Arkham Wiki:Canon policy
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Canon policy
Arkham Wiki documents the continuity of the Batman: Arkham universe using published works and reliable official sources.
The purpose of this policy is to prevent assumptions, contradictions, developer comments, adaptations, and fan interpretations from being treated as equivalent forms of evidence.
Core principle
Canon status must be based on evidence, not editor preference.
Editors should not declare a work, event, character, statement, or detail canon or non-canon simply because it fits or conflicts with another source.
When evidence is uncertain, the uncertainty should be documented.
Canon
Material should be treated as canon when it is part of the established Batman: Arkham continuity and there is no reliable evidence excluding it.
Examples may include:
- Mainline Batman: Arkham games
- Canon tie-in games
- Canon comics
- Canon novels
- Official downloadable content
- Canon virtual reality titles
- In-universe biographies, recordings, and database entries
Individual works may contain inconsistencies without automatically becoming non-canon.
Confirmed information
Information is confirmed when a reliable source directly establishes it.
Use:
{{Canon status|status=confirmed}}
Example:
A character explicitly states that Bruce Wayne is Batman.
No interpretation is required.
Implied information
Information is implied when reliable evidence supports a conclusion, but no source states it directly.
Use:
{{Canon status|status=implied}}
Examples include:
- Environmental clues
- Unexplained references
- Repeated visual or narrative connections
- Dialogue that strongly suggests, but does not explicitly confirm, a fact
Implied information must not be rewritten as confirmed fact.
Unknown
Use unknown when available evidence does not establish an answer.
{{Canon status|status=unknown}}
Unknown does not mean non-canon.
It means that the available evidence is insufficient.
Disputed information
Use disputed when reliable sources conflict.
{{Canon status
| status = disputed
| note = Official sources provide conflicting information.
}}
Editors should:
- Present both sources.
- Explain the conflict.
- Avoid choosing one without evidence.
- Avoid declaring an entire work non-canon solely because of one contradiction.
Non-canon
Material should be labeled non-canon only when there is reliable evidence that it is outside the Arkham continuity.
Use:
{{Canon status|status=non-canon}}
Possible evidence may include:
- An explicit statement from the publisher or developer
- A clearly separate continuity
- A game mode or scenario explicitly presented as non-canonical
- Material officially described as an alternate version or hypothetical scenario
A contradiction alone is not sufficient proof of non-canonicity.
Cut content
Unused or removed material should be labeled cut content.
Use:
{{Canon status|status=cut}}
Examples include:
- Unused dialogue
- Deleted scenes
- Unused character models
- Cut missions
- Concept art depicting abandoned ideas
- Datamined material that does not appear in the released work
Cut content may provide useful development information, but it should not normally be used to establish events within the released continuity.
Developer statements
Developer, writer, actor, or publisher statements may be important evidence, but they must be attributed.
For example:
Creative director Jane Doe stated in a 2015 interview that...
should not automatically become:
It is canon that...
Developer statements are especially useful for:
- Production history
- Creative intent
- Identifying cut content
- Clarifying ambiguous material
- Explaining continuity decisions
When a developer statement conflicts with released material, both should be documented.
Promotional material
Trailers, advertisements, websites, screenshots, store descriptions, and other promotional material should be treated carefully.
Promotional material may contain:
- Early development information
- Simplified descriptions
- Placeholder assets
- Material changed before release
- Marketing language not intended as continuity documentation
Released in-universe material generally takes precedence for describing events within the fictional world.
Gameplay versus narrative
Not every gameplay mechanic represents a literal event within the story.
Examples may include:
- Respawning
- Repeated enemy encounters
- Challenge maps
- Optional skins
- Gameplay statistics
- UI elements
- Player-controlled sequence breaking
- Bugs and glitches
Gameplay should only be used as continuity evidence when the game presents the mechanic or event as part of the narrative.
Optional content
Optional content should not automatically be considered non-canon simply because the player can skip it.
If the game presents a side mission, recording, collectible, or encounter as an event within the story world, it may still be canonical.
Any uncertainty should be explained rather than assumed.
Alternate costumes and skins
The availability of a costume as a selectable gameplay skin does not by itself establish that Batman wore it within the continuity.
Evidence should distinguish between:
- Default story suits
- Suits shown in cutscenes or story events
- Suits established by another canonical source
- Bonus or cosmetic skins
Cosmetic availability alone is insufficient evidence of a canonical appearance.
Contradictions
The Arkham continuity contains inconsistencies.
Editors should document contradictions rather than attempting to silently repair them.
A contradiction may be caused by:
- Retcons
- Writing errors
- Different production teams
- Changed creative direction
- Promotional material
- Tie-in media
- Gameplay limitations
Do not invent explanations unless a source provides one.
Retcons
A retcon occurs when later material changes or replaces previously established information.
Editors should identify:
- The earlier information
- The later information
- The relevant sources
- Whether the change is explicit or inferred
Do not label something a retcon merely because two sources appear inconsistent.
Adaptations and references to other Batman media
Arkham works frequently reference elements from Batman comics, films, television, and other continuities.
The existence of a similar character, event, name, location, or storyline does not prove that the events of the source material occurred identically in the Arkham universe.
For example:
An Arkham reference to a character from Batman: Year One does not establish that every event of Batman: Year One occurred in the Arkham continuity.
Only details supported by Arkham-universe evidence should be treated as established.
Real-world source versus in-universe source
Editors should distinguish between:
In-universe evidence
- Dialogue
- Recordings
- Documents
- Character biographies
- Events shown on screen
and:
Out-of-universe evidence
- Developer interviews
- Press releases
- Strategy guides
- Promotional websites
- Production documents
Both can be valuable, but they answer different questions.
Burden of proof
The editor making a specific continuity claim should provide evidence for it.
Claims such as:
This comic is non-canon. This character is definitely Dick Grayson. This event happened before Arkham Origins. This dialogue confirms Year One happened.
require supporting sources.
Absence of evidence should not be turned into certainty.
Status labels
Arkham Wiki uses the following labels:
- Confirmed
- Directly established by reliable evidence.
- Implied
- Supported by evidence but not explicitly stated.
- Disputed
- Reliable sources conflict.
- Unknown
- The evidence is insufficient.
- Non-canon
- Reliable evidence places the material outside the Arkham continuity.
- Cut content
- Material created during development but excluded from the relevant released work.