Examples of I Knew It! relating to western animation TV shows.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- Ursa being a part of Fire Lord Azulon's assassination was finally confirmed in season 3. Sort of an Untwist since it was heavily implied from the beginning.
- The general fan consensus was that the series' final showdown would be Aang vs. Ozai and Zuko vs. Azula. Of course, that was pretty clearly spelled out throughout the series, so (in the absence of a totally out-of-left-field-plot-twist) it's not a big surprise it turned out that way. It's also what happened in the Ember Island players, during Sozin's Comet, making it an in-universe I Knew It!.
- Even the name of Katara's mother (Kya) got called. Of course, it had shown up in the pilot as Katara's alternate name.
- With many fans waiting and hoping to finally see Firelord Ozai proper (since his face was obscured in shadow in all of his appearances throughout the first two seasons), One Fan artist was actually awesome enough to guess what Ozai's face looked like months before season 3 started. No.
Seriously.◊ - The infamous season 2 finale was particularly effective because everyone was calling Zuko's Heel–Face Turn from various points in the series (by "The Blue Spirit" the fandom had pretty much guessed this fate for him).
- The Legend of Korra:
- For book two, hardly anyone was surprised that Unalaq was being set up to be a primary antagonist. What a lot of people didn't see coming however, was that Varrick, a charming business mogul seemingly helping out our heroes, was actually one of the bad guys, working toward his own Corrupt Corporate Executive ends. Those that did notice that something wasn't quite right about his behavior got a significant "called it!" moment when he got outed.
- Since the first season of The Last Airbender, fans have been speculating that if Airbenders weren't such strict pacifists, they could be incredibly dangerous, with the most frequent example being asphyxiating someone with their powers. In season 3 of The Legend of Korra, that's exactly what the Big Bad did to the Big Bad Wannabe.
- And of course, whenever a work has more than one female character, they're going to be shipped by part of the fandom. It being canon, in a cartoon no less, was, however, unexpected.
- Some Batman Beyond fans speculated that Terry and Matt's parents were divorced because the boys both look nothing like their father (they have black hair, compared with Mary who is a redhead and Warren whose hair is light brown - genetically improbable). Flash forward to the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue" which doubles as a Fully Absorbed Finale, and CADMUS had Warren's genetic material overwritten with Bruce Wayne's, making him the boys' biological father. According to the series' staff, this decision was an Ascended Fanon motivated by the realization of said genetic improbability.
- Some fans of Ed, Edd n Eddy correctly guessed that The Movie would reveal Eddy's brother and that he would turn out to be the antagonist.
- When the Hulu revival of Futurama was announced to premiere in 2023, many fans wondered if this would mean the return of Kif and Amy's children born in 2003's "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch," in which Kif says the children will sprout legs and crawl onto land in twenty years. When the revival's episode titles were leaked, these fans paid special notice to the title "Children of a Lesser Bog," as the use of "children" and "bog" could refer to the fact the tadpoles will emerge from a bog, indicating a Sequel Episode about Kif and Amy raising the children at last. This all turned out to be correct.
- Gravity Falls:
- The identity of the Author of the Journals was one of the biggest mysteries on the show, and the focus of the first half of season two. One of the more common fan theories early in the show's run was that he's Stan's long-lost twin brother. Midway through season two, this was confirmed to be true, and that an incident with the portal had him stuck traveling the multiverse for the last thirty years (which became part of the theory after the season one finale). The following episode went on to confirm another part of the theory, that being that they are both named "Stan": Stanley and Stanford, though the episode played with this one, as the Stan the kids have been living with is Stanley, not Stanford like they (and the fans) originally thought. To avoid confusion both in-universe and for viewers, the Stan they have been living with is still called Grunkle Stan, with the author being Grunkle Ford. Frankly, the only major part of the theory that didn't pan out was the idea that Grunkle Stan was part of the original research team, an idea referred to as the Mystery Trio by fans, consisting of the Stan Twins and Fiddleford McGucket. In actuality, Stanley was only involved at the last second, when Stanford was shutting the entire operation down. In response to the fans figuring all this out almost two years before the reveal, the creator... well, his response is currently the trope picture for Trolling Creator.
