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Revision as of 22:47, 29 May 2006

This is a draft of a proposed addendum to Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style. It has not yet been submitted to the Misplaced Pages:Policy thinktank, and it does not represent Misplaced Pages official or semi-official policy.

Please consider this essay to be common property. Add to it, suggest changes on the Talk page, do a copy edit. My goal is for this to become the best essay it can be!

The following is a proposed Misplaced Pages policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption.

Misplaced Pages contains countless articles on fictional worlds and elements from them. This makes sense; people write about what interests them. Provided such articles comply with policies on notability, this is generally acceptable. Once a topic's notability has been established, the approach to writing about these subjects is the most important consideration to make.

This page in a nutshell: Misplaced Pages articles should describe fiction and fictional elements from the perspective of the real world, not from the perspective of the fiction itself.

Describe this universe

Articles on fiction can approach their subject from two angles. The first treats the fiction as if it were real and describes it from the perspective of the people and characters of the fictional universe. Topics covered may include:

  • Birth and death dates of fictional characters;
  • Plot synopses framed as biography;
  • Performance statistics or characteristics for fictional vehicles or devices;
  • Exposition framed as the history of fictional locations or organizations; and
  • Fictional background information on alien creatures presented as real-world science or anthropology.

This is often referred to as an in-universe perspective.

In contrast, articles can describe the subject matter from the perspective of the real world. This may include:

  • Its author or creator;
  • Its design;
  • Its development both before its first appearance and over the course of the narrative;
  • For fictional characters in dramatic productions, the actor or actress who portrayed the role and his or her approach to playing that character;
  • Its popularity among the general public;
  • For commercial offerings, its sales figures;
  • Its reception by critics;
  • Critical analysis of the subject; and
  • Its influence on later creators and their projects.

This is often called an out-of-universe perspective.

Misplaced Pages is an out-of-universe source, and all articles about fiction and elements of fiction should take an out-of-universe perspective.

Prose examples

The following made-up plot description does not discuss this universe at all, even tangentially, and is an example of the type of writing that should thus be avoided on Misplaced Pages:

In Star Year 8891 the Slibvorks of Blastio were infected with the Kroxyldyph virus by a bio-warfare special operations unit on a clandestine mission. The unit, acting under the leadership of Commander Sam Kinkaid and without the approval of Star Command, rewrote the Slibvorks' DNA and caused their skin to turn blue.

In constrast, the passage below treats the same subject in a way that is suitable for Misplaced Pages, because it discusses the fictional universe with respect to events, people, and things in this universe. Notice how this perspective allows for much information than an in-universe perspective would not:

In the later series, a larger budget allowed for more extensive special effects makeup. The Slibvorks were now depicted as having blue skin, a stark contrast to their appearance in the earlier series. The writers explained this by adding a genetic misfortune into the backstory of the Slibvorks. According to the current series bible, this occurred in Star Year 8891, between episodes 5.14 and 6.0. This was later expanded into the novel The Trouble with Kroxyldyph by Honda MacHinery. The novel follows the adventures of a bio-warfare special operations unit on a clandestine mission to infect the Slibvorks with the Kroxyldyph virus. The unit, acting under Commander Sam Kinkaid's leadership and without the approval of Star Command, rewrites the Slibvorks' DNA. The change in skin color is one of many unintended side-effects.

Likewise, an article written from an in-universe perspective about a fictional character might read something like this:

His Royal Highness King Ludgar Wolventongue of Tympania (820 Age of the Mystic River–872 Age of the Mystic River) is a fictional character in the universe of RPG Co.'s Lands of Lustre series. Wolventongue was born into a powerful Tympanian family, the son of King Rodgast Horseheel and Queen Gebellynde of Hyrax. He ascended to the throne in 838 Age of the Mystic River and ruled as a caring and magnanimous king, although not without an occasional bout of moodiness. Wolventongue died in battle with Grufius the Gargler in the Battle of Ganzon Gulch.

Notice how the prose is careful to label the subject as fictional, only to proceed to describe the character as if he were real for the remainder of the paragraph. Instead, the article should persist with its out-of-universe look at the character:

Ludgar Wolventongue is a fictional character in the universe of RPG Co.'s Lands of Lustre series. Introduced in the Mysteries of Tympania trilogy by Amanda Karbowski, the character plays an important role in many Lands of Lustre novels. Karbowski's trilogy describes Wolventongue's birth into a powerful Tympanian family as the son of King Rodgast Horseheel and Queen Gebellynde of Hyrax; he ascends to the throne in 838 Age of the Mystic River, as described in the second book. Various characters describe Wolventongue as "caring and magnanimous", and Karbowski offers numerous examples of these traits. However, the king shows a temper from time to time, as when he berates a young Sir Gyroban after the Battle of Rynsoth. In the later standalone novel Death in Tympania (1995), Wolventongue dies in 872 Age of the Mystic River during the Battle of Ganzon Gulch, a victim of Grufius the Gargler. The fact that Karbowski killed off the popular character shocked fans and prompted many negative reviews in science fiction magazines.

