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These Article Guidelines explain what kind of content that should be added in each of the prearranged sections of an article. The Marvel Database provides the tools necessary for the creation of articles for the following:
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This '''Layout Guide''' explains how {{SITENAME}} article should be structured. Most articles should use appropriate [[Marvel Database:Templates|page template]] and for advice how fill them, see [[Help:Template Fields]]. More information can also be found from templates's documentation pages.
  
   
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* In-story elements (both entirely fictional and adapted from real life)
⚫
==Article sections==
  
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** Characters
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===Body===
  
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** Teams
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Body of an article could be written with an in-universe or an out-of-universe perspective. Appropriate perspective depends from an article type, e.g. character articles should be written in-universe and Marvel staff articles out-of-universe. Perspective must be consistent throughout the body of the article and in-universe writing should be using only canonical information without speculation, not even from an author.
  
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** Organizations
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** Locations
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** Vehicles
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** Items
  ⚫
** Races and Species
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** Realities
   
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* Published material
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Text should be divided into different sections when it's helpful.
 
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** Single comic book issues
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** Comic book volumes
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** Comic book storylines
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** Comic book events
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** Animated series
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** Live-action series
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** Movies
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** Video games
   
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* Marvel Comics staff members
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===Trivia sections===
  
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Sections like Notes and Trivia can be used for isolated bits of information or for out-of-universe references. It's encouraged to integrate information to the article text.
  
   
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* Disambiguation pages
⚫
===See also===
  
⚫
*Links to related topics not already linked in article
  
   
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* [[Glossary:Contents|Glossary]] entries
⚫
===Links and references===
  
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*Bulleted list of general references sorted by date of publication
  
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*Explanatory and citation footnotes
  
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*Links to other ''Marvel'' wikis
  
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*Links to other unofficial sources, e.g. fan sites
  
   
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For the full list of templates, see ''[[Marvel Database:Templates|Templates]]''. For further information on which guidelines to take into account when adding information to an article, please see ''[[Marvel Database:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]]''
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==Infoboxes==
  
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Purpose of an infobox is to summarize the key facts of the article, helping readers to see them at a glance. Long explanatory texts should be written to the body of the article and long lists of information to an appropriate section or subpage. References and red links should be avoided in infoboxes for better readability. If content is repeated elsewhere in the article, reference is not needed in the infobox and using general references also reduces the need of citation footnotes.
  
   
  ⚫
==Article Creation==
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In-universe infoboxes are inspired by Marvel handbooks and it should be taken into account when deciding the fields infobox contains.
  
  +
:<small>The requirements for the creation of an article can be found under the [[Marvel Database:Notability Policy|Article Notability Policy]].</small>
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The first step when creating an article, is to make use of the appropriate [[Marvel Database:Templates|template]] depending on the article's topic. A template automatically generates and organizes the different elements that should be present in an article. For example, pages for characters must make use of the [[Marvel Database:Character Template|character template]], and so on.
   
  +
When creating an article, please take into account that the purpose of the wiki is to provide its readers with as much information as possible. While it's not expected that every contributor takes this ambition to heart, at the very least be sure to add the minimal amount of information necessary to give readers a satisfactory understanding of the article's subject. In the case of articles for in-story elements, pay notice to the History section and don't spare important details. Only filling out a page's infobox when creating it is not enough. Articles that don't meet these requisites will be considered stubs, and will most likely be deleted once noticed.
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===Character===
  
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Title of the infobox should show the name or alias the character is '''currently''' using.
  
   
  ⚫
==Article Naming==
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If a character is using only part of his real name, it shouldn't be added as an alias. For example, ''Thor'' is not ''Thor Odinson's'' alias.
  
  +
Every article in the Marvel Database must must be created with a name that adheres to the [[Marvel Database:Naming Conventions|Naming Conventions]], where the full extent of these guidelines are detailed. The following are only basic elements to take into account for the naming of articles:
   
  +
* Use title case, in which all words are capitalized, with the exception of certain subsets like articles, short prepositions and conjunctions.
⚫
==Appearances==
  
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* Since Marvel makes use of the concept of [[Glossary:Alternate Reality|alternate realities]], the Marvel Database covers many different versions of a given character or group that exist in other [[Glossary:Reality|realities]]. Because of this, the articles for characters, teams and organizations should always include between parenthesis the numeric designation of the universe they belong to (e.g. the article for the Avengers is [[Avengers (Earth-616)]], "Earth-616" being the numeric designation for the [[Earth-616|Prime Marvel Universe]]).
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When considering what appearances should be listed and categorized we have to consider its usefulness to the reader or research purposes. We should not list exclamations like "Oh, my God", "For Odin's beard" or "Go to Hell" as a mentions.
  
