Thecanon of a work offiction is "the body of works taking place in a particularfictional world that are widely considered to be official or authoritative; [especially] those created by the original author or developer of the world".[2] Canon is contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works offan fiction and otherderivative works.[3]
When there are multiple "official" works or original media, what material is canonical can be unclear. This is resolved either by explicitly excluding certain media from the status of canon (as in the case ofStar Trek andStar Wars); by assigning different levels of canonicity to different media; by considering different but licensed media treatments official and equally canonical to the series timeline within their owncontinuities' universe, but not across them; or not resolved at all.
There is also no consensus regarding who has the authority to decide what is or isn't canonical, with copyright holders usually declaring themselves the authorities when they want to erase orretcon materials that were approved by the setting's original creator (withStar Wars again being an example). The definition of canon is of particular importance with regard toreboots or re-imaginings of established franchises, such astheStar Trek remake (2009), because of the ways in which it influences the viewer experience.[4]
The officialStar Trek website describes theStar Trek canon as "the events that take place within the episodes and movies", referring to the live-action television series andfilms, withStar Trek: The Animated Series having long existed in anebulous gray area of canonicity.[5] Events, characters, and storylines from tie-in novels, comic books, and video games are explicitly excluded from theStar Trek canon, but the site notes that elements from these sources have been subsequently introduced into the television series, and says that "canon is not something set in stone".[5]
DuringGeorge Lucas's time with the franchise, theStar Wars canon was divided intodiscrete tiers that incorporated theExpanded Universe (EU), with continuity tracked byLucasfilm creative executiveLeland Chee. Higher-tier and newer material abrogated lower-tier and older material in case of contradiction. The live-action theatrical films, the 2008The Clone Wars TV series and itsdebut film, and statements by Lucas himself were at the top of this hierarchy; such works invariably superseded EU material in case of contradiction. The EU itself was further divided into several descending levels of continuity.[6] AfterDisney's acquisition of the franchise, Lucasfilm designated all Expanded Universe material published before 25 April 2014 (other than the first six theatrical films and the 2008The Clone Wars film and TV series) as the non-canonical "Legends" continuity. Material released since this announcement is a separate canonical timeline from the original George Lucas Canon, with all narrative development overseen by the Lucasfilm Story Group.[7]
The makers ofDoctor Who have generally avoided making pronouncements about canonicity, withRussell T Davies explaining that he does not think about the concept for theDoctor Who television series or itsspin-offs.[8][9][10]
The television seriesThe Simpsons has as an example of non-canonical material theTreehouse of Horror episodes, a series of Halloween-themed specials with several stories that take place outside the show's normal continuity.[11]
Severalanime television series adapted frommanga stories count with some extra episodes with original stories that are not part of the original manga, often being referred to as "filler episodes," being outside of the canon of their source material.[12]
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The canonical status of some works by the original writer but not the same publisher, such as "The Field Bazaar", may be debated.[13] This is because copyright used to be exercised by the publisher of the work of literature rather than the author.[14] Campaigning byVictor Hugo led to theBerne Convention which introducedauthor's rights.[15]
However, sometimes in literature, original writers have not approved works as canon, but original publishers orliterary estates of original writers posthumously approve subsequent works as canon, such asThe Royal Book of Oz (1921) (by original publisher),[16]Porto Bello Gold (1924) (by estate),[17] andHeidi Grows Up (1938) (by estate).[18]
In film and television it is common that the original writer does not decide what is canon.[19] In literature, the estate ofH. G. Wells authorised sequels byStephen Baxter,The Massacre of Mankind (2017) andThe Time Ships (1995).[20]Scarlett was a 1991 sequel toGone with the Wind authorised by the estate.[21]
In 2010, the Conan Doyle estate authorisedYoung Sherlock Holmes[22] andThe House of Silk.Sequels to the stories byP G Wodehouse about the butlerJeeves were sanctioned by Wodehouse's estate forJeeves and the Wedding Bells (2013) bySebastian Faulks andJeeves and the King of Clubs (2018) byBen Schott.[23]The Monogram Murders (2014) bySophie Hannah is a sequel toHercule Poirot novels authorised by theAgatha Christie estate.[24]
Fan fiction is almost never regarded as canonical. However, certain ideas may become influential or widely accepted within fan communities, who refer to such ideas as "fanon", a blend offan andcanon.[6][25] Similarly, the term "headcanon" is used to describe a fan's personal interpretation of a fictional universe.[26]
The dictionary definition ofcanon at Wiktionary