Canon (fiction)
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In the context of fiction, the canon of a fictional universe comprises those novels, stories, films, etc. that are considered to be genuine (or "official"), and those events, characters, settings, etc. that are considered to have inarguable existence within the fictional universe. Usually items that are considered canon come from the original source of the fictional universe while non-canon material comes from adaptations or unofficial items. Generally, Expanded Universes are not considered canon, though there are exceptions which are considered near-canon.
Fan-fiction is never considered canon. Sometimes, however, events or characterizations portrayed in fan-fiction can become so influential that they are respected in fiction written by many different authors, and may be mistaken for canonical facts by fans. This is referred to as "fanon". The use of fan-fiction to fill gaps or continuity errors in canon is derisively called "fanwanking," or "fanwank". (The terms fanon and fanwank can apply to officially licensed works as well.)
There is no unanimous opinion on whether having a definitive canon in a fictional setting is useful, desirable or even possible. Canonicity of fiction is a distinctly modern idea, since earlier ages, before the current ideas of intellectual property came about, did not distinguish between "official" and "unofficial" sources of stories.
A great deal of the interest and controversy over canonicity comes from the Star Wars franchise, because of the unique-for-its-time goal of derivative works such as Star Wars books to be completely in continuity with each other and with the Star Wars movies.
Examples of fictional canons
Babylon 5
The canon consists of the television series Babylon 5 and its later TV movies, the TV series Crusade, novels published by Dell and Del Rey/Ballantine, various short stories, and the Babylon 5 comic book published by DC Comics. This was decided by J. Michael Straczynski, who maintained a tight control on the expanded universe to ensure that nearly everything was canonical; going so far as to pen elaborate story-outlines hundreds of pages long for the novels' authors based upon his personal historical notes for the B5 universe, and in general seeking to safeguard the spinoff works' reputations for being every bit as legitimate and sophisticated as the television series.
The Babylon 5 novels have a number of major elements that are considered canon by series creator Straczynski. However, the later ones published by Del Rey are generally regarded as being more canonical than some of the early Dell books, which were published with less storyline oversight by Straczynski than he would later exercise.
The seventh and ninth Dell novels — The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos and To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M. Drennan — are the only two books from this run which are considered to be canonical in their entirety, whereas all of the Del Rey novels are fully endorsed by the series' creator, along with the DC comic books and short fiction.
Beauty and the Beast
Most fans of the CBS television series consider all episodes of the first season, and at least all Season 2 episodes through "The Hollow Men," to be canonical. Opinions diverge at this point, as the writing of the series took a much darker turn, in an attempt to increase the series' Nielsen ratings beyond its narrow fan niche; and the final three Season 2 episodes, focusing on Vincent's madness, do not appeal to many fans, who focus on the romantic or literary aspects of the characters.
The sharpest divergence of opinion comes when Season 3 is considered. Fan groups divide into two camps, between those who accept or reject the death of Catherine Chandler and the introduction of Diana Bennett. It has been noted by some that those who accept Season 3 as canonical usually refer to the series as B&B, while the opposite side uses BATB. The opinion divided the fan community enough that an audience roundtable discussion on "Healing the Rift in Fandom" was organized at the 1991 South of Oz fan convention in Orlando, Florida.
DC Universe
DC Universe (comics)
Most, but not all, comic books published by DC Comics take place in a shared world known as the DC Universe. The canon of this world comprises all the post-Crisis comics not stated to be set in an alternate universe, except those specifically contradicted by later stories following Zero Hour (most notably, Batman: Year Two, Batman: Son of the Demon and the Action Comics Weekly strip featuring Captain Marvel). The events may not have occurred exactly as shown, however, owing to the floating timeline.
Appearances of the DC Comics characters in other media are not considered canon, however, the appearance of a Marvel Comics character, Jigsaw, during a Marvel/DC comics publishing crossover, is apparently considered a piece of canon for the adventures of Jean-Paul Valley, aka Azrael, who at one point took up the role of The Batman. Jigsaw was an enemy of Frank Castle, a Marvel Comics character called The Punisher.
Some discrepancies in the DC Universe's canon may be accounted for by the concept of Hypertime. Others may be addressed in an anticipated continuity revision stemming from the current crossover series Infinite Crisis.
