I have no idea what anything referring to “canon” means.
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Canon are things that are established within the movie/series/game. For example, Vader is Luke’s father. That’s Canon.
Head Canon are things people have come up with, but which are not canon. So basically made up stuff that only exists within someone’s head.
Canon is a term, which was originally used when talking about the Bible, to discuss which holy texts were official and counted as part of the Bible.
The word now is used to mean the parts of a story that are considered official. Such as if I’m talking about Star Wars, then the Star Wars movies are canon, they are the official parts of the main story. And something like Lego Star Wars animated specials would not be considered canon, they aren’t part of the official story. Characters in other Star Wars films won’t refer to the events of the Lego Star Wars adventure. If it’s non-canon, the events of that story don’t actually count.
Head-canon is a fan term for “I choose to believe this is true about a character, even if I know it’s not officially true. But it is true in my head.” For instance, there are people who like to believe that Luke Skywalker was gay. At no point in the movies do we ever see him demonstrate romantic interest in men, but at the same time at no point the movies are we showing that he doesn’t have romantic interest in men. (Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, has officially stated that he is totally fine with that interpretation.) So there are some people who have decided that when they think about Star Wars, they will consider Luke to be gay, even if that’s not officially true, because it makes them happy.
“Canon” refers to a specific set of narrative or artistic works. Any narrative work that falls under whatever subset you define is “canon” for that subset. It was originally used to define “great works” in something called the “western canon” and that includes lots of very old books that people think are important, like Shakespeare, Dante’s Inferno, Plato’s Republic, and things like that.
The modern usage of the word often refers to grouping certain events and stories by either author or publisher, set in the same universe. So things written by J.K. Rowling in the world of witches and wizards is in the “Harry Potter Canon” or things published by Marvel Studios and take place in the same area as Iron Man are “MCU Canon”
“Head Canon” refers to the act of inserting events and ideas into those universes without the original author/publisher confirming it.
Canon (canonical) material is anything that is considered to be true according to the creators’ lore. For example, in Star Wars, it is canon that Vader is the father of Luke and Leia. Headcanon, on the other hand, is anything that a fan considers true. Usually headcanons are beliefs that are things not explicitly stated in canon. A common, silly example of a headcanon is that Jar Jar is a Dark Lord. Headcanons can be as plausible or implausible as a person wants, as long as they have their reasons for believing in them.
Canon is the official storyline. The way the characters fit in, the vehicles and equipment used.
Star Wars for example. Its canon that Lule was Vader’s son. It’s canon that Yoda was a badass.
Original Lucas Canon was that after the Return of the Jedi, the Jedi Academy was reestaished, Chewbacca’s kid and Han andeia’s kid were training there together. Disney bought he franchise and threw everything put and retconned…. a retroactive change… eveverything after Return of the Jedo and so are new canon, a new official storyline
In Marvel it’s canon true admantium was made by accident and nobody knows how.
Head canon is just WHT someone ages up in their head for themselves when setting isn’t examined official, when it’s not in the story.
Within a movie or TV show, you typically have continuity. For example, if at the beginning of a movie it is established that a character grew up as an orphan, at the end of the movie they won’t be talking about how they were raised by their parents.
“Canon” takes this idea of continuity but extends it to multiple forms of media so that they all have one coherent, interrelated storyline. Something that happens to a character in a comic book is just as “real” to the character as if it happened to them one episode ago in a serialized TV show, if the comic and show exist within the same canon.
“Headcanon” is a tongue-in-cheek name for a fan theory that explains away a plot hole, break in continuity, or something important that has gone unexplained, often by drawing on the wealth of lore present in the canon.
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