History Main / CanonFodder

* Given the fact that much of its fluff is delivered through half-seen and heavily classified reports, ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' does this a lot. One is "The Gates of C'Tan", which were mentioned in a 2nd edition race book and then later used as the name of an ancient star god two editions on.
** In every Space Marine codex there's a list of the original twenty Space Marine legions, nine of which remained loyal during the HorusHeresy, 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]]" -- they are even known, in-verse, as "The Lost Legions". 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 HorusHeresy 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.
*** We do get a few hints about them in official sources, though. 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.

* In ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'', the origins of the demon-killing knife introduced in season 3 have never been explained and, [[WordOfGod according to series creator Eric Kripke]], probably never will be.

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 SureWhyNot.

* ''KillBill'': Will Nikki Green get her own revenge on the Bride for her mother's death? Tarantino himself said that she deserves her revenge just as much as the Bride did.

** The ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' series (and its interquel comic ''Lab Rat'') has several areas often used as launching points, including life at Aperture and the events leading up to [=GLaDOS=]'s takeover, the exact significance of 'Bring Your Daughter/Cat To Work Day', and the backstories behind several characters, including Doug Rattmann, Chell, Cave Johnson, and Caroline. And, of course, Chell's escape from Aperture at the end of Portal 1/2 (depending on [[{{Jossed}} when the fic was written]].)

* ''GeneWolfe'''s BookOfTheNewSun intentionally made this into a major part of enjoying the book. He lays it all out in this quote: "My definition of good literature is that which can be read by an educated reader, and reread with increased pleasure."

** 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.

** TheAmericanCivilWar, 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?

** What happened to Zuko's mother?

** Presumably, this is also what ChrisClaremont was up to all those years on the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'', too.

* JimButcher is a master of this: ''TheDresdenFiles'' has things brought up in book ''14'' that were initially introduced in book ''3'', and ''still'' leaves them incompletely resolved.

** The Anime only arcs tend to create Canon Fodder in the form of new characters:

*** Ashido Kano from the Forest of the Menos episodes, who is presumably still hanging living in the titular forest.

** For the longest time there were also the questions: What were the other tailed beasts[[hottip:note:Mainly the four through seven tailed beasts]] 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?

* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' seemed to be wrapping up loose ends for the origins of the [[ZombieApocalypse Necromorphs]] and [[ArtifactOfDoom the Markers]], considering it takes place in an abandoned research outpost on the Marker homeworld. [[spoiler: However, it's not the case. The "homeworld" is just the planet of another alien species that succumbed to the Necromorph infestation as humanity is now, and though explanation is given to the purpose of the Markers[[hottip:+: subvert sentient minds into creating more Markers, deceptively providing an infinite source of energy, starting a Necromorph outbreak, and then acting as a homing beacon for the final stage.]] and Necromorphs[[hottip:+: to create enough dead matter for the Markers to begin a Convergence event, culminating in the birth of a [[EldritchAbomination Brethren Moon that eats the entire race that created it]], the true origin of both the Markers and the Brethren Moons that made them are still unknown]].

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

* ''SuperRobotWars'' loves to play this trope with its ever-expanding OriginalGeneration, and not just in the [[SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration OG games]] themselves. Expect any given game to be littered with {{Sequel Hook}}s, prequel hooks, AlternateContinuity spinoff hooks, and many a CrypticBackgroundReference. The big one right now is the "twelve keys" plot, which isn't limited to any one continuity and seems to be setting up for a [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] [[UpToEleven among crossovers]].

* ''DannyPhantom'' accumulated hordes of this, thanks to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork early cancellation and the head writer being replaced]]:
** The entirety of "The Ultimate Enemy", from whether the BadFuture really was altered to the nature of [[TimeMaster Clockwork]] to the prospect of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Dark Danny]] escaping.

** In the 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]]?

* There are several in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', but the two primary ones right now are "What happened during the five year time skip?" and, less prominently, "who are the four missing team members?" Since each team member has a designation number, fans counted up the characters present in the second season premiere and came up with seven unknowns. Episode three revealed that one of them was Tula as Aquagirl, promotional material for the upcoming video shows that another was Garth as Tempest, and the presence of his memorial in the grotto means a third was Jason Todd as Robin, but that's still four former teammates we can't account for, with no trace of them at all in the show.

* ''SilentHill''. Holy crap, ''SilentHill''. While it is difficult to think ill of those that latch onto the smallest of details in a series that almost prides itself on providing as little information as possible without showing a blank screen, it becomes patently ridiculous at times. It also doesn't help that it is entirely probable the ''creators themselves'' know about as much of the series as the fans do, maybe less (see SureWhyNot and ShrugOfGod).

** Is Appa the last air bison? Heck, did Aang and Katara become the Adam and Eve for a new race of Air Nomads? Fortunately, both are answered in the sequel series ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''.

* Pick a background and/or psychological profile of [[PlayerCharacter Shepard's]] from ''MassEffect'' 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.

** In her last message to the Doctor in ''The Angels Take Manhattan'', Amy assured the Doctor that she and Rory had long happy lives together after being sent in the past by the Weeping Angel. Speculation on how their lives went have fueled more than a few fanfics.

* A couple of episodes of ''TransformersGeneration1'' mentioned that many Transformers had fled Cybertron during the CivilWar. In a late episode, Cyclonus and Scourge encounter a planet of them, and the main characters of ''TransformersHeadmasters'' were all such refugees.