Halopedia:Canon policy

What is Canon?
Canon is defined as characters, locations, and details that are considered to be genuine (or "official"), and those events, characters, settings, etc. that are considered to have inarguable existence within the fictional universe. Halopedia operates strictly as a collection of Halo canon information. "Official" Halo canon can only be created by developers of the Halo universe. Therefore, any material added to Halopedia must be official, sanctioned canon that can be cited from a work created or sanctioned by Halo's creators, Bungie Studios and 343 Industries. Better put, Halopedia is not a site for fanfiction.

The general rule of the canon policy is fairly simple, as explored in the canonical case of i love bees, that "the content should be considered canonical unless contradicted by more authoritative sources".

The Hierarchy of Canon
The editors of Halopedia work tirelessly to present facts of the Halo Universe in the best possible light: these Halopedians strive by interpreting canon in a way that makes the most sense in the context and causes the least problems and allowing readers to thrive with the interpreted information. As such, the wiki often gets criticized for not able to present the information as the officials intended it to be.

Often times, one source of canon may say something different than other sources. There are many reasons why this may be so; ranging from a typo to a line taken out of context. Therefore, a policy of "superior canon" is in act to make sure that the content of Halopedia reflects the most accurate canon of the Halo universe. Thus, a "ladder" of canon sources exists, with the sources higher on the ladder having "superior canon" which is considered more "official" than the sources below them. Illustrated below are the two tiers of canon along with descriptions to explain how Halopedia's Canon Policy works:


 * Bungie-canon (Tier 1)
 * Though Bungie Studios is no longer an active party of the Halo franchise, it is still appropriate to recognise their efforts and contributions throughout their 10 years of involvement in building and expanding the Halo franchise. With that said, only contributions made in those 10 years are of canon value.
 * The following is a simple list of sources of canon:
 * The Halo Trilogy
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Reach
 * Note: Bungie's involvement in the Halo franchise began in 1999 and ended in 2010.
 * Note: The novels were part of Microsoft franchise-expansion project headed by Microsoft Development Team (now known as 343i) since 2001, and Bungie was a passive party throughout the course of the project, whose roles were to supervise and provide suggestions to improve content.


 * Microsoft-canon (Tier 2)
 * Microsoft-canon, also known as 343i-canon, is the continuity/expanded project of the Halo Universe. 343i, approved by Microsoft, would be the primary source under Microsoft-canon and anything released by them will be considered as official canon. Anything created by Microsoft and its affiliates would have been considered as being approved automatically by Bungie, thus making them canon.
 * Under Microsoft-canon, it would have a secondary canon hierarchy; the games would be superior, followed by the novels, other literatures, the marketing campaigns and other promotional items, in that exact order. Because Halo is essentially a game franchise, game titles would be the superior source of canon in each category.

What are the sources for Halo canon?
Below is a simple list of sources that are sources of Halo canon, and thus any material from these sources is content that can and should be added to Halopedia. Do note that this list does not present the entirety of sources of canon, but simply a general overview of sources of canon.

Bungie canon

 * Video Games
 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo 2
 * Halo 3
 * Halo 3: ODST


 * Halo: Reach


 * Literature
 * Halo Graphic Novel


 * References
 * The Art of Halo
 * The Art of Halo 3


 * Miscellaneous
 * ViDocs

Microsoft canon/343 Industries canon

 * Video Games
 * Halo Wars


 * Novels
 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo: The Cole Protocol
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Forerunner Saga
 * Halo: Cryptum


 * Comics
 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo: Uprising
 * Halo: Helljumper
 * Halo: Blood Line
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Boot Camp
 * Covenant
 * Invasion


 * Animation
 * Halo Legends (with the exception of the short Odd One Out)


 * Marketing
 * Halo: Landfall
 * The Life
 * Birth of a Spartan
 * Remember Reach


 * References
 * Halo Encyclopedia
 * Halo: The Essential Visual Guide


 * Miscellaneous
 * Action figures
 * ilovebees
 * Iris
 * ViDocs