Canon

Whenever an author writes a series, everything he or she wrote themselves is considered canon. To put it more simply, canon is the original material that was stated by the writer in their work.

Manga
To know the story of One Piece and its content, you must look at the Japanese print of the manga; where the series started from. The manga is the backbone of One Piece, and without it, One Piece would not exist. Everything, everyone, and any events or information found in the manga are canon.

Short-Term Focused Cover Page Serials
Short-Term Focused Cover Page Serials, or "Cover stories" for short, are side stories that are found on cover pages. They often show what happened to an antagonist or side character after they encountered the Straw Hats. As they are written by Oda, and often connect back to the main story-line, they are considered canon.

SBS
The SBS is a question and answer column that is printed in the One Piece Volumes. In them Oda, and occasionally voice actors from the anime, answer fan questions about One Piece. As Oda is providing the information, usually going into more depth about things including a Devil Fruit's name or confirming a bit of information he had hidden in the manga, it is considered canon.

Databooks
The databooks give out more detailed information on the manga, giving names not found in the manga and are considered canon due to Oda supplying the information, unless the information is contradicted by the manga or SBS.

Grand Line Times
This is a review of material already presented in the manga. It is considered canon. It was made by Oda, when he was ill, to help fans catch up with the series.

Monsters
Monsters is a one-shot manga story Oda created in 1994, before One Piece. It was revealed to be part of One Piece canon during the Thriller Bark Arc, due to the appearance of the protagonist, Ryuma, in the form of a zombie. It was officially confirmed in SBS Volume 47.

Anime
The anime can be highly canon if it is following the manga, but sometimes the anime becomes independent and inserts its own information that is not originally found in the manga. Sometimes Toei can subtly foreshadow the events that are coming up in the anime (mostly due to events being done in the manga prior). This can be seen when a ghost of the Going Merry is shown during the sea train ride, and also after the Luffy versus Usopp duel, where Toei had Zoro acting cold towards Usopp by telling Chopper not to talk about him. Fans thought that this move was out of his character but in the manga, Zoro acted the same way after Luffy learned that Usopp wanted to re-join but did not like the idea of Luffy being weak like that. In the anime, Boin Archipelago was a giant plant with the mouth in the middle, it was confirmed canon later in the manga, the same goes to the shadowy figures Zoro faced turning out to be apes, who were confirmed in the manga except that they were baboons instead. But the anime is not always trustworthy. The anime was meant to describe the events in the manga, expanding the roles and actions to fill up the 30 minutes time frame. They add events, histories, information, and extra scenes not found in the manga.

Toei has even created some plotholes. For example, in the Warship Island Arc, Zoro stated that there was nothing he could not cut, but the fact that he claimed that the chains he cut were steel is a major plothole as in the manga (and the anime), he was shown to be unable to cut steel until the Alabasta Arc, when he cut Daz Bones. In the Davy Back Fight Arc, Chopper ate three rumble balls without turning into Monster Chopper, but Chopper was not supposed to eat another rumble ball within 6 hours. In the Diary of Coby-Meppo cover story adaption, Garp, Coby and Helmeppo went up Reverse Mountain, but in the manga they went through the Calm Belt, however Toei covered up the mistake by having Coby state that the newspaper was wrong. In the anime, Toei tried to explain why Sanji was in a sweet dress by saying that Caroline had him release his "inner maiden" which turned Sanji into an Okama, thus causing him to lose his interest in girls and leading to him deciding to be friends with them while in the manga he was forced to wear it. Sanji was no longer wearing it and had reverted to his old self when he met Ivankov. In the Warship Island Arc, the crew saved Ryu, an old and weakened dragon, however, in the Punk Hazard Arc, the crew stated that the dragon they had encountered on Punk Hazard was the first they had seen.

As for the fillers, they were added to prevent the anime from catching up with the manga, during the filler arcs they often insert pieces of canon material in the middle of a filler episode, and often insert children that are seen as annoying by many fans. Here are the list of filler arcs and filler episodes added by Toei Animation. Take note that none of the fillers have any connections to the canon storyline.