DC Animated Universe
Many of the DC animated television series of the 1990s and 2000s comprise their own canon, distinct from that of the comic books that spawned them (as well as previous animated series based on the same properties). This "DC Animated Universe" includes Batman: The Animated Series; Superman: The Animated Series; Batman Beyond; Static Shock; Justice League (animated series); and Justice League Unlimited, as well as the animated movies Batman: Mask of the Phantasm; World's Finest; Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero; Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker; and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman.
The comic books based on the animated series are not considered part of the animated canon.
The Teen Titans animated series, although based on DC comics, is its own continuity with no real ties to the main "DCAU".
Doctor Who
There has never been an "official" statement on what is canonical Doctor Who. Doctor Who has never had a single author or authority and it is apparent that the BBC, which owns the series, has generally not cared about the matter. The many creators of Doctor Who have always treated the concept of continuity loosely. Fans run a spectrum between those who consider only the television series canonical and those who consider all Doctor Who canonical. Within that spectrum many view the licensed novels and audio plays as at least near-canonical, and some of those would also include the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips. It is generally assumed that all televised Doctor Who episodes from 1963 to 1989, the 1981 spin-off K-9 and Company, the 1996 telemovie and the new series, which started in 2005, are canonical, including a 1965 episode in which the First Doctor breaks the fourth wall to wish viewers a Merry Christmas ("The Feast of Steven", episode 7 of The Daleks' Master Plan).
Generally, the canonical status of all Doctor Who spin-off media outside of what has been presented on screen (bar obvious spoofs) is debatable, including the BBC radio dramas and webcasts based upon the show. The two theatrical films based upon the series in the 1960s, starring Peter Cushing, are not generally considered canonical, nor is the considerable background information contained in the role-playing game produced by FASA in the 1980s.
Many of the short stories in the BBC anthology Short Trips and Side Steps have settings generally considered non-canonical; for instance, one story features the Cushing Doctor, while another is set between the Children in Need EastEnders crossover Dimensions in Time and the Doctor's appearance in the schools' programme Search Out Science.
The comic strips (Ground Zero, DWM #238-242), Eighth Doctor Adventures (Sometime Never... by Justin Richards) and the Big Finish Productions audio plays (Zagreus) have all attempted to provide an in-continuity explanation for discrepancies by suggesting that their respective continuities take place in separate parallel universes.
A new series of novels based upon the current 2005 Doctor Who series is under way. There have been subtle references to a few of the literary storylines in televised episodes, but thus far not enough to allow determination as to whether these books are considered canon.
Firefly/Serenity
The canon of Firefly and its cinematic follow-up Serenity is the fourteen episodes of Firefly, the film Serenity, and the three-issue Dark Horse Comics series, also titled Serenity, that bridges the television series and the film.
Harry Potter
While there is no official statement on what is considered to be Harry Potter canon, the majority of fans generally accept it to be the works which come straight from J. K. Rowling herself. These include the six novels and the two "textbooks", Quidditch through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Many fans will also consider any fact about the series that she has stated on her site ([1]) to be canon. Although Rowling is consulted at the writing stage, the Warner Bros. movie adaptations are generally not considered to be canon, and often contain fundamental contradictions with Rowling's works. The HP Lexicon, a respected Harry Potter encyclopedia on the internet, proposes the following set of canon rules: [2]
Highlander
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Many fans of Highlander consider only the first film to be canon. Others distinguish the first three films as belonging to one continuity (the "Connor Universe") and the television series and Highlander: Endgame as belonging to another (the "Duncan Universe").
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
There were so many changes by Douglas Adams himself that the original story remains unknown. The publications were continuously improved; characters, locations, events introduced, removed, modified. Even the title's spelling may differ among editions. Finally, he declared in a preface to his 5-book "trilogy" to be the canon, but translations of apparently the same edition fail to match the number of chapters. The movie also tells us a significantly modified story.
However, the main characters (Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Trillian, Zaphod and Marvin) are static personalities; as well as other instances like Vogons, Towel, 42, the destruction of Earth and, of course, The Guide itself are unchangable.
The author's goal to communicate the canon idea behind the flow of events makes the order or presence of actions superfluous.
James Bond
Fans of Ian Fleming's superspy are divided over what is considered official canon. There is little argument that all of Fleming's original short stories and novels are canon, and some include the Kingsley Amis Bond novel, Colonel Sun in this canon as well. The status of the John Gardner and Raymond Benson Bond novels in canon is less certain, since both book series have been updated and feature elements and characters created for the movie series. Benson's novels are particularly controversial as they appear to be based upon the Bond movie universe, rather than the literary Bond. The various Bond film novelizations are generally considered apocryphal, as is a 1970s "authorized biography" of Bond by John Pearson.
