Fan theories you like or hate

[Tour of Italy]

I like the theory that the Pokemon games are told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, specifically a kid who is really fucking into Pokemon.

All of the details that don’t make sense about the world kind of fade away with this perspective. No one drives because the kid only cares about walking where the wild Pokemon are. The cities are tiny and the only buildings are ones that have to do with Pokemon. Even the houses that are there are ones where the protagonist gets an item or talks about Pokemon.

The brutal realities of a functioning ecosystem aren’t addressed (beyond small tidbits in the first game) because a kid doesn’t really want to think about how Pokemon are out there dying and eating each other.

The main criminal syndicates may be guilty of all kinds of real world heinous crimes but the only thing that the protagonist fixates on is the fact they steal Pokemon. Truly the worst crime of all.

The main character stumbles into the epic scale main plot whose details may be overblown because no one else cares about Pokemon quite as much to spend every waking moment catching and training while sticking their nose into every Pokemon related disturbance they can find.

A lot of this can be chalked up to game design targeting a specific audience, but I’m fond of the idea of the games taking place in a more realistic world warped into a cutesy caricature through the lens of a Pokemon-obsessed turbo-autist.

 

[Syaoran Li]

"Romeo and Juliet" was a Fanfic

This one is kinda sorta true if you stretch the definition of fanfic to include all writings that aren't original creations as opposed to copyrighted material.

Romeo and Juliet is pretty much a retelling of Pyramus and Thisbe, a Greco-Roman story that was popular in the Classical and Medieval eras but is a bit obscure today. It's a very loose retelling of the story with the setting changed to the Italy of Shakespeare's day. Supposedly the Montagues, Capulets, and Prince Escalus were all stand-ins for actual Italian noble houses in the regions of Venice and Verona.

One King of the Hill theory I don't like is that Hank Hill is gay. Asperger's I can see, but gay is a stretch. He's just very careful, especially given his childhood.

I don't get that theory either.

I do like the idea that Hank Hill is a functional sperg and that Dale knows about John Redcorn but plays dumb because he loves Joseph and Nancy and doesn't want to do anything that could upset his relationship with them.

I also like the fan theory that Scooby-Doo is set during a second Great Depression since even during the worst of the 1970's recessions and economic woes, we didn't see too many skilled professionals resort to petty crime.

Fan theories are often dumb and autistic but they can be fun as long as you keep things well in perspective and don't go full TV Tropes on it.

I've got my own fan theories as well that I enjoy, namely that Zombi 2 and Hell of the Living Dead are set in the same universe as Romero's original Living Dead trilogy but take place overseas and that the explanations given in those movies are merely what the people in that movie are thinking is the case. I also go with the "space satellite explosion" mentioned in Night of the Living Dead being the initial cause of the zombies in that universe.

Related to that, I have the theory Land of the Dead does not take place in the same universe as Night, Dawn, or Day. Instead, it takes place in the same universe as Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead (both of which are officially set in an alternate universe)

There's a lot of fun but spergy fan theories involving A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, some of which incorporate stuff from the comics or early drafts of certain movies.

I always liked the theory that A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge actually takes place fairly late in the series, after part 5 (The Dream Child) but before Freddy's Dead and Freddy vs. Jason.

Dream Warriors is clearly set a few years after the first film while The Dream Master and The Dream Child all directly build off the ending of Dream Warriors but Freddy's Revenge is kinda vague where it sits in the timeline other than the fact it takes place after the first movie.

Having it take place after the whole Alice arc but well before Freddy's Dead makes the most sense, since Freddy is starting to lose power and fade from memory, which is why he's trying to do the body hopping plot with Jesse.

Freddy's Dead takes place right before Jason Goes to Hell, and that leads directly into Freddy vs. Jason. Freddy dying in the real world at the end of that movie is why he's in Hell at the start of Freddy vs. Jason and that the reason why Springwood has kids and teens again in Freddy vs. Jason is a mix of new families moving in and the fact that the whole "childless dystopia" was only a single area of Springwood and not the entire town.

There's also a theory I read on the old IMDB forums that Coach Schneider in Part 2 was also likely a close friend or associate of Freddy Krueger back when he was still alive and that they both knew each other via the extreme BDSM subculture (since Schneider is a leatherman and an implied pedophile, and Freddy targeted both male and female victims) and that when the parents of Elm Street were forming their lynch mob, Freddy tried to hide at Schneider's house but was denied and that's part of why Freddy is so glad to kill Schneider in Part 2.

 

[Michael Jacks0n]

I don't know if these count as "theories" but I hate all the shipping crap that fans sperg about.

