Fans of Janet Jackson, at Much Music in Toronto

The word fan refers to someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking of a person, group of persons, work of art, idea, or trend. The word emerged as an Americanism around 1889, a shortened version of the word fanatic in reference to an enthusiastic follower of a baseball team. (Fanatic itself, introduced into English around 1525, means "insane person". It comes from the Modern Latin fanaticus, meaning "insanely but divinely inspired". The word originally pertained to a temple or sacred place (Latin fanum, poetic English fane). The modern sense of "extremely zealous" dates from around 1647; the use of fanatic as a noun dates from 1650.) This image is (C) Much Music, but was put on their press website as for the media. ... This image is (C) Much Music, but was put on their press website as for the media. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... MuchMusic (often called Much) is a 24-hour cable television music video and variety television channel based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which debuted on August 31, 1984 as one of the first Canadian cable specialty channels on the air. ... The term fashion applies to a prevailing mode of expression. ... Baseball is a team sport in which a player on one team (the pitcher) attempts to throw a hard, fist-sized ball past a player on the other team (the batter), who attempts to hit the baseball with a tapered, smooth, cylindrical stick called a bat. ... Fans that are determined to be the number one fans of celebrities get the chance to meet their idols and usually hang out for a day. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The Akshardham Hindu temple, Delhi, India The word temple has different meanings in the fields of architecture, religion, geography, anatomy, and education. ...

Fans at a Soccer match (SC Heerenveen)

Supporter is a synonym to "fan" which predates the latter term and as such is still commonly used in British English, especially to denote fans of sports teams. However, the term "fan" has become popular throughout the English-speaking world, including the United Kingdom. It is also used in a political sense in the United States, to a fan of a President, political party, and a controversial issue. SC Heerenveen supporters. ... SC Heerenveen supporters. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... S.C. Heerenveen is a Dutch football club currently playing in the Eredivisie, the Dutch Premier Division. ... British English (BrE) is a term used to differentiate between the form of the English language used in the United Kingdom and those used elsewhere. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... A political party is an organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... Look up Issue in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Issue may have one of the following special meanings. ...

Although modern fans sometimes display irrational or uncritical admiration, most resent any association with the more extreme term fanatic.

In addition to sports fans, other types of fans who have formed clubs, held conventions, and engaged in other forms of "fanac" (fan activity) include the science fiction fan, the Star Trek fan, the anime fan, the comic book fan, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and the Dark Shadows fan. A club is generally an association of people united by a common interest or goal, as opposed to any natural ties of kinship. ... A fan convention, or con, is an event in which the fans of a particular TV show, comic book, or actor, or an entire style of entertainment such as science fiction or anime, gather together to meet famous personalities (and each other) face-to-face. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Star Trek collectively refers to a science-fiction franchise spanning six unique television series, 726 episodes and ten feature films in addition to hundreds of novels, computer and video games, fan stories and other works of fiction all set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the... // A scene from Cowboy Bebop (1998) Anime (アニメ) is a style of cartoon animation originating in Japan, with distinctive character and background stylings that visually set it apart from other forms of animation. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a U.S. television series loosely based on the 1992 movie of the same name. ... Dark Shadows is a cult TV soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. ...

In trendy speech, fans may coalesce collectively into a fandom or a "fanbase". They may start a fan club, particularly when they are fans of music artists, actors, or television shows. Fandom (from the noun fan and the affix -dom, as in kingdom, dukedom, etc. ... Fandom (A fusion of the words fan and kingdom. ... A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well known person, group, idea (such as history) or sometimes even an inanimate object (such as a famous building). ... Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity which involves organized and audible sound, though definitions vary. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...

When expressing interest in an organized or consistent manner, fans can sometimes effect changes, especially in the media's portrayal of their subject, or in their own subject's behaviour. Some fans enjoy creating fanzines. A fanzine (see also: zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular subject for the pleasure of others who share their interest. ...

When fans write fan mail to the objects of their interest, they expect a positive response; this can create considerable burdens for celebrities, who may react by fostering commercial fan clubs for admirers. Fan mail is mail sent to a public figure, especially a celebrity, by their admirers or fans. Fan mails may be in the form of letters, cards, artworks, gifts, and so on; depending on the recepient, it may also be possible to send fan mails via email. ... For the 1998 movie, see Celebrity (film). ... A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well known person, group, idea (such as history) or sometimes even an inanimate object (such as a famous building). ...

In a few cases, individual fans may become so obsessed with the objects of their infatuation that they become fanboys/fangirls (see below). These fans engage in behavious that are considered extreme or abnormal. This includes idolatry or other forms of worship, such as creating a personal shrine dedicated to the idol at one's home, and can sometimes extend to the point of the fans become stalkers. The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings (scriptures), its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. ... In mathematics, stalk usually refers to the idea of the stalk of a sheaf. ...

