- A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
- —The traditional Star Wars movie opener. Forgetting either or both of these important points is a charge.
Star Wars (CIC: THX-1138-525-GL) is a large continuum focused on a galaxy and the constant fighting and balancing of good and evil in the Force, done primarily through the Jedi and Sith. The Galaxy Far Far Away, which is the setting of this canon, is often abbreviated as "GFFA." Some fans also refer to the canon itself as "GFFA" or "the GFFA-verse." It was the brainchild of George Lucas, who prior to it was best known for American Graffiti, and who would also go on to create the character of Indiana Jones.
As of April 25, 2014, about a year since the franchise was acquired from Lucas by the Walt Disney Company, the official Star Wars canon is comprised of the main series films, the Clone Wars TV series and movie, the Dark Horse Comics arc Star Wars: Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, and any materials produced since April 25 under the direction of the LucasFilm Story Group. The vast Star Wars expanded universe, formerly considered canon to varying degrees, has been rebranded as Star Wars Legends. While some Legends material does appear in the newest films, Disney does not intend to follow it closely.
The series has a wiki, which is useful for keeping track of all the canon and Legends material.
Movies[]
The first Star Wars movie, the titular Star Wars (subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981) was released in 1977. It and the two subsequent films, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, follow the story of Luke Skywalker, a Tatooine farm boy who gets involved in the Rebellion against the Empire while exploring his connection to the legacy of the Jedi Knights, an order of galactic protectors all but stamped out by the Empire, and discovering his abilities in the mystical Force. In the end, the Emperor is slain, and a new era of peace is clearly fast approaching for the galaxy.
In the late Nineties and early Aughties, Lucasfilms released three new movies (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith), collectively called the Prequel Trilogy, as they served as prequels to the original three. This trilogy detailed the early life of Anakin Skywalker (Luke's father), the events leading up to the creation of the Galactic Empire and the fall of the Jedi, and the rise of the mysterious Sith. Opinion on these movies is very widely split in the fandom; while there is no arguing their canonical status, some people wish that there was an argument.
In 2012, Disney bought the rights to Star Wars and began production of a seventh movie. The movie, called The Force Awakens, was released in 2015. The Force Awakens focuses on renegade stormtrooper Finn and orphaned scavenger Rey as they fight the Empire's remnant, the First Order. It has itself had two sequels since.
Expanded Universe[]
The expanded universe (now officially termed Star Wars Legends) is generally considered to have begun in 1978, when Alan Dean Foster published a spin-off novel titled Splinter of the Mind's Eye. However, it didn't really jump into the public eye until the `90s, when Bantam Books published three books by Timothy Zahn: the Thrawn Trilogy.
Since then, the EU has grown to dwarf its mother continuum, encompassing hundreds of novels, video games (more below), and cartoon shows that tell the tale of almost everything that the movies don't. Since nothing got into the EU without Lucas's approval, the EU was conditionally canon: as long as it didn't contradict the movies and other "official" sources, it could considered canon. However, there were different levels of canon (as explained in more detail here):
- G-canon (stuff that comes directly from George Lucas himself, i.e. The Movies)
- T-canon (the Clone Wars "movie" and TV series)
- C-canon (most published EU material)
- S-canon (older EU material, or stuff from older comic books; "pick and choose" canon)
- Non-canon (AU stories like Infinities)
- Apart from AU stories, two specific elements of the EU were also declared non-canon. Splinter of the Mind's Eye was written using concepts Lucas has since abandoned, and the Star Wars Holiday Special... well, Lucas himself has said that if he could, he'd destroy every copy in existence. (Yes, it really is that bad. See a review here.)
Under Disney, the expanded universe has been declared a separate continuity, and has no bearing on the sequel trilogy.
Star Wars Video Games[]
There have been many video games that have latched onto the Star Wars franchise. There have been good games, such as Knights of the Old Republic or the Rogue Squadron series. There have been bad games, such as Masters of Teras Kasi or the movie games (Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace: The Game). There have also been silly (yet fun) games, such as the Lego Star Wars series.
Most of these games counted as C-canon pre-Disney, but some are stupid and therefore were agreed to be non-canon... and some are awesome and considered to be as good as T-canon. One has to be knowledgeable about the culture of these games and the EU to know which games had what weight in canon. This is independent of the book EU rating system.
It can be assumed that the "light side" or successful winning outcome of each game is the canon outcome except when explicitly said that the "dark side" or failing outcome is canon.
It is unclear if Star Wars Division DMS agents should take on GFFA-verse video game canon missions as they do EU literature missions, or if that should be left to the Video Games Division. It can go either way.
Characters[]
Several main characters:
- Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Wikipedia)
- Padmé Amidala (Wikipedia)
- C-3PO and R2-D2
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (Wikipedia)
- Yoda
- Palpatine/Darth Sidious
- Luke Skywalker (Wikipedia)
- Leia Organa (Wikipedia)
- Han Solo (Wikipedia)
- Chewbacca
Star Wars in Badfic[]
The Star Wars fandom is very peculiar in that it grew up with so much constantly overturning and retconning canon. For the people who care about that type of thing, it can mean nearly a free-for-all in terms of canon adherence. A lot of Legends material contains egregious Canon Sues, when each writer makes a character more awesome than the other Canon Sues that came before them. Usually badfic written by fanboys introduces copious Gary Stus, and canon-bucking fangirls write plenty of Jedi!Sues and Sith!Sues.
