History Main / WordOfDante

** The most longeval example may be the original popularized explanation for why we see two main phenotypes of Klingons; non-bumpy forehead (the ones from TOS) and bumpy forehead (starting with ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''). Until ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', this discrepancy has never been addressed because no one could think of a reason that made more sense than Gene Roddenberry's explanation that they were always meant to look more elaborate than they did in TOS. However much that makes sense, it has historically been consistently made clear that what we see onscreen is not far from how the characters see things in universe[[note]]At least it was this way prior to 2009[[/note]]. FASA and Amarillo Design Bureau, the respective creators of the ''Star Trek Role Playing Game'' and ''TabletopGame/StarFleetBattles'', have both use the same theme in addressing the different Klingon Types. It is with these two works that we first heard the bumpy headed Klingons referred to as "Imperial Klingons", a term that would stick into wider use. This term, by itself suggests that the Klingon Empire is composed of a master race along with subject races, much like the Soviet Union (of which the Klingon Empire was originally an allegory) was composed of several Slavic and Eurasian states centered around Russia as the capitol. Therefore, the smooth forehead Klingons are either members of humanoid subject races, some of them possibly having some Klingon blood due to miscegenation within the Empire. For many fans, this was a reasonably good in universe explanation and deemed superior to the contrived, comic-book science explanation in ''Enterprise'' that lays the blame on a stolen supervirus weapon that transforms Klingons into looking more human.

** The most longeval example may be the original popularized explanation for why we see two main phenotypes of Klingons; non-bumpy forehead (the ones from TOS) and bumpy forehead (starting with ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''). Until ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', this discrepancy has never been addressed because no one could think of a reason that made more sense than Gene Roddenberry's explanation that they were always meant to look more elaborate than they did in TOS. However much that makes sense, it has historically been consistently made clear that what we see onscreen is not far from how the characters see things in universe[[note]]At least it was this way prior to 2009[[/note]]. FASA and Amarillo Design Bureau, the respective creators of the ''Star Trek Role Playing Game'' and ''TabletopGame/StarFleetBattles'', have both use the same theme in addressing the different Klingon Types. It is with Word of Dante that we first heard the bumpy headed Klingons referred to as "Imperial Klingons". This term, by itself suggests that the Klingon Empire is composed of a master race along with subject races, much like the Soviet Union (of which the Klingon Empire was originally an allegory) was composed of several Slavic and Eurasian states centered around Russia as the capitol. Therefore, the smooth forehead Klingons are either members of humanoid subject races, some of them possibly having some Klingon blood due to miscegenation within the Empire. For many fans, this was a reasonably good in universe explanation and deemed superior to the contrived, comic-book science explanation in ''Enterprise'' that lays the blame on a stolen supervirus weapon that transforms Klingons into looking more human.

** That [[WhiteMagicianGirl White Mage is a girl]] (though many people already assumed this long before ''8-Bit Theater'' existed), to the chagrin of male White Mage cosplayers everywhere. Or that black mages in general are psychopathic murderers, which is hinted at in ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'', even though no appearances of playable Black Mages in the rest of the series have portrayed them as anything even close (worst would probably be [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Palom]], who was a little bit rude, but definitely not evil). And no, despite his ears, Thief is ''not'' an elf.
** In [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the original]] ''Final Fantasy'', the White Wizard was either a male or a {{Bifauxnen}}, with the latter being more widely believed. However, since most healers in the series since have [[WhiteMagicianGirl tended to be female]], and ''8-Bit Theater'' had White Mage as a female, most fans assume the original NES White Mage is also a female. The developers seem to [[AscendedFanon have gone with this]], since in the remakes the White Mage's higher-resolution sprites are female or otherwise androgynous, and the games that suggest names for the party members pick mostly female names for the White Mage. In addition, Creator/SquareEnix developed ''Mario Hoops 3-on-3'' and ''VideoGame/MarioSportsMix'', in which White Mage is a playable character and is [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:M3on3-whitemage.png undeniably female.]]

