->''The preceding paragraph is all stuff I just made up. But it's canonical now.''\
-- [[http://truepenny.livejournal.com/596516.html Sarah Monette]]

A statement regarding a controversy in a series. The Word Of God is considered inarguable because it comes from someone thought to be the ultimate authority, usually a creator or executive producer. Such edicts can even go against events as were broadcast, due to someone (a director, most likely, or a bullpen writer) having got it wrong. Can lead to CreativeDifferences.

On a similar note, the term ''Bible'' is sometimes used for the definitive guidelines for writing an episode of a TV series. Where a show might have a lot of details, there can sometimes be a book which contains rules about the show, backstory, forbidden interactions, etc. that book is referred to as the show's [[UniverseBible Bible]].

In the case of AdaptationDecay, fans look for the Word Of God to settle {{Fanon}} disputes, but the Authority may have moved on and doesn't care to respond. In many cases the authority does not feel the ''need'' to respond; further pressure simply leads to suggestions fans are CompletelyMissingThePoint and that ViewersAreMorons.

Note that many people reject the notion of Word Of God, considering something to be {{canon}} only if it appeared in the original source material, and that if the creator wanted a certain fact to be {{canon}} that s/he should have included it in the work to begin with. Some people go even further, considering the uncertainty and ambiguity of {{canon}} to be a ''good'' thing and decry the Word Of God as shackling the imagination and interpretations of the fans -- a belief supported by some modern literary criticism, notably in Wimstatt and Beardsley's "The Intentional Fallacy" and Barthes' DeathOfTheAuthor essay, both of which argue that the author has no right to control what other people think of his or her work.

It's important to remember that if you disagree with the Word Of God, there's nothing wrong with writing [[AlternateUniverseFic fan fiction that contradicts it]], just don't try to foist your preferred {{Fanon}} on fans who acknowledge the official canon or on the actual creator of the work.

If a work has more than one creator and the they disagree with each other on a crucial point, you'll likely see fans embrace conflicting statements. What happens when multiple fans are equipped with the Word Of God?

Bible fight!

See also {{Re Vision}}, {{Dis Continuity}}, CreatorWorship. When the word does not come from the original creators but over time is still treated as such it is WordOfDante. Contrast LyingCreator, FlipFlopOfGod, ShrugOfGod, DeathOfTheAuthor, and WhatCouldHaveBeen. WordOfGay and {{Jossed}} are subtropes.

''Note'': We don't require citations like TheOtherWiki does, however, since this trope is about comments made by a creator about a work of media outside of said work of media, it is highly recommended that citations be provided. We don't particularly want to slander anyone by accident, but more importantly, citations will allow for full-context interviews and thus broader summations of the Word Of God, since we can get it straight from the God's mouth instead of secondhand.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Eiichiro Oda, creator of ''OnePiece'', jokes with this explaining things about the series such as how Zoro can speak with a sword in his mouth (because [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum "it is his heart that allows him to speak."]])
**And many, many others, of varying levels of seriousness.
**Oda in fact runs an entire column in the collected volumes of his work, devoted to Word of God explanations of various ''One Piece'' minutia. He is delightfully laid back about it, sometimes making explanations up on the spot, or even [[SureWhyNot allowing fans to write the canon for him]]:
--->'''Fan:''' I think Chopper's birthday should be December 25th!
--->'''Oda:''' Okay.
* In an interview in the [[AllThereInTheManual "How To Read"]] volume of ''DeathNote'', Tsugumi Ohba expressly states that the random girl at the very end is not in fact Misa Amane and is just stuck in there for the sake of something pretty. Many actively ignore this for the sole reason that they think that's how it should be. Whatever floats your boat, dude.
** Ohba also states that she wanted it clear that dead characters are dead forever and can't come back to life. Sorry, guys, [[HesJustHiding they're not hiding]].
** The Misa issue is somewhat justified since Misa was killed off-screen; no one mentioned her in the epilogue and the author casually said how she died a bit later in the supplementary material. Fans feel this is cheap considering Misa was once a major character of the series.
* The author of the ''SailorMoon'' manga has affirmed that the characters of Haruka Tenou (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru Kaiou (Sailor Neptune) were intended as a lesbian couple. This is heavily hinted at in both the anime and manga, but [[HideYourLesbians never stated outright]] and occasionally a point of contention among some fans.
**Ironically, her husband, the creator of ''YuYuHakusho'', has stated that Sensui and Itsuki are a gay male couple. He experiences as much backlash as she does, because the only open affection shown is on Itsuki's part.
* Masaki Kajishima, the original creator of ''TenchiMuyo'' and the main writer for tje ''Ryo-Oh-Ki'' {{OVA}}s (even called "Kajishima canon" in Japan) is very fond of releasing tie-in novels, factbooks, doujinshis and other infodumps, where he explain his [[TheVerse 'verse]] in more depth -- mainly because he couldn't readily obtain funding for the next series, but still has something to say. These infodumps are generally treated as canon by Japanese fans, but tended not to appear in the West, which, for example, made third series a WallBanger for many fans, as it derailed years of {{Fanon}}.
* The odd translation errors like "New Yark" and the "Great Canyon" from the dub of ''MobileSuitGundam'' were not actually errors. According to one translator, YoshiyukiTomino himself (or "a little bald wizard," as the translator put it) requested the changes; this would not be surprising at all considering the same little bald wizard requested that one episode be taken out of the US release, for [[OffModel very obvious reasons.]]
* Apparently, ''{{Cloverfield}}'''s odd little manga, with monsters being controllable by people, a cult, and Slusho.
* For ''CodeGeass'' Word of God has stated that [[spoiler: Lelouch is, in fact, dead, despite a popular fantheory that he is 'the cart-driver' in the final scene. Many fans choose to discount this with the theory that his identity as Lelouch vi Britannia is dead, but he lives on under the pseudonym of RR.]]
**To add onto the mess, in a few places Sunrise have been actively encouraging the second theory, even to the point where suggesting otherwise. See January 2009 ''Animedia'' for an example.
*** Eventually put to rest by having [[spoiler: C.C say that Lelouch is dead for good]] in the special addition DVD
***That didn't put it to rest. The fandom is still heavily divided.
**** Fandumb aside, WordOfGod has spoken.
* Hideaki Anno, creator of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', does not often comment on Eva unless he feels it is an important issue. The most famous of his statements is the one [[{{Jossed}} jossing]] the theory that [[spoiler: Misato shot Kaji]]. He specified that it was a nameless security agent.
* ''{{Hellsing}}'' creator Kouta Hirano grew tired of fielding questions from detail-obsessed fans about Alucard never being shown reloading his guns in the manga. He got around this in a question-and-answer [[{{Omake}} omake]] by saying that "they're all cosmoguns that hold a million rounds."
* ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' has had Rumiko Takahashi state that the Jusenkyo Nanniichuan (Spring of Drowned Man) will cure Ranma and the other cursed men. It's possible that this clarification would never have needed to have been made, if not for an early plot hole (the Saotomes not getting cured right there and then, and then following the guide to the Joketsuzoku) that then developed a {{Fanon}} theory of its own, and, worse still, a villainous character returning with an extra curse having been "merged" into his original one.
** Similarly, the reason many fans of the series deride Akari Unryuu as a RelationshipSue is because the author has admitted she was created solely for the purpose of giving Ryoga a "happy ending" and someone else to chase after besides Akane when TheRival managed to become so popular with the fans.
** And then there's the {{WordOfGod}} regarding the endless fan speculation about whether girl Ranma can [[{{MPreg}} get knocked up.]] [[spoiler:"I don't think about that, and you shouldn't either!"]]
* The creator of ''{{The Slayers}}'' has insisted that {{Idiot Hero}} Gourry Gabriev actually has the potential to be a sorcerer of power perhaps equal to Lina Inverse.
* ''{{Dragonball}}'' author Akira Toriyama has provided a fair bit of information outside of the manga, ranging from the ages of characters to the structure of the afterlife to how Gods are chosen to Saiyan biology. He's also provided some hard facts that help ground the numerous discussions of "who's stronger than who" (such as saying Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is roughly on par with Super Saiyan 3 Goku, though the way he said it added even more confusion), though not enough for most fans.
* The director of ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' is rather infamous for answering fan questions about "what something means" with BlatantLies. Of course, this is [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Ikuhara]] we're talking about ...