Fanboy

This section is about a person devoted to a hobby. For the grammar mnemonic, see Fanboys (mnemonic)

Main article: Fanboy

Fanboy or Fanboi is a term used to describe a male who is utterly devoted to a single subject or hobby, often to the point where it is considered an obsession. The term originated in comic book circles, to describe someone who was socially insecure and used comics as a shield from interaction, hence the disparaging connotations. Fanboys are often experts on minor details regarding their hobbies, and they take these details extremely seriously. The term itself is often used in a derogatory manner by less serious fans of the same material. Nevertheless, self-labeling usages of the term have been noted; in the songs of the fannish parody musician Luke Ski, many characters proudly consider themselves fanboys. The term is usually applied to people in their teens or 20s. Within this group, common objects of deference for fanboys are TV shows, movies, anime, cars, video game consoles, video games, operating systems, MMORPGs, and software companies. The letter sequence FANBOYS is a mnemonic for the coordinating conjunctions, which are used to join two independent clauses: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. ... It has been suggested that Nintendophile be merged into this article or section. ... A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. ... For other things named OCD, see OCD (disambiguation). ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... The Great Luke Ski is the stage name of Luke Sienkowski, a filk musician who writes, records and performs comedy music. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... // A scene from Cowboy Bebop (1998) Anime (アニメ) is a style of cartoon animation originating in Japan, with distinctive character and background stylings that visually set it apart from other forms of animation. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... A video game console is a dedicated electronic machine designed to play video games. ... Computer and video games A screenshot of Tetris for the Nintendo Game Boy A console game (better known as a video game) is a form of interactive multimedia used for entertainment, which consists of a moveable image displayed on a screen that is usually controlled and manipulated using a handheld... An operating system is a special computer program that manages the relationship between application software, the wide variety of hardware that makes up a computer system, and the user of the system. ... Players interacting in Ultima Online. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ...

Fangirl

The term fangirl can be used to describe a female member of a fandom community (as opposed to the masculine "fanboy"). Fangirls tend to be more devoted to emotional and romantic aspects of their fandom, especially shipping. However, it is most often used in a derogatory sense to describe a girl's obsession with something, most commonly a male teen idol or an aspect of Japanese pop culture. Fandom (from the noun fan and the affix -dom, as in kingdom, dukedom, etc. ... Fandom (from the noun fan and the affix -dom, as in kingdom, dukedom, etc. ... Shipping is a general term for emotional and/or intellectual involvement with the ongoing development of romance in a work of fiction. ... A word or phrase is pejorative or derogatory (sometimes misspelled perjorative) if it expresses contempt or disapproval; dyslogistic (noun: dyslogism) is used synonymously (antonyms: meliorative, eulogistic, noun eulogism). ... A teen idol is a famous person who generates attention from large numbers of teenagers. ... Japanese culture and language Japans isolation until the arrival of the Black Ships and the Meiji era produced a culture distinctively different from any other, and echoes of this uniqueness persist today. ...

Fangirl behaviour is believed to vary in intensity. On one end of the scale are those that, while harbouring a crush on a particular actor or character, are perfectly capable of understanding that the fulfilment of the crush is never going to happen. On the other end are the girls who are said to be obsessive in their claims on a fictional character. Fangirl behaviour can fall anywhere between these criteria, but the closer someone is believed to be towards the obsessive end, the more derogatory the use of the term 'fangirl' to describe them is perceived to be.

Teen Idol Fangirls

These fangirls will commonly hold a crush on a major male star, athelete or celebrity (common examples include Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp). This can range from a simple crush to the complete belief that the male celebrity is either madly in love with the fangirl, or will fall madly in love with the fangirl once he lays his eyes on her. Brad Pitt at the Incirlik hospital, Incirlik Air Base William Bradley Brad Pitt (born December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma) is an American film actor. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

Japanese Pop Culture Fangirls

These fangirls will often follow a particular aspect of Japanese pop culture, sometimes broad, but sometimes as focused as a single anime/manga series or even a fictional character. // A scene from Cowboy Bebop (1998) Anime (アニメ) is a style of cartoon animation originating in Japan, with distinctive character and background stylings that visually set it apart from other forms of animation. ... Manga (漫画) is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons; outside of Japan, it usually refers specifically to Japanese comics. ...

In the cases of particular anime or manga series, the fangirls are believed to hold less interest in the storyline, being more interested the potential for romantic relationships between the fictional characters of the series. In more extreme 'cases', the fangirl will claim that a particular character is in love or married to her, despite the physical impossibility of such a relationship.