However, fan theories have actually greatly impacted somethings in positive ways. A great example is Transformers.

The whole idea of "Subspace" was, as far as I can tell, a fan invented explanation for why Prime's trailer disappears when he transforms to robot mode or why Transformers like Soundwave and Megatron are able to change size when in their alt modes. Even as a kid I thought it was weird how Megatron was as big as most standard Transformers, but would then turn into a handheld gun that any one of the Decepticons could use. Also, where do the robots store their weapons when in their alt modes? Not much room for a laser rifle inside of a boom box.

Subspace was created to explain that this is a sort of a storage pocket that the robots could access and use to store mass, items, and weapons while transformed into a specific mode. So when a Transformer transforms, excess items (like Prime's trailer or Megatron's mass) gets automatically send to Subspace.

Its a cool explanation for something the original creators didn't think about at all, and again, as far as I know, it came entirely from fans, and has now become an accepted part of Transformers lore.

Rodimus Primal on YouTube delves into this Transformers fan theory:

 

[TwoDollarPeePeePooPoo]

My favorite fan theory:

Spongebob Squarepants doesn't actually live in a pineapple under the sea.

 

[Standardized Profile]

John Redcorn isn't a masseur who uses his talents to pick up women. He's a prostitute. When Hank visited him for a massage, he thought Hank knew this and would've eventually given Hank a happy ending.

They used the 2009 H1N1 pandemic to vaccinate the populace against the alien colonization virus. After that, nobody cared about Mulder and Scully, which is why the aliens stopped hunting them, they were let back into the FBI, and their adventures became boring and stupid. Also, the guy in Genderbender was Alex Krycek in an early undercover role. And this is canon, but it sounds like a fan theory: Scully is immortal. She can't die. First brought up in Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, confirmed in Tithonus.

There's used to be a really detailed theory that the Hannibal Lecter stories take place in hell, the Dante version, and only Lecter is aware of this. He gets a job lecturing people on Dante as a sort of personal joke, the same way he showed Starling his sketch of the Duomo from the Belvedere in Silence of the Lambs. Jame Gumb lived in Belvedere, OH. There was a longstanding theory--really more of an observation--that Lecter never ate anyone, and "Hannibal the Cannibal" was a demeaning nickname given to him by the National Tattler. But as the character developed, he definitely started eating people.

 

[RumblyTumbly]

I remember hearing one theory that Disney's Aladdin actually takes place in a post apocalyptic hellscape rather than the past as we've been lead to believe.

According to this theory, Genie's constant references of 20th century pop culture is him recalling the past, rather than referencing things that haven't happened. The theory also explains that talking/anthropomorphic animals like Iago and Abu are likely the result of future genetics experimentation.

 

[Idiotron]

Here's a few that I'm fond of:

MCU
Tony Stark died in the car explosion at the start of Iron Man.
All the superhero nonsense is just what his brain made up in the last few minutes of his life.

STAR WARS
Luke has schizophrenia.
It activated because of trauma caused by having his family murdered and going to war after.
Started with just a "RUN, LUKE! RUN!", then became visible when he almost froze to death.
Voice in his head told him togo to a distant planet where he inhaled a bunch of toxic fumes and then, he hanged out with an elderly gremlin, went to a cave where he fought and killed himself.
Poor guy, if only mental health was a concern in the galaxy far far away.

SAW
Jigsaw is Kevin Mccallister from Home Alone all grown up.

 

[The Nothingness]

For any other Kiwis who watched the original Teen Titans animated series, I subscribe to the theory that a resurrected Jason Todd took up the Red X identity before becoming Red Hood.

 

[Basil II]

The Simpsons is real footage of irradiated people.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

Surprised nobody has given the Darth Jar Jar theory yet.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

Another King of the Hill theory is that Boom Hauer is spying on Dale.

 

[cuÞbert]

The Indoctrination Theory for Mass Effect 3. The only thing that could have saved that horrible ending.

The Silent Hill 4 Circumcision theory. For making me super mad while making me laugh.

The Queen Annalise of Yharnam theory: that Castle Cainhurst is essentially to Yharnam as Versailles is to Paris and that the reason the Church attacked the castle wasn't just because of the stolen blood but as a power grab against the city's legitimate government to institute a theocracy.

 

[sasazuka]

Another King of the Hill theory is that Boom Hauer is spying on Dale.