  +
* The only type of pages pertaining to an individual or group that don't feature a reality designation in their title are disambiguation pages since these articles serve as a hub which lists a character's different counterparts from different universes.
  +
* Article titles for items, vehicles, races and locations don't require reality designations since all versions from different universes of either of these are grouped in the same article.
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* Character articles should always be named after the character's real name if possible, avoiding diminutives (e.g. the article for the Iron Man of the Prime Marvel Universe is [[Anthony Stark (Earth-616)]], not "Tony Stark (Earth-616)")
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* Comic volumes should be named based on the title displayed in the [[Glossary:Indicia|indicia]] of their respective issues.
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* Avoid including "The" in the title of articles.
   
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==Article Layout==
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===Featured characters===
  
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For a full explanation of every single available field present in the various templates used in the wiki, please see ''[[Help:Template Fields]]''.
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The protagonist or protagonists of the story. Thinking of it in terms of a movie, these would be your lead actors.
  
   
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====Basics====
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===Infobox===
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The infobox represents a summary of information about the subject of an article, containing a set of [[wikipedia:Attribute–value pair|attribute–value pairs]]. The infobox is where the most basic and specific information about a subject is displayed along with an image. Articles for in-story elements show an image of their up-to-date appearance, comic articles display the main cover of the publication, and movie articles display the final theatrical poster, for instance. In the case of a character, the infobox will show information that includes their real name, affiliations, weight and height, creators and first appearance. References in the infobox shouldn't be neglected, unless the information is explicitly stated in the history section. Elements such as a character's real name, aliases and physical characteristics should be referenced regardless. Avoid red links for better readability.
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In most cases, the featured characters should be the title character or team.
 
   
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===Overview===
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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.
  
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The overview section is a general summary of an article's subject meant for lengthy articles. For the guidelines on the writing of this section, please see the [[Marvel Database:Overview Guidelines|Overview Guidelines]].
   
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===History===
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====Exception: Title character is absent====
  
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The History is the most important section of articles for in-story elements. It's a concise summary in chronological order of the most important events in the history of an article's subject. When adding information to a History section, be mindful to keep the amount of detail consistent with the rest of the article. This section must be filled using only canonical information without speculation.
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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.
 
   
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When writing about any given event in a History section, it should be taken into consideration whether this event had an impact in the overall history of a subject that was a participant on it, as well as the subject's inherent importance to the world they inhabit. For instance, the article for a character who has starred a monthly series for over fifty years can't include an account of every single event they've gone through. On the other hand, any given antagonist will have more sporadic appearances, so a confrontation between two characters of each of these types might only be worth to mention in the latter's article.
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====Non-character driven titles====
  
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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.
 
   
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It is greatly discouraged to go into overly-detailed accounts, especially in the articles for characters with a decades-old publication history. Conversely, a page about a character with only a handful of appearances can include more detail about an event they were involved with than an article for a more prominent character can. Avoid adding information that is superfluous to the overall point of the piece of information that is being added. For instance, it's unnecessary to relay every single step in a confrontation between two characters, since in most instances it will only be relevant the fact that they clashed and the outcome of the battle. The specifics of a story should be only delved into in the synopsis in the article for the piece of media where this story unfolded.
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In cases like these, the featured characters will be the characters 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.
  
   
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It is also necessary to write about events from a perspective limited to the scope in which it affected the subject whose history is being written. Information that doesn't directly pertain to the subject should only be added if they're contextual details that help the understanding of the text.
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===Supporting characters===
  
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Supporting characters are individuals who assist the protagonist (or featured characters) to reach their objective during a story. This can include any guest stars and regular supporting cast members.
 
   
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History sections should also be written with hindsight. If a turn of events that is revealed at a certain point of a character's history recontextualizes information from the past, don't relay this new information at the point of the chronology when it's revealed to the audience, but rather as part of the information from the past it affects. For example, if a character who dies is later revealed to have survived, don't relay that they died and then backtrack to explain they survived, simply provide the information that they survived right away, and establish that their death was apparent all along.
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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.
  
   
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====The Aunt May test====
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===Personality===
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The Personality section is limited to Character articles. It should provide a summary of a character's mental characteristics, like their behavior, way of thinking and temperament.
   
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===Powers and Abilities===
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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.
 
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The Powers and Abilities section is limited to Character articles. It's separated into four subheadings:
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* '''Powers:''' A character's capabilities that are supernatural in comparison to an average human. For example, while in-story, the abilities that a [[Homo superior|mutant]] develops are innate and part of their biology, they are considered powers.
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* '''Abilities:''' A character's inherent talents and learned skills which are not entirely out of the ordinary. For instance, a character might be a super-genius in ways only feasible in fiction, but if they're genetically a normal human, their super-intelligence should be listed as an ability.
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* '''Strength level:''' It's an account of a character's muscular strength, whether it's superhuman or not.
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* '''Weaknesses:''' A specific and noteworthy set of vulnerabilities a character possesses which can affect their performance, and they are usually directly linked to the character's powers.
   
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===Paraphernalia===
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However, the key to this is looking at everything a character does in a story before making this decision.
  
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The Paraphernalia section is present in Character, Team and Organization articles, it's split in the following subheadings:
  +
* '''Equipment:''' A collection of particular items at a character's disposal, which may serve the purpose to help them perform tasks, like gadgets.
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* '''Weapons:''' The tools at a character's disposal meant to be used offensively.
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* '''Transportation:''' The ways of traveling around for a character, usually reserved for special means of transportation like custom vehicles.
   
  ⚫
===Appearances===
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So here are some examples:
  
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The Appearances section consists of a list in which the elements featured in a published material have to be written down in chronological order (including both appearances and mentions). The Appearances list is divided in the following:
  +
* '''Featured Characters:''' The protagonist(s) of the story. They are the main focus, and usually the character(s) from whose point of view the story unravels.
  +
* '''Supporting Characters:''' Secondary characters whose actions have an effect on either the story's main plot or sub-plots. They help push the story forward.
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* '''Antagonists:''' Characters who enter in conflict with the protagonist, and oppose their goals.
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* '''Other Characters:''' Characters that play a minor role in the story. They appear, but don't affect the narrative in a significant way. This section is also used to list characters, teams and organizations who are only mentioned or referenced.
  ⚫
* '''Races and Species:''' Any species or race that makes an appearance should be added in this section. They should not be listed anywhere else unless they are an antagonist or supporting character where no member of said race is identified by name.
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* '''Locations:''' A list of the different places in which the story takes place, or which are mentioned in it.
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* '''Items:''' Any of the objects with an established importance which appear or are mentioned in the story.
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* '''Vehicles:''' Any vehicle of importance which appears or is mentioned in the story.
   
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How to add appearances:
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* 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.
  
  +
* Appearances have to be catalogued in a bulleted list. Use sub bullets to list below the subsets of a main element (e.g. members of a team and places within locations)
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* The basic format to add the appearance category of an element to a page is the following:
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** <nowiki>* {{a|[[ARTICLE NAME|LINK TEXT]]}}</nowiki>
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* Make use of specific tags to denote something about the way a given subject appears in the published material.
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** Use these tags by replacing the "a" in "<nowiki>{{a|</nowiki>"
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** To make use of more than one tag, place the additional tags after the link.
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** e.g. <nowiki>{{1st|[[Steven Rogers (Earth-616)|Steve Rogers]]}} {{Flashback}} {{Origin}}</nowiki>
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** For a list of the available appearance tags, see ''[[Marvel Database:Appearance Tags|Appearance Tags]]''.
   
  +
A few things to keep in mind:
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* 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.
  
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* The Featured/Supporting/Other Characters and Antagonists roles are assigned on a issue-by-issue basis (or story-by-story if an issue features multiple stories).
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* A character that appears in a story as a guest star should be listed under Supporting Characters.
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* An antagonist is a character that opposes the protagonist, even if they're a superhero or supervillain. Similarly, it's possible for a supervillain to be a supporting character, or even the protagonist of a story.
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* Characters who only make [[Glossary:Cameo|cameos]] should always be listed in Other Characters.
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* Characters that appear exclusively in recapitulatory flashbacks should be listed in Other Characters.
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* Characters who are only mentioned in a story should only be listed in Other Characters.
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* Minor appearances consists of when the subject appears in the story but isn't actually present (they might appear in an illusion, a photograph, in a recording (audio or video, does not include a live-feed), in a statue modelled after their likeness, comatose or as a corpse, for example).
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* If a story features a team but some of its members don't appear and are instead only mentioned, these characters should be listed in Other Characters instead of being nested under the team they belong to.
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* Mentions are not necessary to be listed if the character makes some kind of appearance, be it major or minor.
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* Be sure to make appropriate use of the appearances tags, especially when categorizing minor appearances. The default "a" appearance tag categorizes a given appearance as major, so appropriate use of minor appearances tags is important to properly categorize an appearance as minor.
   
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===Summary/Synopsis/Plot/Story===
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* Aunt May calls Peter to tell her that she is doing okay = Not a supporting character.
  
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This section should provide a rundown of all major events that happen in the material covered by the article. Summaries need to be comprehensive and accurate, but not excessively laconic, nor overly long. A summary should provide the reader a similar understanding of the story's key points as a person who has read/watched/played it on their own. In the case of stories which are a continuation of another, summaries should be written in a way that it's accessible to understand the continuing narrative without having to read the synopses for previous issues. Summaries have to be written in present tense, using an [[Glossary:In-Universe|in-universe]] perspective, and avoiding the use of first person.
   
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And alternative to balancing between writing a short and a long synopsis is to do both. Split the summary into two subheadings, "Brief Summary" and "Detailed Summary," and write below each of these sections the corresponding type of summary. The brief summary can be a simple overview of the story; a paragraph or two laying out the basic facts of the narrative.
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* 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.
  
   
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===Cast===
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* Aunt May does Peter's laundry = Not a Supporting character.
  
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This section provides a list of all major actors of a movie, a series' episode or a video game. In the case of articles for content yet to be released, it's necessary to provide a reference for the addition of an actor.
   
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===Notes and Trivia===
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* 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.
  
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These sections are used to add technical information about the subject of an article. Unlike the rest of an article, these sections don't require to use an in-universe perspective; they are available to add any information about fictional subjects in which is necessary to treat them as such, behind-the-scenes and making-of material, technical aspects of a publication, etc.
   
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In short, "Notes" is for notable information, while "Trivia" is for trivial information.
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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.
  
   
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====Cameo appearance test====
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===See Also===
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In this section related topics not alreadt linked in the article should be listed.
  ⚫
Links to related topics not already linked in article
   
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===Links and References===
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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.
 
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This section consists of a bulleted list of general references sorted by date of publication, explanatory and citation footnotes, links to other Marvel wikis that specialize in or focus on subjects we do not, links to other unofficial sources, e.g. fan sites, etc.
   
  ⚫
==See Also==
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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.
 
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* [[Help:Template Fields]]
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  ⚫
* [[:Category:Page Templates]]
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They're easier to tell apart from a supporting cast member, because guest starts are usually doing something that involves the primary conflict.
 
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Examples:
  
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* 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.
  
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* 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 Supporting Character.
  
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* 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.
  
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* 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.
  
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''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.
  
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===Antagonists===
  
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Antagonists are a characters or groups who are opposing the goals of the protagonist/featured character. It 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.
  
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====Is the antagonist an entire race?====
  
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You should only put a race of beings (IE: the [[Deviant Skrulls|Skrulls]]) as an antagonist if there are no members of that race identified by name. You should also prefer organizations of that race (IE: the [[Skrull Empire]]). Otherwise, see Races and Species below
  
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===Not considered main characters===
  
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Following things shouldn't usually be considered as a featured, supporting or antagonist characters but should be listed as Other characters instead. These items are:
  
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* '''Mentions'''
  
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* '''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.
 
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* '''Team members who are not physically present:''' 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.
  
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===Other characters===
  
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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.
  
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⚫
===Races and species===
  
⚫
Any species or race that makes an appearance should go here. They should not be listed anywhere else unless they are an antagonist or supporting character where no member of said race is identified by name.
  
