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What is canon ?


Astrotoy7

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OK. Ive decided to put this up here as a reference more than anything else, but will leave it open for discussion for the time being.

 

So, please post any canon related queries and comments HERE :)

 

The EU and canonical classification are intrinsically linked, and depending on who has produced that particular piece of EU and what it is about, it occupies a different part of the canon...

 

Kurgan and Keralys are our resident canon experts, but I will list Kurgans famous canon liturgy here, which is taken from sources at starwars.com and wizards.com...

 

* * *

 

quoting Kurgan :)

 

....the canon policy, it's changed a bit over time.

 

Here's the latest on it:

 

http://forums.starwars.com/thread.j...t=15&msRange=15

 

 

Paraphrasing the comments of others on other forums (thanks Lord Poe):

 

Lucasfilm's Leeland Chee, aka "Tasty Taste" runs an official database called the "Holocron" which details the various levels of Star Wars canon.

 

Are the entries in the Holocron sorted as cannonical & non-cannonical? Are there various degress of officialness?

 

The database does indeed have a canon field. Anything in the films and from George Lucas (including unpublished internal notes that we might receive from him or from the film production department) is considered "G" canon. Next we have what we call continuity "C" canon which is pretty much everything else. There is secondary "S" continuity canon which we use for some older published materials and things that may or may not fit just right. But, if it is referenced in something else it becomes "C". Similarly, any "C" canon item that makes it into the films can become "G" canon. Lastly there is non-continuity "N" which we rarely use except in the case of a blatant contradiction or for things that have been cut.

 

I will not go into specifics as to what is considered "S" canon or what items that are seemingly "C" canon are actually "G" canon.

 

Okay, I know that the novels are C-level, and I assume that most of the newer comics are also C-level. Where on the continuity spectrum to the Video games come in?

 

"...continuity "C" canon which is pretty much everything else. " By everything else I mean EVERYthing else. Novels, comics, junior novels, videogames, trading card games, roleplaying games, toys, websites, television. As I've mentioned earlier, any contradictions that arise are dealt on a case-by-case. This has been our general approach to continuity since we began using the Holocron database to track it.

 

In a nutshell, anything created by the author would be C-level. Anything in the the novels created by George Lucas (whether it comes from unpublished early script versions, unpublished author interviews with George, or George's revisions to the novelization manuscript) would be G-level unless contradicted by the films.

 

It gets a little more complicated when something is seen on-screen but not named. So the "shuura fruit" mentioned in the AOTC novel would be G because you see it in the film, although the author came up with the name.

 

Is there anything post-Return of the Jedi that is G level?

 

Not in the database, no. If there is anything anywhere, only George knows.

 

Though I don't discuss specific continuity issues in this thread, I do want to the address the fact that in the Holocron, we track continuity by Holocron entry and not by source.

 

What that means is, a particular source would never be discounted in its entirety, only those elements of that source that are contradictory.

 

Hence, while there may be individual elements of say the Marvel Comics or the Holiday Special that are considered non-continuity, all the other parts can still be valid.

 

 

 

Interview: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?...w20031204leland

 

Everything is looked at on a case-by-case basis. Among the factors we consider: In how many sources does this particular fact appear? Which source has the largest audience? Which explanation is the coolest? Have we been told by George Lucas to avoid this topic? If, after weighing all those variables, the answer isn't yet clear, the issue is presented to an internal group that makes the final determination as to which source is "correct."

 

 

 

So there you have it... :p

 

 

* * *

 

mtfbwya

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Of course, this means that the Ewok Movies and the Star wars Holiday Special occupy the highest level of canon.... :D

 

Is there anything post-Return of the Jedi that is G level?

 

Not in the database, no. If there is anything anywhere, only George knows

 

*cough* coruscant ring any bells. Coined by Tim Zahn.... :p

 

pftt...and he works for sw.com....

 

when it come sto EU skillz

 

Astro > Tasty Taste :p

 

 

mtfbwya

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Heh, was alittle less confusing a few years ago when the official policy of "what is canon" was:

  • Movies
  • Script
  • Movie Novels
  • Radio Dramas

 

In that order, movies taking precendence over everything of course. :)

 

The rest, if official, was EU. :)

 

 

About Coruscant, I believe George had a whole list of names for the planet, but since he never got to depict it in the 3 first movies, he never decided on one. Coruscant was part of that list, and Zahn picked it out.

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Originally posted by Jan Gaarni

.....

About Coruscant, I believe George had a whole list of names for the planet, but since he never got to depict it in the 3 first movies, he never decided on one. Coruscant was part of that list, and Zahn picked it out.

