This page is considered an official policy on the DC Animated Universe Wiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone should follow. Except for minor edits, please make use of the discussion page to propose changes to this policy. |
Conjecture, in the DCAU Wiki, is speculation and inferences based on something else than canon, and any kind of non-canonical material.
What does it have to do with the DC Animated Universe Wiki?
The goal of the DC Animated Universe Wiki is to present canonical information of the DCAU shows in a encyclopedic format. Therefore, we disallow fanon and/or material from the DC Comics as a means of filling in gaps or answering unanswered questions. This does not preclude, however, deductions based on canon facts or basic common sense, as long as they are clearly presented as such and never construed as confirmed canon.
It's a known fact that the DC Animated Universe is based on characters, events, and places from the DC comic books. The creative team involved in the DCAU used the DC comics mainly as a primary resource to lay the foundations of the Animated Universe or to kick off its storylines. However, they used those elements at their own discretion and convenience. When a particularity pertaining to a place, character or event is not mentioned, accounted or implied on-screen ― or off-screen by the developers ― one should not assume that those unstated details coincide with the comics. Just because Lex Luthor was stated to be born of the Suicide Slums, it doesn't mean that such fact should be conveyed into the DCAU canonicity, in the lack of canon background minutiae.
Here at the DC Animated Universe Wiki, our main concern is to register only canon facts, leaving unspecified details to appropriate background sections. Albeit, there are exceptions.
Exceptions
Given the scope of the DCAU vs. the amount of background details unaccounted for, we are compelled to resort to a modicum of comic book-based conjecture to circumvent certain conventions and impediments.
Conjecture is permitted in two situations:
- Names for characters, places, and objects seen on-screen but not named otherwise,
- Names of species for the character infobox.
Why?
Character names are absolutely necessary, so as to create articles for unnamed elements of the DCAU (Joe Chill). Conjectural species names is acceptable because most species are unstated on-screen, which means that even identifying Lois Lane as "human" is a mere assumption. Therefore, it's only suitable to recourse to DC sources in order to identify alien species, and assume that they correspond to their DCAU counterparts.
However, conjectural alien species should not spawn new articles. For example, Sinestro's species (Korugaran) is listed in his article, but there is no species article for "Korugaran."
How can we distinguish Canon names from Conjecture?
Every article with a conjectural name should be tagged with {{Conjecture}} at the top, and its respective "Background Information" section should include an explanation of the claim — normally with {{ConjecturalName}} or {{ConjecturalTitle}}.
What is considered canonical in the DCAU?
Everything that is definitively stated and confirmed on-screen, or off-screen by the show's creators (writers, producers). The latter includes, but is not limited to, interviews, audio commentaries, and DVD features.
See also
Further Reading