A new series of novels featuring a teenaged Bond written by Charlie Higson was released in the beginning of 2005. It remains to be seen if this series will be considered official canon. The TV series James Bond Jr., while officially licensed, is not considered canonical.
The Bond movies, meanwhile, appear to exist somewhat outside of any canon. Although there is some between-films continuity (e.g. references to the death of Bond's wife), the ever-changing cast has rendered any sort of canon determination virtually impossible.
Macross
The Macross canon consists of two animated TV series (The Super Dimension Fortress Macross and its distant sequel, Macross Seven), a movie which is treated as a historical drama produced in the "Macross universe" (Macross: Ai Oboete Imasu Ka?/Macross: Do You Remember Love?) and two Original Animation Videos (Macross Plus, a sequel and Macross Zero, a prequel). Not included is Macross II: Lovers Again, a sequel hurriedly produced by Big West for the 10th Anniversary of Macross in 1992.
Marvel Universe
Most, but not all, comic books publised by Marvel Comics are set in a shared world known as the Marvel Universe. The canon for this world comprises all the comics not stated to be set in an alternate universe, except those specifically contradicted by later stories. The events may not have occurred exactly as shown, however, owing to the floating timeline.
Appearances of the Marvel Comics characters in other media are not considered canon.
Mega Man
The Mega Man or Rockman canon is a source of much debate, due to confusing information that may had resulted from plotholes in the games.
According to official sources from Capcom (such as the Rockman Perfect Memories book), the series' continuity starts with the original "Classic" series and proceeds to (in order) Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero and Mega Man Legends. The Mega Man Battle Network is set in an alternative universe from the other series and is not part of the franchise's main canon.
Mega Man & Bass, Mega Man: Power Battle and Mega Man: Power Fighters are generally accepted as canonical as well. However, the canonical status of some of the other spinoffs, particularly Game Boy versions of Mega Man I through V. has not been officially established. The Rockman & Forte game for Wonderswan is non-canonical, due to the fact that it was only a licensed product made by Bandai and not developed internally by Capcom.
Metal Gear
The Metal Gear canon is comprised for the first two games in the series that were originally released for the MSX2 and the later sequels released under the Metal Gear Solid title. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (which contained several discrenpancies between it and the main games) and the Metal Gear Acid series are considered side-stories set outside the main canon. Snake's Revenge, an early Metal Gear sequel released only for the western market, is the only game not officially recognized by Kojima Productions. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, an expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, contains a series of side-stories titled "Snake Tales" (set in enviroments recycled from the main game), which are considered uncanonical due to various contradicting details and overall recycled nature of them.
The original Metal Gear Solid features two different endings, depending on the player's actions during the "torture event". In the first ending, Meryl Silverburgh survives the events of the game after Snake successfully resist Revolver Ocelot's torture; however, if the player submits to the torture event, then an alternate ending is shown where Snake finds Meryl dead. The subsequent game (Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty) makes no specific reference to either ending within the actual storyline. However, the fictional publication In the Shadow of Shadow Moses featured in the game as a bonus, alludes to Meryl's survival.
Middle-earth
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}} Defining the Middle-earth canon is difficult, because many key writings were not published by J. R. R. Tolkien before his death. A considerable number of Tolkien fans do not believe that a canon can be defined at all, preferring to observe the evolution of Tolkien's stories in the many versions and drafts published posthumously in the History of Middle-earth series. Most, however, agree that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are canon, and also include a substantial amount of material published in The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and other posthumous books, as well as information from Tolkien's letters. Works outside of canon include art books (except for the collections of Tolkien's own art) and video games; the Lord of the Rings movies by Ralph Bakshi and Peter Jackson are generally considered non-canonical as well.
Mortal Kombat
The Mortal Kombat series has an especially interesting (and confusing) plot canon. Every game in the series features a different ending for each character. Often, the endings in a single game will contradict each other. Fans tend to speculate about which endings are canon from whatever game has most recently been released, however the "true" endings are never officially known until the plot of the next game is revealed. Because not every ending from a game can be true, the majority of the endings from each game are non-canon. Additionally, portions of some endings may be considered canon while the rest of the ending is ignored.
