Aselia:Manual of Style

The following is a detailed list and description of the rules and policies of the Aselia wiki. This list is intended to cover all subject matter regarding page formatting and writing style, but most of these policies derive from Wikipedia's Manual of Style, and more detailed specifics may be found on that page.

Language
All articles must be written in the English language with preference toward standard American English spelling and grammar. Do not use jargon or colloquial phrases unless they are part of the subject matter itself, and try to avoid unnecessarily complex wording. All pages should be accessible and clearly understood by readers who have a passable level of knowledge or fluency in the English language. To this end, please make certain that all text is spelled correctly with proper syntax and grammar, and use a spellcheck or grammarcheck utility if you feel inadequate with this language.

Writing Style
All articles must be written in a neutral, third-person format. Words such as "I" or "you" are strictly forbidden. Pages must be written in an encyclopedic-style, where bias is avoided, and factual information is stated in clear detail. Conversational comments are unnecessary and distracting, and have no place on what should be impartially written essays on the given topic. Any text written in such a manner will be deleted or reworded as soon as it is noticed, and if the problem persists, you will be warned through your user talk page.

Avoid contractions like "don't" or "they're" or "would've". Always write out the words in full. This is informal speech which has no place on encyclopedia articles. It may be difficult to catch these contractions from being written into a page due to normal writing habits, but if any of these can be seen on an article, please correct it.

Parentheticals or phrases that are enclosed within parentheses should be avoided entirely on text-based pages. If the idea can be expressed as a separate sentence or comma-separated clause, then it should be reworded in that way. Parentheses should be used only as a part of Japanese translations, and the occasional use of acronyms after writing out the full term.

Avoid sexist language. This wiki is written in an encyclopedic-style, meaning content should refrain from gender specificity altogether. However, if it is unavoidable, then both genders should be referenced, such as "he OR she" and "his OR her". Also, never assume that a particular arte or occupation would be performed by a specific gender.

Spoilers
Spoiler content will not be labeled in any way on this wiki. The spoiler template has been discontinued, and all pages are expected to have spoiler content at any given point. The notice that exists on the front page serves as a spoiler warning for all pages without exception. No spoiler labels of any sort are allowed, and the use of the word "spoiler" itself is forbidden, as there is no context which enables it to be used impartially.

However, this does not mean that spoilers can be thrown about on any page without regard to its content. For the pages that serve as a summary of events from an entire game, such as the articles for each game and its protagonists, any spoiler content should be presented at the same point within the narrative that a player would encounter it while playing the actual game. On pages that relate to integral plot elements, such as a specific event or term, spoilers should be limited to only those situations that directly affect, or are affected directly by it, and unrelated matters should be avoided completely.

This can serve as a problem on certain pages where the "true" age or race of a character can represent a significant spoiler, and that information might be seen easily on the character infoboxes. In cases where this might be an issue, that information should be omitted from the infoboxes and described within the narrative at the correct point where the player would learn that info.

Strategies and Walkthroughs
Any strategy or walkthrough-based content is unacceptable due to not being encyclopedic content. These "guides" are not a focus of this wiki, and there are other places that are willing to host this sort of information, such as GameFAQs and similar websites. Resource content should be limited to statistical, list-type data, which is described further in this section. Any information regarding specific numbers such as directly stated TP costs or level requirements should remain on these pages. Do not add them to text-based articles.

Please note that this only applies to articles which are written on the "main" namespace, or more specifically, pages that are not discussion-oriented and conversational by nature, such as user pages or forums. If you feel that what you have to say is interesting and merits some discussion, or you just want to make the information available somewhere, you may post that information on the article's talk page. Some of us might even comment on it. Make sure the same info does not find its way onto the main article, where discussions like this do not belong.

Speculation and Assumptions
Similar to the above, guesswork through unconfirmed speculation is unacceptable. This wiki only deals with clearly defined facts. Any mentions of references to materials outside of the series must be clear and direct homages to those other works. All theories or interpretations regarding various story events cannot be stated unless they have been confirmed as truth. There should be no guesswork involved when recounting the events that actually happen in a story, or relationships between the different characters.