- 'Mason' was a common choice as to being Dipper's real name, due to it starting with the same syllable as 'Mabel.' The theory exploded with popularity after Alex Hirsch confirmed Dipper and Mabel's names have a similarity. Mason was confirmed to be Dipper's real name in Gravity Falls: Journal 3.
- Hazbin Hotel: As early as the pilot, many fans guessed that Vaggie wasn't a true sinner like she claimed, but rather a Fallen Angel. The two most damning pieces of evidence were the X over her missing eye mimicking that of an exorcist and her signature weapon looking suspiciously like an angelic spear, but audiences also latched on to her not looking like all that much like a moth demon as the show creators claimed (especially in comparison to fellow moth demons like Valentino), and just being way too nice and lacking of any egregious vices for someone damned to Hell. Episode 6 of Season 1 would indeed reveal that Vaggie was a former angel, having worked as a exorcist before having her wings and left eye removed and being left for dead in Hell a few years earlier, when a fellow exorcist saw that she refused to kill a demon child. Humorously, the show would lampshade how obvious the reveal was in the following episode by having Carmilla Carmine instantly figure it out, commenting that "it's not rocket science" to realize the truth.
- The Hollow: In season one, many fans assumed that one character's romantic rejection of another was due to them not being straight. This is confirmed in Season 2, when Adam comes out to Kai. Mira already knew due to being his Childhood Friend, but had forgotten the previous season due to the mind wipe, hence her advances towards him.
- Kaeloo: After Pretty's debut in season 2, a lot of fans were convinced that the enmity between Pretty and Stumpy was actually Belligerent Sexual Tension. In season 3, it is confirmed that they actually like each other.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- For a while, Rainbow Dash was the only character in the group that lacked a pet, so fans predicted that she would eventually get one; specifically in the form of a turtle or tortoise, to contrast with her Lightning Bruiser traits. This would eventually occur in the episode "May the Best Pet Win", wherein Rainbow Dash is looking for a pet specifically because she feels left out in that regard. Some fans had also theorized she'd get a falcon that would complement her abilities, which also appeared in the episode as a runner-up choice.
- Princess Luna had many theories surrounding her, but nearly all of them shared some common elements, such as being a Fish out of Temporal Water due to 1000 years of culture shock, becoming The Atoner because of that whole Nightmare Moon thing, many ponies still hating and fearing her because of her past, and one - or all of - the Mane Six helping her adjust and be accepted. When her first A Day in the Limelight episode premiered, it confirmed every single one of these. The only difference was that instead of being the Shrinking Violet fans assumed she'd be, she ended up being a Large Ham with absolutely No Indoor Voice instead.
- Also, as ruler of the night, it was also speculated that Luna has dominion over dreams, or is even a Dream Weaver. "Sleepless in Ponyville" confirmed that she is a Dream Walker, and that keeping ponies safe in their dreams is one of her duties.
- Many fans theorized that, after the events of "Boast Busters", The Great and Powerful Trixie's livelihood was essentially ruined by her being exposed as a fraud, and she would one day return seeking revenge on Twilight Sparkle. Others claimed she would eventually fall into Defeat Equals Friendship. Cue the season three episode "Magic Duel" and both turned out to be true, though the character wouldn't truly befriend any of the main cast for another three seasons. Unlike Luna's case, by this time the writers were well aware of the show's fandom, so this could have been a case of Ascended Fanon.
- Ever since "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" it was widely speculated that the parents of Big Macintosh, Applejack and Apple Bloom were dead. "Apple Family Reunion" hinted at this, with Word of God confirming this shortly after, stating the shooting stars at the end were meant to represent them.
- Scootaloo's hero worship of Rainbow Dash, combined with how she's the only Cutie Mark Crusader without a known sister, led to speculation that Scootaloo views Rainbow Dash as her Cool Big Sis, which was confirmed by "Sleepless in Ponyville."
