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The canon of a work of
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
is "the body of works taking place in a particular
fictional world A fictional universe, also known as an imagined universe or a constructed universe, is the internally consistent fictional setting used in a narrative or a work of art. This concept is most commonly associated with works of fantasy and science ...
that are widely considered to be official or authoritative; speciallythose created by the original author or developer of the world". Canon is contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of
fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...
and other
derivative work In copyright law, a derivative work is an expressive creation that includes major copyrightable elements of a first, previously created original work (the underlying work). The derivative work becomes a second, separate work independent from ...
s.


Canonicity

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 of ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' and ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
''); 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 own continuities' 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 or
retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...
materials that were approved by the setting's original creator (with ''Star Wars'' again being an example). The definition of canon is of particular importance with regard to reboots or re-imaginings of established franchises, such as the ''Star Trek'' remake (2009), because of the ways in which it influences the viewer experience.


Examples

The official ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'' website describes the ''Star Trek'' canon as "the events that take place within the episodes and movies", referring to the live-action television series and
films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
, with '' Star Trek: The Animated Series'' having long existed in a nebulous gray area of canonicity. Events, characters, and storylines from tie-in novels, comic books, and video games are explicitly excluded from the ''Star 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". During
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
's time with the franchise, the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' canon was divided into discrete tiers that incorporated the
Expanded Universe The term expanded universe, sometimes called an extended universe, is generally used to denote the "extension" of a media franchise (like a television program or a series of feature films) with other media, generally comics and original novels. ...
(EU), with continuity tracked by
Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...
creative executive
Leland Chee ''Star Wars'' has been expanded to media other than the original films. This spin-off material is licensed and moderated by Lucasfilm, though during his involvement with the franchise ''Star Wars'' creator George Lucas reserved the right to bot ...
. Higher-tier and newer material abrogated lower-tier and older material in case of contradiction. The live-action theatrical films, the 2008 ''The Clone Wars'' TV series and its debut 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. After
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
'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 2008 ''The 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. The makers of ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' have generally avoided making pronouncements about canonicity, with
Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...
explaining that he does not think about the concept for the ''Doctor Who'' television series or its
spin-offs Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
. The television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' has as an example of non-canonical material the ''
Treehouse of Horror ''Treehouse of Horror'' is a series of annual Halloween-themed anthology episodes of the American animated sitcom and spin-off of ''The Simpsons''. Also known as ''The Simpsons Halloween Specials'', each episode typically consists of three se ...
'' episodes, a series of Halloween-themed specials with several stories that take place outside the show's normal continuity. Productions under
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
are considered by
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
as the canonical stories under the company's "Disney" brand. Therefore, sequels, prequels, television series, or other related media produced by other studios of the company (as is the case of
Disneytoon Studios Disneytoon Studios (DTS), originally named Disney MovieToons and also formerly Walt Disney Video Premieres, was an American animation studio which created direct-to-video and occasional theatrical animated feature films. The studio was a division ...
and
Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA; also shortened to Disney TVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is an American animation production company that serves as the television a ...
productions that serve as a continuity of the films), and events in other media like books or video games, are ignored within the main Disney brand, focused on productions under Walt Disney Animation Studios, thus other productions and media being considered non-canonical events. Several
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series adapted from
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
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.


Additional works


Other writers

The canonical status of some works by the original writer but not the same publisher, such as " The Field Bazaar", may be debated. This is because copyright used to be exercised by the publisher of the work of literature rather than the author. Campaigning by
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
led to the Berne Convention which introduced
author's rights "Authors' rights" is a term frequently used in connection with laws about intellectual property. The term is considered as a direct translation of the French term (also German ). It was first (1777) promoted in France by Pierre-Augustin Caron ...
. However, sometimes in literature, original writers have not approved works as canon, but original publishers or
literary estate The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...
s of original writers posthumously approve subsequent works as canon, such as ''
The Royal Book of Oz ''The Royal Book of Oz'' (1921) is the fifteenth book in the List of Oz books, Oz series, and the first to be written after L. Frank Baum's death. Although Baum was credited as the author, it was written entirely by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It wa ...
'' (1921) (by original publisher), '' Porto Bello Gold'' (1924) (by estate), and ''
Heidi Grows Up ''Heidi Grows Up'' (''Heidi jeune fille''), also known as ''Heidi Grows Up: A Sequel to Heidi'', is a 1936 novel and sequel to Johanna Spyri's 1881 novel ''Heidi'', written by Spyri's French and English translator, Charles Tritten, after a three-d ...
'' (1938) (by estate).


Late 20th century

In film and television it is common that the original writer does not decide what is canon. In literature, the estate of
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
authorised sequels by Stephen Baxter, ''
The Massacre of Mankind ''The Massacre of Mankind'' is a 2017 science fiction novel by the British writer Stephen Baxter, a sequel to H. G. Wells' 1898 classic ''The War of the Worlds'', authorised by the Wells estate. It is set in 1921, 14 years after the Martian i ...
'' (2017) and ''
The Time Ships ''The Time Ships'' is a 1995 hard science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter. A canonical sequel to the 1895 novella ''The Time Machine'' by H. G. Wells, it was officially authorized by the Wells estate to mark the centenary of the original's publ ...
'' (1995). '' Scarlett'' was a 1991 sequel to ''
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...
'' authorised by the estate.


21st century

In 2010, the Conan Doyle estate authorised ''
Young Sherlock Holmes ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of ''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear'') is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...
'' and ''
The House of Silk ''The House of Silk'' is a Sherlock Holmes novel written by British author Anthony Horowitz, published in 2011. Plot summary ''The House of Silk'' begins with a brief, personal recounting of events by Watson, much like that in ''A Study in S ...
''. Sequels to the stories by P G Wodehouse about the butler
Jeeves Jeeves (born Reginald Jeeves, nicknamed Reggie) is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Bertie W ...
were sanctioned by Wodehouse's estate for ''Jeeves and the Wedding Bells'' (2013) by
Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pu ...
and '' Jeeves and the King of Clubs'' (2018) by
Ben Schott Ben Schott (born 26 May 1974) is a British writer, photographer, and author of the ''Schott's Miscellanies'' and ''Schott's Almanac'' series. Early life and university Ben Schott was born in North London, England, the son of a Neurology, neu ...
. ''
The Monogram Murders ''The Monogram Murders'' is a 2014 mystery novel by British writer Sophie Hannah featuring characters created by Agatha Christie. It is the first in Hannah's series of Hercule Poirot books, continuation novels sanctioned by the estate of Agatha ...
'' (2014) by
Sophie Hannah Sophie Hannah (born ) is a British poet and novelist. Biography Hannah was born in Manchester, England; her mother is the author Adèle Geras. She attended Beaver Road Primary School in Didsbury and the University of Manchester. From 1997 to ...
is a sequel to
Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by the English writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is Christie's most famous and longest-running character, appearing in 33 novels, two plays (''Black Coffee (play), Black Coffee'' and '' ...
novels authorised by the
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
estate.


Fanon

Fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...
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 of ''fan'' and ''canon''.: 'fanon.' Within an individual fandom, certain plotlines may be reinvented so many times and by so many people—or alternately may be written so persuasively by a few writers—that they take on the status of fan-produced canon. Similarly, the term "headcanon" is used to describe a fan's personal interpretation of a fictional universe.


See also

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


References


Sources

*Rebecca Black, "Digital Design: English Language Learners and Reader Reviews in Online Fiction", i
''A New Literacies Sampler''
p. 126 * *


External links

* {{Superhero fiction