Again similar to the above, speculations and other unknowns can be added to talk pages where these ideas can be put to discussion. Some theories are interesting, and sometimes even plausible. But they cannot be displayed alongside things that are factual, as it can become difficult for readers to determine which is which if it is all mixed together on the same page.

Glitches and Exploits
Details regarding bugs, dummied information, and other things that are not available under intended gameplay should not be mentioned on articles. Pages should list only things that are available in the game without resorting to cheating devices or hacking utilities. Any data that can be seen only through decompiling the game files does not relate to the game as a finished product as seen by the typical end user. While they might be nice to know, this wiki's policy is to leave those things unannounced within articles.

Once more, these details may be added to the talk pages of those articles. As long as it is not included on the main articles, there is no real problem.

Canon Materials
Each game's storyline is considered to be canon in its own universe. Certain games share the same universe and timeline, allowing them to build off of each other's canon. With this idea in mind, all crossover games take place in separate universes where the protagonists of different games are copies of their original selves, and all of them find themselves in the same world. This does not affect the "original" protagonists of each game, who never left their home world or experienced anything different from what they would have encountered normally. Everything that they do in the crossover timeline has no effect on these "original" realities, because their actions affect only the copies of their worlds.

However, if a character recounts his or her past to others in these crossovers, these past stories are considered to be canon. All versions of the same character have a shared history until a certain point of divergence where they are copied and pulled from their universes, so all information about their pasts are the same as those who continued in their own timelines normally.

All novelizations, manga, and drama CD material which takes place before or after a story in its own universe is also considered canon. However, any part of this material that serves as a modified retelling of a game's story is not canon. Only the games can be considered as the base stories, and only the things that are added to the stories without replacing them are seen as part of the official timeline. Any of these materials that take place during a story must not interfere with existing events that happened in the games if they are to be classified as canon events, such as things that happen at the same time in other locations that are not visited at that point in time, or expanded details of those events from the games.

Remakes and sequels of games are the only things that can replace and override preexisting canon of older games, creating a concept known as retroactive continuity, or "retcon". This can cause consistency errors in some stories where a choice had been provided in the original game, and these issues should be stated on the appropriate articles.

Titles and Section Headings
The title of a given article should use the full name of the character or term, regardless of spoilers. In the case of named characters, the page title should not include any titles or styles that might be held by the character. This information should be written into the first sentence of the opening paragraph instead. If the character holds an alias, the page title should use the name that the party is most familiar with.

On pages that relate to names or terms that have been translated differently in separate games, the most recent localized name must be used. If no localized name exists, any Japanese term that has received an official romanization within the game or promotional materials will be given priority. Fan-made translations are unacceptable and will not be used regardless of the popularity or availability of patches made with those translations.

Page titles and sections should be fully capitalized in the same way a book title would be written. If a page title relates to a song title which renders the first letter in lowercase, add the template tag to the top of the page's source code. Note that this policy is different from Wikipedia's own, where only the first word is capitalized, and all proceeding words remain lowercased unless referring to proper nouns.

Special characters such as brackets and Japanese text are acceptable within section headings of list-type pages, but links within section headings should be avoided to prevent accessibility issues. If a link is necessary, it should be provided through the first mention of the same word or phrase within the section itself. Avoid using special characters in the section headings on text-based pages.

When creating section headings, use the  (two equal signs) style markup for main headings, equivalent to   in HTML script. Do not use a single . This is because a single  creates an   heading which is already used by the page header, and is considered to be bad webpage coding.

First Mentions and Linking
All terms that exist as the primary topic of another page elsewhere on the wiki must be written out in full and linked to at first mention. This includes full names of characters, limited only with regard to potential spoilers at the time they are first encountered by the party within the story, such as the full names of Ras or Mithos. Titles and styles held by a character may be included as part of this first mention if they are relevant. All successive mentions of that name or term may be shortened to more familiar abbreviations, such as the use of first names or nicknames.

On pages where a story is not being described, such as individual arte pages, spoiler reservations are ignored and full names are provided always at first mention.

