Discussion Main / CanonForeigner

As written, this trope implies that literally any character added after a series' initial run or installment is a Canon Foreigner. It would seem to me there should be some kind of minimum threshold for this — it shouldn't apply to one-shot characters.

Otherwise you end up having to include a lot of characters that are just there to support the new version's story. If they revived Columbo, for instance, with all new stories, surely every single murder victim, murderer, suspect, and witness wouldn't be a Canon Foreigner. The series has always leaned heavily on single-episode characters. But if the new series introduced Columbo's third cousin the auto mechanic and she appeared three or four times, that would be a true Canon Foreigner.

Removed this:

• The non-canon S Onic The Hedgehog games introduce a huge number of these, Mephiles being one of the more popular ones.

Sonic Generations is rather clear about canonizing the most obvious candidates for "non-canon Sonic games," including the one where Mephiles originated.