GK Omnipedia:Canon Policy

There are three main categories of information contained in the articles of the wikipedia. The policies below show how to enter such information. Where an article contains more than one type of information, all of the appropriate policies should be followed.

If you have any queries about these policies, feel free to ask about them on the talk page.

Background
Canon (or preferred term 'continuity' when it pertains to cohesiveness to references between the works of the series) refers to the official body of work related to Gabriel Knight series originally published or officially licensed by Sierra (Sierra Activision). These include the original three Jane Jensen's GK games, the 20th Annivesary remake game, and the three novels, two short stories, and any assorted manuals, hintbooks and comics.

There are essentially three alternate timelines currently, though these are treated as equal as all have originated from Jane Jensen so far. But the main focus of the wiki begins with the original order of publication (by media type): first the original series of games, then the novels and finally the GK1 remake. There maybe some cross over with the 'short stories' (the two 'interludes') and 'comics' (two prologues) as they are meant to tie in with the games, rather than retell the games stories (so information from those sources may exist in several articles on the same topic). The official hintbooks may also introduce information that is specific to the original game universe's version of events.

Due to the differences between all three main sources of media, topics will focus on the main original game sources first (including hintbooks, comics and short stories). Any alternate character or location or story histories will be split into separate articles. Ex. Gabriel Knight is split into two additional articles; Gabriel Knight (novels) and Gabriel Knight (GK1HD) to showcase the differences between each source (and avoid confusion where the stories detour from each other). But each form of media is more or less considered 'equal' to other types of media.

Further information on the differences between story mediums can be found here;
 * Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers comparisons
 * Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within comparisons

The following policies only refer to articles in the main namespace. Pages in other namespaces (such as Help, User or Talk) are not covered.

Information Regarding GK1-3, short stories, comics, the novels, and GK1 20th Anniversary edition
Information regarding official games, manuals, hint books, comics and novels, and 20th anniversary remake are considered official (and canon) and can be entered normally. But there are special rules for different 'alternate canons'.

The 20th anniversary is said officially to be a 're-imagining' of the original game's story (akin to a 'reboot' to the series). Therefore it can be considered an 'alternate universe'/'alternate canon'. The novels are also treated as an alternate universe/alternate canon to the games.

Any potential discrepancies can be pointed out in the "behind the scenes" section of the article. Please remember to divide information related to novels or GKHD remake to their own unique articles. All articles must be referenced to the appropriate game or documentation as follows:

Articles relating to only one game, or with only very general information
Add the appropriate category to the end of the article. The categories are: (concerning the original versions of GK1) (for the 20th Anniversary version of GK1) (for the Pause Interlude short story) (for the The Temptation Interlude short story)

Topics: Characters, places, and items
In general the original namespace for a topic will refer to the original source of information. For example Gabriel Knight links to an article that discusses the topic of Gabriel Knight from the original trilogy of games (including prologue comics, and 'interludes'). Whereas Gabriel Knight (novels) discusses the background and stories of GK from the information from the novels, and Gabriel Knight (GK1HD) discusses Gabriel Knights actions from the 20th Anniversary reimagined version of events.

This will also apply to places, and other topics where there are differences in puzzles or plot in the various versions of the story.

Articles where more than one game is referenced
Each piece of information must be referenced to its particular game. This can be achieved by referring to particular eras within the text or by using footnotes. For more information on creating footnotes, see the quick reference guide.

Reimaginings and alternative universes
There are essentially three seperate 'universes' in the Gabriel Knight franchise between those in the original Sierra games, the novels and the 20th anniversary 'reimagining'. As mentioned this has lead to a divide in the articles in order to focus on details specific to each version of the character's story and development (with the main focus on the original trilogy of games).

The 20th anniversary edition is said to be a "reimagining", and not simply a remake. The term reimagining is not always easy to define but it is either seen as a form of 'reboot' (which it sometimes shares a similar definition), but sometimes can be defined a little more specifically.


 * Reimagining - remakes that do not closely follow the original. The term is used by creators in the marketing of films and television shows to inform audiences that the new product is not the same as the old. Reimaginings often contain tongue in cheek references to the original with characters and concepts of the same name, but significantly changed.

In the case of the 20th Anniversary it was at one point originally envisioned to be the start of a possibly a trilogy of reimagined versions (a rebooting of sorts) of the three original GK games including Beast Within and the third game as well. As well has hopes of getting the rights to make a Gabriel Knight 4. However, this panned out do to lack of success for the first reimagined game in the series.

In some cases materials may dove tail into a sort of 'shared universe' as is the case with later released materials such as the GK4 related prologue novella and comic, which can be seen as both a sequel to the original game series, as well a tie-in to the 20th Anniversary 'reimagining', and the novels as well.

See comparison articles linked above.

Information regarding fan fiction and fan games
Fan fiction and fan games are disputed, and are simply not officially canon. It is unlikely that any decision could be made where all fans agree. For this reason, information on fan fiction and games is restricted and allowed only within the guidelines of the following policies:

Fan fiction
Fan fiction should be categorized as. A story should be relatively complete (containing at least a single chapter) and published on a website.

Information from a fanfic may be included in related fan topic, but 'new topics' based only on a single fan fiction reference or should be avoided.

Fan game manuals or related websites are a special case and may be treated as 'part of the game' they are related to for the sake of creating new articles.

Meta and Non-Canon Information
This includes:
 * Information that comes from fanfiction
 * Information containing speculation
 * Information about references to the real world
 * Any other meta and non-canon information

If fan related material directly from fan fiction or fan games included in a canon topic should be put under the canon material in a section entitled "[topic] in the unofficial sources" (if it is specifically from a fan game, then sources could be replaced with "games").

Speculation from the fan community, information concerning the real world, etc, may be included in a "behind the scenes" section.

Note: If an entire article is meta or non-canon, it is sufficient to post a smaller message at the top of the article, which should say something like this:

Advertising and Off-topic discussions
Gabriel Knight Omnipedia follows a policy similar to that of Wikipedia (though somewhat looser). But in general, keep in mind that Gabriel Knight Omnipedia is not a soapbox, a battleground, or a vehicle for propaganda, advertising and showcasing. This applies to articles, categories, templates, talk page discussions, and user pages. Therefore, content hosted is not for:


 * 1.Advocacy, propaganda, or recruitment of any kind: commercial, political, religious, sports-related, or otherwise. Of course, an article can report objectively about such things, as long as an attempt is made to describe the topic from a neutral point of view. You might wish to start a blog or visit a forum if you want to convince people of the merits of your favorite views.


 * 2.Opinion pieces. Although some topics, particularly those concerning current affairs and politics, may stir passions and tempt people to "climb soapboxes" (for example, passionately advocate their pet point of view), wikia is not the medium for this. Articles must be balanced to put entries, especially for current events, in a reasonable perspective, and represent a neutral point of view. Furthermore, authors should strive to write articles that will not quickly become obsolete.


 * 3.Scandal mongering, something "heard through the grapevine" or gossip. Articles and content about living people are required to meet an especially high standard, as they may otherwise be libellous or infringe the subjects' right to privacy. Articles should not be written purely to attack the reputation of another person.
 * 4.Self-promotion. It can be tempting to write about yourself or projects in which you have a strong personal involvement. However, do remember that the standards for encyclopedic articles apply to such pages just like any other. This includes the requirement to maintain a neutral point of view, which is difficult when writing about yourself or about projects close to you. Creating overly abundant links and references to autobiographical sources is unacceptable.


 * 5.Advertising. All information about companies and products are written in an objective and unbiased style. All article topics must be verifiable with independent, third-party sources, so articles about very small "garage" or local companies are typically unacceptable. External links to commercial organizations are acceptable if they identify major organizations which are the topic of the article. Wikia neither endorses organizations nor runs affiliate programs.

Non-disruptive statements of opinion on internal policies and guidelines may be made on user pages, as they are relevant to the current and future operation of the project.