If a topic already has a link earlier on the same page, later mentions of that name or term do not have to be linked. If the term has not been mentioned within the previous section or two on text-based articles, then a new link to the same term is acceptable, but it must be written out in full once more. As a rule of thumb, if it requires a link, use the full name as it appears on the page that is being linked to. If the full name looks awkward because it was mentioned not much earlier on the same page, then a link is unnecessary. Avoid linking to the same thing too many times on one page; one link is enough for most purposes. Do not link topics that should never require their own page, considering that if they do not already have one, there is a possibility that one is not needed.

This linking policy does not apply to list-based articles, where every instance of a term should provide a link no matter where it is on the page.

Redirects
Redirects should be created for all situations where a reader might search for an alternative term and expect to find the correct page.

On this wiki, this applies to all Japanese terms that have a localized equivalent. Only the romanized Japanese transcriptions can be used as a redirect; Japanese text is not viable as a redirect keyword. See this section for this wiki's romanization policy.

Additionally, any localized terms that have been replaced with newer names should be represented as redirects. The primary article should always use the most recent localized name for any given topic.

Double redirects or redirect pages that lead to other redirect pages should be avoided. The wiki software automatically prevents double redirects from accessing anything beyond the second redirect as an error-trapping feature, preventing the possibility of infinite recursion when two redirect pages point to each other to create a loop. Make sure all redirects point to the intended main article.

Bolding
Bolding is typically used to emphasize the page title and alternative names for the page title. In the case that a redirect does not satisfy as a proper link to another page, and if the term does not warrant a page in itself yet holds significance, the term should be bolded. This applies to image descriptions as well.

Disambiguation
Disambiguation pages should be avoided on this wiki. If multiple pages exist for a single location or term that exists in multiple games and have the same name in the original Japanese text, these pages should be merged together. If a reader might be searching for a term that relates to more than one topic, a notice should be added to the top of each page to lead that reader to the correct page. Use the following format for this situation:


 * This article is about the Swordsman arte "Tempest". For the spell, see Tempest (spell). For the game, see Tales of the Tempest.

A template may be provided in the future to streamline this notice, and to make all variations of the same consistent throughout the wiki. This section will be updated if or when this happens.

Categories
All pages and images should be categorized, to provide an organized structure that enables future readers and contributors to find the pages. Categories should be added to the end of each page, below any navigation templates. In some cases, the navigation templates provide categories automatically; these categories should be omitted from the page. Ideally, these navigation templates should be the only things that categorize pages, but this wiki is not at that level of infrastructure yet.

Pages should provide all categories that apply directly to the subject matter of an article. A full diagram of the category trees is found on this page.

Content Articles
All pages should use the following outlines. Additional sections can be added on an as-needed basis. A series of templates may be provided in the future to streamline this page display format, and to make all variations of the same consistent throughout the wiki. This section will be updated if or when this happens.

Trivia


or

The History section is a full description of a single character's role throughout an entire game, or multiple games in the same timeline. This should focus on the primary timeline of games that the character appears in, usually starting with the game that introduces him or her into the series. This story should be written in the order that a player would learn of the character's perceived role and past, and not the chronological truth as some might be inclined to write. This means that any false histories must be written as truth until the actual truth is revealed.

The Appearance and Personality section includes the character's initial and/or default visual appearance, including any changes that are made to the character throughout the game, as well as his or her motives and general thoughts and emotions. Alternative costume designs for playable characters should not be included, but enemies who change their outfits as part of the story should have all appearances described. Common traits and interests can be included here, including favorite foods and hobbies, or personality quirks.

A character's Fighting Style involves his or her ability to attack or defend in battle with a chosen weapon. Each character has some unique abilities compared to others in the same game, relating to their speed and damage ratios or focus on specific elements or spellcasting styles. This section should not have anything that makes a character "more" effective compared to others or similar potentially bias-implied comments, just that they are simply effective at doing what they do. Specific numbers should not be provided, and listings of a character's attack repetoire should be limited to a small handful of selected examples, never an all-inclusive list. Other pages exist to showcase this information.

