Canon Event
spider-verse
life-experience
gen-z
tiktok
relatable
A formative life experience you just have to go through. From Spider-Verse to everyday Gen-Z vocabulary, it means an unavoidable moment that shapes who you become.
WHAT IS A CANON EVENT?
A canon event is an experience so fundamental to your personal story that it can't — and shouldn't — be skipped. It comes from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse where certain events must happen to every Spider-Man or reality breaks. Gen Z took that concept and ran with it, applying it to every awkward phase, heartbreak, and cringe moment that made them who they are.
HOW TO USE IT
●Sincere use: Describing a genuinely formative experience like your first heartbreak or failing a class. "Getting cheated on in high school was my canon event."
●Ironic/humorous use: Joking about minor embarrassments or bad decisions. "Ordering a venti at Starbucks and having zero money on your card is a canon event."
●Observing others: Watching someone go through something you already survived. "I can't interfere, it's their canon event."
EXAMPLES
●"Every girl has a canon event where she dates a guy who says he's 'not like other guys'"
●"Your best friend getting bangs and immediately regretting it? That's a canon event, you can't stop it"
●"Me watching my little sister discover that her crush doesn't like her back... it's a canon event bestie, I can't interfere 🕸️"