- This page contains information taken from both Canon and Dubiously Canon sources; how the MSPA Wiki chooses to differentiate these different sources has its own article.
A canon is a collection of works considered to be definitive or genuine; in the words of one possible iteration of Rose Lalonde, “the three pillars of canon” are “relevance, truth, and essentiality.”
Something which upholds all three of these pillars - being both essential and relevant to the narrative being told as well as true to the fiction of the narrative - is considered canonical, or often just canon for short. Something which does not possess these qualities is usually called extracanonical, or non-canon - however, Homestuck's spinoffs also deal with the potential for stories to be true, but totally irrelevant to Homestuck; a middle ground which the MSPA Wiki refers to as dubious canonicity.
Andrew Hussie once jokingly declared all fantrolls to be canonical.[citation needed]
Concept and creation[]
The idea of 'canon' - from Ancient Greek Greek κανών or kanōn, referring to a rod of measurement - as it is used in the study of modern fiction has its origins in religion; just as Hebrew and Christian denominations consider different books to be officially part of their version of 'the Bible', only some works of fiction will be regarded as part of a franchise's own 'canon'. For example: though popular literary character Sherlock Holmes stars in both the American television series Elementary and the British Sherlock series, the events of these series are neither relevant to each other (beyond the names of various characters) or true to each other, and as such they are part of different 'canons'.
In many cases, a definitive canon is not clear-cut, and fans may disagree on what should and should not be canonical, especially when spinoffs are involved. In most cases, there is an element of ownership involved; something will rarely be considered part of an official canon if it was not written by the same author or authors as other canonical works, or at least published or sanctioned by the same company which published or sanctioned that original work. The Homestuck franchise plays with this by allowing writers outside of Andrew Hussie to work on spinoffs such as The Homestuck Epilogues, whose canonicity is up for question - however, all of these works thus far have still been published under the umbrella of Hussie's What Pumpkin company.
In Homestuck[]
Even though sloppy is fine, it might be a bit of a good idea to arrange this particular page because, to be quite frank, as it is right now, it is just absolute garbage.
In the Homestuck universe, canon is a tangible aspect of reality that can be interacted with from within the narrative under certain situations. Andrew Hussie, the webcomic's author, also exists as a character within the canon, and can directly intercede in events that occur personally, while it is also acknowledged that he is the one writing the story. More directly, the "treasure" Juju, functioning as a literal "plot hole", is a gateway with which to interact with the canon, as it functions as a physical manifestation of a "narrative breach" that must be filled. John Egbert fills the role of this breach by interacting with the Treasure, granting him the ability to wield Retcon mechanics, powers that let him directly interact with the canonical narrative of Homestuck.
"Noncanon" in Act 7 and beyond[]
In Act 7, the claiming of the Ultimate Reward through departure to Universe C allows the main cast of the Homestuck canon to leave canon entirely, and exist "out of canon". It is this property that allows for them to escape Lord English, whose ultimate downfall lies in his existence being bound (or stuck) in a self-perpetuating loop of existence within the Homestuck canon, that begins and ends with his rise to power (and defeat). These two events may be circumstantially simultaneous.
The "out of canon" state that the primary characters find themselves in is a state distinct from non-canonicity, wherein the events that they are living may indeed be "true", but are dependent on the events that occur within the canon. This fact leads to the main crisis of the Homestuck Epilogues; in order for canon to proceed in the manner that will allow these events happening "out of canon" to be "real", then John, who alone can still have a role to play in Homestuck's canon due to his retention of his retcon abilities, must use them to travel back into the Homestuck canon and defeat Lord English once and for all. Within canon, these may be the events depicted Caliborn's Masterpiece, although this is still speculation. If John fails to do this, then canon will not be able to sustain the "out of canon" events on Earth C, as depicted in the Credits, as real. That reality would be rendered null and void, a process that Rose Lalonde refers to as "dissipation".
The uncanny similarity between the universe C entry door on the Victory platform and the juju that releases the god tier kids to fight Lord English likely reflects how they are, respectively, doors to exit and re-enter canon.
