User:Sol Pacificus/Manual of style

The Manual of Style is the codified set of standards for writing and formatting across all articles here at the Assassin's Creed Wiki where we strive for a level of professionalism as diligent as any other academic medium.

As with any style guide, the aim of this page is to ensure clarity, coherence, and consistency throughout our articles through efficient organization, thereby rendering our content readily accessible to the audience. Although we share common principles with conventional styles of professional writing, our manual of style is specially adapted to the unique goal of synthesizing Assassin's Creed lore and presenting it in an encyclopedic format. Those familiar with composing scholarly works need not refrain from drawing strategies from that background when contributing to this wiki. However, it should also be remembered that Assassin's Creed Wiki is a special platform of its own with distinct standards that have been developed by convention and consensus to best fit our specialty.

Perspective

More than just a typical guide on a video game series, Assassin's Creed Wiki is dedicated to compiling and maintaining the lore of the entire franchise. To that end, our first and foremost priority is to synthesize the metanarrative of not only each game, but also across the diverse range of transmedia. We meticulously incorporate every piece of information on the series' universe, no matter how minor, and weave them together into a unifying whole, so that fans may witness how its world truly manifests.

Because our encyclopedia revolves more around the series as a world and less on the series as merely games, it is essential that articles are written from an in-universe perspective rather than an out-of-universe one with few exceptions.

In-Universe

When an article is written from an in-universe perspective, it is roleplaying as a document in the world of Assassin's Creed itself. Imagine that you are an Assassin who, eager to research the history of the Hidden Blade, consults a digital database which has begun to archive all this information. This database is Assassin's Creed Wiki, and although it does not actually exist within the series' canon, for our purposes, we act as though it does when writing. We pretend as though we, the writers, are within the universe of Assassin's Creed rather than fans existing outside of it.

This perspective of writing manifests in the following ways:

1. All subjects must be treated as though they are non-fictional rather than fictional.
2. The historical past tense is used unless the subject still exists in the present moment in the series. Under conventional grammar rules, plot summaries for fictional works are written in the literary present tense. Because we imagine the Assassin's Creed world to be that of reality, however, even fictional characters that have since died in the story (e.g. Haytham Kenway) are treated as actually having existed at one point before passing away. When writing about them, they should therefore be described in the past tense. Conversely, subjects that still exist at the current time in the story (e.g. the Animus, Rebecca Crane, Rome) should be described in the present tense as usual.
3. Note that the series' setting closely aligns with that of real-life, so as a general rule of thumb, the current year in the real world is the current year in the series' story even in the absence of a new release in a particular year. Furthermore, the series is essentially set in a parallel universe to that of reality, with every historical event in the story mirroring that of our actual history. As a result, if a subject, be it an individual, city, or war, currently exists in real-life, even in the absence of an explicit reference to its current status in the Assassin's Creed universe, its status is presumed to be the same. Thus, if you are unsure if Masyaf still stands as a city in the present day of Assassin's Creed and no source in the series gives a clear answer, refer to its real-life status to find out. The exception to this rule is if within Assassin's Creed lore itself, it has been made explicit that the subject no longer exists even if it still does in the real world. In the event of such a deviation, one must of course defer to the Assassin's Creed version.
4. Refrain describing a detail as "unknown" if it is unknown to the fans. Details which are unknown to us may not necessarily be unknown to characters within the Assassin's Creed world.
5. Refrain from gameplay language.

Avoiding gameplay language

Note that simply avoiding any explicit references to the subject's fictional status while describing gameplay does not qualify as IU-writing. For instance:

"A Brute's regular attacks could also be countered through a disarm maneuver, which left them open to a lethal, follow-up attack."

In this example, the historical past tense is used as is appropriate, but to write from an in-universe perspective requires more than just correct tense usage; one must capture the point-of-view with respect to content and rhetoric as well. The sentence alone is not technically out-of-universe, as it is true that within the Assassin's Creed universe, a regular attack from a Brute can be countered by disarming him, just as in real-life, an attack from a soldier can be countered and disarmed.

However, it is not realistic to single out this detail as though it were a unique scenario. What distinguishes a "regular" attack from any other form of attack in real-life? Can't any individual be countered by being disarmed in real-life—is this detail specific to a Brute? Won't any counter leave an enemy open to a follow-up attack in real-life? Would it necessarily always be lethal?

Awkward in a non-fictional context, this statement is still in essence written from an OOU-perspective. Its point makes sense only as a matter of describing gameplay mechanics even if it can disguise itself by being technically correct if a Brute were to exist in real-life. In-universe writing should not be superficial.