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* When asked where SquirrelGirl, the most powerful hero of the Marvel Universe, was during [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk World War Hulk]], Dan Slott answered that she was [[http://www.brokenfrontier.com/columns/details.php?id=872 occupied fighting Galactus]]. Which makes perfect sense.
* A ''Wizard'' magazine interview with then-current ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' writer Kurt Busiek and artist George Perez asked each one to convey a WordOfGod factoid that nobody else could provide. The contrast is striking: Busiek went for [[ContinuityPorn a one-sentence retcon that filled in a dangling plot thread from an obscure story from the seventies]]; Perez revealed that [[PerverseSexualLust the Scarlet Witch, his favorite character, does not wear underwear]].
* Brian Clevinger himself came onto TVTropes to deliver a WordOfGod in regards to AtomicRobo.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The ''MetalGearSolid'' series contains a great number of mysteries, many of which are introduced in one game, with potential answers hinted at in that game or its sequels, only for the true (and completely different) answers to be revealed in even later games. To this end, in the voice credits for ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', the final game which answers all important questions, Hideo Kojima (the series' longtime writer/director) is credited as the "Voice of God".
** To be fair, that wasn't a joke, he actually has a single line in the game: When [[spoiler:the ghost of Psycho Mantis appears after Screaming Mantis' defeat]], you can hear Kojima scream "Traitor!"
* The Japan-only video game ''NeonGenesisEvangelion 2'' had a set of unlockable files, supposedly based on those of the shadowy organization SEELE and revealing the deep secrets of the series, based on a series of interviews with the show's creator, Hideaki Anno. These include such never-revealed-in-the-anime facts as Yui Ikari being [[spoiler:the daughter of a member of SEELE]], Asuka's mother[[spoiler:'s soul being split in two, the maternal part of which was inside EVA-02]], and the Moons actually being [[spoiler:{{terraform}}ing agents left behind by [[{{Precursors}} a Precursor race.]] The White Moon and the Black were examples of two different seeds of life (Angels and Humans respectively) which were never intended to exist on the same world, with both crashing on Earth]] by pure accident. This extra information might not allow ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' to make ''complete'' sense, but it certainly does help...
* Shigeru Miyamoto made a statement in an interview regarding the timeline of the ''LegendOfZelda'' series which contradicted game canon such as in-game text, fueling the ongoing conflict about the chronology of the games.
**Then again said comment was made before the creation of 4 swords and The Minish cap.
**That comment also might have been a mistranslation, or he might have simply misspoken. The general consensus among ''Zelda'' fans is that Eiji Aonuma's Word Of God overrides Shigeru Miyamoto's, because Miyamoto admittedly doesn't care that much about the storyline of the games, preferring to make a solid game first, and then writing a storyline around said game. Eiji Aonuma is the one who usually works out how where a game fits into the timeline. It's his Word Of God that confirmed the timeline split.
*You've got real trouble when one Word Of God contradicts another. The ''MegaMan Zero'' series ran into this with the character of Harpuia, who was supposed to be male but looked and sounded rather girly -- girly enough, apparently, to fool Capcom of America, who said the character was female. Capcom of Japan corrected this, and later games helped by using pronouns for him more often.
** And then there's the enemy character Poison and Roxy from ''{{Final Fight}}'', who were designed as male-to-female transvestites with breast implants (as one can tell by their masculine faces and voices), apparently because the game designers thought it was acceptable to have a male hero punch female enemies as long as they're not actually real women ([[UnfortunateImplications yeah]]). Needless to say, they got {{Bowdlerize}}d into effeminate-looking punks in the localizations of the SNES versions. When Capcom USA later made ''Final Fight Revenge'', the designers weren't aware that Poison was actually supposed to be a man, so they addressed "him" as a "her" in the game. This was corrected in the Japanese localization of the game. ''Street Fighter IV'' producer Yoshinori Ono later clarified that Poison was still a man in the Japanese continuity, but that he had a sex-change operation in the American continuity. To add even more to the confusion, Poison's partner Roxy, who is also a transvestite, is identified as a woman in the character profiles of ''Capcom Classics Collection'' (possibly due to BlindIdiotTranslation).
*The ''SuperSmashBros. Dojo'' includes a lot of clarifying information about the storyline of ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl'', since all the characters are [[HeroicMime Heroic Mimes]].
** And a major framing scene was cut for time... and because most of the story is reserved until after the end of the mode by hiding it in trophies.
* There's still a ''{{Fallout}} 3'' fan controversy over whether Fawkes is male or female or asexual. Many take Wes Johnson's publicized comments as the Word Of God because he was the voice actor, and the interview with those comments were printed with a shot of him standing with Todd Howard and Pete Hines of Bethesda.
** The Word from the lead designer is: [[http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=912940&st=140&p=13586107&#entry13586107 Fawkes is and was male.]]
* ''ShadowOfTheColossus'' featured sixteen colossi that are not named in-game. Eventually names started to pop-up with sources claiming to be from either Dengeki or Famitsu, which are usually Word Of God sources for Japanese games. Fumito Ueda eventually states in the official artbook that none of the colossi have names -- only nicknames given by the staff during development. Who came up with the reportedly "official" names... nobody knows for sure.
** WordOfGod ''did'' confirm that the game is [[spoiler:a prequel to ''{{ICO}}'']].
* Nasu and the {{Nasuverse}}. Most fans chose to simply ignore Nasu's official statements since the [[FantasyKitchenSink Nasuverse]] is complex enough as it is. It also doesn't help that officially he isn't sure if the Forest of Einasshe thing in ''{{Tsukihime}}'' is canon or just [[RuleOfCool cool fluff.]]
* Every ''{{Myst}}'' fan agrees that there is nothing in the world more annoying than having WordOfGod specifically contradict ''onscreen canon''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The film ''Sunshine'' has ''tons'' of backstory that appears nowhere in the film itself, including the reason why the sun is burning out five billion years ahead of schedule.
