarkActionGirl Abaddon]] was introduced and revealed to be a Knight of Hell, fans began speculating that [[TheDreaded Lilith]] and [[TortureTechnician Alastair]] from early seasons had been ones as well: Lilith because her being the first demon turned by Lucifer fit with the description of Knights as the first demons handpicked by Lucifer, and Alastair because both he and Abaddon shared immunity to [[OneHitKill Ruby's Knife]]. This despite Abaddon being a black-eyed demon and Lilith and Alastair being white-eyed demons - eye color generally being a show of where the demons fall on the demon hierarchy (black-eyed demons are usually the weakest and lowest ranking, but Abaddon is a big exception). Although Abaddon was supposed to be the [[LastOfHisKind Last of Her Kind]] of the Knights in the 1950s at the same time Lilith and Alastair were alive, even her turning out to be alive came as a shock to the one who later provided exposition so theoretically they could've also been believed dead. This was mostly due to what little information was known about the Knights at the time and was effectively Jossed for both Lilith and Alastair by the Knights' background being explained in more detail in "First Born" by a more reliable source of information - the demon who really made, and ultimately killed, the Knights.
** Castiel's wings are almost always depicted as black in fanworks which is probably based on him displaying black shadows of them in his introduction scene, even though these were only ''shadows'' and his actual wings (which he doesn't show because his true form would burn humans' eyes out) might be differently-colored.
** Many Dean/Castiel fics portray Castiel as being able to see Dean's soul and falling in love with him specifically because his soul is uncommonly beautiful or pure compared to other humans'. This is in spite of Castiel being quite critical of Dean during the early seasons, even admitting that he thought Dean was just a "broken, bitter shell of a man" while apologizing to him, which is not exactly the kind of behavior you'd expect of an angel supposedly enthralled with his charge's brilliance/purity from the get-go.
** Another popular Dean/Castiel headcanon is that Dean has a part of Castiel's grace inside him as a result of Castiel pulling him out of Hell or healing him so many times over the years. While it is canon that an angel possessing a human leaves traces of their grace inside that human, it's not known if there are other angelic actions that could cause the same effect.

* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' is one of the few shows where "This episode sucks because it violates canon!" ''could'' be a valid complaint, since the show is infamous among the fandom and critics alike for its on-again, off-again relationship with continuity. That said, it doesn't keep the fans from coming up with stuff that was ''never'' revealed in canon:
** Strangely common in fanfic is the idea that [[AlphaBitch Quinn]] [[FallenPrincess Fabray]] is a brilliant pianist. Occasionally added is the idea that her parents sold her beloved piano after she became a Cheerio.
** Kurt and Puck adore ''Literature/{{Harry Potter}}''. If one of them only shows up in a fic once, it will be to agree with the other one that HP is [[Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical totally awesome]]. Blaine, as well. [[Creator/DarrenCriss For very]] [[Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical obvious reasons]].
** Warblers Wes and David are more or less crazy. Sometimes, they are also utter failures when it comes to matchmaking.
** Up until Kurt [[{{Jossed}} mentioned]] in ''The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle'' that he still lived at home, the fandom generally assumed that Dalton Academy was a boarding school.
** The name of Puck's little sister is as of yet [[NoNameGiven unknown]], but lots and lots of fanfic writers call her Sarah. All the others call her Hannah.
** At the end of the only episode Kurt's car has shown up in, Kurt tells Mercedes that his dad took it away from him. That was almost two seasons ago, and the car hasn't even been mentioned since then. Still, there are ''very'' few, if any, Kurt-centered fanfics in which he doesn't have his car. How else would he get to Westerville and back? If someone else was dropping him off and picking him up, s/he would have to drive an hour and a half each way, making two trips. Six hours of driving each day.
** Two about Dave Karofsky: he's a math nerd/whiz (from his father mentioning he was an A and B student, and his taking Calculus even as a high school junior) and he's a terrific singer (from Will's compliment in Sue Sylvester Shuffle and the fact that Creator/MaxAdler is the only actor who plays a student who's actually been in a real glee club).
*** Dave is also almost always an only child and quite commonly, his mother is dead/gone (which is almost certainly based on the fact that during the two meetings with the principal and Kurt and Dave's families in {{Canon}}, only Dave's father has been there and there is never any mention of a mother.)
*** He mentions his mother in "On My Way". She may have been working at the time.
** Carole is a nurse, and Kurt's mother's name is Elizabeth
** If Blaine's aspirations are brought up in a fic, they'll almost invariably center around law, medicine or teaching.
** Many fans believe that the reason Blaine is in the year below Kurt isn't actually that he's a year younger than him. Their theory is that when Blaine was attacked after the Sadie Hawkins dance that he mentions briefly at one point, he sustained injuries that were severe enough that he had to [[HeldBackInSchool repeat a year]].
** Matt and Mike are usually best friends, even though there is nothing to support this. Even calling them ThoseTwoGuys is pushing it because they don't much together
** The character of Sugar is, in the eyes of many a Gleek, the daughter of Brittany and Santana, who went back in time to make sure her parents got together. Doubles as slightly AscendedFanon, as Creator/HeatherMorris, Creator/NayaRivera, and Sugar's portrayer Vanessa Lengies heard about this theory and ran with it, having scenes with subtle nods to the fanon.
*** Variations also exist with the Season 3 character Rory being Klaine's son (and using the accent to avoid suspicion), and the character of Harmony, usually revealed to be Faberry's daughter.
** Sam's middle name is often Dwight after his father, even though there is no evidence to support such.
* ''Series/{{iCarly}}'':
** Parts of the fandom are quite convinced that Carly and Sam are lesbians based on many moments between the two. At minimum, Sam is often seen as bisexual, even by some Freddie/Sam fans.
** There is also Wendy, who is a recurring MrExposition on the show, being blown up into the Seattle version of ''Series/GossipGirl''.
** Sam as being [[RaisedCatholic non-practicing]] or secular Jewish was a common piece of fanon. The show itself eventually had her outright say that she wasn't Jewish.
** Sam's canonically emotionally abusive mother Pam is a [[AbusiveParents physically abusive]] AlcoholicParent (and sometimes a JunkieParent as well). She also treats Sam as TheUnfavorite.
* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'':
** In fanfiction, Jade and Beck often reveal their full names are Jadelyn and Beckett. There's been no indication in canon that their names are anything but Jade and Beck.
** Cat is on the autism spectrum and/or has a mental illness. Just what varies, but bipolar disorder is common due to her season 1 personality.
** In canon, Jade loves scissors because her favorite film involves a scissor-wielding killer. Fans, however, think she {{self harm}}s.
** Jade has AbusiveParents.
** Jade, Tori, and/or Cat as bisexual/pansexual is common amongst fans.
** Sikowitz shipping Jade and Tori together is very commonly agreed on in the fandom.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'':
** Sheldon displays classic signs of Asperger's Syndrome, but the creators have shot down that idea. It doesn't stop the fans from making this guess though.
** And now the idea that Sheldon is asexual is being pushed on Tumblr. But Sheldon has shown that he's attracted to Amy, and he no longer has a problem calling her his girlfriend. He may or may not act more on the attraction, but it's safe to say that he's not asexual. [[WildMassGuessing He could only be ''romantically'' attracted to Amy, though...]] Eventually, they do have sex, with Sheldon initiating it.[[note]] It was a birthday present for her in Season 10.[[/note]]