Out-of-universe

The opposing counterpart to in-universe is out-of-universe (OOU) where an article is written from the normal perspective of reality. In this case, the writer does not imagine himself as situated within the franchise's universe; the subject matter is approached as part of a fictional work as usual.

Although by default, an IU-perspective takes precedence, certain subjects might call for an OOU-perspective to be adopted instead. The articles of such subjects are referred to as real-world pages and deal with game developers; voice actors; the actual games, comics, and novels themselves; etc. Subjects which appear within the Assassin's Creed universe but which have a real-world equivalent (e.g. Niccolò Machiavelli, Firearm, France) should still be written from an IU-perspective and should principally be presented in terms of the franchise's lore.

All IU articles have a Trivia section at the end which in essence is a less formal equivalent to the Behind the Scene sections of other wikis. As such, items in Trivia may be written from an OOU-perspective even when the article as a whole is not. This is necessary if a trivia point describes gameplay elements of the subject, such as the way it functions or bugs involving it. Because Trivia is a pool for miscellaneous OOU and gameplay points, this is the only section in IU articles which permits OOU-perspective writing.

Naming convention

When naming an article, abide by the following steps in this order:

1. Use a canonical name whenever possible
2. Use the full, legal name of an individual whenever possible
3. If no legal name is known, use a canonical nickname and add {{Nickname}} to the top of the page. (e.g. Noob and Numbskull)
4. If the subject has no canonically verifiable name, but it has a real-life equivalent, use its real-life name
5. If the subject either does not have a real-life equivalent, or its name in real-life is otherwise unknown, devise a conjectural name and add {{Conjecture}} to the top of the page.

This means that if a subject has a real-world counterpart, the name by which it appears in the canonical source takes precedence.

Example: Julius Caesar instead of Gaius Julius Caesar

Whatever a conjectural name, it should be one that can most rationally be identified with the subject (e.g. Zhang Zhi's father). A descriptive title may therefore be employed instead, but whichever title is chosen, it must still be in-universe. Hence, a character whose name is not given should never include words such as "unnamed" (e.g. "Unnamed Guard Captain") or "character" in its article's title.

Article title format

In accordance with this wiki's designated language, all titles should be in English to maintain consistency. An exception can be made for the following:

• If the name is Romanized, but lacks an Anglicized variant. (e.g. Ratonhnhaké:ton).
• If the name uses the Latin alphabet in its native form, but its Anglicized variant is not conventionally used. (e.g. Lorenzo de' Medici not "Lawrence of the Medici")
• Both the native name and its Anglicized and native variants are widely used, but the former is the one used in the subject's most prominent and/or central appearance. (e.g. Jeanne d'Arc instead of "Joan of Arc")

• The name used in the latest media takes precedence if there is a contradiction between a character's most central appearance and the greater prominence of another appearance, (e.g. Christopher Columbus from Assassin's Creed: The Movie over "Cristoffa Corombo" from Assassin's Creed II: Discovery) or if there is some dispute in any other way over the level of authority between multiple sources using different variations of a name (Saladin from Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide over "Salah Al'din" from Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade)

Titles must also:

• Be in singular, not plural case, unless the subject is a plurale tantum (e.g. Americas), or its very subject matter necessarily discusses a class or group (e.g. administrative subdivisions such as "Nomes of Egypt" or people groups)
• Use the noun form
• Be in sentence case, i.e. with only proper nouns and the first word capitalized
• Avoid including a grammatical article, definite or indefinite, at its beginning except when it is a component to a work's title (e.g. The Canterbury Tales) or the subject's formal name (e.g. Le Chasseur)
• Use the full name of the subject, spelled out, rather than an abbreviation

The exception to this last point are the articles on Assassins and Templars which, per the convention in the series, are titled as people groups despite referring to the formal organizations.

Capitalization

Assassin

As a demonym for the Assassin Brotherhood, "Assassin" is a proper noun and should always be capitalized when referring to a member of this organization. When used as a general noun by referring to any individual who attempts an assassination, "assassin" should not be capitalized. Hence, the combination of "Templar assassin" describes a member of the Templar Order who targets the life of an individual for political reasons without being aligned with the Assassin Brotherhood.

Hidden Blade

Since the "Hidden Blade" is a specific weapon that should not be confused as a descriptor, it should always be capitalized.

Introduction

The opening section of every article, the introduction should always begin by introducing the name of the article's subject in bold with a statement summarizing its main, defining characteristic as per Wikipedia convention.

Ideally, a complete introduction should summarize all the main points of the article, such that a reader unfamiliar with the subject can walk away having read only this opening section and have an immediate understanding of all the most crucial details of the article.