Fan (Inanimate Insanity): The Object With a Voice
Fan is the red paper fan from Inanimate Insanity — a contestant across two seasons with a habit of narrating his own competition. His role and three scenes.
Who Is Fan?
Fan is a character from Inanimate Insanity, the object-show series created by Adam Katz. He is a red Chinese paper folding fan with a yellow handle, usually opened but not fully, and he competes as a contestant rather than standing at the side of the frame. He appeared in Inanimate Insanity 2 and returned for Inanimate Insanity Invitational.
| Source | Inanimate Insanity |
| Role | Contestant |
| Seasons | II2 · Invitational |
| Note | Non-canon to BFDI |
The Character
- The object — A red folding fan, yellow handle, kept partly open — the design is simple enough to read at a glance, which is the whole grammar of object shows.
- The contestant — He competed in the second season and the Invitational, which makes him one of the recurring faces of the series rather than a one-off.
- The name — Fan is easy to confuse with Fanny — a different character entirely, and a running source of mix-ups in the fandom.
The Look
Deep red paper panels pleated around a yellow handle, with a face that sits on the folded surface. His default state is open but not fully extended, which gives him a silhouette that reads as a person mid-gesture. The design has been redrawn across the series, but the two colours never change.
A Note on Canon
Fan is an Inanimate Insanity character. The BFDI wiki hosts a page for him, but that page carries an explicit non-canon notice: his appearances and story belong to a different show, and the wiki keeps the disclaimer at the top so readers do not file him alongside Blocky, Bubble and the rest. Worth knowing before you go looking for him in a BFDI episode.
Three Scenes
The first challenge
He has been cast and has no idea what the challenge is. Play the moment he decides to be confident anyway.
The mix-up
Someone calls him Fanny. Play the correction, and how many times he has to make it.
The elimination
The votes are in. Play what a contestant says when the camera is on him and the margin is one.
Play Fan in One Sentence
Describe a scene and the cast is built around it, with memory of what happened last time.
Relationships
Fan's relationships are mostly with the audience and the format. Fanny is the name-collision he spends energy correcting; the rest of the Inanimate Insanity cast are competitors first. The most important relationship in the character's history is with a different show entirely, which is exactly what the canon notice is about.
Trivia
- First appearance — July 1, 2011 — later than Fanny's recommended-character debut on April 1 of the same year.
- Seasons — Inanimate Insanity 2 and Inanimate Insanity Invitational.
- The disclaimer — The BFDI wiki hosts his page with a non-canon notice at the top.
In the Story
Fan belongs to Inanimate Insanity, one of the object shows that grew out of the BFDI format: a cast of household objects, a competition structure, and eliminations decided by votes. He competes in the second season and returns for the Invitational, which makes him a recurring contestant rather than a guest.
The strangest thing about his page existing at all is where it lives. The BFDI wiki hosts him with a non-canon notice at the top, because fans looking for one object show keep landing in the other. That collision is part of the character's history: Fan is a small reminder that these series share an audience and a vocabulary, not a continuity.
Keep Reading
FAQ
Who is Fan?
A contestant in Inanimate Insanity, the object-show series by Adam Katz — a red folding fan with a yellow handle.
Is Fan a BFDI character?
No. Fan belongs to Inanimate Insanity. The BFDI wiki page for him carries a non-canon notice.
Which seasons does Fan appear in?
Inanimate Insanity 2 and Inanimate Insanity Invitational.
Is Fan the same as Fanny?
No — Fanny is a separate BFDI character, and the two names are frequently confused.
Who created Inanimate Insanity?
Adam Katz.
Where can I watch Fan?
In Inanimate Insanity 2 and Inanimate Insanity Invitational — not in a BFDI episode.
Start a Story
Free, in-browser, no install. Describe the scene and the cast arrives with memory intact.