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===Locations, items and vehicles===
  
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These appearance sections are meant for the appearances of their class.
  
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===Appearance tags===
  
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We use [[:Category:Comic Appearance Templates|Comic Appearance Templates]] to give additional info and to categorize the appearances.
  
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==Categories==
  
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*Every article should have at least one category
  
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*Categories should be listed in alphabetical order
  
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*People should be categorized by their last name; for example, <nowiki>{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Carmilla}}</nowiki> or <nowiki>[[Category:Characters|Watson, Mary Jane]]</nowiki>.
  
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*Articles beginning with an article ("a," "an," or "the") should be categorized by the first significant word; for example, <nowiki>[[Category:Reference books|History of comic books, The]]</nowiki>.
  
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==Article size==
  
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As article gets longer, it becomes more difficult to read, navigate, and edit. On templated pages, content could be moved to an appropriate subpage. Long history section should be moved to ''/Expanded History'' subpage, retaining most important facts on the main page. Other examples of possible subpages are ''/Members'' and ''/Residents''. Name of a subpage should be informative and consistent with other same kind of subpages. Miscellaneous information can be moved into ''/Trivia'' subpage to reduce main page size.
  
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Article size is to be considered on subpages also and long subpages should be divided.
  
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==See also==
  
⚫
*[[Help:Template Fields]]
  
⚫
*[[:Category:Page Templates]]
  
   
 
[[Category:Policies]]
  
[[Category:Policies]]
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[[Category:TEMPtoArrange]]
  

Revision as of 08:17, 15 November 2021

These Article Guidelines explain what kind of content that should be added in each of the prearranged sections of an article. The Marvel Database provides the tools necessary for the creation of articles for the following:

  • In-story elements (both entirely fictional and adapted from real life)
    • Characters
    • Teams
    • Organizations
    • Locations
    • Vehicles
    • Items
    • Races and Species
    • Realities
  • Published material
    • Single comic book issues
    • Comic book volumes
    • Comic book storylines
    • Comic book events
    • Animated series
    • Live-action series
    • Movies
    • Video games
  • Marvel Comics staff members
  • Disambiguation pages

For the full list of templates, see Templates. For further information on which guidelines to take into account when adding information to an article, please see Manual of Style

Article Creation

The requirements for the creation of an article can be found under the Article Notability Policy.

The first step when creating an article, is to make use of the appropriate template depending on the article's topic. A template automatically generates and organizes the different elements that should be present in an article. For example, pages for characters must make use of the character template, and so on.

When creating an article, please take into account that the purpose of the wiki is to provide its readers with as much information as possible. While it's not expected that every contributor takes this ambition to heart, at the very least be sure to add the minimal amount of information necessary to give readers a satisfactory understanding of the article's subject. In the case of articles for in-story elements, pay notice to the History section and don't spare important details. Only filling out a page's infobox when creating it is not enough. Articles that don't meet these requisites will be considered stubs, and will most likely be deleted once noticed.

Article Naming

Every article in the Marvel Database must must be created with a name that adheres to the Naming Conventions, where the full extent of these guidelines are detailed. The following are only basic elements to take into account for the naming of articles:

  • Use title case, in which all words are capitalized, with the exception of certain subsets like articles, short prepositions and conjunctions.
  • Since Marvel makes use of the concept of alternate realities, the Marvel Database covers many different versions of a given character or group that exist in other realities. Because of this, the articles for characters, teams and organizations should always include between parenthesis the numeric designation of the universe they belong to (e.g. the article for the Avengers is Avengers (Earth-616), "Earth-616" being the numeric designation for the Prime Marvel Universe).
  • The only type of pages pertaining to an individual or group that don't feature a reality designation in their title are disambiguation pages since these articles serve as a hub which lists a character's different counterparts from different universes.
  • Article titles for items, vehicles, races and locations don't require reality designations since all versions from different universes of either of these are grouped in the same article.
  • Character articles should always be named after the character's real name if possible, avoiding diminutives (e.g. the article for the Iron Man of the Prime Marvel Universe is Anthony Stark (Earth-616), not "Tony Stark (Earth-616)")
  • Comic volumes should be named based on the title displayed in the indicia of their respective issues.
  • Avoid including "The" in the title of articles.

