Canon

The Star Wars "gospel," or canon, was initially defined in the Fall of 1994 in the first issue of Star Wars Insider, the magazine of Lucasfilm. This definition came from Lucasfilm Production Editor Sue Rostoni and Continuity Editor Allan Kausch:

The second edition of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe by Bill Slavicsek, released in March 1994, included a list that utilized a coding system based on the definition provided by Rostoni and Kausch. This system clearly divided Star Wars materials into two distinct categories: the Original Trilogy and its adaptations—the novelizations and radio dramas—were classified as "original Lucasfilm source," while the approximately seventy Star Wars-related works published by Lucasfilm—such as the Thrawn Trilogy, the Dark Empire series, and the Star Wars Roleplaying Game—were labeled as "officially licensed source that may or may not agree with George Lucas' vision of the Star Wars galaxy."

In the introduction to the 1994 printing of Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Lucas shared his perspective on the evolution of the Star Wars universe, praising the numerous stories crafted by other authors about the characters he had created:

In 1996, The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, a reference book by Mark Cotta Vaz that covered the Shadows of the Empire multimedia campaign, presented two separate canons: a chronology compiled by Lucasfilm continuity editors and a collection of "the screenplays, novelizations and other core works."

In 1998, the Star Wars Encyclopedia was published, in which Stephen J. Sansweet offered a more stringent definition of the Star Wars canon, distinguishing between canon and "quasi-canon":

In the August/September 1999 issue of Star Wars Insider, George Lucas explained that while he maintains control over his films, he cannot ensure consistency across the entire Star Wars universe:

In January 2000, Leland Chee was hired by Lucasfilm to develop an internal database for Lucas Licensing's Publishing department, known as the "Holocron." This database replaced the previous "bibles" used to track and organize all fictional elements created for the Star Wars universe, establishing a hierarchical system with different levels of canon. The database included a canon field for each entry and source. "G" canon represented George Lucas's canon, initially consisting only of the six Star Wars films and unpublished internal notes from him or the film production department. "C" canon, signifying continuity, encompassed all licensed properties, including most of the Expanded Universe. "S" canon, where "S" stood for "secondary," included works created before Lucasfilm prioritized internal consistency within the Expanded Universe. "N" canon, meaning "non-continuity," was used only when blatant contradictions occurred.

In April 2000, Sansweet further clarified the distinction between canon and "quasi-canon" in a post on the official Star Wars forums, referring to "different degrees of canon," among which "only one true canon" exists:

In June 2001, the fourth issue of Star Wars Gamer magazine addressed the question of what is and is not considered "canon" in the Star Wars universe. On August 14, 2001, Star Wars Gamer 6[/article/star_wars_gamer_6] quoted Sue Rostoni, who defined canon as an authoritative list of books compiled by Lucas Licensing editors:

On August 17, 2001, when asked to clarify what is and is not canon, Sansweet directed fans to Christopher Cerasi's statement about the "absolute canon" and the "real story of the Star Wars universe":

In August, the Rebel Rumblings section of the 57th issue of Star Wars Insider magazine featured Sansweet again defining the films as the "one, true, absolutely and only canonical source."

In an interview conducted in 2001 and published in July 2002 by Cinescape, George Lucas stated that he had no plans for a third trilogy and that the saga would continue only through licensed properties, describing two distinct "worlds" and "a parallel universe" separate from his own:

In May 2003, canon-related questions arose on the official Star Wars forums when the sixty-eighth issue of Star Wars Insider stated that David West Reynolds' Incredible Cross-Sections books "would receive Lucasfilm's formal imprimatur as canon," which some considered inconsistent with Sansweet and Cerasi's statements from 2001. In response, Leland Chee clearly differentiated between "Lucasfilm's canon" and "movie canon":

Addressing the topic, Sue Rostoni acknowledged the potential for confusion regarding canon, stating that all Star Wars material not published with the "Infinity" logo is considered canon, but that canon has a hierarchy, reiterating what Slavicsek, Sansweet, and Cerasi had previously established:

In June 2004, Rostoni confirmed that George Lucas does not contribute ideas or concepts to the Expanded Universe and generally does not review story ideas or concepts. Although he reads the comic books, he does so after they are published.

