KHWiki:Manual of Style

The Manual of Style (abbreviated as MoS or MOS) is the style guide for all articles on the Kingdom Hearts Wiki. This page covers general formatting and grammar rules to be used on the wiki. Additional policies and pages, which are cross-referenced here, provide specific guidance on specific topics such as image and media use. The goal and purpose of the Manual of Style is to make using the Kingdom Hearts Wiki easier and more intuitive. It promotes clarity and cohesion and helps editors write articles with a consistent and precise language, layout, and format.

The Kingdom Hearts Wiki uses American English as the official standard and language for writing articles, as it is the form of English used in the games. Therefore, all grammar and punctuation in articles should follow American English conventions. There is one exception: this wiki will use the U.K.'s rules for punctuation, otherwise known as logical punctuation, in which all punctuation marks are place inside the quotation marks if they are part of the quoted material and outside if they are not.

Should exceptions occur, these should be discussed in the article's talk page. Changes to the Manual of Style should be discussed on the Manual's talk page.

General

Titles

• Use standard capitalization rules for article titles. Capitalize any and all proper nouns and any words officially capitalized in the games or other official canon.
• New articles should be named according to the subject's official name.

Example: An article on "Sora's Weapon" should be named "Keyblade".

• Use the most recently localized name of a subject as the title, and add any additional or earlier names as redirects to the original name.

Example: Hungry is the most recent localized name in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and was originally named Mystery Goo in Kingdom Hearts and Serenity in Kingdom Hearts II. The latter two titles are redirects to Hungry.

• Articles (a, an, the) should be avoided in article titles except if they are used in an official title/name.

Example: "Way to the Dawn", not "The Way to the Dawn" or “Way to Dawn”, but “The 13th Struggle”, not “13th Struggle”.

• Do not use abbreviations.

Example: Kingdom Hearts II, not KHII or KH2.

Content

• The first sentence in the introduction should briefly define the subject of the article, and the subject has to be written in bold. Use the definite article and refer to the subject as a singular entity, except as appropriate for certain cases.
  • Example: The Keyblade is Sora's main weapon. Sora received the Keyblade in Destiny Islands. Keyblades can destroy the Heartless.
• Avoid using the second person pronoun (you) in articles except when describing strategies in a Game-space article or in the Walkthrough-space.
• It is proper grammar that a possessive term should drop the final "s" if it is plural. The “S” should not be dropped solely because the word already ends with S.

Example: Use Xemnas's, never Xemnas', and Ventus's, never Ventus', but Nobodies', never Nobodies's.

• All game titles should be italicized, except in the article title.
• Linking to other articles is generally limited to the first occurrence of the word or phrase in the article, or the first best use of the term. However, an article can be linked to more than once in the same article if the additional links link to individual sections of the article, rather than the article alone.
• Component, minor, or insignificant items can be grouped by an identifying characteristic rather than each item having its own page so long as the details of each component are provided.

Example: Serenity for Serenity Shard, Serenity Stone, Serenity Gem, and Serenity Crystal. Gummi Blocks (KHII) for engine gummis, wing gummis, projectile gummis, etc..

• All buttons (except for the analog sticks) should be represented by {{Button}}, especially in ability, gameplay, and enemy Game-space pages.
• Interlanguage/interwiki links are optional, but encouraged. An interwiki link should not be deleted unless one of the following occurs:
  • The interwiki link is a broken link, which means that it directs to an empty, unwritten page.
  • The current link is being replaced by another link, either after the renaming of a page, or to prevent redirection.

Trivia

Content qualifies as trivia if it is information that is not significant or vital to either the game or gameplay, does not fit in other places of the article, and is of interest to note. Examples include seemingly unintentional recurrences, real-world references, or seemingly unintentional but marked similarities between two subjects. Trivia must be true and verified; neither speculation nor opinion-based conjectures are trivia. Trivia is inserted as the final subsection in an article, before "References” and “External Links”.

• Do not insert redundant information into the trivia section, particularly when the information is already contained within the main article body.
• No distasteful information is to be put in the trivia sections, or in any other part of the character articles.

Game Articles

• Use the complete and official name for game articles.

Example: The article for the game "Chain of Memories" should be titled "Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories".

• All game articles should use the {{Infobox CVG}} template.
• Place relevant navigational templates at the bottom of the article.
• Games must be categorized under Category:Games.