 * Warship Island Arc: The Straw Hats help a young girl named Apis save her friend. In the manga, the Straw Hat Pirates were supposed to escape Loguetown, enter and escape the Calm Belt before going up Reverse Mountain without any interruptions, Luffy was supposed to save Usopp from the Sea King instead of Apis. During this Arc, Oda had just wrapped up the Drum Island Arc and was doing the early chapters of the Alabasta Arc. It takes place between the Loguetown Arc and the Reverse Mountain Arc.
 * Post-Alabasta Arc: This arc is composed of stand alone episodes (for each of the crew members excluding Luffy and Robin). It took place after Nico Robin joined the crew. It takes place between the Alabasta Arc and Goat Island Arc.
 * Goat Island Arc: The Straw Hats assists an old man named Zenny achived his dreams of becoming a Pirate. It takes place between the Post-Alabasta Arc and Ruluka Island Arc.
 * Ruluka Island Arc: The Straw Hats deal with the mysterious Rainbow Mist. In the manga, after Robin joined, a ship fell from the sky; in the anime it happen at the end of this arc. This, and the two previews filler arcs were made because Oda was in the early stage of the Skypiea Arc. It takes place between the Goat Island Arc and the Jaya Arc.
 * G8 Arc: The Straw Hat pirates landed in a bay of a Marine base. In the manga, they landed in an open water after leaving Skypiea, Nami tried out the waver and Luffy discussed the idea of obtaining a shipwright. In the anime, it was Usopp who discussed about getting a shipwright with a repairman. It takes place between the Skypiea Arc and Long Ring Long Land Arc.
 * Ocean's Dream Arc: This arc is based on a video game of the same name. It involves Robin trying to reunite the crew, who have lost their memories. It takes place between the Long Ring Long Land Arc and the Foxy's Return Arc.
 * Foxy's Return Arc: This arc depicts the Straw Hat Pirates re-encountering Foxy, Porche, and Hamburg. In the anime, this led to the encounter with Aokiji. It takes place between the Ocean's Dream Arc and the Water 7 Arc
 * Ice Hunter Arc: This arc chronicles the journey of the Straw Hat Pirates from Water 7, into the Florian Triangle, coming close to a winter island inhabited by the Accino Family. It takes place between the Post-Enies Lobby Arc and Thriller Bark Arc.
 * Spa Island Arc: This arc chronicles the Straw Hat's stay at Spa Island, where they run into Foxy, Porche, and Hamburg. It takes place between the Thriller Bark Arc and Sabaody Archipelago Arc.
 * Little East Blue Arc: The Straw Hats visits Little East Blue, an island inhabited by former East Blue residents and visitors, inspired by that sea. The Little East Blue Arc is a special arc that serves as a lead into One Piece Film: Strong World. It takes place during the Impel Down Arc.
 * Z's Ambition Arc: The Straw Hats encounter Lily Enstomach and help her save her father from the Marines and Neo Marines. The Z's Ambition Arc is a special arc that serves as a lead into One Piece Film: Z. It takes place between the Fishman Island Arc and Punk Hazard Arc.
 * Caesar Retrieval Arc: After Caesar Clown is kidnapped, Luffy, Chopper, and Law goes to retrieve him from Breed. It takes place between the Punk Hazard Arc and Dressrosa Arc.
 * Silver Mine Arc: Luffy and Bartolomeo try to escape Silver Mine after getting kidnapped by the Silver Pirate Alliance. The Silver Mine Arc is a special arc that serves as a lead into One Piece Film: Gold. It takes place between the Dressrosa Arc and Zou Arc.
 * Marine Rookie Arc: The Sanji Retrieval Team is suffering from food shortage, and disembark on Fron Island to steal from the island's marine base food supply. They are then confronted by the newly arrived Captain All-Hunt Grount and his friends before escaping with the supplies, only to lose then again immediately due to their starving state. It takes place between the Zou Arc and Whole Cake Island Arc.

Colorspreads and Color Walks
Colorspreads are double page pieces of artwork by Oda that appear as chapter covers on occasion, with no set schedule. Color Walks are books that collect colorspreads from multiple chapters. Despite the colorspreads are designed and devised by Oda, they are non-canon.

Novels
Twelve novels were written depicting various stories connected or separate from actual canon as depicted by Oda. The first novel is an expanded version of the Loguetown arc written by Tatsuya Hamazaki with ideas and concepts by Oda. One of the concepts used in the novel was a sequence left out of the manga explaining how Usopp received his goggles and his encounter with Daddy Masterson, which could be considered continuity or filler dependent on your views.

OVA
Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack is the first anime in a movie form created in 1998 one year before Toei took rights to create the series based on the manga. Only Luffy, Zoro and Nami are in it, since it released when One Piece was in the Syrup Village Arc, which is why Usopp did not appear. Ganzack, a villain with a armor with a crab claws was a basic concept for Don Krieg.

Cross Epoch
This is a crossover comic that features the Dragon Ball and One Piece cast, but does not have anything to do with the main storyline, and fans do not consider those canonical.

Video Games
Video Games may feature characters and events from the manga, but they have nothing to do with the canon storyline. In fact there are games that have original non-canon characters:


 * Ocean's Dream! - Oceans of Dreams: Which features Noko with the Nemu Nemu no Mi.

Round the Land: Which features Blyue with the Mini Mini no Mi.


 * Big Secret Treasure of the Seven Phantom Islands: Which features Simon with the Pasa Pasa no Mi.


