Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-61022-20170213225824

Hello everybody,

After some discussion with my fellow admins, we have decided to come to some standards when it comes to organizing character appearances in comic book summaries. These changes are effective immediately.

Before you get into this post if you don't know the difference between a protagonist and an antagonist, I recommend you familiarize yourself with these definitions. These are the basic foundations of any story, and if you are summarizing a comic book it helps to know what these terms actually mean, otherwise you're doing it wrong.

Definitions
First and foremost, we want to make sure that people are understanding the proper definitions. We have changed the template so that we no longer use the term "Villains" but instead "Antagonists" so that the organization is simpler.

Here are the definitions for each descriptor:

Featured Characters
The protagonist or protagonists of the story. Thinking of it in terms of a movie, these would be your lead actors. Let's break it down.

Basics In most cases, the Featured Characters should be the title character or team (as in the members of said team that PHYSICALLY appear in the main story. By main story, we mean whatever is happening in the "present time" in context with the story (not in flashbacks, or recaps)

For example: If we're talking about an issue of the Incredible Hulk, usually the featured character is the Hulk. If we're talking about an issue of Uncanny X-Men, then the featured characters are the members of the X-Men who actually appear in the story. If it's an issue of Magneto, Magneto is the featured character regardless if you will consider him the good guy or the bad guy of the story.

Exception: Title Character is Absent

In some story, the title character(s) are absent from the story completely. In that case, the "Featured Character" slot should go to whomever the story is centrally focused on.

Example:

In this story, the Hulk is missing and believed dead and only appears in flashbacks in the story. Since he is absent from the main story the featured characters are whomever the story is centrally focused on. In this particular story, Betty Banner, Clay Quartermain and Rick Jones are all being questioned in court about the incident that seemingly killed the Hulk. In this instance, these three characters would be considered the Featured Characters of that story.

Non-Character Driven Titles

The exceptions to the "title character" rules is when a title isn't about a specific character or team. We're talking about event books like Civil War Vol 1, Secret Invasion Vol 1, Secret Wars Vol 1 and so-on.

In cases like these, the featured characters will be the characters who protagonists who have a CENTRAL ROLE in the story. These featured characters could change from issue to issue of these stories, but the main point is that they should be generally viewed as the "Lead Actors" by anyone who reads the comic book in question.

NOT CONSIDERED FEATURED CHARACTERS

In order to keep things as neat and organized as possible, the following things should never be considered something that is categorised as a "Featured Character" If you are doing this you are to stop immediately, also if you could go back and fix entries you have done in such a fashion it would be greatly appreciated. These items are:


 * Mentions: I don't think I need to tell anyone that why someone who is only mentioned in a story is never featured. At all. Ever. So stop doing it. No exceptions.


 * Flashbacks: Characters that only appear in Flashbacks that do not affect a character's chronology (meaning the Flashback is merely recounting past events and not new events) should never be considered a featured character.


 * Team members who are not physically present: Just so we're clear on the whole "no mentions and flashbacks" thing above, this also includes members of a team who are not physically present in the story. If they're not there, they're not contributing to the plot, ergo, they are not a featured character. So stop adding them to the team if the team is a featured character. This goes double for characters who appear in photograph, on a recording (as opposed to appearing in a live transmission), or any other means that aren't putting them physically in the story.

Supporting Characters:
Supporting characters are individuals who assist the protagonist (or featured characters) reach their objective during a story. This can include any guest stars and regular supporting cast members.

For example: In a given Spider-Man story he has a ton of supporting cast members which can include his Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson and so on. Sometimes these characters make brief appearances, and other times they have an important role to play in the story.

The Aunt May Test

The best example of someone who frequently goes between being a supporting cast member to being classified as "Other Characters" (see below) is Peter Parker's Aunt May. Sometimes she merely appears to tell Peter to take his vitamin pills, other times she's reeling from the death of yet another elderly suitor who has died.

However, the key to this is looking at everything a character does in a story before making this decision.

So here are some examples:


 * Aunt May tells Peter to carry an umbrella because it might rain, and that's her only contribution to the story = Not a Supporting Character.


 * Aunt May tells peter to carry an umbrella because it might rain, then she gets kidnapped by Doctor Octopus and has to be rescued by Spider-Man = Supporting character.


 * Aunt May calls Peter to tell her that she is doing okay = Not a supporting character.


 * Aunt May calls Peter to tell her that she is doing okay, then suffers a heart attack and Peter visits her in the hospital and worries how much the bill is going to cost = Supporting character.


 * Aunt May does Peter's laundry = Not a Supporting character.


 * Aunt May does Peter's laundry and discovers that he is Spider-Man because she finds a torn up costume among his clothes = Supporting Character.

The end result is, if what a character is doing has an impact on what the featured character(s) are doing in that particular issue, then they are a supporting member.

Cameo Appearance Test

Likewise, a similar test can be done with a guest star. Guest Stars are usually other important characters who do not regularly appear in the title in question, or are not the central focus of the story. This could be when Captain America or Wolverine appears in a Spider-Man comic for example.

However, like the supporting case, if a guest star should be considered a supporting character or "other" all depends on if they contribute to the protagonists journey through the story.

They're easier to tell apart from a supporting cast member, because guest starts are usually doing something that involves the primary conflict.

Examples:


 * Spider-Man is seen swinging past a scene where Captain America and Hawkeye are talking to each other in their civilian clothing = Spider-Man is not a supporting character.


