History Main / CanonForeigner

* The ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' {{audio play}}s had Erimem (companion to the Fifth Doctor), Evelyn Smythe (companion to the Sixth Doctor), Hex and Raine Creevey (both companions to the Seventh Doctor), Charley Pollard (Eighth and later, at least from her point of view, Sixth Doctor companion), C'rizz, Samson and Gemma Griffen, Lucie Miller, and Creator/MaryShelley (all companions to the Eighth Doctor) all slotting in around gaps in the timeline of the TV series. However, in "[[Recap/TheNightOfTheDoctor The Night of the Doctor]]", the Eighth Doctor mentions Big Finish companions, apparently making them {{Canon Immigrant}}s.

[[caption-width-right:350:The gang's all here: Mario, Luigi, Peach, and... [[Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach Haru]]?]]

These new characters will often be added to fill a particular need in the new story, and add a degree of novelty to attract more readers. Frequently, they'll fill some gap in the current cast, such as adding a female character to an all-male cast (or [[AffirmativeActionGirl a second woman]] where there was only one before), or [[TokenMinority adding some other element of diversity, be it racial, geographic, sexual, or simply personality]]. If the expanded universe work is focusing on a little-shown area of the world, the canon foreigner might be familiar with this place and [[MrExposition able to explain it to the main cast (and by extension the audience)]]. This can spark new interactions and adventures that wouldn't otherwise occur with the "conventional" cast and series format — one of the main points of "expanded universe" fiction to begin with.

If a fanfic or a spin-off is created from a work of fiction and it is full of original characters, it may invert this by including some characters from canonicity. Typically, these characters will not be killed off even if original characters do die for the sake of preserving it.

Depending on how well the character fits into the adaptation or how much the fans like the character, Canon Foreigners can either be much beloved or much hated, and if popular enough, may be {{Ret|Canon}}-Canoned into the official canon where they are known as a CanonImmigrant.

* While several [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] contracted wrestlers had matches in Wrestling/{{AAA}}, the luchador known as Border Patrol specifically represented TNA yet had never worked for it. TNA also has a long running gimmick called "Suicide", to which AAA gave a counterpart in Australian Suicide, [[TheArtifact who kept the name]] even after Suicide was renamed Manik.[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Wait! Who's that prince?! [[note]]Prince Haru from ''Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach''[[/note]]]]

When an established existing medium ventures into the ExpandedUniverse, writers will often rely heavily on familiar characters and past storylines from the official {{canon}} to ensure that fans of the original material are happy. Unlike the original canon, however, an "expanded universe" adaptation also gives the writers freedom to introduce new, "never before seen" characters, as the production staff enjoys their newfound liberation from whatever codes and limitations ruled the original work.

These new characters will often be added to fill a particular need in the new story, and add some degree of novelty to attract readers/watchers. Frequently, they'll also fill some gap in the current cast, such as adding a female character to an all-male cast (or adding [[AffirmativeActionGirl a second female]] where there was only one before), or [[TokenMinority adding some other element of diversity, be it racial, geographic, sexual, or simply personality]]. This can spark new conflicts and adventures that wouldn't otherwise occur under the limitations of the "conventional" cast and series format — one of the main points of "expanded universe" fiction to begin with.

* Donovan Corbett in ''WebVideo/StreetFighterTheLaterYears''

** ''[[LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon DanMachi]] VideoGame/MemoriaFreese''

* ''WebAnimation/ZatannaTrialOfTheCrystalWand'': Damon Zatara, Zatanna's brother is a character made exclusively for the cartoon.

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'':
** The theatrical films feature characters that are made specifically for them and never appear in the original TV show.
*** The first film, ''The Super Adventure'', introduces the White Bull Kingdom, the Black Bull Kingdom, and the Yellow Bull Kingdom, all kingdoms of bacteria who are engaged in a war in the body of Mr. Slowy's snail friend.
*** ''Desert Trek: The Adventure of the Lost Totem'' features a villainous BigThinShortTrio consisting of Lord Japper the tiger, Leopold the leopard, and Counsoler the gecko, who operate an AmusementPark that they built right over Goat Village.
*** ''Moon Castle: The Space Adventure'' has an amateur RabbitMagician named Wandi take the goats and wolves to [[MoonRabbit his home planet of the moon]] to help him and his sister, Queen Luna, defeat the evil Bitter Gourd King and his gourd minions who want to turn the moon bitter.
*** A bunch of dragons, both heroic and villainous, are introduced in ''Mission Incredible: Adventures on the Dragon's Trail'', among them a dragon named Xiao Shen Long who assists the goats with his ElementalPowers.
*** In the fifth film, ''The Mythical Ark: Adventures in Love & Happiness'', a family of snakes - a species that was [[NotSoExtinct presumed to be extinct]] in the Green Green Grassland - are brought to a spaceship called the Ark by the goats since a snake is among the animals needed to activate it.
*** ''Meet the Pegasus'' is, naturally, about {{pegas|us}}i. More specifically, the goats have to write a happy ending for a story about Prince Pegasus, who wants to marry Princess Blue and must defend himself and the pegasus kingdom from Brother Pony.
*** ''Amazing Pleasant Goat'' is about the goats and wolves travelling to the [[OneMillionBC prehistoric age]], meeting some prehistoric goats and a [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]] name Super while they're there.
** The educational spin-off, ''Animation/PleasantGoatFunClass'', introduces a character named Miss Earth who shows the goats and Wolffy around an earth-science themed carnival in the third season. She was created specifically for the spin-off and has no main-series counterpart.

