This page is an archive of a community-wide discussion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made in the Senate Hall or new Consensus Track pages rather than here so that this page is preserved as a historic record.
The result of the debate was Adopt Naming policy proposal; Sheev Palpatine article to be moved to Darth Sidious. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 20:18, January 26, 2015 (UTC)

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Hi everyone. This CT is about amending the naming policy. Toprawa and Ralltiir and I worked together on this together, so some of his footprints are in this. First, allow me to explain the backstory of this change.

The naming policy currently states the following regarding characters with more than one name:

Whenever two or more names were used by the character simultaneously (adopted names included), use the most commonly known of those names (example: both Palpatine and Dooku were commonly known under their official names, which they continued to use alongside their Sith titles, so those names are preferred for the respective articles).

This policy generally works, but there are cases where using the most commonly used name is actually inaccurate. A good example of this is this page: Sheev Palpatine. In canon, it is firmly established that by the execution of Order 66 in Episode III, Palpatine is Darth Sidious in thought and action. Supporting evidence, so you can see where i'm coming from:

• The Databank has two biography galleries for the character: one for Palpatine and one for Sidious. The one for Palpatine ends at the declaration of the New Order, while the one for Sidious continues onward until his death in Episode VI.
• The final image in the Palpatine bio gallery states: "Despite his public title of Emperor Palpatine, he was Darth Sidious in thought and action from this point forward."
• In Tarkin, in which the Emperor is a major supporting character, there are scenes that are from his point of view, as well as scenes from the point of view of other people. In the scenes from other peoples' POV, he is referred to as Palpatine or the Emperor. In the ones from his POV, he is referred to as Sidious. The subtext is that he's publicly known as Emperor Palpatine, but he considers himself Darth Sidious.

It is therefore more accurate to have the Sheev Palpatine page be called Darth Sidious. However, that name can't be changed without a slight policy shift. We therefore propose that the above text be replaced with this:

Whenever two or more names are used by a character simultaneously (adopted names included), use the most commonly known of those names (example: both Star Wars Legends Palpatine and Dooku were commonly known under their given names, which they continued to use alongside their Sith titles, so those names are preferred for the respective articles). Exceptions may apply to characters who prominently identify as a certain name despite their public persona. A prime example is Canon Darth Sidious, who was publicly known as Palpatine but self-identified as Darth Sidious at the end of his life.

Although this CT was constructed with the canonical Darth Sidious in mind, it will allow for future exceptions to be made on a case by case basis. For those who are concerned about characters like Dooku and Darth Caedus, Dooku is never prominently identified as Darth Tyranus and—according to others, as I have not read the books—Jacen Solo self-identified as Darth Caedus at the time of his (SPOILER ALERT) death. It also would not mean that the Legends Palpatine page would be called Darth Sidious, as canon makes the name Darth Sidious prominent and self-identified in a way that Legends does not.

Vote[]

Adopt the proposed change[]

1. As the proposer. - Brandon Rhea^(talk) 04:22, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
2. Sheev is so delightfully lolzy and NuCanonish, but I can't argue with sources. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 04:24, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
3. Makes sense.--Exiled Jedi (Greetings) 04:25, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
4. SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEV Cade Calrayn 04:31, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
5. grunny@wookieepedia:~$ 04:34, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
6. Hope we can maybe call Dooku Darth Tyranus. It just sounds better. See you later Sheev. - AV-6R7^{User talk:AV-6R7} 04:37, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
7. Fe Nite (talk) 19:40, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
8. Reminds me of the debate over whether to call Myanmar "Burma" or "Myanmar." Andykatib 01:30, January 15, 2015 (UTC)
9. Supreme Emperor (talk) 01:33, January 16, 2015 (UTC)
10. —MJ— _{War Room} 09:01, January 16, 2015 (UTC)
11. Ayrehead02 (talk) 14:39, January 16, 2015 (UTC)
12. Inmate 458, name Palpatine, best known as the Shiv. Winterz (talk) 20:39, January 16, 2015 (UTC)
13. Just this one time. Avoid the slippery slope! Corellian Premier^{The Force will be with you always} 20:51, January 16, 2015 (UTC)
14. If only to avoid seeing "Sheev" in an article's name... Manoof (talk) 00:50, January 17, 2015 (UTC)
15. SHEEV 1358 ^(Talk) 22:24, January 18, 2015 (UTC)
16. IFYLOFD ^(Talk) 22:41, January 18, 2015 (UTC)
17. Coruscantfan ^(Talk) 08:22, January 19, 2015 (UTC)
18. I'm perfectly fine with "Sheev," but this change makes sense. Support the proposal, but I'd say careful about how we provide links in articles. For example, the article describes Palpatine addressing the Senate, then we should still refer to him as "Sheev Palpatine," but link to the Sidious article directly via piping. ProfessorTofty (talk) 02:17, January 20, 2015 (UTC)

Do not adopt the proposed change[]

Comments[]