hi guys i'm new here, first sorry for not so good english or a "engrish" i will try using google translator and sometimes he also not too much "perfect as i wanted".
well going to topic:
sometimes watching some forums and others sources i aways find that discuss a bit weird and somehow mislead, when the topic is about "canon"
I would like to start a good debate about the canon term what really is it?
because nowadays I see it being used very bad especially in animes and mangas or novels, only the famous manga or novel is canon and not the anime.
first let's start from good sources:
wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_%28fiction%29
Spoiler:
This article is about the concept of a canon that defines the world of a particular fictional series or franchise. For influential works of fiction, see literary canon.
In fiction, canon is the material accepted as part of the story in an individual fictional universe. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction. The term "canon" can be used either as a noun, referring to "the original work from which the fan fiction author borrows,"[1] or as an adjective to describe whether or not certain elements are accepted as authoritative parts of the fictional universe.[2] Fan-fiction would be described as "non-canon," while an event from the official source material would be "canon." The alternative terms mythology and continuity are often used, with the former being especially to refer to a richly detailed fictional canon requiring a large degree of suspension of disbelief (e.g. an entire imaginary world and history).
Origin
The use of the word "canon" in reference to a set of texts derives from Biblical canon, the set of books regarded as scripture, as contrasted with non-canonical Apocrypha.[3] The term was first used by analogy in the context of fiction to refer to the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Ronald Knox used the term in a 1911 essay "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes" to distinguish Doyle's works from subsequent pastiches by other authors.[4][5] It has subsequently been applied to many media franchises. Among these are science fiction and fantasy franchises such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Halo, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, BioShock, Doctor Who, Middle-Earth, A Song of Ice and Fire, the Narnia series, the The Dark Tower books, and Dinotopia, in which many stories have been told in different media, some of which may contradict or appear to contradict each other.[5]
When there are multiple "official" works or original media, the question of what is and what is not 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), by assigning different levels of canonicity to different media (as in the case of Star Wars), by considering different but licensed media treatments official within their own continuities but not across them (as with Battlestar Galactica), or not resolved at all. The use of canon is of particular importance with regard to reboots or re-imaginings of established franchises, such as the 2009 Star Trek film, because of the ways in which it influences the viewer experience.[6]
The official Star Trek website describes Star Trek canon as "the events that take place within the live-action episodes and movies" (that is, the television series Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, and the Star Trek motion pictures).[7] Events, characters and story lines from tie-in novels, comic books, video games and Star Trek: The Animated Series 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."[7] One example of a non-canonical element that later became canonical in the Star Trek universe was the name "Tiberius" becoming the official middle name of Enterprise captain James T. Kirk. The name was introduced in the Star Trek animated series, and was later added into the official biography of the character by its mention in the live-action film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
The Star Wars canon originally existed on several levels. The highest level was the original Star Wars films, and statements by George Lucas; tie-in fiction from the Expanded Universe had a different level of canonicity.[5] The complex system is maintained by Leland Chee, a Lucasfilm employee.[5] The makers of Doctor Who have generally avoided making pronouncements about canonicity, with Russell T Davies explaining that he does not think about the concept for the Doctor Who TV series or its spin-offs.
]
tv troopers:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Canon
Spoiler:
That which counts, in terms of continuity.
Canon, as it applies to television series, is substantially different from its literary counterpart. For example, there is no question of which Sherlock Holmes stories (the first literary works to which the term was applied) are canonical: those written by Doyle are, everything else isn't.
Television canon works much differently, as there are many authors involved. Works not officially sanctioned are generally outside of canon, but what remains inside is more nebulous. Officially licensed material, novelizations and tie-in novels are not usually considered canon. Even broadcast material can be excluded from the canon when decreed by Word of God.
The primary issue is that canons for completed works (especially with a single author) are descriptive, whereas fans' attempts to define canon for ongoing works are prescriptive. If a fact is "canon", you are "not allowed" to contradict it.