 * Spider-Man is seen swinging past a scene where Captain America and Hawkeye are talking to each other in their civilian clothing. They are then attacked by Ultron and Spider-Man backtracks to join them in fighting their foe = Spider-Man is a Supporing Character.


 * There is about to be a huge battle between the X-Men and the Avengers. There is a scene where the Fantastic Four are contacted and asked to wait in reserve in case something goes wrong = The Fantastic Four are not supporting characters.


 * There is about to be a huge battle between the X-Men and the Avengers. There is a scene where the Fantastic Four are contacted and asked to wait in reserve. When something goes wrong, the Fantastic Four join the fight, Reed Richards helps with an invention = the Fantastic Four are supporting characters.

Basically, someone who helps move the plot forward is considered a supporting character. If they don't add to the plot and are basically there to fill panel space, they are not a supporting character.

NOT CONSIDERED SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

At the risk of repeating myself, here we go:


 * Mentions: I don't think I need to tell anyone that why someone who is only mentioned in a story is never a supporting character. At all. Ever. So stop doing it. No exceptions. (I cannot emphasize this enough)


 * Flashbacks: Characters that only appear in Flashbacks that do not affect a character's chronology (meaning the Flashback is merely recounting past events and not new events) should never be considered a supporting character.


 * Team members who are not physically present: Just so we're clear on the whole "no mentions and flashbacks" thing above, this also includes members of a team who are not physically present in the story. If they're not there, they're not contributing to the plot, ergo, they are not a supprting character. So stop adding them to the team if the team is a featured character. This goes double for characters who appear in photograph, on a recording (as opposed to appearing in a live transmission), or any other means that aren't putting them physically in the story.

Antagonists
This used to be the Villains field. Since this got confusing when you had a title where the title character is generally considered a villain, we changed it. We have run a bot to change the majority of the pre-existing summary pages so that they say "antagonist" instead of "villain". However, a bot is not perfect, so if you come across a summary that still lists "villain" as a descriptor, please change it.

This One is Straight Forward

If you know who the protagonist (or featured character) in a story is, then you should know who the antagonist is. But just in case: It's anyone who is opposing the goals of the protaginist/featured character. This should not matter what the antagonists "alignment" is. If they are preventing the protagonist from accomplishing their goals and they are a major part of the story, then they are an antagonist. Pretty straight forward.

Is the Antagonist an entire race?

You should only put a race of beings (IE: the Skrulls) as an antagonist is if there are no members of that race identified by name. Otherwise, see Races and Species below

NOT CONSIDERED ANTAGONISTS

Yes, I am repeating this again:


 * Mentions: I don't think I need to tell anyone that why someone who is only mentioned in a story is never an antagonist. If they do not appear in a story then they are not opposing the protagonist and therefor are not the antagonist of the story. So please STOP PUTTING MENTIONS IN THE ANTAGONIST FIELD. This is one I have


 * Flashbacks: Characters that only appear in Flashbacks that do not affect a character's chronology (meaning the Flashback is merely recounting past events and not new events) should never be considered a supporting character.


 * Team members who are not physically present: Just so we're clear on the whole "no mentions and flashbacks" thing above, this also includes members of a team who are not physically present in the story. If they're not there, they're not contributing to the plot, ergo, they are not a supprting character. So stop adding them to the team if the team is a featured character. This goes double for characters who appear in photograph, on a recording (as opposed to appearing in a live transmission), or any other means that aren't putting them physically in the story.

Other Characters
This is a catch all for everything that does not fit the above definitions. This includes cameos, flashbacks, flashforwards, recaps, characters who appear in photos or mentioned.

Proper Layout

In order to make "Other Characters" look as neat as possible, we ask that you place these characters together in subgroups in the following order:


 * Other characters who physically appear in the story that are not considered any of the above, and have their own pages (IE: Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, Darkhawk, Aunt May, Ghost Rider etc.)


 * Other characters who physically appear who are one-off character. Thinking in terms of a movie, they would be considered "Extras". For example, a guy on the street named Joe who is watching a battle who is called by name, and only says some quippy line like "Oh no, the Hulk is attacking Joe, lets get out of here" and Joe says "Wow, Mondays, am I right?"


 * This should be followed by generic teams or groups that appear in a story in the background. For example, the New York Police Department, who are only in a story after a battle is over or are trying to keep a crowd back.


 * That should be followed by characters who appear in a flashback, flashforward, recap, or any other point in time that doesn't advance the plot but they appear in the story (For example, if recaps the events of  and shows a flashback panel of Loki, Loki is considered an "Other Character" who appears in a Flashback only, because it's merely recapping the previous story instead of adding anything new)


 * Characters who appear in photos, videos, statues, as toys... Basically any representation of that character that appears in the story. A picture of the Vision, a statue of Captain America, a video clip recapping that features Loki.


 * Lastly, Mentions. Because they are the lowest common denominator of appearances and are hardly worth a mention they go last.

The Proper Way Other Characters:
 * Joe, Hotdog Vendor
 * John Smith
 * Gary
 * Joe, Hotdog Vendor
 * John Smith
 * Gary

The Wrong Way: Other Characters:
 * Joe, Hotdog Vendor
 * John Smith
 * Gary
 * John Smith
 * Gary
 * John Smith
 * Gary
 * John Smith
 * Gary
 * Gary

Races and Species
This should be straight forward. Any species or race that makes an appearance should go here. They should never be listed anywhere else unless they are an antagonist or supporting character where no member of said race is identified by name.

--

I hope this clears everything up for everybody. If you have any more technical questions regarding appearances please post your comments below and an Admin will try to answer it to the best of their ability. 