Gallowpedia:Canon

The following policy is based on the consensus of Gallowpedia editors and is thus subject to change.

In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story. This policy describes the current system for determining what is canon on the MediEvil Wiki.

The hierarchy of canonicity

Due to varying authorship for the released materials, contradictions between sources can arise. In order to ensure that the MediEvil Wiki's articles don't contradict each other, a hierarchy of canonicity is set in place to decide which sources take precedence and which facts should be accepted as canon.

Tier 1: Information originating from mainline MediEvil games and accompanying materials, with the latest entries taking precedence.
- e.g. MediEvil (1998), MediEvil 2, MediEvil (2019), and their manuals.
Tier 2: Information originating from officially licensed works (e.g. publications, media releases) with direct involvement from the games' creators or creative team.
- e.g. MediEvil: The Game Prequel, official websites, press releases.
Tier 3: Information originating from non-official or non-licensed works with direct involvement from the games' creators or creative team.
- e.g. Developer interviews, blogs, and so on.
Tier 4: Information originating from officially licensed works without direct involvement from the series' creators and/or creative team.
- e.g. Medievil Times, MediEvil booklet, strategy guides, and so on.

Examples of usage

In the An Introduction to MediEvil section of the MediEvil comic, Sir Dan's year of birth is given as 1154. This contradicts MediEvil 2, where in a book at the beginning of The Museum, Sir Dan's birth year is said to be "around 1250." This information is reconciled by shifting forward the year in the comic by 100 years, thus making 1254 Dan's canonical year of birth.
Lord Palethorn is said to be 56 years old in the Medievil Times promotional newspaper. This contradicts the official MediEvil 2 website and other press releases where he is said to be 45 years old. Because the newspaper was created by the Claydon Heeley Jones Mason advertising agency, it is considered a tier 4 resource and thus ranks lower than the official website for the game, making Palethorn's canonical age 45.

Apocrypha

On the MediEvil Wiki, the word apocrypha refers to works outside of the accepted canon.

MediEvil: Resurrection

MediEvil: Resurrection is not considered a mainline MediEvil game on the MediEvil Wiki. This is due to it having many storyline changes that are ultimately irreconcilable with the original game and its more faithful 2019 remake. Examples of such changes include the replacement of Morten the Earthworm with Al-Zalam and the introduction of the Anubis Stone.

As such, information from MediEvil: Resurrection should be presented on articles as an incorrect, alternative history, as is done in the MediEvil comic:

"Some scholars offer an alternative tale of Dan's resurrection. Among other things they claim that when first reanimated, Dan had a cantankerous one-eyed 'genie' hanging out inside his skull. They suggest that the Hall of Heroes was some open-air Greek spa floating in the clouds... Pah! Preposterous! None of that makes any sense!"

― An Introduction to MediEvil from MediEvil: The Game Prequel

On article pages whose subjects only exist in MediEvil: Resurrection, it is fine to present them as fact, so long as the Resurrection article notice appears at the top of the page.