Multiverses are magic (aka what is canon and what is not)

[Buck Testa 5,505]

As a comic book nerd, I am not unfamiliar with the concept of multiverses in media. Marvel for many decades has had hundreds upon hundreds of alternate dimensions and timelines that coincided with their main series titles. Essentially, as long as it came from marvel it would be considered official "canon", but if it wasn't part of the main universe (also known as earth 616) it would have no bearing on that or any other timelines plot. 

 

The same thing applies to My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. People appear to believe that the comics are not canon, but this just isn't the case at all. If its from an official source and deals with my little pony, then it is indeed 100% canon...to the multiverse. However The show is not bound by the events of the comics as they run on different timelines. The show would be like marvel's earth 616, the main timeline that people are familiar with, but this does not invalidate the other timelines as "not canon" 

 

Fan created content would be considered non canon (unless its episode 100 lol) because its not from an official source. Fanfiction, Fan art, fan animations, all these things fall under the umbrella of non canon. 

 

OFFICIAL IDW comics on the other hand are Canon by virtue of being from Hasbro. They are in their own timeline and don't necessarily have to follow the show or vice versa, but they are canon none the less.

 

If the people who own the intellectual property wish to declare something as non canon that is up to them. For example, Akira Toriyama, creator of the Dragon Ball franchise, declared the series Dragon Ball GT as non canon and to be ignored from this point forward because he had no part in creating it and he did not like how it turned out. Disney did the same thing to many Star Wars storylines as they now own the intellectual property. Such a thing has not happened with the IDW Comics. They have said that the show will not have to follow the ideas of the comics if they choose not to, and the comics can tell their own stories, but both timelines are none the less still under the umbrella of canon to the multiverse. 

 

So the Mane six in the comics are kind of like the main six in Equestria girls, similar to the show's characters and are essentially the same people, but their timeline and choices can and will be different than their main show counterparts regardless of similarities. 

 

In short: If its from official sources its canon (unless expressly stated otherwise), though not necessarily in the same timeline as the show. Only fan created content can be considered non canon until acknowledged by the official owners of the I.P.

 

Canon isn't all that cut and dry at the end of the day and is ultimately up to the ones who run the show to define. 

 

What are you're thoughts? 

 

 

[Gearbox10mm 794]

I can't find fault with any of your reasoning. I pretty much agree 100%.

 

There's show canon, and then there's comic canon. The one does not necessarily directly affect the other.

[superdogz1999 551]

There are a whole lot of Multiverses but so far we only seen about 2 Alternate Universes in the show. The first one is the human world where Twilight travelled into in the Equestria Girls series. The other is the sock puppet Dimension that Discord tries to send Tree Hugger into in the episode "Make New Friends but Keep Discord."

[Pinkie-Guy 563]

Funny enough, I just rewatched Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths earlier today.  Comics do this all the time, which makes it possible for succeeding artists to put their own spin on the IP. It helps the IP stays fresh.  Doctor Who has been played by many actors.  They are all the same character through different lenses.  Also, look at the different interpretations of Batman: Burton, Nolan, TAS, etc.  They can all claim to be "Batman".

 

I think maintaining a broad universe of MLP instead a strict one in general would be good for the MLP-IP.