- "Keep Calm and Flutter On" confirmed many theories surrounding Discord, including that he's still aware of his surroundings after being sealed in stone, that he would again be released to try and reform him (though going against all expectations Celestia is the one to do it), that Fluttershy will be the one to change his ways by being kind yet firm, and that he's a colossal jerk because he's never had a single friend.
- Before the airing of the Season 3 finale, "Magical Mystery Cure", some fans had discussed and correctly guessed Twilight becoming an alicorn princess. With one artist in particular even predicting the Elements of Harmony being involved.
- A more minor one, but many fans guessed that, despite being played by Rainbow Dash in the in-universe play in "Hearths Warming Eve", Commander Hurricane was in fact male. The Journal of the Two Sisters confirms this to be true.
- The revelation in "Daring Doubt" that Ahuizotl is actually a guardian character and that Daring Do was capitalizing off of stealing artifacts from him rather than actually foiling him of committing evil was predicted nearly word-for-word well over a year before the episode aired by fans who noticed that his actual on-screen "villainy" in Daring Done involved unleashing a heat wave on a valley where the native creatures who lived there apparently wanted it to happen.
- A long-time fan theory is that Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops/Bon Bon were a pair of lesbian lovers and that all the Ship Tease and the "They're BEST friends" thing was a tongue-in-cheek way of the writers to effectively scream "yes they are lovers". This little Meaningful Background Event in "The Big Mac Question", which was later confirmed on Twitter and ended in a marriage in the Series Finale, made it clear that yes they are in fact an Official Couple.
- OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes: Season three confirmed two long-standing fan theories about Laserblast; that he’s KO’s father and that he’s actually Professor Venomous. While the former was far from universally accepted, the latter was a borderline Captain Obvious Reveal, as nobody was blind enough to miss that Laserblast and Venomous look and sound exactly the same aside from skin color.
- Phineas and Ferb: The Fireside Girl Ginger bears an uncanny resemblance to Candace's best friend Stacy, leading to a fanon that they're sisters. Said fanon was confirmed to be true in "For Your Ice Only".
- In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, fans thought that since Mayor Jones looks nothing like Fred and acts like a Jerkass to him that he can't possibly be Fred's father. The season one finale proved them right.
- The Simpsons had a couple of these. The Cliffhanger "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" had fans correctly guessing Maggie as the gunman within a few hours after the first part had aired. Also, when it was announced that in an upcoming episode of the eleventh season a long-running character would die, a large number of message boards concluded that Maude Flanders would be the one to go. The episode title revealed them to be correct.
- South Park:
- A behind-the-scenes example: Ten years after "The Return of Chef" aired, Isaac Hayes' son revealed that the decision to quit the show was not in fact his father's, and that any later word from Hayes on the matter was simply him blindly following the Church's script after a stroke he'd suffered earlier that year. In response, Parker states that he and Matt "knew there was something way more rotten going on."
- The identity of Mysterion in "The Coon" wasn't definitely given, since most of the children have the same face and no hair was visible when he unmasked. Many fans guessed that Mysterion was Kenny, which would be confirmed in the "Coon and Friends" trilogy.
- A behind-the-scenes example: Ten years after "The Return of Chef" aired, Isaac Hayes' son revealed
- Star Wars Rebels:
- Not many people were surprised to learn that Gall Trayvis, an ally to the Ghost crew during Season 1, was actually an Imperial agent who was trying to lure out and crush potential rebel threats.
- After Lucasfilm declared the old Star Wars Expanded Universe non-canon and rebranded it as the separate Star Wars Legends continuity, many fans began speculating that some of the most popular elements of the Expanded Universe would eventually make their way back into the main Star Wars universe. One of the most popular candidates was the perennial Ensemble Dark Horse Grand Admiral Thrawn, one of the most popular villains ever introduced in the Expanded Universe. Some fans were absolutely adamant that he would show up again, even though Timothy Zahn's The Thrawn Trilogy — where Thrawn was first introduced, and where he was Killed Off for Real — was no longer Canon, meaning that the character's entire story would have to be completely retold. But in 2016, it turned out that they were right after all: a trailer for Season 3 announced that Thrawn would be a major antagonist, indicating that he now officially exists in the same universe as Finn, Rey, Poe Dameron, and the rest of the gang.
