I could be wrong, but...

"Canon" Agents? by Ugolino on 2011-02-03 19:47:00 UTC Reply

Would recruiting Agents that're technically canon but never seen mentioned/on-screen be allowed?

For example, would a minor Star Wars ship crewman or a junior researcher/staff member from Torchwood One be missed? These people would exist by canon sources, but aren't really "canons".

Question by Sedri on 2011-02-04 00:48:00 UTC Reply

Do you mean, for instance, a nameless SW crewman who has no lines and might not even be seen on screen, or one that technically has a role but is so minor that they won't, as people have said below, be missed? If the first, is there any reason you can't just say that the agent was a bit extra in a bad fanfic rather than canon? Not that you need to, by any means, but it would neatly avoid the issue entirely. Just curious.

Re: Question by Ugolino on 2011-02-04 01:02:00 UTC Reply

I was under the impression bits were limited to whatever personality they showed up to the point of the badfic...That's an interesting exercise and character to write, but not really what I was planning to go for.

Correct me if I'm wrong please.

I could be wrong, but... by Neshomeh on 2011-02-04 02:17:00 UTC Reply

My impression is that people got the idea that "all bit characters lack personalities" from the story I did about Ilraen's recruitment. He was meant to be a special case, because having a freaking Andalite as a throwaway character was particularly stupid, and we wanted him to have a chance at something better. There's no reason EVERY bit character recruit has to be the same--in fact, there's plenty of reason why they shouldn't. In most cases, there should be something worth recruiting in a bit character. If they're just a mindless dummy, might as well kill 'em or let 'em assimilate.

So, therefore, Sedri's idea would work. However, there's nothing wrong with having a character from a canon 'verse, if they aren't specifically a canon character--if people can get here from World One, they can get here from anywhere. There are plenty of agents like that.

~Neshomeh + $0.02

Yes - my non-Human agents all came about that way. by Sedri on 2011-02-04 09:04:00 UTC Reply

For both Iza and Ketay, I just pretended there had been a badfic in which they'd been bit or background characters and that they'd been recruited for one reason or another; I assumed that was the norm, and that's the impression I was under for most non-Human agents. It never occured to me that we'd be allowed to take bit characters from canon itself, but in retrospect I don't see why not - I guess I just prefer taking them from badfics since there's less meddling in canon, so to speak.

Rambling again... my two cents.
Re: I could be wrong, but... by Ugolino on 2011-02-04 03:34:00 UTC Reply

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks. Still not sure how to approach it, but it shouldn't really make much of a difference either way as long as he has certain quirks and habits...

Yes, but I'd be careful. by Aster Corbett on 2011-02-03 21:04:00 UTC Reply

This is why the PPC often recruits extras that are doomed to die-- they will NEVER show up again in their source material. If there is even the slightest chance of that character showing up again and playing even a small part in a canon work, I'd avoid it. We'd hate to cause a multidimensional paradox with somebody being in the PPC when they should have been in their canonical material.

If that's not the case? If the character is so totally minor and definately will not be mentioned every again Go for it.
Yes, it is allowed. by JulyFlame on 2011-02-03 20:34:00 UTC Reply

KG's statement of 'extras' in the sense that he's thinking of I don't think is precisely right, as we've had actual canons recruited to the PPC who were major characters in their canon, the argument being that recruiting them at the point after their role in canon ends or just right when they are supposed to die makes them eligible since they are not going to contribute to the plot any further on a personal level.

What you're suggesting however, I take it you mean small minor characters from the canon and not a fic? I'd like to argue that this sort of thing can be tricky to explain away, since Star Wars has a universe with multiple levels of canon where even the most unexpected and most initially considered minor characters end up having their own personal and important contribution to make to the history of the canon and become main or secondary characters in their own right.

Re: Yes, it is allowed. by Ugolino on 2011-02-03 22:04:00 UTC Reply

Sorry about the ambiguity. The character I had in mind was of my own creation; more specifically, someone working in "Artifact Processing" for the Torchwood Tower. He'd have been on lunch break when the Cybermen took over (Nu Who's S2 finale), and wound up jumping through a portal because it seemed better than getting upgraded.

So he wouldn't be on-screen or even technically canon. He'd just be in the same general category as the extras in the episode.

Yes, that's fine. (nm) by JulyFlame on 2011-02-03 22:12:00 UTC Reply

Something like that, I think? by Same bloke on 2011-02-03 20:55:00 UTC Reply

Sorry, I've not been up long and was trying to figure out how to put it, but something like that. And we've had agents who're canon natives who've held jobs that, canonically speaking, have to have existed. Either way, though, concern about character roles aside there's not been much problem doing so in past, though I seem to recall people getting tired of main canons being recruited? I know there was a thread about that /somewhere/.

Yes. by JulyFlame on 2011-02-03 21:06:00 UTC Reply

It's frowned upon, original characters who are normal human beings are far preferred.

Also, not sticking with your username is also frowned upon, especially midthread. It is confusing and holds no purpose. Don't do that.

I think that'd be fine. by KGarrett on 2011-02-03 20:08:00 UTC Reply

There's lots of agents like that, sort of "extras" for lack of a better term. My interpretation's been that canons are more the major characters in a given work, while actual natives are technically part of the canon but not actual canon characters, if that made sense? With the "canon" characters being more strongly tied to the 'verse than the extras who nevertheless would canonically exist.