These relationships will often be removed from the canon context of the series, and are often expressed in fanfiction. Examples of series' commonly claimed by fangirls include InuYasha, Saiyuki, Sailor Moon, the multiple Gundam series' (in particular Gundam Wing), and Full Metal Alchemist. In the context of fiction, the canon of a fictional universe comprises those novels, stories, films, etc. ... Fan fiction (also spelled fanfiction and commonly abbreviated to fanfic) is fiction written by people who enjoy a film, novel, television show or other media work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters. ... Inuyasha (Japanese: 犬夜叉) is a shōnen manga and anime series created by Rumiko Takahashi. ... Saiyuki, known as Gensōmaden SaiyÅ«ki (幻想魔伝最遊記, Romanticized Tale of a Journey to the Extreme) in Japan, is a popular manga series created by Kazuya Minekura and loosely based on the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West (XÄ« Yóu Jì). It has been turned into an anime series... Sailor Moon (in full, 美少女戦士セーラームーン, Bishōjo Senshi SÄ“rā MÅ«n, literally Beautiful young girl warrior Sailor Moon) is the title of the famous series originally authored as a manga by Naoko Takeuchi that resulted in multiple other types of media, including anime, musical theatre, video games and live action... Gundam is one of the longest running meta-series of anime featuring giant robots. ... New Mobile Report Gundam W (also known as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing) is a televised Anime series, which ran for 49 episodes beginning in 1995. ... Fullmetal Alchemist DVD cover by FUNimation Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi in the original Japanese) is a 51-episode anime TV series which ran in Japan from October 4, 2003 to October 2, 2004. ...

Fangirls are believed to be the largest contributors to fanfiction websites, often disregarding the canon storyline or altering it to fit either their own favoured romantic pairings (known as shipping) or themselves into the continuity (termed self-insertions or Mary Sues). Fan fiction (also spelled fanfiction and commonly abbreviated to fanfic) is fiction written by people who enjoy a film, novel, television show or other media work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters. ... Shipping is a general term for emotional and/or intellectual involvement with the ongoing development of romance in a work of fiction. ... Self-insertion is a literary device in which the real author of a work of fiction appears as a character within that fiction, either overtly or in disguise. ... Mary Sue (or simply Sue) is a pejorative expression for a fictional character who is an idealized stand-in for the author, or for a story with such a character. ...

Graphics whore

A graphics whore is a pejorative term for a person obsessed with the visual presentation of videogames. These individuals will often flock to games featuring cutting edge visuals. Graphics whores base their entire opinion of a title simply upon how the game looks, regardless of gameplay or poor reviews. When a game is finally released, the graphic whore is usually one of the first to purchase the game.

Big Name Fan

Main article: Big Name Fan

A Big Name Fan is a term for a fan who has achieved notoriety and respect within a fandom, usually for their fan fiction or fan art contributions. Big Name fans may have fans of their own and be asked for autographs. Among science fiction, comic book and fantasy fans, a Big Name Fan (BNF for short) is a member of a fandom who is particularly well-known, liked and celebrated for their contributions of art, fanfiction, or articles on fandom. ... Among science fiction, comic book and fantasy fans, a Big Name Fan (BNF for short) is a member of a fandom who is particularly well-known, liked and celebrated for their contributions of art, fanfiction, or articles on fandom. ... Fan fiction (also spelled fanfiction and commonly abbreviated to fanfic) is fiction written by people who enjoy a film, novel, television show or other media work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters. ... Fan art or fanart is a type of artwork that is based on a person or item that the artist did not create. ...

See also

• Addiction
• Anorak
• Otaku
• Trekkie
• Fanposter

Miguel Segura Addiction is a compulsion to repeat a behaviour regardless of its consequences. ... In British slang, anorak has come to mean geek or nerd, for example from the use of anoraks as the invariable wear of train spotters, and then by extension to refer to anyone with an unfathomable interest in detailed information regarded as boring by the rest of the population—aided... Fat, unshaven, wearing glasses, a ponytail and fantasizing with an anime girl doll, a popular stereotype of an otaku. ... Trekkie (or Trekker) is a term that in recent decades has been used to describe a fan of the Star Trek science fiction franchise. ... Fanposter (concatenated noun consisting of Fan and Poster) refers to a community of Fans (supporter) sharing common interests in a particular sport, hobby or genre who want to express their relation within this community by placing themselves on a poster (map) in close proximity. ...

External links

• Comunidad Futbolera Mundial
• Online Etymology Dictionary
• CommonCensus Sports Map Project - A map of US sports fans, based on voting