It is the objective to determine the best definition of "canon", as it applies to the articles in the Thief Wiki. This shall express the philosophy by which articles are written, and how we flag or omit "fanon", or "fancruft".
Definition
Canon, as far as it relates to the Thief Wiki, shall be defined thusly: Whatever has been created and published by Eidos, Looking Glass Studios, or Ion Storm Austin; Presented in Thief: The Dark Project, Thief Gold, Thief II: The Metal Age and Thief: Deadly Shadows; These games created, designed, and written by these game publishers and distributors, shall be set canon, on which all fact shall be set.
Canon
If an aforementioned game is installed, without a prior install or any form of modification to the installer or game code, with all available officially released patches and fixes, then the events in said game are in fact true, and therefore are considered canon.
Each aforementioned game has a different software engine powering it, each with different limitations and technical considerations of the time in which they were created would not make it canon to reality, but shall be canon for the games that were built around it.
Semi-Canon
In each aforementioned game, if there are unused files including, but not limited to text, textures, named characters, models, motions & animations, sound effects & music, voices & conversations, items and/or weapons, these may be considered canon if and only if they do not contradict set canon. If they are to contradict canon, they may be labeled as semi-canon, granting that the explanation as to why, is not overly complicated.
- For example: In Casing the Joint, a conversation with Father Norrell, while unused, does not contradict the story canon. However, the unused prison roster in Pavelock Prison, shows Shelly Laster in a different cell at the same time. While this contradicts, it does give a small insight to her character and reasons for her arrest.
"Flavor Material"
Each aforementioned game came from the minds of their creators, in which not every aspect of the creator's vision made it into the final released product. Such things as insights, back stories, admissions to mistakes, and anything revealed by a developer that is not in the final product shall be deemed as semi-canon, and used as a "flavor material" if, and only if they do not contradict set canon.
- For example: The admittance to the use of a Mechanist vikrola in the Shalebridge Cradle.[1]
Each aforementioned game was created using notes, design concepts, artwork, and pre-release demos. These may be deemed as semi-canon, and used as a "flavor material" if and only if they do not contradict set canon.
- For Example: The LGS TDP Diary, where it is brainstormed that Garrett could be shrunk down in a level and have to avoid Rats.
The fan community is large and equally vibrant. The many members have pushed all Thief titles to their limits and beyond, even before the release of DromEd was released. Any modifications of the base Thief game, as long as they do not break canon, is considered "flavor material".
- For example: Any fan made texture packs that upgrade the original textures or fan fixes that correct bugs and illogical issues in the canon game (such as the misplaced furniture in Masks. These have very low overall impact and are considered in this category. Several screen shots on this very Wiki use the high definition pack.
Canon Rules
If you, hereby called the author, are unsure whether the idea to be put forth is canon, each page has a discussion page to inquire on. If the topic is covering a broad area of articles, then the inquiry should be held in "The Keeper Compound" forum area.
Fanon, though well thought out and imaginative, does not belong on any page that is not designated for fanon purposes only.