Star Trek canon: Difference between revisions

▲[[Gene Roddenberry]] was something of a [[Revisionism (fictional)|revisionist]] when it came to canonicity. People who worked with Roddenberry remember that he used to handle canonicity, not on a series-by-series basis nor an episode-by-episode basis, but point by point. If he changed his mind on something, or if a fact in one episode contradicted what he considered to be a more important fact in another episode, he had no problem declaring that specific point not canonical.

▲{{cquote|See, people can easily catch us, and say "well, wait a minute, in '[[Balance of Terror]]', they knew that the [[Romulan]]s had a [[cloaking device]], and then in '[[The Enterprise Incident]]', they don't know anything about cloaking devices, but they're gonna steal this one because it's obviously just been developed, so how the hell do you explain that?" We can't. There are some things we just can't explain, especially when it comes from the third season. So, yes, third season is canon [''sic''] up to the point of contradiction, or where it's just so bad... you know, we kind of cringe when people ask us, "well, what happened in '[[Plato's Stepchildren]]', and '[[And the Children Shall Lead]]', and '[[Spock's Brain]]', and so on—it's like, please, he wasn't even producing it at that point. But, generally, [the canon is] the original series, not really the animated, the first movie to a certain extent, the rest of the films in certain aspects but not in all... I know that it's very difficult to understand. It literally is point by point. I sometimes do not know how he's going to answer a question when I go into his office, I really do not always know, and—and I know it better probably than anybody, what it is that Gene likes and doesn't like.<ref name="ArnoldvLynch">Richard Arnold, ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' research consultant and ''Star Trek'' archivist, 1991 interview with Tim Lynch.</ref><br>— Richard Arnold, 1991}}

▲{{cquote|Arguments about "canon" are silly. I always felt that ''Star Trek Animated'' was part of ''Star Trek'' because Gene Roddenberry accepted the paycheck for it and put his name on the credits. And [[D. C. Fontana]]—and all the other writers involved—busted their butts to make it the best ''Star Trek'' they could.

▲But this whole business of "canon" really originated with Gene's errand boy. Gene liked giving people titles instead of raises, so the errand boy got named "archivist" and apparently it went to his head. Gene handed him the responsibility of answering all fan questions, silly or otherwise, and he apparently let that go to his head.<ref>[http://www.startrekanimated.com/tas_david_gerrold.html ''Star Trek: The Animated Series''] interview with [[David Gerrold]]</ref>}}

▲Adding confusion to the issue is the fact that Roddenberry is quoted as saying that he disliked the films, and "didn't much consider them canon".<ref name="PaulaBlock" /> There exists no definitive list of which films in particular Roddenberry disliked, or what elements in them he did not consider canonical. For example, the reference book ''Star Trek Chronology'' states that Roddenberry considered elements of ''[[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|Star Trek V]]'' and ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|Star Trek VI]]'' to be [[apocrypha]]l, but it does not specify which particular elements in the films Roddenberry objected to.<ref>{{Cite book

▲Many of the original novels published by [[Pocket Books]] are not considered part of the canon.<ref name="StarTrek.com" /> This was a guideline set early on by Gene Roddenberry, and repeated many times by people who worked with him.

▲<blockquote>And as long as Gene Roddenberry is involved in it, he is the final word on what is ''Star Trek''. So, for us here – [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron Moore]], [[Jeri Taylor]], everybody who works on the show – Gene is the authority. And when he says that the books, and the games, and the comics and everything else, are not gospel, but are only additional ''Star Trek'' based on his ''Star Trek'' but not part of the actual ''Star Trek'' universe that he created... they're just, you know, kinda fun to keep you occupied between episodes and between movies, whatever... but he does not want that to be considered to be sources of information for writers, working on this show, he doesn't want it to be considered part of the canon by anybody working on any other projects.<ref name="ArnoldvLynch" /><br>— Richard Arnold, 1991</blockquote>

▲However, even this rule is not without rare exceptions. Two ''Voyager'' novels written by [[Jeri Taylor]] (co-creator and then producer of ''Voyager''), ''Mosaic'' and ''Pathways'', were written early on in ''Voyager''{{'}}s run and detailed the background of the series' main characters.<ref name="StarTrek.com" /> These were meant to be canon, and to be used as references by the series' writers when fleshing out the characters. These two novels are sometimes named as exceptions to the "no book is canon" rule.<ref name="LangForum1">"Only the reference books (tech manual, encyclopedia, etc...) and two books by Jeri Taylor are considered canon outside the TV show and movies." – Harry Lang, Senior Director of Viacom Consumer Products Interactive division, posts on [http://www.startrek.com/ StarTrek.com] forum, January 2005.</ref> However, as some of the background information mentioned in those books was never referenced in an episode of ''Voyager'', or was contradicted in episodes written after they were published, their status as canon is still open to debate.<ref name="StarTrek.com" />

