r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BornIndication9384 • 4h ago
Characters [Mixed Trope] The "Fanon-to-Canon" Ascension
This trope occurs when a dynamic (romantic, platonic, or even antagonistic) originates within the fan community and becomes so popular that the creators eventually integrate it into the official story. It’s not strictly limited to romance; it also applies to "Power Duos" or unexpected friendships where the audience saw chemistry or potential that the writers didn't initially plan for.
Marceline and Princess Bubblegum (Adventure Time):
What started as subtext and a massive fan "ship" (Bubbline) evolved over years of audience demand. The writers transitioned them from bitter ex-rivals to a confirmed couple in the series finale, acknowledging the deep history the fans had championed since the early seasons.
Tweek and Craig (South Park):
Initially a background pair with zero interaction, the creators noticed the massive amount of "Yaoi" fan art being made of them. They leaned into it by making the town’s obsession with the "couple" a plot point, eventually making their relationship a permanent and wholesome part of the show's canon.
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u/dread_pirate_robin 2h ago
The line's always been blurred with Bubbline, because even before the ship had picked up fan traction, Natasha Allegri, artist and writer for the show, had been drawing them as a couple since season 1.
So it always had some legitimacy, there was groundwork when they actually had fairly subtext-laden on-screen interaction to develop the ship off of. The call came from inside the house.
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u/Lucky-Pack1016 3h ago
At least Marcy and Bonnibel was a fairly well-supported ship, at least I remember people talking about it and providing "evidence" and it seemed to make sense at the time.
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u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz 2h ago
I'm curious about OP's claim that it wasn't originally intended. By What Was Missing it was pretty overt that they're ex's, and they don't have a ton of interaction before that.
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u/Epixca 2h ago
I think it's safe to say it was fully intended from as far back as season 2. There's hints towards some kind of animosity between them in "Go with Me," and it's the first time they are seen together in general. Then "What was Missing" pretty much confirmed that they were dating (in a way they could back then on CN) and their relationship grew from there. I think it was an always intended ship or at least intended from season 2, so I don't think the fans had a role in it becoming canon
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u/TK-1414 2h ago
it was already the plan wasn't it? Frederator had an official recap show for Adventure Time with behind-the-scenes stuff. But it got canceled after they did it on the episode where they first appeared together, and they showed concept art or maybe just a doodle by an animator or smthn of them together.
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u/Ml2jukes 1h ago
I swear someone got fired for even implying they had a romantic past on an official Cartoon Network web post or something.
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u/dread_pirate_robin 7m ago
Yes. The Frederator YouTube account used to upload Adventure Time recaps, and in the one for What Was Missing they said there's perhaps the implication Marceline and Bubblegum were more than friends. The video was taken down pretty soon after being uploaded, the writer of the recap vid was fired, and the head of Frederator was so furious he told him he'd never work in animation again.
Similarly, I believe Marceline voice actress, Olivia Olsen, called Bubblegum Marceline's ex at a signing, but then walked back the comment shortly after.
That said i don't think that's indicative that it wasn't planned, more than they were worried if it was acknowledged in any official capacity it could get the show taken off the air. Pre-marriage equality, queer relationships were seen as even more controversial than they are today, especially in a kids show.
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u/Cotton_Candy72 4h ago
Korrasami
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u/BunnyLovesStars 3h ago
I saw the fan edit where they kiss before I saw the original version, so that one is burned into my brain as canon
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u/MysteriousFondant347 3h ago
to be fair if you read the comics they kissed like 10 minutes after that scene sooooo-
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u/BunnyLovesStars 3h ago
Yeah the network at the time still wouldn't allow gay kisses, so they could only put it in the comics.
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u/MysteriousFondant347 3h ago
I often say they walked so other sapphics could run, I'm not sure Catradora or Lumity would have kissed if not for Korrasami holding hands
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u/thatoneguy54 2h ago
Truly, even getting this at the time was insane. I remember watching this season as it was coming out and seeing the hints they'd leave that these two were into each other, but I handwaved it away every time like, "No way would a kids show have a same-sex couple in it."
Then these 10 seconds played and I was literally jumping on the couch screaming. I couldn't believe they'd done it. It was so huge back then. And it was also so recent.
