Regarding Multiple Endings in Games

[Dragonmasterxyz]

So this is something that came to mind reading that Smash Bros thread and I was thinking about how we deal with Alternate Endings in game. As we know, we already accept alternate endings as usable for feats and statements as long as it's consistent with the mainline canon. So I am wondering, are alternate endings considered to be a form of secondary canon and main/true canon feats be the primary canon or should we treat them as all under the same "primary canon" umbrella. I am of the mind of;

True Ending = Primary Source

Alternate Ending = Secondary/Supporting Source

I forget if we have this on our Canonicity page or not, but I do think we should note this somewhere just in case people new to the forums have questions for this.

 

[Sir_Ovens]

Depends on the verse, really. Like with Dark Souls, alternate endings just give different keys. They are all equally canon and since all 3 games take place thousands of years apart, what ending you chose in 1 has no effect on the beginning of 3.

With stuff like inFAMOUS, evil endings are straight up non-canon, so scaling should only be done relative to the evil choices.

I feel like if alternate endings don't affect the main plot of the overall story (sequels, etc.) they should be treated as main canon. Otherwise, case by case should be the way, since some verses have alternate universes based on what ending you chose.

 

[Colonel_Krukov]

This looks like something should added to the Canon page and I agree with Ovens that it should be judged on a case by case basis.

 

[SamanPatou]

I think it really depends on case by case, but I agree that they can be used as long as they are consistent and not too much contradictory with the main one.

 

[Matthew_Schroeder]

Like it depends. You see a lot of discussion regarding this in Fighting Games where people argue whether or not something can scale if it's not from a "Canon Ending". But then you get the argument of "Why would this character suddenly by hundreds of times stronger in their ending?". I think contextually if it can be proven that the other endings are just "What If" branches.

And if the "Bad Ending" in a game is like, a cutscene of the bad guy blowing up the world if you lose the Final Boss, when the bad guy's whole goal is blowing up the world, then yeah that obviously applies.

 

[The_real_cal_howard]

Yeah my main concern is fighting games. A lot of endings are decidedly noncanon. SF/MK/SC have good examples of this.

 

[Matthew_Schroeder]

For the record this discussion can go in the diametrically opposite direction as well. There are plenty of games that have numerous unique and elaborate custom death animations for each and every enemy and situational hazard in the game, and these range from cartoony like Crash Bandicoot or gruesome like Tomb Raider. I don't think these are innacurate representations of the character's weaknesses. They are supposed to represent what would happen if the character in question fell to an enemy or hazard, and are meant to be accurate (In Crash's case I know a lot of people would cite durability feats to argue the contrary and that's fine, but I doubt anyone would oppose the Tomb Raider examples that show Lara's about as fragile as a normal person).

 

[The_real_cal_howard]

Oh yeah Tomb Raider’s...
Makes me feel quite bad for Lara. Especially with the Midas Hand.

 

[Matthew_Schroeder]

My point is that in her case specially that's obviously how weak she's meant to be. In Crash Bandicoot's case the character is likewise probably meant to be very fragile even if some of the death animations stretch believability (I don't think Crash would die just from touching a crab, but something like being cartoonishly bisected in half by the knight enemies is probably accurate).

 

[00potato]

I would argue that the true ending should be the main one that we base the plausibility if the others off of. If the others don’t contradict it, it should be valid.

 

[Schnee_One]

With regards to inFAMOUS, we actually do scale Evil Cole to his Good Counterpart by virtue of being comparable at the least.

 

[QuasiYuri]

Endings should always be considered as canon on some levels, but not part of the continuity of events or something like that.

 

[Bobsican]

Alternate endings and the like can be used as legitimate feats to scale to if they aren't contradicted by the "true" setting.
Kirby fodder scales to a what-if scenario that showcases the potential of them, for example.
So overall, they would fall like on the primary canon, at most just bordering a bit into secondary canon, especially considering some series such as Chrono take those as canon via multiverse wideness turning all of them into events that simply happened in different timelines.

 

[Zero0zero0zero]

Endings under the same work/game should be fully considerated, unless it's a gag ending or similar. I don't think an ending can contradict the canon unless somehow pointed by the creators but I don't see death animations as endings, although I think it's a plausible scenario in Crash. I'm not going to put my finger in fighting games since there's a pressure around the game to create endings to all characters so my claim is to pretty much everything that doesn't follow "fighting-game ending" format.

 

[Iamunanimousinthat]

How many endings actually contradict each other in terms of power showing?

From my thinking, it would just be a different key if that’s the case.

 

[00potato]

That does make sense being a different key.

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

Matt basically summed up most of my thoughts.