Help:Nameless

Bah, things without names, what a pain!

Often, things that are nameless, be they characters, locations, vehicles, objects or concepts, can simply be ignored. Yet sometimes they have the needed significance that warrants an article of their own or as a group. The Transformers Wiki tends to be rather permissive of the arguments in favor of an article, as pages such asFrijolesandBlackrock Gold Priority Cardprove. As such, there is a lot of material thatcouldhave an article, but first needs to be given an appropriate page location that at the same time does not leave the impression it's the subject's official name or term. So what do you call the page? "Unnamed Autobot #25" is... sucky.

Templates

Be sure to attach the proper template{{noname}}to the top of the article. TFWiki.net distinguishes between four levels of "namelessness."

{{noname}}	A generic "No name" template. This template shouldonly be used as a placeholderbefore sorting the character into a more specific category.	This article is about a character or concept that has no name. For more information seeHelp:Nameless.
{{noname-unconfirmed}}	No name has beenofficially established,butaname is neverthelessknown.(Almost exclusivelyShattered Glasscharacters.) Example:Dropshot (SG)	This article is about a character or concept whose name has never been officially confirmed. For more information seeHelp:Nameless.
{{noname-designation}}	Lacks a name, but has an official designation. (Either an in-fiction non-name title, or an internal designation.)Examples:el Presidente,Giant fake Autobot	This article is about a character or concept that lacks a name, but has an official term or designation. For more information seeHelp:Nameless.
{{noname-nickname}}	Things lackinganyspecific term at all. A description or nickname may be used. Examples:Big Red	This article is about a character or concept which lacks any official name or designation. For more information seeHelp:Nameless.

This template unambiguously points out the subject's lack of name right up at the top of the article.

Naming convention

TFWiki.net doesnotallowfanonnames to be used for nameless stuff.

The best names are simple and descriptive, such ashideous giant brain guy.If the best description that can be given isn't very distinctive, likeOrange jet Autobot,it might be more appropriate to incorporate the subject in the article of a related, distinctive subject as a near-final section, with a header like "Associated Characters". Whether this is possible depends on the qualities of the main article. Imagine that an "associated character" appeared only a handful of times while the main character appeared constantly across three different continuities; Putting information on an "associated character" on a lengthy and diverse page would only be messy and confusing.

Finally, a to-the-point nickname can be used if a descriptive name proves too complicated. "That red and green Autobot who looks like Fortress Maximus but is the size of a normal Autobot," is kinda a mouthful, butChristmas Maximus(a reference to his distinctive color scheme) is just about right.Nicknames that could be confused with real names are not appropriate.

"But he's obviously..."

The appearance ofFlat-OutandRedline's Decepticon masters inLinkage(Armada) is based onGeneration 1SlugslingerandMisfire.However, it is never correct to assume that these characters arecalledSlugslinger and Misfire. After all, theguy who looks just like Wheeljackisn't named (or even remotely like) Wheeljack. And adead ringer for Swoopis instead named "Ravenus."

In fact, while charactersactuallynamedSlugslinger,Wheeljack,andSwoopall exist in the Unicron Trilogy,noneof them appear to be related to their G1-homage lookalikes. It is possible (and in fact common) to payhomageto a character's appearance without actuallybeingthat character, so automatically assuming that a lookalike in a different universe is the same character doesn't make a lot of sense.

Thus our policy above: Descriptions or nicknames used to refer to unnamed characters should not be something it is possible to confuse with a real name.