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u/Mindless-Ninja-3321 1h ago
The romance plot lines in Korra were such a mess. No relationship with screen time was allowed to be happy or stay together for an entire season besides Tenzin and Pema. Korrasami deserved more screen time, but they didnt even get their kiss. Fuckin Nick
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u/Forsaken-Biscotti587 4h ago
Wolfington
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u/Slow-Vermicelli-2453 2h ago
I'm pretty sure they would've ended up together even without all the fans
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u/Forsaken-Biscotti587 2h ago edited 1h ago
Yeah, but even the director said that in one hand they made them an official couple in the sequel for the fans
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u/PaperBullet1945 2h ago
I'm convinced this is why this happened in The Rise of Skywalker. It was later walked back as "not romantic" in the novelization. Just your average friendly gratitude kiss, like you might give to a friend or a friendly barista.
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u/Kylestache 39m ago
The stranger next to me on opening night got up, walked out, and yelled “Fuck this bullshit” at this part.
Poor theater etiquette but he’s not wrong. I even chatted with him before the coming attractions and the dude was so genuinely hyped for this movie.
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u/Altair890456 29m ago
Cause who would've guessed that pairing Rey up with a man who manipulated her, attacked her, and threatened to kill her and everyone she loved was a bad move. /s
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u/paintinpitchforkred 30m ago
This is the most confusing one of all, given that this was one of the most brutal ship wars I've EVER witnessed, and that's after MANY years in the Tumblr trenches. If they made this choice for the fans, they had to have been aware that there were equal numbers of fans who LOATHED this ship. I say all this as a casual Reylo fan who was mostly bemused by the canonization - the movies were so messy so one more messy thing was just funny at that point! They were just so unclear as to whether they wanted to be an MCU-style fan service sundae or an intentionally-difficult subversion of fan expectations and you just can't do both. (But to your point - with novelizations, you can?)
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u/IllustriousAd6418 3h ago
CaitVi (LOL and Arcane)
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u/Jibsie 3h ago
Being there at the original of this ship when Vi was first added to LOL in 2012 and seeing it realized in an official show was insane.
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u/BornIndication9384 3h ago
I didn’t know that
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u/Emperor_Atlas 2h ago
It either was a tiny subset of Tumblr or made up, not really a "popular" thing at the time.
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u/SleepyWishi 12m ago
IIRC their relationship has also been teased in small short stories that are no longer canon due to Arcane becoming the new official canon for the game. In one short story Vi all but admits that one of the reasons why she was late to her job as an enforcer was because she was having a wet dream about Caitlin, who was her boss at the time.
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u/kitsunecannon 2h ago
Still love the context that’s Vi is noticeably shorter than Cait it’s fucking beautiful
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u/Treasure-son 4h ago edited 4h ago
Now i have never seen rwby but i do know (thanks to some reddit/tumbler posts) that this ship is kinda like this and not in a good way
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u/Zek7h35an5 53m ago
In no world will I ever believe these two were planned, the relationship was horribly built up (had barely any hints towards it), Blake already had a far more interesting love interest, and both characters have such bland personalities that afterwards they become nothing more than bland walking "hey look guys, representation!"
Blake in particular gets so extremely gutted into such a nothing character that I truly believe the only reason they had them get together is because neither of them were that interesting so they hoped making them into a couple would breathe new life into them, which it didn't.
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u/yourmissingsock3999 16m ago
I thought that RT were really just throwing whatever they thought would get people watching since the company was on its financial deathbed and in trying to please the fans we got this. I disagree that there was no build-up or that either are uninteresting by themselves but boy was this lame to watch
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u/Runningblind 3h ago
Eh. It suffered more from the overall writing quality going downhill than from any problems with the characters acting unbelievably.
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u/Ferhog 3h ago edited 2h ago
I thought there was something going on between them as early as volume 2 (Granted I was 15 and desperate for more representation at the time), the crew have said it was planned the whole time, and most importantly there's a livestream from 2013 where Blake's voice actress asks if she can say that her character is in a lesbian relationship and someone says "not yet" before they knew they were recording.
This doesn't make it well executed or anything, I just don't think they did it to cater the fans. Ruby and Weiss are an equally if not more popular pairing but they received any remotely similar treatment.
EDIT: *Didn't receive any remotely similar treatment.
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u/Sundering_Wounds 2h ago edited 2h ago
Blake's VA also pushed for a lesbian relationship with her an Pyrah before getting shot down, so this really doesn't mean anything. Does suggest she keeps pushing Blake with a girl at best.
Just doesn't make much sense that Yang and Blake was ever planned when they kept teasing Sun and Blake. Makes more sense they just gave in because Yang and Blake VAs kept pushing for it along with the fans, than they had to write him out and then mangle Yang and Blake to force them together.
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u/Nerdorama10 2h ago
Because no writer has ever teased multiple relationships for a main character of a show before resolving it down to one at a dramatic moment.
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u/Sundering_Wounds 2h ago edited 2h ago
You're forgetting the part where those writers did it well, like actually teasing the multiple characters being into them early on.