Depending on how well the character fits into the adaptation or how much the fans like the character, Canon Foreigners can either be much beloved or much hated, and if popular enough, may be {{Ret Canon}}ed into the official canon where they are known as a CanonImmigrant.

See also GodCreatedCanonForeigner (when this character comes from the original creator), ToylineExclusiveCharacter (toy-related examples of this trope) and OriginalCharacter (FanFiction canon foreigners).

*** ''Meet the Pegasus'' is, naturally, about [[{{Pegasus}} pegasi]]. More specifically, the goats have to write a happy ending for a story about Prince Pegasus, who wants to marry Princess Blue and must defend himself and the pegasus kingdom from Brother Pony.

* ''Radio/DimensionX'': In [[Recap/DimensionX50Nightfall episode fifty]], an [[AudioAdaptation adaptation]] of Creator/IsaacAsimov's "{{Literature/Nightfall|1941}}":
** The Latimer from this [[AudioAdaptation adaptation]] is a brand-new character that Sheerin, the psychologist, introduces to Theremon, the [[MostWritersAreWriters newspaper reporter]], so that he can interview one of the victims from the Tunnel of Mystery.

* ''Radio/XMinusOne'': In [[Recap/XMinusOneE028Nightfall episode twenty-eight]], an [[AudioAdaptation adaptation]] of Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/Nightfall1941":
** The Latimer from this [[AudioAdaptation adaptation]] is a brand-new character that Sheerin, the psychologist, introduces to Theremon, the [[MostWritersAreWriters newspaper reporter]], so that he can interview one of the victims from the Tunnel of Mystery.

* Whenever ''{{TabletopGame/Clue}}'' comes out with an expanded version or spinoff based around Boddy Mansion (as opposed to say, ''Franchise/StarWars'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'') it seems traditional to add a bottle of poison as a weapon, as well as the appearances of Madam Rose, Sgt. Grey, M. Brunette, and Miss Peach as extra characters.

* The {{Theatre/Tsukiuta}} series tends to have some of these in every entry. There are several recurring actors who have played original characters in multiple series entries, particularly Sean Suzuki, who has been in 5 of the 8 entries so far, playing a total of 7 different characters.

* The musical ''It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman'' features more of these than established characters. Superman fights against Dr. Abner Sedgwick, an embittered scientist who never won the Nobel prize despite coming close several times. His assistant, Jim Morgan, is a RomanticFalseLead for Lois Lane, who also contends with the [[AbhorrentAdmirer unwanted affections]] of her co-worker Max Mencken, a chauvinistic former song-and-dance man who hates Superman (and is something of a [[SupportingProtagonist Supporting]] VillainProtagonist). Meanwhile, Max's secretary, Sydney Carlton, hides her affections for her boss by making advances on Clark Kent.

** Georgina, also from ''Dating My Daughter'', [[spoiler:appears as a fashion show model in the Cool Aunt Ending.]]

-->'''Killdra''': Thats copyright infringement. You don't have the license to use trademarked characters like those.

* Creator/LewisLovhaug is the [[Series/PowerRangersZeo White Zeo Ranger.]]

* Most of the characters in ''[[Podcast/{{Wolverine}} Wolverine: The Long Night]]'' that aren't Logan, including the BigBad, [[spoiler: a young mutant named Hudson Langrock]]. The second season adds a few canonical characters like [[Characters/MarvelComicsGambit Gambit]], Mastermind and [[spoiler: Master Mold]], but also features a new character named Marcus as Logan's sidekick.
* Defunct ''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Hunger Games]]'' website Capitol Couture introduced the characters Porter Tripp and Augustus Braun, who were said to have won the Thirty-eighth and Sixty-seventh Hunger Games respectively. However, there is no mention of them in either the books or the films. Also, Augustus is from District 1, but his name doesn't fit the usual naming pattern for that district. [[note]]District 1 citizens are usually named after the luxury items their district produces or words which suggest something shiny and/or sparkly.[[/note]]

** ''CanonForeigner/GameOfThrones''

* Inevitable in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', since its timeline spans roughly 100,000 years of which the movies comprise about forty.

* The iconic gumball machine in ''Pinball/TheTwilightZone'' was not taken from an existing episode of the series.

* Most of the characters in ''[[Podcast/{{Wolverine}} Wolverine: The Long Night]]'' that aren't Logan, including the BigBad, [[spoiler: a young mutant named Hudson Langrock]]. The second season adds a few canonical characters like [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Gambit]], Mastermind and [[spoiler: Master Mold]], but also features a new character named Marcus as Logan's sidekick.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prince_haru.png]]]]

->'''Rokk:''' Kal-El, I have to tell you - we've heard of Lois Lane, Lana Lang, even Jimmy Olsen, but we've never heard a thing about any "Chloe Sullivan".\\

* Moe Mortelli from ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'' is mentioned (as “a fat guy on a trench coat”) once in ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework''. He gives Johanna a toaster. Wonder where he got it?
* Koko, the famous singer from DatingMyDaughter, reappears in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' as a rising star. [[spoiler:The Perfect Ending stems from Melody being able to tour with Koko.]]
** Georgina, also from DatingMyDaughter, [[spoiler:appears as a fashion show model in the Cool Aunt Ending.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Wait! Who's that prince?! [[note]]Prince Haru from Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach[[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mariogreatmission.png]]]]

If a fanfic or a spinoff is created from a work of fiction and it is full of original characters, it may invert this by including some characters from canonicity. Typically, these characters will not be killed off even if original characters do die for the sake of preserving it.

* The ''Animation/BoonieBears'' spin-off ''Boonie Cubs'' introduces a number of characters who have no main-series equivalents, such as Olivia the owl and Coach Mac the bear.

* The ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' theatrical films feature characters that are made specifically for them and never appear in the original TV show.
** The first film, ''The Super Adventure'', introduces the White Bull Kingdom, the Black Bull Kingdom, and the Yellow Bull Kingdom, all kingdoms of bacteria who are engaged in a war in the body of Mr. Slowy's snail friend.
** ''Desert Trek: The Adventure of the Lost Totem'' features a villainous BigThinShortTrio consisting of Lord Japper the tiger, Leopold the leopard, and Counsoler the gecko, who operate an AmusementPark that they built right over Goat Village.
** ''Moon Castle: The Space Adventure'' has an amateur RabbitMagician named Wandi take the goats and wolves to [[MoonRabbit his home planet of the moon]] to help him and his sister, Queen Luna, defeat the evil Bitter Gourd King and his gourd minions who want to turn the moon bitter.
** A bunch of dragons, both heroic and villainous, are introduced in ''Mission Incredible: Adventures on the Dragon's Trail'', among them a dragon named Xiao Shen Long who assists the goats with his ElementalPowers.
** In the fifth film, ''The Mythical Ark: Adventures in Love & Happiness'', a family of snakes - a species that was [[NotSoExtinct presumed to be extinct]] in the Green Green Grassland - are brought to a spaceship called the Ark by the goats since a snake is among the animals needed to activate it.
** ''Meet the Pegasus'' is, naturally, about [[{{Pegasus}} pegasi]]. More specifically, the goats have to write a happy ending for a story about Prince Pegasus, who wants to marry Princess Blue and must defend himself and the pegasus kingdom from Brother Pony.
** ''Amazing Pleasant Goat'' is about the goats and wolves travelling to the [[OneMillionBC prehistoric age]], meeting some prehistoric goats and a [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguin]] name Super while they're there.

* There is no mention of a demon in the scene ''Art/DanteAndVirgilInHell'' is baed on, but lo and behold, there's one flying over the scene smiling. It helps make the setting clear to anyone that doesn't know this is based on the ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]''.

* ''WebAnimation/TheTransformersCombinerWars'': Maxima is created by the Machinima team to be an original entity in their series who wasn't present in the comics the show adapts from.
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': ???'s Guardromon Mooks and Tyrannomon are from ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. Killdra even references this.
-->'''Killdra''': Thats copyright infringement. You don't have the license to use trademarked characters like those.
** The bus from ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'' is added to the cast as of episode 7.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Vampire Lord comes from ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh''.

If a fanfic or a spinoff is created from a work of fiction and it is full of original characters, it may invert this by including some characters from canon. Typically, these characters will not be killed off even if original characters do die for the sake of preserving it.

* Although, like the comics, the Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse novels seldom used original recurring characters in the late '80s-early '90s, it was the norm by the late '90s and the modern novels make regular use of Canon Foreigner characters, and there are whole book ''series'' that aren't based on the shows and are populated mostly by Canon Foreigners or AscendedExtra characters (e.g. ''[[Literature/StarTrekTitan Titan]]'', ''[[Literature/StarTrekVanguard Vanguard]]'', ''[[Literature/StarfleetCorpsOfEngineers Corps of Engineers]]'', ''Literature/IKSGorkon'', and ''[[Literature/StarTrekDepartmentOfTemporalInvestigations Department of Temporal Investigations]]''). In spite of their popularity and critical importance in the ExpandedUniverse, neither [[Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier Captain Calhoun]] nor [[Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch Elias]] [[Literature/StarTrekTheLostEra Vaughn]] has ever been featured in canonical ''Franchise/StarTrek''. Although one major character created for the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' novels set after the series was intentionally based on a certain extra who was only seen from the back in a canon episode.

* Most of the characters in ''[[Podcast/{{Wolverine}} Wolverine: The Long Night]]'' that aren't Logan, including the BigBad, [[spoiler: a young mutant named Hudson Langrock]]. The second season adds a few canon characters like [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Gambit]], Mastermind and [[spoiler: Master Mold]], but also features a new character named Marcus as Logan's sidekick.