Gen1 Fan Canonization Poll

[Akavakaku]

"Filling in missing areas on a map?" Not really, more like squeezing every possible detail out of the original storyline, even from places that were meant to be simply glossed over. I can't understand why we want to know what element the last Toa Mangai "canonically" was of. Why not just let fans imagine it for themselves? And in any case, Greg didn't even have anything in mind. It's not filling in missing areas on a map as much as it is writing in extra lines in a story the author felt weren't necessary.

[bonesiii]

"Filling in missing areas on a map?" Not really, more like squeezing every possible detail out of the original storyline, even from places that were meant to be simply glossed over. I can't understand why we want to know what element the last Toa Mangai "canonically" was of. Why not just let fans imagine it for themselves? And in any case, Greg didn't even have anything in mind. It's not filling in missing areas on a map as much as it is writing in extra lines in a story the author felt weren't necessary.

Keep in mind that we're all agreeing some areas of the map should be left missing. The question is why should some be filled in and others not? It comes down to a few things -- taste -- in which the desires of the author (he approved this) and majorities can come in (plus even occasional nods to minorities) -- and internal consistency of principles. As discussed before, it makes sense to fill in some basics about a team with three prominent members in the storyline. For other teams, not so much IMO.

 

And as also suggested, we don't know that the reason for the delay was as you put it "the author felt wasn't necessary" (notice "need fallacy" in that last bit too, though; it's not so much about need but want), but it could have been more that the author felt he did need to avoid it in case future sets were to be made from them, and that possibility has now passed. It could also simply have been an oversight; it's unrealistic to expect authors to catch everything that consistency would have them establish, or have time to establish them, in real-time.

[Jam Pot Studios]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to know what masks and weapons Zaria, Chiara and Orde have (though we have Chiara's mask but not her tools).

[Wrinkledlion X]

I don't mind canonizations in general, and I for one used to be pretty active in the S&T scene. I enjoy mining old story for details that can be filled in, and most of the time it's harmless enough.

 

But changes that come with weird implications bother me, like that business about the Toa Cordak. "Cordak" already meant "desolation" in-story, and now it's the name of a Toa team? I know they worked out an explanation for that, but it just seems too convoluted for my tastes. It makes the world feel smaller--not only have we lost a Matoran word from the lexicon (poor Tolkien), we've also established that the Toa Cordak were so widely-known as to influence language across the MU. (And yet, we don't even know what island they guarded.)

 

It's a fine line, but I guess my problem is with canonizations that delete or replace existing canon. It's fine if they add a fun detail here and there, but fan ideas often seem more like retcons than anything else, considering the story's over.