History Main / WriterInducedFanon

** For an example dating back all the way to the first generation, it was assumed for years by fans that Mr. Fuji, of Lavender Town, was the scientist who created Mewtwo, who then retired to the Pokémon Tower to repent. Though Mewtwo's creator in [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the movie]] is called ''Dr.'' Fuji, [[YouDontLookLikeYou he looks nothing like his game counterpart]] and their personalities are very different -- however, this is par for the course for the early anime, so it deterred no one. Despite one line of dialogue that might ''possibly'' suggest that Game!Fuji was at Cinnabar Island at the time that Mewtwo was cloned[[note]]though all it says is that he is friends with Blaine, and [[PixelHunt few people would have read it before the remakes came out]][[/note]] there was still no clear evidence that Mr. Fuji even knows of Mewtwo's existence. However, the ''Anime/PokemonOrigins'' special ''does'' have him be the only person in Kanto who knows about Mewtwo, but still does not go out and say that he in particular cloned him. Most fans have taken it as confirmation, though.

** For an example dating back all the way to the first generation, it was assumed for years by fans that Mr. Fuji, of Lavender Town, was the scientist who created Mewtwo, who then retired to the Pokémon Tower to repent. Though Mewtwo's creator in [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the movie]] is called ''Dr.'' Fuji, [[YouDontLookLikeYou he looks nothing like his game counterpart]] and their personalities are very different -- however, this is par for the course for the early anime, so it deterred no one. Despite one line of dialogue that might ''possibly'' suggest that Game!Fuji was at Cinnabar Island at the time that Mewtwo was cloned[[note]]though all it says is that he is friends with Blaine, and [[PixelHunt few people would have read it before the remakes came out[[/note]] there was still no clear evidence that Mr. Fuji even knows of Mewtwo's existence. However, the ''Anime/PokemonOrigins'' special ''does'' have him be the only person in Kanto who knows about Mewtwo, but still does not go out and say that he in particular cloned him. Most fans have taken it as confirmation, though.

* From ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Ziva having been raped in Somalia. It was hinted at by Gibbs and Vance throughout the beginning of the seventh season and is widely accepted fanon.

* Jude Law and RobertDowneyJr discussed at length the HoYay between SherlockHolmes and [[TheWatson John Watson]] in interviews to the point of leading several groups into believing that the gay subtext between the characters would actually become ''text'' within the film. The actual film portrayal is a fairly straight forward {{Bromance}} between two HeterosexualLifePartners who both have female love interests.

* The [[PokemonBlackAndWhite Striaton Trio]] from PokemonSpecial really being the mysterious [[TerribleTrio Shadow Triad]] of Team Plasma, due to the overwhelming hints. The fact that it's a common theory for the games and anime helps.

* KenAkamatsu's ''MahouSenseiNegima'', ''LoveHina'', and ''Manga/AILoveYou'' are ''heavily'' implied to be set in the same {{Verse}}. He can't outright state this because of legal issues.

Let's say that a show strongly hints at the possibility of Susie having lost a baby as a teenager. Almost all of the fans accept this, but the hints are vague enough so that they can also be interpreted to support the idea that the baby that died was Susie's younger sister. Confirmation for the supporters of the first theory would come in the form of Susie over-empathizing with a mother who has just lost her baby and being very tight-lipped when Joe asks her why (why would be tight lipped if it was her sister?) and getting teary-eyed when watching mothers interact with their children. So while Susie losing her sister fits with the hints (though not as well as the more widely accepted story), it doesn't explain either of these situations, where Susie losing her daughter does.

This is where writers want to include an idea -- any element contributing to the plot or a character -- in canon, but don't want to explicitely state it. As a work-around, the writers hint at the idea until it's [[{{Fanon}} accepted by most of the fandom]].

These hints are usually strong enough that most of the fandom gets the right idea fairly quickly, but not so strong that they can't be ignored or attributed to something else if the viewer dislikes the idea being hinted at. The point is, after all, getting the idea across to a large portion of the fandom while offering a less convenient, but still plausible, alternate explanation for those viewers who don't want to believe.