** It also explains why the Sun is "Burning out" instead of "Burning up", that's what supposed to happen to the Sun.
*** It also explains why such questionable characters for the Mission, such as Harvey and Searle. The former aparently was a Jack-of-All-Trades who could substitute pretty much any of the other members of the tripulation, AND cheated his way into the mission at a psychological exam. Searle on the other hand was the one that [[spoiler: (correctly)]] theorised that the first mission failed because of a psychological reason and thus was sent to keep the psychological state of the crew in check, except that he then was shown to be a bit too excentric to really keep the crew mind as a high priority.
* Ridley Scott has been very clear in interviews in stating that, in his film ''BladeRunner'', Deckard himself was a replicant. The only clue that this might be true in the movie, though, was the origami unicorn created by Gaff (Edward James Olmos) after Deckard dreamed of a unicorn. Unfortunately for anyone who saw the film in theaters and was trying to add up the clues, the unicorn dream was one of the victims of the ExecutiveMeddling that the film underwent after leaving Scott's hands. The final half of a line by Gaff at the end of the film ("You've done a man's job sir... but are you a man?"), which raises the issue even if it fails to resolve it, was also cut. (It appears in its entirety in "Dangerous Days," the documentary about the making of the film in the 5-disc Final Cut collector's edition.)
* The 2007 ''[[TransformersFilmSeries Transformers]]'' movie left plenty of questions unanswered and a few {{Sequel Hook}}s, and with Transformers fans being who they are have asked a lot of questions. One in particular was whether or not [[TheStarscream Starscream]] took part in the [[spoiler:F-22 assault on Megatron hiding in his alternate form.]] It would certainly be in tradition with the character, and the writers have said SureWhyNot so far. Another question was the unexplained absence of Barricade from the final battle. The comic book depicted him being killed by Optimus Prime, but the writers said they did it deliberately to bring him back in the sequel, ''Revenge of the Fallen''. Despite this, Barricade makes no appearance.
** The tie-in comic series "Reign of Starscream" features Starscream considering firing on Megatron, but deciding against it.
* There's an interesting twist on this in StarWars. Pretty much every character to appear in the Cantina Scenes in ''A New Hope'' and the infamous StarWarsHolidaySpecial has his or her own species and backstory. Some of this came about through various authors, some of it was composed by fans and put on [[http://www.starwars.com/vault/databank/index.html?page=2 the databank]], meaning that fans get to make their own Word of God. Of course, most of this will never be used, and the people who write the books will blithely ignore it if they want.
** Some of them are pretty formulaic, but there are some gems in the Databank. Like the entry for [[http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/slytherbushforb/ Slyther Bushforb]], which is basically {{Noir}} [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]
-->It was a dark night, one that would have undoubtedly been stormy had Coruscant's Weather Control Network permitted it. Not many Nuknogs ever left the filthy swamps of Sump, which is why he knew the dame that walked into his office was trouble with a capital ''trill''.
** A better example is Lucas stomping on the idea that "bringing balance to the Force" involved equalising the Light and Dark sides -- apparently, the Dark Side is inherently an imbalance.
*** As I understand it, what he was saying was more that the *Sith* were the inherent imbalance, since they have a way of, in Episode III's own words, "leaving the galaxy in darkness" (i.e. out of balance, the dark side overtaking the other side). Destroying the Sith, therefore, brings balance.
*** Lucas has also said the Jedi have sex, but cannot form a romantic attachment, not surprisingly a major issue in fanfiction. Karen Traviss has similarly said two Mandalorians are a male couple, and married, but you don't even need to call that Word of God; you can put it together if you read ''Boba Fett: A Practical Man'' and LOTF.
* Toho has stated that KingKong won in both the American and Japanese versions of ''King Kong VS {{Godzilla}}''.
* ''[=~Pan's Labyrinth~=]'' left it ambiguous whether the fairy tale stuff was real or all in Ophelia's head, as if it was intentionally open to interpretation and left for the viewer to decide. However in the DVD commentary, the director Guilermo Del Toro says that it was real, or at least that he believes it is.
* In ''Mr. Brooks'', it's implied that Mr. Brooks' daughter killed a man and hid it from him, but it was off screen and never shown. We never find out definitively whether she did it or not, and some viewers don't accept that she did. However, the DVD commentary says definitively that she did.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Painfully averted with ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents:'' Daniel Handler never clarified anything about the series since its aesop is that you can't solve all the mysteries of the world. Back when the series was still ongoing he still indicated that them ite carried on in various places by the truck was a coffin, and that the thing Olaf had shown at the VFD reunion was a box of matches or a lighter. He also indirectly confirmed that Mr. Poe really was ''that'' stupid and wasn't pulling an act. Other than that, no plot explanations whatsoever, and considering we're talking about a KudzuPlot there, that's saying something.
* JRRTolkien was notorious for constantly reworking ideas and being disorganized, especially considering the scope of his work. Much of what is commonly "known" about ''TheLordOfTheRings'' is actually gleaned from {{Tolkien}}'s authorial notes and letters to others, leading to the oft paraphrased quote that he could spend whole pages describing trees, but never mention if elves have pointy ears.
*Much of the information regarding what happens to the characters after the end of ''{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}'' has come from interviews with JKRowling. Among the "highlights": Ginny's career as a professional Quidditch player; Harry and Ron being high-level Aurors; Luna Lovegood's eventual marriage to a character never even mentioned in the books; Dolores Umbridge being thrown in prison for crimes against Muggle-borns; who killed Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin (Antonin Dolohov and Bellatrix Lestrange, respectively); and that [[WordOfGay Dumbledore was gay]]. JKRowling is also writing a HarryPotter encyclopedia which will contain background information which never made it into the novels, thus turning Word Of God into Word of the Printed Word when it's published.
