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Star Trek canon

January 01, 1970

The Star Trek canon is the set of all material taking place within the Star Trek universe that is considered official. The definition and scope of the Star Trek canon has changed over time. Until late 2006, it was mainly composed of the live-action television series and films[1] before becoming a more vague and abstract concept.[2] From 2010 until 2023, the official Star Trek website's site map described their database, which listed both animated and live-action series and films as its sources, as "The Official Star Trek Canon."[3][4]

Based on the amount of creative control Roddenberry exerted over the first seasons of Star Trek,[5] some people argue that only Roddenberry-approved material should be considered canonical.[citation needed] However, Roddenberry himself preemptively rebuked such an attitude. He had hoped that Star Trek would go on after his death.[6] 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.[7]

Television series and films edit

All Star Trek live-action television series and films are and always have been generally considered part of the canon,[2] while Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy are both fully accepted as canonical as well.[3][4] Until 2010, everything outside of the live-action television episodes and films were "traditionally" considered non-canonical, including The Animated Series.[2] However, large portions of the fan base, as well as Star Trek affiliates, supported The Animated Series being adopted as fully canonical.[8] With the relaunch of StarTrek.com in 2010, The Animated Series was added to the list of canonical shows included in the database, thus officially confirming the show's new status as part of the Star Trek canon.[9]

Gene Roddenberry was something of a revisionist when it came to the canon. People who worked with Roddenberry have remembered that he used to handle canonicity on a point-by-point basis rather than series-by-series or episode-by-episode. 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 fact not canonical.

See, people can easily catch us, and say "well, wait a minute, in 'Balance of Terror', they knew that the Romulans 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.

— Richard Arnold, 1991[10]

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.

— David Gerrold[11]

Another thing that makes canon a little confusing. Gene R. himself had a habit of decanonizing things. He didn't like the way the animated series turned out, so he proclaimed that it was not canon. He also didn't like a lot of the movies. So he didn't much consider them canon either. And – okay, I'm really going to scare you with this one – after he got TNG [Star Trek: The Next Generation] going, he ... well ... he sort of decided that some of The Original Series wasn't canon either. I had a discussion with him once, where I cited a couple things that were very clearly canon in The Original Series, and he told me he didn't think that way anymore, and that he now thought of TNG as canon wherever there was conflict between the two. He admitted it was revisionist thinking, but so be it.

— Paula Block, 2005

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 and Star Trek VI to be apocryphal, but it does not specify which particular elements in the films Roddenberry objected to.[12]

Other licensed works edit

In general, Star Trek novels are not considered part of the canon.[2] This was a guideline set early on by Gene Roddenberry, and repeated many times by people who worked with him:

And as long as Gene Roddenberry is involved in it, he is the final word on what is Star Trek. So, for us here – 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.

— Richard Arnold, 1991[10]

However, 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 meant to be canonical, to be used as reference materials for use by Voyager's writers. 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 within the canon is still open to debate.[2]

There are also conflicting messages concerning "non-fiction" reference books such as The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Star Trek Chronology, Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual. Unlike the novels and novelizations, these reference manuals have never been explicitly named as non-canonical, and the fact that they were officially sanctioned by Paramount and given to episode writers as guides serves to give them an aura of credibility. Roddenberry himself considered it part of the "background" of Star Trek.[13] Similarly, Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach, artists and technical consultants since Star Trek: The Next Generation and the authors of several of these reference books, considered their work "pretty official."[14] However, they stop short of naming the books canonical, leaving the debate open. Star Trek writer and co-producer Ronald D. Moore dismissed such material, saying that, although the writing staff would often consult reference materials, they did not consider them canonical, reserving that title for the episodes and films.[15] However, in a series of posts to the official Star Trek website's forums, Viacom Senior Director Harry Lang established his opinion that the reference books are canonical, saying "Only the reference books (tech manual, encyclopedia, etc ...) and two books by Jeri Taylor are considered canon outside the tv show and movies."[16]

The novelizations of episodes and movies are not considered canonical. 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.[17] While this novel filled in many gaps left in the movie, it has been said that Roddenberry himself thought it should not be considered canonical:

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, 1991[10]

Star Trek comic books and magazines are generally not considered part of the canon.[2] 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 the 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.[18]

