Ratchet & Clank Wiki:Bulletin board/Canon

The canon of the Ratchet & Clank universe is the material and information published about it that is accepted as an authoritative account of the universe's events and facts. Canon is determined by the owner of the intellectual property, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and individuals and organizations with recognized authority on the topic (such as past developers or licensed authors).

Some sources of canon are considered more canonical than others—where there is conflict, the more reliable source is used and the less reliable source is abrogated. Also, some sources of canon are irreversible, whereas others are only tentative. This article explains the precedence certain material is assigned over others.

The following consensus-based system is put in place to keep track of material and maintain order within it. However, it does not determine canon. Conflict between sources is rare and mention of it is mostly hypothetical. Conflict and ambiguity is adjudicated on a case-by-case basis and should be covered in a "Behind the scenes" section of the topic's respective article.

This page also establishes what is considered a reliable source for verification purposes throughout the wiki.

Precedence of sources
The following precedence is based on community consensus, and also from our discussions with James Stevenson of Insomniac Games, which informs canon policy.

The mainline Ratchet & Clank series material—including all games, comics, and related materials published either by Insomniac Games or an Insomniac Games writer who has worked on the Ratchet & Clank series that has not otherwise been declared as non-canon—is considered the foremost, immovable object of the canon. Each entry retroactively adds to or changes the canon. Where there is conflict, previous information is abrogated.

Any information detailed by an unreliable narrator (e.g. Captain Qwark's stories, the Qwark vid-comics, or Vox News, which are known in-universe to exaggerate the truth) is considered canon if nothing contradicts it, but the unreliable narrator must be mentioned adjacent to said information. Similarly, in-universe fiction (e.g. the Secret Agent Clank series) exists as fiction within the Ratchet & Clank universe, and must be detailed, but not as canonical occurrences.

The secondmost source of canon is any third-party titles released by external developers and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, such as High Impact Games. Because these entries have less precedence than the mainline series, new information is abrogated where there is conflict.

All companion material and external information—developer speech, developer social media accounts by a Ratchet & Clank writer or director, game manuals, strategy guides, and promotional material—establishes tentative canon; they hold authority where they do not conflict with the material themselves, including later releases. Information is irreversibly established as canon only by being released in a game; however, these sources can help provide tertiary information on an interim basis.

Unused dialogue has a unique role in relation to the canon. While it is not considered canon (as ultimately it was left on the cutting room floor, not intended for public consumption), full access to all unused dialogue has been attained and transcribed. As such, unused dialogue is usable to bolster tentative canon, or to support conclusions that are presumable but not blatantly confirmed.

Official material with non-canon events
In some instances, the events of official releases are not canonical, and their information must be adjudicated. The following releases, determined by consensus and official Insomniac Games word, describe non-canon information:


 * Going Mobile — This mobile game finishes on a cliffhanger, with its planned sequel Clone Home never released. Therefore, it is considered non-canon, and its information should be adjudicated.
 * Secret Agent Clank — This game's events are a canon movie within the Ratchet & Clank universe. Therefore, while the locations are considered to exist within the Ratchet & Clank universe, the unique characters, and the events, are not.
 * Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) — This game depicts Captain Qwark's retelling of the original Ratchet & Clank. As Qwark is an unreliable narrator, its events are considered non-canon versions of the real events in the original Ratchet & Clank, and its information should be adjudicated. However, names from this version still carry over, and the Holocard information is considered canon.
 * Ratchet & Clank (movie) — The movie's events contradict the original game, which is considered canon. Therefore, the movie's information should be adjudicated alongside the 2016 game.

Other adjudication
The following instances have been previously adjudicated and are reflected here as consensus.


 * PlayStation Move Heroes and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale are PlayStation games published by Sony Interactive Entertainment that involve Jak and Daxter to varying extents, as well as give them individual backstory. However, games belonging to separate franchises that merely borrow characters from others, such as the aforementioned titles, are not necessarily installed into the canon of the source material. As such, unless stated otherwise by Sony Interactive, the wiki regards those games as non-canon.


 * Content from supplementary material that is patently blithe or nonsensical is considered non-canon.