Appearances are divided into four categories: major, minor, mentions and flashbacks. When a subject makes a major appearance, they appear physically in the book and play some part in one of the stories, or their non-physical appearance is relevant to the plot (like a video call, for instance.) Minor appearances consists of when the subject appears in the story but isn't actually present (such as an illusion, recording, or just a picture on a screen). Mentions are for when a character is only mentioned but is integral to the story (ie. "I can't believe Sentry just died.", without him being shown). Flashbacks or for when a character appears only in a flashback image referencing a prior issue. A prime example of this is when Captain America is remembering being thawed from the ice and the Avengers are around him. The Avengers have no relevance to the current story. This was EXTREMELY common in the early 1970's issues of Captain America.
The following is the format to add an appearance tag as part of an appearance listing:
* {{WRITE TAG HERE|[[Anthony Stark (Earth-616)|Iron Man (Tony Stark)]]}}
An example:
* {{1st|[[Anthony Stark (Earth-616)|Iron Man (Tony Stark)]]}}
The example above will appear displayed like this:
- Iron Man (Tony Stark) (First appearance)
If a subject appears but there is no need to point out anything about the nature of their appearance, simply use the A template:
* {{a|[[Anthony Stark (Earth-616)|Iron Man (Tony Stark)]]}}
In this case, it will appear like this:
If you wish to place more than one tag, place the first one as shown in the first example, and write the rest to the right of the appearance listing:
* {{1st|[[Anthony Stark (Earth-616)|Iron Man (Tony Stark)]]}} {{Flashback}} {{Origin}}
It will appear like this:
- Iron Man (Tony Stark) (First appearance) (Appears in flashback and main story) (Origin revealed)
For further information on the use and formatting of the tags listed below, click on the links and visit the tags' templates.
Major Appearance Tags[]
- A / a - The basic appearance tag. Its only purpose is to automatically generate a category to indicate the presence of a subject in a story, it will not display any actual tags.
- Apn - The appearance listing will display navigation arrows linking to a subject's previous and next appearance with regards to the story of the article in which they're listed.
- 1st - Used to indicate that the subject being listed is appearing for the first time
- It will be displayed like this: (First appearance)
- 1st Real Name - Used to point out that in this appearance, a subject's real name is being revealed for the first time, either because their real name was unknown until then or because they had only been presented with a false name or an alias
- It will be displayed like this:
- 1stas - Used to denote that an established subject is appearing for the first time using a new name or alias.
- It will be displated like this: (First appearance as TEXT HERE)
- 1stChron - Used to indicate that it's a subject's first appearance chronologically.
- It will be displayed like this:
- 1stFull - Explains a subject's first full appearance after having previously appeared only partially (shadowed, or on a screen).
- It will be displayed like this:
- 1stHist - Denotes a subject's first historical appearance.
- It will be displayed like this:
- ApDeath - Points out that a character has seemingly perished. It is to be used only when there's room for uncertainty regarding a character's ultimate fate.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Death - Used to signify that a character dies or is shown to die. Even if the character is revealed to have survived in a later story, as long as the author(s) intended for the death to be perceived as genuine, this tag should be used instead of ApDeath.
- It will be displayed like this: (Death)
- Destroyed - Indicates that an item, location or vehicle appears destroyed in the story.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Destroyer - Indicates that a character is possessing The Destroyer Armor.
- It will be displayed like this: (Possessing The Destroyer)
- Destruction - Denotes that an item, location or vehicle is destroyed in the story.
- It will be displayed like this: (Destruction)
- Disbands - This tag is used to point out that a team or organization is disbanded in the story.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Final - Used to explain that the appearance listed is the subject's final appearance.
- It will be displayed like this: (Final Appearance)
- Flashback - This tag denotes that a subjectr appears both in a story's main story and flashback(s).
- It will be displayed like this: (Appears in flashback and main story)
- Ghost - Signifies that a character appears as a ghost.
- It will be displayed like this: (Ghost, soul or spirit)
- Green / g - This template can be used to create custom tags in order to denote something particular about a subject's appearance without a corresponding pre-existing appearance tag.
- It will be displayed like this: (CUSTOM TEXT HERE)
- Identity - Indicates that the true identity has been revealed.
