Top 10 Cartoon Fan Theories That Turned Out to Be True
#10: Cassandra’s Mother
“Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure” (2017-20) Fans of “Tangled” were delighted to hear that Rapunzel and Eugene’s adventures would continue in this series. They were joined by several new characters, including Cassandra, handmaiden and close friend to Rapunzel. At the end of the second season, Cassandra betrayed Rapunzel, absorbing a powerful magical artifact called the Moonstone. Fans speculated that Cassandra might in fact be Mother Gothel’s biological daughter. She did bear a striking resemblance to “Tangled’s” villain. When Season 3 began airing, they were proven correct. Cassandra was manipulated by an ancient demon, who showed her how Mother Gothel abandoned her when she kidnapped Rapunzel.
#9: Shiro Is a Clone
“Voltron: Legendary Defender” (2016-18) Revivals of beloved TV shows can be hit or miss. Thankfully, Netflix’s “Voltron” reboot was of the former. It brought in fans new and old, which meant a lot of people theorizing as the show went on. The biggest fan theory revolved around Shiro, the group’s leader. At the end of Season 2, Shiro disappeared during a battle with Zarkon. He returned after being held captive in Season 3 and some fans were immediately skeptical. They theorized that this was not Shiro, but rather an infiltrative clone. Mention of the villain’s mysterious Project Kuron in relation to Shiro was a major clue; ‘kuron’ means ‘clone’ in Japanese. The truth wasn’t revealed however until Season 6.
#8: Emperor Belos’ Humanity
“The Owl House” (2020-23) This fantasy series from Disney follows Luz, a young girl accidentally transported from our world into the Demon Realm. As she tries to get home, she allies herself with witches and monsters in an attempt to stop the villainous Emperor Belos. The ruler of the Boiling Isles was said to be the most powerful magic user in the land, with several covens of witches to command. However, it was later revealed that Belos was not a witch, but another human. Some eagle-eyed and -eared fans pieced this together based on Belos’ actions and words, such as his knowledge of where the entrance to the human realm was. However, there was still a lot to his backstory that fans couldn’t have guessed.
#7: Not Our Jerry
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“Rick and Morty” (2013-) “Rick and Morty” is surrounded by countless fan theories, some more outrageous than others. Way back in the Season 2 episode, ‘Mortynight Run,’ Rick dropped Jerry off at Jerryboree, a daycare for Jerrys while their Ricks and Mortys were out on missions. At the end, we got a throwaway joke about two Ricks maybe mixing up their Jerrys. However, many fans guessed this was not a throwaway joke at all. It wasn’t until the Season 6 premiere, seven years later, that this was confirmed to be true. As Rick attempted to fix the portal gun problem from Season 5’s fallout, he caused everyone to be transported back to their original universe. Before Jerry left, he and the fans realized exactly what had happened.
#6: Laserblast's Double Whammy
“OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes” (2017-19) In the near future, young K.O. dreams of becoming the world’s greatest hero while working at a hero supply shop. Owner of the shop, Mr. Gar, gave up his superheroing days after one of his teammates went missing in action. As it would be revealed later, Laserblast didn’t actually disappear, but was hiding under everyone’s noses as the villain Professor Venomous. Not only that, but the same Season 3 episode revealed that Laserblast was K.O.’s father. Many fans had guessed K.O.’s parentage based on his mother dating Laserblast before he disappeared. As for the Professor Venomous twist, design similarities led some fans to guess they were brothers, while others took the extra step, concluding they were the same person.
#5: Leela’s Parentage
“Futurama” (1999-2003; 2008-13) After accidentally freezing himself, Fry awakens in New York City a thousand years later. One of the first people he meets is Leela, who tells Fry that she’s an orphaned alien. However, that’s proven false in Season 4. She’s actually a mutant whose parents and many like them live in the sewers beneath the city. While this came as a surprise to many, a few others caught on early. The mutant society was introduced in Season 2 and in the background of one scene, you could spot two people who look remarkably like Leela. From then on, they knew a big reveal must be coming. There’s also an even earlier, subtler tease in the season 1 episode Fear of a Bot Planet …
#4: The Spear of Selene
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“DuckTales” (2017-21) The “DuckTales” reboot has some great character revelations, some of which were predicted by fans. Some viewers may have picked up on there being more to Webby than being Mrs. Beakley’s granddaughter. However, the biggest mystery the show chronicled early on was the Spear of Selene. In a note left by the triplets’ missing mother, Della, she apologized to Scrooge for taking the spear. While the kids assumed this clue referred to a literal spear, they then found out that definitively wasn’t the case. Not only that, but it wasn’t any kind of artifact. One fan theory claimed the Spear must be a ship, and that Della had gotten lost exploring space. Towards the end of the first season, that was proven true.
#3: Garnet Is a Fusion
“Steven Universe” (2013-20) In “Steven Universe,” two Gems can fuse together to become more powerful. But throughout the first season, that’s shown to be a temporary and sometimes toxic occurrence. Additionally, it seemed the less stable the relationship, the more eyes and appendages. None of this stopped the spread of a popular Garnet theory, though. Fans believed Garnet to be a permanent fusion, pointing to her having two gems and three eyes as evidence enough. So then, how could she stay in this form for such a long period? Every other time, the effort of fusing had been too much to keep up. The answer came in the season 1 finale; the fan theory was proven true as Ruby and Sapphire, two Gems in love, re-fused back into Garnet.
#2: The Mushroom War
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“Adventure Time” (2010-18) At first glance, “Adventure Time” appears to take place in a silly fantasy land with no ties to reality. In actuality, it’s the outcome of nuclear fallout on Earth a thousand years prior. Creator Pendleton Ward first came up with the post-apocalyptic spin during a Season 1 episode that involved frozen businessmen. From there, hints of the past civilization were doled out, albeit sparingly. Still, some fans picked up on them and began theorizing not only about nuclear fallout, but when it could’ve taken place. As “Adventure Time” went on, more about the history of the Land of Ooo was revealed. It was eventually confirmed that humanity had nuked the planet in a world-ending war, with Marceline and the Ice King being survivors of it.
#1: The Author of the Journals
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“Gravity Falls” (2012-16) To be fair, “Gravity Falls” was a show built for theorizing. Clues and puzzles were hidden throughout the show, making it a mystery viewers could enjoy on different levels. Its key conundrum was the author of the journals, which documented all kinds of bizarre occurrences and creatures around the town. There was also Grunkle Stan, who dismissed the children’s notions of strangeness but acted pretty bizarrely himself. By piecing together a ton of background details, including flashback appearances of Stan, fans deduced he had a twin. Given Stan’s collecting of the journals, that twin had to be the mysterious author. Lo and behold, Stanford Pines was introduced in Season 2 and confirmed the theory.
