For many faithful cartoon viewers, one of the best parts of watching is over-analyzing the show with friends. These theories bring new insight into the series. Fans love creating wild theories so much that there are wikis and Subreddits dedicated to discussing these ideas. Sometimes, the theories are way off and immediately denied, such as all of the babies are dead in Rugrats. Other theories make creators uncomfortable, such as Pigeon Man falling and dying in Hey Arnold! Craig Bartlett disliked the theory so much he tried to prove theorists wrong in the newest film Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.
Creators do want to hear from fans about their theories, within reason. Many theories become so popular within their fandoms that they become canon in future series. Creators understand that fans are important to keeping their creations alive, so sometimes they’ll add in Easter eggs into shows to make viewers happy. If it doesn’t make it to the show, it may appear in related media, such as fans shipping Breakdown and Knockout during the show, but becoming a couple in the comic series Transformers: Windblade.
Though some fan theories are wild, there are many that have been proven right. Creators may not confirm it while the show is ongoing, but will happily take questions after the show has gone off-air. Our list compiles some of these theories that have been confirmed by their creators or showrunners. There may be spoilers scattered throughout the list, but keep reading if you’re ready to learn more about some of your favorite shows.
15 Stop! Don’t Eat That Patty!
SpongeBob SquarePants has spawned several fan theories over the years. Many already know the common opinions, such as Bikini Bottom being a hotbed of radioactive activity. One of the most gruesome theories revolves around the Krabby Patty, the most popular burger at the restaurant. It was created by Mr. Krabs when he was a child.
Most of the ingredients are common items, such as cheese and onion. Shockingly, the patty also contains imitation crab meat and an imitation crab meat patty. How would Mr. Krabs know that crab meat, in any form, is delicious? The only explanation is to prove a fan theory true: Mr. Krabs is a monster. Instead of illegally eating the flesh of his kind, he may have switched to imitation crab meat to lessen the moral burden and, of course, reduce the cost. Crab meat is expensive, after all.
14 Yes, Some Fans Actually Care About The Disney Princes
Disney fans realize that the company puts more emphasis on promoting their Princesses than the Princes. More people can name all of the Disney Princesses than their male leads. In Beauty and the Beast, the male love interest is only known as Beast. He was initially a young prince, but little is known about him except that he used to be incredibly arrogant. When he becomes human at the end of the movie, he is still only remembered for what he is: a Prince. A PC game called The D Show stated his name was Prince Adam. True or not, fans believed this was the Beast's human name. Disney would not comment on the name for several years. A plaque at Disney World finally made the name Adam canon along with the live-action movie.
13 Cakes, Cookies, And Capoeira
Death Note's L is often seen squatting in chairs and drinking tea. You might not take him seriously at first, but you'll realize how crafty he is. L may be intelligent, but his line of work is dangerous. Obata, the creator of Death Note, stated he had to develop a fighting style that was possible to do while handcuffed to someone. Fans commented that the martial arts style resembled Capoeira. L's fighting was further confirmed in the light novel L: Change the World, where L is shown taking Capoeira lessons from Suruga. Since M wrote it, and not Obata, fans debated the continuity. Obata often heard from fans their theories about L's fighting abilities. He didn't confirm it until much later, stating it made him happy that L was also considered a Capoeira fighter.
12 It's Not Like I Like You Or Anything!
Beast Boy and Raven have been long-running members of Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! on Cartoon Network. The creators first mentioned that the pair were supposed to be like brother and sister. They wouldn't work well together and would often get into arguments. Of course, fans believed that this meant they were in love and shipped them together at every opportunity. While Teen Titans was on the air, the only couple the creators seemed to endorse was Robin and Starfire.
Teen Titans Go! finally made fan speculation about Beast Boy and Raven come true. Beast Boy flirts with Raven, and she pretends to dislike him. Raven is hiding her feelings for her teammate, which is only made more apparent when Terra, Beast Boy's love interest from the comic series, appears.
11 Those Bandages Were Hiding An Incurable Secret
Princess Mononoke is a classic film about a man trying to find a cure for a demonic curse. Though the curse gives him powerful abilities, it will eventually kill him. Ashitaka meets former brothel workers while visiting Tatara factory in Irontown. They are all covered in bloody bandages. It's the one place in town where no one else will discriminate against them. Though they don't have names, in Japanese, they are referred to as "gyobyo," which translates roughly to "incurable disease," which is why many English-speaking fans may not have noticed. Miyazaki confirmed the theory in 2016. During World Leprosy Day on January 31, the stated: "While making Princess Mononoke, I thought I had to depict people who are ill with what’s clearly called an incurable disease, but who are living as best they can.”
10 The Story Of A Man And His Turtle Brothers
Both Daredevil and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series originate from comic books. The turtles were young when they were doused with mutagen in the sewers. Their sensei and adoptive father, Master Splinter, was also mutated from human to giant rat-man thanks to the accident. These turtles weren't the only ones doused in the chemical. Matt Murdock, also known as Daredevil, was hit by the radioactive goo. He lost his sight but gained superhuman abilities.
The accidents are related. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman are fans of the Daredevil series. The admitted that Splinter saw Matt get hit by the mutagen, then watched as it dripped into a nearby sewer. Though Marvel has stayed quiet about the connection, Laird and Eastman have confirmed their universes are connected.
9 To Live Together And Exist As Me
Garnet is the calm, cool, and collected, character in Steven Universe. Rarely does she express anger, or any other emotion, unlike Amethyst or Pearl. Garnet always draws attention when she appears on-screen. Fans noticed that the other Gems, including Steven, only have a single gemstone. Garnet has two gemstones on her hands. When the idea of fusions debut, fans believed that Garnet might be a fusion of two Gems.