An interesting trend associated with this line of canon plot is that nearly every game assumes the "good guys" (typically, the Earthrealm kombatants) prevailed over the "bad guys." In fact, this trend has only recently been broken, with the release of 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception, which assumes that Earthrealm's warriors lost and died at the hands of the Deadly Alliance.
The Prisoner
The official canon of the 1960s TV series The Prisoner, at present, consists of only the 17 broadcast episodes. The alternate versions of the episodes "Arrival" and "Chimes of Big Ben" which include additional scenes (including one sequence in "Chimes" that reveals The Prisoner is capable of determining the location of The Village, rendering one ongoing subplot of the series moot) is not considered canon. The argument over whether Number 6 is John Drake has led to debate over whether the Danger Man TV series should be considered part of The Prisoner canon; officially, it is not. Three original novels based on the series written during the 1960s (two of which identify No. 6 as John Drake) are not considered canon; the canon status of a new series of novels launched in 2005 is unclear.
Resident Evil
In the Resident Evil series, the main "numbered" games (which includes Resident Evil Code: Veronica) are all considered canonical by Capcom. However, Capcom has yet to classify the canonical status for many of the side-games, namely the Gun Survivor series and Resident Evil Outbreak games. Some fans consider them to be canonical due to several factors, such as an allusion to the Sheena Island incident (the events of Resident Evil: Survivor) in the beginning of Resident Evil 0. The only game that is generally seen as uncanonical is Resident Evil Gaiden, due to an unexplored cliffhanger ending. The films and novelizations (as well as other sanctioned adaptations) are not canonical due to several discrenpancies between them and the games.
There has also been debate as to how the events of the earlier games actually transpired due to multiple endings and alternate scenarios of the same storyline. This is best exemplified with the original Resident Evil. In the games that followed, it is stated that S.T.A.R.S. members Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine survived the mansion incident (the events of the original game) along with their respective supporting characters, Rebecca Chambers and Barry Burton. However, this is impossible to do in the game itself, due to the fact that the best possible ending for each character only features three of the four surviving STARS members (Barry and Rebecca are never in the same game together).
Sherlock Holmes
The Sherlock Holmes canon consists of the stories and novels written by Arthur Conan Doyle. This was decided by the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of Holmes enthusiasts, to distinguish the original stories from the pastiches that followed Holmes' retirement, and is probably the first use of the word in this context.
The Simpsons
In The Simpsons, most episodes are considered to be canon, though some may not be able to match others exactly. There is one episode that parodies this: Ned Flanders gives Homer a football ticket and they become friends by the end of the episode. [3]
Lisa: Don't worry, Bart. It seems like every week something odd happens to the Simpsons. My advice is to ride it out, make the occasional smart-aleck quip, and by next week we'll be back to where we started from, ready for another wacky adventure.
Bart: Ay, caramba!
Lisa: That's the spirit.
In the last scene of the episode, it is like none of it ever happened.
Some episodes contain references to others, such as mentions of the Simpson family having travelled to all of the continents in the world, save Antarctica. One issue of continuity that is unlikely to be definitively decided is the question of where the Simpsons' home town of Springfield is. Most clues about Springfield's location are contradictory, which is completely intentional. In one episode, Springfield is shown on a map as being in north-west Tennessee, but other episodes contradict this.
Some special episodes, such as the Treehouse of Horror specials, clip shows, and "Behind the Laughter," are not considered to be canon.
The original Shorts, which appeared as filler material in The Tracey Ullman Show and featured what could be considered prototypes of the Simpsons characters are not considered canonical.
Sonic the Hedgehog
The Sonic game plots are often basic, but have become increasingly complex with each subsequent game. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog are assumed to be absolute canon games, since they were all directly created by Sonic Team. Sonic CD is also absolute canon, since it has been referred to in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes.
Whether some characters have been retconned, and which ones, is a source of debate.
- The Advance games are most likely canon, as they have introduced a few characters that have later appeared in absolute canon games (such as Cream the Rabbit). It is debatable whether Sonic Battle is canon though.
- Some of the Game Gear games do not appear to fit into the canon.
- Other spinoffs also do not appear to fit into the canon.
- Knuckles Chaotix is most likely canon, as it follows directly from Sonic & Knuckles, according to the Japanese manual.
- Sonic 3D and Sonic R, the Travellers' Tales games for the Sega Saturn, may or may not be canon.