* ''Series/TheWestWing'':
** In fanfics, C.J. calls Josh "mi amore" (a one-off pet name) regularly and very frequently.
** It's basically considered a given that in the future, Sam becomes the President and Josh his Chief of Staff. Writing a story that implies or outright says this didn't happen is tantamount to AU (however, this future is ''strongly'' implied/foreshadowed in canon, so it's not just a fan bandwagon).
** There's a widely accepted explanation for why the presidential election years in TWW are two years offset from when they are in real life (Bartlet was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, as opposed to the real life elections of 2000 and 2004): in the show's universe, when Nixon resigned, instead of Ford succeeding him, there was a special election, the winner served a full four-year term, and things carried on as normal from there. This fits neatly into canon since no nonfictional presidents more recent than Nixon are mentioned on the show.
** A strange mix of fanon and FanonDiscontinuity — in one episode, Leo states that he has only been friends with Jed for eleven years, but has known him for 32. Fans usually ignore this, partly because a [[SeriesContinuityError contradictory statement]] that implied Jed was friends with Leo for 40 years just made more sense to the fandom and is taken as canon instead, partly because the whole "eleven years friendship, 32 years acquaintance" thing was never explained, implied, or mentioned again.
** Fans universally agree that [[FanPreferredCouple Josh and Donna]] marry and have kids. Most also agree that their kids would be named either Noah (for Josh's father), Leo (for Josh's father figure and mentor) or Joanie (for Josh's sister who died in a fire while babysitting Josh). If you take the official twitter accounts as canon they actually do have three children -- Leo, Jacqueline Joan and Noah (though Noah is a girl).
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'':
*** Chiaki went to college after the events of the series. Ryunosuke tells him to study for college entrance exams (and Chiaki complains) but he never expressed a desire to go to college - he considered traveling like Genta.
*** Most fans accept that Kotoha is the youngest of the Shinkengers but there's nothing in canon to state this. She could just be the same age as Chiaki, but he treats her as a little sister figure.
*** Kaoru is somehow related to Shun from ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger''. Both he and Kaoru's father are played by Masaya Matsukaze.
*** Chiaki and Kotoha having twins shows up very often in fanfics pairing the two.
** Some ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'' fans believe Kou and Lin are married by the time of the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. This is probably based on Lin having photos of Kou in her house (he does not appear in person) but given the age gap of at least 10 years, and Lin's distaste at Kou hitting on her, it seems unlikely they would have hooked up.
** ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'': Hiroto and Miu are twins. Their ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' counterparts are twins, but while Hiroto is acknowledged to be older than Miu (and looks much older) their ages are not confirmed.
** ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'': Fan opinion differs on whether or not [[spoiler:Gai]] is really dead. [[spoiler: The tie-in manga sequel states he is, but not all fans take it as canon]].
*** [[spoiler: ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' also confirms that Gai is dead. However, due to FanonDiscontinuity the debate continues]].
** Sugishita from ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'' is a wizard, time-traveller, or controls entry to different dimensions. Comes from the Dino Curry House being used as an InnBetweenTheWorlds in the Vs specials, but this appears to have been dropped as of ''Shinkenger vs Go-onger'' with the death of Sugishita's actor.
** ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'': Umeko is the leader of the Dekarangers. Appears to be more of a RunningGag than anything else. The closest they have to a leader on-screen is Doggie.
** ''Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger'': The Goseigers are ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. WordOfGod gives them ages between 17 (Moune) and 24 (Hyde).
** ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'': The Kakurangers all have the same family names as their legendary ancestors: Ōhōri Tsuruhime, Sarutobi Sasuke, Kirigakure Saizou and Miyoshi Seikai.
** ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'': Marvelous was born and brought up on a pirate ship, or otherwise joined his first pirate crew while still a young child.
*** Luka was engaged to her friend Kain before she joined the Gokaigers. This was never mentioned in his only canon appearance (where he tries to persuade Luka to leave and return to their home planet with him.)
** ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'': One bit of widely accepted fanon is that Masato Jin is Yoko's father. He is shown to have been a friend of her mother (with the implication of romantic interest) and be very protective towards Yoko, but the show confirms nothing either way.
** There's similar fanon for ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'' of Gou Fukami being the father of Miki's daughter. Miki is often assumed by fans to be a single mother, even though her husband is mentioned and briefly seen in one episode.
*** With [[spoiler:Rio being reincarnated as a young boy]] at the end of the show, it's common fanon that [[spoiler: Mele was also reincarnated and they'll meet again and resume their fated love.]]
** With ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'' leaving Daigo and Amy as the OfficialCouple, some fans have now decided that the two would have a child who marries one of Meeko's children, explaining why Daigo's future great-grandson uses the Tobaspino battery. Along the same lines is the idea that Utchy's and Yayoi's respective children married in the future which is why his descendant Uuppi is [=KyoryuViolet=]. [[spoiler:Of course, in the actual special, it turned out that the batteries the future team members were given were just the only ones Candelira and Luckyuro could find lying around the base, and they were actually destined to use the original team's six batteries. That doesn't totally disprove those theories, but it makes them not quite as necessary.]]
*** Amy and Go-Busters's Yoko becoming college roommates after the events of ''Kyoryuger Vs Go-Busters''.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': [[spoiler:Vila]] is not dead. He fell backwards, therefore he is still alive.
** Gan is from the planet Zephron - a piece of fanon so widespread it even appears in his Wikipedia article. He's usually a Gamma grade, though some fics have him as a Beta. A very common but now discredited trope had Avon as an extra-special alpha (Silver Alpha, Alpha-Plus...).
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** ''Series/KamenRiderBlackRX'': The Crisis Emperor is the Great Leader of Shocker. This is somewhat supported by canon, due to all of the Great Leader's official incarnations being voiced by Goro Naya until the man's death, and the Crisis Emperor is a shape-shifting eldritch abomination like all of the Great Leader's other forms.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'': Perpetual pain-in-the-ass Narutaki gets a lot of fanon because there's extremely little canon information for him (he has dimensional powers and hates Tsukasa with a passion) and it seems unlikely that Toei will ever fulfill their promise of releasing a ''Decade'' movie that explains his backstory. One popular theory is that, like the Crisis Emperor mentioned above, he's some incarnation of the Great Leader and an EvilCounterpart to Decade, since in the movies he's taken on the forms of past ''Rider'' enemies like Colonel Zol and Kani Laser. However, this clashes with his appearance in ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', where he tells Kouta that he's "an ally of all Riders" and is seemingly friends with the Conductor from ''Series/ResshaSentaiToqger''. The mystery continues.
*** The ''Decade'' novel says that Narutaki is a vampiric being who [[WasOnceAMan whose sanity and humanity degraded]] as he hopped dimensions and wants to destroy the Rider multiverse so he could create his own ideal world. However, this novel is generally [[FanonDiscontinuity ignored by the fandom]] because of the low quality of the writing and how it gets even basic facts about the franchise wrong.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'': Shotaro was a petty criminal in the past. This is based on a flashback in one of the Jewel Dopant episodes to him running from Jinno when Jinno was a beat cop.
*** [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Ren Akiyama]] is the father of the little girl featured in episodes 5-6, because the doll her father gave her resembles Kamen Rider Knight.
** ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'': Yuusuke Godai is dead. Possibly a theory to explain his absence from ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', where the Riders who appeared in the movies were all implied to be the originals, except for Kuuga, replaced by his AU counterpart Yuusuke Onodera.
*** Godai is confirmed to still be alive, but missing, in a spin-off novel - although CanonDiscontinuity means he could still be dead in the TV/film universe.
*** Word of God has stated that Godai is the Kuuga that appears in the Wizard finale episodes, thus has further been debunked. More than likely inserted as a result of the fandoms writhing Hatred of Yuusuke Onodera.
** ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'': Chiyoko Shiraishi is related to Mako Shiraishi from ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'', or (since ''Decade'' states that the Shinkengers' world has never had a Kamen Rider) is some kind of AU counterpart to Mako or her family. Both OOO and Shinkenger were written by Yasuko Kobayashi.
** ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'': Sonoda, Kijima and Sugiura were never rescued from M-Bus, and just forgotten or left there to die. Again contradicted in a spin-off novel which states they were rescued and Sonoda inspired Gentaro's decision to become a teacher in ''Movie Wars Ultimatum''; but the novel may not be considered on-screen canon.
*** It has in fact been word-of-godded to have occurred.
** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': Ryoji Hase has an older brother named Ryoichi. Became popular with fans after the actor suggested this in an interview.
* Most members of the ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' fanbase tend to hold the fanon claim that the Professor Arturo who [[DroppedABridgeOnHim had his brain sucked out, was shot and left to die on an exploding planet]] in "The Exodus, Part 2" was a double of the team's real Arturo, who was left behind by the team (by accident) in "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome". This is supported by producer Tracy Tormé, who said in interviews afterwards that there was a loose plan to have the "real Arturo" be found when the Slider team return to the planet he was stuck on, but he was [[ExecutiveMeddling shown the door]] before he ever had a chance to put this plan into motion.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Although not strictly speaking canon, the generally accepted theory is that [[spoiler:Delenn went Beyond the Rim at the end of her life and [[TogetherInDeath joined Sheridan]] (and Sinclair) there]].
