Is Canon really so important?

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Sci-fi fans will know what I'm on about here.

It came to me last night, whilst pondering life, the universe, and everything, as I do, is it really so important that events in fictional universes are labelled canon (the shows/books or whatever on an original level) and non canon, (fan-fiction, novels for a TV show, etc), but are still considered 'part' of that universe and I was just wondering what others thought?

I'm not a sci-fi fan, but I'm still responding.
The issue of what is considered canon is important.
There is the possibility of disagreement when including non-canon sources.

I think it's definitely important to label the two.

Distinguishing between the two stipulates what MUST be part of the universe, and what is purely optional. That is, what MUST remain consistent across every incarnation or story set in a particular universe. That which is non-cannon does not need to be stipulated (or even used or followed) across different stories. And it also stops that age old dilemma of continuity. Certain things HAVE to remain the same for the sake of an understandable and predictable world.!

For instance you can get away with inventing a new alien race or a lost civilisation in a StarWars universe, but you can't give a Jedi a lightsaber other than blue or green, and you can't make a robot capable of wielding a lightsaber... D'OH!! !

Mace Windu was a Jedi, and his lightsaber was purple.
Nitpicking aside, I think canon is important (it lets you know what definitely HAS happened and what DOES exist), but it can be taken too far. If I had a dollar for every time I've been on Wookieepedia and seen that part of the article I'm reading is about whether or not something is canon, I'd be buried in so much money I couldn't even see what's on my monitor. At some point, it just crosses the line into... well... nitpicking. And if someone makes a typo or a continuity mistake, it can cause all kinds of arguments. It's important, but shouldn't be important enough to cause all THAT.

Fan Fictions can be handy for explaining plot holes, but shouldn't be taken seriously if you're talking about the plotline seriously. I'll use the plot in the Jak and Daxter games as an example.


***HEAVY JAK AND DAXTER TRILOGY SPOILERS***




In Jak and Daxter, you play as Jak, who lives in Sandover Village. At the end of his first adventure, they find a Time Gate and they get sent into the future. In Jak II There they land in Haven City, and learn of a man named Mar, the founder of Haven many eons ago. The current Ruler of Haven City is a small child who is being kept secure by The Underground from the tyrannical fake ruler of Haven, Baron Praxis. Jak finds that he was in fact born in the future, as he is the small child and sent into the past.

In Jak 3, Jak meets a man called Damas, the king of Spargus City, a place filled with the banished outlaws of Haven where they try to make a new life. Damas had a son named Mar, and you later find out that this is the child from Jak II, meaning Jak is Mar.



***END SPOILERS***



The debate here is whether or not Jak is THE Mar, or is just named in his honour by Damas. If he is honoured with Mar's name, then it means that there is a big muck up which will have to be resolved in a later game. If he is THE Mar, then he will have to travel back in time to fulfil his destiny and found Haven. There have been numerous fanfics revolving around this potential plotline, and the game was released in 2005 with no resolution to this, not even in the slightest with the racing spin-off, Jak X: Combat Racing. The time travel theory is the most agreed upon, and thus far fanfics have been the only way to tell what happens afterwards. In that respect, fanfictions have been helpful in 'what if' situations, as Naughty Dog, the creators of the game, have neglected thus far to provide a canon explanation.

LOL, sorry that was my attempt at humour. Hence the D'OH at the end of the statement. Because there is a robot wielding a light saber in there as well. General Grievous (though he is more cyborg)

Non-canon (read: books and comics) has been all sorts of colours. And the old canon of there is always two sith. A master an an apprentice is shot to hell with Darth Sidious having (at rough count) about thirty apprentices and other force capable hangers on by the time you read all of the books.

Anyone can use a lightsabre. I mean, Luke used one and, while he was Force-sensitive, he wasn't a proper Jedi yet. Same goes for Grevious. You can be trained in Jedi arts and combat skills while not using the Force itself. Just like how you can use Samurai fighting techniques without actually being a Samurai yourself.

And besides, his lightsabre was purple because the actor asked for it. Lucas was like "Oh, okay!" and that was that. It became canon. Whoop-ass!! And I don't think you should limit yourself on what has been seen before. Otherwise we'd still be stuck with just the Blue and Red sabres from A New Hope. Jeez.

Canon is not and should not be a straitjacket, but it should at least be respected to a certain degree.

What Marvel Comics have done with the canon of Spider-Man this past week goes against that to a staggeringly inept degree...

I think there should be a canon - that way, there's room for plenty of different ideas to expand upon the official material, without worrying about conflicting details.

Heh, wondered if that wasn't the case after I posted that...

Well, there's kind of an out on the "one master and one apprentice" thing - that's the Jedi understanding of how the Sith structure works. Why do they assume the Sith told them the truth?

I'm trying to recall if the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic came out before or after Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Plotline - er, I mean Menace. In KotOR (which is canon), there were three basic sabre colors, depending on the Jedi class you selected (blue, yellow, or green), and there are number of other color gems you can find later. (Interestingly enough, they're all worth 57 credits when you go to sell them - except the violet stone, which is worth 126.)

And the Sith in there have an entire Empire, although by the beginning of the second game it's fallen apart because the Sith spent more time fighting each other for position than defending the Empire as a whole...

Seems my post has had no impact on the thread whatsoever...

Seems that way Kbabz.

And the rule of two was established only 1000 yeas before "A New Hope". The events of KotOR predate that rule. Hence the sith running around all over the place in those games.

Though upon further recollection the events following Return of the Jedi appear to have abolished the rule, or at least flaunted it by declaring that all the new sith running around are acolytes rather than apprentices.

I still figure the last Sith to talk to a Jedi lied about the Rule of Two. After all, that way, if the Jedi managed to take out a Sith master and his apprentice, then they'd sit around congratulating themselves on eliminating the Dark Side menace once and for all, while the rest of the Sith prepared their vengeance...

Heh, being a sith myself I know full well the cloak and dagger games that go on. And I can definitely assure you that we are not above a little misdirection and skulduggery.

However, I am offended at the implication that during hiding we would talk to a jedi at all, even to tell them of the Rule of Two... jedi are dicks!

You Jedi / Sith and your crazy traditions. You're the reason I went grey.