'Fannibals ministéricos': the power of 'fandom'

Abstract

In this article, called Ministerical Fannibals: the power of the fandom it will be analyzed how the fandom has become in recent years an essential role. While this is not something new or belonging exclusively to the field of seriality, as well Henry Jenkins (2006) explained in Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture, it is true that has evolved to become one of the key elements of the serial food chain. His contributions and especially their involvement have decided on several occasions the continuation of a series or the defenestration of a character, and perhaps most importantly, have led to the generation of surrounding and alternative narrative universes. This paper aims to deep into the behavior of fandom and its consequences through the study of different samples and examples of actions taken (transmedia or not) in relation to different series produced specially in United States in the last 15 years. And although various serial fandom will be analyzed in different ways, the focus will be specially on two recent quite different cases: the fannibals –fandom of Hannibal (NBC, 2012-2015)– and the ministéricos, fandom of the TV series El ministerio del tiempo (La 1, 2015-), for being two very different series and therefore two fandoms also very different, but the two of them are very active. The first, an American series of three seasons whose cancellation has awakened an increasing cohort of followers; and the second, a Spanish series that was initially planned for one season and, die to its success, its second season is already on the air for 2016. The main objective is to establish the high influence of these groups in the series of the third age of television, whether in reference to the constructive elements of the series, in their characters or with respect to the scope of transmedia, where perhaps there has been more the evolution of the footprint of this group in the world of fiction in recent years.