Where it sits
Calling something a canon event moves it from "mistake" toward "rite of passage", which is the comfort the joke offers.
Tell it apart
| Aspect | Canon event | Character development |
|---|---|---|
| Is | A single moment | A process |
| Feels | Bad at the time | Good in hindsight |
| From | A 2023 film | Writing and criticism |
Character development is the growth. A canon event is the specific, usually painful moment that has to happen to cause it.
What it doesn't mean
The film's idea is that the event hurts but can't be avoided. The meme mostly uses it to make peace with embarrassing or painful moments, not to call them good.
What it really means
Canon event comes from a film, and from the oddly comforting idea that some pain can't be avoided. In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, released on 2 June 2023, Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099) explains that every version of Spider-Man has to go through certain events, often terrible ones, for the multiverse to hold together. Stop one, and things fall apart.
The internet saw itself in that straight away. On the day the film came out, Know Your Meme records, one of the earliest viral examples appeared: a TikTok captioned "Realizing it was never trauma, just a canon event" went viral, passing two million views in six days. Within the week people were applying the idea to everything: bad haircuts, first heartbreaks, embarrassing school phases, crying at a first festival.
That's the comfort of the joke. Calling something a canon event moves it from "mistake" to "rite of passage". It hurt, and it was always going to happen, and it's part of how you became you. "Let him have his canon event" means let someone make the mistake they need to make. By July 2023, Wiktionary's citations show, Bustle and the New York Times were explaining the phrase.
The phrase is tied to one film moment, and in our judgement it's fading as that moment recedes. But the idea is very old. Every coming-of-age story, every bildungsroman, is a list of canon events.
Where it comes from
the official story of a fictional world
something that happens
In fan language, "canon" is what officially happens in a story. A canon event is a moment that must happen for the story, or the person, to turn out right.
- 2 June 2023
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is released. In it, Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099) explains canon events: moments that must happen to every Spider-Man (Know Your Meme).
- 2 June 2023
One of the earliest viral memes: a TikTok captioned "Realizing it was never trauma, just a canon event" goes viral, passing 2 million views in six days (Know Your Meme).
- July 2023
Bustle and the New York Times explain the term (Wiktionary citations).
In real life
- Text: "I cut my own fringe and it's a disaster" Reply: "canon event, let it happen"
- Text: "crying at your first festival is a canon event tbh"
- Text: "don't stop him getting the terrible tattoo, it's his canon event"
Questions
Q01What does canon event mean?
An unpleasant but unavoidable experience that shapes who you become. Calling something a canon event means it had to happen, so there's no point trying to stop it.
Q02Where does canon event come from?
From the 2023 film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, where Miguel O'Hara explains that certain events must happen to every Spider-Man. Memes using it began on the film's release day, 2 June 2023.
Q03What does "let him have his canon event" mean?
Let someone make their own mistake, because it's part of how they'll grow. It's a joke, usually about something harmless like a bad haircut.