Nothing that takes place in Star Trek games, the Star Trek: The Experience attraction, or any other licensed material is considered canonical, nor are any unlicensed works such as Star Trek fan productions.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ . StarTrek.com. CBS Studios Inc. July 10, 2003. Archived from the original on November 11, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g . StarTrek.com. CBS Studios Inc. July 10, 2003. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  3. ^ a b . StarTrek.com. Paramount Global. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  4. ^ a b . StarTrek.com. Paramount Global. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  5. ^ Alexander, David (1994). Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry. 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.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ . StarTrek.com. CBS Studios Inc. June 5, 2006. Archived from the original on June 29, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  9. ^ . StarTrek.com. CBS Studios Inc. 2010. Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  10. ^ a b c Arnold, Richard (1991). (Interview). Interviewed by Tim Lynch.
  11. ^ Gerrold, David. "The David Gerrold TAS Interview". StarTrekAnimated.com (Interview). Interviewed by StarTrekAnimated.com. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  12. ^ Okuda, Michael; Okuda, Denise (1996). Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future (Revised ed.). New York: Pocket Books. vii. ISBN 0-671-53610-9.
  13. ^ Sternbach, Rick; Okuda, Michael (1991). Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual. Pocket Books. p. v. ISBN 0-671-70427-3.
  14. ^ Sternbach, Rick; Okuda, Michael (1991). Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual. Pocket Books. p. vii. ISBN 0-671-70427-3.
  15. ^ Moore, Ronald D. (September 1, 1998). "Ron D. Moore Q & A from Star Trek: Continuum's Message Boards". LCARScom.net (Interview). Interviewed by LCARScom. JNews. Retrieved August 24, 2023. Actually, NONE of the books are considered canon. We consider only the filmed episodes (and movies) to be canon for our purposes. We do use things like the Encyclopedia, the Chronology, the Technical Manual etc. for reference, but unless it was explicitly mentioned on screen, we won't feel bound by anything stated even in those books.
  16. ^ Lang, Harry (January 21, 2005). . StarTrek.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  17. ^ Roddenberry, Gene (1979). Star Trek: The Motion Picture. New York: Pocket Books. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0-671-83088-0.
  18. ^ Pascale, Anthony (July 17, 2012). "Exclusive: Orci Says Star Trek TV Talks Getting Real + Declares Movie Tie-in Comics & Game As Canon". TrekMovie.com. MH Themes. Retrieved August 24, 2023.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
star, trek, canon, material, taking, place, within, star, trek, universe, that, considered, official, definition, scope, changed, over, time, until, late, 2006, mainly, composed, live, action, television, series, films, before, becoming, more, vague, abstract,. The Star Trek canon is the set of all material taking place within the Star Trek universe that is considered official The definition and scope of the Star Trek canon has changed over time Until late 2006 it was mainly composed of the live action television series and films 1 before becoming a more vague and abstract concept 2 From 2010 until 2023 the official Star Trek website s site map described their database which listed both animated and live action series and films as its sources as The Official Star Trek Canon 3 4 Based on the amount of creative control Roddenberry exerted over the first seasons of Star Trek 5 some people argue that only Roddenberry approved material should be considered canonical citation needed However Roddenberry himself preemptively rebuked such an attitude He had hoped that Star Trek would go on after his death 6 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 7 Contents 1 Television series and films 2 Other licensed works 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksTelevision series and films editAll Star Trek live action television series and films are and always have been generally considered part of the canon 2 while Star Trek Lower Decks and Star Trek Prodigy are both fully accepted as canonical as well 3 4 Until 2010 everything outside of the live action television episodes and films were traditionally considered non canonical including The Animated Series 2 However large portions of the fan base as well as Star Trek affiliates supported The Animated Series being adopted as fully canonical 8 With the relaunch of StarTrek com in 2010 The Animated Series was added to the list of canonical shows included in the database thus officially confirming the show s new status as part of the Star Trek canon 9 Gene Roddenberry was something of a revisionist when it came to the canon People who worked with Roddenberry have remembered that he used to handle canonicity on a point by point basis rather than series by series or episode by episode 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 fact not canonical See people can easily catch us and say well wait a minute in Balance of Terror they knew that the Romulans 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 Richard Arnold 1991 10 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 David Gerrold 11 Another thing that makes canon a little confusing Gene R himself had a habit of decanonizing things He didn t like the way the animated series turned out so he proclaimed that it was not canon He also didn t like a lot of the movies So he didn t much consider them canon either And okay I m really going to scare you with this one after he got TNG Star Trek The Next Generation going he well he sort of decided that some of The Original Series wasn t canon either I had a discussion with him once where I cited a couple things that were very clearly canon in The Original Series and he told me he didn t think that way anymore and