Sonic News Network:Style/Characters

This is a set of general guidelines to follow when creating and editing mainspace articles concerning a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Although this is an official guide, editors are encouraged to stray from them if it will improve the overall quality of the article.

Legend


 * Yellow boxes are general guidelines meant to pertain to the main text on the page.
 * Green boxes are guidelines for headers.
 * Red boxes are guidelines for anything else.

Add a quote here. Preferably a quote said by the character or another person about the character that summarizes the character's personality, viewpoints or nature.

This is the summary. The purpose of the summary is the summarize the character's most defining traits, preferably in a single paragraph. This includes a brief run-down of Sonic-related media in which the character appears, the character's most significant history, and the character's most outstanding personality traits, titles (self-proclaimed or not) and/or abilities. If the character has achieved any noteworthy accomplishments in his/her media, such a level of popularity in the franchise, it can mentioned at the end with a reference.

Concept and Creation
The Concept and Creation section is for the editor's research on the character. It may only tell about what inspired the creation of the character, who he/she was created and developed and who was behind the process. Do not about tell how hype for the character was increased, or how details about the character were gradually revealed; only tell about information from behind-the-scenes. It is advised to use plenty of references from primary sources. Interviews with developers are very good for referencing.

History
The History section serve as the character's biography. The content in this section must only contain information about the character's experiences and history that are considered canon in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and must be told from an in-universe perspective and the character's point of view. It is important to make it easy to read; don't go into minor details such as specific actions and quotes. It is also important to add references to highlight certain key events, certify information or to give the text a clarified source.

For each separate chain of events or otherwise grouped sections of the character's history that share a specific relation, there must be added a header. For game characters, their history sections are split up between the games they appear in; these sections must each have a header that is called the same as the game that section overs. For comic/cartoon characters, their history sections are split up more ambiguously; however for these characters, their history sections should receive a header for each story arc or other central events.

For biographies that feature different versions of the character's history must be given their own sub-sections and headers.

Game Appearances
The Game Appearances section is for game characters only. This section is for info about the character and his/hers appearance in the games he/she has appeared in. This section is written in place of the History section for the character if the character in quesstion has no biography that is considered cannon in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Examples includes games where the character only appears as a playable character without being involved in the storyline, spin-off games where the characters along with game characters from franchises other than the Sonic the Hedgehog series, or games where the character is only mentioned or makes minor cameos.

For each game that the character appears in and the info on character there, there must be added a header which is called the same name as the game the character appears in. Do always use references when possible, especially to highlight certain key events or info.

Other Game Appearances
The Other Game Appearances section is for game characters only. This section is for info about the character and his/hers appearance in other games that are not considered cannon to his/hers history and should only be written if the character already has a History section. This includes games where the character only appears as a playable character without being involved in the storyline, spin-off games where the characters along with game characters from franchises other than the Sonic the Hedgehog series, or games where the character is only mentioned or makes minor cameos. Here, it should only be told about the key features and do not go into extreme details. Gameplay features related to that character is allowed to be written.

For each game that the character appears in and the info on character there, there must be added a header which is called the same name as the game the character appears in. Do always use references when possible, especially to highlight certain key events or info.

Appearances in Other Media
This section tells about other continuity-incarnations of the character that appears in Sonic-related media outside of the continuity that the character originates from. It is important to make it easy to read; only tell about key elements about the character, such as a brief history about him/her and their key traits and attributes. If there is key elements about the incarnation of the character worth mentioning, they should be mentioned too.

Add different headers for the info on the specific media the character appears in. If there exist an article about the incarnation of that character, link the incarnation of that character to here with the template which must be placed just after the header.

Personality
This section tells about personality and traits that define that character. It is important to get all the key traits and details the character expresses over time. However, it must be precise and short, and should not overflow with info. It is important to use references or otherwise short notes in the text to specify their appearance and usage.

Powers and Abilities
The Powers and Abilities section tells about the special abilities, powers, skills and otherwise miscellaneous skills a character have demonstrated. If enough material is present or the skill is significant enough, specific abilities, skills, techniques etc. should be given their own header, such as "Physical Abilities", "Miscellaneous Skills" etc.. It is important to use references or otherwise short notes in the text to specify their appearance and usage. It must only list skills and abilities that the character has demonstrated within that media.

Weakness
This section tells about any outstanding weaknesses (both physically or otherwise) the character has. It is important to use references or otherwise short notes in the text to specify their appearance and usage.

Relationships
<div style="position:relative;border:dashed 2px #999;background-color:#fff799;padding:.5em 2em;margin:.25em 3em .25em 3em;">This section tells about any significant relationships the character has with other character. Each relationship the character has must be given a header which must be named after the person the character has a relationship with. Here, the key elements and other factors that define this relationship from the character's side of it must be mention, not both of them or the person the character has a relationship with.

<div style="position:relative;border:dashed 2px #999;background-color:palegreen;padding:.5em 2em;margin:.25em 3em .25em 3em;">If the character has a relationship with a person that is defined in nature, but not has enough material to be given its own section, the person that the character has a relationship with is given a link under the headers "Friends/Allies", "Enemies", or "Rivals", depending on which fits the most.

Reception
<div style="position:relative;border:dashed 2px #999;background-color:#fff799;padding:.5em 2em;margin:.25em 3em .25em 3em;">This section is about how people in real-life have responded to the character. How did critics respond to the character? If you can, find a suitable reference, include how players responded to the character. Positives and negatives? Add a quote or two from critics. References are very important.

Memorable Quotes
<div style="position:relative;border:dashed 2px #999;background-color:#fff799;padding:.5em 2em;margin:.25em 3em .25em 3em;">This section is about quote said by the character. These quotes must be written precisely word-for-word as how they were said by the character, follow by a quotation of where/when the quote was said. The template is a vital tool for this. Not all quotes said by the character must be added to this section and should only include those that defines the character the most or hold the most importance to either the character or the context it is used in.

Theme Songs
<div style="position:relative;border:dashed 2px #999;background-color:#fff799;padding:.5em 2em;margin:.25em 3em .25em 3em;">This section is about official songs specifically dedicated to the character. Each song dedicated to the character must be set up in paragraph form, with a link to the song and a sentence descripting its relationship to the character.

Trivia
<div style="position:relative;border:dashed 2px #999;background-color:#fff799;padding:.5em 2em;margin:.25em 3em .25em 3em;">The Trivia section is about small pieces of information about the character that do not fit in any of the sections above. Here, the editor must make a list of these little-known facts by using bullet points (*), where each piece of information being given its own paragraph. Provide references if necessary, especially if it is about content outside or hidden in the character's media. Be careful of what you list, however, as it is required that the Trivia is informative, not lengthy and pointless.

Gallery
<div style="position:relative;border:dashed 2px #999;background-color:#fff799;padding:.5em 2em;margin:.25em 3em .25em 3em;">This section is for images of the character, which must either be official artwork of the character from official sources or screenshots taken by the character. When putting up images for this section, use the code:

to set up the wanted images. If this gallery exceeds fifteen images, then a new article, named "[insert character's article name]/Gallery", must be created, containing all the images from the Gallery section. The images from the Gallery section must then be removed and the template must be written in their stead.