** Ginny's full given name -- Ginevra -- was also revealed by Rowling in an interview before it was printed in any of the books. This led to tension among fanfic writers, specifically between those "in the know" and those who still insisted on calling the character Virginia.
*** Actually, Ginny's name and a lot of other similar details were presented on Rowling's eponymous web site. Some, like Ginny's full name and a smidgen of Dean Thomas's backstory, made it into the actual novels. Other things were addressed just to satisfy the curiosity of her readership.
** On the subject of Word Of God, JKRowling is a bit of an interesting case, as she is somewhat notorious for contradicting her own writing in the various and sundry interviews she sits for. For example in a "Pottercast" (a podcast produced by the fan site "The Leaky Cauldron") interview given shortly after the publication of ''{{The Deathly Hallows}}'', Rowling stated that the Slytherins all ("quite reasonably") run off to get re-enforcements before joining in the "Battle of Hogwarts" against Voldemort. However, in the actual book, when given the choice to stand by their fellow 'Warters or get the hell outta Dodge, the Slytherins, en masse, make a hasty dash for the exit. None are ever described as having returned to join in the battle. In fact, though Rowling often asserted that there were "good" Slytherins amongst the student body of Hogwarts during Harry's time there, she never actually illustrated this with even a single character from Slytherin House within the novels themselves.
*** Apparently when the current Head of Slytherin came galumphing back with a crowd behind him, said crowd were Slytherins. (Still would have helped to have a named Slyth student among the non-evil.)
*** Keep in mind, however, that part of the confusion comes from POV: the story is written in limited omniscient view of Harry. And Harry doesn't exactly care for Slytherins, so for all we know the crowd could've been Slytherins, other Hogwarts students, or family members of students.
* The ''{{Dragonriders of Pern}}'' fandom could be considered a subversion. Several Word Of God proclamations from Anne [=McCaffrey=] herself have been worked around or outright ignored in fanworks: most notably her proclamation that ''all'' Blue riders and ''all'' male Green riders were gay (born or [[http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=19511 made that way]]).
* ''TheDresdenFiles:'' "Justin's dead! D-E-D dead!", frequent reply of the author to fan theories that Harry Dresden's EvilMentor (whom, canonically, Harry burned to death) may somehow still be alive, and involved in the events of the various novels.
** This might be because the TV series ''did'' bring Justin back... sort of, it's a XanatosGambit or similar plan he set up before his death. However, the books and TV series both inhabit their own separate continuities, so if Jim Butcher says that Justin's dead, then then he's not coming back, people.
* David Weber, writer of (among other things) the HonorHarrington series, occasionally makes proclamations on points of confusion by fans, on the newsgroup featuring him (alt.books.david-weber) and the [[http://bar.baen.com Baen Bar]], a forum maintained by the publisher of many ScienceFiction and {{Fantasy}} works. These are occasionally collected, and posted [[http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/ here]] for perusal by those not reading the forums and/or newsgroup, maintained by Joe Buckley (who's a regular RedShirt in various Baen-published novels; the [[HonorHarrington Honorverse]] has had several Buckleys killed in and of itself).
*In the ''{{Wheel of Time}}'' book series, many fans speculated that [[spoiler:Demandred was disguised as Mazrim Taim]]. This theory persisted until [[{{Jossed}} Robert Jordan himself discredited it.]]
*NeilGaiman has [[http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/11/18/twilight-a-hit-among-comic-book-writers-kids-just-ask-neil-gaiman-and-mike-mignola/ said in interviews]] that he intended Silas from ''TheGraveyardBook'' to be a vampire. On the other hand, he also said [[{{Applicability}} "If you miss it, that's fine. You'll just get a slightly different book."]]
* AaronAllston, writer of part of the XWingSeries, in his [[http://www.aaronallston.com/faq.html faq]] posits what he thinks happened to his characters in the twenty or so years between Wraith Squadron and the Vong War, as well as some details that never made it into the books, like ship names.
* Ironically, ''TheBible'' is one of the ''least'' Word-of-Godded books there is. Which is kind of a shame, really.
** Mainstream Christian belief is that it doesn't really need any more clarification since it ''is'' Word Of God.
** Catholics believe that when the Pope or all the Catholic Bishops as a Whole make Infallible Statements or otherwise appeal to official Church Teaching throughout the ages, it serves to clarify matters that may be the source of significant theological/moral disagreements when using the Bible alone. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit Himself directs this process, making the phrase "Word of God" a very literal one in this case that acts as a Divine Version of this Trope at work in RealLife.
*** Much like there are orthodox and liberal Jews and Muslims, there are differences within the Catholic church (you just can't force one billion people to agree on ''everything,'' after all). Not every Catholic believes in the Infallible Statements (which were implemented in 1870); a great many Catholics, including priests and even bishops, disagree with it. When Benedict XVI broke the excommunication of the [[TheFundamentalist Lefevbrist bishops]], many Catholics thought that this time [[FanNickname Panzer]] [[MoralDissonance screwed up]].
**** Well, The Lefebvrite issue is more of a procedural issue than a Papal Infallibility issue, so it's perfectly fine (as of now -- it changes somewhat if the Lefebvrists get their old jobs back) to criticize the Pope's actions on that regard.
* ''WarriorCats'': Though only hinted at in the actual books (most notably Cinderpelt's fight with Leafpool in ''Twilight''), Word Of God has revealed that Cinderpelt and Firestar is a canon pairing... sort of. Firestar, being a complete idiot when it comes to she-cats, still thinks he and Cinderpelt were "JustFriends".
** The author(s) often give out Word Of God statements. Though many questions are answered with a "why, I can't tell you that" response, fans have learned such things as [[spoiler:Firestar and Scourge being half-brothers]] and [[spoiler:Leopardstar was in love with Tigerstar]].
* In the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' series of books, it is rumored, debated, and shot down by a character, that Usha is Raistlin's daughter. The books never revealed the truth in certain terms however, and debate among readers raged for years until the authors, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman answered the question definitively: [[spoiler:That she is not Raistlin's daughter.]]
