I'm going to gloss over earlier comments about biblical canons, as the history of ancient councils is often poorly understood by those who didn't study it in school, which would be most people (no offense). In terms of fictional franchises, we know what is meant by "canon." It's the "rule" of "what is the authentic official part of the story." Why does it matter? I'll get to that later in this book, I mean, post, I'm writing. This was too good a thread to pass up!
To me it must be that there are separate canons. Yes, you could view it as some modernist, absolutist way and say whatever the CURRENT version of the game offers and whatever the CURRENT owners of the franchise say about it today, is what goes. But after being part of so many franchises that have been revived, remade, rebooted and (sometimes just frankly mismanaged) I say, in the spirit of my UK friends "bollocks!"
To pick on a franchise I have loved for a long time, Star Wars, George Lucas, who created the franchise (but sold it all off seven years ago), changed his mind multiple times over the years, re-interpreting his own franchise, changing his mind about the backstory, saying contradictory things about it, and then modifying his own films, multiple times, across multiple releases (and even re-releasing older versions of the same films, or at least okaying their release). He approved a huge "Expanded Universe" of materials and when he starting making his Prequel films, basically rewrote/rebooted big sections of it (many would say he also contradicted the older films with the new movies). Part of the Expanded Universe was called "Infinities" and it was explicitly created as non-canon, what is known in the comics world as "what if" stories that had nothing to do with the rest of the continuity.
Then Lucas sold the franchise and brand to Disney which took over and re-branded the vast majority of the officially licensed material (comics, novels, technical manuals, games, toys) aka the Expanded Universe into "LEGENDS" and called it non-canon. The thing is, they actually re-released a lot of that material that had been out of print for years, with nothing changed but a few logos on the cover! And its obvious to many that elements from the "non-canon Legends" have made their way into the subsequent "canon" movies and tv shows created by Disney. So it's a mess. That's just one example showing how unimportant the term can be in a major franchise to fans like me.
Then we have Highlander which as my handle evokes, is something I'm a fan of, where essentially the same people made the whole thing, but every new installment contradicted and/or reinvented the mythos, introducing numerous continuity breaking contradictions and yet referencing each other as if they were somehow meant to go together.
And as far as what's going on with Doctor Who, don't ask me...
So I'm USED to franchises making a mess and a mockery of the term "canon."
For Hero Quest we have several continuities that must be mutually exclusive:
1) The Premiere Edition of the Game. You could say this blends into or is replaced by #2, but there are a few narrative bits of training in the instruction booklet and the spells are slightly different as well as the rules. Also the first Quest was different (replaced in the 2nd Edition by The Trial).
2) The 2nd EU Edition of the Game, from which is followed by Kellar's Keep, Return of the Witch Lord, Dark Company (Advanced Quest), Against the Ogre Horde and Wizards of Morcar. Simple enough. In this version the white bearded guy in red with the black cape is implied, but not explicitly stated, to be Mentor and Morcar is unseen.
3) The Marvel Comics special. This takes off from #2, but explicitly indicates the white bearded dude is Mentor and introduces a new image of a cloaked monster dude who is Morcar. So you could say maybe all these three are together and it's still 1 continuity... okay so far.
4) The Sticker Album. This blends with #2, but explicitly makes the White beard dude Morcar. And Mentor is introduced as his identical twin wearing a blue cloak and skullcap. Contradicts #3. So two continuities.
5) NA release. Here there's no explicit links to Evil Santa being Mentor. Instead most of us assumed he was Zargon (not Morcar in this version). New rules, and many changes overall. A bit like a third edition, but some things from 2nd Ed. EU are missing, and some other things are added or changed. Followed by a changed version of Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord, then Mage of the Mirror and the Frozen Horror Elf and Barbaran Quest packs. Unlike in the EU expansions, Sir Ragnar was not an executed traitor. Some characters in Quests have their names changed, as well. Some have pointed to the removal of some Warhammer Fantasy connections that were much more explicit in the EU versions and even allege a break within this from the release of KK/ROTWL and EQP/BQP but I won't assume that's a true break. Continuity #3.
6) Japan Game System. We don't really know but from what I've seen all of the other localizations seem to be pretty much identical to the EU or NA versions, but this one is very unique. Despite having almost the same components as the EU version, the rules are completely different and many of the descriptions are different. Very unique and not followed by any Quest packs. Continuity #4.
7) The Computer Games. You could say this blends into #2, since they are based directly on the EU version. Some anomalies (like the Wizard being able to use all equipment, or being able to combine a Staff or Spear with a shield) that could be considered cheats, but otherwise it's pretty much the same thing. It's followed by a sequel, Hero Quest II: Legacy of Sorasil, that adds in many monsters from D&D Lore, and new Hero characters and spells, but otherwise pretty much fits and follows. However, the PC version of the original HQ game by Gremlin which has the Quests of the Game System,
[Edit: only the unreleased NES/Famicom game had Kellar's Keep and] Return of the Witch Lord does include imagery of Mentor or Zargon that does NOT match any previous artwork seen before. It's strongly implied that the Enraged Father Christmas figure is Morcar. The NES game was basically a stripped down version of the PC game and only exists in leaked prototype form. The various other HeroQuest digital games (Vassal and Tabletop Simulator mods, Isometric HeroQuest, etc.) out there are fan-made and so don't really count. So this could be continuity #5.
