History Main / FanWank

See also EpilepticTrees (the specific crazy theories the fans come up with) and WildMassGuessing, TV Tropes' own collection of crazy fan theories.

** Who were the faces shown to the Doctor by Morbius in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]"? Were they previous incarnations of the Doctor (as intended by the production team but {{retcon}}ned due to being basically impossible), or were they incarnations of Morbius?

* ''LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan'' obliquely references the concept in one of the ''Nyaruani'' shorts: In a FourthWallMailSlot segment, a reader asks for an explanation for why the order of Mahiro and Nyarko's classes is different between the novel series and a short story. Nyarko's response is to angrily tear the letter into confetti.

** Luke uses the Force to [[PsychicStrangle choke a Gammorean]] in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' -- but isn't that using TheDarkSide? Fans have wanked this away by claiming that it's only simple telekinesis and any Force user can do it (the Dark Side just likes it a lot more, and there's no BadPowersBadPeople at play here), to there being no intent to kill (thus not the Dark Side), to Luke using the JediMindTrick to make the Gammorean ''think'' he was choking but not put him in any real danger.

** [[http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Season_6B Season 6B]] refers to a gap between Seasons 6 and 7 where the Second Doctor regenerates, but we never see him do it. Fan wank suggests that he didn't actually suffer the forced regeneration at the end of Season 6 and was living in exile on Earth under that threat, so there's a whole swathe of stories taking place before he finally regenerates into the Third Doctor in Season 7.

** The "UNIT Dating Controversy" refers to figuring out just when the heck the Doctor worked for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Long story short: some hints in the 1970s UNIT-involving stories suggest they are set in the near-future (the late-'70s and 1980s), even when [[[[NextSundayAD to all intents and purposes they appear to take place in the then-present day]]. The problem is, the show itself forgot about this conceit by the time of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E3MawdrynUndead an (actual) early-'80s story]], which explictly dated long-running UNIT chief [[Characters/DoctorWhoBrigadierLethbridgeStewart the Brigadier]]'s ''retirement'' to 1976 -- thereby inextricably knotting its own continuity. Unknotting it is a conundrum big enough, wanky enough, and enough of a fool's errand that the revival series makes a generous point of mocking it whenever the subject comes up.

** The "UNIT Dating Controversy" refers to figuring out just when the heck the Doctor worked for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Long story short: some hints in the 1970s UNIT-involving stories suggest they are meant to be set in a near-future 1980s, even though [[[[NextSundayAD superficially they appear to take place in the then-present day]]. The problem is, this was done subtly enough that even the show itself forgot about the conceit by the time of an (actual) early-'80s story, which explictly dated long-running UNIT chief [[Characters/DoctorWhoBrigadierLethbridgeStewart the Brigadier]]'s ''retirement'' to 1976 -- thereby inextricably knotting its own continuity. Unknotting it is a conundrum big enough, wanky enough, and enough of a fool's errand that the revival series makes a generous point of mocking it whenever the subject comes up.

** A whole book was written to explain the simple not-quite-an-error in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E1WarriorsofTheDeep Warriors of the Deep]]" when the Doctor claims he tried to negotiate peace between the humans and the Silurians ''twice'' when he'd only done that once (the writer was presumably including the Sea Devils, a cousin to the Silurians, in that count).

** Tom Bombadil is a divisive character (divisive enough not to be featured in the films) with a ton of debate over his true nature -- was he a random nature spirit, an avatar of the world as a whole, or [[GodWasMyCopilot one of the Valar or Ilúvatar in disguise?]]

** [[http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Season_6B Season 6B]] refers to a gap between Seasons 6 and 7 where the Doctor regenerates, but we never see him do it. Fan wank suggests that he didn't actually suffer the forced regeneration at the end of Season 6 and was living in exile on Earth under that threat, so there's a whole swathe of stories taking place before he finally regenerates into the Third Doctor in Season 7.

** "UNIT dating" refers to figuring out when the Doctor worked for UNIT. It's big enough, wanky enough, and enough of a fool's errand that the revival series makes a generous point of mocking it whenever the subject comes up.
*** In fact, this was lampshaded in the 50th Anniversary episode "[[The Day of the Doctor]]":
---->Kate Lethbridge Stewart: "Malcolm, I need you to send me one of my father's incident files. Codenamed Cromer. 70s or 80s, depending on the dating protocol."

** KiManipulation gets a lot of this. Everything which isn't explained in-universe tends to be attributed to Ki manipulation. Mousse has a HyperspaceArsenal up his sleeves? He's using Ki to compress space. The Happo Fire Burst explosives? Conjured from Ki. Akane's "signature" HyperspaceMallet (which she doesn't even use that often)? Obviously a Ki construct. Kuno's [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter implausible use of his Bokken?]] Clearly, it's reinforced with his Ki! This probably in part comes retroactively from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', as such HandWaving is ''canon'' in ''Naruto''; everything out of the ordinary is done with Chakra.

