Canon

The Star Wars "gospel" or canon was first defined in Fall 1994 in the first issue of the Lucasfilm magazine Star Wars Insider, by Lucasfilm Production Editor Sue Rostoni and Continuity Editor Allan Kausch:

The second edition of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe by Bill Slavicsek, published in March 1994, created a list with a coding system in accordance to the definition given by Rostoni and Kausch, clearly separating Star Wars materials into two distinct categories: the Original Trilogy, its adaptations - the novelizations and the radio dramas - were labeled as "original Lucasfilm source" whereas all the approximately seventy Star Wars related works published by Lucasfilm - the Thrawn Trilogy, the Dark Empire series, the Star Wars Roleplaying Game etc. - were labeled as "officially licensed source that may or may not agree with George Lucas' vision of the Star Wars galaxy."

In the introduction to the 1994 printing of Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Lucas offered his view on the evolution of the Star Wars universe, praising the many stories told by other authors about the characters he created:

In 1996, The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, a reference book written by Mark Cotta Vaz, covering the Shadows of the Empire multimedia campaign, featured two, different canons: a chronology complied by continuity editors by Lucasfilm, and a collection of "the screenplays, novelizations and other core works."

In 1998, the Star Wars Encyclopedia was published, in which Stephen J. Sansweet gave a stricter definition of the Star Wars canon, distinguishing between canon and "quasi-canon":

In the August/September 1999 issue of Star Wars Insider, George Lucas explained that he keeps his movies under his control but cannot keep the entire Star Wars universe in line:

In January 2000, Lucasfilm hired Leland Chee to create an internal database for Lucas Licensing's Publishing department, called the "Holocron." The database replaced the "bibles" tracking and organizing all the fictional elements created for the Star Wars universe, making up a hierarchical system listing different levels of canon. The database had a canon field for each individual entry and for sources. "G" canon referred to George Lucas' canon, initially made up only of the six Star Wars movies and unpublished internal notes from him or the movie production department. "C" canon, referring to continuity, consisted all licensed properties, thus including most of the Expanded Universe, whereas "S" canon, with the "S" standing for "secondary," encompassed works that were created before Lucasfilm strived to maintain an internal consistency within the Expanded Universe. "N" canon meant "non-continuity", used only in the case of blatant contradiction.

In April 2000, in a post published on the official Star Wars forums, Sansweet clarified the distinction between canon and "quasi-canon" even further, referring to "different degrees of canon" among which there is "only one true canon":

In June 2001, the fourth issue of the Star Wars Gamer magazine raising the issue of what is and isn't considered to be "canon" in the Star Wars universe. On August 14 2001, in Star Wars Gamer 6, Sue Rostoni was quoted by the magazine, defining canon as an authoritative list of books complied by Lucas Licensing editors:

On August 17 2001, when Sansweet was asked to clarify what is and what is not canon, he directed fans' attention to Christopher Cerasi's statement about the "absolute canon" and the "real story of the Star Wars universe":

In August in the section Rebel Rumblings of the 57th issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine Sansweet again defined the films as the "one, true, absolutely and only canonical source."

In an interview done in 2001 and published in July 2002 by Cinescape, George Lucas explained that he has no plans for a third trilogy and that the only continuation of the saga will be in the form of licensed properties, describing two different "worlds" and "a parallel universe" to his own:

In May 2003, questions about canon were raised on the official Star Wars forums when the sixty-eighth issue of Star Wars Insider stated that David West Reynolds' Incredible Cross-Sections books "would receive Lucasfilm's formal imprimatur as canon," as some saw it as contradictory to what Sansweet and Cerasi said in 2001. In his answer, Leland Chee made a clear distinction between "Lucasfilm's canon" and "movie canon":

Addressing the topic, Sue Rostoni admitted that canon can be confusing, as all Star Wars material that are not published with the "Infinity" logo is considered canon, however, canon has a hierarchy to it, reiterating what was established by Slavicsek, Sansweet and Cerasi:

In June 2004, Rostoni confirmed that George Lucas is not bringing ideas or concepts to the Expanded Universe and that in general, he doesn't see any of the story ideas or concepts, and although he is reading the comic books, he does so after they were published.

