View source for Bulbapedia:Spoilers

{{Policy|guideline|official}}
{{shortcut|1|BP:SPOILERS}}
As an encyclopedia, one of [[Bulbapedia]]'s goals is to document all aspects of the [[Pokémon]] franchise. Inevitably, some articles may contain '''spoilers''', information that may reduce the enjoyment of a narrative work (such as a book, film, or video game) by revealing plot events, twists, and endings. If you haven't read or seen the work that a spoiler warning is referring to, you might want to do so before reading the article.

Not all visitors may recognize this site as an encyclopedia, which should strive first to be informative, whether or not it contains spoilers. Where this is the case, a spoiler notice should be made prominent as a simple courtesy.

==When to mark spoilers==
Defining a spoiler is somewhat subjective, and depends on how important the information is in the target work. That said, here are some general guidelines for how Bulbapedia treats spoilers:

===What counts as a spoiler===
* '''Old spoilers are still spoilers.''' Whether a work was released today or 20 years ago, there is always a chance that visitors to Bulbapedia have not experienced that work before.
* '''We are mostly concerned with narrative spoilers.''' This mainly covers characters and plot developments. Information such as game mechanics are generally not considered spoilers here.

===Where to place spoiler tags===
* '''Use a spoiler tag if the presence of spoilers is not obvious.''' For example, the "NPC appearances" section on a Pokémon species's page generally does not contain spoilers, but {{DL|Grovyle_(Pokémon)|NPC_appearances|that section on Grovyle's page}} ''does'' contain a spoiler, so it is marked there.
* '''Use a spoiler tag if a major spoiler is present.''' Sections summarizing a character's history or role within a work would clearly contain plot details of some sort. However, these details might not always be major enough for one to consider them spoilers. For example: [[Cheren]] and [[Dawn (anime)]] do not have spoiler tags. In contrast, characters such as [[Rose]] and [[Emma]] require revealing a critical plot twist in order to fully discuss their role and history, thus they have spoiler tags.
* '''Spoiler tag just the relevant section(s) when possible.''' For example, on a page about a game, the spoilers are generally in the sections about the plot, bosses, antagonists, etc, so those sections might be marked. The sections about game mechanics, by contrast, probably do not need to be marked. See [[Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon]] for an example of multiple sections being spoiler marked, rather than the entire page.
** In some cases, an entire page must be marked as a spoiler, with little that can be done to limit the scope of the spoilers. For example, see [[N]] or [[Ultimate weapon]]. In such a case, put the spoiler warning as high on the page as needed to precede all spoiler statements on the page (generally right before or right after the page's introduction).

===Additional considerations===
Additionally, if anticipating that a page will have spoiler sections, '''try to write non-marked sections (especially the introduction) to avoid spoiling anything before the warning'''. For example, a page about a twist villain might only describe their profession in the intro, without describing their role until a later section.

==How to mark a spoiler==
===General template===
To warn readers of potential spoilers, insert the {{template|spoilers}} template before the spoiling text:
<pre>{{spoilers}}</pre>
{{spoilers}}

Then add the {{template|endspoilers}} template after the spoiling text has ended:
<pre>{{endspoilers}}</pre>
{{endspoilers}}

===Soft redirect===
In some narrative works, a character's name may be the basis of some sort of plot twist. For example, if they are using an alias to hide their true identity. An article's title is not easily hidden, however we also want people to be able to find information on the character when they want it.

As a layer of protection, pages using an alias will use a "soft redirect", allowing users to avoid getting spoiled accidentally, while still allowing in-the-know users to go to the real identity's page with one additional click. For examples of pages using soft redirects, see [[Masked Man]] or [[Sam]].

To use a soft redirect, insert the {{template|softredirect}} template at the top of the page, specifying the page you're redirecting to:
<pre>{{Softredirect|Ash's Pikachu}}</pre>
{{Softredirect|Ash's Pikachu|cat=<!--blank-->}}

===Spoiler masking===
In some cases where a character uses an alias, Bulbapedia might not have an entire separate article for the alias, possibly because there is not much to say about it, or because it is only a minor spoiler. The absence of a page for the alias means these cannot use soft redirects, however they can use a method we'll call "spoiler masking".

To spoiler mask, link directly to a redirect instead of the subject it redirects to. For example, link [[The Masked Royal]] or [[Nidothing]] instead of their true identities. This has some benefits:
* Users who are just reading through the page's text will not be spoiled by doing so. For example, a user can read that The Masked Royal appeared in an episode, but without learning the character's true identity.
* This can also help track which pages are referring to the alias, and which pages are referring to the true identity. This can be handy for wiki maintenance tasks, such as updating links after moving a page.

Note that users will still be spoiled if they hover over or click a masked link, so this method is less effective than the other methods in guarding against spoilers.

==Special cases==
Certain cases are handled in a unique way regarding spoilers.

===Character pages about a Trainer's Pokémon===
For pages about Pokémon characters that lack a nickname (for example, [[Ash's Charizard]]), the page will use the furthest permanent evolutionary form the Pokémon has achieved, and the most-recent Trainer that owns them. Extending the example, searches for "Ash's Charmander" and "Ash's Charmeleon" will redirect to Ash's Charizard, in effect spoiling the fact that he evolved from being a Charmander. [[Dawn's Ambipom]] similarly spoils her Evolution, as well as the change of ownership from her previous Trainer.

These are unfortunately difficult to avoid spoiling without making the viewing experience worse - if a page were split for each evolutionary state, and for each Trainer that owned the Pokémon, this would quickly become cumbersome to navigate for visitors that want information on the character.

For articles focused on a specific point in time for a narrative work (for example, a specific episode or chapter page), try to use [[#Spoiler masking|spoiler masking]] to link to the Pokémon. For example:
* In an episode where Ash's Charmander has not evolved yet, link to [[Ash's Charmander]] instead of [[Ash's Charizard]].
* In an episode where the recurring Aipom character has not yet been caught, link to [[Aipom (anime)]] instead of [[Dawn's Ambipom]]. This would also apply if the recurring wild Aipom character was revealed to have had a Trainer the entire time.

===Datamined information for live-service games===
For live-service games such as [[Pokémon Masters EX]], information about upcoming characters, events, and other content may be obtained through data mining the game, ahead of official announcements or the content becoming available to players. Since live-service games often try to generate excitement through the announcement of such content, such as through announcement trailers, including that information on Bulbapedia in advance may reduce player enjoyment. Therefore, datamined info tends to be hidden behind spoiler tags or comments (written as <code><nowiki><!--example comment--></nowiki></code>) until the info has been officially announced or released.

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