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** There is a reasonably prevalent theory that Lana is also a meteor freak with the ability to make everyone, or alternatively just Clark and other meteor mutants, love her in some form. Lana herself is typically unaware of her power.
** Lex has mutant healing powers. It explains his quick recoveries, the fact that his constant brain injuries haven't killed him yet, and why he's so interested in meteor mutants.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
** Many fics have Claire pregnant when she died on 9/11 even though there is no canon evidence for it.
** Also common is the idea of Claire having amnesia or faking her death on 9/11, fueled by the lack of a body being found (though in reality, many 9/11 remains simply can't be ID'd with current technology, so no body doesn't mean no death.)
** It was fanon for a while that Mac's full name was Mccanna Boyd Taylor, Jr. after that was revealed as his father's name. However,that got {{Jossed}} in Season 8 -- his middle name is Llewelyn.
* In the mini-series adaptation ''Series/HoratioHornblower'', Archie Kennedy was mostly an AscendedExtra and a CompositeCharacter. In the books, there was a midshipman named Kennedy, appearing in one scene, and there was a sailor who had a fit during a stealth raid. Those are the only elements from the book canon that were used to create Archie. He also became a midshipman particularly tormented by Simpson (in the book, Hornblower was the youngest and suffered the most) and Archie was given lines of other characters.[[note]]In "The Frogs and the Lobsters", he has Lt. Bracegirdle's speech about civil war, and in "Mutiny", he was kind to the beaten middie Wellard, which belongs to Lt. Bush.[[/note]] In the series, not much about his background is known, but some facts are intriguing. Lots of the fan fic stories focus on Archie's days spent at theatre, because he said that he once knew Drury Lane as if it was his home. He also seems to love Creator/WilliamShakespeare since he quoted or paraphrased him several times. In fics, he's a total {{Bookworm}} who knows his Shakespeare really well to the point of obsession. Creator/JamieBamber, his actor, said in interviews that he thought that Archie was a third son of Scottish lord, and fans have embraced this idea as well, and it fits because Kennedy is a Scottish surname and the name Archibald was a particularly popular given name among Scottish nobility. His aristocratic family also tends to be pretty screwed up and distant. Many also presume Simpson's tormenting of Archie included sexual abuse (while there's some subtext that implies it, it's never been explicitly stated to be true).
* ''Series/TheXFiles'':
** "Dreamland" dealt with time paradoxes and body-switching. Everything gets set back to normal and the whole universe goes back to the way it was before the time rip — but Mulder's apartment is still cleaned up and has a waterbed, and Scully still has a dime and penny that were fused together by the warp in space-time, even though the events that caused both scenarios never happened. It could be explained that they weren't in the path of the snap-back. But how would time snap back for the whole universe then? A fan theory holds that the time loop in "Monday" later in the same season was triggered by the universe repairing itself and trying to get rid of Mulder's waterbed, the last remaining evidence of the paradox. This makes a surprising amount of sense when you watch the episode — the starting point for each loop is the waterbed springing a leak.
** Scully is frequently nicknamed "The Ice Queen' in fanfic, but never on the show.
** Bill Mulder is more often than not portrayed in fanfic as having been an [[AbusiveParents abusive father]], whether it be physically, sexually, or both. While the Mulder family was doubtlessly dysfunctional and Bill's ethics are very questionable, there's no canonical evidence he did anything that heinous to his son.
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': It's still early, but until {{Canon}} says otherwise, the fandom (and ''especially'' the fanfic writers) seem to be taking an EveryoneIsBi stance on the team of young, attractive agents.
* ''Series/DueSouth'':
** Based on information from the series finale, fanon usually has Ray Vecchio marrying Stella Kowalski, but the transcript of the last episode only says the two moved to Florida together - nothing about marriage.
** And it's popular in fanon for Fraser and Ray Kowalski to both live in Canada permanently after the end of the series, but nothing in the series finale says that either one stayed there after their adventure.
** The majority in fanon say that Fraser and Ray Kowalski are both gay. But nothing on the show points to this, since Fraser and both Rays are attracted to women, and both Rays were married.
*** Also a big fanon misconception that Paul Gross was aware of slash, and so deliberately inserted "slashy scenes" into the last two seasons. But an interview he had just before the third season started (and after a number of episodes had probably been filmed) shows that he didn't know anything about slash until the interviewer brought it up, and he's never stated publicly that he added "slashy scenes."
** It's also strictly fanon that the Rays hate each other and never become friends. They were barely together in the series finale - not long enough to form a friendship - but they showed respect for each other after one small fight. If the series had continued, they would have probably become friends. There's no reason for them not to try to be friends for Fraser's sake - and it is canon that Fraser wants them to like each other.
** The big-name fans say Ray Vecchio is older than Fraser and Kowalski, and sometimes that Fraser is older than Kowalski. Nothing on the show indicates that. All three were probably intended to be the same age especially since ''[[spoiler: Ray Kowalski could not be that much younger than Ray Vecchio if he must be undercover as Vecchio]]''.
** It's also strictly fanon that Fraser hates "Benny," [=RayV's=] nickname for him. Nothing in canon indicates that Fraser hates it, or is even midlly annoyed by it.
** Ray Vecchio's time spent undercover is often fanon. He distinctly says that he was undercover for a "full year." Fanon has his undercover job lasting much longer, especially F/K slash. Probably because the shippers want to give Fraser time to form a closer relationship with [=RayK=] than the one he had with [=RayV=], but that's also fanon. Fraser was closer to [=RayV=] in canon.
* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'':
** A recurring theory is that Edith is actually Rosamund's illegitimate daughter given to the Crawleys, explaining why Edith noticeably stands out from the rest of the family and is closer to Rosamund than to her own parents.
** It's generally accepted that Mrs. Hughes' full first name is "Elspeth", although this has never been confirmed.
* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' fanfics in which George survives invariably have him specialize in trauma surgery, thanks to a one-off line from Owen that he should. Lexie is quite often a plastics fellow, probably because her two most significant love interests both went into plastics.
* ''{{Series/Emergency}}'' did not delve deeply into character backgrounds, in typical Jack Webb fashion. However, there is a lot of fanon that has been formed:
** Gage's parents died when he was young (actually borrowed from another Randolph Mantooth character)
** Either Gage's parents or relatives abused him-hypothesized from certain behaviors he shows
** He is half Native American (He only stated his native heritage-the half is from Randolph Mantooth's real heritage.
** He was picked on for being mixed race (comes from what tends to get portrayed about reservation life,even if it isn't always totally true)
** He is Cheyenne or Lakota- comes from his mentioning growing up in Montana,where those tribes are dominant.
** John is often shown having horses, since he seems to have bought a ranch in one episode, and is known to like to ride, even if he hadn't done it in so long before "Saddled" that he couldn't walk the next day.
** Roy's daughter is always called Jennifer. Her name was never mentioned,but Kevin Tighe has a daughter named Jennifer,and it was borrowed. She is frequently called "Jenny Bean" by John.
** Roy and Chet were both in Vietnam. We are told they are Army vets, and it makes sense given the time period and character ages.
** Captain Stanley's wife is usually called Emily or Elly. They end up with a couple kids despite none being mentioned.
** Brice is usually paired with Bellingham when he appears, even though Bellingham was only mentioned as partnering temporarily with Brice while Roy and John were both injured.
** Many fans assume Chet Kelly died in the line of duty sometime before the last film, due to a line in the film. However, it is not said definitely.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'':
** It is generally accepted that Patricia, Jerome and Alfie used to be best friends, and some even think Jerome and Patricia dated. However, nothing confirms this, and the most evidence is that the trio hung out a lot in the premier.
** Patricia is TheUnfavorite of her family and Piper gets all the attention. It has some basis due to a throwaway line about Patricia wanting attention and how Piper is the more talented and nicer of the two twins, but it has never been confirmed.
** Another popular idea is that Fabian's parents could be [[AbusiveParents abusive]]. This is partially due to his shy, ExtremeDoormat personality and the fact that his parents have never been mentioned in canon. The only family members he does have on the show are an uncle and a godfather, neither of which is seen on a consistent basis, which also makes fans curious about what's going on in his family.
* ''Series/OrphanBlack'' has a multitude of open-ended questions, whether it has to do with plotlines or characters. This makes it a fairly popular show for fanons:
** Helena eats like an animal because, as a kid, she was hardly fed. This is supported by the abusive way she was trained and coaxed to kill the other clones by Tomas and the implied abuse that the nuns also made her endure.

