Explain/What's Canon?
| “ | I don't get it! There are all these running threads that seem to contradict each other! What's canon? <--- title of the article | ” | |
| — You, the reader, maybe | |||
Glad you asked! The short and "glass half-empty" answer is nothing. Everybody's making it up as we go, and contradictions are bound to happen. The true answer is more complicated, and has to be combed through piece by piece.
Contestants
Simply put - because of the nature of over a hundred people creating their own character, each with their own attributes, information is going to contradict each other. For a clear example, look at Chronological list of contestant related events, where information conflicts with each other all over the place.
Some characters are on the wiki in the style of documentation (123 Referee, Christmas Techo Scarf, Head of Lettuce, [THE ZEITGEIST]) while other character's pages are self published or otherwise edited by the character (9150625, Emoticon, Teenage Trouble Claws, [THE ZEITGEIST]). Some characters interact with wikis on a physical basis (The Wiki Machine, The Eater of Wikis, Image, [THE ZEITGEIST]) while some are even part of the wiki itself (SswtUPtyOLI, [THE ZEITGEIST]). What you'll learn is that it's a menagerie, to say the least. Also that [THE ZEITGEIST] tends to dabble.
There are exceptions to the rule of wiki, of course - the best example is Paper Niko, in which the Wiki Camp 2 is contextualized as a platform fighting game. Also of note is Head of Lettuce, in which the Wiki Camp is contextualized as a presidential election, and Tombstone, where all of their pages are stylized as non-wiki pages entirely. These differences mean that any entity which is a part of multiple canons, including what the wiki is, is extremely up for interpretation, and changes from character to character and page to page - leading to further confusion when characters that are part of differing canons interact.
This has lead to "canons" cropping up, or groups of pages that tie to specific characters. For examples, see Category:Diary, Category:THE ZEITGEIST, or Category:55.
Many pages will specifically include some information from one "canon" while not including other potentially important information from that same canon. In general, whenever a page has any sort of story or continuity that connects to some other page, it's probably picking and choosing what it considers to be canon and not canon. It's sort of like superhero comics, or some other better example.
Where do they punch each other?
- See also: Explain/Wikiland
Is the Wiki Camp a physical place, or is it just a wiki? It depends who you ask.
If you asked Mugshot, they would reply that the Wiki Camp takes place in the city of CityWhereWikiCamp2TakesPlace City, while if you asked Big Boy, they would reply that the Wiki Camp takes place in the country of Wikiland. If you asked Emoticon about the Wiki Camp, they would say that it's a wiki that they influence text on, while if you asked 9150625, Emoticon would ask who the person you're talking to is again and say that whoever you're communicating with talks in dark mode.
Teams
- This section is unfinished. Please add or adjust the documentation of your team, if you feel so inclined.
The lore of particular characters has congealed into the lore of teams, as to make something understandable as a team you kinda have to play nice with your roommates.
Host
Host is a team that, in-universe, was originally comprised of four separate unique teams, before being combined through unique circumstances. While some team members have met in person (Diary and Nurse Cap met to play games together, LiSt physically found U.U.F.O.), the group mainly talks in IRC Chatlogs, for various reasons.
And what about Nerpy Scuba?
The Ultimate Heist Crew
The ultimate Heist Crew are a notorious group of bandits that steal things from all across the wiki. Due to their nature of stealing items (including but not limited to stealing Arlo), it is implied that the Ultimate Heist Crew work in person.
\\err:404
\\err:404 is a groupchat created by The Wiki Machine in order to figure out what's wrong with The Eater of Wikis and Teenage Trouble Claws. This implies at least the members of the team can interact with the wiki by sending instant messages even if in reality adding these to the wiki takes specific formatting. The fact they have usernames also implies accounts that are not users on the wiki.
Alternate Timelines
- Main article: Explain/Alternate timelines
All of this nonsense is compounded on top of with Category:Pages from another timeline, giving all of us a glimpse into a universe beyond ours where the lines of reality are further blurred. Compounding on top of THAT are the antics of InscryptionFan23 and TheHexFan32, parallel versions of Open Sesame that communicate across space and time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, [REALITY IS WHATEVER YOU MAKE IT TO BE.] i.e., write whatever you like.