17 TV And Movie Fan Theories That Are Pretty Dang Convincing

BRB, reopening the Scranton Strangler investigation.

This week, Reddit user DonnyMox asked, "What fan theory about a movie, TV show, or video game do you see as 100% canon?" Here are some of the mind-blowing theories:

Spoilers ahead!

1. Homer was actually the one who tried to kill Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Fox

"Mr. Burns is discovered shortly after being shot and is surrounded by a number of characters, including Krusty the Klown. However, upon close inspection, we see it's actually Homer Simpson in Krusty makeup. Homer was on his way to kill Mr. Burns while disguised as Krusty (echoing when he saw Sideshow Bob rob the Kwik-E-Mart while disguised as Krusty), but was beaten by mere seconds when Maggie shot Mr. Burns."

—Game_of_Jobrones

2. In the movie Tag, Jeremy Renner's character Jerry is Hawkeye on vacation from the Avengers.

Warner Bros. / Marvel

"Jerry is a badass, works a mysterious job, and is gone most of the time. As long as you ignore that the character's wife has a different actress in the two movies, the theory lines up perfectly."

—DarkLink1065

3. Toby is the Scranton Strangler in The Office.

NBC

"Toby is the real Strangler. The 'Scranton Strangler' they arrested was just a copycat."

—graysongills

4. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the centaurs in the forbidden forest predicted Harry's "death."

Warner Bros.

"In The Sorcerer's Stone, Harry is saved from Professor Quirell/Voldemort by Firenze the centaur, and his fellow centaurs chastise Firenze for interfering with "what the stars had laid out." In The Deathly Hallows, Harry realizes that his destiny is to be killed by Voldemort in order for the latter's Horcruxes to all be destroyed completely, and he returns to the Forbidden Forest to sacrifice himself. Voldemort successfully casts the Killing Curse, and Harry appears to die — THIS was what the centaurs read in the stars."

—harrypodcast

5. Jack was actually just a figment of Rose's imagination in Titanic.

Paramount Pictures

"For a movie that put so much effort into being as historically accurate as possible, there are a lot of noticeable mistakes when it comes to Jack. He carries gear that hadn't been invented yet, he references places that didn't exist until after the Titanic sunk...it just makes way more sense that he was fictional even in-universe."

—Edymnion

6. Emperor Palpatine used Padmé's life energy to preserve Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith.

Lucasfilm

—SamaritanPrime

7. Phoebe and Joey were secretly hooking up throughout the entirety of Friends.

NBC

—slothbarns7

8. The Disney movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the video game Mass Effect take place in the same universe.

Disney

"Atlantis and the Atlanteans were an experiment by the Protheans to uplift humanity, but the Protheans were forced to abandon Atlantis before they could spread that technology to the rest of the world. However, they left an artificial intelligence behind, which would come to be known as Heart of Atlantis. King Kashekim Nedakh, while trying to use the Heart of Atlantis as a weapon, accidentally activated a defense protocol and sunk Atlantis beneath the sea, lost to the rest of the world until the events of the movie."

—Merethic

9. The Flintstones and The Jetsons take place in the same era.

ABC

"The shows take place in the same post-apocalyptic time frame where the wealthy would escape to sky cities and flying cars, and the poor would rebuild society as cavemen. It would certainly explain how everyone in Bedrock celebrates Christmas, has traffic lights, etc."

—Sass-a-knack

10. Jan's assistant Hunter was the real father of her baby on The Office.

NBC

"Jan never went to a sperm bank. She cheated on Michael with Hunter and conceived Astrid with him."

—MightyMeerkat97

11. Courage doesn't actually live in the middle of nowhere on Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Cartoon Network

"Courage doesn't really live in the middle of nowhere, but because of Muriel's age, he never leaves their house or property. Every visitor is only a monster because he doesn't know them and he sees them as a threat."

—White-and-Nerdy

12. Dr. Claw was the original Gadget in Inspector Gadget.

Disney

"Dr. Claw was horribly disfigured in an accident and Gadget is actually a cyborg replacement who has taken over his life. Dr. Claw stays hidden because his family would never recognize him, and watching his replacement befriend Penny has driven him mad."

—ZenosTrucker

13. The Joker in The Dark Knight is a former Black Ops soldier who went insane.

Warner Bros.

"The Joker has an extensive knowledge of explosives, constantly changes his backstory, and can't be found in any database. In the Black Ops games, soldiers who are declared missing or killed are typically erased from all records. Personally, I think he went missing."

—R3s0und3r

14. In The Matrix, the "real world" was actually a second Matrix simulation.

Warner Bros.

"The 'free humans' are actually machines being trained to understand humans. That's why Neo was able to use powers in the 'real world' to blow up machines in the other two movies — it was a second Matrix!"

—nsci2ece

15. Olaf was an extension of Elsa's consciousness in Frozen.

Disney

"Everything Olaf does is really Elsa trying to help her sister."

—Wake-and-Cake

16. The Room is a film adaptation of The Sims.

Wiseau-Films

17. And finally, the Blair Witch didn't actually exist in The Blair Witch Project.

Haxan Films

"The Blair Witch itself was never real. It was all an elaborate ruse cooked up by Mike and Josh to lure Heather out into the woods, get her scared and lost, lead her over to the Witch house, and then kill her."

—Blacksun388

Do you believe any of these theories? Got any theories of your own? Let us know in the comments!

Note: entries have been edited for length and clarity.