Canon Fodder: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

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.

 

 

 

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]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** 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?

** 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?

* 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?

** 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"?

** 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."

* ''[[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 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.

* 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?

* 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.

* ''[[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.