* JohnScalzi parodied the controversy over the canonicity of J.K. Rowling's WordOfGay for Dumbledore by posting a list of facts about the protagonist of ''OldMansWar'' on his blog and declaring them canonical. They included "He is allergic to blueberries" and "He is distantly related to Dwight Eisenhower".
* OrsonScottCard's book ''{{Empire}}'' (a prequel, of sorts, to the XBoxLiveArcade game ''ShadowComplex'') ends with an interesting, and quite apt, afterward written by the author about the problems of extremisim in the American Political Parties, which we're told is what moral of the book was meant to be. It's [[BrokenAesop undermined]] however, as the book that preceeded it [[StrawmanPolitical was]] [[AuthorOnBoard not]] [[AuthorFilibuster quite]] [[{{Anvilicious}} so]] [[{{Understatement}} neutral]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In later seasons of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', questions not answered in the actual show tended to be addressed only in {{Joss Whedon}}'s interviews. Some fans considered anything Joss said in an interview to be canon, while others did not and were annoyed by this practice.
* The ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Brain of Morbius" shows the faces of several actors who, depending on your interpretation of the scene, may be Doctors predating the canonical first Doctor. Despite the fact that the {{canon}} is very clear on the fact that the Doctor's lives are all accounted for, some people on the production staff have affirmed that they intended the faces to be earlier Doctors. In any case, it has been enough to prompt most fans to prefer [[EpilepticTrees wild theories]] to the very simple and valid obvious alternative explanation that the faces belonged to someone else. Say, Morbius.
** To be fair, what today is regarded as canon in ''DoctorWho'' was actually only settled on relatively late in the day. For example, it wasn't even established during "The Brain of Morbius" that Time Lords are limited to twelve regenerations (that was first mentioned in "The Deadly Assassin", broadcast the following year). Terrance Dicks, onetime script editor of ''Doctor Who'' and man who introduced the concept of the Time Lords themselves to the show, famously once stated that canon was what the production team could remember on any given day.
* Responding to a message board request, ''Coupling'' creator (and sole writer) Stephen Moffat wrote a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupling_(UK_TV_series)#Post-show_story_provided_by_Moffat breakdown]] of the characters' lives several years after the fourth and final season. This gave Moffat the chance to write an "ending" for the character of Jeff, despite actor Richard Coyle leaving the previous year.
* The new ''Battlestar Galactica'' has occasionally relied on this, such as [[spoiler:producer Mark Verheiden confirming that Six was released from prison as part of President Lee Adama's amnesty to the rebel and Final Five Cylons in the episode ''Revelations'', explaining why she appears in famous final shot of nuked-out Earth]].
** However, the Word of God has occasionally not been helpful. In the episode "Hero" it is revealed that Tigh and Adama served on the battlestar Valkyrie one year before the series begins and were moved to Galactica as punishment after a vital mission failed, contradicting multiple statements that Adama had commanded Galactica for 2-3 years prior to the series. A document seen on-screen in the very same episode suggested he'd actually been in command of Galactica for six years. When asked about the problem, producer Ronald D. Moore said there wasn't a problem, they'd worked it out behind the scenes and it all tracked, but didn't share this explanation with fans, leaving the situation unresolved.
*** Many people resolve this by assuming they were moved ''back'' to Galactica from active duty on the Valkyrie, the punishment being command of an inactive ship.
*In weekly podcasts, the producers of ''{{Lost}}'' have occasionally clarified plot points, such as confirming Jae Lee's death in "The Glass Ballerina" was a suicide. However, they are not always to be taken at their word: before season 3, in a long list of things we ''wouldn't'' see, they named "time travel" and "Desmond running naked through the jungle." Both were seen.
**And both were directly related to each other, making this troper suspect that this was some misdirection on the producer's part. Somewhere out there someone is growing EpilepticTrees at the possibility of this revelation.
*Nearly two decades after the series finale of ''FamilyTies'', and after a couple years of speculation from fans, Gary David Goldberg (the creator of the sitcom) has finally given his own input on [[http://garydavidgoldberg.com/blog/2008/02/wwakd_what_would_alex_keaton_d_1.html Alex P. Keaton's current political leanings]]. Quite naturally, his response has managed to alienate certain fans of the show. The speculations have arose during the 2006 US elections, where Michael J. Fox (who played Alex P. Keaton) was lobbying for the legalization of ESCR. Furthermore, Michael J. Fox has also given his input on Alex P. Keaton's current political leanings (and place of residence).
* TV execs had told creator Ryan Murphy he had the greenlight for season 3 of ''{{Popular}},'' which is why the season 2 season finale was a cliffhanger. After the series was cancelled, Murphy released [[http://www.tv.com/popular/promblems/episode/46014/trivia.html?tag=overview;trivia;see_all_link#trivia the rough outline of season 3]] that he'd already worked out.
* Dan Schneider who runs ''{{iCarly}}'' is very active in this regard. In addition to twittering, set pictures and livejournal discussion, he also posts episodic fact sheets. Some of these contain WordOfGod interpretations of events on the show, one example from the iFight episode, is that Carly was at least a little jealous when Freddie made some comments about Shelby being hot and future wife material.
* The 2008/9 series champions of ''UniversityChallenge'' were officially disqualified after the show aired for including an ineligible player on their team, and the title was thus retrospectively awarded to the former runners-up. However, there has been not a mention of this on the show itself (no doubt the producers are keen to leave the whole sorry business behind them and [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain never speak of it again]]), so the official outcome is still the opposite of that seen on screen.
* No matter how many times WordOfGod states that Robin ''is not'' the titular mother on ''HowIMetYourMother'' fans keep speculating on how Robin can end up being the mother. Not even the fact that Ted keeps referring to her as ''Aunt'' Robin seems to matter to the die hard Ted/Robin shippers.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

