Some of you might be confused upon reading the term "N-Fans". In this commentary, I'll explain what it means and how an N-Fan
differs from a Captain N fan.
I admit that I was the one that introduced the term "N-Fan" into popular usage to mean a Captain N fan. This term originated in the "Captain N: The Game Master" comic book, Vol. 1, No. 4, in the story, "Secrets of the Warp Zones". Kevin says "Oh, hi, N-Fans!", and the world would never be the same.
Around seven years later, I made mention on my site, cited this source, and declared that Captain N fans are N-Fans, the same as Star Trek fans are Trekkies and X-Files fans are X-Philes. Over time, N-Fans became our official title.
However, as readers of my previous essays have learned, the Captain N fandom has split into two distinct sects, and those are further divided into subsects.
Basically, Webster Sterling Swenson has declared me "the former leader" of Captain N online. Therefore, he has indirectly proclaimed himself the leader of the Captain N online fandom.
Webster's website, The Captain N Network, and his message board, The Captain N Forum, are located at http://www.captainn.net
I wish to state right here and right now that my site is in no way affiliated with Webster's, and I don't support him at all. Visit the site, and you'll see why.
Webster and his crew call themselves "N-Fans" or "N-fans". I'm sure that Webster's being different just to distance himself from me. "But the comic book spells it in all caps! We don't know that the f is supposed to be capitalized!" Shades of N-finity vs. N-Finity.
Webster has created a daily online comic series called "N-Fans: The Series" (capitalization may vary), starring himself and his friends having adventures in Videoland, using video game sprites.
Webster and his crew give Captain N fans a bad reputation, so I hereby declare that the terms "N-Fans" and "N-fans" no longer refer to true Captain N fans but rather to Webster and his buddies.
While not all N-Fans are the same, I'm going to describe some common characteristics. Here then is the typical N-Fan:
1) The typical N-Fan loves anime and usually considers dubs to be evil.
2) The typical N-Fan loves to sprinkle his or her speech with Japanese terms.
3) The typical N-Fan loves to play video games and claims to be knowledgable about them.
4) The typical N-Fan hangs out in Webster's #Captain_N IRC channel on the gammaforce.org server and usually chats about video games, mentions the current video game MP3 that he or she is listening to, cyber-cuddles with another N-Fan, or says nothing at all.
5) The typical N-Fan is a Captain N purist. Aside from the inherent wrongness of "Captain N" and "purist" being coupled together, this person just takes Captain N way too seriously and wants to keep it "innocent".
6) The typical N-Fan calls me "Moore".
7) The typical N-Fan considers me to be "the Antichrist of Captain N".
8) The typical N-Fan is homosexual or bisexual. While there's nothing wrong with that, if you say something that Webster perceives as "homophobic", then you will be banned from his Forum and channel.
9) The typical N-Fan admits that there are flaws in the cartoon series but defends it when those flaws are pointed out to them, saying "You're treating the show as something it was never meant to be." What? It was never meant to be decently-animated or to have sensible plots?
10) The typical N-Fan hacks into the Internet accounts of people that he or she disagrees with or otherwise tries to get their websites taken down.
That is the typical N-Fan. I am not an N-Fan. I'm a Captain N fan.