The concept of canon is almost entirely an invention of fandom. The writers will ignore, include, or change whatever facts they damned well like. This is not to say that the writers totally lack a sense of continuity, but it is a much weaker concept than "canon" as presented by fan communities. Writers can tweak continuity quite a lot without actually breaking it by using Broad Strokes.
In fan communities based on very loose continuities, "canon" can sometimes boil down to "the bits we like". Fans will attempt to find any excuse to "de-canonize" facts that they personally find inconvenient.
A related term is Deuterocanon (known here on TV Tropes as Word of Dante), which in this context refers to those persons, places and/or events which are not explicitly shown on-screen, but which are considered "official" or close to it. For canon that comes not from the source material but from pronouncements by the creator, see Word of God. For the contrary idea that something is canon only if it appears in the source material (external opinions of the creator not included), see Death of the Author.
This concept is related to the literary term used to describe a body of work that is considered the foremost in quality and significance. For example, if one refers to the English-language literary canon, it is understood that one is speaking of books such as A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad—in other words, most of the books you read in High School are part of the English-language canon.
Canon should not be confused with Fanon, but everyone does it all the time. See Fanon Discontinuity for when people decide en masse to disregard actual canon, and Canon Discontinuity when the writers do it. Alternatively, see the Continuity Tropes index for all related concepts. Official Fan-Submitted Content is when the creators ask the fans to add to the canon.
http://pt.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Canon
Spoiler:
Another word for official. Used quite often in fan fiction to differentiate between the official storyline in which the fan fiction is based on.
"This fan fiction story is actually pretty close to being canon written by the original author."
i also asked a serious critics of television, film and comics here where i live about it and their asnwered:
canon is anything licensed/authorized/recognized by the owner of the franchise, this means who not "only the manga or novel or anime as long is recognized by the owner can be canon.
a good exemple of it could be kyouto animation, most of their anime adapatations are canon, because their also are the owner of the copyright of most of the novels who their work.
or in cases of "reboots" is a reference to know where that thing originally"come
as far i see in japan their pretty much follow that pattern of if the creater say is canon then is canon even if write by another person
good exemple is godzilla movia the 1998 version japaneses not acnowledge as canon, their even made another movie just to kill the stupid fake with the real one but the current one is being recognized as canon.
marvel and dc also pretty much follow that pattern with their reboots.
basically canon is what make difference between official work and fanmade, by official work dont necessary means only the manga or novel or anime, but all the franchise associated, spinoffs, anime.
come from this where come that "common sense" who only one thing is canon and none other is????, i aways see peoples advocace that but none never even give a good reason than "common sense" or like the tv trooper called:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod
i see that rule happen a lot in western culture
a unknow force who give unknow rules where we must follow because someone unknow told it.
well for me canon is exactly what i learned and understood as long the time is anything officially recognized by the creator or owner of the franchise, or as long the owner support or say who this is canon then is canon.
a good exemple of this who i see that days could be fairy tail, part of the western culture love to say "anime is not canon only manga" or now with the release of the new spinoffs "licensed and recognized by mashima" and the novels peoples come and say "only manga is canon, that spinoffs are not canon and bla bla bla, i see that know with anothers adaptations of mangas, novels or even anime(when anime is the original then gain manga or novel version with spin offs)
some others exemples who i know, shakugan no shana his original source is a novel but afar i know anime is also considere canon, zero no tsukaima anime is also recognized by the creator as canon(anime even has ended before novel but the wirter confirmed who that wil be the end), Aishiteruze baby(where the mangaka died before manga end but give to anime team the script for the end, then the anime had the end).
if most of the sources who i looked say who canon is not that things some peoples "say"(only manga or novel is canon), why peoples keep saying that??? wha exactly is the true???, how something who was supposed to to distinguish offical source from fanfictions, turned in "only part of the official source being canon??
share your ideas.