* ''Series/TwentyFour'':
** Though only David Palmer had his political party association openly identified onscreen (he's a Democrat), fans have gone on to identify the series later presidents parties based upon this initial info.
** John Keeler, having run against Palmer, is a Republican, as is Charles Logan, who was Keeler's vice president. Same goes for Hal Gardner, who succeded Logan.
** Wayne Palmer, having served as his brother's White House chief of staff and WordOfGod says defeated Gardner in the next election, is a Democrat. Sames goes for his VP, Noah Daniels.
** Allison Taylor, having defeated Daniels in the next election, is a Republican.
** James Heller, who was Keeler's secretary of defense, is also presumed to be a Republican.
* ''Series/LazyTown'':
** It's fairly common to give villain Robbie Rotten some sort of magical heritage to go with Sportacus's somewhat implied elven heritage. [[note]]While in the original plays the character that would become Sportacus is explicitly referred to as an elf, Sportacus's race is more ambiguous.[[/note]] The usual choice is to make Robbie at least part [[TheFairFolk fae]].
** It's also fairly common to make the original incarnations of Sportacus and Robbie Rotten - Íþróttaálfurinn and Glanni Glæpur respectively - relatives of some sort to their more well known incarnations-brother, father, cousin, and uncle have all been used at some point.
** Fan''artists'', meanwhile, have collectively decided that under that hat of his Sportacus has curly/wavy blond hair (not too unlike series creator and first Sportacus actor Magnús Scheving's) - this ''despite'' the fact that based on the little hair that's seen, ''and'' WordOfGod, he's a brunette.