I get the idea that Dale might be on a watchlist for unorthodox views and that Boomhauer might occasionally report on Dale as part of his job but I don't think the Texas Rangers would assign a dedicated agent just to keep an eye on Dale instead of doing whatever else a Texas Ranger would do in a town the size of Arlen. I'm not sure if it's so much that Boomhauer is deep undercover as it is that Boomhauer doesn't feel the need to mention his job as it isn't an issue.

I'm not sure if the original intent for Boomhauer was to have him be a Texas Ranger (and they just never got around to doing an episode on that) or whether that's just a (literal) last minute twist the producers threw in when they realized that "To Sirloin with Love" was to be the final episode (even if it technically wasn't since there were still four unaired episodes that went straight to syndication).

 

[Syaoran Li]

I get the idea that Dale might be on a watchlist for unorthodox views and that Boomhauer might occasionally report on Dale as part of his job but I don't think the Texas Rangers would assign a dedicated agent just to keep an eye on Dale instead of doing whatever else a Texas Ranger would do in a town the size of Arlen. I'm not sure if it's so much that Boomhauer is deep undercover as it is that Boomhauer doesn't feel the need to mention his job as it isn't an issue.

I'm not sure if the original intent for Boomhauer was to have him be a Texas Ranger (and they just never got around to doing an episode on that) or whether that's just a (literal) last minute twist the producers threw in when they realized that "To Sirloin with Love" was to be the final episode (even if it technically wasn't since there were still four unaired episodes that went straight to syndication).

I think the early seasons implied Boomhauer was an electrician or even an electrical engineer who was on workman's comp but never outright said it. The Texas Ranger thing seems to be a quick last-second twist for the finale.

Admittedly, I do like the idea that Boomhauer is a deep cover Texas Ranger who isn't so much spying on Dale but instead Dale is a confidential informant since he already knows Boomhauer and trusts him despite his paranoia and he wants to keep the more extreme elements out of the Arlen Gun Club like Mad Dog from the "Soldier of Misfortune" episode

 

[Foolish Samurai Warrior]

I like the theory that the Pokemon games are told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, specifically a kid who is really fucking into Pokemon.

All of the details that don’t make sense about the world kind of fade away with this perspective. No one drives because the kid only cares about walking where the wild Pokemon are. The cities are tiny and the only buildings are ones that have to do with Pokemon. Even the houses that are there are ones where the protagonist gets an item or talks about Pokemon.

The brutal realities of a functioning ecosystem aren’t addressed (beyond small tidbits in the first game) because a kid doesn’t really want to think about how Pokemon are out there dying and eating each other.

The main criminal syndicates may be guilty of all kinds of real world heinous crimes but the only thing that the protagonist fixates on is the fact they steal Pokemon. Truly the worst crime of all.

The main character stumbles into the epic scale main plot whose details may be overblown because no one else cares about Pokemon quite as much to spend every waking moment catching and training while sticking their nose into every Pokemon related disturbance they can find.

A lot of this can be chalked up to game design targeting a specific audience, but I’m fond of the idea of the games taking place in a more realistic world warped into a cutesy caricature through the lens of a Pokemon-obsessed turbo-autist.

A lot of your complaining about is simply gameplay mechanics or limitations. Like in Final Fantasy, don't you ever wonder why Castles don't have bathrooms? Because nobody cares about stuff.

 

[Strange Wilderness]

One Non Non Biyori fan theory that I find to be rather implausible is that Kazuho Miyauchi (the teacher) is, in fact, Renge's mother pretending to be her much older (by around 18 years) sister. The biggest problem with this theory is that middle sister Hikage exists and would either have to be lying, even to herself, when she calls Renge her sister (when, if this theory were true, she'd be an aunt and Renge would be her niece), and I don't think Hikage is that good a liar, or that the never-shown Miyauchi mother would have to have pretended to be pregnant even to her own daughter Hikage to cover up Hikage's older sister's pregnancy, which seems ridiculous.

The supposed reason for the deception would be that the Miyauchi parents would have been embarrassed by their daughter's teenage pregnancy but they live in a tiny village where everyone seems friendly and supportive so I don't think Kazuho would have been a pariah if she had gotten pregnant at around 17.

Never heard that theory. I have heard the theory that Renges parents are dead and her odd behavior is a coping mechanism her sisters play along with. I don't believe it but its a little more plausible than the older sister is really the mother.

I like the King of the Hill theory that Dale knows Joeseph isn't his kid and just doesn't care. He really is too hyper paranoid to not figure it out.

I like that theory because it ties into Dales paranoia and the fact he has cameras all over the house so he was bound to have caught Nancy and John Redcorn doing it but he loves his wife and son too much to destroy his family. For the record I remember reading somewhere that Mike Judge commented on that theory and said it wasn't true. He said Dale doesn't know about the affair and if he ever found out he would go on a killing spree before shooting himself.

