History Main / FanonDiscontinuity

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic.'' [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E14StrangerThanFanFiction "Stranger than Fanfiction"]]

Fanon ("Fan Canon") Discontinuity is the act of fans mentally writing out certain events in a show's continuity that don't sit well, be it a single episode, a season-spanning arc, an entire season or even an entire ''series''. If a plot or [[AudienceAlienatingEnding ending]] rubs one the wrong way severely enough, fandom can just decide that the offending events never happened. On the series level, events may fall under Discontinuity because the show is perceived to [[AudienceAlienatingEra suck at that point]] or [[JumpingTheShark decline too far in quality]]. Events also get "discontinued" for particularly screwing up the characters or setting, and a show that starts to suck will end up screwing things up eventually anyway.

* The ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode [[Recap/CastleS5E6TheFinalFrontier "The Final Frontier"]] has the VocalMinority in the ''Nebula 9'' fanbase calling the continuation webisodes made by some of the original cast members a desecration of the property. They even sent death threats, which Beckett's homicide squad briefly investigated before pronouncing them {{Red Herring}}s.

* As seen in the page image, [[https://xkcd.com/566/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' comic has a guy having the crap beaten out of him by his friends for suggesting that there are sequels to ''Film/TheMatrix''.

** ''FanonDiscontinuity/HarryPotter''

* In the Website/CollegeHumor video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNlAZLCGLuU Luigi Finally Snaps]], Luigi mentions the ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' movie, upon which Mario gets angry and slaps him in the face.
--> '''Mario:''' I told you: we'll never talk about that! It never happened!

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'':
** At the end of ''Film/TheGirlInLoversLane'', the bots are profoundly depressed by the movie's DownerEnding, specifically the sudden, brutal murder of lovable waitress Carrie. Joel offers the bots a refreshing epiphany that more or less ''defines'' Fanon Discontinuity: you don't have to ''accept'' what the movie hands you. The cast promptly begin imagining less depressing endings for the film. This was mentioned in the official episode guide as being based on the universal negative reactions of the writing team upon first viewing the film, and the skit seemed almost psychologically necessary.
** In the episode ''Film/SoulTaker'', Crow and Servo refuse to accept the HappilyEverAfter and claim what ''really'' happened was a DownerEnding where the protagonists' relationship failed and the hero ended up in jail, making bootleg vodka in the toilet. Mike asks if they aren't being a little doom-and-gloom, and they [[SarcasmMode sarcastically]] suggest an ending where everything is [[SickeninglySweet puppies and sunshine and rainbows]]. Mike asks if it ''has'' to be unrealistically depressing or unrealistically happy with no middle ground, and they say yep, it's either toilet vodka or unicorn giggles.
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', we learn that Willow always stops watching ''Film/MoulinRouge'' a few minutes before it ends so she can pretend it has a happy ending. Which means she must not watch [[ForegoneConclusion the first five minutes either]], unless she wants to be confused.
* On ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Phoebe learns that her mother did this with numerous movies because she didn't want her children being exposed to sad things. Right before she [[HypocriticalHumor killed herself]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Marge Simpson has shown such an attitude towards her children, eating a story book about Joan D'Arc to avoid telling Lisa that the French warrior was burned at the stake, commenting it was easier to swallow than the ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' video. A later episode reveals Marge and Homer walked out of ''Film/{{Carrie|1976}}'' after she was crowned prom queen so she could pretend the story ended happily.
** In another episode, Homer has been reading to Lisa at night from what is obviously ''Literature/HarryPotter'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff. He's hesitant to read her the ending because it's sad (a reference to [[spoiler:Dumbledore's death in book six]]), so instead he [[FixFic invents a happier ending]] to tell her. [[spoiler:Later Lisa pulls out a second copy of the book and reads the true ending for herself, then decides that "Dad's ending was better."]]
** Another episode shows that the entire town of Springfield has a parent-wide conspiracy regarding ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. All the parents start the film at the second scene, so the kids don't see the opening where Coral and all the other babies besides Nemo are eaten.
* In Creator/StephenColbert's book ''I Am America and So Can You'', he mentions that he couldn't enjoy ''Theatre/TheLionKing'' Broadway musical because he couldn't turn it off before Mufasa's death.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': In "Topsy" Louise's substitute science teacher is an avid UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison fan, and vehemently denies that Edison ever performed any unsavory experiments involving AC electricity and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_%28elephant%29 a circus elephant.]]
* James of ''WebVideo/SchaffrillasProductions'' insists that ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' is non-canon to the rest of the Shrek franchise.
* In ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'', T-Rex tries to apply discontinuity to [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=291 his own life]]
* In ''Series/QueerAsFolk'', Vince and Stuart are discussing Vince's boyfriend, Cameron, and his apparent lack of interest in Vince's life. Stuart suggests that (since Vince is a huge ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanboy) that within six months '[Cameron]'ll be able to name all the "Doctor Who"s in order. Creator/WilliamHartnell, Creator/PatrickTroughton, Creator/JonPertwee, Creator/TomBaker, Creator/PeterDavison, Creator/ColinBaker, Creator/SylvesterMcCoy.'
-->'''Vince''': What about Creator/PaulMcGann?
-->'''Stuart and Vince together''': Paul [=McGann=] doesn't count! [[note]][=McGann=] would later be VindicatedByHistory thanks to his role in ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'', and is now considered a legitimate Doctor by the vast majority of the fanbase, besides being canonized in New Who.[[/note]]

