Canon

[madaimer]

ok simple

ive been hearing the phrase - " canon " or " hl2 canon " and i dont get what it means any 1 please care to explain

[pomegranate]

In a fictional body of work, 'canon' describes anything that is officially part of the story. It's a bit easier to understand in the context of something like Star Trek which has material that is canon (the TV shows and films) but also other official pieces of work which aren't canon (the novels and anything else). With Half-Life it's a bit less clearcut because no-one has ever said if anything released so far isn't canon. Some people think that Opposing Force, Blue Shift and the Decay part of HL1 on the PS2 aren't canon because they weren't produced by Valve (even though they wrote the scripts, apparently, which I guess meant they approved the stories as well).

[Atomic_Piggy]

It means what is part of the offcial story or not essentially.

See here for a more detailed explantion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_%28fiction%29

EDIT: Damn you Pomegranate!

[AHA-Lambda]

I'm sure blue shift, decay and OP4 are canon but Race X just won't be returning.

[pomegranate]

lulz

[who is gman?]

Canon eg:

Normal simpsons epidsodes - canon
Haloween simpsons episodes - not canon

[Fadeaway]

I'm sure blue shift, decay and OP4 are canon but Race X just won't be returning.

None of those 3 are canonical with the overall Half-Life series, as much as I'd like to see Gina come back in Episode 3.

[pomegranate]

None of those 3 are canonical with the overall Half-Life series

Says who?

[Fadeaway]

Says who?

Says Valve. Of course there are some references, but nothing more, which is why you don't see or hear about Race X, Corporal Adrian Shepherd, Dr. Rosenberg or a dead Gina in Half-Life 2.

[Piers89]

Says Valve. Of course there are some references, but nothing more, which is why you don't see or hear about Race X, Corporal Adrian Shepherd, Dr. Rosenberg or a dead Gina in Half-Life 2.

Thats a very flawed argument. Just because they arent mentioned means they never existed? :s

It just means they didnt make a significant impact on the hl universe to be carried forwards, unlike our dear gordon. Whos to say they wont be returning anyway? Its not likely, but its not impossible either.

And im certain valve have never said they arent canon.

[Fadeaway]

Thats a very flawed argument. Just because they arent mentioned means they never existed? :s

It just means they didnt make a significant impact on the hl universe to be carried forwards, unlike our dear gordon. Whos to say they wont be returning anyway? Its not likely, but its not impossible either.

And im certain valve have never said they arent canon.

If it were canon, then surely you would hear about it? Wouldn't there at least be a slight reference to Shephard? Talk of Rosenberg? Even a clipping of some anonymous nuclear explosion in the desert of New Mexico?

[AHA-Lambda]

which is why you don't see or hear about Race X, Corporal Adrian Shepherd, Dr. Rosenberg or a dead Gina in Half-Life 2.

Haven't Valve said that they MIGHT get back to Shepard?

[AJ Rimmer]

If it were canon, then surely you would hear about it? Wouldn't there at least be a slight reference to Shephard? Talk of Rosenberg? Even a clipping of some anonymous nuclear explosion in the desert of New Mexico?

How would they go about mentioning Shepard?
"Hey Gordon, remember that soldier you never ever saw in Black Mesa and then got lost without explanation? No? Me neither."

Why mention Rosenburg? Eli and Kleiner were in anamolous materials, Rosenburg was in the early teleportation labs. I guess Barney could have thrown in some odd line about him, but then Barney himself is a confirmation of Blue Shift's validity seeing as how his last name was given in Blue Shift and is maintained in HL2. He's also the only character who ever interacted with Gina, and he still only saw her on a security monitor.
As for a newspaper clipping of BMRF, not that many newspapers survive interdimensional wars I'd imagine, especially when there were like four survivors of the actual site in question.

[Atomic_Piggy]

Says Valve. Of course there are some references, but nothing more, which is why you don't see or hear about Race X, Corporal Adrian Shepherd, Dr. Rosenberg or a dead Gina in Half-Life 2.

Please point out where valve said this.

[Rapstah]

My way of putting it;

Canon: Half-Life, Half-Life: Blue Shift (since it does not interfere with HL canon), Half-Life 2, Episode 1.

Not canon: Opposing Force (Race-X), Decay (Xen Attacks), Azure Sheep and all user-created mods (clearly).

Don't like it? Check my signature.

[ríomhaire]

I see OP4, BS and Decay as canon and plot points from OP4 and Decay play a role in my main g-man/Black Mesa Incident theory. That said, Race X and Shephard don't matter much in the main plot.

[pomegranate]

Says Valve

Source?

[ríomhaire]

Basicly, Laidlaw said that he didn't concern himself much with OP4, BS and Decay as he was writing the HL2 plot. IIRC, he said that it's canon as long as it doesn't contradict the main HL games.