Post by Patches on Aug 10, 2008 20:16:14 GMT -5
No matter how many times you read something in fanfiction, it doesn't make it true.
"Fanon", or "fan canon", is certain story elements that become generally accepted amongst a fandom that have no basis in canon. They become so oft-used that they end up being taken as givens when writing about the series, despite being completely invented by the fandom. So, I'll use this thread to point out some of the more widely-spread instances of fanon in Inuyasha.
1. Sesshoumaru is "Lord of the Western Lands"
Why it's bunk: This is probably the number one most common piece of fanon in the Inuyasha fandom. Even I fell for it when I first got into the series, but after watching and reading the series all the way through, I failed to discover where this information was ever mentioned in canon. "Lord of the Western Lands" sounds like a title, so it would seem reasonable to expect that a Japanese equivalent of this title exists in the series. It doesn't. Not even his father was called anything like this.
Where it might have come from: My guess is that the translation of the honorific "-sama" into "Lord" got people thinking that Sesshoumaru must be "Lord of" something. And since his father was the most powerful youkai in the West, they may have assumed that this "Lord" title referred to his power holdings in the West, and that this title transferred to Sesshoumaru once his father died. However, this entire thing is a misrepresentation of an awkwardly-translated word. While "Lord" does tend to imply some sort of status or land holdings in English, "-sama" merely means that the individual is respected.
2. Sesshoumaru has a castle
Why it's bunk: Yes, it's established that Sesshoumaru's mother has a castle, but the "Sesshoumaru's castle" thing has been going on waaaay before his mother's castle ever showed up. And, given how Jaken wasn't even aware of the woman's existence, it's safe to say that Sesshoumaru does not typically take up any sort of extended residence at the place. And, though not technically "canon", Takahashi stated in an interview that Sesshoumaru does not live anywhere. So, since she's the creator of the series, I'm tempted to take her word for it.
Where it might have come from: This was probably an offshoot of the "Lord of the Western Lands" misconception. People figured that if Sesshoumaru had these vast tracts of land and political power, he must have a sprawling palace as well. Unfortunately, many pieces of fanfiction get this doubly wrong by not only assuming he has a castle going off of faulty information to begin with, but that this castle is some shining marble palace with chandeliers and footmen and canopy beds. Uh... yeah, those kinds of things didn't exist in Japan.
3. Mating marks
Why it's bunk: ... Okay, seriously, when has anyone actually ever had sex in the series at all to know this? Izayoi and Sessmom certainly seemed to have immaculate necks.
Where it might have come from: Horny teenage fangirls, obviously. Ooh, they have fangs like vampires. Ooh, they're dogs. Tee hee, I'm too immature to say "sex" so I'm going to call it "mate". This is nothing but inserting some sort of quasi-bestiality fantasy into fanfiction, and thousands of fangirls just kind of took off with it.
4. Kagome needs shards to use the well
Why it's bunk: Well, obviously because Kagome was utterly shardless for the last couple hundred chapters of the manga but could use the well perfectly fine. That and the manga never states she needs them to do anything.
Where it might have come from: Okay, this one, I KNOW where it came from. It was the anime writers trying to do their own thing and then shooting themselves in the foot. Yes, the anime made the assertion that Kagome needed jewel shards to use the well, but when the manga ended up contradicting this later, first the anime tried to BS itself around it, and then it just gave up altogether and hoped everyone forgot that it had made such an assertion in the first place.
5. Inuyasha's father's name is Inutaisho
Why it's bunk: Inuyasha's father is never named in the manga or anime. He was given the name "Touga-ou" in early drafts of the third movie, but the name was dropped for unknown reasons.
Where it might have come from: "Inutaisho" is a misspelling of "Inu no Taishou", which is Inuyasha's father's title, meaning "Dog General". This misspelling circulated, though, and those unfamiliar with its origin took it as his name and began using it as such. I have also seen some fans give his name as "Sugimi". This either came from a bootleg subtitle track (which has notoriously bad subtitling. They called Bankotsu "Mango"), or is a misspelling of "Chichi-gimi", which is what Myouga refers to Inuyasha's father as (it is a respectful way to refer to another person's father).
That's all I can think of at the moment. If you have any other things that you see crop up in fanfiction or series discussions frequently but are unsure of how canonical they are, feel free to ask about them here and I should be able to tell you whether they're canon or fanon.