However, when it was proposed that this might mean that some fans might know the Star Wars universe better than Lucas, Rostoni clarified, there is no one who knows more about Star Wars than Lucas himself, and that he doesn't see the Expanded Universe as "his" Star Wars but as "theirs":

In August 2004, Chee was asked, "a clarification is needed if the C and G level are separated, i.e. do they form independent canon or are both part of the overall continuity?" It should be noted that the question is confusing: in the Holocron continuity database, "C-canon" and "G-canon" are making up two separate canons, with Rostoni and Kausch stating, in 1994 and 1996, Lucas Licensing seeks to maintain an overall continuity. Echoing those statements, Chee replied:

In August 2005, George Lucas gave an interview to Starlog magazine, in which he explained, he is a stranger to the Expanded Universe, reiterating his statements from 2001 about two different "worlds" and two "universes", also noting that there might be inconsistencies between the two:

In August 18, when she was told about the article on the message boards, Rostoni confirmed:

In December 2005, Chee was asked questions about whether or not the interview Lucas gave to Starlog means that he doesn't consider the Expanded Universe canonical, to which Chee gave a somewhat evasive answer:

He answered a question about whether George Lucas, Lucas Licensing and Lucas Publishing are using the same canon policy or Lucas and Lucasfilm use different policies, in which he stated, anybody can have their own perception of what is and isn't canon, and that the Holocron continuity database applies when something official is developed for books, games, websites and merchandise, but for anything beyond that it's just a reference tool:

Furthermore, he stated, Lucasfilm Ltd. doesn't have a canon policy, as it couldn't be applied beyond merchandise and online, and there is no such thing as a document that could be used to determine what is and what is not canon.

In November 2006, Chee was asked to resolve a debate between two fans, with one of them stating that based on George Lucas' interviews from 2002 and 2005, there are two official continuities, one encompassing the movies only, reflecting Lucas' vision, and one made up of the Expanded Universe, whereas the other claiming, based on Chee's comments on the Holocron continuity database, that there is only one official continuity comprised of Lucas' movies and the Expanded Universe, divided into different levels of canonicity. In his answer posted in December, Chee confirmed that there is not one, but two distinct official continuities and that when it comes to Lucas' views on the Star Wars universe one must not go beyond the movies:

Subsequent questioning over which continuity was "more official" revealed that Chee favored the "film + EU" continuity, but stated that in the end, it was up to the individual fan, as it would be "great disservice" to discount those who watched only the movies, as fans.

Chee also clarified whether or not the "foggy windows" to the Star Wars universe mentioned by Cerasi in 2001 are offering a glimpse to the films only continuity or the combined continuity of the films and the Expanded Universe:

In February 2008, Howard Roffman commented on the subject when discussing Lucasfilm's marketing plan for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series:

In March, during ShoWest 2008, Lucas gave an interview where he clarified that in his mind, Star Wars doesn't go beyond the story of Anakin Skywalker and the books about Luke Skywalker, taking place after Episode VI, are belonging to the "licensing world." He mentioned three distinct "worlds": his own, the licensing's "world" and the fans' "world", pointing out that they're not always matching:

In May, Total Film Magazine published an interview with Lucas, in which he described the three different and sometimes mismatching "worlds" as "pillars" and drew an analogy between Star Wars and the Trinity of the Christian religion:

On May 7, Lucas was interviewed by Los Angeles Times magazine, in which Lucas, once again, emphasized the distinction between his vision and the Expanded Universe:

It was also added:

On May 6 2008, Star Wars Insider 101 was published. The magazine featured an article, titled "The Essential Expanded Universe" by author Daniel Wallace, dedicated entirely to the Expanded Universe. Wallace indicated that the Expanded Universe is official, but, as it was done previously, he made a distinction between the canon of the six movies, that had "absolute authority" and a canon on a "lower level":

The article revealed that Wallace was unsure about the status of the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, hinting that it might be part of George Lucas' canon:

On May 8, Chee adopted Lucas' usage of the pillar system, confirming that the television production, just like the movies themselves, are both separate from the Expanded Universe:

On the following day, answering for questions about Lucas' mention of "three pillars" he clarified it even further:

The two posts, in accordance with George Lucas' statements in the same year and month, confirmed that there are "pillars" rather than "tiers" of canon, and the canon encompassed by the Expanded Universe exist separately from Lucas' canon - the films and television series.

