Is Dragon Ball GT canonical?

[ABED]

The title suggests it all.

It's canon if you want it to be since there is no official cannon.

That's not how canon works. And there is a canon. At the very least, it's the manga.

[sintzu]

There is a canon. At the very least, it's the manga.

The manga is probably the only thing no one can argue against cause it was written and drawn exclusivly by Toriyama continuously for 10 years. There's just one version of it and there's no gaps (real world time) between each arc.

[Avenant]

The title suggests it all.

It's canon if you want it to be since there is no official cannon.

That's not how canon works. And there is a canon. At the very least, it's the manga.

My thoughts exactly. And I consider the Super Manga to be a part of that canon, but maybe that's just me.

[Lord Beerus]

GT can be whatever you want it to be in within the context of Dragon Ball's original story.

[precita]

It's not canon with the current ongoing continuity, no. The current canon is Dragonball ---- DBZ --- Super.

The movies and GT are largely just alternate universes/timelines where these events have happened, but have no impact on the main series.

[ABED]

You might be able to argue the anime has its own canon.

[ekrolo2]

You might be able to argue the anime has its own canon.

I think that's a foregone conclusion since those things directly contradict each other at various points that you can't even say the Z anime is just the manga, but expanded upon. The context behind Goku vs Kid Boo alone makes them impossible to exist in the same space.

[DHM211]

The title suggests it all.

It's canon if you want it to be since there is no official cannon.

That's not how canon works. And there is a canon. At the very least, it's the manga.

Was it ever stated that there is an official canon? I know you think head canons are "stupid" but I'm pretty sure no one at Toei or Toriyama ever said there was an official canon.

[ekrolo2]

Was it ever stated that there is an official canon? I know you think head canons are "stupid" but I'm pretty sure no one at Toei or Toriyama ever said there was an official canon.

There isn't, in fact, one sure fire way to 100% know someone is a total bullshit artist is if they say "Toriyama stated x was canon!". Toriyama knows the meaning of that word about as well as a red neck hick knows ancient Mesopotamian.

[ABED]

Was it ever stated that there is an official canon? I know you think head canons are "stupid" but I'm pretty sure no one at Toei or Toriyama ever said there was an official canon.

Canon doesn't need to be explicitly stated. That's not what it is. Canon is official work as opposed to works created by subsequent writers and things like fan fiction. The term first came into common usage regarding fiction in reference to Sherlock Holmes stories. Official canon is a redundantly redundant term.

Head canon is an asinine idea because it has nothing to do with canon and it seems to confuse fans.

I think that's a foregone conclusion since those things directly contradict each other at various points that you can't even say the Z anime is just the manga, but expanded upon. The context behind Goku vs Kid Boo alone makes them impossible to exist in the same space.

Interesting, but I'm not sure what you mean regarding Goku vs. Kid Buu.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

Do mosquito's enjoy blood more with certain food colorings added?

Maybe, the answer is maybe.

[Zephyr]

Canon is official work as opposed to works created by subsequent writers and things like fan fiction.

But "official works" and "works created by subsequent writers" aren't mutually exclusive. GT exemplifies this.

And there is a canon. At the very least, it's the manga.

But what's the canon version of the manga? The Weekly Shonen Jump serialization where Gohan is introduced as a 3 year old, the Tankobon where he's introduced as a 4 year old, or the Kanzenban where Goku gives Kinto-Un to Uub at the end?

[Avenant]

Unless Kibito-Kai becomes a thing again in Super, I would say that GT has a better chance of being canon only if it happened in the alternate timeline that Universe 12 made when they invented time travel and created the first green time ring.

I, for one, am perfectly fine never visiting that universe again.

[Gog]

There is no official canon in Dragon Ball, so if you want GT to be canon then go ahead.

[ABED]

Canon is official work as opposed to works created by subsequent writers and things like fan fiction.

But "official works" and "works created by subsequent writers" aren't mutually exclusive. GT exemplifies this.

And there is a canon. At the very least, it's the manga.

But what's the canon version of the manga? The Weekly Shonen Jump serialization where Gohan is introduced as a 3 year old, the Tankobon where he's introduced as a 4 year old, or the Kanzenban where Goku gives Kinto-Un to Uub at the end?