 * One Piece: Unlimited Adventure: Which features Popola and the Evil Guardian/Evil Master Beast.


 * One Piece: Unlimited Cruise: Which feature Gaburi and the Doom Guardian/Demon of Doom.


 * One Piece: Unlimited World Red: Which features Patrick Redfield with the Batto Batto no Mi, Model: Vampire and Pato the pen that "ate" the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Bake-danuki.

Features
Toei has inserted special features that have nothing to do with the canon.

Omake Features
Most of the comics Oda drew in the omake have nothing to do with the canon, despite the fact that Oda drew them. The comics often humorously feature the One Piece cast in different roles and different situations which are standalone stories. However, the only omake which could occur in continuity is Report Time, which chronicles the Straw Hat crew's eating habits during the first parts of their voyage, up to Sanji joining, but it is unconfirmed if it actually is.

Movies
These movies were based on the events of the series.


 * Movie 1 takes place in the East Blue, just before Sanji is introduced.


 * Movie 2 takes place between the Loguetown Arc and the Warship Island Arc. While it could be in canon with Ace and Vivi having a cameo appearance in the credits, their color schemes are different from those shown in the manga, and later the anime.


 * Movie 3 has Tony Tony Chopper in it, but cannot occur in the canon since neither Nefeltari Vivi (who was there when he joined) nor Nico Robin (who joined the crew immediately after leaving Alabasta and Vivi) are in this.


 * Movie 4 took place after Alabasta, the confrontation between Gasparde and Luffy was similar to the confrontation between Crocodile and Luffy (Luffy screaming Gasparde's name like he did with Crocodile and coated his hands with powder to fight Gasparde like he used blood to fight Crocodile).


 * Movie 5 took place while the series was in Skypiea.


 * Movie 6 is similar to the Davy Back Fight, only that the setting is darker, and the events bigger.


 * Movie 7 was supposed to take place before Water 7. Although there are machines in the movie, Oda later added Karakuri Island to the canon storyline, although the only mechanics on this island were the Automata created by Moonwatcher. While this movie is not to be consider canon, it shows Luffy activating Gear Second unwittingly, being a possible explanation for the origin of the technique.


 * Movie 8 was supposed to take place during Alabasta Arc but many things were changed. Ace, Rainbase, the Marines, and Mr. 3 did not appear in the movie, making it different from the canon Alabasta.


 * Movie 9 is a remake of the Drum Island Arc, but Vivi is not in it, and Robin and Franky make an appearance, and Wapol has an older brother and new subordinates. It is dramatically different from the canon events that occurred at Drum. However, the revised 2014 edition adds an additional scene which retroactively makes it a dream that a post-timeskip Chopper experienced while on board the Thousand Sunny after the crew has reunited, setting the movie sometime after the Fishman Island Arc but before the Punk Hazard Arc.


 * Movie 10 takes place on Merveille. It takes place between the Thriller Bark Arc and Sabaody Archipelago Arc, because Brook has joined the crew and it occurs before the crew is separated.


 * Movie 11 takes place between Thriller Bark Arc and Sabaody Archipelago Arc, because Brook has joined the crew and it occurs before the crew is separated.


 * Movie 12 takes place at various locations in the New World and is the first movie set there. It occurs at some point between the anime-only Z's Ambition Arc and the Punk Hazard Arc because the crew has entered the New World but Law is not with them yet.


 * Movie 13 takes place after the Dressrosa Arc and before the Zou Arc because it was mentioned Luffy defeated Donquixote Doflamingo and Sabo obtained Ace's Mera Mera no Mi. This could not fit into the storyline because in the Dressrosa Arc, part of the Straw Hats departed to Zou. However, in the movie, the entire crew is present, but Trafalgar Law and Caesar Clown are not present.

Oda's Involvement
Oda has occasionally been involved in non-canon material:


 * Oda wrote the story for One Piece Film: Strong World and was executive producer for One Piece Film: Z and One Piece Film: Gold.
 * Oda has designed many anime-only characters for Toei (anime) and Bandai (video games).
 * Oda provided character designs for the first OVA characters. Sketches of these can be found in one of the early volumes.
 * A novelization of the Loguetown Arc written in 2000 had the story of Usopp's encounter with Daddy Masterson and his daughter Carol, explaining where he got his goggles. Oda stated that he did want to include this story in the manga but could not due to the pressure to start the Grand Line story exactly at chapter 100.
 * The character Musshuru was created by Oda for the 9th One Piece movie as Wapol's brother. Due to many of the other changes in the story, including the inclusion of Robin and Franky to the story of the discovery and joining of Tony Tony Chopper, it cannot be considered canon in the continuity.
 * Oda has also designed other non-canon characters such as Accino, Gasparde, Z, Ratchet, and more.

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