User:TheUltimate3/Canon

This is the Canon Policy of Narutopedia.

This policy is loosely based off Star Wars's old Canon matrix where there are several tiers of canon. As with anything, what is classified as canon is not always absolute and resolutions of all contradictions is to be handled on a case-by-case basis. In short, one mistake or contradiction does not deem the entire work non-canon.

What is "Canon"
Please see the opening for the Wikipedia article on Canon in Fiction.

"In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction. The alternative terms mythology, timeline, 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), while the latter two typically refer to a single arc where all events are directly connected chronologically."

Why Have a "Canon Policy"?
In the past, when the wikia could just focus on the manga and the anime, all that was necessary was making a distinction between what appeared in the manga and what appeared in the anime. However as time went by, the Naruto franchise branched out into more forms of media, such as games, novels, movies, and stage plays. In doing so, many things such as term explanations, plot points, and the like have appeared in one form of media with the expectation that it could carry over into others. For example, the Kiba swords first appeared in the Kurosuki Family Removal Mission arc of the anime before being showing shown in Volume #55.

What this has caused is a situation where many


 * K-canon or Kishimoto/Kodachi canon: The highest tier of canon of Naruto and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Simply put, everything written by Kishimoto — and as of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations — Kodachi is considered high canon. Elements originating from these two that appear in other mediums, such as magazine articles, movies, ect also count as canon. Example of this would be the The Last: Naruto the Movie, which is a original film but treated as K-canon. When the matter of changes done, the most recent version takes precedence. For example, the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations as of this writing looks to be a retelling of Boruto: Naruto the Movie. Because Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is the latest version, changes applied in this series takes precedence over what took place in the film. (Yes, that means "retcons" are a thing. Such is life in an ongoing series, best get used to it.)
 * As was pointed out to me earlier, there is a slight caveat to this designation; things produced by Kishimoto and Kodachi are on higher tiers of canon, but they also must be associated with the manga/anime/movie proper. For example Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie's plot was conceived by Kishimoto but was written by Yuka Miyata. Despite Kishimoto's involvement, Road to Ninja remains under C-canon.


 * A-canon or Anime canon: The second tier of canon. As the name suggest, is the anime canon. Due to the nature of the anime, most of what is seen is an adaptation of what we've already seen in in the manga. Given the nature of the anime, the company that produces the series will at times create new stories not found in the manga to explain things that were left vague or expand on things to better use the time slot. As such scenes and explanations given in the anime, that do not directly contradict K-canon, can be presented in article as canon.


 * C-canon or Continuity canon: Continuity canon is the third tier of canon, centred around works that act as a continuation of the main series found under K canon created by official distributors or producers, such as Shounen Jump. Continuity canon works on the basis similar to A-canon, if something is not specified, it can be explained in detail here. However, as this is a lower tier than K or A-canon, if something similar is presented in either tier, they overwrite what is found in c-canon. For example Naruto: Mission: Protect The Waterfall Village (novel) provides most of the information regarding Takigakure, and it is presented in on the wikia as canon, until such a time higher tiers of canon replaces it.


 * N-canon or None canon: Non-canon are what-if stories, spin-offs unrelated to the main series, such as Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth Full Power Ninja Chronicles and certain OVAs and Specials, such as Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!.


 * Special Case: Video Games: Video Games are a special case in regards to this matrix. The stories themselves are usually retelling of the canon storyline, with changes made to gameplay and as such, falls under N-canon. However, the games can provide explanations not given in the anime or manga to certain events or abilities. For example, Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations OVA Hashirama Senju vs Madara Uchiha portrayed the battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, well before the battle was portrayed in canon and was treated as canon until K-canon overwrote it. Basically, story and gameplay are N-canon, terms and factoids C-canon.

Canon on the Wikia
With the classifications of canon above, this section will explain how information should be used in articles going forward. In general, the official timeline for the series goes Naruto (series) -> Blank Period -> Boruto (series), with the the films and novels following in where they should. As this timeline comes from Shounen Jump, this is not up for discussion.

Following this guideline, all materials from the Naruto franchise is then ordered in the hierarchy as presented above; K-canon takes priority, A-canon comes next, though contradictions with k-canon will be dealt with on a case by case basis, ect.

Use in Articles
Anime Filler or Expansion: The anime series for the franchise, in order to continue producing the show, will deviate from the manga in times seem fit. In regards to anime filler, scenes that were briefly described in the manga are expanded or altered in filler as a means to either explain the unexplainable*

The Anime Episode A Fabricated Past offers a great opportunity to put this policy into play.

Backstory of Issue The events portrayed in this episode have never fully been explored in the manga or the databooks. Several large, unfilled holes exist in canon with regards to the events;
 * 1) When exactly did Kaguya combine with the God Tree to become the Ten-Tails
 * 2) If Hagaromo and Hamura sealed the Ten-Tails as the core of the moon, then how did Hagaromo then seal the Ten-Tails inside himself?
 * 3) Kurama speaks of the Ten-Tails as if it existed at the same time, however this could not be the case as the tailed beasts were made after the Ten-Tails was sealed.

Manga Explainations The manga does not provide many explanations for this contradictions, and for the most part seem to simply regard them as unimportant backstory. For example, the manga doesn't try to explain how or why Hagaromo became the jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails, when the Ten-Tails was sealed in the moon.

A Fabricated Past The episode an A Fabricated Past, attempted to expand on the very vague situation presented by the manga.