What is a headcanon? Meaning, examples and how to write one
A headcanon is a fan's own belief about a character that the official story never confirms. What it means, how it differs from canon, and how to write one.
A headcanon is something a fan believes about a character or a story that the official story never says: a habit, a fear, a backstory, a friendship. It lives in your head, not in the canon, and that is the whole point of the word. If you want ideas to start from, N33's free headcanon generator writes a few about any character in seconds; below we show what it wrote for three of our own characters, and how to make the results sharper.
What does headcanon mean?
Fans have used it since about 2007, first in fan fiction communities, and it is used both as a noun ("my headcanon is that she hates the sea") and as a verb ("I headcanon him as left-handed"). It is fandom slang, so it means the same thing in anime, game, book and show fandoms, and in roleplay.
What is the difference between canon, fanon and headcanon?
| Term | Who decides it | Example for a night-river ferryman |
|---|---|---|
| Canon | The official story | He runs a ferry on a river that only flows at night |
| Fanon | Most of the fandom, by habit | Everyone writes him as gruff and lonely |
| Headcanon | You, or a few friends | He tells the time by a heron, not a clock |
| AU (alternate universe) | The writer, on purpose | He drives a night bus in a modern city |
What kinds of headcanons are there?
Three original fantasy characters, five moods each, three headcanons a prompt: 15 prompts, about 4 to 5 seconds each. 14 gave 42 headcanons; one, about a character's relationships, asked which story the character came from instead. Three slipped out of the world: a five-dollar photo fee, an Excel file and a radio. Two characters got the same joke, something named Gerald. Two of three switched between he and they. Asked for short, they ran 40 to 60 words. With the world, the pronouns, a 25-word limit and "original character" added, 3 more prompts gave 9 headcanons, all in the world, at 19 to 28 words.
How do you get better headcanons from a generator?
| Add this | Example | What it fixed |
|---|---|---|
| Where the character comes from | an original character, or the show's name | One prompt asked which story the character was from |
| The world and era | a medieval fantasy world with no modern technology | A five-dollar fee, an Excel file and a radio |
| Pronouns | Esmeck (he/him) | He and they in the same set |
| A word limit | under 25 words each | 40 to 60 words when asked for short |
The difference shows in one line. Before: a long paragraph about Esmeck charging tourists five dollars for photos of his ferry by day. After adding the world, his pronouns and the limit: "He insists passengers address him as Captain, despite his ferry being ten feet long and never leaving the same river." Same joke territory, 20 words, and it belongs in his world.
How do you write a good headcanon?
When you share one, say it is a headcanon so nobody mistakes it for canon. On Tumblr and in roleplay groups people post short numbered lists under the character's name; in a fic, a headcanon works best shown, not stated, as a habit the reader notices. To build a scene around one, our AI fanfic generator takes a headcanon as the prompt.
To try it, open the headcanon generator, name a character and pick a mood. If you need a character first, the random character generator makes up a new one in a few seconds.
Questions and answers
Can a headcanon become canon?
Yes, when the official story later confirms it. Until then it stays a headcanon, however many fans share it.
What does headcanon mean in anime or fanfiction?
The same as anywhere: a fan's own belief about a character that the anime, game or book never states.
What is a headcanon in roleplay?
A detail a roleplayer decides about their character, such as a habit or a backstory, to play them consistently.
Is there a free headcanon generator?
Yes. Ours runs in the free chat with no account: name a character, pick a mood and how many you want.
Is it headcanon or head canon?
Both are used; headcanon as one word is the more common spelling.
Arthur Down is a journalist with more than 12 years of experience writing about technology, personal finance, health and everyday consumer topics. He studied Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Sheffield, started as a reporter at a regional newspaper and has worked freelance since 2014. At N33 he writes and edits the blog's practical guides to AI tools.
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