fanon n. the body of widely accepted fan-created embellishments of a fictional universe, storyline, or character. Editorial Note: Thanks to Ruth Czirr for suggesting fanon as an entry. Etymological Note: fan + ca(n)on. The person quoted in the first 1998 citation has not been verified as the creator of the term fanon. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There’s a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the language of hobbyists and enthusiasts: If you’re a beekeeper, perhaps you call yourself a...
One of the most powerful words you’ll ever hear — and one of the most poignant — isn’t in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The word is endling, and it means “the last surviving member of a species.” The...
I find it highly appropriate that four of the five examples used are from four of the largest ‘fanon’ universes: Star Trek, The Sentinel, Harry Potter, and Stargate.