** Since the Eagles saved Frodo and Sam at the end, why didn't they simply fly the Ring to Mount Doom? It's very explicit in the original book that the Fellowship required stealth and secrecy; destroying the Ring was their best hope precisely because Sauron wouldn't expect anyone who has that kind of power to want to destroy it, and it was decided that the best way to do that was to send a small party to sneak into Mordor unnoticed. But no one explicitly brings up the Eagles as an option, even just to dismiss it. So readers are left to connect the dots that a GiantFlyer heading straight into the heart of enemy territory isn't exactly stealthy (and Sauron had his own flying units which could match up against them). Once the deed was done, ''then'' the Eagles could fly in and save Frodo and Sam (which they weren't even expecting, thinking that they were basically on a SuicideMission). Tolkien reiterated this in a letter, saying that the Eagles were "not taxis" and he deliberately put them in to represent the hand of providence (though admittedly a "dangerous" device already used to "the absolute limits of... credibility"). Aside from this, fans have thought of other reasons why not:

** Why didn't the Eagles simply fly the Ring to Mount Doom? Fans have a ton of explanations for that:
*** One theory based on Creator/JRRTolkien's personal explanation was that the Fellowship required secrecy; destroying the Ring was their best hope precisely because Sauron wouldn't expect anyone who has that kind of power to want to destroy it, and the best way to do that was to send a small party to sneak into Mordor unnoticed. By contrast, a GiantFlyer heading straight into the heart of enemy territory isn't exactly stealthy (and Sauron had his own flying units which could match up against them). Once the deed was done, ''then'' the Eagles could fly in and save Frodo and Sam (which they weren't even expecting, thinking that they were basically on a SuicideMission).

* ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' is a short television series that [[{{Crossover}} crosses over]] into {{alternate universe}}s of the nine ''Kamen Rider'' shows that preceeded it and then brings back the leads for ''all'' of the shows in ''All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker'' (albeit as {{Fake Shemp}}s; [[Series/KamenRiderDouble one of the few who isn't a Shemp]] is an EarlyBirdCameo) with numerous references abound, especially for ''Series/KamenRiderDenO''. It's also fan wank to the nth degree.

* Comic book superheroes lend themselves well to UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny-style battles, and {{crossover}} wanks between Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} and Creator/{{DC|Comics}} characters are common. One mini-series tried to take advantage of this by pitting Marvel and DC characters against each other and determining the winner by fan vote. The most controversial here was [[Franchise/XMen Wolverine]] against SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}; although Wolverine [[PopularityPower unsurprisingly]] got more votes, this was back when Wolverine wasn't yet functionally immortal, but Lobo ''was'' and had fought Franchise/{{Superman}} to a standstill. Even the comic book artists couldn't figure that one out, so they had the fight [[TakeOurWordForIt take place offscreen]]. Fans wanked that Wolverine bribed Lobo to take a dive; a later ''Lobo'' comic claimed it was Professor X who paid Lobo to take the dive (to spare Wolverine's ego and reputation).

** KiManipulation get a lot of this. Everything which isn't explained in-universe tends to be attributed to Ki manipulation. Mousse has a HyperspaceArsenal up his sleeves? He's using Ki to compress space. The Happo Fire Burst explosives? Conjured from Ki. Akane's "signature" HyperspaceMallet (which she doesn't even use that often)? Obviously a Ki construct. Kuno's [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter implausible use of his Bokken?]] Clearly, it's reinforced with his Ki! This probably in part comes retroactively from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', as such HandWaving is ''canon'' in ''Naruto''; everything out of the ordinary is done with Chakra.

** KiAttacks get a lot of this. Everything which isn't explained in-universe tends to be attributed to Ki manipulation. Mousse has a HyperspaceArsenal up his sleeves? He's using Ki to compress space. The Happo Fire Burst explosives? Conjured from Ki. Akane's "signature" HyperspaceMallet (which she doesn't even use that often)? Obviously a Ki construct. Kuno's [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter implausible use of his Bokken?]] Clearly, it's reinforced with his Ki! This probably in part comes retroactively from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', as such HandWaving is ''canon'' in ''Naruto''; everything out of the ordinary is done with Chakra.

** The Legendary Beasts from ''Pokémon Generations Episode 6: The Reawakening'', which were seen in silhouette form from before they became the Legendary Beasts and looked more like normal dogs than any existing Pokémon. It was meant to resolve a ''different'' fan wank question (''i.e.'' whether the Legendary Beasts were canine or feline Pokémon), but some fans latched on to the scene to argue that they were totally different, not yet revealed Pokémon, and others thought they were Houndour (which raised a different question -- why are Fire types dying in a fire?).

** The question of whether or not the Balrog had wings is a contender for the fan wank debate to rule them all. The wording in the original book and elsewhere in Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium is ambiguous; while the Balrog does "fly", that could easily be metaphorical. Fans argue over whether or not the Balrog dying by falling off a cliff means anything (because if it had wings it could have just flown back up, except if he was killed on the way down). The [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings film version]] has wings, but mostly because Creator/PeterJackson's own fan wank says it does, and this says nothing about Creator/JRRTolkien's original version. Some people make fun of the debate by jokingly wanking about whether the Balrog had fuzzy bunny slippers (as it appeared to have in Creator/RalphBakshi's AnimatedAdaptation).

