Does roleplaying canons ruin them?

I saw this discussion on RPG-D recently about roleplaying turn-offs (no not in a sexual way you pervert!). The discussion was about things in a roleplay game, forum or thread that people don’t like (see the thread here), and I saw a comment about canons that I found really interesting & wanted to share.

First, what is a canon?

A canon is term that’s come to mean one of the original characters from the fandom you’re writing about. So Harry Potter, Ron, & Hermione are all the real characters. But there are loads of roleplaying games where people create other characters. These ones you made up are non-canon.

So with the description over, lets get onto the discussion I blathered about up top.

Member wingswithoutme said:

RPG-D member wingswithoutme

To be honest, one thing I’m really not fond of is canons in fandom RPGs. I know a lot of people really love them, and I’m not saying at all that they’re bad to have on a site. But for me, personally? I’m super uncomfortable writing a canon character, and I don’t love writing with them, because I feel like, no matter how competent the roleplayer, I have a very set idea of how canons should be and act within that fandom’s universe, and it’s really confusing for me to have to tweak my idea of how that character should be based on how someone else is writing them. This is especially true for something like Harry Potter, where I go back and read the books a lot, and I would get my wires crossed because my “site canon” and my “book canon” and… well. I’d rather develop my original characters and screw them up in my own special way, instead of screwing up someone else’s character in my own special way. ;D

I agree with this, but I know many people love to roleplay as a canon character. Although I do admit I get excited about the thought of a walk-on part by one of the canons from my favourite fandom of course!

Do you agree with using canons in your roleplay? Share in the comments below if you’ve ever roleplayed as your favourite TV or film character, and tell us how it went.