History Main / CanonFodder

** Did Azula [[spoiler:stay crazy for the rest of her life]]? The creators are deliberately silent on this, but head writer Aaron Ehasz has openly stated that if the series had gotten a fourth season, [[spoiler:the answer would be no]].

** Is Appa the last air bison? Heck, did Aang and Katara become the Adam and Eve for a new race of Air Nomads? ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' immediately gives the answers as "no" and "kinda". The Gaang found more bison at some point, and Tenzin was Aang and Katara's only offspring that could airbend. [[spoiler:All four of his children are airbenders, though, and Korra opening the spirit portal at the end of Book Two caused hundreds of former non-benders, including Aang's other son, to develop the ability the following season.]]
** Why is Iroh so knowledgeable about spirits? Not only can he see them when they're invisible to most people, but he's said to have journeyed in the Spirit World, and the threat to Tui the Moon Spirit is enough to [[spoiler:make him switch sides]]. Nothing else is said on the matter, though in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' [[spoiler:he reappears as a permanent resident of the Spirit World]], so he was probably just a really spiritually attuned individual.

* There's a TimeSkip of fifty years between season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' and the finale season. Even the episode/chapter number skips ahead into the '90s. What kind of adventures did Jack get up to during that time? According to WordOfGod, that's [[InvokedTrope entirely up to the audience]]. In terms of continuity, the only things that ''need'' to happen during that time are Scotsman having kids, Aku [[spoiler:successfully destroying all the time portals]], and [[spoiler:Jack losing his sword]]. Everything else is total free game.

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, who is Ash's father? Is it Giovanni? Professor Oak? Somebody we haven't even been introduced to yet? The show's gone on for over a thousand episodes, and all we have to go by is a single quote that it "took him two weeks to reach Viridian City". Needless to say, fanfic writers ([[WMG/PokemonAshsFather and the members of this very site]]) have had a field day coming up with possible identities for him.

If the creators of an active work [[{{Jossed}} take a piece of Canon Fodder and develop it contrary]] to how most of the {{Fanon}} based off that piece is going, FanDumb and related swearing at the creator can easily result. If the creators go a step further and actually use the {{Fanon}}'s answer for Canon Fodder, it's AscendedFanon. For a ''character'' that serves as Canon Fodder, see OCStandIn.

** Anime/DigimonAdventureTri has actually started to reveal things about the earlier group. Unfortunately, it also is approaching FanonDiscontinuity, due to the anvilicious nature of their reveal.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' only ran one season, but left a luggage shuttle's worth for fans to play with 25 years on. How does Eliza get rescued (or does she get rescued)? What's Doc's backstory? All Mandell will say is that he's Jamaican, wealthy, and enlisted "reluctantly." What happened to Niko's home colony? Where are the Series 1-4 teams? What happened on Tarkon to create the Heart and the Scarecrow, and what's the reason for their rivalry? How many Supertroopers escaped the riot at Wolf Den? This is just the start; the series itself had a large cast, plenty of {{Noodle Incident}}s mentioned in passing, huge amounts of BackStory that had to be compressed into a couple lines, and some stuff that had to [[{{Parental Bonus}} fly too low for the casual fan and/or "target" demographic to notice]].

* There are several in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', but the two primary ones right now are "What happened during the five-year time skip?" and "What are the Light's plans with Darkseid?" There was a minor one relating to the heroes who must have been members of the team due to how high the designation numbers got but were never seen, but WordOfGod revealed them right before the finale, as a reward for fans' patience.

* ''Film/BlackWidow2021'': While incarcerated, Alexei "Red Guardian" Shostakov brags to another inmate about having fought Captain America during the Cold War, but the other man dismisses this on the grounds that [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Steve Rogers would have been]] a HumanPopsicle at the time. Other MCU material makes it possible Alexei was telling the truth. One possibility is that he fought [[spoiler:the Rogers who took TheSlowPath]] after the events of ''Film/AvengersEndgame''. Alternatively, since Alexei never describes the Cap he fought and ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' reveals that the United States experimented with recreating Dr. Erskine's formula after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, meaning that it could have been Isaiah Bradley (introduced to canon in "[[Recap/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldierEpisode2TheStarSpangledMan The Star-Spangled Man]]") or another as-yet-unidentified Rogers successor.