Note that the History section has been moved above Personality and Fighting Style, compared to the original format shown on this page. The latter two sections will likely exhibit major spoilers due to the nature of their content, which is inadvisable if the character's story follows immediately afterwards instead of being described before those sections.

The Relationships of a character include any unique interactions with any other characters that have had a decent amount of dialogue or shared history. If no real interaction exists between two characters, then they should simply be omitted from this list; there is no need to list everyone and everything gratuitously, especially if there is nothing to be said. Single sentences are pointless, and should be expanded or deleted.

Other Appearances includes a detailed description of a character's role in games that are not part of the timeline that he/she is from. These tend to be non-canon appearances; see this section for specifics on determining what is canon or not. Each game should be listed in its own subsection. Keep in mind that the section headers should not have links in them, and any links must be provided within the first sentence of that section instead. Make sure all sections actually explain the character's role in these side materials; if nothing can be said beyond how a character merely appears in it, then there is no reason to keep that subsection. Again, single sentences are pointless, and should be expanded or deleted.

The Gallery section primarily includes costume images, but may include other images if there is not enough content to embed them, or if there is already an overabundance of images imbedded in the content. Galleries are not for every image pertaining to the character, as embedded images merged within the content of the article should always serve as the main gallery. There should be no reason to have a gallery section consist of more than two lines; this is sloppy and unnecessary. Satus images and mystic arte cut-ins can be easily embedded neatly within the content of an article, especially when the article is lacking content-embedded images. Costume images should never be embedded within the content of an article unless it pertains to the story; this is where the gallery section is ideal.

The Trivia section includes interesting facts unmergeable in any other section. If said bit of information can be merged, however, then it should be, as the trivia section should not be cluttered with meaningless and unnecessary information. Speculation is forbidden in this section as well. Trivia sections should follow some sort of order scheme for the sake of uniformity and neatness. Etymology, if any, should be listed first, followed by interesting facts concerning the character themself, then anything dealing with them in their primary title game, and finally, anything dealing with them in other game titles.

Trivia


A fully defined outline for these pages does not truly exist, so there is a degree of flexibility granted here. However, any location pages that are stub-length at current form really should be merged into larger articles that detail full countries/regions/continents and expanded on those pages.

The Geography of a location relates to its climate, architecture styles, and lifestyles of the people who might live there. The area's known religious and social structures, along with common business and agricultural interests, should be mentioned. A description of the surrounding region may be helpful, and named buildings and shops can be listed.

The History section relates to the role of the location within the story of a game, once again following the chain of events that a player would experience. This should provide information that relates specifically to the location and its peoples.

Trivia


The Function section should detail the particular use of the mechanic in the game, paying close attention to its significance in overall gameplay.

The History section exists only to elaborate on the particular mechanic's relevance in the story of the game. Not all gameplay mechanics pages require this section, however, and it should only be applied where necessary.

Resource Articles
An outline or template for these pages will not be provided here, since every game features different mechanics and functions that will force changes that must be added manually to each list table. However, a few guidelines will be listed here, so future pages can follow a generally uniform design.

General Guidelines
All list tables of a single type should follow the same color scheme, regardless of game or character. The specific colors that are to be used with each type of list table can be found on this page. Names that are listed in the first column should be displayed using the format described here.

The next columns should relate to functionality of the arte/skill/title/item, with the single-word-based information given priority towards the left side of the table. The Requirements and Customization/Synthesis columns, typically the most text-heavy columns, are to be placed at the far-right. The remaining numerical data is placed between both sets of columns.

The numerical data columns should be arranged so that functionality information such as damage, hit counts, or stat parameters, are closer to the left side, and requirement/acquisition information such as usage costs and levels are closer to the right side. All numerical columns should be displayed within 25pt width columns, to minimalize whitespace due to the header names in the first row.

Finally, any auxiliary information like healing percentages or alternative effects through increased usage must be placed on a nested second row. The  and   keys enable this through the source code, so space will not be limited to the width of a single column. No column for "function" should be provided unless there are not enough columns to make a nested row visually appealing.