This tactic is most often employed when writers want to include an element such as mental illness, rape, in older shows, homosexuality, or another sensitive topic in a plotline or a character's backstory as a means of plot or character development, but don't want to explicitly state it to avoid controversy or alienating certain viewers.

If the hints are particularly weak or ambiguous, it can be difficult to determine if they are deliberate or merely a coincidence. Short of a {{Word of God}} confirmation of intent, the easiest way to establish this is if the idea is built on as if it was canon. Bear in mind also that, for this trope to apply, the fanon has to result from the hints. If the fanon existed with more than a few supporters before the idea was hinted at it's just fanon.

----

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* From ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Ziva having been raped in Somalia. It was hinted at by Gibbs and Vance throughout the beginning of the seventh season and is widely accepted fanon.
** The idea is further used throughout the seventh and eighth seasons to help develop Ziva as a character, as well as her relationships with other characters, most substantially Gibbs, Tony, and her father, but remains non-canon.
* Renee Walker having been raped on ''Series/TwentyFour''. While it was pretty evident that she was raped by Vladimir Laitanan during the events of Day 8, the writers never more than hinted at the idea that she was also raped when she was undercover with the Russians before. This is one of the most widely accepted pieces of fanon in the 24 fandom, many fans even considering it canon.
** This idea is later used to help validate what Renee ends up doing to Laitanan.
* From ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Brennan having Asperger's Syndrome was an example of this until she was given a {{Word of God}} diagnosis. [[DeathOfTheAuthor It's still an example of this if you don't consider the Word of God to be]] [[{{Canon}} canonical]].

* In ''OrderOfTheStick'', Belkar Bitterleaf's asked if he caused the death of Roy, Miko, Miko's stupid horse, or the oracle, and got a "yes" answer. When Roy fell several hundred feet onto the ground to his death, many fans assumed this fulfilled the requirements, because without Belkar, Roy would not have been able to engage Xykon for that particular fight and thus would not have died. Later it turned out that the prophecy was less ambiguous as when told this by the Oracle, Belkar doesn't buy it and promptly stabs him to death. The reason why it's here is because in the compilation comic, [[WordOfGod Rich Burlew]] says he deliberately set this trope up so he could subvert it.

* Someone on the fan list for ''WesternAnimation/{{Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers}}'' (where several of the show's writers lurk) brought up the disturbing possibility that the Queen didn't put Zachary in the Psychocrypt right after his capture, but decided to [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty take out some frustrations on him first]], especially since the scene where she's standing over his unconscious body was dripping with some disturbing FoeYay. One of the writers delurked to admit that the writers themselves had very off-color speculations about Her Majesty's sex life. It's about a 50-50 split in the fandom whether she "just" used MindRape, or went for something more... inappropriate for a animated show.

** Bubbline.

* From ''{{NCIS}}'', Ziva having been raped in Somalia. It was hinted at by Gibbs and Vance throughout the beginning of the seventh season and is widely accepted fanon.

* Renee Walker having been raped on ''[[TwentyFour 24]]''. While it was pretty evident that she was raped by Vladimir Laitanan during the events of Day 8, the writers never more than hinted at the idea that she was also raped when she was undercover with the Russians before. This is one of the most widely accepted pieces of fanon in the 24 fandom, many fans even considering it canon.

* From ''{{Bones}}'', Brennan having Asperger's Syndrome was an example of this until she was given a {{Word of God}} diagnosis. [[DeathOfTheAuthor It's still an example of this if you don't consider the Word of God to be]] [[{{Canon}} canonical]].

* From ''{{Bones}}'', Brennan having Asperger's Syndrome was an example of this until she was given a {{Word of God}} diagnosis. [[DeathOfTheAuthor It's still an example of this is you don't consider the Word of God to be]] [[{{Canon}} canonical]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Zuko's mother was banished for committing "treasonous acts", however it's never stated what these acts were. Coincidentally, she was banished right around the time Fire Lord Azulon died. It's now widely believed amongst the fanbase that she was responsible for his death, despite no confirmation in {{Canon}} or by {{Word of God}}.

