Skip to content

Contribution Guidelines: Characters

← Contributions
Who should be listed as a character?
Any character rooted in fiction that plays a significant role and/or appears for more than 2 issues. 
  • Real-life people are not necessary in this database at this time. Not unless they have a dramatically different usage.
  • Groups or Species of people are not permitted at this time. Each listing must be a single individual.
  • Non-unique or mass-produced robots/machines (such as Sentinels) or have limited range are not permitted. Some exceptions may occur depending on character development and appearance counts.
  • Crossover versions of characters should not be included. For example, Leonardo from TMNT appearing in the DC Universe for a crossover.
Baseline Character:
Every character or identity has a baseline character. This is the "person". As a person, they can exist with multiple "personas". Like Dick Grayson as Robin or Nightwing. Dick Grayson is the baseline character.
  • We use the baseline name as the core of a character, generally the real name.
  • Do not use middle names.
  • For characters that were married later in their history, do not use the new last name, unless it becomes the name they're primarily known as.
  • If there are multiple real names such as Kal-El and Clark Kent, one must be chosen - preferably the character's preferred or common name.  Not a nickname.
  • Truncate the real name to how they're most often referred to. The full real names can be listed in the separate Real Name field (coming soon).
  • If there is no real name, the Persona can be entered (eg. Joker)
  • Leading articles (A, An or The) should NOT be included.
  • Commas should NOT be included.
  • Quotes or special characters (beyond accents) are not permitted if they will make it difficult to find.
  • Police, Govt, or Military ranks (Captain, Major, Lieutenant, etc.) should NOT be included with their real names. Taking on ranks/mantles in groups such as the Green Lantern Corps, 2000AD Judges, etc. are exceptions.
  • English versions of the names are required with the other translations being Aliases.
  • For characters that are foreign, please use [Given Name] [Family Name] for Western formatting.
Personas:
A persona is a very clear, unique identity for the baseline character. Many characters have one or more personas like Dick Grayson as Robin or Nightwing. Robin and Nightwing are individual personas.
  • Leading articles (A, An or The) should NOT be included. 
  • Commas should NOT be included.
  • Personas should never be listed in CAPS, unless it is an acronym and is still used as an acronym (eg. OMAC).
  • Titles are not personas, unless they drastically alter the character (Ms. Marvel vs Captain Marvel).
  • Last name changes due to marriage are not personas.
  • Characters referred to by their last name should not have a persona for their last name.
  • Body-switching, disguises, mind-control/switching, infected / zombie-fied or other temporary shenanigans should not be included as a persona.
  • Civilian or Fake names may not be personas unless they drastically alter their look, abilities, etc. (not slight hair changes or other minor things) An exception could be something such as Matches Malone.
  • Personas of a character must be of the same universe; for example, The Batman Who Laughs is not associated to Bruce Wayne (Prime Earth).
  • Personas must have existed for more than two issues.
Alternate Aliases & Titles:
Sometimes characters have alternate names or titles that do not require a persona entry, likely due to their significance.
  • Leading articles (A, An or The) should NOT be included.
  • Commas should NOT be included.  
  • Alternate spellings of a character name or persona are NOT permitted as aliases.
  • Married / maiden names can be entered here if not the base entry.
Universe:
Character universes are associated based on where they originated.
  • As DC Comics continues to make retroactive changes with continuity, we will be maintaining Earth-0 / Prime Earth as the "Omniverse". All Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, etc. will be labeled as Earth-0, for simplicity. 
  • Append (Universe Name) to the base character when submitting characters that do not have an existing Universe in the database.
  • If a DC/Marvel universe has not been added, select the Marvel Alterniverse or DC Elseworlds respectively and use (Universe Name) in their base name.
  • Do NOT append Temporary Reality Numbers (Earth-TRNs), these are not official universes. Fan-determined designations are not permitted. Please use the series name they originated from.
Creators:
The creator of this specific iteration of the character (universe and in comic books).
  • Do NOT use the original creators of a character within universes that they had no involvement in. For example, Superman from Red Son should not display with Siegel and Shuster. Eventually, we'll have a field to set which character this iteration is inspired by.
  • If a character was created outside of comic books and this is a direct adaptation of said character, its original creator may be credited and not the comic writer/artist involved. However, if this character is a drastic change or is set in a different universe - the first appearance writer is to be credited.
  • Real-life people that have unique comic history should not be listed with creator attribution.
Key Issues:
In order to maintain some semblance of consistency and quality, we're only focused on very clear Key Issues to cut down on clutter.
  • A First Appearance must be related to the specific persona (or base, if not a persona).
  • Keys for DC Comics characters must be with their respective timelines (Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis, and Post-Flashpoint). Eg. Batman (Post-Flashpoint) first appeared in Flashpoint #5.
  • Do not enter in a universe or timeline note for a character's first appearance ever.
  • Canonical first appearances are not Key Issues we count at this time. Only actual first appearance in comic books.
  • Cameo and Full first appearances are permitted only for major character keys, such as Wolverine. 
  • Only currently dead characters or ones that were major Key Issues may get a Death Key Event.
  • Optional notes should be no longer than a couple of words. Keep it short, such as "Full" instead of "Full Appearance"
Short Bio:
The Short Bio should summarize who the character is without referring to publication history.
  • Keep it short. Roughly shorter than 6 sentences / 2 paragraphs.
  • Focus on describing the character as effectively as possible within the first two sentences without critical spoilers.
  • Please only describe the character in-universe. Do not refer to them as we would as a comic reader, calling them protagonists, antagonists, etc. or mention their creators, books, etc.
  • Please ensure to only use English. We may add translation fields later.
  • Plagiarism is not permitted, even with citations. Please write your own unique bios.  
Character History:
The Character History covers the character's publishing history and storylines. Think of it as an extended bio.
  • The Character History can include headers on various topics.
  • Plagiarism is not permitted, even with citations. Please write your own unique content.  
Primary Photo:
A photo of the character's face and head.
  • For the baseline character, please use a photo of them out of costume without powers being used if possible.
  • Persona photos may not match the baseline character photo.
  • Please use a photo that showcases a face/head within at least 70% of the space (ideal for smaller thumbnails). The less their face is covered, the better. Please be aware a hat, massive hair, and other accessories do not count for sizing. Chin to the peak of the actual head.
  • Forward-facing angles are preferred.
  • Do not use photos with word bubbles or text.
  • 400x400 is the minimum size for the photo.
  • The image must be from official comic books - not movies or animation.
  • When replacing an existing image:
     - A more recent image than the current one is required, but other caveats apply below:
     - Simplistic art styles may not be approved. 
     - Photorealistic art may not be approved if an alternative is identified. 
     - Yelling or open-mouth shots may not be approved. 
     - Low quality images will not be approved. 
     - If drastically different than the previous appearance, the "new look" must have been used for six or more issues.

Feedback and Knowledge Base

(thinking…)