History Main / Fanwank

If the canon author tries to do this to his own work, it's called a {{Retcon}}, {{Revision}}, or otherwise some form of ContinuityPorn. In general, fans treat "retcon" as a value-neutral term, whereas "fan wank" carries a connotation of [[SturgeonsLaw being crap]]. That said, fan wank can [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools still be enjoyable]], especially if the author is [[LampshadeHanging clearly aware of how ridiculous the theory is]], and some fan theories can even be adopted by the original work in the form of AscendedFanon (or a ShrugOfGod, which means no canon commitment either way and gives the fans room to work with).

This is YMMV for a reason however, as the sheer amount of Fan Wank in existence shows that a lot of people, at least within fandoms, really like it.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Following the ''ComicBook/New52'' reboot, it took a while for Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain to show up (not until ''Batman Eternal'' and ''Batman and Robin Eternal'', respectively). Fans have wanked in the interim that they either didn't exist in this continuity, or if they did, that they were either in UsefulNotes/HongKong or some beach resort just hanging out and probably doing a variety of recreational drugs. When they finally showed up, they had more or less the same backstories as before.

* In ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' continuity following the ''ComicBook/New52'' reboot, it took a while for Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain to show up (not until ''Batman Eternal'' and ''Batman and Robin Eternal'', respectively). Fans have wanked in the interim that they either didn't exist in this continuity, or if they did, that they were either in UsefulNotes/HongKong or some beach resort just hanging out and probably doing a variety of recreational drugs. When they finally showed up, they had more or less the same backstories as before.

* Comic book superheroes lend themselves well to UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny-style battles, and {{crossover}} wanks between Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} and Creator/{{DC|Comics}} characters are common. ''Comicbook/MarvelVersusDC'' tried to take advantage of this by pitting Marvel and DC characters against each other and determining the winner by fan vote. The most controversial here was [[Franchise/XMen Wolverine]] against ComicBook/{{Lobo}}; although Wolverine [[PopularityPower unsurprisingly]] got more votes, this was back when Wolverine wasn't yet functionally immortal, but Lobo ''was'' and had fought Franchise/{{Superman}} to a standstill. Even the comic book artists couldn't figure that one out, so they had the fight [[TakeOurWordForIt take place offscreen]]. Fans wanked that Wolverine bribed Lobo to take a dive; a later ''Lobo'' comic claimed it was Professor X who paid Lobo to take the dive (to spare Wolverine's ego and reputation).

* In [[https://youtu.be/zTnECu4zeiQ this video (in Portuguese)]] by Brazilian Youtuber ''Cometa Toon'', he says that in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' there is a pre-Big Bang universe made of magic (which is a chemical element just like oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, et al) all around of "our" universe that is accessible by the Gems' gems, and after this magic gravitationally attracted itself until it became a sphere so dense and heavy that its only option was to explode in the Big Bang, which spread magic throughout the universe, but not in "our" universe, in a universe parallel to "ours". At the center of the Big Bang explosion, this magical universe made a dimensional rift, connecting with "our" universe and close to such a rift was a star "big enough to have gravity" and therefore attracted the magic to its orbit, but because the star could no longer absorb the elements that kept it alive, magic entered the dying star, restoring its life and giving it consciousness. One day, when the star observed that on its closest planet there was a shining stone, which was formed into the first Gem of all. After getting to know this Tem better, the star decided to use all its remaining magic to create new Gems on the planets that surrounded it. And Gems are made by injecting this magic into the earth in a concentrated state, which Injectors can access through their big crystals just like Gems can, and the Warp Pads are made from some kind of metal infused with magic, and, unlike the Gems or the star, the pads did not gain consciousness but gained teleportation powers. It all, incredibly, started as a way to explain the lack of the law of conservation of mass in the cartoon.

* [[https://youtu.be/zTnECu4zeiQ This video (in Portuguese)]] by Brazilian Youtuber ''Cometa Toon'' says that in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' there is a pre-Big Bang universe made of magic all around of "our" universe that is accessible by the Injectors' big gems, and after the Big Bang this magical universe made a hole in "our" universe and gave its magic to a dying star, restoring the star's life and giving it consciousness. One day, when the star was playing with its planet, the star accidentally created the first gem(s), and the Warp Pads are made from some kind of metal infused with magic, and as metal is not a gem or a star, the pads did not gain consciousness but gained teleportation powers. It all, incredibly, started as a way to explain the lack of the law of conservation of mass in the cartoon.

** A whole book was written to explain the simple not-quite-an-error in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E1WarriorsofTheDeep Warriors of the Deep]]" when the Doctor claims he tried to negotiate peace between the humans and the Silurians ''twice'' when he'd only done that once -- the story's writer was presumably including the Sea Devils, a cousin to the Silurians, in that count.

