Star Trek canon

Last updated

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]

Contents

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

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

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

Related Research Articles

<i>Star Trek: The Animated Series</i> American animated science fiction television series from 1973 to 1974

Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS) is an American animated science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired simply under the title Star Trek, subtitled Created by Gene Roddenberry, on Saturday mornings from September 8, 1973 to October 12, 1974 on NBC, spanning 22 episodes over two seasons. The second series in the Star Trek franchise, it features mostly the same characters as Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 23rd century, the series follows the further adventures of the Starship USS Enterprise as it explores the galaxy.

In the Star Trek fictional universe, shields refer to a 23rd and 24th century technology that provides starships, space stations, and entire planets with limited protection against damage. They are sometimes referred to as deflectors, deflector shields, or screens. Types of shields include navigational deflectors.

<i>Star Trek: Phase II</i> Un-aired television program

Star Trek: Phase II was the initial working title for what officially became titled Star Trek II, an unproduced American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as a sequel to the original Star Trek, which had run from 1966 to 1969. The plans for the series were first developed after several failed attempts to create a feature film based on the property, coupled with plans for a Paramount Television Service (PTS) as a fourth broadcast television network in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LCARS</span> Fictional computer operating system utilized in Star Trek

In the Star Trek fictional universe, LCARS is a computer operating system. Within Star Trek chronology, the term was first used in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gerrold</span> American screenwriter and novelist (born 1944)

David Gerrold is an American science fiction screenwriter and novelist. He wrote the script for the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles", created the Sleestak race on the TV series Land of the Lost, and wrote the novelette "The Martian Child", which won both Hugo and Nebula Awards, and was adapted into a 2007 film starring John Cusack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hikaru Sulu</span> Fictional character from Star Trek

Hikaru Kato Sulu is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. A member of the crew in the original Star Trek series, Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, in the first six Star Trek movies, in one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and in several books, comics, and video games. Originally known simply as "Sulu", his first name, "Hikaru", appeared in a 1981 novel well over a decade after the original series had ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Chapel</span> Star Trek character

Christine Chapel is a fictional character who appears in all three seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series and the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Portrayed by Majel Barrett, she was the ship's nurse on board the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise. A younger version of Chapel appears in the 2022 series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, portrayed by Jess Bush.

<i>The Star Trek Encyclopedia</i> Book by Michael Okuda

The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future is a 1994 encyclopedia of in-universe information from the Star Trek television series and films. It was written by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, who were production staff on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager and Debbie Mirek. It was illustrated by Doug Drexler.

USS <i>Enterprise</i> (NCC-1701-D) Fictional starship from Star Trek

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), or Enterprise-D, is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. Under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, it is the main setting of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) and the film Star Trek Generations (1994). It has also been depicted in various spinoffs, films, books, and licensed products.

This article discusses the fictional timeline of the Star Trek franchise. The franchise is primarily set in the future, ranging from the mid-22nd century to the late 24th century, with the third season of Star Trek: Discovery jumping forward to the 32nd century. However the franchise has also outlined a fictional future history of Earth prior to this, and, primarily through time travel plots, explored both past and further-future settings.

The Star Trek franchise has produced a large number of novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon.

Shuttlecraft are fictional vehicles in the Star Trek science fiction franchise built for short trips in space, such as between a planetary surface and orbit. Also referred to as shuttles, their introduction preceded the development of the Space Shuttle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Okuda</span> Graphic designer known for working on Star Trek

Michael Okuda is an American graphic designer best known for his work on Star Trek including designing futuristic computer user interfaces known as "okudagrams".

Richard Michael Sternbach is an illustrator who is best known for his space illustrations and his work on the Star Trek television series.

<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual</i>

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual is a paperback reference guide detailing the inner and other workings of the fictional Federation starship Enterprise-D and other aspects of technology that appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Klingon culture is a set of customs and practices of Klingons depicted in the fictional Star Trek universe. The fictional Klingon society is based on Klingon traditions and conventions, as well as a constructed language named Klingon. Klingons were created by Gene L. Coon.

Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into various films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books, and it has become one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The Star Trek franchise features many spacecraft. Various space vessels make up the primary settings of the Star Trek television series, films, and expanded universe; others help advance the franchise's stories. Throughout the franchise's production, spacecraft have been depicted by numerous physical and computer-generated models. Producers worked to balance often tight budgets with the need to depict convincing, futuristic vessels.

<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> (season 2) 1988–89 season of American television series

The second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on November 21, 1988, and concluded on July 17, 1989, after airing 22 episodes. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. Season two featured changes to the main cast, following the departure of Gates McFadden. Diana Muldaur was cast as Dr. Katherine Pulaski for a single season before the return of McFadden in season three. Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg also joined the cast after pursuing a role from the producers.

References

  1. ↑ "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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "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.
  3. 1 2 "Site Map". StarTrek.com. Paramount Global. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Database Content". 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. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ "Sitemap". StarTrek.com. CBS Studios Inc. 2010. Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 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). "Community: Message Boards". 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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.