What’s Your Canon Event? TikTok Wants To Know

Have you ever gone through a seemingly harmless phase that left such an impact on you, you wouldn’t change it even if you could? If you answered yes, you may have your very own canon event. IYDK, the term describes an unavoidable experience in a person’s life and has inspired a new TikTok trend that proves we have a lot more in common than we think. Identifying your own canon event can be tricky, though, but once you see how the trend works, you’ll realize just how many life-defining moments you’ve experienced.

According to Know Your Meme, the canon event trend began making its rounds on the FYP after the Sony animated film Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse was released on June 2. The film describes a canon event as an occurrence that needs to happen in every universe in order to keep the various Spider-Mans bonded throughout the Spider-Verse, per Know Your Meme. In Spider-Man’s case, the death of Uncle Ben or being bit by a radioactive spider are both considered to be canon events. If these events are broken or altered, it could lead to the destruction of the Spider-Verse.

Though canon events can be quite sad, it didn’t take long for the concept to be completely meme-ified by TikTok. According to Know Your Meme, @greekos_nikos was the first person to introduce the term to the FYP when the user posted a video that reads, “Realizing it was never trauma, it was a canon event” on June 1. “It was all for plot,” the creator wrote in the caption. That’s one way to look at it.

Soon after, the video inspired a trend of users identifying their own canon events. It looks like users have been bonding over the not-so-ideal incidents that unite us, because the hashtag #canonevent has nearly 514 million views as of July 5, and the eerie sound typically featured in the trend, called “Spider-Man 2099,” has been used in over 643,000 videos. Most of the videos in the trend end with the same disclaimer: “I can’t interfere, it’s a canon event” in parentheses.

Users are dragging all the embarrassing mistakes they’ve made over the years and labeling them as canon by poking fun at everything from regrettable haircut choices to terrible home decor design ideas. User @lilyellaa indicated their canon event was getting a fringe-style haircut that messed with their clear skin, while @_beegeesluvr is destined to watch in fear whenever a “tweenage girl” decides to paint her bedroom teal.

Sure, it feels like we had a new canon event every day during our teenage years, but early adulthood is filled with plenty of unavoidable life experiences, too. Creator @simplysimone recalls the horror of signing up for sorority rush at 18 years old, while @sophiaaadelphine can’t do anything but sit back and watch a “young girl obsessed with being independent financially wreck herself by moving out of her parents' house.”

Of course, nothing screams “canon event” more than your dating history or negative roommate experiences. TikTok user @cowboyluvr4l shares that they can’t get involved whenever the “never been kissed innocent girl” starts talking to the “boy who every girl has a story [about],” which is too real. @Haileyireland0, on the other hand, seemingly knows better than to interfere when “best friends from the first year of university” decide to live together.

Multi-verse trends have been a staple on TikTok for a while now, but what makes this specific trend stand out among the rest is how it allows people to relate to one another. By normalizing our past missteps and questionable behaviors, this trend helps to remind us that mistakes are what make us human. It’s all a part of life, no matter how annoying, frustrating, or downright aggravating the lessons that come with those mistakes can be.

From exes to bad haircuts, we’ve all had our fair share of canon events. Now that you know how it works, it’s time to figure out what your canon event may be.