Are we being biased concerning what is "canon"?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

The debate over what is canon and what isn't has lasted for years, and I wonder- are we being biased when it comes to considering what is and isn't canon? For generations, the 'canon' material was the toyline, because Hasbro is a TOY company, and that is its end goal- to produce and get kids to buy more toys. The tv series is just a commercial to advertise them. Has it changed within g4? Well, no, not really, since we see both subtle and no-so-subtle attempts to market these ponies to kids. (Rainbow Power forms, Twilight's castle, the Friendship Express, Twilight's hot air balloon, Canterlot Castle, Mane 6 + gimmick out the wazoo...)Now I get the g4 fans are more invested in the tv series/ commercial than the toys and collecting the ponies, but does this make them biased, when they consider that the holy grail of "canon" is the tv show? Perhaps? At least, in my opinion, it does. I find it silly to take ole singular aspect out of many (the show above the comics or chapter books, for instance), and consider it the "only canon" or "highest tiered canon", when it all makes up a worldbuilding story for the fans, and more importantly, furthers Hasbro's goal of marketing these ponies to people. And if people truly feel the need to be biased over what is and isn't "canon", then perhaps we should hear what is and isn't from the source? I don't know if anone has ever gotten Hasbro's take on the subject ) or a director of manufacturing who specifically works in the pony department), or Hasbro's COO/ CEO, as they're the one we'd really need to hear from, regarding canon, since everything begins with the toyline.

Even if canon is completely irrelevant, isn't it all about imagination and accepting these ponies in all of the glorious forms of media that they appear in, without holding one higher than the other?

[Will Guide 21,362]

Coming from the person whose topics tend to be negative, I find this somewhat unusual for you to point out.

To me, there are different levels of canon: show canon, comic book canon, chapter book canon, toyline canon, and maybe miscellaneous canon. They can each be "official" in each of their own timelines. While one medium takes the unfolding events in one direction, another media can take it in another. After all, before his true debut in the main show, Starswirl's personality in the comics ranged from serious and stern to silly and absent minded depending on the writer.

 

[SharpWit 2,719]

It's not bias, it's maintaining a single true narrative that everyone can actually follow along with. Other media is fine to enjoy but since there's no direct coordination between those and the show creators, eventually the storyline and the characters themselves will divide into separate entities that aren't recognizeable. Allowing them to contradict each other would destroy the overall story, so there must be a distinction made between what is and isn't true.

[Ganondorf8 11,391]

This is a debate that sadly will never end because there are multiple sides to it that even now continue to claim that they are the ones who are right. To be fair, whatever Hasbro says is canon would be the official answer seeing as they own the brand and all, but some fans might not be willing to accept such an answer and feel that Hasbro is simply trying to copout without giving them some sense of satisfaction. Most of Hasbro would be unable to say anything because they either don't care or lack the authority to say anything--it might be bad for business mind you--but I believe the CEO can say something given that he's in charge of the division that handles MLP.

[Jordan D 149]

Transformers and Digimon have this model that I think works wonderfully. Everything is canon, just not to one single universe. In Digimon Tamers, Digimon Adventure is just an anime series, but Tai and Takato both exist as individuals who have even interacted on a handful of occasions. Since it's been said that My Little Pony takes place in an infinite timeline on a few different occasions, I like to think every series is canon somewhere, but not everything can be canon at once.

For example, the Manga story "Leave the Dresses to Rarity" is a retelling of "The Best Night Ever" but it changed the ending to make it more of a slapstick gag than the official episode. This means the manga continuity can't really take place in the cartoon continuity (thankfully retcons the weird Twilight x Spike, Twilight x Rarity and Twilight x Shining Armor thing they were building). The IDW comic series is a lot more complicated, however. Since there are several writers for the comics, some try to make the stories fit the shows canon, while others do their own thing. It's why you have some stuff like Cannibal ponies, Lyra being practically ageless, Moondancer suddenly changing designs and Princess Celestia being the "breaker of worlds",  things that don't really make much sense or would never really be touched on in the show.

Simply saying the IDW comics exist in their own single timeline might not be accurate either since the series retcons itself all the freaking time. Geography changing, mechanics changing, continuity going like the wind and Nightmare Moons origins being changed like 8 times now. However, what complicates matters even deeper is Tails of Equestria is most likely canon to the comics since it references a good deal of comic exclusive stuff but also contradicts other aspects of lore. In Legends of Magic, the reason why Griffons and Pegasi were on good-terms was because Flash Magnus and his team saved a village of Griffons from a storm, but in Tails of Equestria, it's because the hyper-advanced Hippogriff civilization negotiated peace treaties between the two civilizations, allowing them to grow closer.

TL;DR, infinite multiverse yo, everything is probably canon somewhere, just not everything is canon all at once. 

[Thrond 3,263]

Canon to what, pray tell? The comics and show sometimes (often?) contradict each other, but they’re both (relatively) consistent with themselves. If you like the comics, then the show and toys are B-canon. If you like the toys, I guess everything else comes second to your imagination, except maybe the text on the box. Sorry, I don’t have that many MLP toys. 

For my preferences, the show is most important, but every other bit of official media is canon until proven otherwise. I also try to ignore stories I don’t like whenever I can get away with it.

[EpicEnergy 23,224]

I think canonicity is subjective in this context, and therefore being biased concerning what is canon is reasonable.

[Splashee 28,566]

Fans of a show, no matter what, should always be biased towards what is canon and what isn't. It is the whole point of being a crazy fan!