NOTE: By mentioning a major brand, I may be violating #BrandZero; however, I need to mention it to illustrate a larger point. I’ve give a fuller explanation tomorrow.
Nothing occupies a fandom’s attention more than what is and is not canon. The entire concept of “canonicity” arises naturally from reading a series of connected stories — things have to be consistent across all of them to replicate the experience of the first. If the story goes on for a long time, you will take joy in not only what doesn’t change, but what does change and has an impact on the story’s world.
However, not all canons are so tight. Sometimes, you get a loose canon that keeps some elements consistent while changing others without regard for what came before.
The all-time heavyweight champion of loose continuity is the Super Mario series of video games. Apart from the characters and their relationships, there is no sense of continuity at all. Indeed, Mario games barely have stories, so lore is light, too. This is for two reason: Mario games are made for children and for a global audience. Children won’t care about what came before; they have to be able to enjoy today’s Mario right now. Deep continuity can be culturally alienating, since offensive story elements can leak into a highly detailed storyline; offensiveness would reduce global appeal.* For both reasons, the games are made highly accessible, allowing them to reach the broadest possible audience. This also allows nintendo to focus more on gameplay without worrying about how to justify it in terms of story, making things a lot easier for the developers.
Another way to handle loose canons is through multiple smaller continuities. My favorite example of this is Tenchi Muyo, an action-comedy about a farm boy who ends up with multiple extraterrestrial women living in his house. This approach to canonicity prevents one of the major problems of long-running franchises: continuity lockout, where it is difficult for newcomers to enter a franchise due to large amounts of accumulated story, all of which is needed to understand the latest installment.
The multiple-continuity approach also allowed the creators of Tenchi to experiment with different storytelling styles while using a consistent set of characters that viewers had grown attached to. It sacrificed a large, epic continuity in favor of one with variety, allowing viewers to pick the canon they like best. Thus, the series not only has a lot of material, but a lot of entry points as well.
Loose canons and multiple continuities are an interesting way to handle something that goes on for a long while. They make good business sense, and they allow creatives to avoid getting stuck in a rut without abandoning their favorite creations. It’s definitely an idea worth trying.
* Story-wise, Nintendo takes the exact opposite approach with the Fire Emblem franchise.
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Shining Tomorrow Volume 1: Shadow Heart will have a standard tight continuity. Purchase your copy today so you don’t get left behind later on.
IIRC Mario’s canon is that the characters are actors putting on a show.
I heard that as well. Still, my point stands in that the canon is extremely loose.
Definitely not disagreeing.
Another one that just occurred to me is Pokemon’s anime, the tv shows form a single continuity but each series is written to be viewable on its own.
Ash is perpetually 10 years old. The canon is indeed very loose.
Of course, part of this is that you can’t just write a story in one world, and then write a story in another.
Or you can, but it doesn’t have the same sales power
Economic considerations drive a lot of this.
Kurt Busiek manages in Astro City by switching characters.
He manages to do an amazing number of stories about characters leaving off being superheroes.
And other radical changes, but retirements that stick are quite noticeable.
There are more than a few ways to pull this off.
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