His Dark Materials:Canon

This page is an official policy of His Dark Materials Wiki.
Please make use of the talk page to propose any changes to this policy.

Since there are different sources of information for His Dark Materials canon, and sources do, on occasion, conflict with one another, the following guide is to be used on His Dark Materials Wiki. In order to simplify the different areas that exist as sources for canon information in the His Dark Materials multiverse we have devised a three tier system summarised below. Please remember any type of fanon, information created by fans using the HDM characters, is not considered canon at all and must be marked as such, unless made canon by a legitimate source.

Although there are different levels of canon, this does not mean relevant information cannot be included in situations where there are conflicting canon sources. Ambiguous continuity should always be noted. If an "official" canon source has been chosen, (e.g. Philip Pullman has said that a fact was a mistake and it was meant to be something else), the information from the conflicting source should still appear in the article in the extras section.

Basically put, everything is canon unless specifically contradicted by a "higher" source.

Canon tiers[]

• Philip Pullman - These sources come from Philip Pullman himself.
  • Books
    • His Dark Materials trilogy
    • Lyra's Oxford
    • Once Upon a Time in the North
    • The Collectors
    • Serpentine
    • The Book of Dust trilogy
  • Philip Pullman's Official Website
  • Interviews
• Philip Pullman Involved - These sources do not contain information directly from the "mouth" of Philip Pullman, yet they are projects that he was involved in.
  • The Golden Compass (film)
  • His Dark Materials (TV series)
• Philip Pullman Licensing - These sources are where Philip Pullman licensed the use of the HDM universe to another company or individual.
  • The Golden Compass video game
  • His Dark Materials stage play
  • Other official merchandise

Example of usage[]

Scenario

In the film, Ratter was the dæmon of Billy Costa, who is abducted by the Gobblers and later severed from his dæmon, only to die when found by Lyra Belacqua. However, in the books, Ratter is actually the dæmon of Tony Makarios.

Question

Which of the two versions should be written about in their articles?

Answer

Because the book is higher on the tier system than the film, this event should be written that Ratter is actually Tony Makarios's dæmon and any in-article mentions of this event should conform to the book. However, in the "Behind the scenes" section, it can be mentioned that his role was taken over by Billy Costa in the film.