Good points, and I didn't mean to imply what I wrote is the precise definition, but it's not what some here have claimed. It's not whatever you want it to be. Being official is a prerequisite. However, GT not being canon is no different than say an alt-reality episode of your favorite TV show. I didn't mean to imply official works and works created by subsequent authors are mutually exclusive.

The fact that there are two versions of an ending doesn't throw out the rest as canon. It's just the ending that's in question.

There is no official canon in Dragon Ball, so if you want GT to be canon then go ahead.

- There is a canon. Where did this idea come from?
- Official canon is redundant
- Canon isn't anything someone wants. You miss the entire point.

[VegettoEX]

- There is a canon. Where did this idea come from?
- Official canon is redundant
- Canon isn't anything someone wants. You miss the entire point.

Me. It comes from me. Everyone's parroting me at this point. Everyone's playing the telephone game with my words... but missing my point at the same time, and never going on to further explain what I always explain further.

No, there isn't a canon that's ever been outlined for Dragon Ball. All we have are a few off-hand statements about continuity from several different people (all of which I'm aware of, so while this is entirely patronizing and arrogant of me, please please please don't point any of them out to me; I guarantee you I'm aware of them all, and they're all being documented into an extensive feature on the site). No-one in any official capacity has ever said, "No, _____ never happened" or "______ is the true version of these events."

(Insert larger conversation here about marketing, various rights-holders for the franchise, etc. that I honestly don't have the will to get into anymore.)

I entirely agree with "Canon isn't anything someone wants". I don't think it's responsible to say "I like the Trunks TV special better than the manga chapter, so therefore that's the canonical version (whether it be to me or me projecting onto anyone else)!" This is where people take the Cliff's Notes version of my point, the part that's easy to digest down into a single sentence, and run with it without doing any critical thinking.

This is why my answer to "Is Dragon Ball GT canonical?" doesn't have a "yes" or a "no" anywhere in it.

[Hellspawn28]

With Anime & Manga, people view something not canon if the original creator is not apart of unless stated otherwise. GT and Super can't really fit with each other, so you just have to view GT as its own thing.

[TheMikado]

So I will state this again since it's been lost... the events of Super. At its current and present time CAN FIT in same continuity timeline abeit with plotholes, which can easily be fixed with no less than 3 sets of Dragonballs that can grant any wish they want and time travel mechanisms. Not to mention the God of All now in play. The EASIEST way to tell if something can fit into the maintime is what concurrent events are transpiring. This is why many of the movies cannot fit in the main timeline and Toriyama only ever specifically stated the movies are alternate realities. Thus far ALL series unfold in chronological space seperate from each either, thus making it possible that all versions of Dragonball franchises and series are simultaneously possible within the context of a single outline and continuity. While which version would still be up for debate, manga vs anime. At this point it cannot be argued otherwise that the current Dragonball franchise timeline allows all the series to coexist fairly comfortably.

[ABED]

So I will state this again since it's been lost... the events of Super. At its current and present time CAN FIT in same continuity timeline abeit with plotholes, which can easily be fixed with no less than 3 sets of Dragonballs that can grant any wish they want and time travel mechanisms. Not to mention the God of All now in play. The EASIEST way to tell if something can fit into the maintime is what concurrent events are transpiring. This is why many of the movies cannot fit in the main timeline and Toriyama only ever specifically stated the movies are alternate realities. Thus far ALL series unfold in chronological space seperate from each either, thus making it possible that all versions of Dragonball franchises and series are simultaneously possible within the context of a single outline and continuity. While which version would still be up for debate, manga vs anime. At this point it cannot be argued otherwise that the current Dragonball franchise timeline allows all the series to coexist fairly comfortably.

Like the Arrow-verse's Earth-1, 2, 3...?

[Zephyr]

So I will state this again since it's been lost... the events of Super. At its current and present time CAN FIT in same continuity timeline abeit with plotholes

In light of that point, I think a big thing that people tend to overlook in debates about GT and Super "coexisting in canon" or whatever, is the fact that even the baseline absolute core of the continuity (the manga) contains plotholes. Something creating inconsistencies or plotholes doesn't rule something out of being "canon", otherwise things like the Red Ribbon Army arc would be "non-canon", which would be silly.