2. Here is wikipedia's
This article is not about literary canons of influential works of fiction, but about the concept of a canon that defines the world of a particular fictional series or franchise.
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official", in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical. It is used in two slightly different meanings: first, "it refers to the overall set of storylines, premises, settings, and characters offered by the source media text".[1]:28 In this sense, canon is "the original work from which the fan fiction author borrows,"[2] or "the original media on which the fan fictions are based."[3] Secondly, it is used "as a descriptor of specific incidents, relationships, or story arcs that take place within the overall canon"; thus certain incidents or relationships may be described as being canon or not.[1]:32
The use of the word "canon" in reference to a set of texts derives from Biblical canon, the set of books regarded as scripture.[4] The term was first used in the context of fiction to refer to the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to distinguish those works from subsequent pastiches by other authors.[5][6] It has subsequently been applied to many media franchises. Among these are science fiction franchises such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who, in which many stories have been told in different media, some of which contradict or appear to contradict each other.[6]
When there are multiple "official" works or original media, the question of what is and what is not canon can be unclear. This is resolved either by explicitly excluding certain media from the status of canon (as in the case of Star Trek), or by assigning different levels of canonicity to different media (as in the case of Star Wars), or not at all (as with Doctor Who).
3. The cover of the Mass effect games are in canon. They are official having BW stamped all over it. It is source material. It is not a spinoff or a third party novel or fan fiction. Anyone picking up the box would rightly assume Commander shepard is male. They may do a tapdance about it in the novels, but nowhere in any defintiion does it exclude marketing. If you showed a female Klingon in an episode of Star Trek then it is canon. Likewise depicing Shepard as male on the actual game box can be considered canon.
4. The closest argument you might have is if BW said not canon thereby contradicting its own source materials. proof is required for this.
Enjoy.
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