Graphic novel character categories

Forums: War Room → Graphic novel character categories

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Policy will be adapted to reflect the following change: 1. The distinction between main/major/minor character per graphic novel will be removed. 2. General "Main/major/minor graphic novel characters" will be created. 3. Characters will be divided based on their involvement in all the ATLA or TLoK graphic novels: 3.1 Main characters = The people who carry the plot over several graphic novels (think the members of Team Avatar); they appear in nearly every installment of every graphic novel. 3.2 Mayor characters = important recurring characters. People who carry the plot in one trilogy and reappear in a supporting role in at least one other trilogy. 3.3 Minor characters = everyone else
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At the moment, graphic novel characters are categorized in main/major/minor, per graphic novel trilogy. There are already four trilogies released, a confirmed fifth on the way, and more are likely to come. This method of categorization is well on its way to become unwieldy. I suggest merging the existing main/major/minor categories for graphic novel characters into single categories. Like main graphic novel characters, major graphic novel characters, and minor graphic novel characters. I don't think it's necessary to do away with the main/major/minor tiered approach, as that is also in place with ATLA and LOK character categories. This doesn't necessarily mean doing away with the main category for each graphic novel (The Promise characters, The Search characters, etc...), though it could be if the majority thinks they should go. Omnibender - Talk - Contributions 19:21, May 31, 2016 (UTC)

I agree, the current is bloated, unwieldy, and unnecessary, as some of these categories only cover three pages. However, I do want to address the LoK comics ahead of time. Do we want to split that seperately, so that would be the three categories you propsed for ATLA and three for LoK, or just keep those together as well? (I honestly have no opinion on this point, I just thought I should bring it up.) AvatarAang7 (My wall - My fanon) 19:34, May 31, 2016 (UTC)

I had not thought of that. I think having separate categories for LOK would be neater, considering they'll also be listed differently when they come out. Omnibender - Talk - Contributions 19:42, May 31, 2016 (UTC)

For TLoK, we can just employ the same system as we currently do for main/major/minor character distinctions, namely add (Legend of Korra) behind it. So I'm all for merging those categories to be like one.

For the distinction between main/major/minor, we could also employ the same system we do for the TLoK books, though I would advocate revising that too, and solely see someone as a main character when they appeared across at least 2 graphic novel trilogies in a noteworthy role (so Kori would be just a major character, as she did appear in two trilogies, but her role in The Rift is discardable).

As for keeping the parent "The Promise/The Search/etc characters", I would do that, as a distinction between "main/major/minor" is nice, but knowing from which trilogy they hail in one glance seems more relevant to me. Lady Lostris /  SOAP 07:41, June 1, 2016 (UTC)

LL summed it up pretty nicely, I agree with that breakdown. So if everyone is in agreement with:

1. Create tiered categories for graphic novel characters (i.e. Main graphic novel characters, Major graphic novel characters, Minor comic characters).
2. Retain parent categories (i.e. The Promise characters, The Search characters, etc.).

Then I would also suggest that we hash out what exactly the system of categorization would be, as LL also addressed. I agree that main characters should appear across (i.e. in all three parts of a trilogy) at least two trilogies and have a significant role in at least two trilogies (e.g. most members of Team Avatar). Major characters should appear across at least two trilogies and have a significant role in one trilogy (e.g. Kori), and minor characters would be anyone who does not fit either of those (e.g. Old Iron). Water Spout 01:29, June 2, 2016 (UTC)

Don't we already have a policy in place to determine what tier a character is? I'm sure we have that for the animated series, but I'm not sure if we have a comic equivalent. Your categorization criteria proposal seems a bit overly complex. To keep thing simple, I'd first just categorize the characters as they appear in a specific trilogy, like we do already. A character would then be listed under that category, unless said character achieved a higher tier in another trilogy, in which case, they'd be listed the highest tier they've reached in all trilogies. Omnibender - Talk - Contributions 03:10, June 2, 2016 (UTC)

I was under the impression that the tier categories would be condensed into an overarching "(tier) graphic novel character" category, so in that case I think it's appropriate to develop a criteria for what constitutes different character types in the graphic novels, since the format is different from the books in the series.

To categorize a character as a main graphic novel character, I think that the character should be central to more than just a single graphic novel. Conversely, trilogy specific adversaries or entities should not be considered main characters for being central in one trilogy, but rather just categorized as major characters. Water Spout 03:40, June 2, 2016 (UTC)

That is the proposal, I'm just trying to make use of the categorization system already in place to speed things up. A stepping stone if you will. Besides, as far as antagonists and entities go, not much would change, from the looks of it. Looking only at the tiered character categories we have at the moment (Promise, Search, and Rift), the only character that could be called an antagonist listed as a main character is Ozai during The Promise, mostly due to flashback portions. Still looking only at those three trilogies, the categories would be populated as such going by what I suggested:

• Main characters: Aang, Appa, Azula, Katara, Momo, Noren, Ozai, Sokka, Toph, Ursa, Zuko.
• Major characters: Dark One, Ho Tun, Jingbo, Kori Morishita, Kuei, Lao, Loban, Longshot, Mai, Mother of Faces, Penga, Roku, Satoru, Smellerbee, Sneers, Suki, Wolf spirit, Xing Ying, Yangchen, Yee-Li.
• Minor characters: Azulon, Boma, Bosco, Cabbage merchant, Elua, Hei-Won, How, Iroh, Jinzuk and Rina, Kahchi, Kiyi, Kunyo, Mak, Mayor Morishita, Mrs. Morishita, Mongke, Nishi, Niyok, Nutha, Ogodei, Old Iron, Poppy, Professor, Rafa and Misu, Tienhai, Tienhai's husband, Ty Lee, Utor, Vachir, Won-Yee, Yeh-Lu.

I considered adding the breakdown of how they're listed across each trilogy, but thought the list would be unwieldy. If you want to have some measure of weight of appearing in multiple trilogies, my suggestion is that to be in a certain tier, a character would have to belong in that tier for two different trilogies. If they don't, they're demoted to the next tier. Even if not listed in per trilogy tiered categories, I believe per trilogy tiered classifications can still be used as a guideline on how to list them in these overarching categories. Just for the added comparison, here's my breakdown of the tiers for Smoke and Shadow, done somewhat hastily: Main: Aang, Azula, Mai, and Zuko. Major: Kei Lo, Kiyi, and Ukano. Minor: everyone else that showed up. Omnibender - Talk - Contributions 05:06, June 2, 2016 (UTC)