# Headcanon Headcanon describes a fan's personal interpretation of a character or story that never appears in the official source, from a side character's unspoken trauma to a cartoon dad's secret hobbies. A LiveJournal Ben 10 fanfiction writer used the word in July 2007 to describe her take on Gwen's mother, and by April 2010 cross-fandom LiveJournal communities and Tumblr tags were collecting these theories for Homestuck, Harry Potter and dozens of other fandoms. ## Origin Canon as a fan-fiction concept predates headcanon by nearly a century. Ronald Knox used the word in his 1911 essay "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes" to separate Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories from imitations by other writers [5]. Fan communities picked up the word, and by the Usenet era they coined "fanon," a blend of fan and canon, for beliefs that circulated through fanworks instead of the source text. One of the earliest archived uses sits on alt.startrek.creative on March 9, 2000, where a Star Trek fan asked whether the idea that Vulcans discovered humans came from a fan work before the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact [2]. By 2003 fanon debates had reached alt.tv.x-files.creative, where posters asked whether Scully inviting Mulder home for Christmas was canon or fanfic invention [7], and alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative, where the question was whether Buffy Summers was really an Elizabeth [4]. "Headcanon" itself appears to trace to July 2007, when a LiveJournal fanfiction writer in the Ben 10 fandom used the term to describe her private interpretation of Gwen's mother, a character the animated series had barely developed [5]. That gave fans a way to flag speculation as personal belief rather than community consensus, distinct from the already-established fanon. - **Platform:** LiveJournal / Tumblr (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2007 ## Overview A typical headcanon post reads as a short declaration ("my headcanon is that this character has ADHD") or as a bulleted list of invented backstory details. The claim stays personal and non-binding, which lets fans fill gaps the source left open without arguing that the writer got anything wrong [1]. When a particular headcanon catches on inside a community, it can graduate to fanon, a widely accepted fan interpretation that circulates almost as if it were canonical. Fans tag responses "headcanon accepted" when they adopt someone else's idea, usually with a reaction GIF attached on Tumblr [11]. The practice sits alongside older fan traditions like shipping and alternate-universe writing, but headcanon is specifically about additive details, hair color, sexuality, favorite foods, invented trauma backstories, that the source leaves blank. Well-known fanon examples include speculation about the identity of James Potter's parents in Harry Potter [17], the character Lyra's obsession with humans in the Brony fandom, and depictions of Cecil Baldwin from Welcome to Night Vale with a third eye [5]. ## How to Use A headcanon post typically opens with the phrase "my headcanon is" or "headcanon:" and names a specific character before adding one or more invented traits ("Dirk Strider owns too many kettles"). People often post lists of ten headcanons about a given character when prompted by survey memes like the one that went around LiveJournal in September 2007 [3]. When another fan agrees, the common convention is to reblog with "headcanon accepted" plus a reaction image [11]. Writers also include headcanons in fanfiction author notes to flag which details are their own invention. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Headcanon? Headcanon is an idea or belief about a character or story that a fan accepts personally but that is not stated anywhere in the official source material [1]. ### Where did Headcanon come from? The word first appears in a July 2007 LiveJournal post by a Ben 10 fanfiction writer describing her interpretation of Gwen's mother [5]. ### What does Headcanon mean? It means a fan's private interpretation that fills a gap in the source, like a character's sexuality, favorite food, or backstory, without claiming to be canon [12]. ### How do you use Headcanon? Fans post statements like "my headcanon is that..." and reblog with "headcanon accepted" plus a reaction GIF when they adopt someone else's version [11]. ### Is Headcanon still popular? Yes, it is a classic piece of fandom slang that stuck as the main way to label a personal interpretation across Tumblr and other fan platforms [11]. ### What is the difference between headcanon and fanon? A headcanon is one person's belief, while fanon is a fan-created idea that an entire fandom has adopted, like whether Vulcans discovered humans in Star Trek [2]. ### When was Headcanon first used? July 2007, in a LiveJournal post about the Ben 10 character Gwen's mother [5]. ### What does "headcanon accepted" mean? It is a Tumblr tag and reply fans use when they decide to adopt someone else's headcanon as their own, often with a reaction GIF [11]. ### What are some well-known examples of fanon? The identity of James Potter's parents in Harry Potter fandom [17], Lyra's human obsessions in Brony fandom, and the Cecil Baldwin third eye in Welcome to Night Vale [5]. ### Where did fans first discuss headcanons online? LiveJournal from 2007 onward [3], then forums like MS Paint Adventures and EvaGeeks around 2010 [8], and Tumblr tags from the early 2010s [11]. ## References 1. [https://fanlore.org/wiki/Fanon]() 2. [https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.startrek.creative/bHN4s63Q4f0/Qt1SD9hyDMYJ]() 3. [http://cerise-amarante.livejournal.com/5710.html]() 4. [https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative/zX3MU5d-HFw/otpFKGK29b8J]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/headcanon]() 6. [http://headcanonftw.livejournal.com/]() 7. [https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.tv.x-files.creative/XXgsvvyDUFY/Y0KFHOT_1icJ]() 8. [http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?32927-Blast-Out-The-Head-Canon-Thread%21&s=e30113aaa3ff9ab43aed7c88b986cd7e]() 9. [http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/10301/The-headcanon-thread/]() 10. [http://hp-headcanon.livejournal.com/]() 11. [https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/headcanon]() 12. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Headcanon]() 13. [http://haberdashing.livejournal.com/9989.html]() 14. [http://inthecenterfold.livejournal.com/6515.html]() 15. [https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=72711&show=0]() 16. [https://fantasmick.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ooc&action=display&thread=535]() 17. [https://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Fanon]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/headcanon Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library