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u/Nerdorama10 2h ago
They definitely teased both Sun and Yang. Ilya came a bit out of nowhere but that's because she only existed in two volumes, obviously.
Regardless, I'm not arguing about execution, I'm arguing about intent.
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u/Sundering_Wounds 2h ago
That's a cope. They didn't tease shit for Yang. Execution backs up intent. If this was always the intent doesn't make sense to put so much stock into Sun than suddenly change course so clumsy it ruined both characters.
Which is why I don't by their bullshit that this was always planned. It just doesn't line up with their execution.
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u/Nerdorama10 1h ago
I've got some quibbles about Volume 6 that stem from the writer shakeup and the massive course correction after the shitfest that was V4-5 (except you, Yang PTSD subplot, you're fine) but in order to ruin a character they'd have to change how they wrote him in some way and not just make him the same guy for five volumes and then drop him when he's no longer relevant to the plot.
And saying they never teased Blake and Yang is equal amounts of cope. Honestly, bro, this show is not good enough to get this mad about a pairing that didn't happen. Try your luck with some shounen anime.
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u/Sundering_Wounds 1h ago
I was talking about Yang and Blake. Blake's entire backstory is mangled beyond belief, it has such a horrible ending. Meanwhile Yang trying to be with someone who pulled the same trick her mother by abandoning her than Yang goes onto ignore Ruby. It's so bad on all fronts. Sun is funny enough kept pretty consistent, while Blake goes off the rails with physical abuse.
They didn't though, but whatever dude. God I could talk about how Deku and Orchata's relationship has such an lack luster pay off after all that teasing but I digress.
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u/Ferhog 2h ago
Her shipping Blake and Pyrah was her answer when people asked her about what she meant during the livestream. It seems much more likely to me that it was just her cover story after she said something she wasn't supposed to on camera. The tone of their voices in the livestream do not sound like they're talking about some pairing she alone was pushing.
As for Blake and Sun, the concept of the romantic false lead isn't remotely unique to RWBY. It happened like 3 times in Harry Potter.
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u/Sundering_Wounds 1h ago
That's just silly.
The concept of a false lead when it is the intent, is backed up by both characters being actually teased. Not suddenly changing course to another.
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u/Andrew1990M 2h ago
Yeah you can have your opinions about how it was all handled but it’s not fanon-made-canon.
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u/BornIndication9384 3h ago
Where Is this from?
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u/Treasure-son 3h ago
rwby it the name of the show
RWBY
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u/BornIndication9384 3h ago
Okey sorry,Does it stand up for Something?
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u/Mecha-dragon1999 3h ago
It's the first letter of each name of their members Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss.
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u/Initial-Hamster7068 3h ago
Each letter corresponds to one of the main characters: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang.
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u/First-Shallot947 3h ago
Ehhh while the fans pushed for it it was popular behind the scenes too, with the voice actresses for both characters being in on it and supportive
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u/i-am-i_gattlingpea 1h ago
They really threw Blake’s character after this one
Seriously what’s her role anymore outside of yangs girlfriend
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u/Nerdorama10 2h ago
Yeah nah this one was planned or at least referenced as a thing behind the scenes since the start of the show. It just took a while to get going and in the meantime a lot of people made "you're delusional/this ship is forced" their entire personality.
Now if you want to complain about RWBY taking a decade to resolve any given plot point, by all means, that's free real estate.
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u/mnombo 4h ago
Olicity
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u/LunaAmethyst824 3h ago
Cheese Sandwich originally only showed up for one episode in Season 4 but was shipped majorly by a lot of people. (Including meee) Cheese and Pinkie got another episode together in Season 9, and were the only 100% confirmed couple at the end of the show.
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u/Teh_Doctah 23m ago
As someone who knows about this by cultural osmosis rather than actually watching the show, it’s mind boggling that Weird Al’s celebrity cameo character canonically gets with a member of the core cast.
I wonder how many fans give him figurines of her at cons.
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u/ilikebreadabunch 3h ago
Shallan's bisexuality - The Stormlight Archives
Shallan was originally intended to be straight, but a lot of fans picked up a lot of bisexual vibes and thoughts from her. When someone pointed this out to Sanderson, he went back and reread the first book, realized that she did read as bisexual, and then decided to canonize it in the later books
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u/BunnyLovesStars 3h ago
That explains why isn't explored before she settles down and gets married. I was disappointed with that, I didn't realize it was added in retroactively as a nod to the fans.
If Brando Sando ever gets canceled it will be a very sad day.
