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Canon

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As ambiguous as the G-Man.

The canon of the Half-Life and Portal series has largely never been officially defined by Valve. Half-Life series writer Marc Laidlaw stated that the issue of canon is "something the fans came up with"[1] and that they do not have an official stance on it.[2] He remarked that they "do not get involved in issues of canonicity" and that "canon itself is non-canon", letting the games stand on their own.[1][2] Valve also chooses not to define a precise timeline as they would only end up contradicting themselves in the future.[3] As such, a handful of retcons have occurred throughout the series.

Regarding the Portal-themed technology demo spinoffs specifically, Portal series writer Erik Wolpaw has stated that they do consider these to be non-canon to the main Portal games.[4]

OverWiki designations rationale

As no official definition of canon exists for most of the Half-Life and Portal series, the use of the term "canon" here on the Combine OverWiki is meant strictly for browsing convenience purposes to distinguish between sources that contribute to the series' overarching storyline and sources that do not. The following list is not official (except where explicitly cited) and should not be taken as rule.

Unofficial OverWiki list

Canon material

Half-Life cover art.
Portal 2 cover art.
Half-Life: Alyx cover art.

Half-Life games

Portal games

Miscellaneous

Official guides

Non-canon material

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch cover art.
Bridge Constructor Portal cover art.
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast cover art.

Portal-themed tech demos[4]

Miscellaneous

Cut material

Behind the scenes media

(Although material given in these sources that expounds specifically upon aspects in the finished games are typically regarded as canon.)

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Marc Laidlaw as quoted in the Marc Laidlaw Vault on the Steam Users' Forums (archived)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Canonicity of games in the Half-Life series (archived). Crowbar Error 42 (September 2009). Retrieved on 2009-10-29.
  3. Marc Laidlaw Vault on the ValveTime Forums
  4. 4.0 4.1 Erik Wolpaw on the canonicity of the Portal-themed tech demos (March 3, 2022)

External links