* ''WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}}'':
** In the ''VideoGame/DarkSeedII'' longplay, Mike Dawson losing at ring toss became a RunningGag, to the point that they even posted a video of just the losing animation. When Mike finally gets the item to cheat at the ring toss carnival game, he steps up to play... and then loses again because slowbeef spliced over the footage of him winning. They then tell the viewer that Retsupurae-canonicity is that Mike Dawson never won the ring toss game and never will.
** In the ''Space Adventure Cobra'' longplay, slowbeef and Diabetus play up minor character Rock Knight as a badass. When Cobra later returns and finds him apparently dead in a burning building, slowbeef immediately yells "NOT CANON" [sic] and insists that it's secretly [[BackupTwin his brother]]. Or that he's such a badass that he's sleeping through the fire and will put it out when he wakes up.
** When riffing ''Metroid: Other M'', slowbeef declares the entire work to be "Sakamoto fan fiction"
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', this can be seen in diehard ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan Susan [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-06-20 shelving the movies out of sequence]] and equally rabid ''Franchise/StarWars'' fan George's [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-04-26 rant about midichlorians]].
* Given UsefulNotes/TheStanleyCup had many periods where fans discuss "that doesn't count" (prior to the UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague, when the NHL was only 6 teams, etc.), hockey writer Sean [=McIndoe=] [[http://grantland.com/the-triangle/passing-judgment-on-your-stanley-cup-title/ decided to see which titles earned to receive such discontinuity]]. [[spoiler:All of them! Though one is given a BaitAndSwitch "yes" [[TrollingCreator to press on Buffalo's]] BerserkButton.]]
* In the Website/CollegeHumor video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNlAZLCGLuU Luigi Finally Snaps]], Luigi mentions the ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' movie, upon which Mario gets angry and slaps him in the face.
--> '''Mario:''' I told you: we'll never talk about that! It never happened!

