Forum:Character pages
Recently, there has been some debate as to whether or not Navi from The Legend of Zelda and Slime from Dragon Quest are worthy of their pages. In the discussion, it was also argued that characters such as Link's pig from Wind Waker, the fairies from Wind Waker, and the Horned Dynastid from Animal Crossing (potentially among other options) should get their own pages, as a character in a victory pose is as much a part of a character's portrayal in Smash as a character in a taunt (which is entirely a part of their moveset). In the same discussion, it was also brought up how Rush and Beat from Mega Man, Lloid from Animal Crossing, and the Phantom from Phantom Hourglass have their own pages, while F.L.U.D.D. and the Wild Gunman only have pages for their appearances as a move. Previously, there were also discussions about whether or not a costume counted as a full appearance, and with it, the question of "why do Mii Fighter costume characters get pages?" was brought up. With all of this being said, I think it should finally be laid down exactly which characters, based on their appearances in Smash, should get pages.
I would like to lay down the following claims:
- Obviously, first and foremost, a character that's playable in the game or comes from an assisting item, like the Assist Trophy or the Poké Balls, gets a page. I know we are all basically in agreement on this, but I'm honestly just mentioning this as a formality, so that there's a solid list that we can work off of.
- If a character makes an appearance within a moveset, then they should get a page.
- However, if a character simply acts as the move itself, rather than actually assisting in the attack, then the page detailing the move in question would suffice. For an example, Rush Coil would perfectly be fine to describe Rush and his origins within the Mega Man series, but because Chain Attack is based on the mechanic from Xenoblade Chronicles rather than at least one specific character in question, then the page for Chain Attack would describe the mechanic itself, and the characters that cameo within the attack would get their own pages describing themselves.
- If a character appears within a moveset outside of an attack, such as a taunt or a victory pose, then they should get a page.
- If a character is present as a mechanic in a stage, such as a boss or a hazard, then they should get a page. Minor background cameos should not get pages.
- If a character is present as a mechanic in a mode, such as an enemy in the single-player modes like Subspace or Smash Run, or as an assistant in Smash Tour, then they should get a page.
- Other characters that appear as trophies, stickers, spirits, and any other unlisted cameo do not get special character pages, though if they appear multiple times throughout the series, then they are viable to get a disambiguation page that links to the character's series' trophy, sticker, and/or spirit list(s), along with, should they appear as a stage cameo, a link to the stage they cameo in.
- As a side note, if they don't have a full page (as in, just a disambiguation page), then this template should link to their interwiki pages, rather than the disambiguation page.
I am not going to declare these as new rules; I am simply proposing them, based on the current state of discussions being held on the Navi talk page. They are thoughts that occurred to me as I was writing my most recent comment (at the time of this writing), and, as I would like to come to a conclusion as much as the rest of us would, I figured this would be the best course of action. Feel free to discuss. Aidan, the Rurouni 22:13, July 29, 2019 (EDT)