Template talk:Infobox comics character/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Multiple publishers and the publisher subcat

Resolved

 – The parameter name is addcharcat2 and then after the equals sign, type out DC Comics superheroes. Aristophanes68 (talk) 02:39, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

I notice the Milestone characters have been divided into two subcats: Some of them are still listed as Milestone (e.g. Icon) and others are listed as DC (e.g. Static). This means that the Milestone Media superheroes category has lots of missing characters. Is there a way to list both publishers? Should all the Milestone characters be moved to DC? (I haven't checked, but this might also affect WildStorm characters like Grifter, Apollo, Midnighter, etc.) Thanks. Aristophanes68 (talk) 17:29, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

After looking around some more, it seems that most of the Milestone characters are now tagged as DC characters. Since there are only three characters left in the Milestone Media superheroes cat, I'm going to switch them all to DC. Aristophanes68 (talk) 17:49, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

But Wildstorm characters are mostly showing Wildstorm in the parameter. Can the parameter hold two different companies? If not, can we decide whether the parameter should go to the original or the current company? Thanks. Aristophanes68 (talk) 19:55, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Okay, I just noticed the instructions for how to use the addcharcat# parameter: "Additional "<Publisher> <character type>" categories can be added with addcharcat#. Replace "#" with a number (currently the template is set up for 2 additional cats) and list the full category title. Please list the publishers in publication order." PROBLEM: I still can't get both categories to show up when I add |subcat2 = . Anyone here familiar with how to work the addcharcat# parameter? Aristophanes68 (talk) 21:09, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Alter ego?

Am I correct in thinking that if the article is for the character's real name then the Alter ego field should not also list their real name, as per this edit? Thanks. DonIago (talk) 15:24, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

I agree. The alter ego should be DIFFERENT FROM the article title. That editor is enthusiastic but wrong. Aristophanes68 (talk) 21:31, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! DonIago (talk) 13:40, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

All the other Green Lanterns have the alter ego as their real name in the comics.108.34.209.194 (talk) 21:16, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

I'd like to see links to the articles where that's occurred rather than just a claim please. Also, WP:OTHERSTUFF, and you shouldn't keep inserting your changes while the matter is under dispute, as I already told you when I warned you against edit-warring. As at least two editors have concerns about this please do not reinsert your change until there is a consensus in favor of it. If you continue to push your change through before there is a consensus I will assume you are willfully edit-warring and report you accordingly. Thank you for your understanding. DonIago (talk) 13:36, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Reviewing the history I see that this last time Green Lantern was added as an alias. This seems redundant given that GL is already listed as Hal Jordan's Alter ego. If this is how it's being handled at other character pages, please provide appropriate links. DonIago (talk) 13:41, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

[]108.34.209.194 (talk) 00:23, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

[]108.34.209.194 (talk) 00:25, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

[]

108.34.209.194 (talk) 00:26, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

[]108.34.209.194 (talk) 00:27, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Actually, only the John and Guy articles include alter ego in the infobox, but it is true that they (strangely) list their civilian names there instead of GL. Perhaps all the GL articles should take a cue from Kyle's article and use the "aliases" parameter instead? I posted a link to this discussion on the other GL talk pages. Aristophanes68 (talk) 01:11, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

I'm happy with any solution which resolves the silliness of reproducing the name of the article in the infobox for no evident reason. If the article's about Peter Parker than list Spider-man as the alter ago or alias or whichever, and vice-versa. It might be different if we were talking about a full name versus how a character is commonly known, but that's not what we're talking about here. DonIago (talk) 01:20, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

maybe we should just have green lantern as alias. 108.34.209.194 (talk) 01:29, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Sounds good to me. Aristophanes68 (talk) 04:02, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Redundant infobox title param