* In the episode "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Rainbow Dash gets in an argument with another Daring Do fan named Quibble Pants who doesn't want to acknowledge the existence of the later Daring Do books because he thinks they focus too much on unrealistic action clichés. [[RealityIsUnrealistic Despite them actually happening to the real Daring Do.]] This is a reference to ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' often being ignored by fans (Daring Do is based off ''Franchise/IndianaJones'').
* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' episode "Dinosaur Seen in the Sewers!" has the Turtles watching the series finale for the cartoon "Crognard the Barbarian", only to find that [[SuddenDownerEnding he just gets eaten by a dragon and that's it]]. They're extremely disappointed at the anti-climactic ending, and Michelangelo watches it again, but rewinds to just before he gets eaten and pauses it there.
-->'''Mikey:''' Aw yeah, fixed it! See? Now he wins!
* Lee, the narrator of ''WebVideo/CinemaWins'', said at the end of the video for ''Film/{{Logan}}'' that despite liking the movie, he prefers to think of the movie as taking place in an AlternateUniverse to the Film/XMenFilmSeries rather than actually be a part of its universe. ([[AccidentallyCorrectWriting As it turns out]], he's not too far off here -- Marvel's Multiverse officially recognizes ''Logan'' as an alternate future and ''X-Men: Days of Future Past'' as the final chronological installment in the timeline.)
* ''WebVideo/OutsideXbox:''
** In the episode "7 Games Too Ambitious For Their Own Good", Jane says that she liked all three ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' games. And that there were only three games.
** Andy in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn0cK4MKAGc "7 Amazing Sequels That Rescued The Series from Total Disaster"]] insists that the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series stopped at ''VideoGame/Fallout4''.

* ''Anime/ReCreators'' uses this trope as a handicap for AuthorPowers. The two big factors in what determines a Creation's abilities is what the author writes about them and how the audience reacts. If the majority of the audience doesn't like a new ability that the author writes, then it doesn't become part of their "canon" and the Creation who wields it in the real world immediately loses it. [[spoiler:This works against the heroes' side in the ''Elimination Chamber Festival'': the in-universe audience was RootingForTheEmpire, and thus saw all the heroes' new abilities to combat the BigBad as {{Ass Pull}}s.]]

* In [[https://twitter.com/OKBJGM/status/1410639060301795332 this]] Website/{{Twitter}} thread, ''Series/TheMiddleman'' creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach discusses and endorses this trope.
-->earlier, i tweeted that - in the fictions we enjoy - canon only has to be canon if we want it to. we are free to dislike and ignore any part of the story for any reason: it ain't the freakin' rule of law, it's corporate-sponsored {{heroic fantasy}}.... if they can make fiction by the pound, i can choose how much i need to buy.
* Dan of ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'' has expressed he feels this way about the ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'' games, and that he doesn't consider ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVIRogerWilcoInTheSpinalFrontier'' to have happened. Being a die-hard fan of the series who played them as a child, he felt ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVTheNextMutation'' was the perfect ending for the series: Roger Wilco has finally become a captain, has his own ship The Eureka, has a [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits quirky crew]] in Droole, Flo, Cliffy, and W-D40, a loyal animal companion, has met the woman he loved, has saved the galaxy again, and it ends with him being a respected captain who flies off on his next adventure. Thus, he hates the idea that ''Space Quest VI'' pulls a HappyEndingOverride, takes ''everything'' from him to demote him back to janitor, and ends on a [[CutShort cliffhanger that was never resolved thanks to there never being another Space Quest]].
* According to [[http://smbc-comics.com/comic/stars-war this]] ''[[Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal SMBC]]'' comic, God does not aknowledge ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies beyond the original trilogy either.

Fanon ("Fan Canon") Discontinuity is the act of fans mentally writing out certain events in a show's continuity that don't sit well, be it a single episode, a season-spanning arc, an entire season or even an entire ''series''. If a plot or [[SnicketWarningLabel ending]] rubs one the wrong way severely enough, fandom can just decide that the offending events never happened. On the series level, events may fall under Discontinuity because the show is perceived to [[AudienceAlienatingEra suck at that point]] or [[JumpingTheShark decline too far in quality]]. Events also get "discontinued" for particularly screwing up the characters or setting, and a show that starts to suck will end up screwing things up eventually anyway.

[[caption-width-right:300:That's ''Film/TheMatrix'' they're talking about, [[Film/TheMatrixReloaded in case you]] [[Film/TheMatrixRevolutions were wondering]].[[note]]Now there's a ''[[Film/TheMatrixResurrections fourth]]'' one.[[/note]]]]

* ''FanonDiscontinuity/DCAnimatedUniverse''
* ''FanonDiscontinuity/FamilyGuy''