Attack on Titan Wiki:Manual of Style

If you are reading this guide, this means that you want to collaborate with the Shingeki no Kyojin Wiki and that make us very happy. This wiki is an open community where everyone is welcome to participate and share their knowledge on the Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan series.

The goal of this guide is to show the aspects that must be taken into account at the time of writing articles. Following these guidelines will result on articles of high quality, pleasant to read, correct and organized. If an article meets all these aspects, it can be even aknowledged as a Starred article.

We hope this guide will help you to make valuable edits in the easiest way possible. If you have doubts, don't hesitate to contact one of our Administrators.

Perspective

 * In-Universe
 * Articles describing fictional events, characters and other stuff taking place into the universe of Attack on Titan should be written using an In-Universe wording; i.e., as taking place in true life. This means that phrases like "in Episode 7" or "in the Female Titan arc" should be left out of sentences. Occasionally, it may be necessary to mention the manga or anime though. This will be allowed, but only on a case-to-case basis. Articles referring to matters outside that fictional universe are excluded from this rule.


 * Neutrality
 * Use a neutral point of view when writing. Any opinion or bias should be expressed in the forum or in the respective talk page, not in the article itself.


 * English (UK) or English (US)
 * Both are fine, just use one consistently within an article. If one was already chosen, do not change it.


 * Level of detail
 * Quantity does not mean quality, and not every detail is important. Articles should be written focused on the topic in question, extracting the relevant facts and avoiding unnecessary and unrelated information.


 * Articles about media (chapters, episodes, movies, etc) should cover all main events but in a summarized way, not literally descriptive. Not "he opens the door, he enters the room, he finds a person, first person says this, second person says this...", but "he found some person and they talked about something".
 * In general for any page, transcribing literal conversations in the style of "this character says, that character reponds" should be avoided, since just mentioning the topic is relevant in most cases. Only when is really important to mention the words of a character or it can not be found a way to write the summary without using this style, this could be allowed; but this shoud be the exception and not the rule.
 * Articles about characters should focus on the actions of that character. Actions of third characters should be mentioned only when they directly involve the one of the topic and are relevant to the subject; but preferably should be told just quickly.


 * Presentation
 * Paragraphs should be short and to the point, preferably no more than 8 lines and ideally with at least a reference at the end and an illustrative image every few paragraphs.

Sources of names
All names are taken from the highest source available. The hierarchy of sources is as follows:


 * 1) Official manga volumes by Kodansha USA
 * 2) Crunchyroll Manga
 * 3) Official subtitled version of the anime by FUNimation
 * 4) Scanlations

Names taken from a secondary source will be replaced if a higher source becomes available later.

If no official name has been released, the page in question can still be made, but the name used must be as accurate as possible and the Unofficial Name template must be added.

Use of names
Characters are referred by a single primary name, aliases are not used unless relevant to the context of the paragraph (ie: we use Eren, not "Suicidal Bastard").

All the versions of a name (English, Kanji, Romaji) and aliases are listed in the infobox; and all of those, as well as some misspellings or shortened names, are redirected to the page.

Canon Policy
The canon material is the content accepted as part of the official story of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) and which takes place in the same continuity of the original series, the manga.

Basically, only content made by series creator Hajime Isayama is accepted as canon, while derivative material from other authors is intended to take place in alternative continuities and therefore is considered non-canon; unless it's specifically adopted by Isayama into the main continuity.

Canon and Non-canon material
Canon


 * Manga
 * Guidebooks
 * Statements by Isayama in other media (his blog, interviews, etc)

Non-canon
 * Anime
 * Novels
 * OVAs
 * Video Games
 * Movies
 * Fanfiction

Treatment of the types of material
Since canon and non-canon works are understood as taking place in different continuities, they are treated separately, and are not included in articles outside their own universe. This means that events of the anime are not included in articles of manga chapters, and events of the live-action movie are not included in neither one nor the other, because the three happen in three different continuities.

However, there are a few exceptions to this rule:


 * Pictures from the anime can be used in pages about certain elements common to all continuities: characters, objects, locations and organizations; as long as they are equivalents of scenes found in canon material, have better quality than them and do not contradict them.
 * Major events from the anime, novels and OVAs can be included in character's pages, differentiated by the Non-Canon template.
 * Minor differences between manga and anime can be pointed out at the end of episode's pages, in a special section called "Manga and anime differences".
 * For purposes of consistency, Hange Zoë's gender is always interpreted as female (see Hange's gender).

General
The following rules apply to the images that are uploaded for personal use (profiles, Message Walls, etc):
 * 1) Any image considered to be inappropriate (nudity, sexual activity, gore, etc) is to be immediately deleted and, depending on the severity of the offense, the user may be blocked from editing the Wiki.
 * 2) If you upload an image for personal use (not from official sources), you are to use it in your profile, Message Wall, etc.; otherwise it will be deleted.
 * 3) Every image uploaded to the Wiki must include Fair Use Rationale and Licensing (see details below).