Question: Articles using this template are being added to Category:Redundant infobox title param unless the character's name is not identical to the name of the article (i.e. "Batman" is being added, "Tintin (character)" is not). The question is, what exactly is causing the redundancy, and is it something that can be fixed by tweaking this template? For example, Do we need an "if" statement somewhere so that it will not take both the "character_name" parameter and the article name for the top of the Infobox? Is that what is causing the redundancy? I tried reading the code but failed to answer my question; hopefully some of you can. Thanks. Note that this is also happening with Template:Infobox comics creator and possibly others. Note also that User:Koavf began a massive edit to remove the name parameter from articles calling the template, but it seems to me that it is reasonable to include the name parameter in the articles, and that removing it from all of them is the worse solution, but I do not know if tweaking this template is the better one. Thanks again. Prhartcom (talk) 21:29, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

The code in question is

{{#ifeq:{{{character_name|none}}}|{{PAGENAME}}|[[Category:Redundant infobox title param|{{PAGENAME}}]]}}

Adding the character name is harmless, but unnecessary in the examples you give. Hence someone familiar with things like Codd's rules for database design probably thought a tracking category and removal of "redundant" information was a good idea. However since the infobox can be moved to a different page, (say we merge (or copy the box from) "Robin" onto "Batman and Robin") actually removing these data may not be a good idea.

I would be happy to get rid of the above line of code if there are no objections.

All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 12:40, 7 January 2015 (UTC).

Thank-you, Rich; I, for one, would appreciate the removal of the line of code, unless it can somehow be conditional. I see what you mean in your explanation above, and a better reason for calling these templates with the "name" parameter is self-documentation: Who would imagine calling a template called "creator" or "character" without the creator or character name? After this is fixed, I would like User:Koavf to revert each of his changes if willing. Prhartcom (talk) 13:43, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Revert I guess I could but I don't really see the point. In the unlikely event that Classics Illustrated Junior or Baymax gets moved, then the infobox will just have a title reading "Classics Illustrated Junior (comic)" or "Baymax (character)", which would not be the end of the world. But if you want me to do it, I can. Just let me know. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 17:55, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Thank-you, Justin, yes, now that Rich has fixed the code, please do revert the changes you made that day, putting back the "name" parameters into the articles calling the template(s). Prhartcom (talk) 23:00, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

@Prhartcom: No problem. I can do it over the next day or two. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 06:45, 10 January 2015 (UTC)

Partners

What is the purpose/right usage of the partners field? On superheros it seems redundant to the team affiliations field, and as someone has abused on Batman, ripe for misuse. Darkwarriorblake / SEXY ACTION TALK PAGE! 20:11, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

So are we content to remove this then? Seeing as noone wants to defend it? Darkwarriorblake / SEXY ACTION TALK PAGE! 22:11, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

Category:Misplaced comics infoboxes includes draft space

It is possible to make it so that Category:Misplaced comics infoboxes excludes articles in draftspace? I don't think a draft version of an article is a misplaced use of this template. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 13:48, 28 September 2015 (UTC)

"Alter ego" should just be "Other names"

Comic books are not known for being careful with terminology, and "alter ego" as used in older Superman comics is a bit of a stretch of the definition. Looking at the Wikipedia page for alter ego, in the context of the Superman it can only be applied metaphorically, because "alter ego" in the literal sense refers to a split personality rather than a masquerade (the Hulk has an alter ego, but Superman doesn't). I think "alter ego" should be replaced with "aliases", "other names", "AKA", or something like that. Superman has a Kryptonian name (Kal-El), a legal American name (Clark Kent), an alias (Superman), and a bunch of nicknames (Man of Steel, Man of Tomorrow, etc.). Few superheroes have an alter ego in any sense. Spider-Man has a secret identity, but he doesn't project a fake personality when he is Peter Parker. BaronBifford (talk) 13:09, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

I agree with this line of thought, though I have no strong preference for what the replacement parameter(s) are called. There is an "alias" parameter now, but it's lower in the box and is intended for a different purpose, I think. Argento Surfer (talk) 18:39, 27 July 2016 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 30 July 2016

I want to add a category to the template titled Relatives. Real people have them on their info boxes list off their parents, siblings, children, spouses, etc. so why not for comic book characters as well. So I was hoping to hear from someone about making this a reality and I hope this is one of those ways I can make it happen.

