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{{trope}}
Loose ends, unanswered questions, intriguing details, and [[Noodle Incident
All active serials, especially ones with no defined endpoint, have intentional Canon Fodder because the creators need it to launch their own future storylines. Unexpectedly canceled works will be full of it, too. But even works that try to avoid leaving Canon Fodder will likely leave some accidentally.
[[Chekhov's Gun]] and its relations can be Canon Fodder if a sufficiently long time passes between introduction and use. [[Sequel Hook
The more devoted the fanbase, the smaller the detail that can become tempting
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, [[Fan Dumb]] 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 [[Sure Why Not]].
Not to be confused with [[Cannon Fodder]]. Compare [[Leave the Plot Threads Hanging]]. A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Fanfic Fuel]].
{{examples}}▼
Not to be confused with the ''[[2000 AD]]'' comic of the same name.
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* The author doesn't want to make a big deal of the
** My, Yugoslavia, you ''have'' lost weight. And changed your name, you say? Why yes, I'd love to meet your new siblings!
** What's more, it is stated that nation-tans have parents and grandparents that preceeded them.
** Fans like to know what happened to Prussia, the resident [[Ted Baxter]] [[Ensemble Darkhorse]], since the Kingdom of Prussia doesn't exist anymore. He is presumably still alive and well, though, since he was able to make a blog and a Twitter account and [[Word of God]] says he lives in Germany's house now.
** [[The American Civil War]], and, by extension, any civil wars. Was there a Confederacy-tan, and if so, what happened to him/her? Or did Alfred develop a split personality?
* In ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'', the mere existence of the Ancient Martians wasn't referenced until the last few episodes. Who they were was supposed to be explained "in the inevitable second season" (quoted from [[Little Miss Snarker|Ruri]] herself)...[[Stillborn Franchise|which was never made]]. Also unresolved was the Jovian/Earthling conflict, Akito's whereabouts,
** Good thing we have ''[[Super Robot Wars]]''. Who knew the ancient Martians were related to the [[Mazinger Z|Mikene Empire]], the [[Blue Comet SPT Layzner|Gradosians]] and the [[Voltes V|Boazanians]]?
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': Did anyone actually know what [[Ominous Council Of Vagueness|SEELE]]'s motives were until the movies came out? What about [[Manipulative Bastard|Gendo]]'s?
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* ''[[Code Geass]]'' has so much it's not funny, mostly due to the fact that the plan for the second half of the series was changed massively on the way to becoming ''R2''. We still don't know what the Geass actually is, where Suzaku's "powers" come from, what C.C.'s real name and history are, or what the characters did before the series (though some novels deal with Lelouch and Suzaku's childhood just before the war, once Japan surrenders the story essentially pauses until the anime begins).
* Recently subverted in ''[[One Piece]]''; for years, {{spoiler|fans have wondered what the other half of Sanji's face looks like and have written numerous fanfics and drawn lots of art about it, and now we know, as he flipped his bangs for the time skip.}}
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', who raised Naruto until he could take care of himself? Who were the Fourth's enemies, and why did Naruto need to be kept in the dark about who his parents were? Do people whose last names we aren't given even ''have'' last names, and if so what are they?
** For the longest time there were also the questions: What were the other tailed beasts were 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?
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' reveals that {{spoiler|the [[Eldritch Abomination|Witches]] were actually fallen [[Magical Girl
** Three witches are [[All There in the Manual|mentioned on the website but never appear in the anime]]. Then there's {{spoiler|Walpurgis Night.}} [[All There in the Manual]] reveals it's [[Only Known by Their Nickname|just an alias]] and it's real name [[The Un-Reveal|is a complete mystery]].
* ''[[Bleach]]'': Why is Isshin Kurosaki a Shinigami (possibly a ''captain'')? How does he know Ryuken Ishida? How do the spirits in the afterlife "get sick" and "die", or even have "noble families"?
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== Comic Books ==
* ''[[The Sandman]]'' 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).
* [[Comics]] author [[Peter David]] 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.
* When you get down to it, what the hell was going on during the whole Cardinal Directions arc of ''[[Douwe Dabbert]]''? Where did the portal cave come from, and the temples and the artifacts that are kept in it? Why did the cave overflow after Douwe's return? Worst of all, Douwe probably could have known it all - at the end of ''The Sea to the south'', he lets a vase drop to the ground and walks away - only to the reader is it revealed that the vase contained a scroll about the cave.
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** There were [[The Trojan Cycle|eight songs about the Trojan war]]... of which only two remain. The rest were lost even in antiquity, but everyone knew the general gist of the story (if not the specific verses).
** In [[The Bible]] there are few descriptions of Jesus' life between his birth and his early thirties. Authors such as Anne Rice and Phillip Pullman have made novels filling in those gaps.
*** [[The Four Gospels|John 21:25]] -- "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."
* ''[[Maximum Ride]]'' frequently wanders off and leaves plot threads
* ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' runs on this trope.
* ''[[Animorphs]]'' has a lot of canon fodder at the end. The author, [[K. A. Applegate]], says she actually likes endings better when loose ends aren't tied up. (Which certainly explains ''[[Remnants]]'' and ''[[Everworld]]''.)
* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', according to [[Word of God]], which is unsurprising considering how many plot threads are ''still'' dangling by ''book 12.''
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** In the spin-off [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]], there is a metric tonne of these with [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Fitz Kreiner]]. The writers seem to love leaving little hints about his backstory all over the books, and the Fandom extrapolates accordingly.