"Fanon", or "fan canon", is certain story elements that become generally accepted amongst a fandom that have no basis in canon. They become so oft-used that they end up being taken as givens when writing about the series, despite being completely invented by the fandom. So, I'll use this thread to point out some of the more widely-spread instances of fanon in Inuyasha.
1. Sesshoumaru is "Lord of the Western Lands"
Why it's bunk: This is probably the number one most common piece of fanon in the Inuyasha fandom. Even I fell for it when I first got into the series, but after watching and reading the series all the way through, I failed to discover where this information was ever mentioned in canon. "Lord of the Western Lands" sounds like a title, so it would seem reasonable to expect that a Japanese equivalent of this title exists in the series. It doesn't. Not even his father was called anything like this.
Where it might have come from: My guess is that the translation of the honorific "-sama" into "Lord" got people thinking that Sesshoumaru must be "Lord of" something. And since his father was the most powerful youkai in the West, they may have assumed that this "Lord" title referred to his power holdings in the West, and that this title transferred to Sesshoumaru once his father died. However, this entire thing is a misrepresentation of an awkwardly-translated word. While "Lord" does tend to imply some sort of status or land holdings in English, "-sama" merely means that the individual is respected.
2. Sesshoumaru has a castle
Why it's bunk: Yes, it's established that Sesshoumaru's mother has a castle, but the "Sesshoumaru's castle" thing has been going on waaaay before his mother's castle ever showed up. And, given how Jaken wasn't even aware of the woman's existence, it's safe to say that Sesshoumaru does not typically take up any sort of extended residence at the place. And, though not technically "canon", Takahashi stated in an interview that Sesshoumaru does not live anywhere. So, since she's the creator of the series, I'm tempted to take her word for it.
Where it might have come from: This was probably an offshoot of the "Lord of the Western Lands" misconception. People figured that if Sesshoumaru had these vast tracts of land and political power, he must have a sprawling palace as well. Unfortunately, many pieces of fanfiction get this doubly wrong by not only assuming he has a castle going off of faulty information to begin with, but that this castle is some shining marble palace with chandeliers and footmen and canopy beds. Uh... yeah, those kinds of things didn't exist in Japan.
3. Mating marks
Why it's bunk: ... Okay, seriously, when has anyone actually ever had sex in the series at all to know this? Izayoi and Sessmom certainly seemed to have immaculate necks.
Where it might have come from: Horny teenage fangirls, obviously. Ooh, they have fangs like vampires. Ooh, they're dogs. Tee hee, I'm too immature to say "sex" so I'm going to call it "mate". This is nothing but inserting some sort of quasi-bestiality fantasy into fanfiction, and thousands of fangirls just kind of took off with it.
4. Kagome needs shards to use the well
Why it's bunk: Well, obviously because Kagome was utterly shardless for the last couple hundred chapters of the manga but could use the well perfectly fine. That and the manga never states she needs them to do anything.
Where it might have come from: Okay, this one, I KNOW where it came from. It was the anime writers trying to do their own thing and then shooting themselves in the foot. Yes, the anime made the assertion that Kagome needed jewel shards to use the well, but when the manga ended up contradicting this later, first the anime tried to BS itself around it, and then it just gave up altogether and hoped everyone forgot that it had made such an assertion in the first place.
5. Inuyasha's father's name is Inutaisho
Why it's bunk: Inuyasha's father is never named in the manga or anime. He was given the name "Touga-ou" in early drafts of the third movie, but the name was dropped for unknown reasons.
Where it might have come from: "Inutaisho" is a misspelling of "Inu no Taishou", which is Inuyasha's father's title, meaning "Dog General". This misspelling circulated, though, and those unfamiliar with its origin took it as his name and began using it as such. I have also seen some fans give his name as "Sugimi". This either came from a bootleg subtitle track (which has notoriously bad subtitling. They called Bankotsu "Mango"), or is a misspelling of "Chichi-gimi", which is what Myouga refers to Inuyasha's father as (it is a respectful way to refer to another person's father).
That's all I can think of at the moment. If you have any other things that you see crop up in fanfiction or series discussions frequently but are unsure of how canonical they are, feel free to ask about them here and I should be able to tell you whether they're canon or fanon.