However, when it was suggested that some fans might know the Star Wars universe better than Lucas, Rostoni clarified that no one knows more about Star Wars than Lucas himself, and that he views the Expanded Universe not as "his" Star Wars but as "theirs":

In August 2004, Chee was asked, "a clarification is needed if the C and G level are separated, i.e. do they form independent canon or are both part of the overall continuity?" It should be noted that the question is confusing: in the Holocron continuity database, "C-canon" and "G-canon" are making up two separate canons, with Rostoni and Kausch stating, in 1994 and 1996, Lucas Licensing seeks to maintain an overall continuity. Echoing those statements, Chee replied:

In August 2005, George Lucas explained to Starlog magazine that he is unfamiliar with the Expanded Universe, reiterating his earlier statements from 2001 about two distinct "worlds" and "universes," and noting potential inconsistencies between them:

On August 18, when informed about the article on the message boards, Rostoni confirmed:

In December 2005, Chee was asked whether Lucas's Starlog interview meant that he did not consider the Expanded Universe canonical, to which Chee gave a somewhat evasive response:

He also addressed a question about whether George Lucas, Lucas Licensing, and Lucas Publishing follow the same canon policy, stating that anyone can have their own perception of what is and is not canon. The Holocron continuity database is used when developing official books, games, websites, and merchandise, but beyond that, it serves only as a reference tool:

Furthermore, he stated that Lucasfilm Ltd. does not have a canon policy that extends beyond merchandise and online content, and that there is no document that definitively determines what is and is not canon.

In November 2006, Chee was asked to resolve a debate between two fans. One fan argued that, based on George Lucas's interviews from 2002 and 2005, there are two official continuities: one encompassing only the films and reflecting Lucas's vision, and another consisting of the Expanded Universe. The other fan claimed, based on Chee's comments about the Holocron continuity database, that there is only one official continuity comprising Lucas's films and the Expanded Universe, divided into different levels of canonicity. In his response, posted in December, Chee confirmed that there are two distinct official continuities and that Lucas's views on the Star Wars universe should be limited to the films:

Subsequent inquiries about which continuity was "more official" revealed that Chee favored the "film + EU" continuity but stated that the decision ultimately rests with the individual fan, as it would be a "great disservice" to disregard those who have only seen the films.

Chee also clarified whether the "foggy windows" to the Star Wars universe mentioned by Cerasi in 2001 offer a glimpse into the film-only continuity or the combined continuity of the films and the Expanded Universe:

In February 2008, Lucas Licensing President Howard Roffman commented on the subject while discussing Lucasfilm's marketing strategy for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series:

In March, during ShoWest 2008, Lucas clarified in an interview that, in his view, Star Wars does not extend beyond the story of Anakin Skywalker, and the books about Luke Skywalker set after Episode VI belong to the "licensing world." He identified three distinct "worlds": his own, the licensing's "world," and the fans' "world," noting that they do not always align:

In May, Total Film Magazine published an interview with Lucas in which he described these three different and sometimes conflicting "worlds" as "pillars" and drew a parallel between Star Wars and the Trinity of the Christian religion:

On May 7, Lucas was interviewed by Los Angeles Times magazine, where he reiterated the distinction between his vision and the Expanded Universe:

It was also added:

On May 6, 2008, Star Wars Insider 101[/article/star_wars_insider_101] was released. The magazine featured an article titled "The Essential Expanded Universe" by Daniel Wallace, dedicated entirely to the Expanded Universe. Wallace affirmed the official status of the Expanded Universe but, as before, distinguished between the canon of the six films, which had "absolute authority," and a canon at a "lower level":

The article revealed Wallace's uncertainty about the status of the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, suggesting that it might be part of George Lucas's canon:

On May 8, Chee adopted Lucas's pillar system, confirming that the television production, like the films, is separate from the Expanded Universe:

On the following day, he further clarified Lucas's mention of "three pillars":

These two posts, consistent with George Lucas's statements in the same year and month, confirmed that there are "pillars" rather than "tiers" of canon, and that the canon encompassed by the Expanded Universe exists separately from Lucas's canon—the films and television series.