There is therefore a degree hypocrisy within the fanbase over whether or not the creation of a game by the Sonic Team grants it absolute canon status.
Some may say romantic couples such as Sonic the Hedgehog/Amy Rose or Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat are canonical, however, this is not true, because Amy's love is one sided, and Knuckles and Rouge, despite feeling attraction for each other, have not gotten together and probably never will. No characters in the Sonic games have actually gotten together or even kissed.
Stargate
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}} The Stargate fictional universe canon consists of:
- An original 1994 movie entitled Stargate, which was intended to be the first of at least three, but was left to stand alone by its producers as Roland Emmerich moved on to Independence Day.
- Subsequent novels by an established author which carried on the story based on Emmerich's notes (not considered canon after the addition of the next bullet).
- A spin-off TV series by the same producers called Stargate SG-1 which carried on one year after the story of the film Stargate, and followed different developments from those described in the novels. This is generally considered canon over the books.
- A further spin-off called Stargate Atlantis which develops a strand of the plot of Stargate SG-1. There was also an animated series named Stargate Infinity which was acknowledged by its producers to strictly not be canon.
- A computer game called Stargate: The Alliance which is canon with the plot of Stargate SG-1.
Some fans consider Stargate SG-1 to be incomptible with the movie due to a few minor changes in small details of the film's plot when carried into the television series. However, most fans and even the producers pass over these details as insignificant.
Star Trek
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The Star Trek canon consists of the television series Star Trek (the original series), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, and the ten Star Trek movies. The non-canonical status of the various novels, comic books, and Star Trek: The Animated Series was decided by Gene Roddenberry, who also claimed that some elements from the films Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country were "slightly apocryphal".
The canonicity of the various reference books such as The Star Trek Encyclopedia and various companions accompanying the series is still debated. Many consider such reference works to be canon, while others do not; there is currently no clear answer solving this problem. A similar problem exists with trading cards cataloging information from the series.
Star Wars
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The Star Wars canon is a complex issue, and Lucas Licensing has devised a four-level system called the "Holocron" to elucidate it. Roughly speaking, however, the six Star Wars films, the screenplays and novelizations of those films, and the radio dramas exist at the "highest level" of canonicity, and most other Star Wars narratives are part of what is known as the Expanded Universe (Star Wars).
South Park
Another notable animation series in this context is South Park. It follows the misbehavings of a group of four friends. At the end of most early episodes, the character of Kenny dies, but at the start of each new episode, he's found to be alive again. Whilst this was originally explained by his fading into existence at the beginning of "Cartman's Mom Is Still A Dirty Slut", it was later revealed that Kenny's mother gives birth to a new 'Kenny' immediately after the passing of the old one. The 'Kenny' born when this explanation was made was the 52nd.
Other factors
The fact the majority of fans of a fictional setting view certain things as non-canonical, or even an official statement to that effect from its creators, does not oblige everyone to agree. In addition, a story can belong to two overlapping canons. The most obvious example of this is Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton family. Some (but not all) of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Doc Savage etc. are canonical in the Wold Newton setting. This does not mean that the events of Farmer's books are canonical from a Sherlockian perspective. Similarly, fans of Laurie R. King's novels of Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell consider all the Holmes stories to be canonical in King's setting.
The difference can be even less clear cut than this. Current Star Trek novels maintain a tight continuity with each other, and avoid contradicting the television series. When a Lost Era novel set between the movies and The Next Generation features a younger version of a character introduced in a Deep Space Nine novel, it's obvious there's some sort of "canonical" novel-setting, even if the TV series is not obliged to conform to it. This is where fanon and canon often collide, especially when a TV series, movie or other officially canonical source contradicts it. An example is the Trek novel Starfleet Year One which appeared in print before the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise was announced, but was completely invalidated by the series; there are some Trek fans who prefer the Starfleet Year One version of events as canon, rejecting the TV series. Generally, though, in the case of televised fiction, only facts which appear in the as-originally-aired version of a program are considered canonical (including scenes cut from re-runs, but not including such things as deleted scenes and scenes from unaired pilots and other such material that 'leaks out' over the internet).
In some fictional universes, interviews and other communications from authors are also considered canon - like the letters of J. R. R. Tolkien with relation to Middle Earth; also items such as interviews, internet chat sessions, and Web sites (e.g., the Web site of J. K. Rowling in relation to Harry Potter). This usually only happens in cases where all works in the universe have the same author.