In addition to creating a clear distinction between fictional content and its real-world context, this style allows the inclusion of more relevant information, such as audience reactions, scholarly criticism, etc.

What's wrong with an in-universe perspective?

Articles written from an in-universe perspective are overly reliant on the fiction itself as a primary source. On the other hand, articles written from an out-of-universe perspective, with their inclusion of details of creation, development, critical reaction, etc., serve the encyclopedia reader better. Interested individuals can, after all, find the fictional universe's account of events by the simple expedient of reading the books, playing the games, or watching the films and television programs.

Another problem is that in-universe articles, lacking as they are in any critical analysis of the subject, invite original research. In other words, lacking actual critical analysis from secondary sources, Misplaced Pages editors and fans of the subject often feel compelled to provide such analysis themselves. Consider this analogy: Would it be acceptable to write an article on flight based solely on watching birds flying? Further, much of this analysis might seem on the surface to be quite sound. For example, say an editor creates an article on a starship recently introduced on a science fiction TV show. Using the episodes as reference, he or she writes, "Finn-class starfighters have purple shielding and can fly faster than Mach 3." But how do we really know that all Finn-class starships have purple shielding? What if there are green ones that just have not been introduced yet? And what if later episodes show that Finn-class starships come in slower or faster varieties, too? The editor has made an inference, based on limited fictional information. Framing things from the perspective of our own universe eliminates the problem altogether: "In Episode 37, Commander Kinkaid obtains a Finn-class starfighter with purple shielding. Vice Admiral Hancock calls the ship 'a real space ripper' and says that she can 'make it past Mach 3.'"

It is worth noting that many resources might not seem to be primary source material themselves but in reality are. For example, many science fiction franchises publish detailed guidebooks about the aliens, spacecraft, and weapons depicted in the series. However, these works generally do little more than reframe the source material in a pseudo-encyclopedic manner; many such works even add new information and extrapolations of things only hinted at in the series itself. A good rule of thumb is that if a potential source treats a fictional subject from a mostly in-universe perspective, it is primary source material itself.

Using the fiction as a source is not inherently bad—provided that fiction is not the most important source. Giving plot summaries, character descriptions, and direct quotations in articles about fictional elements is certainly proper in many cases. For example, articles on works of fiction often benefit from a brief plot summary. Note that when using the fictional work itself to write these descriptions the work of fiction must be cited as a source.

Even these sorts of summaries can often be written from an out-of-universe perspective, and when this is possible, this approach should be preferred. For example, the following made-up paragraph is a largely in-universe plot synopsis that might draw from several different episodes of a television show or several different video games in a series:

Hirokazu Exocool catches Gogosaurus outside Cephalopod City. He brings it to his master, YuYu Yamauchi, who transforms it into a much more fearsome Synthosaurus Rex. The creature then escapes YuYu's hideout and terrorizes Cephalopod City. Exocool is forced to sacrifice a Level 3 Waste Card to prevent the beast from destroying the castle of Princess Apricot.

This is generally fine, provided that some sort of indication is given as to where these various pieces of information come from (cite.php, for example). However, by simply adding these notations to the prose itself, the paragraph takes on a more grounded tone and does not seem as confusing to those unfamiliar with the series:

Gogosaurus's first appearance is in Monstrous Minions, released in 2003. The plot involves Hirokazu Exocool's efforts to capture the beast outside Cephalopod City. Monstrous Minions 2: Minions Morph! (2004) involves Exocool's quest to return to his master, YuYu Yamauchi. Once the two have been reunited, YuYu transforms the Gogosaurus into a much more fearsome Synthosaurus Rex. Monstrous Minions 3: More than Mighty Minions (2005) completes Gogosaurus's backstory. This time, the creature escapes YuYu's hideout and terrorizes Cephalopod City. Exocool must sacrifice a Level 3 Waste Card to prevent the beast from destroying the castle of Princess Apricot.

Sources for articles on fiction

In addition to the source material, there are many sources of in-depth information for writers of article on fictional subjects (although some are more reliable than others). Examples include:

  • Annotated books or screenplays;
  • Behind-the-scenes documentaries;
  • Critical reviews;
  • Distribution materials;
  • DVD commentary tracks;
  • Interviews with creators, actors, etc.;
  • Press coverage;
  • Production diaries;
  • Sales figures;
  • Texts from fields like cultural studies, film studies, etc.;
  • Third-party analyses; and
  • Websites or blogs run by the creators.

Example articles

The following is a partial list of articles about fiction or elements from fiction that follow an out-of-universe perspective. These are good examples to follow for editors seeking to cover fictional subjects on Misplaced Pages.

Alternative outlets for fictional universe articles

Some of Misplaced Pages's sister projects prefer in-universe perspective. These are a good alternative for editors interested in such topics. The following is a partial list:

See also

Categories: