Question What does canon fodder mean?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by ohko, Sep 18, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. ohko

    ohko 【LGBTQ+ association】 【ohko is ohko!】

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2017
    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    507
    Reading List:
    Link
    This is a kinda ignorant question, but what does "canon fodder" mean?

    I see it a lot, but I never really fully understood it. Thanks!

    Edit: I mispelled cannon.........
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2017
  2. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2017
    Messages:
    2,144
    Likes Received:
    5,554
    Reading List:
    Link
    Civil War era term.

    You charge at enemy cannons, and half of the army dies. (but you take all enemy cannons, so it's okay)

    Hence the term. You are "food" for cannons.
     
  3. ohko

    ohko 【LGBTQ+ association】 【ohko is ohko!】

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2017
    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    507
    Reading List:
    Link
    I mean, I get how its used in English, but it seems like this term is used a lot in Chinese romance novels too.
     
  4. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2017
    Messages:
    2,144
    Likes Received:
    5,554
    Reading List:
    Link
    Ah, like Doomed to be Cannon Fodder.

    It's just translated like that.
    Literally, Doomed to be Cannon Fodder should be Doomed to Be a Side Character.
     
    kobatochandaisuki, @, Milanin and 4 others like this.
  5. Robofs740

    Robofs740 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2016
    Messages:
    629
    Likes Received:
    557
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chinese romance novels? Maybe it's like a stepping stone or "mob character" rival or something.
     
    pinkrainmi likes this.
  6. Ai chan

    Ai chan Queen of Yuri, Devourer of Traps, Thrusted Witch

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2015
    Messages:
    11,278
    Likes Received:
    24,346
    Reading List:
    Link
    You put a guy on the front lines. You know that guy's going to die, but you don't care, mostly because they're neither important nor skilled. Then the fighting starts and they die first, as expected. When cannons start going off, cannon fodders, being in front die first while the more important and skilled people in the back step on their corpses to reach victory.

    Early cannons did not lob cannon balls. Most of the damage was caused by the heavy cannonballs rolling on the battlefield and eating the legs of infantry or their chests if the ball happened to bounce.

    As for Chinese novels, it's just a commonly used term that it's easy to translate it that way.
     
  7. SleepyFox

    SleepyFox Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2016
    Messages:
    204
    Likes Received:
    253
    Reading List:
    Link
    Plot twist, the story is actually about two cannons falling in love with each other while eating spaghetti.
     
  8. NerdExpress

    NerdExpress 『Shem's Kouhai』,『Nerdy』,『Saving The World』

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2016
    Messages:
    268
    Likes Received:
    1,104
    Reading List:
    Link
    "Mob character" basically. Example: A backround character in a million dying from a battle between the protagonist and his enemy.
     
  9. DesuDiem

    DesuDiem Surviving College

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2016
    Messages:
    1,078
    Likes Received:
    1,058
    Reading List:
    Link
    Better than twilight.
     
  10. bibi

    bibi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2017
    Messages:
    489
    Likes Received:
    573
    Reading List:
    Link
    character that is easily disposable
     
  11. Underload

    Underload <I need someone to scratch my back!>

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2016
    Messages:
    1,299
    Likes Received:
    845
    Reading List:
    Link
    Cannon as in Japanese manga aeans mainstream and fodder can be broken down into fod and der or FOOD and DEER.
    So it means, 'Mainstream/Popular food made from Deer meat.'
     
  12. F_J

    F_J Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2017
    Messages:
    19
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    From what I understand, it's mostly the side characters who are going to die, or characters with a bad end. I think it could also mean something like a human shield, thoses who die for the development of the main couple or something along those lines.
     
  13. erichninja

    erichninja Don’t think about it

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2015
    Messages:
    2,580
    Likes Received:
    5,278
    Reading List:
    Link
    Bait
    Sacrifice pieces
    Meat shield
    I got more meaning related to it but lazy to name them all
     
    Irisia likes this.
  14. LIGHTDX

    LIGHTDX Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2016
    Messages:
    194
    Likes Received:
    106
    Reading List:
    Link
    Close, but to be precise is just a target for the enemy cannons. When they trained their accuracy with the cannon they used a pile of fodder as target. Then the term begon to be used when they send infantery as a target for the enemy cannons in order to keep them busy or waste their ammo in them. It doesn't really have to do with taking the enemy cannons.
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2017
    @ and Cutter Masterson like this.
  15. elengee

    elengee Daoist Ninefaps

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2016
    Messages:
    13,488
    Likes Received:
    25,896
    Reading List:
    Link
    Wheeeeeeeeeeeen the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie, that's amore!~
     
    Cutter Masterson likes this.
  16. Mufarasu

    Mufarasu Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2016
    Messages:
    1,598
    Likes Received:
    1,850
    Reading List:
    Link
    Ah, you must be new.
     
  17. heavenlytribulation

    heavenlytribulation [One Feared by All]

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2016
    Messages:
    700
    Likes Received:
    376
    Reading List:
    Link
    Extra characters like a side character or noble boy a
     
  18. Galaxii

    Galaxii Anon-san

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2017
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    228
    Reading List:
    Link
    soldiers regarded merely as material to be expended in war.
    (From google)
    Basically a character that's expendable and isn't that important usually.
     
  19. ludagad

    ludagad Addicted to escapist novels

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2015
    Messages:
    3,930
    Likes Received:
    10,613
    Reading List:
    Link
    Some people already said it, but I'm just gonna confirm it in case you get confused by the trolls xD. Cannon fodder is a disposable side character in a story, only used to further the plot, but their fate is usually not great and the story forgets about them as it progresses. Arrogant young masters in xianxia are prime example - they show up, MC kills them, MC gets some treasure, move along, we all forget about that character or his name until his family shows up to get revenge and get destroyed by MC in return. After that, that character is forever irrelevant.
     
    Kuroihagane, nyxxx, josh_15 and 3 others like this.
  20. ohko

    ohko 【LGBTQ+ association】 【ohko is ohko!】

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2017
    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    507
    Reading List:
    Link
    Thank you!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.