Star Wars Insider 104, published in September, quoted George Lucas, with his statement being identical to what he said to London Times in July, where he repeated what he told to Total Film in May: that his work, what he oversees and in which he is involved in, encompasses the Star Wars feature films, the Clone Wars movie and television series, and a planned live-action television series, and then there is the licensing group doing the games, toys and books and everything else, and in addition, there is the fan's own world:

The issue also included an Ask Lobot feature with Leeland Chee's description of the three pillars previously mentioned by Lucas:

As the year neared to the end, there was a considerable change of rhetoric regarding canon. During an interview conducted in October by CBR, director Dave Filoni was asked about whether or not Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be "canon or part of the Expanded Universe," he confirmed that Lucas considers his movies, the television series and the planned live-action production canon, although he often brings Lucas information from the Expanded Universe to see how he wants to use it or review it:

In December, 2008, in an interview he gave to TheForce.net, together with writer Henry Gilroy, Filoni drew a clear line between canon and the Expanded Universe, matching with the line dividing Star Wars as how George Lucas sees it and the Expanded Universe:

In 2009, Filoni reinforced the distinction when he mentioned that General Grievous' backstory, covered in Expanded Universe comics, "wasn't canon, it's just a possibility."

Henry Gilroy's letter, read out loud in The ForceCast in August, commenting on the indecent when author Karen Traviss announced her departure from Lucasfilm because of her opinion that canon had been changed in the Clone Wars series, is also noteworthy:

Meanwhile, in 2010, during an interview with Time Magazine, Daniel Wallace maintained that everything was officially canon the Star Wars publishing universe, however, he admitted that George Lucas can override anything he chooses to override:

In November, when asked about his opinion regarding the fact that the Clone Wars series not matching with the continuity established by the Expanded Universe, Pablo Hidalgo drew parallels with the arrival of the prequel trilogy in 1999:

In October 2011, talking to Scifinow, Lucas indicated he makes no distinction between his feature films and the Clone Wars series:

In May 2011, Leland Chee clarified the distinction between George Lucas' vision of the Star Wars universe, encompassed by the movies and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the vision held by Lucas Licensing:

In Star Wars Insider 134, published in June 2012, Dave Filoni strictly differentiated between the two, indicating that the Expanded Universe needed to be seen as a creative collection or well of ideas, serving as inspiration, separate from George Lucas' creation:

In "Canon and Continuity" section of the introduction of The Essential Reader's Companion published on October 12, 2012, listing all works from the Expanded Universe, Pablo Hidalgo wrote:

On October 30, 2012, it was announced that Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm, completing the acquisition on December 21, 2012. On April 25, 2014, in preparation for the upcoming feature films, Lucasfilm announced that the Expanded Universe was rebranded as Legends, thus, the term "canon" come to be reserved exclusively for George Lucas' canon - the six movies and the seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars he developed and producered - and the movies, television series, novels, comics, toys and video games created by Lucasfilm after the acquisition. Since then, the only previously published material still considered canon are the six original trilogy/prequel trilogy films, novels (where they align with what is seen on screen), the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and film, and Part I of the short story Blade Squadron. Most material published after April 25—such as the Star Wars Rebels TV series along with all Marvel Star Wars comic books and novels beginning with A New Dawn—is also considered part of the new canon, on account of the creation of the Lucasfilm Story Group, which currently oversees continuity as a whole. Characters under the Legends banner are still available for use as needed, even if events concerning them are no longer canon.

On September 29, 2018, Lucasfilm Story Group's Matt Martin revealed on his Twitter account that the canon tier system originally established by Leland Chee in the early 2000s is no longer used. Regardless, it is still official that Episodes 1-6 and The Clone Wars are the highest form of Canon in the case of contradictions, in both timelines.

In March 2018, Howard Roffman, answering to questions about Lucasfilm canon policy in the past, explained:

Maintaining a unified and seamless canon created by several authors and directors proved to be difficult. For instance, the premiere of Bad Batch, "Aftermath," directly contradicts events depicted in the Star Wars: Kanan comic series regarding the Battle of Kaller and how Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume experienced Order 66. On May 7, 2021, Pablo Hidalgo addressed the discrepancy, advising fans to view canon as a history textbook that lists events that are expressed fictionally with potential dramatization and embellishment for its medium:

The following material, although released after April 25, 2014, is not considered canon:

• Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 issues 15-18.
• Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars series issues 17-20.
• Star Wars: Rebel Heist comic miniseries.
• Comic strips published in Star Wars Comic UK #5-#13.
• The Darth Vader and Son series.
• Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide, a 2014 reference book.
• Star Wars: Graphics, a 2016 reference book.
• The ongoing MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic and its expansions.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic-related short stories published online in the game's developer blog.
• Fantasy Flight Games's RPG supplements contain elements of both Canon and Legends topics.
• Star Wars (1977) 108, the hundred and eighth issue of the original Star Wars comic series published by Marvel.
• Titles within the continuing Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, which began under Star Wars Legends, but continued releasing material in the new continuity.
• The television series Star Wars: Visions, which is non-canon to both Legends and the new canon.
• LEGO products and media.
• The Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars television special.

