Forum:Naming Conventions

This forum is intended to discuss naming conventions of enemies, locations, etc found. For game specific names, the names should appear as they appear in some sort of literature for that game whenever possible. This is generally more informative and accurate than other names we could assign.

Here is the general priorities I think make a good name to use for a game specific enemy appearance in order:


 * 1) If the enemy has a name in the game itself, like an in game bestiary or appears when you hit it, this name should always be used.
 * 2) If the above doesn't apply, if the enemy has a name in the English manual for that game, then this name should be used.
 * 3) If the above doesn't apply, if the enemy has a name in an English official guide to that, the name should appear as it does in that guide.  For example, the NES Game Atlas, Game Boy Nintendo Player's Guide, Nintendo Power, the Millennium Official Castlevania 64 Strategy Guide, and the Prima's Legacy of Darkness Official Strategy Guide should be used.
 * 4) If none of the above qualify, then the naming convention gets a little trickier and open for interpretation, but here's the order of precedence I think should be followed:
 * 5) If the same enemy appears in any other game where criteria's 2 or 3 above was used to select the name for that enemy, the name should be the same as that.  Thus, "classic" enemies will have "classic" names.
 * 6) If an same enemy appears in a game where criteria #1 (way above) was used, then that name should be used.  In the event there's more than one game that names the enemy directly, pick the name from the game that translates closest to the original Japanese.  For instance, Aria of Sorrow uses names closer to the actual Japanese names than Symphony of the Night does, so the Aria of Sorrow name should be picked.  Try to pick the most "generic" name available.
 * 7) If none of the above works, then either a descriptive name should be used or a translation of the Japanese name (from a manual or official guide) should be used.  If the Japanese translation is super awkward or doesn't have any meaning in English (such as a proper name for the enemy), it should be avoided.  If it works as a descriptive name, it should be used, perhaps reworded to "sound better" if appropriate.  If the Japanese name isn't known or doesn't work, pick a name that describes the enemy.  Names from other websites such as the Castlevania Realm can be used, but only if they actually describe this particular enemy (some names are global that describe a class, but don't describe this particular enemy well).

--Reinhart77 01:22, April 23, 2010 (UTC)