 

very interesting... where did you read that Jan ?

 

mtfbwya

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Originally posted by StarWarsPhreak

...

 

I have a simple solution for everyone about Canon:

 

Whatever Georgie says

Movies

Books/Comics

Video Games

 

That pretty much sums it up. None of this "A B C Q R S Canon" junk.

 

unfortunately Phreak, outside of your own bathroom, you have no actual power to influence such things...so we are stuck with the alphabet soup :p

 

hey, but even GL messes up sometimes... ROTJ novelisation.... Uncle Owen = Obi Wans brother ??

 

mtfbwya

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George is Star Wars God. Period. :p

 

Me in a bathroom? Why are you thinking me in a bathroom? You stay away from me.

 

As for influence... who needs influence? Seriously, you people think too much. Go get yourselves girlfriends. Yes, you too Astro!

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Originally posted by StarWarsPhreak

George is Star Wars God. Period. :p

 

Me in a bathroom? Why are you thinking me in a bathroom? You stay away from me.

 

As for influence... who needs influence? Seriously, you people think too much. Go get yourselves girlfriends. Yes, you too Astro!

 

ive got one, three stepkids and a mortgage :) wanna swap toughguy :p

 

phreak, I thought you were too cool to ever resort to the 'get a girlfriend' line.., the standard line of the internet jackass who has run out of discussion juice :p

 

mtfbwya

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Originally posted by Jan Gaarni

Stay with the simple one that I provided, and you can't go wrong. :)

 

Sort all EU by age (when it was stated first) unless it seems too dumb to be considered "factual". :)

 

great, so we have the Jan and Phreak models of canon too ...... :)

 

Being an EU fanatic, I am always excited by the prospect of GL destroying EU elements with each new movie, and the subsequent backflipping authors do to try make things fit... I wonder what EpIII will bring ??

 

mtfbwya

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  • 3 weeks later...

in the EU itself though i had own interpretation of levels of canon

 

1- novels (not the young reader series)

2- games and comics

 

the reason for this being that novels had constructive plot lines to contribute to the EU and the stories for most novels were used by nearly all other forms for EU. However when you look at comics and games, they sort of like short stories in the SW universe that dont really create a new plot just leak off the old ones. This was for the original star wars comics (eg marvel and some of the classics). Similarly the galaxy of fear books and the dark forces/jedi knight games were sort of secondary level canon to me. However comics now such as dark empire and tales of the jedi have become an integral part of the EU and is commonly referred to even in newer novels. The latter was used to create the kotor series. So now my 2 levels of EU canon look a bit diff

 

1. novels, dark empire/empires end, tales of the jedi, rogue squadron, kotor series

2. young adult novels, all other games and comics

 

just by opinion...

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heh... abespam, unless you work for Lucasfilm Licensing than your canon definition is worth just as much as ours = ZERO !!!

 

and the young jedi knights novels were cool at times, even if they were written by Kevin J Anderson and his wife :D

 

mtfbwya

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There is no such things as EU Canon.

 

There's Canon (the list I provided, LucasFilm Licensing might have added some more in recent time, I'm not completelly up to date these days :) ), and then there's everything else (EU).

 

And then you have unofficial stuff which just should be left alone. :p

 

"Canon" status is not a matter of personal opinion. Keep that in mind.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ive been thinking about the TV series... I think GL will be providing story outlines and being more of an exec producer, like in Young Indy.... I wonder what level of canon this falls into ???

 

By current definitions, it hovers between G and C, like the Clone Wars series :)

 

mtfbwya

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I hate canon...

 

That aside, though, I think I can be a little constructive. As Lucas has said he'll be writing the first season himself, then letting it go from there, I'm guessing that will fall under "C-canon" (shouldn't that technically be the G-canon, for George? ;):p ). As far as after that, well, who knows. I'm not too sure about either that show or the cartoon one, as the Clone Wars royally screwed up and contradicted almost every other source in existence when it came to the events of the Clone Wars, particularly those leading into Ep. III. Talk about a mess...

 

I can't wait to see what kinds of MESSES Revenge causes...

 

PS - Astro, thanks for the compliment "one of the authorities..." nice to know I'm appreciated around here.;)

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Well, the actual piece will most likely be an EU piece, despite the first season being written by George Lucas.

 

However, since the content of first season mostly will have G-Level status (obviously, it is written by George after all :) ) as a source, there's not much in EU that will be able to override it ... past, present, or in the future. :)

Not even the movie novels are able to do that, even though they rank as 3rd in the canon list (see post further up).

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