Official "Canon" Thread

[The Dark Knight]

It's very common for all types of threads to get completely derailed as a result of someone bringing up the concept of canon, even if the user's intention was never to start a debate. As a result of Toriyama's original manga having multiple sequels that have nothing to do with each other, and with Super getting a remake that will undoubtedly make things even more confusing, I believe it's time to have a dedicated thread for this specific topic. Whatever your thoughts are on the concept of canon, please share them here moving forward.

[Grimlock]

There is already an "official thread" for that, but I guess it's old now since the last post.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The Japanese side don't care about the concept of canon, but if there is an "official history" of Dragon Ball it is Akira Toriyama's original manga, as published by Weekly Shonen Jump between 1984 and 1995, and everything else is DLC.

[PhantomSaiyan]

The Japanese side don't care about the concept of canon, but if there is an "official history" of Dragon Ball it is Akira Toriyama's original manga, as published by Weekly Shonen Jump between 1984 and 1995, and everything else is DLC.

Nothing more than this needs to be said really. Canon debates are end up being so silly

[MCDaveG]

My thoughts on this are shaped by various Japanese media. I remember being puzzled at first with Japanese movies for various shows overall, as I took off in the early days of internet... Whoa, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya and these other shows have movies that will expand the stories from the show? Kinda... I have learned the term Gaiden and what it means, basically a side-story. The movies and game stories were just original stories using the original characters, using the tropes from the main show with no story impact on the original show.

And that's how I perceive the sequels with Super virtually having status of being canon just because it was and now returns to be the main vehicle for the franchise... otherwise, GT, Super and Daima can be all considered Gaidens.

My question would be, what continuation do you favor the most? And that might be your personal canon of things, but besides the original manga run, canon basically doesn't exist.

[johnboy1]

If one timeline MUST be the single, supreme canon, it's the following.

• Jaco manga (DB Minus, then the 11 main chapters)
  Dragon Ball manga [Kanzenban] (first 329 chapters, Trunks chapter, then next ~188 chapters)
  2008 Jump special manga (2 chapters)
  Super manga (first ~4 chapters)
  Resurrection 'F' manga (3 chapters)
  Resurrection 'F' movie (last half hour or so)*
  Super manga (next ~38 chapters)
  Broly movie
  Super manga (next ~62 chapters)
  <Whatever comes next with Super?>
  Dragon Ball manga [Kanzenban] (final ~2 chapters)

*Resurrection 'F' is in an odd spot with its manga version being incomplete, cutting off right before the big transformation reveals and telling the reader to go see the movie. So the last act of the film has to be awkwardly shoved in at this point.

[The Dark Knight]

If one timeline MUST be the single, supreme canon, it's the following.
Dragon Ball manga [Kanzenban] (first 329 chapters, Trunks chapter, then next ~188 chapters)
Dragon Ball manga [Kanzenban] (final ~2 chapters)

Fixed. No timeline besides the original manga deserves the title of supreme canon.

[johnboy1]

Fixed. No timeline besides the original manga deserves the title of supreme canon.

Because... why? It's old? It's not like there's a creative purity test you can use to separate the manga's original run from the newer stuff, either, because Toriyama's ideas were always beholden to outside forces. The other items in that list all take place in the manga's continuity, so why should they be excluded from the "canon" that doesn't actually exist anyway?

[The Dark Knight]

Because... why? It's old? It's not like there's a creative purity test you can use to separate the manga's original run from the newer stuff...

Toriyama wrote and drew the entirety of the original manga (around 6000 pages), while the exact degree of his involvement in everything since has yet to be revealed. Toriyama also went out of his way to call Super a "casual" continuation of the original manga, which puts it below it by default. There's also the fact that there's a near 20 year gap between the original series and the revival.

[Skar]

Fixed. No timeline besides the original manga deserves the title of supreme canon.

Yeah the original manga is the source material and everything else in the franchise branches off from there in different continuities. I think coming up with one definitive canon isn't really possible because each of those continuities borrow from other continuities outside the manga like filler, old movie, or video game characters.

[Saiya6Cit]

Because... why? It's old? It's not like there's a creative purity test you can use to separate the manga's original run from the newer stuff...

Toriyama wrote and drew the entirety of the original manga (around 6000 pages), while the exact degree of his involvement in everything since has yet to be revealed. Toriyama also went out of his way to call Super a "casual" continuation of the original manga, which puts it below it by default. There's also the fact that there's a near 20 year gap between the original series and the revival.

Disagree. It is not only the manga what is canon. It is what is licensed.

I don't mind repeating myself about this topic as many times as needed.

Canon is everything and anything that would ever come out under the license of either Toei Animation, Sueisha, and, most recently Capsule Corp. Understanding that the three companies are Japanese and hold the rights of Dragon Ball to a different degree each. Which means that videogames, anime, manga, merchandise including collectable cards, artbooks and original illustrations (even sketches), all of that IS CANON. Yes, even when something that happens in one of them would happen to also contradict something that happens in another. Consider the multiverse phenomena in comic book industry as the closest thing that happened to Dragon Ball. Where Bardock SSJ3 and Happy Family Bardock (Bardock from Super) are as canon as the OG Bardock from 1990 TV Special. Whether we the fans, like it or not.

Personally, I don't mind. I grew up watching the series live broadcast on TV. I love DBZ, DBGT, Daima and OG DB (in that order). I love Toriyama's manga. Strongly dislike DB Super and the low quality work from Super's for both the anime and the manga. Know too little about Xenoverse, the videogames and the trading cards... so... I consume/support those things that I love and simply ignore the ones I don't, manifesting my choice through purchases. As any gen X and Millennial does.

Creating teams that divide the fandom is not smart. The fandom should be respectful other fan's choices. Goku befriended his enemies. Ape together strong. We should all be amigos. Please Dragon Ball fandom, don't let hatred take over you the way it happened to Star Wars...

[The Dark Knight]

Spoiler:

Disagree. It is not only the manga what is canon. It is what is licensed.

I don't mind repeating myself about this topic as many times as needed.

Canon is everything and anything that would ever come out under the license of either Toei Animation, Sueisha, and, most recently Capsule Corp. Understanding that the three companies are Japanese and hold the rights of Dragon Ball to a different degree each. Which means that videogames, anime, manga, merchandise including collectable cards, artbooks and original illustrations (even sketches), all of that IS CANON. Yes, even when something that happens in one of them would happen to also contradict something that happens in another. Consider the multiverse phenomena in comic book industry as the closest thing that happened to Dragon Ball. Where Bardock SSJ3 and Happy Family Bardock (Bardock from Super) are as canon as the OG Bardock from 1990 TV Special. Whether we the fans, like it or not.

Personally, I don't mind. I grew up watching the series live broadcast on TV. I love DBZ, DBGT, Daima and OG DB (in that order). I love Toriyama's manga. Strongly dislike DB Super and the low quality work from Super's for both the anime and the manga. Know too little about Xenoverse, the videogames and the trading cards... so... I consume/support those things that I love and simply ignore the ones I don't, manifesting my choice through purchases. As any gen X and Millennial does.

Creating teams that divide the fandom is not smart. The fandom should be respectful other fan's choices. Goku befriended his enemies. Ape together strong. We should all be amigos. Please Dragon Ball fandom, don't let hatred take over you the way it happened to Star Wars...

What I meant is that if one aspect of the franchise was to take priority over the others, it would be the original manga, as besides the points I mentioned, it's the source material that everything originated from.

[Hellspawn28]

Everything is canon whatever timeline or continuity that they take place in. GT is not canon to Super, but it's canon to itself.