** The question of whether or not the Balrog had wings is a contender for the fan wank debate to rule them all. The wording in the original book and elsewhere in Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium is ambiguous; while the Balrog does "fly", that could easily be metaphorical. Fans argue over whether or not the Balrog dying by falling off a cliff means anything (because if it had wings it could have just flown back up, except if he was killed on the way down, or if it was just too heavy to stop its fall once it had any downward momentum). The [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings film version]] (as well the Amazon's [[Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower version]] which takes after the movies) has wings, but mostly because Creator/PeterJackson's own fan wank says it does, and this says nothing about Creator/JRRTolkien's original version. Some people make fun of the debate by jokingly wanking about whether the Balrog had fuzzy bunny slippers (as it appeared to have in Creator/RalphBakshi's AnimatedAdaptation).
** Tom Bombadil is a divisive character (divisive enough not to be featured in the films) with a ton of debate over his true nature -- was he a random nature spirit, an avatar of the world as a whole, or [[GodWasMyCopilot one of the Valar or Ilúvatar in disguise]]? (The best [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] explanation is that he is a holdover from an early version of the story with more tonal similarity to ''Literature/TheHobbit''. His inclusion in the eventually more adult and complex narrative was by then an anachronism, but which suited Professor Tolkien's meta-concept that there should always be things in the world that defy explanation.)
** Since the Eagles saved Frodo and Sam at the end, why didn't they simply fly the Ring to Mount Doom? It's very explicit in the original book that the Fellowship required stealth and secrecy; destroying the Ring was their best hope precisely because Sauron wouldn't expect anyone who has that kind of power to want to destroy it, and it was decided that the best way to do that was to send a small party to sneak into Mordor unnoticed. But no one explicitly brings up the Eagles as an option, even just to dismiss it. So readers are left to connect the dots that a GiantFlyer heading straight into the heart of enemy territory isn't exactly stealthy (and Sauron had his own flying units which could match up against them). Once the deed was done, ''then'' the Eagles could fly in and save Frodo and Sam (which they weren't even expecting, thinking that they were basically on a SuicideMission). Tolkien reiterated this in a letter, saying that the Eagles were "not taxis", that the mission depended on stealth, and that he deliberately put the Eagles in to represent the [[DeusExMachina hand of providence]] (though admittedly a "dangerous" device already used to "the absolute limits of... credibility"). Aside from this, fans have thought of other reasons why not:

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has at least two of these: one in ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' during the teamup episodes with ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'' and the other during ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder.

** [[Series/PowerRangerDinoThunder Dino Thunder's]] specifically deals with Tommy's degree: a doctorate in paleontology. Tommy graduates high school in 1997 and leaves partway through ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', though I don't think it's specified when exactly, only that it happens after Justin starts at Angel Grove High School before Tommy leaves. Dino Thunder (despite what the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Timeline/PowerRangers timeline]] says) takes place over the 2003-2004 school year by the 'Class of 2004' banner we see in the final episode. Tommy has roughly 5 and a half years to complete every single degree he'd need to be a doctor of paleontology. To get that degree, it takes 8 years at minimum up to 11 years to complete. Tommy either straight up skipped getting his master's degree and went from undergrad to his Ph.D. studies, took no semesters off, or did some sort of combo degree (undergrad/masters or masters/Ph.D.) where he could get the degrees in less time, if not some combination thereof.

* Finding “subtle {{foreshadowing}}” in something that was not meant to be such in order to retroactively justify an AssPull;

* Justifying HollywoodTactics or anything done in the RuleOfIndex as being appropriate InUniverse.

** Since the Eagles saved Frodo and Sam at the end, why didn't they simply fly the Ring to Mount Doom? It's very explicit in the original book that the Fellowship required stealth and secrecy; destroying the Ring was their best hope precisely because Sauron wouldn't expect anyone who has that kind of power to want to destroy it, and it was decided that the best way to do that was to send a small party to sneak into Mordor unnoticed. But no one explicitly brings up the Eagles as an option, even just to dismiss it. So readers are left to connect the dots that a GiantFlyer heading straight into the heart of enemy territory isn't exactly stealthy (and Sauron had his own flying units which could match up against them). Once the deed was done, ''then'' the Eagles could fly in and save Frodo and Sam (which they weren't even expecting, thinking that they were basically on a SuicideMission). Tolkien reiterated this in a letter, saying that the Eagles were "not taxis", that the mission depended on stealth, and that he deliberately put the Eagles in to represent the hand of providence (though admittedly a "dangerous" device already used to "the absolute limits of... credibility"). Aside from this, fans have thought of other reasons why not:

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': All the indoctrination theory was [[https://www.thegamer.com/mass-effect-3-ending-writer-idea/ commented]] by [[WordOfGod Chris Hepler]] with “The Indoctrination Theory is a really interesting theory, but it's entirely created by the fans. While we made some of the ending a little trippy because Shepard is a breath away from dying and it's entirely possible there's some subconscious power to the kid's words, we never had the sort of meetings you'd need to have to properly seed it through the game. We weren't that smart. By all means, make mods and write fanfic about it, and enjoy whatever floats your boat, because it's a cool way to interpret the game. But it wasn't our intention. We didn't write that.”