Star Wars Insider 104[/article/star_wars_insider_104], published in September, quoted George Lucas, with his statement being identical to what he told the London Times in July, where he repeated what he told Total Film in May: that his work, what he oversees and in which he is involved in, encompasses the Star Wars feature films, the The Clone Wars movie and television series, and a planned live-action television series, and then there is the licensing group doing the games, toys and books and everything else, and in addition, there is the fan's own world_:_

The issue also included an Ask Lobot feature with Leland Chee's description of the three pillars previously mentioned by Lucas:

As the year drew to a close, a noticeable shift in rhetoric regarding canon occurred. During an interview conducted in October by CBR, supervising director Dave Filoni was asked whether Star Wars: The Clone Wars would be "canon or part of the Expanded Universe." He confirmed that Lucas considers his films, the television series, and the planned live-action production to be canon, although he often shares information from the Expanded Universe with Lucas to see how he wants to use or review it:

In December 2008, Filoni, along with The Clone Wars writer Henry Gilroy, clearly distinguished between canon and the Expanded Universe in an interview with TheForce.net, aligning with the division between Star Wars as George Lucas sees it and the Expanded Universe:

In 2009, Filoni reinforced this distinction when he mentioned that General Grievous's backstory, as depicted in Expanded Universe comics, "wasn't canon, it's just a possibility."

Henry Gilroy's letter, read aloud on The ForceCast in August, commenting on the incident when author Karen Traviss announced her departure from Lucasfilm due to her belief that canon had been altered in The Clone Wars series, is also noteworthy:

Meanwhile, in 2010, during an interview with Time Magazine, Daniel Wallace maintained that everything in the Star Wars publishing universe was officially canon, but admitted that George Lucas could override anything he chose to override:

In November, when asked about the fact that The Clone Wars series did not align with the continuity established by the Expanded Universe, EU writer Pablo Hidalgo drew parallels with the arrival of the prequel trilogy in 1999:

In October 2011, Lucas indicated in an interview with Scifinow that he makes no distinction between his feature films and The Clone Wars series:

In May 2011, Leland Chee clarified the distinction between George Lucas's vision of the Star Wars universe, encompassing the films and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the vision held by Lucas Licensing:

In Star Wars Insider 134[/article/star_wars_insider_134], published in June 2012, Dave Filoni clearly differentiated between the two, suggesting that the Expanded Universe should be viewed as a creative collection or well of ideas, serving as inspiration, separate from George Lucas's creation:

In the "Canon and Continuity" section of the introduction to The Essential Reader's Companion[/article/the_essential_reader%27s_companion], published on October 12, 2012, which listed all works from the Expanded Universe, Pablo Hidalgo wrote:

On October 30, 2012, the Walt Disney Company announced its acquisition of Lucasfilm, which was finalized on December 21, 2012. On April 25, 2014, in preparation for upcoming feature films, Lucasfilm announced that the Expanded Universe would be rebranded as Legends. Consequently, the term "canon" became exclusively reserved for George Lucas's canon—the six films and the seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that he developed and produced—and the films, television series, novels, comics, toys, and video games created by Lucasfilm after the acquisition. Since then, the only previously published material still considered canon are the six original trilogy/prequel trilogy films, novels (where they align with what is seen on screen), the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and film, and Part I of the short story Blade Squadron. Most material published after April 25—such as the Star Wars Rebels TV series, all Marvel Star Wars comic books, and novels beginning with A New Dawn—is also considered part of the new canon, due to the creation of the Lucasfilm Story Group, which now oversees continuity as a whole. Characters under the Legends banner remain available for use as needed, even if events concerning them are no longer canon.

On September 29, 2018, Lucasfilm Story Group's Matt Martin revealed on his Twitter account that the canon tier system originally established by Leland Chee in the early 2000s is no longer in use. Regardless, it remains official that Episodes 1-6 and The Clone Wars hold the highest canonical authority in cases of contradiction, in both timelines.

In March 2018, Howard Roffman, in response to questions about Lucasfilm's past canon policy, explained:

Maintaining a consistent and unified canon across multiple authors and directors has proven challenging. For example, the premiere of Bad Batch, "Aftermath," directly contradicts events depicted in the Star Wars: Kanan comic series regarding the Battle of Kaller and how Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume experienced Order 66. On May 7, 2021, Pablo Hidalgo addressed this discrepancy, advising fans to view canon as a history textbook that presents events in a fictionalized manner, with potential dramatization and embellishment for its medium:

In 2000, Lucas Licensing tasked Leland Chee with building a continuity-tracking database known as the Holocron continuity database. The Holocron adhered to the existing canon policy, but the capabilities of the database software allowed for the classification of individual story elements rather than entire stories.