- It will be displayed like this: (Identity revealed)
- Joins - Indicates that a character is becoming part of a team or organization under which their appearance is nested.
- It will be displayed like this: (Joins Team)
- Last - Similar to Final, it's used to signify that the appearance listed is the subject's last appearance.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Leaves - Indicates that a character is leaving a team or organization under which their appearance is nested.
- It will be displayed like this: (Leaves Team)
- Odinsleep - Indicates that a character is only appearing while in the Odinsleep.
- It will be displayed like this: (Appears in the Odinsleep only)
- Only - Points out that a subject's appearance is their only appearance ever.
- It will be displayed like this: (Only appearance)
- Only Dies - This tag explains that a subject's appearance is their only appearance ever, and that they have died.
- It will be displayed like this: (Only appearance; dies)
- Origin - This tag indicates that a subject's origin is revealed in the story.
- It will be displayed like this: (Origin revealed)
- Possessed - Explains that a character is being possessed.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Possessing - Used to denote character is being possessed, and establishes the possessor's identity.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Possess - Indicates that a character is possessing another, and displays the possesse's name.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Rebirth - This tag signifies that a character has been brought back to life.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Rejoins - This tag signifies that a character has rejoined a team they were a part of previously.
- It will be displayed like this: (Rejoins Team)
- Repaired - Used to indicate that an item, vehicle or robot has been repaired after destruction.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Resurrection - Similarly to Rebirth, this tag denotes that a character has been brought back to life in the story.
- RevealedAs - Used to denote a character's revelation as somebody or something else different from who or what they were believed to be.
- It will be displated like this: (Revealed as TEXT HERE)
- Shadow - This tag explains that the subject is appearing under shadows, a method typically used to conceal the subject's appearance or identity.
- It will be displayed like this: (In shadow only)
- Unnamed - Used when the subject appears without a name, usually because its name hadn't been revealed at the time of the story whose appearances are being listed.
- It will be displayed like this:
Minor Appearance Tags[]
- BTS - This tag is used to indicate that a character's actions off-panel have directly affected the story, but they don't actually appear.
- It will be displayed like this: (Behind the Scenes)
- Cameo - Used to indicate that the subject's appearance is a cameo.
- It will be displayed like this: (Cameo)
- Corpse - Indicates that a character's corpse is appearing in the story.
- It will be displayed like this: (Corpse)
- Dream - Used to denote that the subject only appeared in a character's dream
- It will be displayed like this: (Appears in a dream)
- Illusion - This tag explains that the subject only appeared as part of an illusion.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Minor - The basic minor appearance tag. Its only purpose is to automatically generate a category to indicate the minor presence of a subject in a story, it will not display any actual tags.
- OnScreen - Used to signify that the subject appears on a computer screen, TV, or hologram only. Their appearance must be relevant (e.g. a video-call, a video testimony, an appearance on TV, to name a few examples). For instances in which the character's appearance is akin to a photograph, the template OnScreenOnly should be used instead.
- It will be displayed like this: (Appears on a Computer Screen, TV or Hologram Only)
- OnScreenOnly - Used to signify that the subject appears on a computer screen, TV, or hologram only without any relevance to the story (e.g. a data profile, a holographic portrait, to name a few). For instances in which the relevance of the character's appearance can be compared to an actual physical appearance of the character, the template OnScreen should be used instead.
- It will be displayed like this: (Only on screen as a static image or video record)
- Vision - Used to signify that the subject only appeared in a vision.
- It will be displayed like this:
- Voice - This tag is used to indicate that only a character's voice is heard in the story.
- It will be displayed like this: (Voice Only)
Others[]
- Deceased - Used in conjunction with Mentioned, this tag denotes that a character has been mentioned in the context of their death.
- It will be displayed like this:
- FlashOnly - Explains that a subject only appears in flashback(s).
- It will be displayed like this: (Only in flashback)
- It is also best if used in conjunction with the Reference tag identifying the issue that it is flashing back to.
- Mentioned - This template generates a Mentioned category, it's used for subjects that don't appear in the story, and are only mentioned.
- It will be displayed like this: (Mentioned)
- Referenced - This template generates a Mentioned category, it's used for subjects that don't appear in the story, and are only mentioned. The best use for this is in Handbook entries.
- It will be displayed like this: (Referenced)