Fluffyroll11 (talk) 18:45, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit template-protected}} template. — JJMC89 (T·C) 22:56, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

Relatives

I want to start adding a relatives part to each comic book characters relatives on there infobox with the X-Men since they will be the easiest. I will experiment with the best look but, I want it to be just like how famous peoples relatives are listed so why not for fictional characters as well. I will also experiment with names and codenamed and maybe a slash so both can be shown. If someone could please help me to get this onto the template that would be awesome. I feel that this would make a great addition to the info box for comic book characters.

Fluffyroll11 (talk) 22:57, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

I oppose this. Superhero infoboxes are bloated enough as they are. They're not meant to be a complete biography - what would the article's main body of text be for? BaronBifford (talk) 20:40, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

I think it would be a nice addition making them like actual people's info boxes. It would be just the close family members like just their parents, siblings, kids, and a spouse. It wouldn't be too long and I believe would be a nice addition treating them like real people. Also it's like a highlight which would be more useful than the partnership category.

Fluffyroll11 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 15:09, 31 July 2016 (UTC)

Comic book characters are not real people, so their relationships with other fictional characters are not of especially great interest. Furthermore with each reboot these relationships change very frequently and can get ridiculously over-complicated. Do you really want list the family tree of Jean Grey, taking into account time travel, parallel universes, and clones?

Keep this simple! The bare essentials only! In fact I wonder why we use infoboxes at all. BaronBifford (talk) 15:27, 31 July 2016 (UTC)

Well actually Jean Grey's would be simple but, even with reboots their relationships stay the same and clones wouldn't count. Cyclops would be the more complicated one. Instead of saying how complicated it could be lets set some parameters and guidelines that would be followed with this. For example clones wouldn't count. So with the example of Cyclops it would go Corsair (father), Havok (Brother), Vulcan (Brother), Jean Grey (Wife), Cable (Son), Hope Summers (Daughter). This would be the most complicated and lengthy example I can think of but a simpler one which ould be the case for most would be for example Colossus Mikhail Rasputin (Brother), and Magik (Sister) (this would be a case to discuss if his parents are even worth mentioning on it which I don't believe they are) so most would be simple like this. the significance of each character mentioned could be decided with a set of parameters we set when implementing this or leave significance to the talk page. Can we come to a consensus of how to make this work and a reality?

Fluffyroll11 (talk) 18:26, 31 July 2016 (UTC)

"It would be just the close family members like just their parents, siblings, kids, and a spouse."

This may be how you would use it, but there are other editors who would want to list the second cousin who appeared in two panels forty years ago. The same thing happens in the powers/abilities sections now, and policing those can be a real headache.

Also, infoboxes are supposed to be a brief overview providing highly desirable information in a quick-to-find location. I don't think there's enough demand for the relatives of comic characters to justify 1) sourcing and adding this information or 2) the continuous effort to monitor and update it. Argento Surfer (talk) 13:01, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

@Argento Surfer: I believe the family members are a desired information that should be in the info boxes overview. I'll try to make a stress test prototype of this with Cyclops but, we should come up with a set of parameters for it to prevent the insignificant family members to appear on it. Also I wouldn't make undertaking the addition of this information. So what do you say can we compromise and come up with a set of guidelines for this if it were to be added? Fluffyroll11 (talk) 17:07, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

I support Fluffyroll11's attempt to experiment with a prototype infobox (how do we do that exactly?), but what is more important is these "set of parameters" that will restrict the list to important members. The biggest problems with the infobox will not come from size as much as editors bickering over what and what not to include in the list. An sandbox infobox can't predict how bad that will get. BaronBifford (talk) 18:27, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

@BaronBifford: :@Argento Surfer: Thank you (So how do I make a prototype exactly anyways)? I believe now we need to discuss this "set of parameter" we need to establish like for example a clone doesn't count towards it's original for say since the clone is it's own character it would have it's own set like Madelyn Pryor is the mother of Cable etc. Does that makes sense? So lets estimable what this "set of parameters" should be. Also how do I make that prototype anyways because I tried a few different things and it didn't work so could someone point me in the right direction so we can get closer to making this a reality?

Fluffyroll11 (talk) 18:45, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

I don't know much about editing templates, so I can't be too much help for setting up a prototype. Template:Infobox writer has the parameters you're looking for, so I'd suggest viewing the source code for it, comparing it to the source for this infobox, and trying to combine them in your sandbox to see how it looks. You may also consider posting this proposal on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Comics to get additional opinions. Argento Surfer (talk) 19:06, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

@Argento Surfer: Thank you but, there is one thing I am confused about and thats how to get the parameters onto the template? Cause the parameters should be just common sense immediate family the important ones like I said at the beginning and is there a way to have that put in there?

Fluffyroll11 (talk) 19:13, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

You'll want to get a consensus in favor of the proposal, then make another proposal like the one you made below. The first step to doing that will be getting more opinions by posting at Wikiproject Comics linked above and/or starting an Request For Comment here. If a majority of editor like the idea, then you can make another edit request like the one below. Argento Surfer (talk) 19:18, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

@Argento Surfer: Ok then tell me if I did this right. I am starting a Request For Comment on the proposal of adding relatives to the comic book characters info boxes.

Fluffyroll11 (talk) 20:14, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

You need to add the RfC template to the discussion. I've done it for you. Now give it about a week for other editors to see it and respond. It can be closed early if there's overwhelming support or opposition (WP:Snow). Argento Surfer (talk) 20:22, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

@Argento Surfer: ok but, where is that thing that you added. And what does it do I think I missed something. Anyways thank you for all the help and can't wait to hear what people think. I believe we can make this a reality.

Fluffyroll11 (talk) 20:27, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

I added an RfC template to the top of the section (it's two curly brackets, template name, two curly brackets). It generates the box you see now. The box is a visual cue to other editors that a request for comment has been made. It also adds notifications to various pages around Wikipedia to let people who don't follow the page know about it. Argento Surfer (talk) 20:47, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

@Argento Surfer: I think that it is time we brought this to the experimental stage. What do you think? Fluffyroll11 (talk) 15:30, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

I don't think you're anywhere near a consensus. Only one editor has supported you, and all the others have expressed reservations. Argento Surfer (talk) 15:37, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

I think I am opposed too. I supported Fluffyroll11 at first but now I think that was an ill-thought act of kindness. I said Fluffyroll11 could experiment with a prototype infobox but that isn't going to prevent the squabbles akin to what we get with the Abilities entry and the Team affiliations entry. I see no point to a list of Relatives. We have the main body of the article to explore that. What are infoboxes for anyway? I don't see why we need an infobox to list Superman's team memberships, aliases, and powers. It's clutter. Did Fluffyroll11 question the utility of this or is he just trying to have some fun? I think he just wants to do it as an exercise in coding. I oppose. BaronBifford (talk) 06:33, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

I would dispute that fictional characters' relationships to other characters are of no interest to readers. It is often one of the most covered matters in conversations about characters.

In Jean Grey's the basic family tree has remained fairly simple since the 1960s. Father Dr. John Grey, mother Elaine Grey, sister Sara Grey-Bailey, nephew Joey Bailey, and niece Gailyn Bailey, and all five of these supporting characters have since been killed. While Jean has had a number of clones and even children through these clones, she has had at best limited contact with any of them. I am not certain they would even count as family.

In Cyclops' case the most discussion or dispute I have ever seen is in the status of Adam X, a character created by Fabian Nicieza to serve as a maternal half-brother to Cyclops. The character and the implication was introduced in the 1990s, but Nicieza was not allowed to complete his story. Adam keeps making minor appearances but the story about his family has never been picked by other writers.

