If a work is AlternateContinuity, it does not necessarily mean non-canon?

I've sometimes read on here suggestions that Alternate Continuity is used to mean "separate work, but is non-canon", but am I correct in my understanding that an Alternate Continuity can also be Canon too.

For example, there's the Arrowverse and DC Extended Universe but they're clearly separate continuities, even though Geoff Johns said they're in The Multiverse and speculation was that they could crossover.

I now know that an Alternate Continuity can be an Alternate Universe if the work is acknowledged within a particular adaptation, but otherwise if a continuity doesn't overlap, it's not an Alternate Universe.

Would there be a better trope to use for "separate work, but non-canon"?

edited 10th Feb '17 2:33:41 AM by Merseyuser1

There can be several canons in a franchise. All works are canon within themselves, although parts can be excluded as well, or retroactively declared non-canon to the rest of the work. Something can only be non-canon in relation to something else.

Alternate Continuity begins with, "Continuity is a confusing thing." Which is true for canon as well. It's usually better to describe them verbally than to have specific tropes for all levels of them, since it's really more of a floating scale than anything discrete.

Canon: What the creators say is part of their fictional universe. It can include material within the work(s) as well as material external to the work(s), such as Word of God, tie-ins, Expanded Universe material, etc.

Continuity: What actually occurs within the work(s), establishing (presumably) a logical sequence of events, a coherent timeline, and a certain degree of internal consistency.

In most cases, but not all, canon is a superset of continuity. In some cases, canon specifically denies continuity, insisting that things that occurred within a particular work did not really happen, or did not happen as portrayed.

• Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace were in canon continuity with Superman: The Movie and Superman II, until Superman Returns evicted them. They still exist as films, and maintain internal continuity with the first two, but they have been disavowed in canon.
• The Man of Steel series rebooted the franchise, creating both a new continuity and a new canon.

• The Star Trek reboot series is an Alternate Continuity, with the divergence occurring due to Time Travel from the older continuity. This makes it both canonical with the old series and an Alternate Universe.

When creators decide they want a reboot, or a revision, or they want to have their characters show up in a different timeline or whatever, that creates an Alternate Continuity. If that continuity is integrated into the existing story, such as by having crossovers or by making it explicit that the two continuities exist within a larger universal framework, then it's an Alternate Universe.

All of this can occur within the same canon, or the writers can declare the stories to be completely distinct. And some creators, like the ones for Doctor Who, declare that there is no such thing as canon; the universe contains whatever the writers want it to, and asking them to maintain internal consistency is simply not going to happen.

edited 10th Feb '17 12:47:24 PM by Fighteer

I get this now. I did make some edits to Alternate Continuity but I guess this trope is a frequently asked question of sorts, isn't it?

Yes. It can be distilled down to the following distinction: Continuity is what actually happens in a work; Canon is what the writers say happens in a work.

edited 10th Feb '17 12:57:53 PM by Fighteer

I made an edit to Alternate Continuity, correct if it you think it's wrong: