Villains Wiki:Rules

As a community we at Villains Wiki value our contributors and have managed to build a sizable following, however as with all communities there are a small minority of contributors who either do not wish to play nice or are having difficulty understanding what this Wiki is all about.

These rules will serve to try and help contributors who are confused or needing a little help while also discouraging contributions that are not in the spirit of this Wiki:

General Rules

 * 1) Chain Of Command : Although we are a friendly community we have a "chain of command" with the admins making rules, enforcing rules and keeping order: users contribute and have fun but need to remember admins are not democratic, neither are they tyrants - Admins should be approachable and not completely insane with power but at the same time users must treat admins with the respect you give any authority or expect punishment. It's much like the real-world, you can not walk up to an authority figure and force them to do as you say, empty threats and outright stupidity will only serve to alienate you from the community as a whole - This system may not suit everyone but much like any community we need to acknowledge the fact that contributing is a privilege, not a right and like all privileges it can (and should) be removed if abused.
 * 2) Plagiarism : Whenever possible only post original content - copying directly from other wikis or online sources is plagiarism and is frowned upon by the community as it gives a bad name not only to yourself but to us and can cause copyright dilemmas. Just because something is on the Internet doesn't mean its right (or even legal; plagiarism is a type of theft and stealing is not alright anywhere) to claim it as your own - Articles that are obviously taken from other wikis or sites will be deleted on sight as a matter of principle.
 * 3) Language & Offensive Content : Contributors should be aware that this wiki is PG-13 at best, we do not allow excessive profanity or offensive language - We are a community of mixed age groups and some profanity/offensive terms will crop up but users should not make a habit of using them. It is never acceptable to use extremely offensive language however and users who do so will face punishment. As a general rule the same applies to articles, do not litter articles with offensive language - even articles listed as mature. This may be hard when dealing with extremely controversial media (such as exploitation films or some of the Japan-exclusive manga/anime) but with such things common-sense needs to come into play: Do not go into detail about the gruesome aspects of the character and do not quote their most offensive lines. Try to make the article as "clean" as possible - that way it doesn't come across as being what is known as a "shocker".
 * 4) Grammar : In the same way, remember that articles are meant to be read by people so try making them clear, concise and readable. Few people will frown upon one typing error or two but having hardly readable messes instead of articles is not very enjoyable for anyone. The same thing goes for non-English edits; if possible these types of edits will be translated, but viewers should be aware this is an English-speaking Wikia. There are foreign language wikias elsewhere, including ones of the Villains Wiki (ex. Wiki Villainos).

Behavior

 * 1) Trolls : We have a zero-tolerance when it comes to trolls, whether it be for humor or for harassment - there are plenty of troll sites for that sort of behavior - this is a wiki about villains, not a chan site.
 * 2) Vandalism : Vandals will be banned on sight - much like trolls, we don't really need to explain why. Vandalism is just that.
 * 3) Do not feed the Trolls : If you see a troll/vandal, just report him to an admin and leave him be; don't engage in flamewars with him, you'll be only fueling his desire to cause problems and make it harder for the admins to undo the damage.
 * 4) Harassment/Cyberbullying : Any user who harasses or bullies another will be liable to punishment by admins as they see fit - If you are foolish enough to pick a fight with an admin you'll likely be banned. We are a good-natured wiki but nobody likes a bully, and we are no exception.
 * 5) Category Spam : Adding categories for the sake of it is counter-productive and considered a charge. When adding categories, users must add them all in one edit. Users who add one category per edit can get in trouble, especially when they do nothing else to contribute to the wiki and add many categories one by one.
 * 6) Edit Spam : Editing only for the sake of it is but counter-productive and considered a charge, no different from category-spamming. When editing, users must add them all in once or a few times. Users who have condone too much of this as in more than 3 or 5 times per edit in a short period of time can seriously get in trouble, especially when they do nothing else to contribute to the wiki and add many writing (especially in poor manners such as writing gibberish or edit-warring) one by one.
 * 7) Ban Evasion : Got yourself banned? Chances are you deserved it so either wait for your ban to expire or, if you truly believe your ban was undeserved or too severe, contact an admin. Creating  accounts to evade your ban will only result in all of your accounts to be permanently blocked.
 * 8) Requesting : It is both annoying and insulting when a user shows up only to say things like "Why nobody made 'X' page yet?" or "Please make a page for 'X'", so please do not go harassing other users asking them to do things for you. If you think there should be a page for a particular character, by all means go ahead and make it.
 * 9) Infobox Title Spam : Adding unpermitted/redundant infobox templates with titles (such as "Box Title" and "Infobox") just for the sake of it is counter-productive, unwise, interferes with/ruining the coding of actual infobox templates with real names/titles, and considered a charge. Users who add this per edit can get in trouble, especially when they do nothing else to contribute to the wiki and add many said glitchy mechanics with false titles one by one.

Content

 * 1) Only add official information : Any media have more than enough information that you may need for creating an article. Do not make stuff up and especially do not add things that have nothing to do with the character in question. Fan-theories and mass guessing can go into a separate trivia section.
 * 2) No articles on upcoming media/leaked info : Do not create any article on villains from upcoming media, be it movies, games or anything else. Not only this could figure huge spoilers, we would never be able to determine the veracity of the information on such pages which could be nothing more than speculation. As a general rule, you should wait a few days, at least a week since release before creating an article.
 * 3) No "One-line" articles : There is just no excuse for laziness. Articles with little to no content (only a single paragraph or just a picture without any text) will be deleted if not expanded. If a user only makes articles like this he/she will be warned. An article must at the very least have a introduction line and a complete paragraph resuming the character to be considered a stub. Simply adding a Stub or Construction template on the page will not prevent it from being marked as a One-Line Article, by the way. Also do not remove the One-Line Article warning without actually expanding the page.
 * 4) No Fanfiction : This wiki is for legitimate villains from every existing media. Fanfiction characters will only be accepted if they're well-known across the Internet (for example: found on http://knowyourmeme.com/) and be an ACTUAL CHARACTER - we won't be accepting "demonized" characters and/or characters which only exist as random image macros around the internet, basically anything that doesn't have a story/plot attached to it (YouTube videos, Fan-games and Creepypasta ARE NOT exempt to these rules, just so you know). If you have questions about a particular character, CONTACT AN ADMINISTRATOR. We have an entirely separate wiki just for this.
 * 5) Original Web Content : For the sake of variety we will accept villains from original web content that is NOT OF YOUR OWN CREATION. In order to count, the character in question must have some level of fame/infamy, for example: for YouTube videos/series, a minimum 500k views on average and/or at least 100k subscribers, or multiple references on other sources. Same goes for Webcomics and original Creepypasta characters. Much like with Fanfiction, the character must also have a plot/backstory attached to it.
 * 6) No Articles on Minor Enemies/Generic Thugs : Please, you do not have to make an article on every single enemy which appears on a game, the gaming Wikias exist for that. Instead we will limit our articles to organizations, named villains and plot-relevant boss characters. In short, do NOT add numerous pages for a single enemy when it would save time and space by merging them into a single article.
 * 7) No Real-Life People : Our wiki focuses exclusively on fictional villains. For any criminal that lived or still lives, go to "Real-Life Villains Wiki". Articles found about real-life villains will get deleted on sight.
 * 8) Do Not Recreate Deleted Articles / Categories : As a general rule when an admin deletes an article or category it cannot be recreated without admin approval. However if you can provide a valid reason to do so you may proceed - users who recreate deleted articles/categories without a valid reason however risk punishment.
 * 9) No Span Tags, No Nowiki, and no Null/Empty Tags : A general rule that prohibits Span tags (which interferes with any article's data and loading, causes terrible slowness when zooming and moving the page, are a possible and visible sign of plagiarism in Source Mode, and they are generic containers which have no special meaning at all) and Null/Empty tags (which are empty tags, interferes with any article's data and loading, causes terrible slowness when zooming and moving the page and generic containers which have no special meaning at all).
 * 10)  Antagonistic Scale : Abuse of the antagonistic scale, or as it is otherwise called "antagonist fussing" is frowned upon here. Conflicting over the scale (etc. "main/secondary/tertiary antagonist, true main antagonist") falls under edit warring and will not be tolerated and adding "misinformation campaigns/plots" clogs up the wiki and is prohibited. More information can be found on this blog.

Links, Pictures and Miscellaneous Items

 * 1) General rules : We allow users to post links, funny pictures and "fun" items but within reason - Do not provide links to pornographic sites (rule 34 counts, just so you know) and do not upload pictures that are overly offensive. "Fun" items should only be posted into userpages or talkpages - Do not add them to main articles unless you have a good reason to do so.
 * 2) Gallery size, position & color : It is never necessary to left the colors of the subs as grey since the background is already dark and it is difficult to read what the subtitles/captions. Also, it is better to leave the gallery's position in the middle instead of right and left because it can interrupt in the editing of other users. The letters of the page might get inside of the gallery code and corrupt its codex, breaking the template. But if the gallery is kept on the middle, it will never happen as the letters and the template are separate in a proper space. Same thing with the videos and their position too. It is better to leave them in the middle like the gallery for the same reason. If there is a section saying: Videos and you put the video to the left said, this page will get a bad design (it is not like this is important). And last, if the images within a gallery are too small, it is better to leave on the max size (such as 300px).
 * 3) Do not add too many pictures : Not only this isn't a photo-sharing site, most users who visit here don't have super fast connections. Twenty pictures is more than enough for any article, there is no need to put hundreds of pictures. Also, keep in mind that pictures are meant to illustrate the article and provide an image of what is described. Voiding the page of pictures and putting a overly long gallery will only make your article hard to read.
 * 4) Do not add too many videos : Much like the above. Five (5) videos is a good enough limit.
 * 5) No Fan-art allowed : Only add official art on articles (screenshots, concept art, promotional art, etc). This wiki isn't DeviantART, and posting fan-art made by others is copyright infringement. Special cases can be taken into consideration (a render of an organization's symbol, or if you just cannot find a decent official picture by any means).
 * 6) WATCH FOR THE FILE'S NAME : It is a big hassle when someone uploads a picture and overwrites a previous one which is being used in another article, so PLEASE rename your files before uploading them if a file with the same name already exists.
 * 7) "Type Of" : Always use a short and concise description on the Infobox template's "Type Of" section. Using a category name or a trope name is possible, but clogging it with categories is not only redundant but flooding. Category list belongs in the category list.

Categories
(Does the character have a define personality? Or is it a one-dimensional character such as a mindless destroying beast?) (Does the character commit acts that are extremely heinous and unforgivable? Does the character stand out from the rest of the villains featured in the story they are part of?) (Has the villain crossed the Moral Event Horizon?) (Does the villain use every resource they have at their disposal to cause a maximum of evil?) (Does the villain have an agency over their actions, and can distinguish right from wrong?) (Is the villain completely devoid of any altruistic quality?) (Is the villain completely unsympathetic and unforgivable with no Freudian excuse?) (Are the villains' worst acts on-screen?) (Is the villain the worst, or at least one of the worst characters in the story?) (Is the story "normal", or purposefully over-the-top appalling? In which case, the Heinous Standards would be so high that it would be almost impossible to have a Purely Evil villain in the story.)
 * 1) NO NEW CATEGORIES: We have far, far too many categories and it is no longer necessary to have any more, users who make new categories shall be warned and blocked if they persist - the ONLY exception is for a franchise we do not have yet, everything else has been done many times and makes the wiki incredibly burdensome for others. New categories not related to franchises can only be created after a proper discussion on the forums and after the admins approve it.
 * 2) Check Categories Beforehand : We have many categories on this wiki, so DO NOT add a page to a category that does not correspond or has been deleted. Finally DO NOT add categories that are already on the list. Do check the category page and then the article's list before doing anything.
 * 3) 20 pages minimum : Categories are meant to group hundreds of pages, twenty at the very least. Only create a new category if you can fill it with a minimum of 20 pages. New categories that don't fit this criteria will be marked for deletion.
 * 4) No categories on copyright holders : Characters are associated with the franchises they belong to, not to whoever holds the rights over them, especially since copyright holders tend to change when IP's are bought over or the holder goes bankrupt. DO NOT create categories for creators, writers, developers, publishers, designers, mangakas, studios, companies, etc. Categories like those will be deleted on sight and the user will get a ban, period. We only allow exceptions when all their creations exist withing the same world or multiverse (such as Marvel or Looney Tunes).
 * 5) Do not put categories on userpages : Categories are meant to categorize REAL pages, as in pages on the "Main" namespace, they are not tags you put on social profiles. So do not put any category on your userpage, if an admin sees it he or she WILL remove them immediately.
 * 6) Do not add/remove the Pure Evil category without going to the Discussion first : As the Pure Evil category is our most popular category, it is also our most abused-so propose the villain FIRST in the Discussion under "Pure Evil Discussion" to see what the majority thinks before adding them. Refer to this page to gain some experience in the field before proposing the character if you have none. If you add a villain to Pure Evil without proposing them in the Discussion first, the category will be removed.  The deadline for votes on whether or not the villain counts is two weeks, and by then the discussion post will be locked and the official decision will be made. This same strategy applies if you wish to remove a villain whose been accepted by the majority of wiki members as PE from the category. If you remove the category without going to the Discussion first we will add it back in. Also, if by any chance you have a villain from your original work (that does not fall under fan fiction) and you want to propose the villain, have another user go over your work and propose said villain for you to avoid bias. You will  judge the villain by this criteria:
 * 7) * CHARACTERS' TRAITS
 * 1) * HEINOUS STANDARDS
 * 1) * MORAL EVENT HORIZON
 * 1) * INDIVIDUAL CAPABILITY
 * 1) * MORAL AGENCY
 * 1) * ONLY INDIVIDUALS
 * 2) * NO REDEEMING QUALITIES
 * 1) * NO SYMPATHY
 * 1) * SCREEN TIME
 * 1) * WORST
 * 1) * STORY TYPE