** The ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' fandom is [[FandomEnragingMisconception quite pissed]] at the idea that Yami's different forms represent mankind's destructive nature. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if it wasn't a theory by Chugga that dozens of people accepted as canonical. The Ōkami Wiki even once had a [[https://okami.fandom.com/wiki/Yami?diff=39783&oldid=39782 notice]] on Yami's page warning that anyone who tries to post any theories about what his forms represent will be banned, and that "just because Chuggaaconroy mentioned the definitions of Yami's forms does not make him a reliable source". Chugga later explained when he updated the series years later that he got the theory from a [=YouTube=] comment on ''Ōkami''[='s=] OST, added it to his list of things to research later but [[ScriptSwap it accidentally got mixed up with his list of confirmed information]] and so ended up in the video, and he [[CreatorBacklash deeply regrets it]].
** Chugga also posed the theory that Wes, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', was originally planned to be the villain of ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness''. There is so far no WordOfGod to back this up, but many fans still take it as being true because Chuggaaconroy is otherwise trustworthy when it comes to Pokémon knowledge.

* A popular fan theory for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' proposed by a Reddit user states that the Flame Emperor's bandit attack at the beginning of the game was intended to [[spoiler:scare off the Monastery's professor candidate and instill Jeritza in his place, giving Edelgard someone on the inside]]. This is never confirmed in-game: all Kostas has to say on the matter was that he was "told to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible". Despite this, the theory is often assumed canon by fans.

* A large number of accepted facts about the lore of ''VideoGame/FZeroX'', such as Captain Falcon's real name being Douglas Jay Falcon, The Skull's real name being Sterling [=LaVaughn=] (his actual name is Arbin Gordon), Mighty Gazelle's name being Clint and his fiancee rejecting him after he became a cyborg, and Jody Summer having a deceased father named Mason Summer, originated from [[https://web.archive.org/web/20021017093629/http://www.angelfire.com/wv/venom316/ a fan-made Angelfire site]] created sometime between the releases of ''F-Zero X'' and ''F-Zero GX''.
* Due to a translation error by a vocal lore theorist for the series, fans of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' often assume Johnny's last name to be "Sfondi." This is not the case, [[NoFullNameGiven he's never referred to by anything more than his given name]].
* Creator/{{Bungie}} imported the concept of [[AIIsACrapshoot rampancy]] from ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' into the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, and made it part of an A.I.'s natural life cycle after seven years of existence. Nowhere, however, is it stated that Halo's [=A.I.s=] follow the same rampancy pattern of "Melancholia - Anger - Envy" as Marathon's [=A.I.s=], or that there is a possibility for [=AI=]s to advance past those stages and become Metastable. Regardless, this has become a basic concept in the fandom, and appears commonly in post-''VideoGame/Halo3'' fanfiction surrounding Cortana. This probably has something to do with the old common fan theory that the two series [[SharedUniverse share a universe]].

* Due to quite a few unofficial manhwa and fan projects, many fans of ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' often believe that the first name of Goenitz, the FinalBoss of '''96'', is "Leopold". For all Creator/{{SNK}} have said however, Goenitz so far has OnlyOneName.

** If Ran himself is asked, he will often answer that he is from ''Rockboard'', an obscure Japanese only ''Mega Man'' themed NES board game video game.

** A good portion of characters, enemies, and vehicles made after ''Metal Slug 3'' either lacked names, did not have a localized name, or the name was hidden in Japanese print media, so international fans made up names based on their appearance or behavior. Prior to ''Metal Slug Defense'' and ''Metal Slug Attack'' finally adding most of the units' official names, many used the fan names as reference including the officially licensed ''Metal Slug: The Ultimate History'' artbook.

* A subsection of ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' fans tend to assert that the titular half-genie is "canonically" 16 years of age, pointing to [[https://twitter.com/wayforward/status/588883107912122370?lang=en a tweet]] the series' official Twitter account posted in 2015 in response to a fan inquiry on the topic. However, when pressed about the tweet, series designer James Montagna [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/515/977/2f8 stated]] that it was posted by an intern without approval, that Shantae as a character was never designed with the intention of portraying her as a minor, and that they never intended to do anything with Shantae's fanservicey elements that would make them or other people uncomfortable.

** "Characters need to appear in more than a single game" was disproven as early as [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Ness]] in the first game, with later additions like the VideoGame/{{Ice Climber}}s, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Sheik]], [[VideoGame/Mother3 Lucas]], VideoGame/DuckHunt, and almost every ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' character.

*** Not to mention the "Spirits" part fanrule never made much sense to begin with, since Smash 4 had trophies of Mewtwo and Lucas (essentially the Smash 4 equivalent of Spirits), only to add them as DLC later anyway.