On the other hand, there are fans that don't care about anything beyond the movies. Lots of fangirls will try and retcon the canon to make it "better" (Anakin never became Vader, or Anakin never lost to Obi-Wan and got locked in the Darth Vader suit) and thus dismiss the whole plot for the sake of a little lovey-dovey. Also, many fangirls are concerned with "fixing" Darth Vader and redeeming him early, and sometimes healing his wounds. This actually can turn into long, sentimental and touching goodfic... but more often than not it becomes meaningless and badly executed badfic.
Luke and Vader father-son fluff is popular despite more realistic interpretations of their relationship. This can be goodfic, but once again many of the writers in this section are not skilled enough to pull it off.
There is some Mary Sue romance and some bad slash/yaoi, but fix-fic is far more common. Also, super-powered Jedi and Sith Sues make regular appearances, which the Eclectic Subdivision of Advanced Species or the All-Purpose Department's Star Wars Division should handle, unless higher-ups give it to unlucky DMS agents.
There are many established star systems, planets, and other locations that are named as well as many colorful alien races. Messing any of these up is a charge.
Star Wars and the PPC[]
- The Hostile Hostel is a badfic creation that provides a potential vacation spot for PPC agents (assuming they somehow manage to get vacation).
- Various substances in this continuum, such as Glitteryll, Crude, and death sticks, are illegal to possess, use or distribute in Headquarters.
- Star Wars minis are mini-rancors. They were created at the Star Wars Fanfiction Academy, which is now deleted. It was written by Alistair Fyrethorne and the PPC's own Leto Haven.
- The entire expanded universe, now known as the Legends continuity, is now a separate canon from main continuity, and in some interpretations is no longer canon at all. It is unknown what affect this has had on PPC agents, concepts, and technologies coming from Star Wars, especially since much of aforesaid came from the Legends continuity, but it's entirely possible the canon corrected itself and the details of relevant personnel without too many problems; after all, the announcement did not cause a massive time paradox in which the Mysterious Somebody retroactively ceased to exist.
Agents Native to Star Wars[]
- Alk'iod'inrokini (Iodin)
- Blba Tree
- Brenden Sanderson
- Bryndan Kern
- Cavan Shenn
- Darion Shadowflame
- Darius Deo
- Drental Parjir
- Hul Choka
- Isolde Van
- Kath (native to a crossover with The Lord of the Rings)
- Leopold, a Shistavanen, is mentioned in the journal of Dúros Black as working in the DIA as of 2004
- Lorson Rho
- The Mysterious Somebody
- Prereek Sevno, a Rodian in the Department of Personnel
- Rilwen Shadowflame
- A Twi'lek named Suzay was on the agent team that "recruited" the Mysterious Somebody
- Tanar Lok
- Tira Avrona
- Vander Lorren
- Wallis
- The DIS employed a Wookiee at some point, but he was never named and his fate is currently unknown. It is very likely that he either left the DIS when the SO demanded their surrender, or was killed.
Missions in this Continuum[]
All reports are listed alphabetically by agent name, in the case of agents with multiple missions, or by mission name.
Agents Specialized in this Continuum[]
Agents are considered specialized in a continuum when they have handled at least three missions in the canon. Most of these agents are also active/specialized in other continua. It is often not the agents who decide where their specialty lies, but the Flowers that keep assigning missions to them.
- Agents Desdendelle and the Librarian (DF)
- "Arbitrary" (crossover with Avatar: The Last Airbender)
- "Prosthetic Conscience" (crossover with Doctor Who)
- "Prime Mover" (crossover with Star Trek), with the Reader and Kozar (DIC)
- Agent Tawaki (DF/DTO)
- "The Droid and the General," with Hul Choka and Iskillion (DF)
- "Anakin Skywalker and the Jedi's Gem" (crossover with Harry Potter), with Melpomene and Natalie Green (DTO)
- "Eternal Balance," with Dustin O'Grady (DTO)
Agents Not Yet Specialized in this Continuum[]
Agents with fewer than three missions in this continuum are not specialized, yet. They probably soon will be.
- "Abbey the Jedi" Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Agents Kirill and Zug (DF)
- "The Clone," Agents Tara and Turik (DI)
- "Deez," Agents Cavan Shenn and Rilwen Shadowflame (DF)
- "If I Were Her," Agents Beethoven Sonata, Lora Riker, and April Halloway (DMS)
- "Les Misérables Songfic Crisis" (also features Les Misérables), Agents Kern and Logan (ESAS), with cameos from several other agents
Crossovers[]
- Agents Desdendelle and the Librarian (DF)
- "Arbitrary" (crossover with Avatar: The Last Airbender)
- "Prosthetic Conscience" (crossover with Doctor Who)
- "Prime Mover" (crossover with Star Trek), with the Reader and Kozar (DIC)
- "Anakin Skywalker and the Jedi's Gem" (crossover with Harry Potter), Agents Tawaki Penguin and Melpomene with Trainee Natalie Green (DTO)
- "Darkness Awakened" (crossover with The Lord of the Rings), Agents Jay and Acacia (DIC)
- "Extremely Bad Crossovers" (crossover with Golden Sun), Agents Rob and Adrian (DMS - Golden Sun)
- "First Mission!" (crossover with Star Trek), Agents Infinity and Lócë (DMS - Rare Fandoms)
- "Halloween" (crossover with The West Wing and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Agents Alec Trevelyan and Kitty Callahan (DMS)
- "Short Ride on a Ludicrous Speed Machine" (crossover with Mass Effect, Halo, Super Mario Galaxy, and Stargate Atlantis), Agents Florestan and Eusabius (DIC)
- "Statistics" (crossover with Edward Scissorhands and Labyrinth), Agents Star and Annalas (DMS - Labyrinth)
- "Veni, Vidi, Vale" (crossover with Harry Potter), Agents Lorson Rho and Dax (DIC)