Quality
An anime or manga image should be of highest quality possible, without any heavy alteration of the size, colors and overall quality from the original source material.

Every image that is of low quality should be reuploaded with a higher quality version or deleted in case of multiple image policy violations.

Naming
The image's filename should be a brief description of the action or character that the image is showcasing.

Examples of a bad filename:
 * Shingeki-no-kyojin-1813129.jpg
 * Tumblr inline mpw7tvUe3c1qz4rgp.png
 * Screenshot 2015-06-08 at 5.10.01 PM.png

Examples of a good filename:
 * Annie's fighting stance.png
 * Mikasa character image.png

Fair Use Rationale and Licensing
Every image uploaded to the Wiki must include Fair Use Rationale and Licensing. This is not only for legal reasons, but also to make it easier to locate the image's source.

The structure should be as follows:

Licensing
For detailed explanations about the Fair Use Rationale, consult the documentation of the template.

For Licensing, put for an anime screenshot and  for manga image or any other file.

An example of image including correct Fair Use Rationale and Licensing can be viewed.

Usage in articles

 * Articles must only contain images from official sources; i.e. the manga, anime or any other official material coming from the author himself or the manga/anime companies.
 * Images should be generally put to 200px size, unless the space in the article or other circumstances don't allow it.
 * The side of placement should alternate from left to right (or right to left, depends on the article organization), except for the Abilities section, in which they should only be placed on the right.
 * The description of the image (in the thumbnail) should not be ended with a fullstop.

Other aspects

 * Screenshots from video sources (anime, movies, etc) must not include subtitles, while manga panels (or entire pages if needed) should be gotten rid of any text (from speech bubbles, from the image itself only if it doesn't damage the drawing).
 * Images should be added to every character's image category that appears in it. Example, if Eren and Sasha appear in an image, said image must be added to Images of Eren Yeager and Images of Sasha Blouse.
 * The image should also be added to the corresponding characters' image galleries unless there is another better version of the same image or from the same scene there.
 * Manga images should be of Japanese RAW manga chapters. Any other manga images should be tagged with the Needs Replacement by RAW category and reuploaded as such when possible.

References Policy

 * References must be done using the Ref template.
 * References should be from the manga, unless it's something that happened only in third sources (anime, movies, etc). If the same event happens in several sources, multiple references are allowed.
 * Every fact must be referenced in every section of the article. The only exception is the Appearance section when is just describing the general appearance; but if it's citing a point in time, then it must be referenced too. For example, if it states Nifa has dark hair, there is no need for reference; but if it says Nifa did wear a simple shirt with a vest at one point, then it needs to be referenced.
 * For written sources, don't put just the chapter/title of the source for a reference, specify the page or range of pages as well.
 * In case the source is taken from an scanlation, don't consider the pages added by the uploaders and not present in the original material (for example, fanarts).

An example of an article correctly referenced can be found here.

What is a "Spoiler"
See Spoiler on Wikipedia. The first paragraph from the article;

"Spoiler is Genex slang for any element of any summary or description of any piece of fiction that reveals any plot element which will give away the outcome of a dramatic episode within the work of fiction, or the conclusion of the entire work. Because enjoyment of fiction sometimes depends upon the dramatic tension and suspense which arise within it, the external revelation of such plot elements can 'spoil' the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrative would otherwise have experienced."

Manga Spoilers and non-fanscanned content
We actually consider that until the chapter is released by the Crunchyroll Manga service, that chapter's information is considered to be a spoiler. Until the official English version is released, it is simply forbidden to add any information from it (including the chapter's title), and the edits should be reverted on sight. The person who adds spoiling information will be warned about it only once. The information, as insignificant it might seem, might ruin the fun of reading a just-released chapter for some.

Anime Spoilers
It is forbidden to add information from an episode of the anime to the wiki if it is not yet available in English. We allow an episode to be added only when an English subtitled version of it is available to watch on a publicly accessible site. In addition, the titles of the upcoming episode may not be added to the wiki until the above conditions are met, as the titles often give away details of a plot point, or the involvement of certain characters. This is also considered to be a spoiler. In short, if the episode is not available in English, no details about it may be added.

If a Chapter/Episode is Only Just Released
If you are adding information from an episode or chapter that has only just been released in English (or if it is likely that other users are unaware of its release), use the edit summary box to state that the chapter/episode is indeed out and state the site where you read it. This will allow others to verify that the episode/chapter is out and that the information you are adding is correct. It will also reduce the likelihood of your edit being reverted and you getting into trouble with an Admin for violating this policy. And it is a good service to let the rest of the community know that it has been released.

New Fansub & Fanscan Groups
From time to time, a new fanscan/fansub group arrives on the scene. In their early days, any such group is likely to be little known and may not be widely available. If they happen to be the first group to release a new episode/chapter in English, it is very important that you state as much in the edit summary box, and/or let an Admin know to avoid any issues. It is especially important if they do not allow their material to be published on a widely known and accessible site. We can not be expected to find them if we are unaware of their existence.