** "Not having moveset potential" is an interesting one, as while Sakurai ''has'' rejected characters before because he couldn't think of a moveset for them at the time, he would also go on to add such characters in later entries once he ''did'' think of one ([[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Villager]] being a prime example). He has also said that when it came to Nintendo's suggestions for DLC characters in ''Ultimate'', [[https://sourcegaming.info/2020/03/09/this-is-my-role-sakurais-famitsu-column-vol-598/ lack of gameplay ideas wasn't a reason for dismissing any]]. And that's without getting into the fact that just because a fan can't think of a moveset doesn't mean ''Sakurai and his team'' can't think of one.

** "Ridley is too big" is probably the most infamous case of this trope. While Masahiro Sakurai had stated Ridley's size to be an issue that prevented the character from being included, fans took his comments as hard confirmation that the purple space dragon would never be in Smash ever. And then Ultimate rolled around, and guess who's here...

** Similarly, everyone assumes that the Mystery Man and W.D. Gaster are one and the same, despite a complete lack of direct evidence--but to be fair, it's the best guess anyone has. The closest thing to official acknowledgement is the use of the Mystery Man on Gaster's card in Fangamer's tarot card set for the game, but even then, these are based on licensed-out [[https://dogbomber.tumblr.com/post/132310526044/here-it-is-the-full-set-of-undertale-tarot-cards fanart]] rather than being specially commissioned.

** A related example to the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''[=/=]''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' one above comes into play. The show has never officially been stated to take place in the ''Halo'' universe; while a number of things do hint at it, a lot of other things imply otherwise (or at least imply things took place in a different order from in ''Halo''). Still, many theories revolve around how things work in the ''Halo'' universe. Interestingly enough, considering the above discussion on ''Halo'' and ''Marathon'' [=AIs=], an episode of season 10 implies that the ''Marathon'' concept of AI development actually does hold true in the [=RvB=] universe.
** Another [=RvB=] example is how FandomVIP Luke [=McKay=] did a well-known series of what the various characters look like underneath their helmets. Since [=McKay=] both eventually did official (albeit not related to [=RvB=]) art for RT, and some of the RT guys expressed appreciation of the designs, the fandom latched into the designs as "canonical". Which has led to the revelation of some of the characters turning out to ''not'' canonically look like [=McKay's=] designs (notably, South looking completely different, Wash being blond rather than brunet, and Maine being bald instead of ginger) causing some grumpiness in the fandom. However, Wyoming actually looks pretty close to [=McKay's=] design.
** Fans were also fairly annoyed when [[spoiler: Allison/Tex]] was shown to be blonde and not a redhead as [=McKay=] had drawn.

Why does it matter? Because "everyone knows" the Word of Dante is true of the original work, and so it gets mixed into future adaptations and popular allusions. It can even overrule original canonicity (if that isn't known as much as it's known of) or Word of God. Take our {{Trope Namer|s}}: if it weren't for Creator/DanteAlighieri and his ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Divine Comedy]]'', later writers wouldn't speak of hell having circles with specific [[{{Karma}} Karmic Punishments]]. Hell is depicted in broad strokes in Literature/TheBible. A place of darkness and wailing and gnashing of teeth, a lake of fire -- that's really as specific as it gets. That there are specific places in Hell to send the unchaste, the literal infidels, and the betrayers is all Dante's idea.

Ironically for this trope, although [[TropeNamers Dante's]] work is highly influential in Western culture, it should be noted that no branch of Christianity considers ''The Divine Comedy'' to be canon at all. Also, Dante didn't even intend for it to be considered as religious canon; it was more about political and social commentary of the time, with a bit of philosophizing about spiritual growth (a theme carried more with the ''Purgatorio'' and ''Paradisio'', but nonetheless present in the ''Inferno'').

Also related is the DeathOfTheAuthor, a concept from the field of literary criticism which states that all theories about a work (regardless of [[WordOfGod their]] [[{{Fanon}} source]]) can be equally valid, and StaffCreatedFanWork, which sometimes leads to this. See also GodNeverSaidThat. If Word of Dante ever becomes canonical, it's AscendedFanon.

Word of Dante is stuff that neither the creators nor anyone remotely involved with the work has said is true about their universe -- but everyone assumes it ''is'' true because an independent authority, scholar of the work, FandomVIP, or the creator of an adaptation has said it -- often with supporting arguments. It's a kind of ascended {{Fanon}} (though not AscendedFanon proper). A more literary criticism-friendly technical term for it would be ''[[{{Canon}} deuterocanonicity]].''

