This article presents a (somewhat silly) made-up example character with a medium-complicated history. Its purpose is to show and explain the sections used by Character/Object/Location articles and provide an example of how to properly treat the sometimes bizarre twists and turns Transformers fiction takes.
- Note: While all of the specific examples of "weird things" presented here are fictional, there is no strange circumstance in this article which hasn't actually happened at one point or another. (Admittedly, not all at once like this.)
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If the article needs any kind of
disambiguation tag, it should be placed before the continuity identifier.
Please avoid placing two or more disambiguation tags as possible to keep the top of the page clean.
| The name or term "Exemplar" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Exemplar (disambiguation).
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A
continuity note (or
continuity identifier) is an italicized note stating the character's name, their primary faction (some change up from time to time), and the continuity family/franchise they first came from, as nowadays characters may appear in multiple continuity families/franchises. This note provides basic orientation to the reader, letting them know what to expect.
- Exemplar-Kun is an Autobot and sometimes Sith from the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
"Your death brings me no pleasure and only limited amusement."
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Characters often have multiple bodies, so the main image should
generally be their original "real world" form, and as full-body as possible. (Exceptions may be made when a character is in a later form far longer and more prominently than their true "first".) In instances where there is no visual for the character, use the
{{faceless}} template. Also, please read the
Caption Policy before creating or changing captions.
Exemplar-Kun (also sometimes Darth Primal) is a resolute crusader for old-fashioned Autobot Values, called by many "the second coming of Sentinel Prime." He wades into battle bellowing the Ancient Autobot battle cry "Collect Them All!" and firing his corrosive "Sixshot" blasters with reckless abandon, a one-man wrecking crew who quotes chapter-and-verse from the Covenant of Primus as he works.
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Character bio is present tense. The first instance of their name is in bold, and alternate names are provided in parentheses. Bios should usually be about the character's general
personality, and not their physical form, as that can change drastically as they get new toys or fictions. (Bio continues below.)
In truth, though Exemplar-Kun's kernel includes portions of Sentinel's legendary Battle Protocols, he secretly loathes the violence of his duties as Captimus Primus[1] and wishes he could return to a simple life as a digital sharecropper on the potato farm where he was created. In order to hide his disillusionment, Exemplar-Kun has adopted a jokester's personality, often making horrible puns.
Optimus Prime is appalled by Exemplar-Kun's grisly habit of painting "Robot Points" on his body to show how many souls he has collected for Primus, but there is no arguing with his strength in battle. Exemplar-Kun often tells others that his strength is as the strength of ten "because his heart is pure," but the truth is that the doubts which plague him are often crippling, leaving him unwilling even to activate and face the day unless there is an immediate crisis demanding his attention.
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Bios
attempt to present different 'takes' on the same character as a cohesive whole.
Example: Springer's bio presents his wise-cracking
Han Solo cartoon incarnation and
emo comics incarnation as two sides of the same personality trait;
"Though his easy self-confidence is one of his most notable features, actually being responsible for others weighs heavily upon his otherwise jocular personality." It is not always
possible to resolve these kinds of conflicts, but we
try. (Bio continues below.)
'In the spark of an enemy, there will be salvation, and in the darkest hour, there will be a light.' As it was said in the Writings of Furman, so shall it come to pass today, as we are that light, and the enemy is upon us!Exemplar-Kun rallies the troops with sacred quotes from the Covenant of Primus, "Platoon"
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A main character quote should preferably
not just be their
tech spec quote, but rather a quote from an actual canon appearance that reflects their core personality. Occasionally, this quote will be from a different person
about the character, but usually will be from the character themself. If nothing else is available, as is the case with toy-only characters, well, the tech spec quote'll have to do.
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Table of Contents appears automatically if you have enough sections. You can use the {{TOCclear}} template to force a Table of Contents to appear.
Origin
Exemplar-Kun was originally an anonymous, generic Autobot soldier appearing in the Armada episode "Platoon". The episode summary from the Japanese Micron Legend DVD (apparently taken with his two-gun style) declared he was the base's commander and dubbed him "Scar Cowboy". US Fan Club material subsequently re-christened him "Exemplar-Kun"[2] and gave him a (decidedly un-cowboylike) crusader backstory relating to the First Transformers line.
A year later, Dark Horse picked up the character for an 8-page "Crossovers" story one-shot, apparently because the character's name resembled a historical Sith Lord's. Here she was portrayed as an embittered samurai and killed.
Meanwhile Takara's World of the Transformers website has described the character as a "wisecracking cowboy."
(It's kinda a mess.)
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"Origin" sections are fairly rare. They are written "out of universe" and used to explain when a character or concept took an unusual course to reach its final shape,
if that oddness is too fundamentally important to be considered "Trivia".
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Fiction sections are written "in-universe" and in the past tense. "The Autobots then traveled to Charr," as opposed to "in this episode, the Autobots are traveling to Charr". Storylinks at the end of each entry should link to the episode/comic book/whatever in which these events took place.
Fiction
Unicron Trilogy
Armada cartoon continuity
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Section headers carry names like "Armada cartoon" or "Armada comic". If they include information
not from a single media, but in the same "universe" as that media (such as the
Linkage comics, which occur "off screen" during the
Armada cartoon), the section header should be modified to reflect this: "Armada cartoon continuity".