* ''Film/BlackWidow2021'': While incarcerated, Alexei "Red Guardian" Shostakov brags to another inmate about having fought Captain America during the Cold War, but the other man dismisses this on the grounds that [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Steve Rogers would have been]] a HumanPopsicle at the time. Other MCU material makes it possible Alexei was telling the truth. One possibility is that he fought [[spoiler:the Rogers who took TheSlowPath]] after the events of ''Film/AvengersEndgame''. Alternatively, ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' reveals that the United States experimented with recreating Dr. Erskine's formula after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, meaning that it could have been Isaiah Bradley or another as-yet-unidentified Rogers successor (Alexei never describes the Cap he fought).

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Like any tabletop RPG setting, the Golarion/Lost Omens setting has plenty of intriguing unanswered questions for game masters to tie stories into. One of the big ones is how, and possibly even ''if'', Aroden, the PatronGod of humanity, [[GodIsDead died]] on the day he was prophesied to become GodEmperor (causing worldwide cataclysms, massive political upheaval, and the breakdown of prophecy itself). This is a RiddleForTheAges underpinning the entire Golarion/Lost Omens setting that Paizo's writers have explicitly said they'll never answer, in order that their customers can answer it themselves if they so choose.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' leaves the reason for Delight becoming Delirium ambiguous with a couple of tantalizing hints, and it's probably the most-debated topic amongst fans. Another obvious Canon Fodder point is who killed the first Despair; all we know about it is that the person responsible is a he and will never stop suffering until the end of the universe. Some theories even tie the two Canon Fodder events together (e.g. Delight went mad with grief after the man she was set to marry killed Despair and was condemned to eternal torture for it (possibly by ''becoming the new Despair'')).

* A variation of this exists in ''Manga/SoulEater'', where the author, praised for his skill in character development, actually gives us very little information about his subjects. Every ten or twenty chapters, one page of background is given for a given character, usually Soul. Because of this, a large percentage of fics are interpretive back stories.

** Good thing we have ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''. Who knew the ancient Martians were related to the [[Anime/MazingerZ Mikene Empire,]] the [[Anime/BlueCometSPTLayzner Gradosians]] and the [[Anime/VoltesV Boazanians?]]

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' revealed that there was a group of Digidestined that saved the Digital World far before Tai and company came to the Digital World. To this day, not another word has been mentioned of them. Speculation of who they were continues to this day.

** For the longest time there were also the questions: What were the other tailed beasts[[note]]Mainly the four through seven tailed beasts[[/note]] and who were their hosts? What happened on the night Naruto was born and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed? Who was Kushina, and how did she become a Leaf ninja despite being from Whirlpool?

*** Many of the Reigais sacrifice themselves at the end of the Invading Army arc, but several others were disabled at the time, and not explicitly shown to have been destroyed. Also, a few of the active Reigais are not shown dying in the mass-self-sacrifice.

* Creator/PeterDavid has said (joked?) that he throws tons of loose ends into his stories deliberately, because he figures it's harder to fire him off a book when he has lots of story points still to resolve.

** The first story of Paperinik (ComicBook/DonaldDuck's superhero-antihero alter ego) shows he was inspired by the journal of Fantomius, a GentlemanThief who is also stated to have died years before the story, and the second story introduces the figure of Dolly Paprika, Fantomius' lover. Fans have interrogated themselves on their story for years, until they got a series about their adventures... But where did they disappear to still remains a mystery.
** [[MissingMom What happened to Della Duck]]? And who is her husband (and Huey, Dewey and Louie's father)? One Dutch story gives a possible answer to the former (which was later used in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017''), but the latter remains a mystery.

** Episode IV gives us our first mention of the Clone Wars, mentioning only that Obi-Wan fought in it alongside Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Bail Organa. (Though those first two [[LukeIAmYourFather turned out be the same person]].) The Prequel Trilogy and two animated series give us a firsthand look at the Clone Wars.

*** The ending of Animorphs was a ''very'' tacked on prologue to a story that would never be told. Everything is all wrapped up... then we find out how everyone's lives have gone on. Then a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere [[TheAssimilator assimilates]] Ax, so the others get ready to [[RammingAlwaysWorks ram the thing]], and presumably go kaboom with it and him. TheEnd. [[FlatWhat Uh... what]]. If you just [[FanonDiscontinuity close the book]] when you get to the TimeSkip, the story suddenly has a much simpler ending and makes infinitely more sense in general... but definitely has ''much'' less FanficFuel. Reading the ending and the afterword, it really seemed like KA was saying "Okay, fandom, it's all yours now; have fun."

* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' (book version only) has this as a plot point: The reason Bastian Bux is special? Because everything he does creates plothooks for ''several more stories''. Hence why he's able to save the fantasy land from dying: It's not because of the plot as such, it's because he sets everything in motion for it to expand forever, with every story opening up several more.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': First introduced in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E18Inquisition Inquisition]]", [[NoSuchAgency Section 31]] and its stated 200 year history opened up plenty of opportunities for novels and spinoffs to feature "[[IWasNeverHere classified]]" examples of its involvement in the earlier franchises, particularly in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', and ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery''.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', despite nearly wrapping up every threat every season does have some fodder threads that tend to linger from season to season. For instance, it was a long held question for fans what exactly The Morphing Grid was until ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' gave a token explanation. However the fates of some minor characters, the flow events outside of series transitioning between them, and the constant threats to earth will prompt several theories that might only grow as the franchise continues.

** In every Space Marine codex there's a list of the original twenty Space Marine legions, nine of which remained loyal during the Literature/HorusHeresy, and nine which turned traitor. But for legions II and XI, there is no information about their names, primarchs, or homeworlds, only "[[{{Unperson}} All records expunged from library - order origination unknown]]" -- they are even known, in-verse, as "The Lost Legions". Creator/GamesWorkshop has said that they never intend to outright explain the mystery of the lost legions, since it gives fans something to work with. Indeed, even stories set during the Horus Heresy will only hint at the legions' fate in the vaguest terms, though there are some pretty strong hints that they either turned traitor, suffered unacceptable mutations, or both. Official sources do give a few hints. Apparently some of the surviving members of one or both Lost Legions were rolled into the Ultramarines (a nod to how in 1st edition the Rainbow Warriors and Valedictors were the 2nd and 11th legions but were later retconned into Ultramarine successors). It's also suggested (perhaps tongue in cheek) that the reason one of the Lost Legions can't be found is because they possess a special mutation that makes them invisible and simply don't ''want'' to be found.

** How come Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are mentioned as agent's of Macavity?

* This was and still is (though to a lesser degree) a major part of the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' story. So much, in fact, that Franchise/{{LEGO}} actively encouraged and held contests for the fans to write their own stories to expand on previously vague plot details, and the winner entries went canon. Author-written stories also do this, as mysteries that have been lingering around for years constantly get solved (in some cases, with very surprising results) as the story progresses. However there are still many things left unanswered, as several thousand years' worth of story has only been lightly touched upon, not to mention how many unexplored places, cities, islands, planets and ''universes'' there are. The fandom, of course, speculates the hell out of every tiny detail.

** In the ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' games, almost anything not stated in game is totally up in the air. How did Eli, Dr. Kleiner and Judith get from Black Mesa to City 17? Who and what is the G-Man, and what does he want? Does Gordon [[HeroicMime talk]]?

* The entire ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' series. Games seldom make specific references to other games in the franchise, [[NonLinearSequel even when they're direct sequels]], and despite every game supposedly taking place in the same world, just at different times. Some examples: Where did [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Navi]] go? The window she went through turns out to be a dungeon in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' -- is that where she was? Where does Link go after [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask he saves Termina]]? Are the Sages in ''TP'' the same ones from ''Ocarina''? Did the Sages die at the end of ''Ocarina''? Who the hell is [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Kaepora Gaebora]]? Did the Deku Sprout from ''Ocarina'' become the tree in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]''? If [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Tetra]] is an ancestor of the earlier Zelda, who was the father? Is [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Queen Rutela]] related to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Princess Ruto]]? Does every game star a reincarnation of Link, or a descendant, or just an unrelated chosen person? Even the release of ''Literature/HyruleHistoria'', revealing the order in which the games (up to ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'') take place, with a three-way branching timeline from ''Ocarina of Time'', leaves all these details up in the air.

* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'': The world of Arcadia is riddled with this, really, being set during the planet's Age of Discovery and thus presenting the player with a myriad of strange and mysterious bread crumbs, but the big one is the Black Moon. There are several hints throughout the game that Arcadia may have once had a seventh Black Moon, which was either destroyed or sank below the planet's surface thousands of years before the game takes place. Needless to say, it is extremely common for the Black Moon and/or its civilization to show up in fanfics.

** Who was responsible for [[spoiler:Drawcia's and Paintra's painting]] in ''Canvas Curse''?

* Creator/Suda51's Kill the Past universe (primarily ''VideoGame/TheSilverCase'', ''VideoGame/FlowerSunAndRain'' and ''VideoGame/Killer7'', but even the question of what games are part of Kill the Past relies on this trope) runs heavily on this. Almost every scene and line begs to be expanded upon. The ''Hand in killer7'' companion book is particularly filled with this, including lines like "The chess game between Harman Smith and Kun Lan never ends, fearing HIS apparition . . . . " in the timeline with no explanation as to who "HIS apparition" refers to. It also includes mentions of many missions the protagonists went on that are never even alluded to in the game proper, tying in well with how the game itself identifies the first assignment played in the game as their ''thirty-third'' assignment.

* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' is absolutely packed with unanswered questions, that leads to loads of fan speculation. Creator Burnie Burns even commented that fans figured out entire plot twists and arcs before they are even aired. Almost everything is called back to at some point, but it can take multiple seasons to address issues, all the while raising new ones.

** Is Appa the last air bison? Heck, did Aang and Katara become the Adam and Eve for a new race of Air Nomads? ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' immediately gives the answers as "no" and "kinda". The Gaang found more bison as some point, and Tenzin was Aang and Katara's only offspring that could airbend. [[spoiler:All four of his children are airbenders, though, and Korra opening the spirit portal at the end of Book Two caused hundreds of former non-benders, including Aang's other son, to develop the ability the following season.]]

** Speaking of sapient creatures, what ''are'' the changelings? (The most common fanon explanation is that they're a race of ponies corrupted by Discord, but there are other versions as well.) The show has since given more insight into what they are and how they work, but took so long in doing it that most fans [[FanDislikedExplanation rejected it and prefer the firmly rooted fanon explanations]].

** Pinkie's [[WrongContextMagic unusual magical abilities]], and to a lesser extent, Fluttershy's as well. In canon, Twilight has given up ever understanding how Pinkie does what she does, but fanon has made her everything from an embodiment of Chaos, to a vampire hunter blessed by Celestia, to the descendant of a long line of necromancers who's intermittently possessed by twenty-seven of her ancestors. Some other suggested theories include: Pinkie Pie is Loki's (Norse god of trickery) great-grandaughter. Pinkie has PowerBornOfMadness and can [[BreakingTheFourthWall break the fourth wall]] because she's insane (or it made her insane), similar to ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'s insanity. Pinkie is a benevolent EldritchAbomination. Pinkie is a Warner Brothers cartoon who escaped into Ponyville. The list goes on and on...The WMG page for Friendship Is Magic has an entire section just for her!
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' had a BizarroEpisode where an interdimensional wormhole behind a local Chinese restaraunt led to an island full of anthropomorphic holidays. While initially FanonDiscontinuity, nowadays many fans will use that wormhole for other sci-fi/fantasy stories where it can take them to a variety of other worlds.
* There are several in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', but the two primary ones right now are "What happened during the five year time skip?" and "What are the Light's plans with Darkseid?" There was a minor one relating to the heroes who must have been members of the team due to how high the designation numbers got but were never seen, but WordOfGod revealed them right before the finale, as a reward for fans' patience.

* There's a TimeSkip of fifty years between season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' and the finale season. Even the episode/chapter number skips ahead into the 90's. What kind of adventures did Jack get up to during that time? According to WordOfGod, that's [[InvokedTrope entirely up to the audience]]. In terms of continuity, the only things that ''need'' to happen during that time are Scotsman having kids, Aku [[spoiler:successfully destroying all the time portals]], and [[spoiler:Jack losing his sword]]. Everything else is total free game.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' is absolutely packed with unanswered questions, that leads to loads of fan speculation. Creator Burnie Burns even commented that fans figured out entire plot twists and arcs before they are even aired. Almost everything is called back to at some point, but it can take multiple seasons to address issues, all the while raising new ones.