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': All the indoctrination theory was [[https://www.thegamer.com/mass-effect-3-ending-writer-idea/ commented]] by Chris Hepler with “The Indoctrination Theory is a really interesting theory, but it's entirely created by the fans. While we made some of the ending a little trippy because Shepard is a breath away from dying and it's entirely possible there's some subconscious power to the kid's words, we never had the sort of meetings you'd need to have to properly seed it through the game. We weren't that smart. By all means, make mods and write fanfic about it, and enjoy whatever floats your boat, because it's a cool way to interpret the game. But it wasn't our intention. We didn't write that.”

* In the ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' games, whether Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are cats, dogs, or whatever. Many forums moderators decided that people are free to call them whatever, but if there's any argument they are "officially" the three legendary ''gerbils''. ''WebAnimation/PokemonGenerations - Episode 6: The Reawakening'' seems to suggest they are dogs, but raises more fan wank than it settles.

** The Legendary Beasts from ''WebVideo/PokemonGenerations Episode 6: The Reawakening'', which were seen in silhouette form from before they became the Legendary Beasts and looked more like normal dogs than any existing Pokémon. It was meant to resolve a ''different'' fan wank question (''i.e.'' whether the Legendary Beasts were canine or feline Pokémon), but some fans latched on to the scene to argue that they were totally different, not yet revealed Pokémon, and others thought they were Houndour.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' fan wank topics include:

** The Legendary Beasts from ''Pokémon Generations Episode 6: The Reawakening'', which were seen in silhouette form from before they became the Legendary Beasts and looked more like normal dogs than any existing Pokémon. It was meant to resolve a ''different'' fan wank question (''i.e.'' whether the Legendary Beasts were canine or feline Pokémon), but some fans latched on to the scene to argue that they were totally different, not yet revealed Pokémon, and others thought they were Houndour.

** The question of whether or not the Balrog had wings is a contender for the fan wank debate to rule them all. The wording in the original book and elsewhere in Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium is ambiguous; while the Balrog does "fly", that could easily be metaphorical. Fans argue over whether or not the Balrog dying by falling off a cliff means anything (because if it had wings it could have just flown back up, except if he was killed on the way down, or if it was just too heavy to stop its fall once it had any downward momentum). The [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings film version]] (as well the Amazon's [[Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower show]] which takes after the movies) has wings, but mostly because Creator/PeterJackson's own fan wank says it does, and this says nothing about Creator/JRRTolkien's original version. Some people make fun of the debate by jokingly wanking about whether the Balrog had fuzzy bunny slippers (as it appeared to have in Creator/RalphBakshi's AnimatedAdaptation).

** The question of whether or not the Balrog had wings is a contender for the fan wank debate to rule them all. The wording in the original book and elsewhere in Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium is ambiguous; while the Balrog does "fly", that could easily be metaphorical. Fans argue over whether or not the Balrog dying by falling off a cliff means anything (because if it had wings it could have just flown back up, except if he was killed on the way down, or if it was just too heavy to stop its fall once it had any downward momentum). The [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings film version]] has wings, but mostly because Creator/PeterJackson's own fan wank says it does, and this says nothing about Creator/JRRTolkien's original version. Some people make fun of the debate by jokingly wanking about whether the Balrog had fuzzy bunny slippers (as it appeared to have in Creator/RalphBakshi's AnimatedAdaptation).

* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' obliquely references the concept in one of the ''Nyaruani'' shorts: In a FourthWallMailSlot segment, a reader asks for an explanation for why the order of Mahiro and Nyarko's classes is different between the novel series and a short story. Nyarko's response is to angrily tear the letter into confetti.

* The ending of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has inspired FanWank that is enveloping the entire series. This is one of the reasons that Bioware released an extended ending DLC. Allegedly it was the intended effect, if the head writer really did write "[[AC:LOTS OF SPECULATION FROM EVERYONE]]" in his notes on the ending. [[DownerEnding Most fans took this in a direction he didn't intend.]]
** The FandomRivalry between it and Halo is all but guaranteeing a mountain of Fanfic.

"Wank" originates in British slang as a term for [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbation]]. Thus, "fan wank" refers to writers stroking their own egos by writing at length about things only they care about. The term was coined by ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan and ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' writer Craig Hinton, who was no stranger to fan wank himself, and applied the term to his own work. That said, some fandom circles also use "wank" to refer to a fan behaving [[UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish like a wanker]], such as BrokenBase feuding and other gross displays of FanDumb.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' fans do this a lot, due to a combination of slow lore updates and [[ShrugOfGod limited input.]]

** In an early fight in ''Manga/GoldenWind'', Giorno's Stand, Gold Experience, is pierced by a Stand arrow used by Polpo's Black Sabbath. This turns into a PlotHole later on, where it's revealed that [[spoiler:if a Stand is pierced by an arrow, it evolves into its Requiem form, gaining new abilities]]. One common explanation is that [[spoiler:since the arrow used to turn Silver Chariot and Gold Experience into their Requiem form has a unique, scarab-shaped design, that specific arrow is somehow special, and the only one which can unlock a Stand's Requiem form]]. However, this is never explicitly stated, and is in fact rather unlikely considering how [[spoiler:all of the arrows, including the so-called "Requiem Arrow", were made from the same meteor, meaning that they should all be identical other than their shapes]].