Exemplar-Kun commanded the defense of the Autobot power station on Cybertron. Platoon
Exemplar-Kun discovered the evil Decepticon scientist Psi-Kill's plan to generate a black hole to swallow the Autobot ship Axalon before it reached Cybertron. He led a strike force into Psi-Kill's Keep Twisting, where he fought Sideways and suffered crippling injuries. There Shall Come...a Warrior!
Exemplar-Kun subsequently retired back to the farm in Uraya where he was built.
Star Wars: Crossovers one-shot comic
Exemplar-Kun was selected for the Voyager Project and became stranded in the Star Warriors universe. Initially mistaken for a remnant of the droid army plaguing the galaxy, Exemplar-Kun was shot down over Dantooine. Anakin Skywalker used the power of the Force to reformat her as a TIE Advanced fighter to help him on his mission, but tension grew between them when Anakin's master named this strange living machine "Darth Primal", and in the end, Exemplar-Kun was destroyed by her companion. Code of Legacy
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Sometimes, a character's gender can change between depictions. In such cases, they should be referred to as they appeared, with the gender presented in their
most significant fictional appearances used in the main body. If no gender is provided or you aren't sure, refer to the character by "they" and "them."
Toys
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Toy sections are organized chronologically by franchise. Each entry lists the name that appears on the packaging (if a
Trademark-induced prefix was added, as in "Autobot Ratchet", then it is listed as such), the size class/packaging type and year(s) of release, any identification numbers used (typically only used in Japan, but occasionally used in the US), and what accessories it came with. Pictures of the toy should ideally be right-justified. The writeup should concisely sum up the toy's features and
gimmicks without falling into a lengthy toy "review". All toys that use the same mold as this, even
retooled versions, are listed and cross-linked at the end of the writeup. Finally, links to external sites with pages specific to
that toy —most commonly
TFU.info but sometimes other reference sites— are included to provide more in-depth information such as individual
tech specs and
bios included with the toy as well as extended picture galleries.
Star Wars Transformers
Blessed be the TIEs that bind...
- Darth Vader TIE Advanced Fighter ("Deluxe", 2006)
- Japanese ID number: SW-01
- Accessories: 2 Lightsaber/missiles
- Darth Vader's mecha transforms into a TIE Advanced Starfighter, featuring twin spring-loaded missile launchers. These missiles become "lightsaber" melee weapons for the robot mode. One of the vehicle mode's solar panel arrays forms a "cape" for the robot mode, the other a large deflector shield. Like all Star Wars Transformers toys, it comes with a tiny mini-figure of its pilot.
- A 2008 Attacktix comic-book retroactively declared this toy to represent Darth Primal.
- This mold was also used to make Steve.
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Toys that were available in multi-packs should be listed under the name of the multi-pack. However, only the accessories for the individual should be listed. Toys under the same franchise should be listed with an
anchor template in the line above the listing (in this case {{anchor|Multipack}}, which sets an invisible "anchor point" so other pages can link directly to that point when directly referencing that release ("[[Exemplar-Kun#Multipack|Wal-Mart multi-pack version of Exemplar-Kun]]"), rather than simply linking to the top of the page or even the top of a long subsection and forcing the reader to dig.
- Duel of the Force Guys (Multi-pack, 2007)
- Accessories: 2 Lightsaber/missiles
- Darth Vader's TIE Advanced was also available in a Wal-Mart exclusive multi-pack with a blue version of Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi Starfighter. This version of Vader's TIE uses brighter "gray" plastics than the single-pack release.
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Notes sections are written out-of-universe. They may highlight unique bits, draw connections, or mention story elements which are unclear or speculative (and thus inappropriate for the main fiction section.)
Notes
- Exemplar-Kun has at least 3 canon personalities.
- The Mini-Con scout Shane is generally believed to be Exemplar-Kun's partner (though this has never been explicitly established.) His character seems to be based on the Brad Jorgensen character from the John Wayne film The Searchers, reinforcing the confusingly inconsistent cowboy motif.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Scar Cowboy (スカーカウボーイ Sukā Kaubōi)
- Hungarian: Spider-man[3]
- Italian: Robo di Canto
- Spanish: Gaucho del Oucho (America, "Ouch Cowboy")
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Names in other countries or continuities are listed bulleted. Japanese names go first, while the rest are alphabetized by the language's name.
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Footnotes sections (optional) should only be included if the article has footnotes. If all of the footnotes are source-of-information citations, this section can be renamed "References", though no one really cares if you leave it named "Footnotes".
- ↑ This title comes from a Dark Horse letters column, responding to a question about Darth Primal.
- ↑ The "My First Transformers" were all given the affectionate/diminutive suffix "-kun" in Japan. In English, it apparently sounds badass rather than adorable.
- ↑ This is part of a longstanding trademark conflict relating to the Star Wars toys in Hungary.
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See also sections (optional) provide a short selection of related or similarly-named articles for convenience. This section should be placed dead last.
See also
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Finally, each page should have
categories assigned to it. This allows the page to be found in lists of other articles on similar subjects. Categories should be listed in alphabetical order. (Some templates automatically add categories to the front of the list. There's nothing to be done about that, so don't worry.) At the end of the article, simply add in
[[Category: _____]], and the page will be placed in the relevant categories. In this example, Exemplar-Kun will have the categories:
Armada Autobots, Sith, Star Wars, Wal-Mart exclusives
Please note that not every subgroup in existence has a category. Check to make sure you're adding existing categories, and ask about the viability of creating a new category for certain "groups" on a Talk page rather than just making one.
