8 Wild Fan Theories to Speculate on
Fan theories are ideas or speculations intended to explain unanswered questions or create new interpretations about a particular work. They attempt to “see” through a story, beyond its available content. Fan theories can either speculate on a finished work, or what happens next in an unfinished one.
These theories can take a variety of forms, from the highly unlikely to more plausible hypotheses. However, most are flimsy at best, and collapse upon closer scrutiny. But the quality of the theory itself doesn’t matter much, as the majority of fan theories are there primarily for entertainment.
Sometimes the original writer even encourages these kinds of what-ifs to generate more buzz for their stories. And it works! There’s no shortage of fans who are willing to comb through their favorite novels in an attempt to find something they can speculate on.
Craziest Fan Theories About Books
It’s impossible for a writer to create a truly complete story—”complete” in the sense that it satisfies everyone. There will always be speculations, plot holes, unanswered questions, and dissatisfaction that invite fans into theorizing about their favorite stories.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular fan theories about novels.
1. Westeros is future Middle-Earth.
This theory started out as a joke. As the race of man took over Middle-Earth, the elves, dwarves, and almost all magical creatures left, taking their magic with them. Mt. Doom eventually erupted, destroying civilization and continental drift resulted in the Narrow Sea.
The inhabitants of the continent that is to be renamed Westeros all descended from Middle-Earth’s races. The Hobbits evolved into the Children of the Forest, the Riders of Rohan became the Dothraki, and the Ents slowly turned into Weirwoods.
The kicker? Eddard Stark of House Stark bears a strong resemblance to his distant ancestor— Boromir of House Bëor, son of Denethor II, steward of Gondor.
2. J.K. Rowling doesn’t exist.
According to Norwegian director Nina Grünfeld, Rowling’s rise to fame is just too good to be true. No one (especially a broke, single mom living on welfare) can possibly write half a dozen books in a decade that sell more than 250 million copies, right?! (Those were the stats when Grünfeld made the claim.)
Grünfeld claims that certain executives from the publishing and film industries created the ruse to take advantage of Rowling’s seemingly rags-to-riches story, and that Harry Potter is really the work of many writers who use the name “J.K. Rowling” as a collective pseudonym, and that the woman known as the author is an actress.
3. There is no Mr. Hyde.
It’s certainly curious that we’re never given Mr. Hyde’s perspective in Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Fans of the book took this (and Jekyll’s unreliable narration) as the indication that Hyde never actually existed.
Everything in the book was Jekyll’s doing, from trampling an innocent girl to the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. Hyde is nothing more than a fictional scapegoat that Jekyll uses to avoid the guilt. It’s why he names this scapegoat Hyde— it’s a disguise that he uses to hide his true self and indulge his darker desires.
4. Lewis Carrol was Jack the Ripper.
In 1888, five prostitutes were murdered by a still-unidentified killer who taunted the public and claimed to come straight from hell. A man named Richard Wallace believes this killer to be Lewis Carroll (real name: Charles Dodgson), writer of the widely popular Alice in Wonderland books.
In his book Jack the Ripper, Light-Hearted Friend, Wallace claims to have found anagrams in Carroll’s works that admit his guilt. Don’t get excited though, as Wallace never seems to create these anagrams without a bit of cheating (like dropping and changing letters). The anagrams are also barely coherent and aren’t in sync with Carroll’s reputation as a master of word games.
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory mimics Dante’s Inferno.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a magnet for disturbing fan theories (see here). One of the best ones out there suggests that Roald Dahl’s book parallels Dante’s Inferno.
Both of them have settings with multiple layers, filled with underlings and ironic punishments. They both feature a guide who explains the punishments, pointing to them as both a warning and life lesson to the main characters. The story ends with the main characters being rewarded and ascending to a higher plane.
6. Winnie the Pooh characters represent mental disorders.
One theory that’s been around for ages is that each Winnie the Pooh character represents a certain disorder. The surprising thing is that the theory originated from a scientific journal.
In the article, researchers speculate that our silly old bear has an eating disorder (obsessed with honey). Piglet has anxiety (always scared and nervous), Eeyore has depression (always sad), Owl has dyslexia (keeps on misspelling and forgetting words), Tigger has ADHD (can’t sit still) and Bipolar Disorder (rapidly switches moods), Rabbit has OCD (extremely orderly), and Christopher Robin is schizophrenic (the “friends” that appear depend on his mood).
7. Jack Torrance wrote Apt Pupil.
In Stephen King’s The Shining, the soon-to-be-possessed Jack Torrance is working on a play that features a character named Denker. In King’s other book, Apt Pupil, Denker is the alter-ego of an ex-Nazi in hiding.
This had led to fans believing that Apt Pupil is actually the story Torrance was working on as he slowly turned insane at the Overlook Hotel. There’s not much more to the theory, but longtime fans have always sought to connect King’s works to each other. This is just one of the many theories they have.
8. The Catcher in the Rye is an assassination tool used by the CIA.
John Lennon was shot dead by a crazed fan named Mark Chapman in 1980. John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Robert Bardo killed actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989. Lee Harvey Oswald murdered John F. Kennedy in 1963. What all of these men have in common is that they owned a copy of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.
This connection gave birth to a theory that the book was a brainwashing device that triggers sleeper agents into becoming assassins. This theory is further supported by another theory that Salinger did not exist. The book was written by CIA experts in “neurolinguistic” writing instead.
Reading Fan Theories
It’s entirely up to you whether you want to believe any fan theories. I find them entertaining just because they can either be intriguing or completely nutty.
They’re also a great way of considering new perspectives. A person could interpret a story differently and come to conclusions that are different from yours. It’s a great chance to see your favorite stories with fresh eyes.
If you’re looking for more fan theories other than the eight I’ve listed here, there’s a subreddit dedicated to this kind of stuff. Feel free to check it out. You can simply read through a random stranger’s creative (or unusual) speculations, or contribute your own.
What’s your favorite fan theory? Share it in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- The MacGuffin: What It Is and How to Spot One
- Exploring the Monomyth: 6 Lessons from Joseph Campbell’s Theory of “The Hero’s Journey”
- 13 Alice in Wonderland Quotes That Offer Solid Advice
- 9 of Stephen King’s Writing Tips For the Aspiring Writer
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