This theory was proven right in "Jail Break." We learn that Garnet is a stable fusion of Ruby and Sapphire, two gems who care for each other more than anything else in the world. They are so close that they never want to separate, unlike other fusions on the show like Stevonnie, Steven, and Connie, or Opal, Pearl and Amethyst.
8 We Had No Idea Yubaba Meant That
At first glance, Spirited Away looks like a heartwarming story about a girl returning to her parents. Fans began to read further into the series. Chihiro is forced to work in a bathhouse, which symbolized a certain kind of business. She's forced to change her name to Sen and is employed as a "yuna," which were known as water woman who washed patrons for money. The madame of these Edo-era bathhouses was called "Yubaba," which is also the name of the older woman who owns the bathhouse in the film. No-Face keeps offering her money, or Sen in Japanese, to buy her innocence, which was a common practice in Japanese businesses of the sort.
Hayao Miyazaki confirmed during an interview that fans were correct: "I think the most appropriate way to symbolize the modern world is the [adult] industry. Hasn’t Japanese society become like the [adult] industry?".
7 He Probably Would Need A Shirt To Co-Exist With These Sisters
Though we often see Disney characters appear in Easter eggs, it's usually not a confirmation that they happen in the same universe. Evidence backed one Frozen-related fan theory: Elsa and Anna's parents are also the parents of Tarzan.
The royal couple is shipwrecked but didn't die in the crash. According to Frozen co-directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, their mother was pregnant. On the boat, she gave birth to a baby boy. They try to survive on the island by building a tree house, but nature ruined their happily ever after. A leopard kills the couple, leaving the young boy alone to be raised by gorillas. Since Buck also directed Tarzan, he confirmed the connection between both films.
6 You've Got A Friend In Me No Matter Where You Are
Pixar quickly became a household name with its release of Toy Story. With the number of cross movie appearances that were occurring in the movies, fans believed that all of the series takes place within the same timeline. Jon Negroni wrote a thesis in 2013 explaining how all of the series connected in a giant timeline. Various staff members who worked on the films refused the theory, but the Disney company officially confirmed it in early 2017.
In an official video, Disney connected the dots on how each of Pixar's 17 movies are connected. Throughout the hundreds of Easter eggs, we see characters showing up in different worlds. Even though Cars takes place after the reign of humans, characters from Brave appear on a rug, while Sully from Monsters, Inc. appears on a wood carving in Brave.
5 A Boy, His Dog, And A Horrific Mushroom War
Since Adventure Time began, fans refused to believe it was a light-hearted adventure about a boy and his dog. The series started by focusing on candy people and guitar-playing vampires but soon became much darker. Discarded trash in city streets made fans wonder if the show took place in a post-apocalyptic setting.
Pendleton Ward confirmed this theory as early as season one. In the episode Video Makers, Jake speaks about the great Mushroom War. The war occurred approximately one thousand years before the show began. Humans became nearly extinct from the nuclear, mushroom-shaped blasts. From flashback episodes starring Simon, now ice king, and Marceline, we know that the bombs struck around the early 2000s when iMacs and smartphones rose in popularity.
4 He Was Peddling More Than Random Wares
Aladdin was first released in theaters in 1992. The Disney film was instantly popular with fans, thanks to it's headstrong Princess Jasmine, beautiful Arabian landscapes, and the outstanding performance by the late Robin Williams. A fan theory quickly began spreading that the Peddler, who appears at the beginning of the film, and the Genie, are the same character. Those who doubted the theory claimed that although Genie does love to transform into different people and animals, he's always a shade of blue. Both characters both seemed to share the same voice actor, Robin Williams. Though the theory circulated the internet for years, it wasn't confirmed until 2015. Co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker confirmed that the Peddler and the Genie are the same characters. The reveal was supposed to take place at the end of the movie, but it was lost during the editing process.
3 His Power Level Is Under 9000
Pokémon stars Ash Ketchum and his best friend, Pikachu. Though Ash has yet to win a Pokémon Championship, he still works hard to become a better trainer in each series. Pikachu is always by his side, even when he switches to different Pokémon depending on the region. The most recent series Pokémon: Sun and Moon confirmed that his Pokémon are still waiting for him, even though Ash is off on his journey.
Fans always believed that like Ash's age, Pikachu's power level restarts at the start of each new season. Pokémon the Series: Black & White finally confirms this on-screen. When Ash gets off the plane to Unova, a Zekrom zaps Pikachu of all of his electricity. Pikachu has to regain his full power during the series.
2 Destroying All Humans
The world of Cars stars a world of anthropomorphic vehicles that have jobs and live in homes. They survive in the world on their own, without humans. Have you ever wondered where all the people are? Fans believed that humans had become extinct or were killed in a vehicle uprising. Jay Ward, the creative director of the Cars franchise, gave truth to the shocking theory. He discussed how much cars are evolving, and how many don't even need a human driver. Though this is true, it makes us nervous how cars could become sentient. Ward continued by saying "Imagine in the near-future when the cars keep getting smarter and smarter and after one day they just go, "Why do we need human beings anymore? They're just slowing us down. It's just extra weight, let's get rid of them."
1 A Fan-Ship That Finally Worked Out
The Legend of Korra is a sequel to the popular series Avatar: The Last Airbender. It stars Korra, the next Avatar, who has to learn how to control earth, water, fire, and airbending. During her journey, she travels with a small group of friends including Bolin, Mako, and Asami. Asami and Korra fight over Mako at the beginning of the series, but soon leave him, treasuring their friendship instead. The last episode shows both friends holding hands and head to the Spirit World for a vacation. Fans were already shipping the friends, but the ending only confirmed their suspicions.
Five days after the last episode, creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko confirmed “Korra and Asami fell in love. Were they friends? Yes, and they still are, but they also grew to have romantic feelings for each other."