It seems like
90sDBZ already provided a distinction, but you guys still want to be spoonfed by me specifically, huh... Alright.
But before I begin, can we all agree that "
Merriam-Webster" is a great dictionary? This is important, you know. I can't explain something using external sources if someone randomly pops up here and starts disagreeing with the sources and such. Is that all right? Does everyone agree to allow me to use it as a legit source? Can I start? Let's do it:
Continuity )---> Uninterrupted connection, succession, or union. Uninterrupted duration or continuation especially without essential change.
I'm using the first meaning Merriam provides, which is the definition we want here. By applying the meaning of continuity, it means an order of events. What are these "order of events" you ask? It's the way Akira Toriyama wrote the story. So first he begins with:
Pilaf saga, then proceeds to the 21st tournament, then Red Ribbon saga, then the 22nd tournament, then Piccolo Daimaoh saga and then comes 23rd tournament.
We have all these sagas, one happening after the other. That constitutes a continuity. In a more "broad sense", the word "
timeline" may also work here as a synonym for "continuity". As per its definition but doing a few modification provided:
a manga showing important events for successive years within a particular historical period (from AGE 749 to AGE 756).
Reader: "But oh
Grimlock, so does that mean the movies made by Toei Animation are out of Toriyama's continuity? The definition says
especially without essential change, after all".
Me Grimlock: Yes, my dear reader. They are. The movies deviate from this order of events, they change substantially from what is seen in the continuity established by the author. But does that mean they aren't "canonical"? No. Not necessarily. Now, calm down, the explanation shall come!
Canon )---> A regulation or dogma decreed by [a church council]. An accepted principle or rule. A body of principles, rules, standards, or norms.
I'm using the first and fourth definitions Merriam provides, which then you will notice I skipped the third definition, which says: "
the authentic works of a writer". Why am I not using this? Because, as the website states, it's a meaning used in the Middle English, so it's archaic. But I do have a feeling some of you may get triggered by this, so even if I do take its meaning into consideration, it means an authentic work by a writer. Ooishi Naho is a writer and she also made an authentic work. Whoever wrote that Yamcha story, they are a writer and they made an authentic work. Takao Koyama is a writer and he made many authentic works. You see where I'm getting at? Do I need to go on?
With that out of the way, as per the definition, canonicity is an act made consciously by a person, an entity (it can differ from continuity, which may or may not be done consciously. And we know that, in Toriyama's case, it wasn't conscious. He didn't plan out how the events of the sagas would unfold from the beginning. He made it up as he went, he has repeatedly admitted that this is the case in interviews).
Rules, standards, norms... All of this is made by a statement from those who can state that. Who can make such statement? Well, it depends on what we are talking about. A president, the Pope, a principal, a leader, a boss... In Dragon Ball's case, Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball and Shueisha, the right holders of Dragon Ball. Only Akira Toriyama and Shueisha have the right to decree a rule, a standard, a norm... A canon in Dragon Ball. You can't have these things established by itself, or by no one. You have to have someone with authoritative power and the right to do that. If a principle is "accepted", it's "accepted" by whom? You'll say "by those who have the control". Not "by no one" or "by itself". This does not exist. You need a person. A law doesn't exist by itself, you need someone there to exert such law.
Reader: "Hm, I think I understood now,
Big Grim. Indeed, in that case, we don't have any statement from neither Akira Toriyama nor Shueisha about the canonicity of the old movies and Dragon Ball GT and such. There are no laws, no principles, no norms related to them as far as we know. They never stated that the fans cannot consider their events as if they were happening as legit events taking place after or based on the author's continuity or even somewhere else in the vast world. But still, their events couldn't happen in a continuity the author is most involved, could it?"
Me Grimlock: "An author can acknowledge the existence of other events without having to place them in their own continuity. As we know, we don't have limitations to our imagination, to what we can and can't do. We do have many resources that help us even in situation like this. If an author so desires, they can say that a related work happens in another Universe, or dimension. A reality not totally related to the one the author is currently working on. By doing so, they would be acknowledging its events, yet not having any relation to the current continuity at all. So for exxample, you don't actually need to make characters from the author work to interact with the characters from this other reality, even so, you had said that that related work exists in-universe, in your work. In works that an author or someone else has stated a canon, this would mean the related reality is canonical, even if it doesn't interact with the continuity the author is most involved. Because its events were acknowledged to take place in-universe by someone who can make suck acknowledgement.