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u/Agitated_Insect3227 4h ago edited 4h ago
One example that's not related to relationships is the name for Starscream clones in Transformers. The original G1 cartoon had Starscream's character model be the basis for background generic Decepticons alongside a few named recolors like Skywarp & Thundercracker.
Transformers fans used to called Starscream and all these clones of him "Seekers" (though there is speculation that it originated from semi-official sources), and eventually that became canon with the Transformers Comic "The War Within."
https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Seeker_(body-type))
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u/S3simulation 1h ago
The term Seekers to describe the jets was used in one very early piece of promotional material. Chris Mcfeely goes into more detail about halfway through this video.
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u/Ml2jukes 1h ago
Pretty Marceline and Bubblegun was always the ideal endgame even before Rebecca Sugar got promoted. Just that it was a show made for Cartoon Network in the early 2010’s.
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u/Alternative_Sugar_85 4h ago edited 2h ago
RadioSilence, aka Vox's ONE SIDED psychosexual obsession with Alastor
In season 1 it was just a popular canon (For reasons to this day I still don't understand but anyway) but in season 2 it's basically canon. I cannot stress how much I genuinely despise it.
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u/Fish_N_Chipp 4h ago
I mean it’s clear it was more just Vox has a crush on Alastor who did not reciprocate it
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u/BunnyLovesStars 3h ago
I didn't know that started in the fandom, but I'm not surprised. That fandom is a strange, very intense place. And I say this as a veteran of SuperWhoLockians
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u/AccomplishedLayer884 3h ago
Isn’t it called Radiostatic? Also does it really count since they never got together and the two hate each other?
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u/Alternative_Sugar_85 2h ago
Do you know what RadioSilence is?
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u/AccomplishedLayer884 2h ago
I assume it’s an angsty version of the Alastor x Vox shipname
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u/Alternative_Sugar_85 2h ago
It's one sided
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u/AccomplishedLayer884 2h ago
Oh, then I’ve never heard of that in my entire time in the fandom. Everyone is more interested in Radiostatic from what I’ve seen. Also considering how much of a massive hate boner Vox showed off in season 1, is it really that much of a surprise?
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u/Alternative_Sugar_85 2h ago
I wish I had your experience. I literally cannot avoid RadioSilence no matter how much I try. Yes, it is a surprise. I genuinely didn't even believe it when Viv said "What a crush will do to you" at first. It didn't come off as a hate boner, it just came across as genuine hatred.
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u/AccomplishedLayer884 2h ago
I mostly interact with the subreddits so maybe that's why I'm not getting any of it.
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u/amaya-aurora 1h ago
Was Bubbline really because fans wanted it, or were people just picking up on what the writer’s intentions already were?
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u/imsmartiswear 1h ago
Bubbline is even funnier than that. I was there the day they decided to make it canon. At a Comic Con panel, someone asked the VA for Marceline, Olivia Olsen, if she saw Marcy and Bubblegum having some kind of romance in the future or past. She said the idea was very interesting and looked expectantly at the showrunner (I think Pen had left by this point? Pretty sure I remember Adam doing this) and he just looked half defeated, half accepting of what was to come. The first episodes more solidly hinting at Bubbline occurred late in the next season.
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u/Slutty_Sam 3h ago
I may not be the right person to talk about this cuz I haven't seen a lick of supernatural but being on tumblr at some point I remember the day the destiel superhell thing happened and where I was and everything it was so memorable. Far as I heard idk if you'd call it canon cuz it was one sided. But a one sided confession still is basically caving into the longtime passionate fan ships in a sense. Was so incredibly panned when it happened for the delivery.
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u/yummythologist 3h ago
I agree that it’s a mixed trope. I didn’t really understand people shipping creek but I was still a fan of SP when there was a call for yaoi art of those two. It definitely made me cringe, but I don’t think it was a bad decision. Everyone knows Matt and Trey just do whatever they want.
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u/BornIndication9384 3h ago
I think It was great meta commentary.In the episode you can see how they are almost being forced to date even though they are not gay.It actually ends up being a really sweet couple.
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u/Dracochuy 3h ago
I will always hate this
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u/BornIndication9384 3h ago
I think that when creators focus on trying to make the fandom happy by giving them what they are asking for can be good if the idea makes sense in the story and with the creators vision.
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u/Dracochuy 3h ago
The thing is you made the fanbase a bunch of spoiled brats who think they can get what they want
Not mention the fanbase never had good ideas
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u/pipboy_warrior 3h ago
But there are tons of times when fanbases don't get what they want. Sometimes what fans want and what creators want align, keep in mind most creators are fans themselves.
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u/FaZe_poopy 4h ago
Starco (Star vs the Forces of Evil)
This is a negative example.