The Holocron's database included a field for a single letter (G, T, C, S, N, or D) to represent the canonicity level of each element. These letters were later informally applied to the canon levels themselves: G-canon, T-canon, C-canon, S-canon, N-canon, and D-canon. Chee was responsible for creating this classification system as part of his work with the Holocron, and he dedicated the initial stages to its development and refinement. Together, G, T, C, and S formed the overall Star Wars Legends continuity. Each level typically superseded anything later in the list. For instance, Boba Fett's backstory was significantly altered with the release of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, necessitating a retcon of older source material to align with the new G-canon backstory. However, this was not always absolute, and the resolution of contradictions was handled on a case-by-case basis. G-canon and T-canon constituted George Lucas's vision of the Star Wars universe, while C and S canons represented Lucas Licensing's vision of the Star Wars universe until 2014.

• Some N-Canon stories with alternate plotlines have been written. G-canon represented George Lucas Canon, encompassing the six Episodes and any statements made by George Lucas (including unpublished production notes from him or his production department that were never publicly released). When the films were changed, the newest editions were considered canonically superior to older ones, as they corrected errors, improved consistency between the two trilogies, and most accurately reflected Lucas's current vision of the Star Wars universe. The deleted scenes included on the DVDs were also considered G-canon (when they did not conflict with the movie). [15]
• T-canon, [56] or Television Canon, [57] was the canon level that included the feature film Star Wars: The Clone Wars[/article/star_wars:the_clone_wars(film)] and the television show Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (It would have also included the ultimately unproduced live-action TV series Star Wars: Underworld.) [36] [37] Chee confirmed that it was created more recently to establish a status above C-Level canon. [58]
• C-canon stood for Continuity Canon, comprising all recent (and many older) works released under the Star Wars banner, including books, comics, games, cartoons, other films, and more. Games were a unique case, as generally only the stories were C-canon, while elements like stats and gameplay might not have been. [59] Games also offered non-canonical options to players, such as choosing a female gender for a canonically male character. C-canon elements have appeared in the movies, elevating them to G-canon.
• S-canon was Secondary Canon, which included materials that authors could use or disregard as needed. This primarily included older works, such as many of the original Marvel Star Wars comics, which predated a concerted effort to maintain continuity. It also contained certain elements from a few otherwise N-canon stories and other elements that "may not fit just right." Many formerly S-canon elements were elevated to C-canon through their inclusion in more recent works by continuity-minded authors, while many other older works (such as The Han Solo Adventures) were incorporated into continuity from the beginning, despite their age, and thus were always C-canon.
• D stood for Detours Canon, used for material from the canceled animated television series Star Wars Detours. [60]
• N was Non-Canon. This category included what-if stories (such as those published under the Infinities label) and anything directly and irreconcilably contradicted by higher canon. N was the only level not considered canon by Lucasfilm. Information removed from canon, deleted scenes, or canceled Star Wars works also fell into this category, unless another canonical work referenced them and they were declared canon.

Some games possess established, official storylines, while others do not. Sourcebooks designed for roleplaying games were considered part of the official continuity overseen by Lucas Licensing. The initial version of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, authored by Bill Slavicsek, provided the foundational background for the officially licensed Star Wars universe and even served as a source of ideas for George Lucas himself. Conversely, in games where players make choices that influence the storyline, such as the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series and the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series, the specific path and conclusion of the narrative deemed part of the Lucas Licensing continuity, alongside the species, gender, or moral leaning of the central character, could differ based on individual player decisions. While Legends materials sometimes addressed certain aspects of these variations due to editorial requirements, other details were deliberately left ambiguous. Currently, Wookieepedia articles generally presume that players consistently choose the light side option in all situations, while acknowledging that the depicted storyline might not necessarily be officially confirmed as canon within the Star Wars Legends continuity.

• Star Wars canon on Wikipedia
• Books, Comics, & Television VIPs on StarWars.com Message Boards. Posted by James T. Skywalker on May 26, 2005 at 7:31 AM. (content now obsolete; backup link) (Also known as the "Welcome some BCaT VIPs" thread)
• Holocron continuity database questions on StarWars.com Message Boards. Posted by Tasty Taste on January 9, 2004 at 1:38 PM. (content now obsolete; backup link)