(Wasn't sure if this is the most appropriate Category)

I was originally going to create a Alias thread on a character, but realized it'd be easier and more useful if I had answers to apply on other characters.

Anyway: When should I use the character's full name as the tag, or just their given and then owner? I came across this problem when fixing deadlyvelociraptor to ash_(deadlyvelociraptor). I learned later he had a last name, so full name being Ash Blackthorn.
Would it be more appropriate to rename the tag to "ash_blackthorn", or keep it as ash_(deadlyvelociraptor)? Both are unique and specific, so unlikely to overlap with another character. However, I then thought it may be easier for people to tag "ash_blackthorn" instead of "ash_(deadlyvelociraptor)". Additionally, should it then be aliased to the new tag?

Thoughts? Your help is graciously appreciated!

Edit: I just remembered a character I wanted to tag. There's a guy named AlexSheppy whose character is Alex, but I don't know if I should tag him as "alex_(alexsheppy)", "alex_shepherd" (as the character he's with, Storm, of Stormshep, is tagged "storm_shepherd"), or just "alexsheppy" (I will check if he has other characters, then void this).

Usually when it comes to names, if it's super unique it usually doesn't need an artist/creator suffix. The suffix is for when a name is relatively commonly used or confused with something else (common names like tom, names that are also objects/plants/things like brain or daisy, etc)

Always use a characters full name if it exists. Firstname Lastname is always better than Firstname (Artist). Of course, if multiple artists have characters under a given name, you'll want to do both. John Doe (Anonymous) and John Doe (Unknown) for example.

Ash_Blackthorn is preferable to ash_(deadlyvelociraptor). The artist name should go on the wiki page for the character tag.

AlexSheppy refers unambiguously to a character owner and his character so it's a good character tag.

In general
1. Full names are preferable to first names
2. Add _(owner) if the name alone is not specific enough

Sometimes both rules apply. A character named Bob Fox (many character's last name is just their species) might need the tag bob_fox_(owner).

These are opinions based on my experience and what I've seen not site policy.

If a character's name is ash blackthorn and they are never, ever EVER called that, then ash_(owner) is probably better.

I mean.

Let's be honest: Some characters very clearly have full names: Luke Skywalker. Jean Luc Picard. Others are more first-name or last-name only. Emperor Palpatine (who's name is Sheev, but no one knows that.). Yoda. Data. Garfield.

For a wide franchise, a last name used once or twice is fine for tagging. But if we're talking about a person who's character is almost always refered to and known as 'ash' then... ash is probably goign to be what people tag. If some other person uploads art of the character, it's probably going to be tagged as Palpatine, or Emperor_palpatine, not sheeve_palpatine.

But everyone's different. I've got some characters who HAVE last names, but never use them, and others who have last names that are VERY commonly used. And then I have a few that are mostly known via surname, and others who don't have one.

We would prefer firstname lastname.... but if you only found that by looking at a character sheet... well...

I think you're right that most users will use the Palpatine tag, but at some point users will tag Sheev_Palpatine and then what? Aliasing Sheev_Palpatine to Palpatine would be eliminating information. It should be aliased the other way around and we should use the full name.

leomole said:
I think you're right that most users will use the Palpatine tag, but at some point users will tag Sheev_Palpatine and then what? Aliasing Sheev_Palpatine to Palpatine would be eliminating information. It should be aliased the other way around and we should use the full name.

This. Even if I don't know the character's real name, running a search for the character name I do know will make it show up and I'll realize "oh hey that's that character!"

leomole said:
I think you're right that most users will use the Palpatine tag, but at some point users will tag Sheev_Palpatine and then what? Aliasing Sheev_Palpatine to Palpatine would be eliminating information. It should be aliased the other way around and we should use the full name.

Furrin_Gok said:
This. Even if I don't know the character's real name, running a search for the character name I do know will make it show up and I'll realize "oh hey that's that character!"

This is very true! For one of the biggest franchises out there.

But When we're talking about a person's fursona/character... well..

Let's say Foxton likes getting commissions of his character Robbie Foxhollow. He commissions lots of artists, big and small, on a pretty regular basis.

MiniHami is a small artist who uploads her own work to e621. She tags the posts of Robbie Foxhollow as Robbie_foxhollow_(Foxton)

OppieOppossum is a midsized artist who's art was uploaded 1 year ago by an e621 user, who tagged one of Robbie's pictures as Robbie_foxhollow.

Kassgaroo is one of those artists who has posts uploaded on e6 the moment they post to FA. Robbie's commissiosn are tagged Robbie, Robby_(foxton), Rob_foxhollow and rob_(foxton)

It can get messy, when several people are involved. Artists don't always say "here is a picture of rob and steve, robbie foxhollow belongs to Foxton" sometimes they don't even mention who characters belong to.

And wwhen a character's biggest fan is the owner, who may not even be on e621... messssy.

I mean, there's no perfect solution, and *I* prefer to solution that includes the most information :)

but I'm not the only one making decisions or with opinions :)

Thank you all for your input! <3