▲The [[novelization]]s of episodes and movies are not considered canon. This is a tradition that also goes back to Roddenberry himself. His novelization of ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'' includes many tangents and new information. It reveals, for instance, that the woman who dies in the transporter accident was Kirk's former spouse.<ref>{{Cite book

▲}}</ref> While this novel filled in many gaps left in the movie, Roddenberry is quoted as saying it should not be considered canon.<ref name="ArnoldvLynchNovelization">"The novelization that Gene wrote himself, of ''Star Trek: the Motion Picture'', he does not consider canon either, because he also went off on tangents, that he said that it's okay for individual writers to do that, and he certainly had some fun with it himself, filling in parts of the puzzle that he never would've been able to do on film, it would've been a ten-hour movie, but he doesn't want even that used for canon, because otherwise, where do you draw the line? Which books are accepted and which aren't?" – Richard Arnold, ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' research consultant and ''Star Trek'' archivist, 1991 interview with Tim Lynch.</ref>

▲[[Star Trek comics|''Star Trek'' comic books]] and magazines are generally not considered part of the canon.<ref name="StarTrek.com" /><ref name="ArnoldvLynch" /> Regarding [[IDW Publishing]]'s comic book tie-ins to the 2009 film and its sequel, screenwriter [[Roberto Orci]] felt that the background information conveyed in those books could be considered canonically accurate. Using rules similar to the ones that governed [[Star Wars canon|''Star Wars'' canon]] at the time, he acknowledged that the extended universe material he oversees could remain part of the accepted canon unless contradicted by future films or television series.<ref>[http://trekmovie.com/2012/07/17/exclusive-orci-says-star-trek-tv-talks-getting-real-declares-movie-tie-in-comics-game-as-canon/ Exclusive: Orci Says ''Star Trek'' TV Talks Getting Real + Declares Movie Tie-in Comics & Game As Canon]. TrekMovie. Retrieved on May 10, 2014.</ref>

▲==Other material==

▲Nothing that takes place in [[List of Star Trek games|''Star Trek'' games]], the ''[[Star Trek: The Experience]]'' attraction, [[Star Trek fan productions|''Star Trek'' fan productions]] or [[Trekdom]] is considered part of the canon.<ref name="StarTrek.com" /><ref name="ArnoldvLynch" />

▲Based on the amount of creative control Roddenberry exerted over the first seasons of ''Star Trek'', some people argue that only Roddenberry-approved material should be considered canonical.<ref name="DavidAlexander">"Gene rewrote virtually every ''Star Trek'' script for the first two seasons, often working around the clock, days at a time, to produce scripts that conformed to his view of what ''Star Trek'' was and could be. It was not unusual for Gene to be walking out of the studio in the morning as the actors were arriving. As Gene used to say, 'It isn’t ''Star Trek'' until I say it’s ''Star Trek''.' This ability to synthesize and improve input from others, adding his own special insights and touches, is best illustrated in the famous opening that set the tone for the series." – David Alexander, ''Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry'', 1994.</ref> Such an approach would eliminate from the canon anything Roddenberry disliked, as well as everything made after his death, including seven movies and multiple television series.

▲However, Roddenberry himself preemptively rebuked such an attitude. He had hoped that ''Star Trek'' would go on after his death.<ref name="RoddenberryFuture1">"I would hope there are bright young people, growing up all the time, who will bring to [''Star Trek''] levels and areas that were beyond me, and I don't feel jealous about that at all. [...] It'll go on, without any of us, and get better and better and better, because that's the... that really is the human condition. It's to improve and improve." – Gene Roddenberry, ''The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next'', 1988.</ref> As ''Star Trek'' was constantly improved by each following generation, he expected people to look back upon its humble beginnings as just that, the simple beginnings of something much bigger and better.<ref name="RoddenberryFuture2">"There's a good chance that when I'm gone, others will come along and do so well that people will say, 'Oh, that Roddenberry. He was never this good.' But I will be pleased with that statement." – Gene Roddenberry, ''Los Angeles Times TV Times'', article "''Star Trek''{{'}}s New Frontier", 1993.</ref>