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The Indycron continuity database is an internal database used by Lucasfilm which covers all forms of licensed Indiana Jones media. It is maintained by Leland Chee, who is also keeper of the Star Wars Holocron and the LFLcron used to cover other Lucasfilm properties.

Says Chee, "We try to make things as consistent as possible so Indy doesn't get his hat twice or be introduced to Wu Han or Marcus Brody twice. We track things like when Indy was born, where and when he went to high school, when and where he got his college degrees, where he teaches and when, what kind of pistols does Indy use, what languages does Indy speak, and other things like that."[1]

In an interview with TheRaider.net in April 2010, Chee stated that the only areas off-limits to writers are Marion Ravenwood's life between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Colin Williams.[2] Marion's background and her relationship with Indy were similarly restricted from exploration in the 1990s,[3] as was Henry Jones, Sr.'s appearances in media before Dark Horse Comics writer Elaine Lee convinced Lucasfilm with her pitch for Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny.[4]

History[]

Throughout the 1990s, Indiana Jones authors had access to a "Lucasfilm Bible" which "annotated important dates and times" in Indiana Jones' life along with details of his biography.[5][6] Around 2000, Leland Chee, a former LucasArts software tester, was brought across to Lucas Licensing to establish and administrate the Holocron continuity database for Star Wars content to help ensure that the franchise maintained consistency across its media.[7] Its first entry was created on February 1, 2000.[8]

In March 2006,[9] an Indiana Jones equivalent–the Indycron continuity database–was established by Chee,[10] using Lucasfilm's internal glossary as its foundation and following a similar structure to the Holocron.[1]

Canon system[]

According to Leland Chee, the Indiana Jones canon hierarchy is organized as follows, relative to the Star Wars canon hierarchy:[1]

  • Feature films = G canon
  • Television = T canon
  • Licensing = C and S canon

Each entry to the Indycron is categorized into one of the following:

  • Movie
  • TV
  • Licensing
  • Non-Continuity
  • Non-Fiction

Despite this, there have been instances where information in a higher-tier source has been superseded by that from a lower source. For example, the illness that took the life of Indiana Jones's mother Anna was stated to be scarlet fever in 1994's The World of Indiana Jones, a "Licensing" source. However, footage shot in 1999 for the "TV" canon Spring Break Adventure sees Jones state that his mother died from influenza. Chee has said that Anna died from scarlet fever nevertheless.[1]

With the release of The Diaries of Indiana Jones, which dated the events of the first four theatrical movies down to the day, Chee revealed on his Facebook page on August 6, 2012 that the dates had become the official ones used. This information sets the movies on:[11]

On April 25, 2014 StarWars.com announced that — in light of production of new Star Wars films — the Expanded Universe was to cease telling new stories and be replaced with a new approach to spin-off material which brought about the end of that franchise's continuity hierarchy system.[12]

Whether or not a similar restructuring will occur — or already has taken place — for the Indiana Jones' Expanded Adventures has had no such announcement but Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar opened in 2015 with references to earlier Expanded Adventure works, indicating that some material, at least in part, has been retained in continuity.[13] With the 2023 debut of the fifth movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,[14] products coinciding with the release, such as the board-game Indiana Jones Cryptic, and mobile/desktop video game Disney Magic Kingdoms, have continued to draw from, and expand upon, existing Indiana Jones content,[15][16] and Dial of Destiny's own behind the scenes documentary noted that the Lance of Longinus had been featured in Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny.[17]

Notes and references[]

External links[]

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