- Speaking of that Season 3 trailer, it included a scene with what appeared to be a new Fulcrum, via an electronically-masked voice and holographic logo, telling the main characters about cadets at an Imperial academy that wanted to defect. Many fans called their identity as being Agent Kallus based on the sound of their voice alone, even before people started posting audio edits pitching Fulcrum II's voice up online. Come "An Inside Man", it was officially revealed to be the case. Kudos must go to the writers for doing The Reveal of Fulcrum II's identity in a way that did not assume that the fans were stupid and wouldn't have guessed who they actually were.
- Star Wars Resistance:
- Based on the way he acts, some people correctly guessed that Captain Doza was a former Imperial officer before it was revealed in "Secrets and Holograms".
- After the Colossus' underwater sections were revealed in "The First Order Occupation" and concept art showed that the shape of the Colossus as a whole was similar to Skystrike Academy, speculation began that the Colossus was actually a space station or spaceship. This was confirmed in "No Escape, Part I".
- Tangled: The Series:
- Eugene's parentage is King Edmund, thus making him the Prince of the Dark Kingdom.
- Cass's recurring association with the moon opposite to Rapunzel's association with the sun will mean something. She ends up being Rapunzel's moonstone counterpart in the Season 2 finale.
- That someone, a main character, will be Rapunzel's moonstone counterpart. That person is Cassandra.
- That Cass's true parentage is Gothel. Along with that many assumed that when Rapunzel found out she would say that meant she and Cass were sisters.
- Varian breaking out of prison and teaming up with his cellmate, although most expected it to be Caine rather than Andrew.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): The season one finale finally confirmed that Karai is indeed Splinter's daughter Miwa.
- A Season Two episode had Raphael's pet turtle mutate, something that viewers assumed would inevitably happen since the beginning, theorizing he would become either Tokka, or Slash (which was correct).
- For Transformers: Animated, nearly everyone guessed from the start that Sari was actually a robot/cyborg. A smaller contigent figured out that the Autobots' ship was actually Omega Supreme and that Magnus was a title rather than a name. The full form of the most commonly seen "Sari is a robot" theory was " Sari is actually Arcee, or should we say "Arsi"," which turned out to be completely wrong.
- At the end of The Venture Brothers first season, Hank and Dean are killed by The Monarch's henchmen, and the two prominent fan theories about the second season were that Hank and Dean were clones (Dr. Venture's comment upon seeing the bodies was a deadpan "Get the clones") or that Thaddius and Jonas, Jr. would be the "Venture Brothers" of the second season. The first theory proved correct and served as a major plot point for the next several seasons. The second theory was also subverted, as the title sequence in the first episode of season two featured Thaddius and Jonas Jr. replacing Hank and Dean.
- As soon as the season five finale aired, many fans guessed that the decrepit mansion that Phantom Limb (and later, the entire Revenge Society,) used as their headquarters was really the childhood home of the Monarch, who was about to move back in with his wife and #21. The opening sequence of All This and Gargantua-2 confirmed it.
- The Investors and Dr. Killinger being of the same species/class of beings/organization was another popular fan theory proven correct by All This and Gargantua-2 as well. The theory hinged on both having similar abilities, but who use them in different ways. Killinger acts a benevolent Trickster Mentor who helps his clients earn what they want most, and helps them make important realizations about themselves. Meanwhile, the Investors give their clients what the clients seek, but as part of a Deal with the Devil style deal.
- After the premiere of the first season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, many fans speculated that Keith was part Galra. Sure enough, the next season it turned out to be true.
- After Season 3, pretty much everyone called Shiro actually being a clone, which was confirmed in Season 6. It's almost a borderline Captain Obvious Reveal due to the heavy amount of foreshadowing it got.