In Colossus' case, his siblings are fairly important characters with several appearances. But his parents Nikolai and Alexandra Rasputin were very minor supporting characters and their deaths were barely even mentioned. I am not sure there is much to write there. A mini-series called "X-Men: Colossus Bloodline" established that Colossus is actually a descendant of Grigori Rasputin, but this did not add much to the character.

The one character I would be unsure how to handle is the Scarlet Witch. In about 50 years, Marvel has given 3 different versions of the identity of her parents and they are recently trying to introduce a 4th one. Do we list 8 different parents? Marvel gave the Witch twin sons in the 1980s, then retconned them into magical creations, then destroyed them, then introduced two teenage characters as reincarnations of her children. So who do we list as "childen", the originals or the reincarnations? And there is not even a reboot involved, just entirely contradictory ideas by different writers and editors. Dimadick (talk) 18:17, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for weighing in Dimadick. I've copied your comment to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Comics#RFC on adding parameters for relatives to Comic Book Character Infobox, where the topic is being discussed by more editors. Argento Surfer (talk) 20:30, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Cat and subcat

How does one put Judge Anderson in Category:Mega-City One judges and not the redundant supercategory Category:Comics characters ? No combination of blank/nonblank cat and subcat seems to work; is there a "suppress" option? jnestorius^(talk) 19:08, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

User:Jnestorius, I fixed it for you. Frietjes (talk) 14:53, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

@Frietjes: Thanks! Can someone add altcat to the template documentation? jnestorius^(talk) 17:34, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

Template produces a visible error when non-numerics used in imagesize

Some preliminary input-validation is required. Just thought I'd leave my findings here.   ~ Tom.Reding (talk ⋅dgaf)  23:42, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

Edit request to remove the imagesize parameter

The imagesize parameter seems to have been deprecated. It seems to currently default to 250, so including it in the infobox is pointless. --Omnipaedista (talk) 22:22, 29 September 2018 (UTC)

Template:Infobox comics character

copied from User talk:Zackmann08.
Regarding your edits to Template:Infobox comics character, is there anyway to restore the default image width to 250 pixels? Your edit seems to have triggered automatic image scaling, resulting in extra negative space around the image and poorer image quality. Thank you.--TriiipleThreat (talk) 15:16, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) I believe that I have set the default image size to 250px. Please start a thread at Template talk:Infobox comics character with links to affected articles if you are still observing problems. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:25, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

Seems to be all good. Thanks.--TriiipleThreat (talk) 19:42, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

I also set the max image size (width) to 250px, per the documentation. I did not attempt to replicate the complicated code that was setting the max height to 450px, so I deleted that note from the documentation. I expect there may be a couple of very tall images somewhere in articles. – Jonesey95 (talk) 20:09, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 13 February 2019

Please revert the last two last edits @Jonesey95:. It force a default size for users with another preference. And if there should be a forced image size it should be 220px which is default size for this wikipedia. Please see WP:IMGSIZE for some background reading. Christian75 (talk) 18:14, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

 Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit template-protected}} template. As far as I know, I restored the previous consensus, which was a default size of 250px, with a max of 450px. As I stated above in the section that I have just copied to this page, Please start a thread at Template talk:Infobox comics character with links to affected articles if you are still observing problems. Thanks.

I have placed the previous version of the template (the version from June 2017 through December 2018 25 January 2019) into the sandbox so that interested editors can use Template:Infobox comics character/testcases to show what changes might be desirable. Editors are also welcome to change the sandbox to their preferred version if that helps to illustrate a point. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:20, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

I added a bunch of test cases with images, but the images were removed. You can see the images in this revision of the testcases page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:26, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

New parameter for last seen?