Sections

• Development – Detail the events surrounding the game's development, such as trailer reveals, interviews, and announcements up to the game's final regional release.
• Story – The detailed and complete plot of the game
• Gameplay - a summary of the game's gameplay, especially new gameplay elements.
• Worlds and Characters – A list if all the characters in the game, divided by the world they appear or reside in.
• Trivia - Real world references etc.
• External links - Links to official websites.

Character Articles

• Every character gets an article.
• Coverage in an article should focus on appearance in the Kingdom Hearts series. Limit detailing appearances in original works such as Disney movies and Final Fantasy games.
• Character names are as they appear in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Example Cloud, not Cloud Strife.

• All characters use the now-universal character infobox {{Character}}.
• Where possible, use a quote before the article that best exemplifies the character's personality or role in the games. Due to the sometimes passionate debates resultant of changes to these, do not change the character's introductory quote without prior discussion on that article's talk page. Use an appropriate quote from the character at the beginning of the page, before the Enemy template.
• A Kingdom Hearts original character's first appearance is the game in which they first play an active role in the franchise; appearances in secret endings, visions, trailers, and so on do not count.
• Characters that are fought also get a page in the Game-space to detail battle strategies. More information under the Enemies section.
• Place relevant navigational templates at the bottom of the article.

Sections

• Story – Detail the character's involvement in each game he/she appears in. Divide this section by each game, even if there is only one game.
• Personality – Detail the character's personality, such as his/her demeanor, behavior, and reactions or habits.
• Appearance – Explain the character's physical appearance, detailing things such as clothing. This excludes changes in appearance due to moving across worlds, such as changes to Sora's appearance in Atlantica. These are covered in a separate article in the Form-space.
• Abilities – A summary of the character's abilities. Further details are added on separate ability pages (for playable characters) and on battle strategy pages in the Game-space (for enemy characters).
• Origin – For characters with original appearances in other works, such as Disney movies, Final Fantasy games, The World Ends With You, etc. Briefly describe their appearances in these and origins in these other works, including similarities or differences from these to the Kingdom Hearts series.

World and Location Articles

• Every world gets an article.
• Key locations get their own articles, particularly when an event has taken place in a particular location. Other locations and settings should not have their own articles, and should be covered in their respective World pages under the section “Settings and Areas”.
• Limit details to in-game appearances. Do not detail information on worlds as they appear in their respective original works, such as Disney movies or Final Fantasy games.

Sections

• Areas and Settings – Briefly describe all the locations and settings in the world, listing the names of each location in bold text. Each location name gets an article that redirects to the world page, with an anchor to the exact location of that place in the article.

Example: Hall of the Cornerstone should redirect to the Disney Castle article with the anchor Hall of the Cornerstone. This is done by using {{a}}.

• Characters – A gallery of all the characters that reside in the world. This doesn't include characters that solely visit (such as Merlin in Disney Castle, or Mickey Mouse in Twilight Town).
• Story – Detail the story events that take place in the world or location.
• Enemies - a gallery of all enemies that appear in that world or location, including all bosses.
• Gallery - a gallery of any images applicable to the location (key locations only; for world articles, see the appropriate Gallery-space article.

Enemy and Boss Articles

• Every enemy and boss gets an article, including every Heartless, Nobody, Unversed, and Dream Eater.
• Characters fought against, such as Maleficent, Ansem or Xehanort, get a separate article to detail battle strategies in the Game-space.
• All Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, and Dream Eaters are genderless, classified as "it" or "its" when referring to possession.
  • YES : The Zip Slasher is a powerful enemy. It uses a powerful slash attack to deal great amounts of damage. Using Block to defend against its slash attack will knock it unconscious.
  • NO : The Zip Slasher is a powerful enemy. He uses a powerful slash attack to deal great amounts of damage. Using Block to defend against his slash attack will knock him unconscious.
• Any character of either enemy type with an obvious gender, such as the members of Organization XIII and Xehanort's Heartless, are an exception to this rule.
  • YES : Xemnas is the leader of Organization XIII. He wields dual Ethereal Blades in battle.
  • NO : Xemnas is the leader of Organization XIII. It wields dual Ethereal Blades in battle.
• Place navigational templates as relevant, such as {{HeartlessBossDirectory}}.

Sections

• Story – Detail any relevant story events that occur.
• Design - Describe the enemy's physical appearance. Include at the end, if applicable, the source or origin of the name of the subject.
• Strategy - Describe different tactics to defeating the enemy and list the enemy's abilities and attacks. This section isn't required for enemies which are also main characters. In such cases, describe these battles in the article's related Game-space article.

Item Articles

• Each item gets an article.
• Place templates as appropriate.
• Categorize as appropriate. Items fall under a subcategory by game under the main Category:Items.

Sections

• Story – Detail any relevant story elements.
• Mechanics – Describe the way the item works.
• Design – Describe the item's physical appearance.
• Drops – Detail the enemies that drop this item, if applicable
• Recipe – Describe the recipe required to synthesize the item, listing all possible.
• Treasure – List all treasure chests that contain this item.
• Other methods – List any other method to acquiring this item.
• Synthesized items – List all items that can be synthesized using this item (if applicable)

Weapon Articles

• Every weapon gets an article.
• Use appropriate infobox templates.
• Categorize as appropriate. Weapons fall under a subcategory by game under the main Category:Weapons.

Sections

• Story – Describe any relevant story elements
• Design – Describe the weapon's physical appearance
• Gameplay – Describe the way the weapon is used, any special effects it has, and what happens when it is used.

Equipment Articles

• Each armor, accessory, etc. gets an article.
• Use appropriate infobox templates.
  • For accessories, there are Template:InfoAccessKH and Template:InfoAccessKHII.
  • For armor, there is Template:InfoArmorKHII.

Sections

• Design – A detailed description of the item's physical appearance.
• Recipe – Instructions on how to synthesize the item (if applicable)

Ability Articles

• Abilities should be grouped together in articles per game.
• All abilities for playable characters get their own pages.

Example: Sonic Blade, Strike Raid, and Glide.

• Categorize it as appropriate. The general category is Category:Abilities.

Sections

• (Lead): should list the games in which it appears and give a general description.
• Mechanics – Describe the type of ability and how it's equipped and/or executed/activated, if relevant.
• Learning [ability]: list of methods of obtaining, learning, or otherwise gaining access to the ability.
• Drops (for commands): enemy drop rates
• Recipes (for commands): synthesis recipes for the command
• Synthesized Commands (for commands): recipes that use the command

Music Articles

• Each individual music track gets an article. This applies to both tracks for the same character but with a different name and for tracks with a different name but similar melody, such as Kairi I and Kairi III, and Dive into the Heart -Destati- and Destati.
• Original soundtracks albums [OST] also get their own articles.
• Place the navigational template {{Music}} at the end of the article.
• Music track articles should include an infobox detailing the information as listed on {{InfoTrack}}

Sections (Individual tracks)

• Introductory sentence - Should use the following format: "[Track title] is a musical composition by [Composer] that appears in [game(s)/the Kingdom Hearts series]." Depending on the track, specific games may be listed or may be replaced with "the Kingdom Hearts series."
• Appearances - This is the first section. List any occurrences the track plays, including cutscenes, boss fights, and outside official sources- such as Square Enix official music websites.
• Composition - This is the second section. The first paragraph should describe in detail the: approximate length of the piece; tempo(s), noting how many beats per minute; key signature(s); if the piece has or lacks an introduction and/or conclusion; how many measures each loop occurs; and instrumentation. A separate paragraph may be designated for each game/variation, depending on the track. The second paragraph should be a complete and in-depth music theory analysis of the piece, containing thorough descriptions of all phrases, noteworthy rhythms/themes, any forms of musical expressions (i.e. ornamentation(s), ritardandos, accelerandos, etc.), changes in dynamics, and even chord analysis.
• Albums - The third section. Any soundtracks that specifically list the respective music track should be listed and linked to.

Sections (Soundtrack albums)

• (Lead) – Describe the soundtrack album, including the games the soundtrack covers, release dates, etc.
• Tracks – List all the tracks un the albums in tables divided by disc. All the tables should be coded in a tabber div.
• Gallery - A gallery of images related to the soundtrack album, such as alternate covers, back covers, booklets, etc.
• External Links – List any related official links, such as pages in the Square Enix store

See Also

• Help:Editing: A basic how-to guide to editing an article on the Kingdom Hearts Wiki
• Help:Images: A tutorial on using images