*The creator of ''KrazyKat'', George Herriman, officially stated that the title character was "something like a sprite, an elf. They have no sex. So that Kat can't be a he or a she." Despite this, the 1962 animated series made Krazy explicitly female, to avoid controversy.
* Charles Schulz of ''{{Peanuts}}'' stated that Linus' belief in the Great Pumpkin is ''not'' and was ''never intended to be'' a metaphor for faith. There's no reason to think he was that secular... or religious for that matter. Of course, strips later in the run (featuring such things as Linus going door to door to spread the word of the Great Pumpkin, convincing Marcie before she is sent to be "deprogrammed" by her parents) suggest he was open to playing with the idea.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other ]]

* ''{{Bionicle}}'' story writer Greg Farshtey keeps a good relationship with the fan community. Not only does Greg provide Word of God for any question a fan might have, but he sometimes distributes advance information and occasionally allows fans to influence minor details. (Word of Fans?)
* Blizzard Entertainment had a press release to clear up years of endless debates on their forums, declaring that, in fact, 0.999... = 1.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The CCG ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' game has what's known as "BKSS -- Because Konami Said So", a phenomena where certain cards are given rulings that make no sense whatsoever, but are rendered iron-clad enforcable, because Konami -- the game's creator -- said that's how it went. This has become [[WallBanger painfully obvious]] after UDE, the English ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' distributer, refused to administer a ruling on the card "Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster" that completely contradicted the card's text itself; when this discrepancy was pointed out to them, even Konami themselves admitted that the ruling was in error, yet still refused to change it.
* {{Collectible Card Game}}s are a kind of shaky ground, as they're part board game and part tournament game. ''MagicTheGathering'' has a seasonally updated database that updates the wording of ''every'' card in the game, to the point that year-old cards already have official wordings that differ from what is printed on the cards.
**While these changes do not usually affect how the cards work, every so often the game is given a major overhaul that changes many things at once. (Changes to timing rules with the advent of 6th Edition, and the Grand Creature Type Update of 2007 come to mind)
* Gary Gygax, in the years before his death, did go onto a number of Internet forums and served as something of a Word Of God in that he offered rules clarifications and design justifications for the '''DungeonsAndDragons''' rules system he created (though he often resisted doing so due to the fact that he had moved on to a succession of other game systems, namely Dangerous Journeys and Lejendary Adventures). His working with Troll Lord Games on their ''CastlesAndCrusades'' game, mostly through sage advice, seems to have constituted among old-school gamers almost a Celebrity Endorsement of God.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