There is a parameter "First appearance" in this template. Shouldn't there also need to be a "last appearance" parameter? I think it is useful to know when the character last appeared in a comic. I'mFeistyIncognito | Talk 19:10, 9 August 2020 (UTC)

To editor I'mfeistyincognito: thank you for the positive suggestion. This seems to be something that needs the input of other editors who are also involved with this template, so...  Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit template-protected}} template. Thanks again for your interest in this encyclopedia! P.I. Ellsworth  ed. ^put'r there 19:34, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

@Paine Ellsworth:, Thank you for your response. How (and where) should I seek consensus for maximum likelihood of being answered? I'mFeistyIncognito | Talk 20:40, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

@I'mfeistyincognito: I don't know if Paine Ellsworth meant that a formal RfC is required or not (one could be opened right here, and propagate from there), but I'd recommend opening a discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Comics since that WikiProject would be the most frequent user of this template. -2pou (talk) 21:09, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

To editors I'mfeistyincognito and 2pou: whether or not to have an informal discussion or an RfC is up to the editor who wants the new parameter. The WikiProject's talk page would be an excellent place to discuss this and perhaps the best place to garner a consensus for this addition. P.I. Ellsworth  ed. ^put'r there 22:07, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

Edit request to add epithets parameter

There should be an epithets/nicknames section, since comic book characters often have epithets and so people wouldn't add epithets to the aliases section, a mistake I have noticed a lot in character articles
SinkingInMercury (talk) 03:20, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{edit template-protected}} template. DonIago (talk) 03:49, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

RFC: new epithets parameter in infobox

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

Should there be an epithets parameter in the infobox?

I think there should be, since most comic book characters have epithets, and also to prevent people from mistaking epithets for aliases and putting them in the aliases section, a mistake I have seen frequently in character articles. Any thoughts?
SinkingInMercury (talk) 00:42, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
Edit: Restarted the RfC
SinkingInMercury (talk) 10:57, 2 September 2021 (UTC)

I'd like to see diffs of these frequent errors before adding additional fictional information to infoboxes, which are common points for bloated minutia. Argento Surfer (talk) 12:19, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

@Argento Surfer:
Batman:
+ Dark Knight, The World's Greatest Detective, Caped Crusader
+ Darknight Detective
Two-Face:
+ Gotham's Protector
+ Apollo
+ Gotham's White Knight
Harley Quinn:
+ The Cupid of Crime, The Maid of Mischief
+ The Mistress of Mayhem, The Clown Princess of Crime
Superman:
+ The Man of Tomorrow
+ The Man of Steel, The Last Son of Krypton
Green Arrow:
+ Emerald Archer, Battling Bowman
Wonder Woman:
+ Goddess of Truth
SinkingInMercury (talk) 14:24, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

• Support adding the field. Argento Surfer (talk) 16:31, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
• Would you kindly provide a recommended documentation update to accompany this? Adding the parameter is unlikely to fix the issue unless people actually know what the parameter is for and its differences. I have to assume that a contributing factor to the erroneous additions is a close association between the word alias and the term AKA. Honestly, thanks to the word epithet itself and general human laziness, even with a good documentation update, I think the issue will persist until someone knowledgable of the difference corrects each instance on a particular page. I wonder if changing alias to AKA would be an easier solution to implement and enforce. Probably runs more risk of bloat, though. -2pou (talk) 18:19, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
  • @2pou: Editors seeing the epithets/nicknames in the proper field instead of in the aliases section is enough to prevent the issue from occurring again, I think, especially if the epithets parameter is next to the aliases.
    SinkingInMercury (talk) 01:38, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

• Question - will these be restricted to epithets from the comics themselves, or will any purple prose from any review/blog/reaction/whatnot be added to this? - jc37 03:37, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

  In addition, do we expect that the big red cheese, boy blunder, the blue boy scout, and other such epithets would also be added? - jc37 03:39, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

  @Jc37: Should generally be restricted to ephitets from the comics, with maybe an exception for notable unofficial epithets SinkingInMercury (talk) 04:31, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

  Teen Titans characters - Robin-o, Legs, Gillhead, Twinkletoes, Wonder Chick, Boy Bowman, etc.

