Canon vs. Fanon, part 9: "It's just a deep, bleeding gash..."

I'd originally planned to do Daniel's pre-series history next, but this particular topic has come up over and over again in the comments sections of previous posts, so we're going to tackle this one first.

"It's just a deep, bleeding gash, but it'll be fine."

A common aspect of fanfic – particularly Daniel-whumping ones! – is Daniel's supposed stoicism, where even the worst wounds and injuries are dismissed with the words, "I'm fine." Now, it's certainly true that Daniel makes an effort to understate his condition at times; all the members of SG-1 do it to some degree, and I'll give some examples of that. But fanon has taken that idea and run away with it, warping it to the point where Daniel will always insist – despite suffering from... oh, let's say a punctured lung, three broken fingers, and a compound fracture of the thigh – that he's fine.

So how often does canon Daniel say, "I'm fine," and how often does he actually mean it?

Brief recap: Canon is defined as anything directly shown during Stargate: The Movie or episodes of the show, with show superseding the movie when there's a contradiction. (Jack's son was named Charlie, not Tyler.) Fanon is defined as widely-accepted concepts that appear in fanfic, but do not have any real basis in canon.

If I've missed any canon appearances which support or contradict my analysis, I would greatly appreciate it if you'd point that out in the comments. I haven't included times that Daniel says that he's fine when he actually is healthy – for example, when he recovers in One False Step, or in Abyss, when he reassures Jack in the closing scene – or when he truly believes he's healthy, like in Tin Man or Urgo before the truth is revealed.

( When Daniel says he's fine… )

( ...and when he doesn't. )

( Why say you're fine when you're not? )

My personal fanon opinion? The "I'm fine" trope is one of those common fanon themes that I don't particularly mind; there's at least some basis for it in canon, and it fits Daniel's personality. On the other hand, like all fanon assertions, it is often exaggerated to such a degree that it becomes unrealistic and out of character. The wise author will consider the actual canon, rather than the more common fanon, and adjust Daniel's "I'm fine!" accordingly.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, but that just happens to be how I feel about it. What do you think?"