Halopedia:Canon policy: Difference between revisions

{{Policy}}

[[Halopedia]] seeks to operate strictly as a collection of ''Halo'' canon information. The general rule of its canon policy is fairly simple, as explored in the case of [[i love bees]], that ''"the content should be considered canonical unless contradicted by more authoritative sources"''. For weighing each source's authority, there is the [[#Hierarchy_of_canon|hierarchy of canon]], which is covered below. But it is only one tool in discerning the canon from the non-canon, and oftentimes the relationships of authority may overlap or not be clear. In vague cases like those, determining which contradicting fact should be posted on Halopedia may come down to the editors' interpretation. For this, one must know how to interpret that canon.

There are various ways of interpreting canon but in most cases, they will typically refer to two modes of interpretation: Watsonian and Doylist. The most common approach in most fanbase would be from a Watsonian perspective, that is to interpret the information from the standpoint of the text. This is sometimes called an in-universe perspective. The Doylist approach refers to the real world perspective. As Fanlore puts it, ''"[t]hings that happen in canon happen because of decisions made by the author or TPTB; inconsistencies are probably authorial error. These explanations will sometimes be written right into the canon."''

As such, editors can use these perspectives to determine which elements remain part of the canon framework and which elements could be discarded to accommodate it. But the path to the outcome is rarely simple, and there is no guarantee that the inconsistency will be amended by the creators at a later date. Only with the community's participation can each theory be weighed, so as to ensure Halopedia continues displaying the most accurate and consistent of ''Halo'' information.

Here in Halopedia, the editors work tirelessly to present information in the best possible light: these Halopedians strive by interpreting canon in a way that makes the most sense in the context and causes the least problems. As such, the wiki often gets criticized for not able to present the information as the franchise developers intended it to be. Oftentimes, one source of canon may say something different than other sources; many of these inconsistencies are listed [[List of inconsistencies in the Halo series|here]]. There are many reasons why this may be so; ranging from a typo or a line taken out of context to simple human error on the author's or editor's part.

While most of such conflicts are settled on a case-by-case basis, Halopedia additionally employs several unofficial policies of its own to help solve canonical conflicts. For example, adaptations are generally considered secondary to the original work. An example of this are the [[Halo: Fall of Reach|comic]] and [[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series|animated]] adaptations of ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', in particular the animated series, which diverges from the source material quite drastically in several instances. Nonetheless, these adaptations are considered canonical where they do not conflict with the original work, but the version of the events, characters, etc. shown in the novel is considered "definitive". The same policy can, in a general sense, be extended to most conflicts between written and visual material. For example, [[slipspace]] is still canonically considered to be a pitch-black void, as it is described in the novels, despite several works of visual media depicting it with various visible effects similar to common depictions of faster-than-light travel in popular culture; the latter are simply regarded as artistic liberties for the sake of presentation. For similar reasons, gameplay mechanics are generally considered of secondary authority to statements found in canon regarding matters such as characters' strength or the stats of weapons or vehicles, for example.

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*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''

*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''

*''[[Halo: Fireteam Raven]]''

;Tabletop games

*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''

*''[[Halo: Ground Command]]''

;Novels <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnHPPsQFovY '''YouTube''': ''Halo 4 Panel | RTX 2012''] (39:30: [[Frank O'Connor]]: ''"[the books] are all canonical."'')</ref>

*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''

*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''

*''[[The Forerunner Saga]]''

*''[[Kilo-Five Trilogy]]''

*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]''

*''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''

*''[[Halo: Saint's Testimony]]''

*''[[Halo: Shadow of Intent]]''

*''[[Halo: Fractures]]''

*''[[Halo: Legacy of Onyx]]''

*''[[Halo: Uprising]]''

*''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]''

*''[[Halo: Tales from Slipspace]]''

*''[[Halo: Collateral Damage]]''

;Films and television

*''[[Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn]]''

*''[[Halo: Nightfall]]''

*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''

;Live-action trailers

*''[[The Life]]''

*''[[Birth of a Spartan]]''

*''[[Deliver Hope]]''

*''[[The Commissioning]]''

*''[[A Hero Falls]]''

*''[[The Hunt Begins]]''

;Reference books

*''[[The Art of Halo]]''

*''[[The Art of Halo 3]]''

*''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''

*''[[Halo: The Great Journey: The Art of Building Worlds]]''

*''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo]]''

*''[[Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo]]''

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== Sources ==

*<span class="plainlinks">[http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1126799p3.html '''IGN''': ''Beyond the Ring: Bungie's Renegade Development of Halo's Fiction'']</span>

*[[List of inconsistencies in the Halo series]]

*<span class="plainlinks">[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Watsonian_vs._Doylist '''Fanlore''': ''Watsonian vs. Doylist'']</span>

*<span class="plainlinks">[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WatsonianVersusDoylist '''TvTropes''': ''Watsonian vs. Doylist'']</span>

{{Halopedia RIP}}