Route Canon

[Quiver]

So... I know there is a topic asking which route is canon; that's not what I'm asking.

What I'm wondering is, do we know what is supposed to be canon for each individual route?

Based off of the box art, I think m!Corrin is supposed to be the canonical choice for Birthright, while f!Corrin is the canon for Conquest. I rather suspect that, storywise, Revelations is "supposed" to feature a m!Corrin paired with Azura...

But outside of that, do we know if any choices are held as the proper, canon choices for each route? Are he kids "supposed" to be collected in the game, and if so, do we know how their parents are meant to be (considering we know what their default hair colour is). Is Kaze meant to live or die in Birthright? Ae Conquest/Revelations players meant to pick up Flora? Etc.

What, exactly, does a canon Birthright, Conquest or Revelations playthrough look like?

[saisymbolic]

I assume just a standard run through all the story chapters is "canon." So, basically, ignoring everything except the story missions. If you want specifics, here you go:

Spoiler

Supports fall into two categories for me:

a) Supports, in general, are not canon because they are optional

or 

b) Supports that aren't supported by evidence from the main story aren't canon. Sibling/Sibling, Lord/Retainer and Retainer/Retainer supports if they share the same master would be canon. A support like Avatar/Silas would also be canon as it is mentioned during the main story that they were indeed childhood friends. On the opposite hand, Kagero/Orochi would not be canon because there is not evidence in the main storyline that they were childhood friends.

Regardless of if you believe either of those:

- S ranks are not canon. Even when a certain pairing is being pushed, I don't consider it canon due to how marriage works in the game.

- Paralogues. Recruiting Mozu and recruiting the children are not canon.

- Recruiting special characters is not canon. Flora, Yukimura and Izana require certain My Castle features to be upgraded. They are, therefore, not canon. Nyx and Shura may not be canon depending on how one plays a map. Some may ignore speaking to them (Nyx in CQ and RV; Shura in RV), doing the absolute bare minimum to complete the map. Shura is somewhat murky, but because Shura is not mentioned again outside his chapter in CQ, killing him for Boots may be canon (P.S. I can't remember how he is recruited in BR). 

- Outrealm shenanigans are not canon. Obviously.

- Depending on how you view supports, it may be canon that Kaze goes RIP in BR. It requires a minimum of an A rank to "save" him. If you don't believe supports are canon, Kaze is confirmed RIP. However, if you believe my other suggestion, he may be living in BR (P.S. I can't remember if he mentions being the Avatar's retainer during the main narrative, so he may just be RIP regardless).

 

 But, I wouldn't take my views to heart because they're, well, my views. Someone else may think completely differently.

Edited April 25, 2017 by saisymbolic
ugh weird formatting

[NekoKnight]

For a character as saintly as Corrin, I think any choice with a negative or positive outcome, the canon is going to be for the positive outcome. Shura and Kaze probably live in Conquest/Birthright. 

S-supports are obviously not canon although Azura gets enough attention in Revelation that I could see her has the canon Corrin ship. Hurray cousin incest!

I don't think Corrin's gender matters but if the box art is anyway to go by, Femui for Conquest and Mamui for Birthright.

I didn't play the children DLC so I don't know about their canon status. The main story doesn't mention them at all so I'm going with no.

Edited April 26, 2017 by NekoKnight

[Lightchao42]

Spoiler tagged for length:

Spoiler

When it comes to Fire Emblem canon, I usually assume that a) everyone that can be recruited is recruited, even if it isn't actually possible in-game*, and b) the player is competent and everyone survives, unless they die as part of the plot or something (Kaze's death is preventable so he most likely survives). Fates isn't an exception to either of these rules (mostly). It helps that sequels/prequels assume all these things anyway. For Genealogy, all of the children are canon, though the substitutes still exist in Jugdral (as unused Thracia 776 stuff suggests).

There are no canon pairings, except for those that are fixed (Marth/Caeda, Sigurd/Deirdre, Bartre/Karla) or, in Tellius, if the characters have no other romantic options (Mist/Boyd, Naesala/Leanne). There are implied canon pairings (Eliwood/Ninian, Chrom/Sumia), but they aren't actually canon unless a future game says so. Lewyn/Erinys is most likely canon despite not being fixed in Genealogy.

None of the Avatars have canon genders, though the default names and appearances for each are most likely canon.

Heirs of Fate suggests that all routes are canon, but they take place in alternate universes (consequently, all pairings in Awakening and Fates are technically canon through the Outrealms).

*This is especially true if characters are mutually exclusive for no apparent reason (Wallace/Geitz, Harken/Karel, and the blood price characters in Shadow Dragon. A Genealogy manga, for example, has both Iuchar and Iucharba both joining Seliph). The SpotPass characters are canon to Awakening, but the Trial Map/Creature Campaign characters aren't since they're not usable in the main plot. Exceptions include Arran/Samson (Arran is with Marth and Samson is with Sheena in Mystery, so Arran is likely the canon recruit), Nagi (since Marth doesn't recognize her in New Mystery), and the children in Fates (they could theoretically exist during the plot, but I usually assume that they're born after the war).

This is most likely a longer response than what you were expecting but that's the gist of it.