* ''Series/{{House}}'':
** When it's not "Wilson's cancer goes into remission, they become a couple for real and live HappilyEverAfter", most people assume that House killed himself after Wilson died because, considering what he's like, he ''would'' probably choose a last self destruct binge rather than jail or hiding out alone forever. Hugh Laurie supports it too, saying in one interview he doesn't see House intending to live long after Wilson goes.
** While the possibility is dismissed within one episode, autistic fans still accept House as one of their own with all the relatable always having something in his hands to help him think, wanting to turn his humanity off and the ValuesResonance speech about privileged white neurotypicals wanting to break marginalized people into being more like them.
* ''{{Series/Bones}}''
** There’s a contingent of fans who are convinced Aubrey and Jessica got back together as a couple after the show ended. Especially since breaking up and reuniting wasn’t uncommon for couples on the show.
** Fics where Hodgins and Angela have a baby girl usually call her Katherine or Katy based on what they wanted for a girl’s name in season 6. Jeffery is popular for a second boy because it’s Jack’s brother’s name.
** If Booth or Brennan die in a fic, the other will almost always follow very quickly. Fans hate to think of them being separated even in death.
** Future-set fics often pair up Michael Vincent and Christine.
* ''{{Series/MASH}}'':
** Ever since MASH fic author onekisstotakewithme gave her that second name, Peg Hunnicutt has been Peggy Jane for the fandom, to the point many people don't remember where it came from.
** Continuity errors and retcons regarding Hawkeye's family (early seasons had him say he had a sister and his mother was still alive, while later seasons had him claim he was an only child and his father was a widower) are typically chalked up to brain misfires on his part, considering his later canon TraumaInducedAmnesia and implied AmbiguousDisorder.
** Then there's the 'Hawkeye is bisexual' fanon that enables a significant portion of slash fic.