that he now thought of TNG as canon wherever there was conflict between the two He admitted it was revisionist thinking but so be it Paula Block 2005 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 and Star Trek VI to be apocryphal but it does not specify which particular elements in the films Roddenberry objected to 12 Other licensed works editIn general Star Trek novels are not considered part of the canon 2 This was a guideline set early on by Gene Roddenberry and repeated many times by people who worked with him And as long as Gene Roddenberry is involved in it he is the final word on what is Star Trek So for us here 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 Richard Arnold 1991 10 However 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 meant to be canonical to be used as reference materials for use by Voyager s writers 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 within the canon is still open to debate 2 There are also conflicting messages concerning non fiction reference books such as The Star Trek Encyclopedia Star Trek Chronology Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual and Star Trek Deep Space Nine Technical Manual Unlike the novels and novelizations these reference manuals have never been explicitly named as non canonical and the fact that they were officially sanctioned by Paramount and given to episode writers as guides serves to give them an aura of credibility Roddenberry himself considered it part of the background of Star Trek 13 Similarly Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach artists and technical consultants since Star Trek The Next Generation and the authors of several of these reference books considered their work pretty official 14 However they stop short of naming the books canonical leaving the debate open Star Trek writer and co producer Ronald D Moore dismissed such material saying that although the writing staff would often consult reference materials they did not consider them canonical reserving that title for the episodes and films 15 However in a series of posts to the official Star Trek website s forums Viacom Senior Director Harry Lang established his opinion that the reference books are canonical saying Only the reference books tech manual encyclopedia etc and two books by Jeri Taylor are considered canon outside the tv show and movies 16 The novelizations of episodes and movies are not considered canonical 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 17 While this novel filled in many gaps left in the movie it has been said that Roddenberry himself thought it should not be considered canonical 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 1991 10 Star Trek comic books and magazines are generally not considered part of the canon 2 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 the 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 18 Nothing that takes place in Star Trek games the Star Trek The Experience attraction or any other licensed material is considered canonical nor are any unlicensed works such as Star Trek fan productions 2 See also editTimeline of Star Trek Outline of Star TrekReferences edit What is considered Star Trek canon StarTrek com CBS Studios Inc July 10 2003 Archived from the original on November 11 2006 Retrieved August 22 2023 a b c d e f g What is considered Star Trek canon StarTrek com CBS Studios Inc July 10 2003 Archived from the original on June 28 2010 Retrieved August 22 2023 a b Site Map StarTrek com Paramount Global Archived from the original on August 23 2023 Retrieved September 2 2023 a b Database Content StarTrek com Paramount Global Archived from the original on August 24 2023 Retrieved September 2 2023 Alexander David 1994 Star Trek Creator The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry 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 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 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 Canon Fodder The Star Trek Animated Series StarTrek com CBS Studios Inc June 5 2006 Archived from the original on June 29 2010 Retrieved August 22 2023 Sitemap StarTrek com CBS Studios Inc 2010 Archived from the original on July 17 2010 Retrieved August 22 2023 a b c Arnold Richard 1991 Interview Interviewed by Tim Lynch Gerrold David The David Gerrold TAS Interview StarTrekAnimated com Interview Interviewed by StarTrekAnimated com Retrieved August 24 2023 Okuda Michael Okuda Denise 1996 Star Trek Chronology The History of the Future Revised ed New York Pocket Books vii ISBN 0 671 53610 9 Sternbach Rick Okuda Michael 1991 Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual Pocket Books p v ISBN 0 671 70427 3 Sternbach Rick Okuda Michael 1991 Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual Pocket Books p vii ISBN 0 671 70427 3 Moore Ronald D September 1 1998 Ron D Moore Q amp A from Star Trek Continuum s Message Boards LCARScom net Interview Interviewed by LCARScom JNews Retrieved August 24 2023 Actually NONE of the books are considered canon We consider only the filmed episodes and movies to be canon for our purposes We do use things like the Encyclopedia the Chronology the Technical Manual etc for reference but unless it was explicitly mentioned on screen we won t feel bound by anything stated even in those books Lang Harry January 21 2005 Community Message Boards StarTrek com Archived from the original on May 25 2006 Retrieved August 24 2023 Roddenberry Gene 1979 Star Trek The Motion Picture New York Pocket Books pp 66 67 ISBN 0 671 83088 0 Pascale Anthony July 17 2012 Exclusive Orci Says Star Trek TV Talks Getting Real Declares Movie Tie in Comics amp Game As Canon TrekMovie com MH Themes Retrieved August 24 2023 External links editWhat is considered Star Trek canon at StarTrek com Canon at Memory Alpha What is Canon at Ex Astris Scientia Portals nbsp Speculative fiction nbsp Television nbsp Film Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Star Trek canon amp oldid 1202814957, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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