Article Layout

For a full explanation of every single available field present in the various templates used in the wiki, please see Help:Template Fields.

Infobox

The infobox represents a summary of information about the subject of an article, containing a set of attribute–value pairs. The infobox is where the most basic and specific information about a subject is displayed along with an image. Articles for in-story elements show an image of their up-to-date appearance, comic articles display the main cover of the publication, and movie articles display the final theatrical poster, for instance. In the case of a character, the infobox will show information that includes their real name, affiliations, weight and height, creators and first appearance. References in the infobox shouldn't be neglected, unless the information is explicitly stated in the history section. Elements such as a character's real name, aliases and physical characteristics should be referenced regardless. Avoid red links for better readability.

Overview

The overview section is a general summary of an article's subject meant for lengthy articles. For the guidelines on the writing of this section, please see the Overview Guidelines.

History

The History is the most important section of articles for in-story elements. It's a concise summary in chronological order of the most important events in the history of an article's subject. When adding information to a History section, be mindful to keep the amount of detail consistent with the rest of the article. This section must be filled using only canonical information without speculation.

When writing about any given event in a History section, it should be taken into consideration whether this event had an impact in the overall history of a subject that was a participant on it, as well as the subject's inherent importance to the world they inhabit. For instance, the article for a character who has starred a monthly series for over fifty years can't include an account of every single event they've gone through. On the other hand, any given antagonist will have more sporadic appearances, so a confrontation between two characters of each of these types might only be worth to mention in the latter's article.

It is greatly discouraged to go into overly-detailed accounts, especially in the articles for characters with a decades-old publication history. Conversely, a page about a character with only a handful of appearances can include more detail about an event they were involved with than an article for a more prominent character can. Avoid adding information that is superfluous to the overall point of the piece of information that is being added. For instance, it's unnecessary to relay every single step in a confrontation between two characters, since in most instances it will only be relevant the fact that they clashed and the outcome of the battle. The specifics of a story should be only delved into in the synopsis in the article for the piece of media where this story unfolded.

It is also necessary to write about events from a perspective limited to the scope in which it affected the subject whose history is being written. Information that doesn't directly pertain to the subject should only be added if they're contextual details that help the understanding of the text.

History sections should also be written with hindsight. If a turn of events that is revealed at a certain point of a character's history recontextualizes information from the past, don't relay this new information at the point of the chronology when it's revealed to the audience, but rather as part of the information from the past it affects. For example, if a character who dies is later revealed to have survived, don't relay that they died and then backtrack to explain they survived, simply provide the information that they survived right away, and establish that their death was apparent all along.

Personality

The Personality section is limited to Character articles. It should provide a summary of a character's mental characteristics, like their behavior, way of thinking and temperament.

Powers and Abilities

The Powers and Abilities section is limited to Character articles. It's separated into four subheadings:

  • Powers: A character's capabilities that are supernatural in comparison to an average human. For example, while in-story, the abilities that a mutant develops are innate and part of their biology, they are considered powers.
  • Abilities: A character's inherent talents and learned skills which are not entirely out of the ordinary. For instance, a character might be a super-genius in ways only feasible in fiction, but if they're genetically a normal human, their super-intelligence should be listed as an ability.
  • Strength level: It's an account of a character's muscular strength, whether it's superhuman or not.
  • Weaknesses: A specific and noteworthy set of vulnerabilities a character possesses which can affect their performance, and they are usually directly linked to the character's powers.

Paraphernalia

The Paraphernalia section is present in Character, Team and Organization articles, it's split in the following subheadings:

  • Equipment: A collection of particular items at a character's disposal, which may serve the purpose to help them perform tasks, like gadgets.
  • Weapons: The tools at a character's disposal meant to be used offensively.
  • Transportation: The ways of traveling around for a character, usually reserved for special means of transportation like custom vehicles.