** In ''The End of Time,'' Rassilon orders that two Time Lords cover their eyes "like the Weeping Angels of old." This has led to fans thinking that the Time Lords somehow evolved into the Weeping Angels, despite the fact that there is ''no'' evidence of this whatsoever.
** The decision in the 2005-present revival to introduce romance with regards to the Doctor went against the fanon that the Doctor was asexual or incapable of being aroused by females; that fanon stemmed primarily from a line of dialogue in 1979's "City of Death" in which the Doctor says to a female villain who is trying to distract him with sexiness, "you're a beautiful woman, probably." Ignoring the fact he referred to his own companion, Romana, as being attractive a season earlier. The GenderSwap of the Doctor has further inflamed this debate as it plays into the fanon notion of Time Lords being asexual and genderless.

* ''Series/{{Alias}}'' fandom became eaten alive with various pieces of fanon that rapidly became totally disconnected from the actual characters and events seen on the show, especially where Irian Derevko was involved. Many of these were ship-linked, but not, and enormous fury was unleashed when it became clear that the series had no chance of following the path the fanon assumed.

* ''{{Series/MASH}}'': Ever since MASH fic author onekisstotakewithme gave her that second name, Peg Hunnicutt has been Peggy Jane for the fandom, to the point many people don't remember where it came from.

** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", Guinan persuades Worf to try prune juice, and he calls it "a warrior's drink". He never mentions the stuff on-screen again. Fanon not only makes it his TrademarkFavoriteFood, but also assumes that any other Klingon who tastes it will have the same reaction. In the ''Literature/StarTrekTheNextGenerationRelaunch'' novel ''Q & A'', we're told that prune juice is now the Federation's ''primary export'' to the Empire.

** In the ''Series/TheStarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", Guinan persuades Worf to try prune juice, and he calls it "a warrior's drink". He never mentions the stuff on-screen again. Fanon not only makes it his TrademarkFavoriteFood, but also assumes that any other Klingon who tastes it will have the same reaction. In the ''Literature/StarTrekTheNextGenerationRelaunch'' novel ''Q & A'', we're told that prune juice is now the Federation's ''primary export'' to the Empire.

** Before ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' Trek fandom at large agreed that Zephram Cochrane's vessel, which he used to test his newly-invented warp engine, was called the ''Bonaventure''. In fact, they accused the film of violating canon due to this. This bit of fanon is based on a line from ''Series/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' that the ''Bonaventure'' was the "first ship to have warp drive installed". Not only is the animated series of dubious canonical status at best (due to Paramount and Roddenberry refusing to consider it as canon), but the ship shown was clearly a Federation starship, not a privately constructed experimental craft. Assuming the ''Bonaventure'' is canon, she was simply the first Federation Starship to be warp-capable, not the ship Cochrane used.

