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All Buffyverse fans acknowledge the Buffy TV Episodes , and the Angel TV Episodes as absolute canon. This article discusses surrounding issues. TERMINOLOGY See Also: Canon (fiction) 'Canon' of a fictional universe comprises those stories considered to be genuine (or "official") and those events, characters, settings, etc., that are considered to have inarguable existence within the fictional universe. Usually items that are considered canon come from the original source of the fictional universe while non-canon material comes from adaptations or unofficial items. Generally, ). CANONICAL COMICS A few of the comics are considered by many fans to achieve canon. '' Tales Of The Slayers '' and '' Tales Of The Vampires '' are usually accepted as canon. They were written by writers of the ''Buffy'' and ''Angel'' television shows. Joss Whedon told a number of tales for these comic series. Other writers include Amber Benson , Ben Edlund , Jane Espenson , David Fury , Drew Goddard, Doug Petrie , and Rebecca Rand Kirshner. '' Fray '', an eight-part comic series written by Whedon, is also largely accepted as a canonical work. The story is about a vampire slayer of the future named Melaka Fray and her discovery of what being a slayer means. In the Buffyverse, it seems that a powerful scythe used by Buffy will be found in centuries to come by Melaka. Whedon has also written an Angel comic book mini-series, '' Long Night's Journey ''. Several of the comics have been written by the scriptwriters of Mutant Enemy Productions , and do not often contradict any information from the Buffyverse canon. Some fans argue that any/all of these might also be considered canon. For example:
NON-CANONICAL COMICS AND NOVELS The vast majority of Comics and all of the Books are largely viewed by fans as non- Canon . Despite this, they have been licensed as official ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' or ''Angel'' merchandise. Furthermore Whedon or his office have had to approve the overall outline of each book if not the final product. This is to prevent the stories venturing too far from the original intentions of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel'' stories (see below). Joss Whedon's participation in novels and comics A number of comments by Buffyverse writers have indicated that although they know they are not writing Buffyverse canon, overviews for their stories may still have been checked over by Whedon. Referring to Whedon, '', "''Did you get any input from Whedon himself?''" He replied that "''Ostensibly comments came from Whedon, although for all I know, it was from an associate.''" Jeff Mariotte has revealed more detail of the approval process: "''I come up with a proposal that's eight or ten pages long and I submit that to Pocket Books. They read it and if they like it then they submit it to 20th Century Fox and the Buffy office. If everybody approves it then I can get to work. ...If I proposed doing something that was counter to what they wanted the direction of the character to be, they would tell me.''" . Mariotte implies that little input is given, only acceptance or rejection of general ideas: "''In the world of licensing there is a difference between 'approval' and 'input', and I'm not sure what the legal relationship between Fox and Mutant Enemy is. My impression is that Fox is doing everything in its power to make sure Joss is happy with what we do, and I know that Joss is looking at everything and making comments or thumbs-up, thumbs-down on stuff''". Joss Whedon was asked "''How much attention do you pay to the peripheral stuff, the novels and the comics?''". Speaking of those he did not write himself, he responded "''Not very much. I just don’t have time. I give them a few guidelines of things they should stay away from, things that we’re going to be dealing with or things that would disrupt the canon or things that are just antithetical to what I believe in''". Elsewhere Whedon has pointed out that he has never entirely read a single Buffy novel, and has little time to devote to such material. He therefore knows little of the final product, or of their quality control. Contradictions in continuity Usually the authors and editors of these licensed materials try not to contradict information that has been established by canon. However, many of the materials do directly contradict it. For example, according to '' Monster Island '', Spike and Gunn meet in the Hyperion Hotel in Angel Season 3. Buffyverse canon later established that in fact Spike and Gunn meet in the Wolfram and Hart L.A. offices in Angel Season 5. These contradictions tend to be the result of the story being written before it was contradicted by canon, or due to human error on the part of the author(s) and/or editor(s). Consistency with continuity Some of the licensed materials successfully avoid contradicting any canon. Three notable examples are: A series of short-story volumes, '''', '' Viva Las Buffy '', '' Slayer Interrupted '', and '' Staked Through The Heart ''. '' How I Survived My Summer Vacation '' features short stories that take place between Buffy Season 1 and Season 2. CANONICAL STATUS OF OTHER ADDITIONS TO THE BUFFYVERSE Discluding the ''Buffy/Angel'' episodes, novels and comics, there have been a variety of other additions to the Buffyverse ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' 1992 film See Also: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film) ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is a 1992 comedy film starring Kristy Swanson as Buffy, Donald Sutherland as Merrick , and Luke Perry as Pike . It was written by Joss Whedon and directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui. The film is not considered canon. In fact, many of the details given in the film directly contradict canon. The nature of vampires differs in significant ways between the show and the film. In the film, vampires do not have 'bumpy' faces whilst feeding, and can fly. However, in the main continuity of the series, Buffy's past in L.A. was a rather similar story, edited largely to fit in with the series. In the Buffy series, a similar story was followed, but several canon facts were changed. Unaired Buffy pilot Main article: Unaired Buffy Pilot The presentation establishes an alternative continuity to that established by the opening episodes of the series. The presentation is not even remotely considered canon. Events that take place in it are instead superceded by the canonical Welcome To The Hellmouth and The Harvest . History of the Slayer (WB promo) Main article: History Of The Slayer Promotional video can be downloaded from one of the external links at the bottom of this article. The canonicity of the clip is debatable, partly because Whedon's degree of involvement in the making of the promotional clip is unknown. Christmas Buffy promo This advert features Buffy and Angel meeting in a snowy Sunnydale. It would have to take place shortly after Amends , since snow in Sunnydale is highly unusual however it is clearly not canon since both the narrator and Buffy actively break the Fourth Wall . Unaired Angel pilot Main article: Unaired Angel Pilot The canonicical status of the presentation is unclear. The showing is shot by Whedon, and doesn't contradict anything established by canon. However Angel appears to be speaking to the camera, and possibly breaking the Fourth Wall . Alternatively he could be telling his story to an unseen character. Corrupt (unaired Angel episode) Main article: Corrupt The David Fury written script establishes an alternative continuity after City Of . The script is not canon. Events that take place in the story are instead superceded by the canonical Lonely Hearts . Buffy Season 6 UPN promos Main article: Buffy Season 6 UPN Promos These promos consist of the Scooby Gang talking about Buffy. The canonicity the clips is debatable, partly because Whedon's degree of involvement in the making of the promotional clips is unknown. The clips do not contradict anything established by canon. However the characters are either talking to an unseen character off-screen else they are breaking the Fourth Wall . Buffy video games Main article: Buffy Video Games The Buffy video games are generally considered uncanonical. However the games do not contradict continuity. Furthermore many of the actors from the shows have provided their voices for the games (with the notable exceptions of Hannigan and Gellar. Gellar did not voice her character Buffy for both games and Hannigan was unable to voice her character of Willow due to a conflict with shooting the movie "American Wedding"). Joss Whedon was involved in ''Chaos Bleeds'' and appears in the special features, and even as a secret playable character. EXTERNAL LINKS Canonical
History of the Slayer (WB promo)
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