Default Sorting Method
For item-based lists, the initial sorting method should always be the way they are sorted within the Collector's Book, also providing the number that is associated with that item at the extreme left of the table and colored in the same way as the item name column. Any other lists that follow a numbered system, such as monster lists and sometimes title lists, should follow the same sorting pattern on the list pages.

If a game does not have a Collector's Book or some other system of cataloguing items, other than an alphabetical sorting system which will not be used by default on this wiki, the items should be sorted by parameter, such as ascending physical attack or defense.

Arte lists should always be separated into different tables based on the arte type and tier, and then sorted within each table in the order that caracters will obtain those artes, typically by level, with the event-obtained artes listed at the bottom of each table. This may be different from the sort method used by the game itself, which may mix artes of different tiers together on the same list, or even include event-based artes in the middle of the list. For the games that do not have a level-based system of learning attacks, such as Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Hearts, or Tales of Graces, the arte lists for that game should still separate by type and tier, and then follow the sort method of that game.

Sortable Functionality
It is possible to add sorting functions to each column, allowing the reader to decide how he or she wants to view the page and compare its data. These functions should be enabled only on pages where most information is organized as a single table, such as equipment, recipe, or monster list pages. Do not add these functions to arte or passive skill lists.

Sortable functions are enabled by adding the words  to the first line of code that creates a table. Due to issues with columns that contain both numerical and string data, a special override function was developed to minimalize and hopefully prevent table display glitches, through the use of hidden sort keys that must be added manually on every table with sortable functions enabled. A sort key must be provided at the top and bottom of every column, providing an extremely high or low value that will always force one or the other to appear at the top of a sorted column. For strings, the two values should be &a and ~z, and for numerical columns, the values should be -9999 and 9999, give or take a few more "9" digits depending on the content of a row.

Uploading Rules
When uploading images onto this wiki, please follow these rules:


 * Ensure that the image you are uploading has a distinguishable file name. A series of random numbers is not suitable.
 * In the "Summary" section of the upload form, provide a brief summary stating the image content and its original source.
 * Please add or any other relevant subcategory, if such exists, to the end of the image summary.
 * Only the following image formats can be uploaded onto this wiki: .png, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg.
 * Do not link directly to images that have not been uploaded onto this site.
 * Do NOT upload any of the following: Fan art, Copyrighted Images, Hentai, Pornography, Videos, or other non-image content.

Please see Help:Uploading files for more information.

Placement and Usage
Images should be used primarily within the main body of text-heavy articles to provide visual aids wherever they might be relevant. Pictures shown within the text should show mostly gameplay scenes, and any alternative costumes or box art should be shown within the gallery near the bottom of the page. All images should provide a short caption, briefly describing the image content. Images should not be added to any list-type resource pages.

Do not make images large enough to distort the text format by causing too much whitespace on 1024x768 screen resolutions. The absolute maximum image pixel width should be 300px, though this is generally reserved for infobox images only, to avoid extraneous word-wrapping. Images within the main text of a page should be smaller, but large enough to make their content clearly visible. Avoid lining a single side of one page with pictures; if the pictures border each other without text content separating them, some of them should be resized, moved to another point within the article, or placed within the gallery. Collated images of any type, such as collages and tiled thumbnails, should be avoided entirely, because it prevents the individual images from being separated and displayed by themselves, spread throughout the entire article for proper visual balance between images and text.

On individual arte pages, particularly on pages that relate to attacks that involve cut-in images such as mystic artes, an actual image of the attack in action is far more preferred than an image of the cut-in itself. Cut-in images belong within the gallery sections of the character's article.

Infoboxes
Images that are used within infoboxes should show the primary official artwork for a character. If multiple official artworks exist, the oldest is preferred. Status images often do not show the full character, and games on older or portable platforms may have reduced quality images, resulting in inconsistent quality among all character pages.