Villain-specific rules

 * 1) Jerk ≠ Villain : Please be mindful not to add a character to this wiki unless he or she is established as a villain in their setting - although standards vary greatly we do not desire articles concerning minor bullies or rivals unless they show exceptionally cruel and/or immoral traits. Name-calling and just being "nasty" is not enough to make a character valid and such articles risk deletion once found. If you are confused over this topic you may find the Villainous Jerk concept helpful in deciding whether or not a character is valid for this wiki.
 * 2) Flawed Hero ≠ Villain : The number of articles about anti-heroic characters is no longer acceptable - this is a VILLAINS Wiki and we need to keep it that way. A character should have either malicious intent or be actually dangerous to count. From now on "grumpy", "not nice" or "mean" as reasons for a character being here will be ignored and the content erased - start showing us actual deeds that are malicious (and NO, name-calling and minor "bullying" will not count anymore). This is similar to the above rule but will sum up to "just because something offends you does not make it evil / immoral" - from now on PROVE to us the character is criminal, immoral or dangerous, otherwise we will erase it.
 * 3) Antagonist ≠ Villain : Most people tend to confuse these two terms. By definition, antagonist is a character who opposes the protagonist/protagonists, while villain is a wicked character who does evil. While they may overlap, they are completely different things. That being said, do not add pages for antagonists who aren't shown as being evil/wicked, especially if they are good characters or on the side of law.
 * 4) Possessed/Brainwashed : We do not allow articles about heroes who have become "villains" due to brainwashing, possession or other scenario that makes them lose control of their actions (with the only exception being criminal insanity) - characters under a "spell" or hypnotism are victims, they have no control over what they are doing and thus they fail the basic criteria for antagonism (that is, deliberate attempts to cause suffering). The category Possessed/Brainwashed is ONLY meant for villains like Golbez, who USED to be benevolent characters but whose personality changed for the worse due to corruption. So much that they are almost only remembered as the villain they became.
 * 5)  Character-Centered Information Only : As part of a new policy established on this wiki, we now focus on villainous characters only. This means we have forbidden the creation of villainous events, songs, locations, or non-character centered information with certain exceptions. Creation of such tropes like the Villainous Breakdown or the Moral Event Horizon is now forbidden. Such information can be listed on the related villain's page (ex. Maleficent's Castle should be detailed under her own page) and more specific information is to be listed on another wiki entirely.