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All Buffyverse fans acknowledge the Buffy TV episodes, and the Angel TV episodes as absolute canon. This article discusses surrounding issues.

Terminology

Main article: Canon (fiction)

'Canon' of a fictional universe comprises those stories considered to be genuine (or "official") and those events, characters, settings, etc., that are considered to have inarguable existence within the fictional universe. Usually items that are considered canon come from the original source of the fictional universe while non-canon material comes from adaptations or unofficial items. Generally, Expanded Universes are not considered canon, though there are exceptions that are considered near-canon. Using the religious analogy of a canon of Scripture, things that are not canon are considered "apocryphal". See Biblical canon. When a body of work is not specifically accepted or rejected by an authority, 'canon' can be a fluid term that is interpreted differently by different people. This is the case with 'Buffyverse canon', which has yet to be publicly defined by an authority to the satisfaction and consensus of all fans (see also: links to Buffyverse canon debates).

Canonical comics

A few of the comics are considered by many fans to achieve canon.

Tales of the Slayers and Tales of the Vampires are usually accepted as canon. They were written by writers of the Buffy and Angel television shows. Joss Whedon told a number of tales for these comic series. Other writers include Amber Benson, Ben Edlund, Jane Espenson, David Fury, Drew Goddard, Doug Petrie, and Rebecca Rand Kirshner.

Fray, an eight-part comic series written by Whedon, is also largely accepted as a canonical work. The story is about a vampire slayer of the future named Melaka Fray and her discovery of what being a slayer means. In the Buffyverse, it seems that a powerful scythe used by Buffy will be found in centuries to come by Meleka. Whedon has also written an Angel comic book mini-series, Long Night's Journey.

Several of the comics have been written by the scriptwriters of Mutant Enemy Productions, and do not often contradict any information from the Buffyverse canon. Some fans argue that any/all of these might also be considered canon. For example:

  • Jane Espenson has written a number of Buffy comics, including the graphic novel Haunted and the one-shots Jonathan, and Reunion.

Non-canonical comics and novels

The vast majority of comics and all of the books are largely viewed by fans as non-canon.

Despite this, they have been licensed as official Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel merchandise. Furthermore Whedon or his office have had to approve the overall outline of each book if not the final product. This is to prevent the stories venturing too far from the original intentions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel stories (see below).

Joss Whedon's participation in novels and comics

A number of comments by Buffyverse writers have indicated that although they know they are not writing Buffyverse canon, overviews for their stories may still have been checked over by Whedon.

Referring to Whedon, Christopher Golden said "He has to approve everything. I should say, his office has to approve everything, so sometimes he gets more involved than others in doing those approvals" 1. He has also commented that he finds "the mythology to be inspiring. Joss has specifically said he's not really interested in exploring that mythology very much. Though he is, apparently, willing to let us go into it." 2. "There are times in both books and comics when I know he has gotten involved because the word, sort of, comes down from him." 3. Similarly Peter David, was asked about his comic, Spike: Old Times, "Did you get any input from Whedon himself?" He replied that "Ostensibly comments came from Whedon, although for all I know, it was from an associate." 4

Jeff Mariotte has revealed more detail of the approval process: "I come up with a proposal that's eight or ten pages long and I submit that to Pocket Books. They read it and if they like it then they submit it to 20th Century Fox and the Buffy office. If everybody approves it then I can get to work. ...If I proposed doing something that was counter to what they wanted the direction of the character to be, they would tell me." 5. Mariotte implies that little input is given, only acceptance or rejection of general ideas: "[I]n the world of licensing there is a difference between 'approval' and 'input', and I'm not sure what the legal relationship between Fox and Mutant Enemy is. My impression is that Fox is doing everything in its power to make sure Joss is happy with what we do, and I know that Joss is looking at everything and making comments or thumbs-up, thumbs-down on stuff"6.

Joss Whedon was asked "How much attention do you pay to the peripheral stuff, the novels and the comics?". Speaking of those he did not write himself, he responded "Not very much. I just don’t have time. I give them a few guidelines of things they should stay away from, things that we’re going to be dealing with or things that would disrupt the canon or things that are just antithetical to what I believe in"7. Elsewhere Whedon has pointed out that he has never entirely read a single Buffy novel, and has little time to devote to such material. He therefore knows little of the final product, or of their quality control.

Contradictions in continuity

Usually the authors and editors of these licensed materials try not to contradict information that has been established by canon. However, many of the materials do directly contradict it. For example, according to Monster Island, Spike and Gunn meet in the Hyperion Hotel in Angel Season 3. Buffyverse canon later established that in fact Spike and Gunn meet in the Wolfram and Hart L.A. offices in Angel Season 5. These contradictions tend to be the result of the story being written before it was contradicted by canon, or due to human error on the part of the author(s) and/or editor(s).

Consistency with continuity

Some of the licensed materials successfully avoid contradicting any canon. Three notable examples are: A series of short-story volumes, Tales of the Slayer expanding upon past slayer mythology. Also, a number of graphic novels established a possible continuity for Buffy before she arrived in Sunnydale: The Origin, Viva Las Buffy, Slayer Interrupted, and Staked through the Heart. How I Survived My Summer Vacation features short stories that take place between Buffy Season 1 and Season 2.

Canonical status of other additions to the Buffyverse

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1992 film

Main article: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 comedy film starring Kristy Swanson as Buffy, Donald Sutherland as Merrick, and Luke Perry as Pike. It was written by Joss Whedon and directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui. The film is not considered canon. In fact, many of the details given in the film directly contradict canon. For example, in the film, vampires do not have 'bumpy' faces whilst feeding. According to established Buffyverse canon, vampires do have bumpy faces whilst feeding. However, in the main continuity of the series, Buffy's past in L.A. was a rather similar story, edited largely to fit in with the series. In the Buffy series, a similar story was followed, but several canon facts were changed.

History of the Slayer (WB promo)

Main article: History of the Slayer

Promotional video can be downloaded from one of the external links at the bottom of this article. The canonicity of the clip is debatable, partly because Whedon's degree of involvement in the making of the promotional clip is unknown.

Unaired Buffy pilot

Main article: Unaired Buffy pilot

The presentation establishes an alternative continuity to that established by the opening episodes of the series. The presentation is not even remotely considered canon. Events that take place in it are instead superceded by the canonical Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest.

Unaired Angel pilot

Main article: Unaired Angel pilot

The canonicical status of the presentation is unclear. The showing is shot by Whedon, and doesn't contradict anything established by canon. However Angel appears to be speaking to the camera, and possibly breaking the Fourth wall. Alternatively he could be telling his story to an unseen character.

Corrupt (unaired Angel episode)

Main article: Corrupt

The David Fury written script establishes an alternative continuity after City of. The script is not considered canon. Events that take place in the story are instead superceded by the canonical Lonely Hearts.

Buffy video games

Main article: Buffy video games

The Buffy video games are generally considered uncanonical. However the games do not contradict continuity. Furthermore many of the actors from the shows have provided their voices for the games (with the notable exceptions of Hannigan and Gellar). Joss Wheon was involved in Chaos Bleeds and appears in the special features, and even as a secret playable character.

Canonical

History of the Slayer (WB promo)

References

All links active as of January 2006

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