** The Doctor lived for centuries before the series began. His time at the Time Lord Academy and the adventures he had before ''An Unearthly Child'' are favorite topics of [[Fanfic]] and [[Expanded Universe]] writers.
** The Doctor's [[Opposite
== Tabletop Games ==
* Given the fact that much of its fluff is delivered through half-seen and heavily classified reports, ''[[Warhammer
** In every Space Marine codex there's a list of the original twenty Space Marine legions, nine of which remained loyal during the [[Horus Heresy]], and nine which turned traitor. But for legions II and XI, there is no information about their names or primarchs or homeworlds, only "[[Unperson|All records expunged from library - order origination unknown]]." Games Workshop 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 Heresy will only hint at the legions' fate in the vaguest terms.
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** [[The Bus Came Back|We'll find out in]] [[Resident Evil 6]].
* Pick a background and/or psychological profile of [[Player Character|Shepard]]'s from ''[[Mass Effect]]'' and chances are, someone's done a fan fic about his/her life growing up. And outside of a few small sidequests in the first game related to said backstories, the details are left fairly vague enough so that fan fiction can ''thrive'' on this trope.
* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' loves to play this trope with its ever-expanding [[Original Generation]], and not just in the [[Super Robot Wars Original Generation|OG games]] themselves. Expect any given game to be littered with [[Sequel Hook
* Since ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' is building on what was once an [[Excuse Plot]], many of the dangling threads have opportunities to become fanfic bait. How did the RED Spy meet BLU Scout's mom? When were the teams formed? How did Silas Mann become a Horseless [[Headless Horseman
* What happened to Giovanni from ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]''? A good portion of the fanbase seems to think {{spoiler|he committed suicide during the Celebi event in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|Gold and Silver]]''}}, but it's hard to say. What happened to ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire]]'s'' Archie and Maxie? Why is Red on a mountain; was he just passing by or has he been there for months?
* The entire ''Zelda'' series. Games seldom make specific references to other games in the franchise, even when they're direct sequels, and despite every game supposedly taking place in the world, just at different times. Some examples: Where did Navi go? The window she went through turns out to be a dungeon in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' - is that where she was? Where does Link go after he saves Termina? Are the sages in TP the same ones from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]''? Did the sages die at the end of ''Ocarina''? Who the hell is Kaepora Gaebora? Did the Deku Sprout from ''Ocarina'' become the tree in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]''? If Tetra is an ancestor of the earlier Zelda, who was the father? Is Queen Rutela related to Princess Ruto? Does every game star a reincarnation of Link, or a descendant, or just an unrelated chosen person?
* In ''[[The Sims]]'' series, the number 1 example of this is where is Bella Goth? Why was she last seen with Don Lothario? And why is there a townie named Bella Goth in Strangetown? This one is probably intentional. Other common ones include the mystery of the Tricou family and the House of Fallen Trees in the premade Downtown in Nightlife. Who are those mysterious Tricou townies who are all related? Why does Mrs. Crumplebottom hate everyone?
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* Tom Siddell, author of ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', is well aware of the flimsy pretenses that inspire fans to start [[Shipping]]. He [[Lampshaded]] it on [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=471 page 471]: In the comic, Jack grabs Zimmy's arm because he's on the verge of freaking out, and Zimmy brushes him off. [[The Rant]] below simply reads:
{{quote|ZimmyXJack??? More like shutXup.}}
** Though it should be noted that later in the comic's run, Jack is revealed to have a crush on Zimmy.
* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' is still technically within the boundaries of this trope, much like Pluto is technically within the boundaries of the solar system.
** However, it may be a bit of a stretch to call it "fodder" at this point, because the fans will speculate on ''anything'', whether they're meant to or not.
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* A couple of episodes of ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' mentioned that many Transformers had fled Cybertron during the [[Civil War]]. In a late episode, Cyclonus and Scourge encounter a planet of them, and the main characters of ''[[Transformers Headmasters]]'' were all such refugees.
* While [[All There in the Manual|a lot of stuff is explained through the official website and the Scientist's journal on Facebook]], ''[[9|Nine]]'' still runs on this trope like fossil fuel, mostly because there is very little insight into the other stitchpunks' lives before [[The Hero|9]] made the scene.
* ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers]]'' 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 [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], plenty of [[Noodle Incident
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' accumulated hordes of this, thanks to [[Screwed by the Network|early cancellation and the head writer being replaced]]:
** The entirety of "The Ultimate Enemy", from whether the [[Bad Future]] really was altered to the nature of [[Time Master|Clockwork]] to the prospect of [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Dark Danny]] escaping.
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** The Royal Sisters. [[God-Emperor|God Empresses]] or simply very powerful ponies? Caretakers or actual creators of Equestria? Appearing by themselves, or did their parents leave/die? What exactly happened to almost cause [[The Night That Never Ends]] 1000 years ago? And then the introduction of [[Eldritch Abomination|Discord]] in season 2 basically caused all the speculation to implode in on itself and then outward again into entirely new directions. This is further complicated by "Hearth's Warming Eve", where it is shown that they weren't around for the founding of Equestria, apparently appearing later.
** Anything and everything to do with cutie marks and the degree of reliance the ponies have towards them, [[Fan Nickname|Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome]] in particular.
* ''[[Daria]]'' had [[A Day
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