Why does it matter? Because ''everyone'' thinks the Word of Dante applies to the original work, and so it gets mixed into future adaptations and popular allusions. It can even overrule original canonicity (if that isn't known as much as it's known of) or Word of God. Take our {{Trope Namer|s}}: if it weren't for Creator/DanteAlighieri and his ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Divine Comedy]]'', later writers wouldn't speak of hell having circles with specific [[{{Karma}} Karmic Punishments]]. Hell is depicted in broad strokes in Literature/TheBible. A place of darkness and wailing and gnashing of teeth, a lake of fire -- that's really as specific as it gets. That there are specific places in Hell to send the unchaste, the literal infidels, and the betrayers is all Dante's idea.

** The ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' fandom is [[FandomEnragingMisconception quite pissed]] at the idea that Yami's different forms represent mankind's destructive nature. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if it wasn't a theory by Chugga that dozens of people accepted as canonical. The Ōkami Wiki even once had a [[https://okami.fandom.com/wiki/Yami?diff=39783&oldid=39782 notice]] on Yami's page warning that anyone who tries to post any theories about what his forms represent will be banned, and that "just because Chuggaaconroy mentioned the definitions of Yami's forms does not make him a reliable source". Chugga later explained when he updated the series years later that he got the theory from a [=YouTube=] comment on ''Ōkami''[='s=] OST, added it to his list of things to research later but [[ScriptSwap it accidentally got mixed up with his list of confirmed information]] and so ended up in the video, and he [[OldShame deeply regrets it]].

** DJ Octavio mind-controls all the soldiers in the Octarian military with his [[MindControlMusic sick DJ beats]], with the Calamari Inkantation serving as a cure of sorts that frees them from control. Except, no. Despite claims that the developers have confirmed this theory in interviews, [[GodNeverSaidThat no such confirmation has ever happened]] beyond the series composer stating he wanted the Turquoise October songs to give off the ''feeling'' of being brainwashed, to match how ridiculously diligent Octarians are to following orders. The Octarian Army is driven by generations of built-up resentment from being forced underground after the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great Turf War]] and a desire to live on the surface once again (though military proprogranda certainly helps stroke those flames); Octavio's beats are purely meant as motivational, the googgles that Octoling soldiers wear are combat aids rather than hypnoshades, and while the Calamari Inkantation is indeed MagicMusic, it is [[ThemeSongPowerUp of the inspirational variety]].
*** However, this only applies to the first game. In the second, he ''did'' go with hypnoshades.
** It is widely assumed that Pearl and Marina became Agents 5 and 6 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon following the events of ''Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion''. The developers would explicitly debunk this in an interview, stating that they were just {{heroic bystander}}s and never offically joined the group.

** Nowhere is Misty canonically referred to as "Misty Waterflower", but you'll rarely see her surname given as anything else. "Waterflower" comes from the ''dub title'' of Episode 7: "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City". This is a metaphor for her sisters due to their FloralThemeNaming, but [[IAmNotShazam they are not called this in canonicity either]]; the term used for said sisters as a group is "The Sensational Sisters". Several other characters are given last names in fanfics as well, but this is the only case with supposed in-show "evidence". The whole need for a last name in the first place came from the {{dub|InducedPlotHole}} giving Ash a last name in order to avoid LipLock.[[note]]If Satoshi has a last name in the original, [[NoFullNameGiven it was never given]].[[/note]]

** The Technical Commentaries fit this trope so well that much of their information overrides canonicity in the eyes of fans. The best example is the class name of the Star Destroyers from the original trilogy. Canonically, they're Imperial-Class according to the EU, the official website, and WordOfGod. Dr. Saxton, who wrote the technical commentaries, dubbed them "Imperator-Class" on the grounds that "Imperial" is a stupid name for a warship. He assumed that the Empire followed American and British tradition in naming ships and classes. Many fan works use "Imperator-class" and the name was eventually canonized in ''Revenge of the Sith: Incredible Cross-Sections'' (penned by Saxton as an author for Lucasfilm Licensing). Go, [[AncientRome Roman]] naming-schemes!
** Though there has been an HMS Imperial, so the name isn't that unlikely...
** Though it's still established that, presumably out of pure ego, the Emperor changed the name to Imperial-class after he turned the Republic into TheEmpire.

* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' has led to ''many'' people assuming characterizations and personalities in the comic are canonical to the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. In particular, that [[WhiteMagicianGirl White Mage is a girl]] (though many people already assumed this long before ''8-Bit Theater'' existed), to the chagrin of male White Mage cosplayers everywhere. Or that black mages in general are psychopathic murderers, which is hinted at in ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'', even though no appearances of playable Black Mages in the rest of the series have portrayed them as anything even close (worst would probably be [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Palom]], who was a little bit rude, but definitely not evil). And no, despite his ears, Thief is ''not'' an elf.

* Creator/{{Bungie}} imported the concept of [[AIIsACrapshoot rampancy]] from ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' into the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, and made it part of an A.I.'s natural life cycle after seven years of existence. Nowhere, however, is it stated that Halo's [=A.I.s=] follow the same rampancy pattern of "Melancholia - Anger - Envy" as Marathon's [=A.I.s=], or that there is a possibility for [=AI=]s to advance past those stages and become Metastable. Regardless, this has become a basic concept in the fandom, and appears commonly in post-''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' fanfiction surrounding Cortana. This probably has something to do with the old common fan theory that the two series [[SharedUniverse share a universe]].
** Additionally, Jul 'Mdama's Covenant remnant has no official name (other than "The Covenant"). However, several fans call them "The Storm", thanks to a mistake made by an ''Official Xbox Magazine'' article. This hasn't been helped by the fact that the remnant's lowest ranks are officially called "[Species's name] Storm", even though WordOfGod states that "Storm" is simply a generic designation for any Covenant soldier who specializes in stormtrooper-type tactics.
* Herobrine is a character from a ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' creepypasta. Many people now think he's a real character, either Notch's dead brother or a dead miner. It eventually became AscendedFanon by constantly appearing in official release notes as a RunningGag. Herobrine has now been "removed" several times from the game[[note]]Often used to reference the removal of coding for the Human, aka Monster, mob, which was never actually used in the game, then later played straight as a gag[[/note]], and another bugfix stated that "all ghost entities under the command of Lord Herobrine" had been removed.
* ''VideoGame/TouhouHisoutensokuChoudokyuuGinyoruNoNazoOOe'', the third fighting game in the series (numbered 12.3) had no official English title, a first for the series. For a few months after its release (and intermittently afterwards) the game was referred to as ''Unthinkable Natural Law'', after a loose translation of its Japanese title.
* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' has led to ''many'' people assuming characterizations and personalities in the comic are canonical to the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. In particular, that [[WhiteMagicianGirl White Mage is a girl]] (though many people already assumed this long before ''8-Bit Theater'' existed), to the chagrin of male White Mage cosplayers everywhere. Or that black mages in general are psychopathic murderers, which is hinted at in ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'', even though no appearances of playable Black Mages in the rest of the series have portrayed them as anything even close (worst would probably be [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Palom]], who was a little bit rude, but definitely not evil). And no, despite his ears, Thief is ''not'' an elf.
** In [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the original]] ''Final Fantasy'', the White Wizard was either a male or a {{Bifauxnen}}, with the latter being more widely believed. However, since most healers in the series since have [[WhiteMagicianGirl tended to be female]], and ''8-Bit Theater'' had White Mage as a female, most fans assume the original NES White Mage is also a female. The developers seem to [[AscendedFanon have gone with this]], since in the remakes the White Mage's higher-resolution sprites are female or otherwise androgynous, and the games that suggest names for the party members pick mostly female names for the White Mage. In addition, Creator/SquareEnix developed ''Mario Hoops 3-on-3'' and ''VideoGame/MarioSportsMix'', in which White Mage is a playable character and is [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:M3on3-whitemage.png undeniably female.]]

* For ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', [[{{Fanon}} a fan art or cosplay of the exact same character]] will differ so vastly from one interpretation to the next... but then, a world populated by small pixelated figures tends to leave a lot to the imagination. Especially when the same game also occasionally features [[Creator/YoshitakaAmano Amano's]] DarkerAndEdgier fairy-tale gothic designs of the same characters.
* Reno's backstory is never mentioned anywhere in the ''Franchise/{{Compilation of|FinalFantasyVII}} VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Yet most fanfiction has him depicted as a former StreetUrchin who later became a government assassin. This probably originated by someone attempting to use RuleOfDrama to make for a DarkerAndEdgier story or a HurtComfortFic. And since this character had a past that was (at best) sketchy, everyone just went along with it, not only because it provided the {{Angst}} for whatever UrExample fanfiction that was/might have been, but because it somehow became [[CommonKnowledge one of those things that "everybody knows."]] Thus it is still a popular motif for many a fanfic that involves Reno.

* LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}} is well-known for his LetsPlay videos being incredibly well-researched, with several months of planning often going into each series, which means that the rare occasions that he screws up end up becoming this:
** The ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' fandom is [[FandomEnragingMisconception quite pissed]] at the idea that Yami's different forms represent mankind's destructive nature. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if it wasn't a theory by Chugga that dozens of people accepted as canonical. The Ōkami Wiki even once had a [[https://okami.fandom.com/wiki/Yami?diff=39783&oldid=39782 notice]] on Yami's page warning that anyone who tries to post any theories about what his forms represent will be banned, and that "just because Chuggaaconroy mentioned the definitions of Yami's forms does not make him a reliable source". Chugga later explained when he updated the series years later that he got the theory from a [=YouTube=] comment on ''Ōkami''[='s=] OST, added it to his list of things to research later but [[ScriptSwap it accidentally got mixed up with his list of confirmed information]] and so ended up in the video, and he [[OldShame deeply regrets it]].
** Chugga also posed the theory that Wes, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', was originally planned to be the villain of ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness''. There is so far no WordOfGod to back this up, but many fans still take it as being true because Chuggaaconroy is otherwise trustworthy when it comes to Pokémon knowledge.
** Chugga also got into this with the ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' fandom over the ending of the game. One of the last shots in the ending cutscene is a close-up of a character's mouth, with their lips moving but no audio or subtitles to indicate what's being said. Chugga added a card giving a specific line of dialogue (based on DummiedOut [[https://tcrf.net/Xenoblade_Chronicles_2#Hidden_Ending_Captions text]] for that scene) to that character. While he went to great lengths to justify putting in that line, many saw it as detracting from the intended AmbiguousEnding.
* A large number of accepted facts about the lore of ''VideoGame/FZeroX'', such as Captain Falcon's real name being Douglas Jay Falcon, The Skull's real name being Sterling [=LaVaughn=] (his actual name is Arbin Gordon), Mighty Gazelle's name being Clint and his fiancee rejecting him after he became a cyborg, and Jody Summer having a deceased father named Mason Summer, originated from [[https://web.archive.org/web/20021017093629/http://www.angelfire.com/wv/venom316/ a fan-made Angelfire site]] created sometime between the releases of ''F-Zero X'' and ''F-Zero GX''.
* Most of the ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei MegaTen]]'' fans are absolutely convinced that Hijiri, the reporter from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' is actually [[spoiler:the reincarnation of [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII Aleph]]]]. This belief comes from both vague in-game hints saying that Hijiri is being "punished", and the physical resemblance between the two characters. So far, Creator/{{Atlus}} has not denied this or produced any evidence to defy it.
* A popular fan theory for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' proposed by a Reddit user states that the Flame Emperor's bandit attack at the beginning of the game was intended to [[spoiler:scare off the Monastery's professor candidate and instill Jeritza in his place, giving Edelgard someone on the inside]]. This is never confirmed in-game: all Kostas has to say on the matter was that he was "told to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible". Despite this, the theory is often assumed canon by fans.
* A subsection of ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' fans tend to assert that the titular half-genie is "canonically" 16 years of age, pointing to [[https://twitter.com/wayforward/status/588883107912122370?lang=en a tweet]] the series' official Twitter account posted in 2015 in response to a fan inquiry on the topic. However, when pressed about the tweet, series designer James Montagna [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/515/977/2f8 stated]] that it was posted by an intern without approval, that Shantae as a character was never designed with the intention of portraying her as a minor, and that they never intended to do anything with Shantae's fanservicey elements that would make them or other people uncomfortable.
* Due to a translation error by a vocal lore theorist for the series, fans of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' often assume Johnny's last name to be "Sfondi." This is not the case, [[NoFullNameGiven he's never referred to by anything more than his given name]].
* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'':
** DJ Octavio mind-controls all the soldiers in the Octarian military with his [[MindControlMusic sick DJ beats]], with the Calamari Inkantation serving as a cure of sorts that frees them from control. Except, no. Despite claims that the developers have confirmed this theory in interviews, [[GodNeverSaidThat no such confirmation has ever happened]] beyond the series composer stating he wanted the Turquoise October songs to give off the ''feeling'' of being brainwashed, to match how ridiculously diligent Octarians are to following orders. The Octarian Army is driven by generations of built-up resentment from being forced underground after the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great Turf War]] and a desire to live on the surface once again (though military proprogranda certainly helps stroke those flames); Octavio's beats are purely meant as motivational, the googgles that Octoling soldiers wear are combat aids rather than hypnoshades, and while the Calamari Inkantation is indeed MagicMusic, it is [[ThemeSongPowerUp of the inspirational variety]].
*** However, this only applies to the first game. In the second, he ''did'' go with hypnoshades.
** It is widely assumed that Pearl and Marina became Agents 5 and 6 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon following the events of ''Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion''. The developers would explicitly debunk this in an interview, stating that they were just {{heroic bystander}}s and never offically joined the group.

* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'':
** A good portion of characters, enemies, and vehicles made after ''Metal Slug 3'' either lacked names, did not have a localized name, or the name was hidden in Japanese print media, so international fans made up names based on their appearance or behavior. Prior to ''Metal Slug Defense'' and ''Metal Slug Attack'' finally adding most of the units' official names, many used the fan names as reference including the officially licensed ''Metal Slug: The Ultimate History'' artbook.
** The most infamous of these is "Achilles", an unused support prisoner in ''Metal Slug 5''. He has no name, so the game randomly gives him one whenever he's rescued. The originator of the fan name, Ragey of the fan site [[https://randomhoohaas.flyingomelette.com/msmia/index.html Metal Slug: Missing in Action]], was the first to discover the unused POW and give him the name Achilles because that's what the game showed up. Since most fans nowadays use the name, the website would be updated to make it very clear that he has no name.
* ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'':
** Despite the trend of OnlyOneName amongst the characters, it is near-unanimously agreed upon in fandom that Girlfriend's family has the surname "Dearest" (or "Mearest"), with her additionally having a "real" name that rhymes with her parents'.
** The game that Senpai comes from is never named in-game, but is often assumed to be ''Hating Simulator'', the title of the Week he debuts in.

* A large number of accepted facts about the lore of ''[[VideoGame/FZero F-Zero X]]'', such as Captain Falcon's real name being Douglas Jay Falcon, The Skull's real name being Sterling [=LaVaughn=] (his actual name is Arbin Gordon), Mighty Gazelle's name being Clint and his fiancee rejecting him after he became a cyborg, and Jody Summer having a deceased father named Mason Summer, originated from [[https://web.archive.org/web/20021017093629/http://www.angelfire.com/wv/venom316/ a fan-made Angelfire site]] created sometime between the releases of ''F-Zero X'' and ''F-Zero GX''.

* For almost 20 years, the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' fandom universally accepted that "Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano" translates to "You and I are one now" in English, despite this ''never'' being established by ''any'' book, [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} TV episode,]] game, WordOfGod or any official source whatsoever until 2015 (and that was just a promotional booklet released for the [[Film/{{Goosebumps|2015}} film adaptation]]). The closest was a line spoken by Slappy in the TV adaptation of "Literature/NightOfTheLivingDummyII": "You read the magic words. Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano. You and I are one now. You are my slave..." In context, it seems ''highly'' unlikely he was translating the incantation in that scene, but the idea stuck.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Yang has a reputation for spouting puns and one-liners all the time. This is despite the character only making ''one solitary pun'' in the first six Volumes of the show (specifically in the premiere of Volume 3). It's her ''voice actress'' who has a love of wordplay, which rubbed off onto Yang's portrayal in fan works and has since become what she's known for. ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'' doesn't help as it [[CharacterExaggeration exaggerates]] the comedic nature of her character by making use of this interpretation as well.

** DJ Octavio mind-controls all the soldiers in the Octarian military with his [[MindControlMusic sick DJ beats]], with the Calamari Inkantation serving as a cure of sorts that frees them from control. Expect, no. Despite claims that the developers have confirmed this theory in interviews, [[GodNeverSaidThat no such confirmation has ever happened]] beyond the series composer stating he wanted the Turquoise October songs to give off the ''feeling'' of being brainwashed, to match how ridiculously diligent Octarians are to following orders. The Octarian Army is driven by generations of built-up resentment from being forced underground after the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great Turf War]] and a desire to live on the surface once again (though military proprogranda certainly helps stroke those flames); Octavio's beats are purely meant as motivational, the googles that Octoling soldiers wear are combat aids rather than hypnoshades, and while the Calamari Inkantation is indeed MagicMusic, it is [[ThemeSongPowerUp of the inspirational variety]].