The Indoctrination Theory for Mass Effect 3. The only thing that could have saved that horrible ending.

Its a bad sign when the only way to salvage a AAA game "written" by "professional writers" relies on its MC being brainwashed by Cthulhu spaceships.

Spoiler

I've heard another take on the ending that most of it is Shepard's dying dream after he activates the Crucible. That everything after his and Anderson's last words watching the sunrise is a hallucination. That way Shepard saves the galaxy and gets to make one last choice that means nothing in the end. I've always played the game where Shepard destroys the Reapers, survives, and the Citadel DLC is the true ending, my personal way of salvaging the ending.

 

[mr.moon1488]

The Indoctrination Theory for Mass Effect 3. The only thing that could have saved that horrible ending.

The Silent Hill 4 Circumcision theory. For making me super mad while making me laugh.

The Queen Annalise of Yharnam theory: that Castle Cainhurst is essentially to Yharnam as Versailles is to Paris and that the reason the Church attacked the castle wasn't just because of the stolen blood but as a power grab against the city's legitimate government to institute a theocracy.

Lol when I first watched a video about the SH4 circumcision theory I thought it was written by some shitposter trying to redpill people on the side, but it turned out he was a genuine schizo.

 

[Tour of Italy]

A lot of your complaining about is simply gameplay mechanics or limitations. Like in Final Fantasy, don't you ever wonder why Castles don't have bathrooms? Because nobody cares about stuff.

I’m not complaining I’m just saying it fits.

Hell I even said in my post that most of it is likely due to them just wanting to gear the game towards their target audience. So yes, I agree. Ten year olds don’t care where Blue goes to the bathroom, so why bother programming an explanation.

I’m just saying that it’s also funny to look at it as the adventures of an obsessed hyper nerd with sever tunnel vision that ignores everything other than Pokemon.

 

[2021Murder]

There's "Ash in a coma", but that's more of a creepypasta.

i like it. as a kid seeing those early episode re-runs was crazy. it was like fucking night and day with the rest of the series.

I also like the fan theory that Scooby-Doo is set during a second Great Depression since even during the worst of the 1970's recessions and economic woes, we didn't see too many skilled professionals resort to petty crime.

Cocaine's a hell of a drug. a lot of NA stories from back then had quite a lot of doctors, civil engineers, and lawyers doing crazy shit, especially in the middle of nowhere. You really think some meth head that owns a dilapitated airport wouldn't scare people because the phone company is making him think gay thoughts.

 

[Dom Cruise]

I like the theory that the Pokemon games are told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, specifically a kid who is really fucking into Pokemon.

All of the details that don’t make sense about the world kind of fade away with this perspective. No one drives because the kid only cares about walking where the wild Pokemon are. The cities are tiny and the only buildings are ones that have to do with Pokemon. Even the houses that are there are ones where the protagonist gets an item or talks about Pokemon.

The brutal realities of a functioning ecosystem aren’t addressed (beyond small tidbits in the first game) because a kid doesn’t really want to think about how Pokemon are out there dying and eating each other.

The main criminal syndicates may be guilty of all kinds of real world heinous crimes but the only thing that the protagonist fixates on is the fact they steal Pokemon. Truly the worst crime of all.

The main character stumbles into the epic scale main plot whose details may be overblown because no one else cares about Pokemon quite as much to spend every waking moment catching and training while sticking their nose into every Pokemon related disturbance they can find.

A lot of this can be chalked up to game design targeting a specific audience, but I’m fond of the idea of the games taking place in a more realistic world warped into a cutesy caricature through the lens of a Pokemon-obsessed turbo-autist.

A more realistic world where Pokemon still exists? That's interesting.

I've got my own fan theories as well that I enjoy, namely that Zombi 2 and Hell of the Living Dead are set in the same universe as Romero's original Living Dead trilogy but take place overseas and that the explanations given in those movies are merely what the people in that movie are thinking is the case. I also go with the "space satellite explosion" mentioned in Night of the Living Dead being the initial cause of the zombies in that universe.

Related to that, I have the theory Land of the Dead does not take place in the same universe as Night, Dawn, or Day. Instead, it takes place in the same universe as Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead (both of which are officially set in an alternate universe)

I think Night, Dawn and Day are supposed to be their own little continuities where the zombie apocalypse happens at different times, ie the 60s, the 70s, the 80s and the 2000s, more an anthology series than sequels in the typical sense.

I think Land is part of that original series though, Diary was meant to be the reboot.