Galleries
Image galleries are to be added below the main body of text, but above the Trivia and External Links sections if they exist. Galleries should have a limit of five pictures per row, to best accomodate 1024x768 screen resolutions. The images within a gallery should relate directly to the subject matter as alternative artwork or box designs, or different outfits for both playable characters and antagonists, or status and cut-in images. Gameplay scenes should remain within the main text.

Please note that we do not use the gallery system provided by default by the MediaWiki software, because it has been altered for reduced efficiency and functionality by Wikia. Instead, we use a custom gallery system which is accessible through the template tag. Please see this page for more information and documentation.

Romanization
This wiki uses a very strict policy regarding romanization methods, which may or may not be the same methods used outside of this community. Our policy overrides all other systems within the context of this wiki, and those alternative systems cannot be used on any article, without exception. Other communities are free to use their own romanization formats, just as we are free to ignore them and use our own.

Spelling and Diacritics
This wiki follows the modified Hepburn system with further modifications, mostly following the direct transcription of kana text in romanized form.


 * The particles へ, は, and を are written as he, wa, and wo, respectively.
 * Long vowels are rendered through kana spelling only.
 * Use of diacritics such as macrons (ō) or circumflexes (ô) is forbidden.
 * Long vowels which are indicated through the ー character are rendered by doubling the vowel.
 * Diphthongal vowel sounds are rendered exactly as they are written in kana text.
 * Syllabic n (ん) is always written as n before consonants, and as n', with an apostrophe, before vowels and y.
 * Double consonants which are indicated through the soukon (small-tsu) character っ or ッ are rendered by doubling the first letter of the following romanized phoneme.

Spacing
Spaces should be provided within romanizations of Japanese word compounds composed of five kanji or more. The syllables of the first two kanji of every set are separated into one unit, and all following groups of two kanji are separated in the same way until a remainder of three or four kanji remain. This final set is rendered as one word. In situations where a compound has only four or less kanji, the compound must be written as a single word without spaces. This pattern corresponds with the voicing of the term in Japanese media in most cases, providing a slight pause or delay at the same point that a space is written in romanized format.

For example, 虎牙破斬 is Kogahazan, 魔神連牙斬 is Majin Rengazan, 輪舞噴竜連撃 is Rondo Funryuurengeki, and 震天裂空斬光旋風滅碎神罰割殺撃 is Shinten Rekkuu Zankou Senpuu Messai Shinbatsu Kassatsugeki.

Three exceptions exist, where the voicing of the term is distinctly separated in a way that forces separation in a different pattern. 震天裂空斬光旋風滅碎神罰攻撃 must be rendered as Shinten Rekkuu Zankou Senpuu Messai Shinbatsu Kougeki because the final four kanji do not represent a single voiced unit, and it requires a parallel of written consistency with its "successful" variant which also separates "Shinbatsu" into one word. 獅子王滅砕 becomes Shishiou Messai because the voicing separation occurs between the third and fourth kanji. Likewise, 斬空刃無塵衝 must be written as Zankuujin Mujinshou because the voiced pause occurs at the same point, between the third and fourth kanji.

If a compound uses a mix of on-yomi and kun-yomi readings, both parts are separated with a space. For instance, 朧氷樹 is rendered as Oboro Hyouju, since the first kanji is read in the traditional kun-yomi format, while the remaining two kanji are standard on-yomi compounds.

Separations
The above rules apply only if the term that is written in Japanese text does not have an interpunct symbol (・) within the word. This symbol overrides the spacing rules listed above, forcing a space to be added to the romanized term regardless of where it is. Each set of kanji before and after this separation is rendered as its own word, and the rules listed above apply independently to each side of the separation marker. Only a space should be used to represent this separation; do not use a colon or dash.

For example, 剛・魔神剣 is Gou Majinken, 魔神剣・双牙 is Majinken Souga, and 超飛来刃・爆炎斬 is Chouhiraijin Bakuenzan.

Apostrophes
If a compound forces two of the same vowel to be written with each other, an apostrophe is used to separate the vowels. This emphasizes that it is not a long vowel extension, but a separate syllable. For example, 驟雨双破斬 romanizes to Shuu'u Souhazan, because the first kanji reads as shuu and the second kanji is a separate syllable which reads as u in this compound. Similarly, 邪霊一閃 is romanized as Jarei'issen, showing the separation between the syllables rei and itsu.