* Reno's backstory is never mentioned anywhere in the Compilation of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Yet most fanfiction has him depicted as a former StreetUrchin who later became a government assassin. This probably originated by someone attempting to use RuleOfDrama to make for a DarkerAndEdgier story or a HurtComfortFic. And since this character had a past that was (at best) sketchy, everyone just went along with it, not only because it provided the {{Angst}} for whatever UrExample fanfiction that was/might have been, but because it somehow became [[CommonKnowledge one of those things that "everybody knows."]] Thus it is still a popular motif for many a fanfic that involves Reno.

* A large number of accepted facts about the lore of ''[[VideoGame/FZero F-Zero X]]'', such as Captain Falcon's real name being Douglas Jay Falcon, The Skull's real name being Sterling [=LaVaughn=] (His actual name is Arbin Gordon), Mighty Gazelle's name being Clint and his fiancee rejecting him after he became a cyborg, and Jody Summer having a deceased father named Mason Summer, originated from [[http://www.angelfire.com/wv/venom316/ a fan-made Angelfire site]] created sometime between the releases of ''F-Zero X'' and ''F-Zero GX''.

* A popular fan-theory for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' proposed by a Reddit user states that the Flame Emperor's bandit attack at the beginning of the game was intended to [[spoiler: scare off the Monastery's professor candidate and instill Jeritza in his place, giving Edelgard someone on the inside]]. This is never confirmed in-game: all Kostas has to say on the matter was that he was "told to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible". Despite this, the theory is often assumed canon by fans.

* Due to a translation error by a vocal lore theorist for the series, fans of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' often assume Johnny's last name to be "Sfondi." This is not the case, he's never referred to by anything more than his given name.

* ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'': Despite the trend of OnlyOneName amongst the characters, it is near-unanimously agreed upon in fandom that Girlfriend's family has the surname "Dearest" (or "Mearest"), with her additionally having a "real" name that rhymes with her parents'.

** Lots of people think Caspian/Susan is canonical when actually they barely talk to each other in the ''Prince Caspian'' book. The movie, however, did make it canonical. In the first book in which he appears, Caspian and Susan are both 13 years old, and he has more interactions with the 9-year-old Lucy than he ever does with her older sister. There are rumors that the movies were planning on foreshadowing Lucy/Caspian, to be properly set up in ''Dawn Treader'', but when [[DawsonCasting 26-year-old]] Ben Barnes was cast against 12-year-old Georgie Henley and 19-year-old Anna Popplewell, they decided [[UnfortunateImplications not to go down that road.]]

* Mashiro from ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' is usually taken by Western viewers as autistic. However, this was never mentioned in the original; [[DiagnosedByTheAudience just that the descriptions about her follow textbook definitions of autism so closely that they just can't give any other explanation]].

* In ''LightNovel/AnotherNote'':

* The "back story" of ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'' at Ride/DisneyThemeParks is officially [[MultipleChoicePast whatever the cast members that day decide it is]]. Still, a lot of it is mistaken for pure canonicity. A lot of it became AscendedFanon through [[Film/TheHauntedMansion the film]], though.

* A common sentiment on ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'''s subreddit is that any comic by Creator/MoringMark -- that is, any comic that isn't explicitly an AlternateUniverseFic or a CrackFic -- is considered canon unless contridicted by the show itself. Most of this includes characterizations for side characters like Boscha or Masha, or character moments that fit in between existing episodes, but some of this extends to predictions about Season 3 before the actual episodes air.

* Mashiro from ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' is usually taken by Western viewers as autistic. However, this was never mentioned in the original; [[AmbiguousDisorder just that the descriptions about her follow textbook definitions of autism so closely that they just can't give any other explanation]].

* A hotly-defended idea within fandom for years was that Scotty's line from "Balance of Terror" that "(the Romulans') power is simple impulse", and Kirk's line "meaning we can outrun them", meant that Romulans had still not developed warp technology even in the 23rd Century, despite having ''fought a war'' with Earth some hundred years prior. The ''Star Trek Chronology'' even used that exact phrasing. When ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' showed Romulans as being warp-capable, this was lambasted as a canon violation, despite the fact that when the original line was written, it was not set in stone what "impulse" vs. "warp" even was. The only fact of the episode was that the ''Enterprise'' was the faster ship, not that the Romulans had no warp at all.