8) Hasbro's 2021 Remake. Includes the Game System, Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord plus two new Quest books which are known only by scant data (one sample quest, a sample introduction and two cover pages). The full extent of changes and differences in this version, that used the NA edition as a base, are not known. But major changes like Dread replacing Chaos, and Abomination fish men replacing Fimirs and new Heroes (most notably an "Orc Bard") seem to indicate this is Continuity #6.
9) Advanced Hero Quest. I have never played it. I've only briefly glanced at its materials. I got the impression it was meant to be a remake/reboot of the original game rather than a sequel. Had expansion materials as well. Not counting Mighty Heroes/Warriors since it was apparently a totally different game using the same miniatures (and similar artwork?). So this may or may not be Continuity #7. I won't go into "Battle Masters" or "Space Crusade" as these seem to be either spiritual sequels or set in the same universe possibly but not necessarily, similar to how Warhammer Fantasy could be seen as the inspiration but only loosely so. And we won't count tributes like Warhammer Quest, Altar Quest, or other products made by the same people like Heroscape. "Hero's Quest" (or the "other" Hero Quest is a completely different product (same with "Elf Quest").
10) The tv commercials. Yes, the now infamous memed "fire of roth" (and the US version "fire of wrath") tv commercials differ somewhat from the released game. Miniatures, furniture and dice are different, card art and descriptions are different. This is obviously a prototype (also glimpsed in the flyers included with many sets and magazine stock photos). This is more of a joke here than anything, because it's a prototype, rather than continuity #8. I pay tribute here because like many children of that era, this was my first exposure to the game, seeing these ads on TV, and totally sold me on it.
Do "published quests" become canon? I would say generally no. The Quests included in the novels could be considered canon for the EU continuity (published in the UK only). But the quests published in those news letters and even White Dwarf magazine (official for promoting Gamesworkshop's citadel products) were fan submissions, were they not? So those would be no different than if you or I wrote a quest. We're encouraged to do them, but it doesn't change the world. Yes, they released new miniatures to promote some of them, but again, we're talking about fan submissions in most cases. The Marvel Comics ("Revenge of the Weather Man") special might be closer to something you could call canon, I guess, based on a certain continuity. None of that seems to be part of the NA continuity.
But it would seem that there are at least SIX continuities within Hero Quest. I don't think it's as simple as saying that the NA continuity overrides the others, and therefore the Hasbro remake overrides the NA one. It seems obvious to me that the current owners of the franchise are making it up as they go along, and freely changing, adding to and borrowing from past continuities to make the current one, even if in large part its still the same old thing. I also wouldn't side with the few who have argued, that the UK version is the only "real" one since that's the country where it first originated (in that case, they are ignoring the Remake I guess or plan to modify it).
Did I miss anything?
But what is the point of "canon" in a fictional entertainment franchise like this? The practical point of the "canon" is like having a "writers bible." You establish early on the parameters of your fiction. What is possible or permissible and what is not. The fans may not know all these details, but it helps you keep your own franchise continuity straight, which strengthens suspension of disbelief. Yes, games are meant to be different, the players put their own spin on every session and here you're actively encouraging creativity. But a "canon" prevents you from releasing a sequel expansion that wildly contradicts a previous installment. Yes, there are clever and not so clever ways in which you can make changes and still make it fit ("it was all a dream," time travel, parallel dimensional travel, "a wizard did it," etc) but they can strain credibility and upset fans of the established continuity. But it's fantasy, none of it is "real." Since you can pretend and re-invent and put your own spin on it (and are being encouraged to do so, by the creators) it's easy to brush off or ignore odd choices. If the fans hate a certain expansion, the creators don't need to come out apologize for it and release a new installment that says "that other stuff never happened, yo."
If the point of "canon" is to say "what really happened in the game" I can't be bothered. Imagine if you are a D&D player and you want to play 2nd edition. Is someone going to bust down your door and say "No! You must only play the latest 5th edition!" ? That won't happen. As long as your players are willing to go along with it, you can do whatever you want and have at it. The current owners of the franchise can't stop you from going to a thrift shop or online and buying a pre-owned copy of the "outdated" or "obsolete" version. So Hero Quest may be "out of print" as far as Hasbro is concerned, but they can't stop us from enjoying it.
Now some franchises can "enforce" changes to a certain extent. I'm not part of those communities, but I'm told that certain competitive CCG frachises have official tournaments and things (Pokemon, Magic the Gathering) and they will impose rules upon what editions or series's (whatever you call them) of cards you can use. But HeroQuest has no such limitations. And last I checked, they weren't banning fans from Star Trek conventions for dressing up like 1960s TOS, when Discovery and Picard are out (Star Trek explains its many continuity problems with "many-worlds" Time Travel, and Trek has a long history of producing non-canon novels). But as there are no Hero Quest official tournament committees, nobody cares about this part. And even if they existed, they couldn't stop our private game sessions with whatever material we want to use.
There are simply multiple canons, and I accept it. This doesn't mean that if I fly over to the UK and set foot on English soil, suddenly the NA version I grew up with vanishes and is replaced with the EU edition, but it does mean that I can expect people there will tend to recall that version and not mine. It's more like various food products out there. There are different formulations of Coca-Cola and Pepsi in different countries. There are different versions of the Mars candy bar. McDonalds is different in different territories and so on. They're just as official and just as beloved by their respected communities, so one doesn't override the other and in fact sometimes people outside those territories prefer it to their "localization." So generally speaking the term "canon" is pretty watered down and useless when it comes to HeroQuest. What is "official" for your gaming session is the rules you find in the box. But since this is a moddable game, even that is easily set aside as most of us do to varying degrees.