What is cannon

[kitsama]

I have a feeling I should know this. But I don't. So could someone help me? What the heck is cannon?

And another thing, Manga is the comic and Anime is the show right. I'm having an arguement with one of my friends and he keeps saying they're the same.

I know they're not. Manga is the comic and Anime is the animated version of it right?

[swallowtail]

Canon, is opposed to fanon.

Canon, is well, Harry Potter being dropped by Hagrid at his relatives.

Fanon would Blaise Zabini being a girl[because the great author herself said Zabini was a male].

Manga is the comic and anime is the show, technically. But some people tend to confuse everything.

[Me-Nuriko]

One description of canon/fanon is:

canon is what the writer of the book/comic /whatever has said is the 'truth'.

Fanon is when something gets used so often in fanfics that it's almost is being considered the truth. It can happen when there are fanfics that are better developed than the original series. (Exampel: Weiss Kreuz)

Manga and anime are NOT the same. Manga is Japanese comics, and anime is 'animated' (hint, hint) movie/TV-series.
An anime doesn't have to be based on a manga. Take all the wonderful anime movies from studio Ghibli. They are, as far as I know - correct me if I'm wrong, not based on any manga.

[MsCongeniality]

Me-Nuriko said:

Manga and anime are NOT the same. Manga is Japanese comics, and anime is 'animated' (hint, hint) movie/TV-series.

Because of this, there will sometimes be different 'canons' in which you can set a story. You can, for example, have a Fruits Basket story that is true to events in the anime but completely deviates from events as given in the manga. Or, to take this problem to the n^th degree, you could have something like the comic books fandom where there are not only multiple versions of the same storyline within comics, but additional 'one shot' graphic novels, and movies/television continuity to contend with.

If you're writing in a fandom with more than one accepted canon, it can be helpful to state which version of events or characterization you are using in an author's note. e.g., A/N: This story is set during events in the manga, after Chapter 57 but before the events of Chapter 60.

Me-Nuriko said:

An anime doesn't have to be based on a manga. Take all the wonderful anime movies from studio Ghibli. They are, as far as I know - correct me if I'm wrong, not based on any manga.

Several excellent series aren't based on manga at all. Ones that leap to mind include Cowboy Bebop, Witch Hunter Robin, Wolf's Rain and Samurai Champloo, though some of these have associated manga that were developed after the series. I'm not sure about Studio Ghibli's films being based on manga or not. Their most recent release Howl's Moving Castle is actually based on a book by the same name. It was written by british fantasist Diana Wynne Jones and (IMHO) should be on everybody's must read list.

[kitsama]

Okay so I was half right and he was all wrong. Yea for me. But how can you tell the difference between Fanon and Cannon. Fanon is something so widely used that it is considered "truth" Like Inuyasha's age. In the manga he's 15 in the anime he's 17 but in the movies he's 200+. Figure that one out. Is it Cannon or Fanon?

[kanshu]

Confusingly enough, all three ages (manga, anime and movie) are "canon". The reason for that is that it is declared 'officially' by the Powers That Be in charge of the manga/show/movie.

Now, fanon would be when I would write an Iniyasha fic in which I state that Kagome uses XYZ shampoo on Inuyasha's hair, and some other author picks that up and from there it avalanches through the fanfic world (because writer Z copies this 'information' from writer Y, who copied it from writer X...).
A good example for fanon is the name "Chaucer" for the (in the show nameless) horse of the character Ezra Standish in 'Magnificent Seven'. The name stuck, and from then on, you could read in many fictions that the name of the horse is Chaucer, even though it never had a name.
Later on, some readers/authors even believed this fanon information to be canon information.

It also can happen, that certain behaviour patterns of a character are created by a fan, and then get used in other fanfic by other authors.

That's why when you start writing in a new fandom, make sure that you have sufficient canon information, or you'll end up using fanon.

[Ganheim]

So is there an easy way of confirming whether something is canon or fanon without letting your reading audience catch on to the fact that we don't know what we're doing?

For example, in the sequel to Crossing the Rubicon, a foreign exchange student is hosted at Higurashi's home. I haven't decided if he'll somehow end up being pulled into the past (or if I may do that in a "what-if" side story after I finish the sequel), but either way he spends most of his time in the present. Because of that, he comes into contact with Kagome's friend (real and people who wish it, like Hojo). Anyway, I've seen the three's names several times in different variations. Is there some canon information to shed light on this, or is it just seek out fanon and hope you got a consistent one?

[kanshu]

Sure there is an 'easy way'... watch the show, read the manga, read the books, everything where the 'officials' give you information.

As for spelling... That depends on what transcription system for Japanese you are using. If you have the hiragana spelling from the manga, it's fairly easy to pick out the correct spelling. Otherwise, trying official homepages is always a good idea (or, in case you have bought anime, there should be some information about the name of the parts).

You can try the official japanese homepage for inuyasha: www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/yasya/

From TVTome
www.tvtome.com/Inuyasha/

And this page as a good overview on most characters who ever appeared in Inuyasha:
www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=159

But it's very possible that the girl-friends of Kagome never had a name given...

[kitsama]

So is there an easy way of confirming whether something is canon or fanon without letting your reading audience catch on to the fact that we don't know what we're doing?

Since I just recently found out the difference myself don't quote me on this.

But someone had to use fanon at least once for everyone else to believe it, right?

As long as you don't say anything outragous like Kagome was really born a man I don't think anyone will notice or care.

[MsCongeniality]

OptiMoose said:

But it's very possible that the girl-friends of Kagome never had a name given...

Their names are canon (I believe they're given in the manga) and are Yuka, Eri and Ayumi.

An excellent place for information about the InuYasha anime, including a wealth of information on minor characters, is www.chibiexplosion.com/inuyasha/

[Ganheim]

Wow, thanks for all the help. Now if I could only stop bashing my head into the keyboard for not being able to finish LotST 2's prologue...but that's a different story.