** The idea that the War Chief and the later introduced Master, who share many similarities,are [[TheNthDoctor one and the same]].

** FixFic for Donna's fate in "Journey's End" tends to rely on the premise that removing (or blocking, in most of these fics) Donna's memories didn't undo the meta-crisis. And since alt!Ten ''can't'' regenerate - well, the regen capability had to go somewhere, didn't it? Cue regenerating!Donna fic galore.

*** Perhaps her biggest challenge was trying to make sense of the "Trial of a Time Lord" arc (aka "[[WaxingLyrical Fucking Valeyards, How Do They Work?]]") She guessed that the trial is unfolding during the Time War (occuring as it does on or near a future Gallifrey where the Doctor has not yet met Mel), and that the Doctor is actually on trial for committing genocide on the Time Lords in the upcoming series reboot, ''not'' the Vervoids as his prosecutors claim. The Valeyard is not merely an evil Doctor from a possible future, but an incarnation brainwashed by the Time Lords and obsessed with laws, unlike the troublesome maverick we know.

*** Ditto with Nyota Uhura. It took almost 40 years before we heard ''that'' name on-screen (never mind that the name "Nyota" was suggested for the character by the very actress who played her -- Nichelle Nichols)! However this is a zig-zag as a number of an publications had postulated "Penda" as her given name, while others were adamant - citing apparent comments by Gene Roddenberry - that Uhura had only one name.
** When actor George Takei publicly came out, it raised further discussion of how often ''Trek'' simply avoided the topic of homosexuality, despite having once been a risk-taking, ground-breaking show. To "fix" this, the third in the big-screen rebooted "Kelvin timeline" films, ''Star Trek Beyond'' revealed that Sulu was gay himself and that he and his husband had a daughter. This led to cries from many, including Takei himself, that this created an impression that Sulu was closeted during the entire TV show. Creator/SimonPegg (who aside from playing Scotty also co-wrote the film) [[WordofGod responded]] to this explaining that the Sulu from the films was "different" from the Sulu of the original series and the two [[AuthorsSavingThrow did not share sexualties]]. Still this was worded in a way that some fans interpret both Sulus as bisexual even though Pegg is adamant that his Sulu is homosexual.

*** S8 makes it a little less debatable since Willow grills Satsu on what Buffy's like in bed (including how she sounds when she orgasms). [[BlatantLies Then she denies ever having a crush on Buffy]] to Buffy after telling Buffy to be careful with Satsu. Buffy in turn, almost petulantly, denies having a crush on Willow because Willow denied to Buffy first. Later on, in another issue, Kennedy starts showing jealousy telling Buffy, "But you put the moves on Red and I'll kill you like a chicken."

** Many Spike-centric fanfics tend to mention Angelus sodomizing Spike at some point during their eighteen years of being in 'The Whirlwind" together, but this is never mentioned in canon. In fact the only time it was even hinted that they had any kind of sex is in Angel, season 5x21 'Power Play', when Spike balks at being called Angel's 'intimate' by Ilyria, but then amends

*** This has since become AscendedFanon. During a Q&A, one fan asked Creator/JossWhedon if it was true that Dawn's middle name was "Marie" and he sort of shrugged and said, "Sure, we'll go with that. Dawn Marie Summers." He then made a hand movment that was vaguely like crossing one's self and said, "[[GratuitousLatin Pax vobiscum]], its official. Her middle name is Marie."

** Fans universally agree that [[FanPreferredCouple Josh and Donna]] marry and have kids. Most also agree that their kids would be named either Noah (for Josh's father), Leo (for Josh's father figure and mentor) or Joanie (for Josh's sister who died in a fire while babysitting Josh). If you take the official twitter accounts as canon they actually do have three children - Leo, Jacqueline Joan and Noah (though Noah is a girl).

** It was fanon for a while that Mac's full name was Mccanna Boyd Taylor, Jr. after that was revealed as his father's name. However,that got {{Jossed}} in Season 8-his middle name is Llewelyn.

** It's generally accepted that Mrs. Hughes' full first name is "Elspeth", although this his never been confirmed.

** Jade as bisexual is common amongst fans.

** Future-set fics often pair up Michael Vincent and Christine.

** Some works have her using [[OhMyGods "Oh Rao"]] when surprised, although she only ever uses "Oh my God" in the show.