*SamuelBeckett said that, in ''WaitingForGodot'', Pozzo is not Godot. So perhaps this is ... [[IncrediblyLamePun Word of Godot]]?
** Nor is Godot a metaphor for God.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

*''OrderOfTheStick'' creator Rich Burlew has outright stated that [[VillainProtagonist Belkar]] is ChaoticEvil (and no other alignment is remotely compatible with either his observed behavior ''or'' things like the effects, or lack thereof, of various spells on him); this doesn't stop some fans [[DracoInLeatherPants insisting]] that he is ChaoticNeutral.
**If there were any remaining doubt, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0489.html this comic]] not only explicitly states that Belkar is Chaotic Evil, but [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it by making it the ''literal'' Word Of [[strike:God]] Archon (angel).
*** And if you still don't believe it (fool), Belkar even says so ''himself'' [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0610.html here]]
*Similarly, ''EightBitTheatre'' creator Brian Clevinger has had to repeatedly enforce the idea that Black Belt was KilledOffForReal to the point where a strip which was (presumably) created to actually shoot down a fan theory was titled "Now shut up!".
*Tom Siddell, author of ''GunnerkriggCourt'', is very helpful about providing background info and answering fan questions. So much, in fact, that it's become necessary to [[http://gunnerkrigg.wikia.com/wiki/Word_of_Tom make an index]] to keep track of it all. And there are two threads on the forum (54 combined pages, and counting) consisting of nothing but Tom answering fans' questions.
*In an IrregularWebcomic [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/draakslair/viewtopic.php?t=2898 forum thread]]:
-->Does that mean, that every Death was originally the first person to die by that method?
-->No, it doesn't mean that at all. In #1970: "ACCORDIN' TO THE LAWS OF THE OONIVERSE, CHOO'RE NOW DEFF OF GOIN' BACK IN TIME 'N' MURDERIN' CHORESELF." But what exactly the relevant law is, is not explained. It may or may not have anything to do with being the first person to have gone back in time and murdered oneself. Word Of God.
* No, [[{{Thunderstruck}} Gail Curmen]] is not a closet lesbian, masculine as she may be. Sharon is bi, like she said. There are no secrets in that arena.
* MSFHigh: There are no incubus in the msfhigh universe and there never will be. This is the only known race to be directly stated not to exist in the MSFHigh universe. Though it is for good reason.
* Averted in the ''{{Erfworld}}'' IRC. According to a "news" post on the main site, "You may NOT quote what I say as Word of God. There's a lot of thinking out loud. Anything I say in there is not canon, and may be changed, ignored, or totally reversed."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* ''TalesOfMU'' has a lot of this, possibly driven by the blog format.
* ''DorfQuest'' basically requires Word of God to make sense -- casual statements said after each section end up being important plot points later on.
* Stuart Slade, author of ''TheSalvationWar'', will answer just about any serious question about the logistics of his versions of Hell and Heaven and their relationship with our universe that isn't explicitly spelled out in the story itself. Pretty much none of these are necessary to following the story, but they do make a great display of how much thought he puts into it.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Regarding the ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' ShipToShipCombat and the subsequent Zutara ShipSinking, Bryan and Mike have said multiple times that Aang and Katara were always meant to be the OfficialCouple as far back as when season one was still coming out.
** They have also divulged that Aang does, in fact, have a tattoo [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean there]].
*** What. I need to see that link.
*** This Troper wonder if a context and reference can be provided for this, as the mind boggles at how such a detail could be legitimately brought up in any interview regarding a Kid's show.
** The two of them also confirmed that Jet [[spoiler: really is dead. In commentary, they laughed that he's now in "Hot Guy Heaven"]]. The in-series lack-of-clarity on the issue is later {{Lampshaded}} in season 3.
**They've also confirmed that no, the Air Nomads as a people aren't gonna make a comeback. (which [[AdamAndEvePlot tends to fall on deaf ears.]])
* Butch Hartman stated in an interview that the ghosts in ''DannyPhantom'' are really monsters from a different dimension, that is [[PhantomZone the Ghost Zone]]. Explains why they can have offspring and apparently age, but doesn't explain why some were once human to begin with.
