Template

“If I were her,” she says after a minute, “which in one sense I am..." - Angela on Rose.
Template is a term used to refer to a group of characters who all share a personality (and often other traits), usually from multiple worlds. Characters who share a template are called alts.
==Alternate Definitions==
Other uses of the word Template include:
# As shorthand for "character that belongs to a template."
# As shorthand for template attractors.
# As shorthand for a template's template baseline.
# As a verb used out of character to describe the authorial practice of imposing template traits on a character.
==Naming==
===Template Name===
Templates are typically given a name for convenience. They are usually named in one of the following ways:
* After some string of sounds common or universal to the names of the template's members. Examples of this include Bells, Jnis, and Sras.
* After the name of the template's template baseline, or its best known or first encountered member. Examples of this include Hilaries, Lazaruses and Libbies.
* Having the members of the template themselves pick a template name they feel is appropriate. Examples of this include Jokers, Griffins and Kingfishers.
===Collective Nouns===
Some templates may also have collective nouns related to their template name. Examples include "the peal of Bells" and "the deck of Jokers." There is a forum thread on the subject.
==Commonalities Among Members==
===Template Attractors===
Template attractors are the characteristics that are common to all members of a template. What traits specifically are template attractors and which are specific to individual characters varies by template. "Personality", broadly speaking, is always included, but which aspects of the personality are essential and which aren't can vary, and some templates also obligatorily come with certain circumstances, name sounds and/or meanings, the company of other templates, specific life events, magical powers, etc. Some traits only appear frequently, not invariably, and some traits are very minor and appear only when it's convenient. For common template appearances, see facecasting.
===Template Themes===
Templates may also have themes, which appear optionally or out of character for template members without being an aspect of their personalities or plot points. For instance, Griffins have a heraldry theme which appears in their coin colors and screen names. Thematic traits like this perturb the aesthetics of other stuff going on which is already there, and may serve as inspiration for other places to put instances of a template, but do not constrain the development of an instance the way attractors can.
===Template Clusters===
Some templates have subtypes within them. These clusters are similar in specific sets of ways and can sometimes override other regularities about templates, such as facecasting or backstories. Many templates do not display clustering at all.
===Template Phases===
Some templates go through recognizable life cycles. This does not change their template membership but can cause them to appear very superficially different. Phases vary from template to template; some have a small number of clearly defined steps, others may have no obvious steps at all, and phases may or may not allow for divergence by template members.
===Template Blending===
In (so far) one case, two templates may coexist in a single blended personality. The instances of this happening are so far all Joker/Sherlock combinations who will unblend into a coexisting multiple personality under sufficient stress. Attractors which apply to either component personality typically also apply to blends, and the combination may accrue attractors of its own.
===Template Baseline===
A template "baseline" is the member of the template who best exemplifies that template, from whom other members of the template vary. For example, members of the Kingfisher template vary around the character of Rupert Giles (Giles) from Sunshine.
==Authorial and Plot Features==
===Template Moiety===
Moiety is the term for the group of templates all written by a particular author.
===Template Contagiousness===
In-character, template-ness has been identified as "contagious". This refers to the times when a character originally intended as as a one-off character proves appealing enough to be added to additional words, which contain pre-existing template characters in addition to the new template.
===Template Relationships===
There are a variety of ways templates can be related to each other.
* A template may be said to be a "leader", in which it can appear anywhere by itself. Examples include Bells and Jokers.
* A template may be said to be a "follower", in which case it will appear only in tandem with a particular "leader" template. Examples include Bell parents and siblings following their Bells, or Chrises following their Libbies. Since families tend to loosely match across alts, immediate family members are often weak follower templates themselves. This becomes increasingly less likely the further the familial relationship.
* Two templates may come as a pair. Examples include Kingfishers and Raynes, and Ikes and Vals.
* Two templates written by the same author with more than superficial similarity may be said to be "cousins". Ikes and Jnis are an example of this.
===Template Strength===
Some templates are referred to as being "strong." This indicates that a template has numerous members and does not appear as the follower of another template. Portability, or the ability of a template to be easily placed in a variety of settings, improves but does not guarantee strength.
==Notable Templates==
*Bell (Template)
*Joker (Template)
*Sherlock (Template)
*Tony (Template)
*Libby (Template)
*Kingfisher (Template)
*Virginia (Template)
*Chainsaw (Template)
*Eights (Template)
*Steven (Template)
Category:Template
Category:Meta