** Are the girls in the ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'''s Last Detail lesbians? (Well, we almost certainly know [[OfficialCouple Tonker and Lofty]] are.) And who in this troupe of military lesbians is doing what to whom, and with what implements?

* In the backstory of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', there were 20 Space Marine Legions before the Horus Heresy, where 10 Legions rebelled. In order prevent another organized revolt in the future, the remaining Legions were split into much smaller Chapters. Two of the original twenty Legions -- and whether these Legions stayed loyal or rebelled -- were intentionally left blank, so Space Marine (both loyalist and Chaos) players could fill in the details themselves when making their own Chapter/Legion, if none of the established lore fit the tone they were going for. The explanation for the identities and fates of these two blank Legions has caused no end of FanWank. Later novels set during the Horus Heresy expanded considerably on the time of the Space Marine Legions, including the "Lost Legions"; while they are never named nor are their Primarchs brought up, dialogue suggests they did, in fact, go with Horus -- and were wiped out for it. However, this information directly contradicts equally large amounts of FanWank that suggest the two Legions were destroyed before the Horus Heresy for other reasons, ranging from siding with alien species to simply succumbing in battle.

* In the backstory of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', there were 20 Space Marine Legions before the Horus Heresy, where 10 Legions rebelled. In order prevent another organized revolt in the future, the remaining Legions were split into much smaller Chapters. Two of the original twenty Legions -- and whether these Legions stayed loyal or rebelled -- were intentionally left blank, so Space Marine (both loyalist and Chaos) players could fill in the details themselves when making their own Chapter/Legion, if none of the established lore fit the tone they were going for. The explanation for the identities and fates of these two blank Legions has caused no end of FanWank. Later novels set during the Horus Heresy expanded considerably on the time of the Space Marine Legions, including the "Lost Legions"; while they are never named nor are their Primarchs brought up, dialogue suggests they did, in fact, go with Horus -- and were wiped out for it.

* The Scarecrow's "isosceles triangle" spiel near the end of Film/TheWizardOfOz is wrong three different ways. Some fans argue that it was not a CriticalResearchFailure by the writers, but an allegorical touch meant to warn against trusting the hollow promises of politicians (such as the Wizard, ruler of the Emerald City).

* From ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', a particular fan wank from the [[SuperMarioBros Koopaling]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse fansite]] [[http://www.lemmykoopa.com/ Lemmy's Land]] considered Bowser Jr. to be Baby Ludwig von Koopa under a different name and appearance, which was finally {{Jossed}} with ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii''.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan wank is exemplified by the "Klingon Forehead Problem": Klingons in [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]] had smooth foreheads, whereas they have ridged foreheads in every other work. Fans have been wanking on this for decades, with theories from Klingons removing the ridges with cosmetic surgery to better disguise themselves to just not all Klingons having them. Creator/GeneRoddenberry initially claimed that they always had ridges, but the original series [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis lacked the makeup budget to show them]]. In ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', though, the crew meets 23rd-century Klingons who have smooth foreheads; ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' explains this as the result of a genetic engineering experiment GoneHorriblyWrong that infected a significant portion of the population (the non-canon ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' shows how they were cured in the late 23rd century). But another ''[=DS9=]'' episode shows some original series Klingons arriving with ridged foreheads; fans wank ''this'' away by claiming they had cosmetic surgery to pass themselves off as "normal" Klingons.

If the canon author tries to do this to his own work, it's called a {{Retcon}}, ReVision, or otherwise some form of ContinuityPorn. In general, fans treat "retcon" as a value-neutral term, whereas "fan wank" carries a connotation of [[SturgeonsLaw being crap]]. That said, fan wank can [[TropesAreNotBad still be enjoyable]], especially if the author is [[LampshadeHanging clearly aware of how ridiculous the theory is]], and some fan theories can even be adopted by the original work in the form of AscendedFanon (or a ShrugOfGod, which means no canon commitment either way and gives the fans room to work with).

* At several points in part 3 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Jotaro's [[FightingSpirit Stand]], Star Platinum, demonstrates NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: it suddenly becomes able to extend its fingers to hit Dark Blue Moon and Strength's users, gains a VacuumMouth to inhale Enya's [[FogOfDoom Justice]], and most glaringly of all, [[spoiler:suddenly becomes able to [[TimeStandStill stop time]] just like DIO's The World]] during the final battle with no foreshadowing. Some fans theorize that Star Platinum actually has an AdaptiveAbility and can gain any power it needs to protect Jotaro.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' fans possess within them a camp of people that seek to ship [[PairTheSpares Lucca with either Glenn or Magus, despite the fact that both of them are roughly twice her age. She does comment on Frog's handsomeness in the ending where he returns to human form, but nothing else comes of it.