** Which contradicts some of the actual dead ghosts in the series. However, Danny's mom once described them as something like "ectoplasmic manifestations of post-human consciousnenss", which implies that they're simply monsters that ''think'' they're dead humans.
* ''{{Gargoyles}}'' creator Greg Weisman split with Disney and later cited CreativeDifferences at a third season made without his input. Greg himself has addressed many obscure questions otherwise unanswered by show material and is considered the authoritative source, to the point most fans do not consider the last season {{canon}}.
** The comic book moreover continues where the second season left off and completely ignores the third season.
* The creators of ''HeyArnold!'' have purportedly stated that Helga's mother is an alcoholic, although they knew that saying so directly would never fly on Nickelodeon. Incidentally, they said in the same interview his last name is [[spoiler:Shortman]].
*The creators of ''TheSimpsons'' often explain the "real meaning" of various episodes on DVD commentary--such as "Homer's Enemy" being about how a "normal" person couldn't survive in Springfield, or (more recently) "The Principal and the Pauper" being a jab at the JonasQuinn idea.
* The creators of ''KimPossible'', Bob Schooley and Mark [=McCorkle=], have stated on numerous occasions that Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable will be together forever and that they were always meant to get together from the very beginning of the series. The Director Steve Loter has said that the alien villains died, and that Shego and Drakken are definitely dating, at the end of [[StockSeriesFinales Graduation]].
*Christy Marx, the head writer for ''JemAndTheHolograms,'' interfaces frequently with the fans.
* Dwayne [=McDuffie,=] creator of ''StaticShock'', has stated that Richie, Static's sidekick and best friend, is in fact gay, as is his comic book counterpart. When asked if Static knew, he replied "Not yet."
** Dwayne also also runs a Q&A thread about ''Ben10AlienForce'', where he (among other things) [[AllThereInTheManual clarifies such contested points]] as Gwen's magic and Kevin's powers. Some fans like to ignore it, due to the fact that [[LyingCreator he lied]] once, about [[spoiler: Grandpa Max's fate]], though it could be said that lying was the only way to preserve any suspense when asked that question.
* ''TeenTitans'' provided very little backstory for most of the main characters and none at all for the characters created specifically for the show who never appeared in the original comics. However, Word Of God from Amy Wolfram has given us an origin story for the Amazing Mumbo: he was an ordinary StageMagician who got his hands on a real magic wand, which gave him FunctionalMagic at the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity expense of his sanity]]. Yeah, it's a little vague, but still better than nothing, right?
* ''{{Transformers}}'' has featured numerous instances of this, but in particular, ''TransformersAnimated'' featured a [[ContinuityCameo cameo]] by an unnamed red Bumblebee-like robot. When character designer Derrick Wyatt saw that TFWiki.net, in accordance with its policies on nameless characters, was referring to the character as "Little red Autobot," he wrote in and told them that the character was indeed named Cliffjumper and the page should be [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Cliffjumper_(Animated) moved to that name.]]
** Wyatt has become quite a well of information recent, for example heavily implying Highbrow (who was only seen in a flashback) was [[spoiler:secretly killed by Shockwave]].
** Also, he clarified Alpha Trion's role in the Autobot government (He's the civilian leader, as opposed to Ultra Magnus' military leadership).
** Recently, a book called ''The Allspark Almanac'' was published. It is a book comprised of almost nothing ''but'' Word of God. Including...
***The name of the planet Sentinel, Optimus, and Elita visit in "Along came a spider" [[spoiler:Archa-7]]
*** The name of Ultra Magnus' hammer [[spoiler:The Stormbringer]]
*** What Meltdown's creatures were before they were mutated [[spoiler:his lawyer and stock broker]] and the name of his company [[spoiler:Biotech Unbound]]
*** The name of the Street racers at the beggining of "Velocity"
* Zak from ''TheSecretSaturdays'' [[spoiler:is 100% Kur]]. The Antarctic Cryptid wasn't, his parents aren't, he isn't part [[spoiler: Kur]], or whatever strange ideas the fans have.
* Dan Povenmire and "Swampy" Marsh, he creators of ''PhineasAndFerb'' have responded to questions about a few issues, including the first names of the Fireside Girls. Povenmire also commented that [[ToyShip Isabella and Phineas would eventually date when they're older]], even if it doesn't happen on the actual show.
* If you want some Word of God relating to ''TheVentureBrothers,'' swing by [[http://www.adultswim.com/shows/venturebros/indexpage.html#video the official site]] and watch some of the authors' appearances at conventions. (Beware, the third season finale is relentlessly spoiled.) They are just as likely to provide background information as they are ShrugOfGod and SureWhyNot, and are very entertaining while doing it. The DVD commentary also has tons of info that didn't make it into the show.

----
<<|{{Fan-Speak}}|>>
<<|ContinuityTropes|>>
<<|CanonUniverse|>>