  And Stan Lee created new ones in nearly every comic. Webhead, web slinger, Green Goliath, etc etc.

  All of these really require contextual explanations, the kind of thing we consistantly have said are not the kind of thing that should be in the info box. I understand the goal of this, but it would be creating more problems, and inviting WP:OR, amongst many other issues. - jc37 04:50, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

  @Jc37:Those aren't epithets though, just nicknames, but I do understand your point. Maybe linking the epithets parameter text to the wiktionary definition for epithet might help, as well as hidden text in the parameter stating nicknames are not epithets or "avoid putting non-notable epithets or nicknames"?
  Also, I think that the current "notable aliases" section also invites OR anyway just as much as an epithets parameter would, with non-notable aliases or nicknames like this or this being listed in it at times. SinkingInMercury (talk) 05:41, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

  Actually, per wiktionary, wikt:epithet, wikt:cognomen, and wikt:nickname are all synonyms.

  Which makes this a solution to a problem which creates similar and more problems... - jc37 17:58, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

• I agree with Jc37 here, and feel I have to mention that epithets are far from the only issue plaguing the alias field. For example, I often see people adding diminutives to the field, such as "Pete" and "Petey" for Spider-Man. In addition, I suspect an epithet field would fall victim to a trend I've seen on Wikipedia where editors act like little children whose sibling has just got a new toy: Only a tiny fraction (I'd guess less than 0.1%) of comics characters have epithets that are significant enough that they could justifiably be mentioned in their infobox, but once the epithet field pops up in a few articles, many editors will start feeling like an article is in some way inferior if it doesn't have that field, so they will resort to any stretch of logic to put something in that field for their favorite characters. If the character doesn't have a notable epithet, use one that popped up in a single line of a single appearance; if they don't have any epithets, make one up. I've seen the same thing happen to many infobox fields.--NukeofEarl (talk) 19:28, 8 August 2021 (UTC)
• Support Yes, it should be included based on what I've read above. The upsides outweigh the downsides, in my opinion. Pyrrho the Skeptic (talk) 19:28, 10 August 2021 (UTC)
• Support It seems useful and concise Yleventa2 (talk) 17:46, 5 September 2021 (UTC)

What limit is there on this? Do we include "Bats" because the Joker uses it a lot? It seems like something that will just be abused. Darkwarriorblake / SEXY ACTION TALK PAGE! 17:51, 5 September 2021 (UTC)

@Darkwarriorblake: Should be limited to epithets that fit the definition from this website: "a word or phrase used in place of or in addition to a name to characterize the person, place, or thing. In fiction or nonfiction, it’s an effective device for evoking the subject’s qualities and for elegant variation." Examples of this are the epithets listed here. SinkingInMercury (talk) 03:18, 6 September 2021 (UTC)

• Support, User:SinkingInMercury makes a convincing case that this will reduce confusion and prevent mistakes.--Droid I am (talk) 09:27, 6 October 2021 (UTC)
• Oppose, I expect the downsides will far outweigh the benefits. While I concede that there are a handful of superheroes with notable or defining nicknames ("Robin, Boy Wonder", "The Dark Knight", etc.), I think that this parameter will end up as a fancruft magnet with endless lists of nicknames for even minor characters. I present the Marvel Cinematic Universe Fandom page on Iron Man (infobox section "Alias(es)") as an (admittedly over-the-top) example of what I expect this field will look like. Either that or we will get bogged down in endless debates about what constitutes a "notable" epithet...and the irrelevant nicknames will get added anyway. GeneralNotability (talk) 21:49, 6 October 2021 (UTC)
• Support Meaningful distinction. But the epithets should be sourced with citations to merit inclusion. Dimadick (talk) 08:53, 9 October 2021 (UTC)
• Support Yes. It should be a parameter based off of what nom and others said, but like Dimadick said, there should probably be citations to merit inclusion. Rexh17 (talk) 01:05, 13 October 2021 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.