Appearances

The Appearances section consists of a list in which the elements featured in a published material have to be written down in chronological order (including both appearances and mentions). The Appearances list is divided in the following:

  • Featured Characters: The protagonist(s) of the story. They are the main focus, and usually the character(s) from whose point of view the story unravels.
  • Supporting Characters: Secondary characters whose actions have an effect on either the story's main plot or sub-plots. They help push the story forward.
  • Antagonists: Characters who enter in conflict with the protagonist, and oppose their goals.
  • Other Characters: Characters that play a minor role in the story. They appear, but don't affect the narrative in a significant way. This section is also used to list characters, teams and organizations who are only mentioned or referenced.
  • Races and Species: Any species or race that makes an appearance should be added in this section. They should not be listed anywhere else unless they are an antagonist or supporting character where no member of said race is identified by name.
  • Locations: A list of the different places in which the story takes place, or which are mentioned in it.
  • Items: Any of the objects with an established importance which appear or are mentioned in the story.
  • Vehicles: Any vehicle of importance which appears or is mentioned in the story.

How to add appearances:

  • Appearances have to be catalogued in a bulleted list. Use sub bullets to list below the subsets of a main element (e.g. members of a team and places within locations)
  • The basic format to add the appearance category of an element to a page is the following:
    • * {{a|[[ARTICLE NAME|LINK TEXT]]}}
  • Make use of specific tags to denote something about the way a given subject appears in the published material.
    • Use these tags by replacing the "a" in "{{a|"
    • To make use of more than one tag, place the additional tags after the link.
    • e.g. {{1st|[[Steven Rogers (Earth-616)|Steve Rogers]]}} {{Flashback}} {{Origin}}
    • For a list of the available appearance tags, see Appearance Tags.

A few things to keep in mind:

  • The Featured/Supporting/Other Characters and Antagonists roles are assigned on a issue-by-issue basis (or story-by-story if an issue features multiple stories).
  • A character that appears in a story as a guest star should be listed under Supporting Characters.
  • An antagonist is a character that opposes the protagonist, even if they're a superhero or supervillain. Similarly, it's possible for a supervillain to be a supporting character, or even the protagonist of a story.
  • Characters who only make cameos should always be listed in Other Characters.
  • Characters that appear exclusively in recapitulatory flashbacks should be listed in Other Characters.
  • Characters who are only mentioned in a story should only be listed in Other Characters.
  • Minor appearances consists of when the subject appears in the story but isn't actually present (they might appear in an illusion, a photograph, in a recording (audio or video, does not include a live-feed), in a statue modelled after their likeness, comatose or as a corpse, for example).
  • If a story features a team but some of its members don't appear and are instead only mentioned, these characters should be listed in Other Characters instead of being nested under the team they belong to.
  • Mentions are not necessary to be listed if the character makes some kind of appearance, be it major or minor.
  • Be sure to make appropriate use of the appearances tags, especially when categorizing minor appearances. The default "a" appearance tag categorizes a given appearance as major, so appropriate use of minor appearances tags is important to properly categorize an appearance as minor.

Summary/Synopsis/Plot/Story

This section should provide a rundown of all major events that happen in the material covered by the article. Summaries need to be comprehensive and accurate, but not excessively laconic, nor overly long. A summary should provide the reader a similar understanding of the story's key points as a person who has read/watched/played it on their own. In the case of stories which are a continuation of another, summaries should be written in a way that it's accessible to understand the continuing narrative without having to read the synopses for previous issues. Summaries have to be written in present tense, using an in-universe perspective, and avoiding the use of first person.

And alternative to balancing between writing a short and a long synopsis is to do both. Split the summary into two subheadings, "Brief Summary" and "Detailed Summary," and write below each of these sections the corresponding type of summary. The brief summary can be a simple overview of the story; a paragraph or two laying out the basic facts of the narrative.

Cast

This section provides a list of all major actors of a movie, a series' episode or a video game. In the case of articles for content yet to be released, it's necessary to provide a reference for the addition of an actor.

Notes and Trivia

These sections are used to add technical information about the subject of an article. Unlike the rest of an article, these sections don't require to use an in-universe perspective; they are available to add any information about fictional subjects in which is necessary to treat them as such, behind-the-scenes and making-of material, technical aspects of a publication, etc.

In short, "Notes" is for notable information, while "Trivia" is for trivial information.

See Also

In this section related topics not alreadt linked in the article should be listed. Links to related topics not already linked in article

Links and References

This section consists of a bulleted list of general references sorted by date of publication, explanatory and citation footnotes, links to other Marvel wikis that specialize in or focus on subjects we do not, links to other unofficial sources, e.g. fan sites, etc.

See Also

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