Smash Bracket’s Canon scale
Overview
To start with, every officially licensed representation is on the table. That means that basically every published work containing that character should be considered. The points below will be used to quantify how trustworthy a source is and how much we can use it in our analysis. Each criteria met will give the piece of media a point. The point totals will be used to determine how much can be used from each portrayal of a character.
Anything that is directly confirmed to be canon by the company responsible for the piece of media bypasses all other criteria and should be considered a main entry. However, being officially confirmed as noncanon doesn’t necessarily disqualify some representation of the character. We care about official portrayals, not story. Something should only be discounted if it’s confirmed to not be an accurate representation of a character, not if it’s a bad representation of a story. Sources that are confirmed as non-canon are limited to tertiary canon.
Sometimes a company will express direct support or appreciation for how a piece of media handles their franchise without explicitly calling it canon. In these cases, that piece of media is treated as if it had an extra point on the canon scale.
Criteria
Published, developed, or written by the same company/individual who created the initial work.
Something established in this work is confirmed in a later mainline work or expansion. Referencing or taking inspiration from something is not enough to meet this criteria: the thing being confirmed needs to be mostly unchanged and its presence must be more than a throw-away line or cameo.
The world and setting are consistent with how they’ve been portrayed in other places. Consistency, in this case, simply means that there are no major contradictions. Major contradictions would be things that significantly change the world of the main games. New additions to the universe are fine.
The characters are not radically different from mainline entries to the franchise. Specifically, this means that their abilities and personalities should not be radically different. Expanding on established abilities or adding new ones is fine, and abilities can be changed or removed if there are reasons given in the story.
Core elements of the main series are still present. What this means exactly will require some specific analysis for each franchise, but once identified it will be required for all forms of media. For example, the Kirby franchise involves a laid-back atmosphere and pacing, sucking up enemies to gain their powers, and often involves Kirby working together with his friends to achieve some result. It’s fine if one element is missing, maybe two, but if all the elements are missing then there is a problem.
Types of Canon
Main Canon
These entries are either explicitly confirmed to be canon or meet every one of the criteria established earlier. Main canon entries can be used for establishing feats and anti-feats. They are also used as a guidepost for other sources to be compared to.
Secondary Canon
Secondary canon must meet four out of the five criteria for being canon. These sources can be used to establish feats and anti-feats, but they do not serve as a guidepost for other entries. This means that secondary canon has absolutely no bearing on how canon some other property is.
Tertiary Canon
These entries must meet at least three criteria from our list. They can be used to support or clarify all feats and anti-feats, but can’t create feats or anti-feats.
Supporting Canon
These entries need to meet at least two points from our list of criteria. These sources may only be used to support how a character is portrayed in regards to outliers. They have no bearing on a character’s feats or anti-fe ats.
Alternative Canon
Everything that doesn’t meet at least two points from our list is an alternative canon. This means that it should be treated as its own mainline entry separate from the core mainline of the series. It can establish its own canon with other sources using this same methodology.