The syllabic n (ん) follows the same pattern, where a trailing n followed by a vowel requires an apostrophe to separate it from being read as part of the next syllable. For example, 幻影刃 should be romanized as Gen'eijin to show that the trailing n is part of the syllable gen, and the following syllable is separated as ei. Without the apostrophe, the readings of the first two kanji will be mistaken as ge and nei, which is completely inaccurate.

Apostrophes should not be used when successive vowels are not the same, since it is assumed that they represent different syllables already. For example, 鳳凰天駆 is romanized as Hououtenku, not "Hou'outenku".

"nihongo" Template Usage
On text-based pages, Japanese terms should provide the appropriate written text in Japanese characters, using the template tag as follows:


 * Demon Fang (魔神剣)

This code renders to the following:


 * Demon Fang (魔神剣)

In this example, the localized English term is bolded, followed by the word written in Japanese text. The romanized transcription is shown afterwards in italicized text, and the literal translation follows within quotation marks. Each element is separated by a single | marker within the template. This is the format that must be used with terms that have a localized equivalent. If no such localization exists, the template should be modified as follows:


 * Zehhyoujin (絶氷刃)

This code is rendered as:


 * Zehhyoujin (絶氷刃)

Because there is no localized name, the romanized text becomes the bolded term, preceeding the Japanese text. The italicized term is omitted, resulting in two || markers in the template's code.

Please note that the literal translation that is provided here is the property of whoever created it, unless it is translated personally by the contributor and added directly onto the page. If a literal translation has been copied from an existing guide, video, or other resource, it must be cited as the property of the person who created that resource. The specific citation criteria and guidelines are listed below in this section.

List-Type Page Translations
Translations on list-type pages follow a very specific set of display guidelines for consistency and clarity. This format will not be changed under any circumstances.

For all localized games, the format is as follows:


 * Localized Name
 * [Japanese Text]
 * Romanized Text
 * "Literal Translation"
 * (Most Recent Localized Name)

The first item is the localized name for the term as it applies to the current game, bolded for clarity and linked if it is an arte or character/class name. This is followed by the Japanese text as it appears within the original Japanese version of the game, without brackets. The romanization follows in italics, maintaining the correct romanization style as described above. The literal translation follows within quotation marks, but this should be used only with title and item lists, because all arte entries are linked to their own pages which show the literal translations. Finally, the most recent localized name is shown in parentheses whenever the bolded localized name is different.

If any of these items do not apply, they can be omitted. In the special cases where a game has not been released in English-speaking regions, the first item cannot be omitted, and the format must be modified as follows:


 * Romanized Text
 * [Japanese Text]
 * "Literal Translation"
 * (Most Recent Localized Name)

The romanized text takes the place of any missing localized names, bolded and linked as needed, even if they exist in other games that have been translated. All other items remain unchanged.

Do not invent translations or use names from fan translations of any sort on these pages. Only officially translated names provided by Namco Hometek or affiliated groups may be used on these pages.

Some examples follow:

Quote/Incantation Translations
Similar to the above system, the quote translations provided on individual arte pages must follow a specific display format. This format is as follows:


 * Japanese Quote: [Japanese Text]
 * Romanized Quote: Romanized Text
 * Translated Quote: "Literal Translation"
 * Localized Quote: "Localized Text"

The ordering is different from list-type pages out of necessity, but the content of each item remains mostly the same. There is no "most recent localized quote" because all available translations are shown on the same page. The Japanese text remains unformatted, and the romanization of that text remains italicized. Literal translations are shown within quotations and italicized, and the localized translation uses quotation marks only.

Please note that the literal translation that is provided here is the property of whoever created it, unless it is translated personally by the contributor and added directly onto the page. If a literal translation has been copied from an existing guide, video, or other resource, it must be cited as the property of the person who created that resource. The specific citation criteria and guidelines are listed below in this section.