Non-canonical: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:02, 29 May 2007

Non-canonical is the opposite of canon. Typically when something is non-canonical, it is not considered an official element of the storyline in a particular work of fiction, commonly a series of novels of a television program. The term was originally a term used to differentiate heretical from accepted scripture in the Catholic Church.

The SF television show Babylon 5 is unique in that all published works are considered canonical by the series creators. However, other shows such as Star Trek have many officially-licensed stories (books and comics) that are not considered non-canonical because the story content often contradicts the aired episodes or theatrical films of the program. The Star Wars franchise attempts to unify their officially-licensed novels and comics into the central movie storyline, with general success.

Battlestar Wiki is an encyclopedia for all officially-licensed Battlestar properties, aired or printed. Battlstar Wiki treats aired episodes (including Galactica 1980)) as canonical. Thus, to prevent non-canonical storylines from conflicting with canonical aired information while fulfilling the mission of chronicling all officially-licensed stories, Battlestar Wiki marks articles with non-canonical characters, events and situations in accordance with the separate continuity policy.

Battlestar Wiki does not allow fan fiction or fanwanking of any kind in whole or in part in any article.

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-'''Non-canonical''' is the opposite of [[canon]].  Typically when something is non-canonical, it is not considered official in that particular fictional universe.
+'''Non-canonical''' is the opposite of [[canon]].  Typically when something is non-canonical, it is not considered an official element of the storyline in a particular work of fiction, commonly a series of novels of a television program. The term was originally a term used to differentiate heretical from accepted scripture in the [[w:Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]].
-In other words, [[canon|canonical]] events "actually occurred", whereas non-canonical events occur only in the non-canonical work itself. Non-canonical items include fan fiction and books not deemed canonical by the publisher, studio, or "the powers that be".
+The SF television show ''[[w:Babylon 5|Babylon 5]]'' is unique in that all published works are considered canonical by the series creators. However, other shows such as ''[[memoryalpha:Star Trek|Star Trek]]'' have many officially-licensed stories (books and comics) that are not considered non-canonical because the story content often contradicts the aired episodes or theatrical films of the program. The ''[[w:Star Wars|Star Wars]]'' franchise attempts to unify their officially-licensed novels and comics into the central movie storyline, with general success.
-Other works can be ''quasi-canonical'', like the Expanded Universe of [http://www.starwars.com/ Star Wars] fame.  While the events portrayed in EU stories are not expressed acknowledged in the films, the powers that be at Lucasfilm do acknowledge their existence in the over-all universe of Star Wars (they only become non-canonical when a new canonical item, such as a new prequel movie, directly contradicts something in the EU).
+Battlestar Wiki is an encyclopedia for all officially-licensed ''Battlestar'' properties, aired or printed. Battlstar Wiki treats aired episodes (including ''[[Galactica 1980]])'') as canonical. Thus, to prevent non-canonical storylines from conflicting with canonical aired information while fulfilling the mission of chronicling all officially-licensed stories, Battlestar Wiki marks articles with non-canonical characters, events and situations in accordance with the [[BW:SEP|separate continuity]] policy.
+Battlestar Wiki does not allow [[fan fiction]] or [[fanwanking]] of any kind in whole or in part in any article.
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 [[Category:Hollywood Buzzwords]]