In 2000, Lucas Licensing appointed Leland Chee to create a continuity-tracking database referred to as the Holocron continuity database. The Holocron followed the canon policy that had been in effect for years, but the capabilities of database software allowed each element of a story, rather than the stories as a whole, to be classified.

The Holocron's database included a field for a single letter (G, T, C, S, N or D) representing the level of canonicity of that element; these letters were since informally applied to the levels of canon themselves: G-canon, T-canon, C-canon, S-canon, N-canon and D-canon. As part of his work with the Holocron, Chee was responsible for the creation of this classification system, and he spent the early stages developing and refining it. G, T, C and S together formed the overall Star Wars Legends continuity. Each respective level typically overrode anything later in the list; for example, Boba Fett's backstory was radically altered with the release of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, forcing the retcon of older source material to fall in line with the new G-canon backstory. However, this was not always absolute, and the resolution of all contradictions was handled on a case-by-case basis. G-canon and T-canon comprised George Lucas' vision of the Star Wars universe, whereas C and S canons comprised the vision of the Star Wars universe held by Lucas Licensing until 2014.

• was ; the six Episodes and any statements by George Lucas (including unpublished production notes from him or his production department that are never seen by the public). Elements originating with Lucas in the movie novelizations, reference books, and other sources were also G-canon, though anything created by the authors of those sources was C-canon. When the films were changed, the newest editions were deemed to take canonical precedence over older ones, as they corrected mistakes, improved consistency between the two trilogies, and expressed Lucas's current vision of the Star Wars universe most closely. The deleted scenes included on the DVDs were also considered G-canon (when they didn't conflict with the movie).
• , or , referred to the canon level comprising the feature film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the television show, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (It would have also included the ultimately unproduced Star Wars live-action TV series.) It was devised more recently in order to define a status above the C-Level canon, as confirmed by Chee.
• was , consisting of all recent works (and many older works) released under the name of Star Wars: books, comics, games, cartoons, non-theatrical films, and more. Games were a special case, as generally only the stories were C-canon, while things like stats and gameplay may not have been; they also offered non-canonical options to the player, such as choosing female gender for a canonically male character. C-canon elements have appeared in the movies, making them G-canon; examples include the name "Coruscant," swoop bikes, Quinlan Vos, Aayla Secura, and Action VI transports.
• was ; the materials were available to be used or ignored as needed by authors. This included mostly older works, such as much of the original Marvel Star Wars comics, that predated a consistent effort to maintain continuity; it also contained certain elements of a few otherwise N-canon stories, and other things that "may not fit just right." Many formerly S-canon elements were elevated to C-canon through their inclusion in more recent works by continuity-minded authors, while many other older works (such as The Han Solo Adventures) were accounted for in continuity from the start despite their age, and thus were always C-canon.
• was , used for material hailing from Star Wars Detours.
• was . What-if stories (such as stories published under the Infinities label) and anything else directly and irreconcilably contradicted by higher canon ended up here. N was the only level that was not considered canon by Lucasfilm. Information cut from canon, deleted scenes, or canceled Star Wars works fell into this category as well, unless another canonical work referenced it and it was declared canon.

Some games are having canonical storylines, others are non-canon. Sourcebooks written for roleplaying games were part of the canon maintained by Lucas Licensing - the first edition created for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game by Bill Slavicsek had served as the background material for the licensed Star Wars universe and it was an inspiration for George Lucas himself. In the case of side-choosing games such as the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series and Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series where the player has the choice between light side and dark side, the course and final outcome of the story considered to be part of the continuity maintained by Lucas Licensing, as well as the species, gender, or alignment of the main character, varies from player to player. Some of these questions were answered in Legends materials out of editorial necessity, however, others were intentionally left undetermined. Wookieepedia articles currently assume that the player picks the light side choice for all scenarios, noting that the described narrative may or may not have been confirmed as canon within the Star Wars Legends continuity.