Here, let me show you an example of that:
In this video, we see that the creators acknowledged the events of the "The Legend of Korra" videogame even though the show itself doesn't. So, again, in a work that has a defined canon, the game would be canonical, but not taking place in the animated series continuity.
We have Peter Parker as Spider-Man in Earth-616 and Miles Morales as Spider-Man in Earth-1610 (commonly known as the "Ultimate Universe"). They both exist in-universe, but they are from different realities. However, neither of them pretends the other doesn't exist even in times where the writer doesn't make these two realities to interact with each other. They simply don't interact, but they are both there.
Conclusion:
A continuity shows you the order of the events. If you want to know when something happened, you search for its continuity. -- I want to know when Saiyans saga happened: )--> *search in continuity* oh, it happens in AGE 761 and AGE 762, between the 23rd tournament and Freeza saga.
A canon will tell you if a work exists or not in-universe (not necessarily depending if it happened in a certain continuity or not. Though it can also note you about that) acknowledged by someone from an out-universe perspective: )---> *search in canon* oh, so according to the author, this work did happen (after this, before that, in this other reality). Or: *search in canon* oh, according to the author, this work did not happen at all (in-universe).
It is important that you understand and prioritize the acknowledgement from an out-universe perspective because even a work not related to the author's continuity can (and most certainly in most case will) have its continuity. In Dragon Ball's case, we can also use continuity to know when the movies and other works take place: *search in continuity* oh, Movie 12 takes place at some point during Majin Buu saga. However, as we finally learned after reading all of this, this doesn't mean it's not a canonical work, because no such acknowledgement exists.
It is also important that you understand this distinction because we also have works not even defined by continuities. Like the OVAs where they show Goku with the fire brigade or teaching viewers how to cross the streets. Or that OVA where it shows Goku and Trunks going back to the past. We don't know when they happen (continuity) or if they happened (canonicity).
That is why a sentence like: "this isn't canon to this continuity" makes little to no sense whatsoever. While a work may not be connected to that specific continuity, it may still be there with the possibility of "crossing over" to the continuity you are most focused on. In a situation like this, canon is rendered completely useless. Not only because it may or may not have someone's acknowledgement, from an in-universe perspective, the events of the related work still didn't happen in that continuity, yet a character (or something else) popped up in the author's continuity. If this seems contradictory to you, that's because it is. The nature of canonicity is rooted in contradiction. There's nothing we can do about it, there's nowhere to run but to accept this. It is such an abstract concept with so many different layers that it can be hard to truly learn everything about it.
For further reading, I highly recommend
Transformers wiki page and
its page about continuity. Now, calm down. I know wikis are not to be trusted, but not this one. This one isn't your regular wiki connected to that "fandom wiki", it is an internal one (much like what Kanzenshuu's wiki gonna be). They went into more details and may provide even more explanation than I gave here. I would like to point out just to ignore most of what "General canon rules" section says, since that part is describing what fans generally do, how they approach this subject when it comes to Transformers, instead of providing official statements.
Do not use just this post for understanding, please don't be a lazy person and do some research yourself too. Grab a book about it, read some articles, other texts, try to understand how things work in other franchises, how concepts are used. This is a complex issue, after all and it might vary greatly. You have to familiarize yourself through other means as well, this is important for a deeper comprehension. I think I just scratched the surface with this post, but please do your job too. Instead of just sitting there in front of a computer saying "that's not cannon!", entertain yourself with something more interesting, fun and/or that will provide you some knowledge.
(Please save this post, bookmark it. Do whatever you can to always have this post easily accessible for you. I won't be doing this anymore. Holy hell it took me a while to make this post. And I have a feeling people will still ask: "bruh wHaT dO yOu MeAn ThErE's No CaNoN?", so here's a bit of explanation. Here's what you need for a basic understanding once and for all).
Fun fact: there is also a difference between "side-story", "spin-off", "filler" and "what-if". None of these terms mean the same thing, and of course, I've seen people using them interchangeably, as if they did mean the same thing. They are wrong. Will I explain the difference between each term? Maybe. But in the (far) future. For now, I can only suggest that you do your own research on those terms yourself, and have a good reading!