User:EEMIV/Canon

Wikipedia covers several fictional universes and media franchises. Within these fictions, some people, places, things, and events are "canon", i.e. "accepted as part of the story". Likewise, some elements are "non-canon", and are not part of or do not represent the "truth" of the fictional universe.

Although a subject's canon status may be worth including in its coverage at Wikipedia, canon status should be neither a criterion for inclusion nor a rationale for exclusion. Wikipedia is interested in verifiability, not truth, focusing on the real-world aspects of fictional worlds.

Why canon matters
The idea of canon is itself notable. Independent third parties have significantly covered some content producers’ decisions about canon, e.g. Disney’s April 2014 announcement of changes to the Star Wars canon. Previous to that April announcement, Lucasfilm had a “keeper of the Holocron” who maintained a reference database that ascribed varying “degrees” of canon-ness to various aspects of Star Wars films, books, games, etc. Reviews of the 2009 ‘’Star Trek’’ film sometimes included details of how the producers integrated the new film into the existing Star Trek canon; a Washington Post reporter called the Star Trek canon "sacred".

The underlying question of “What is ‘true’? What ‘really’ happened?” is of interest to fans and producers alike.

Why canon doesn't matter
Even carefully managed media franchises have disparate or changing notions of canon. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry said he considered ‘’Star Trek V’’ apocryphal. Dozens of Star Wars books and other media — previously the canon for the “expanded universe” before and after the theatrical films — were re-classified as “Legacy Canon” and not necessarily the “truth” in Star Wars.

These changes in “truthiness” only reinforce why canon status is weak footing for focus or inclusion at Wikipedia.

Substitues for canon
Within managed fictional universes, canon elements may be more likely to recur or play a prominent role in developing a story. As such, they are more likely to be important enough to include in articles’ Plot and Synopsis sections. It is not uncommon for significant elements of fiction to meet garner sufficient third-party coverage to be spun out into their own article.

Broader and/or recurring use in turn broadens opportunity for significant third-party coverage; such that a stand-alone