* ''TheNeverEndingStory'' was basically written with the idea that its readers would write their own stories

* ''AdventureTime'''s creator [[WordOfGod confirms]] that [[CrapsaccharineWorld Ooo]] is supposed to be our world AfterTheEnd when TheMagicComesBack, but the show never states it outright. It does offer hints, though--backgrounds include ruined pieces of society, characters make reference to things from before "the Great Mushroom War," etc. A flashback to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Marceline]]'s childhood seems to be set when the disaster is in progress.

* ''AdventureTime'''s creator [[WordOfGod confirms]] that [[CrapsaccharineWorld Ooo]] is supposed to be our world AfterTheEnd when TheMagicCameBack, but the show never states it outright. It does offer hints, though--backgrounds include ruined pieces of society, characters make reference to things from before "the Great Mushroom War," etc.

This is where writers want to include an idea--any element contributing to the plot or a character--in canon, but don't want to explicitely state it. As a work-around, the writers hint at the idea until it's [[{{Fanon}} accepted by most of the fandom]].

If the hints are particularly weak or ambiguous, it can be difficult to determine if they are deliberate or merely a coincidence. Short of a WordOfGod confirmation of intent, the easiest way to establish this is if the idea is built on as if it was canon. Bear in mind also that, for this trope to apply, the fanon has to result from the hints. If the fanon existed with more than a few supporters before the idea was hinted at it's just fanon.

!!Examples
[[AC:Anime&Manga]]

[[AC:Film]]
* JudeLaw and RobertDowneyJr discussed at length the HoYay between SherlockHolmes and [[TheWatson John Watson]] in interviews to the point of leading several groups into believing that the gay subtext between the characters would actually become ''text'' within the film. The actual film portrayal is a fairly straight forward {{Bromance}} between two HeterosexualLifePartners who both have female love interests.

[[AC:Literature]]

* From ''{{Bones}}'', Brennan having Asperger's Syndrome was an example of this until she was given a WordOfGod diagnosis.
** Brennan is still an example of this is you don't consider the word of God to be [[{{Canon}} canonical]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Zuko's mother was banished for committing "treasonous acts", however it's never stated what these acts were. Coincidentally, she was banished right around the time Fire Lord Azulon died. It's now widely believed amongst the fanbase that she was responsible for his death, despite no confirmation in {{Canon}} or by WordOfGod.
* Someone on the fan list for ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' (where several of the show's writers lurk) brought up the disturbing possibility that the Queen didn't put Zachary in the Psychocrypt right after his capture, but decided to [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty take out some frustrations on him first]], especially since the scene where she's standing over his unconscious body was dripping with some disturbing FoeYay. One of the writers delurked to admit that the writers themselves had very off-color speculations about Her Majesty's sex life. It's about a 50-50 split in the fandom whether she "just" used MindRape, or went for something more...inappropriate for a animated show.

* Someone on the fan list for ''{{Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers}}'' (where several of the show's writers lurk) brought up the disturbing possibility that the Queen didn't put Zachary in the Psychocrypt right after his capture, but decided to [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty take out some frustrations on him first]], especially since the sches where she's standing over his unconscious body was dripping with some disturbing FoeYay. One of the writers delurked to admit that the writers themselves had very off-color speculations about Her Majesty's sex life. It's about a 50-50 split in the fandom whether she "just" used MindRape, or went for something more...inappropriate for a animated show.

* In ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Zuko's mother was banished for committing "treasonous acts", however it's never stated what these acts were. Coincidentally, she was banished right around the time Fire Lord Azulon died. It's now widely believed amongst the fanbase that she was responsible for his death, despite no confirmation in {{Canon}} or by WordOfGod.

* KenAkamatsu's ''MahouSenseiNegima'', ''LoveHina'', and ''AILoveYou'' are ''heavily'' implied to be set in the same {{Verse}}. He can't outright state this because of legal issues.