Alternative Canon and Composite Profiles

## Alternative Canon

It is common in fiction for certain franchises to feature multiple alternate universes, continuities, adaptations, reboots, etc. This commonly leads to the existence of multiple alternate versions of the same character.

To prevent the wiki from being flooded with alternate profiles featuring alternate versions of the same character, certain limitations have been placed:

**Mainstream Characters:** Separate versions of a character that exist not as an alternate, but as a replacement as the new mainstream version of the character, should be allowed, as they are just as valid as their previous incarnation.

* **Examples:** Post-Crisis Superman. Post-Super Genesis Wave Sonic. Adult Goku.

**Notable Alternatives:** Alternate versions of the characters should only be allowed if they are considered notable enough, may that be due to their popularity, relevance, or for being different enough from the original to be considered a separate character. Profiles that would basically just be the same character but with a higher tier or slightly different abilities should not be allowed.

* **Examples that would be allowed:** All-Star Superman. Toei Goku. Archie Sonic.
* **Examples that would not be allowed:** Spider-Man from Earth-772. Superman from Earth-3839. Ben Tennyson from the Ultimate Access commercials.

**Canon Alternatives:** Those are versions of the character that are not from other universes or continuities, but instead exist in the same continuity as transformations or alternate versions of the character created in some way. Those profiles should be notably different from the base character, to the point of requiring a separate profile. Otherwise, they should simply be made into a separate key.

* **Examples that would be a separate profile:** Superman Prime One-Million. Kamen Rider Oma Zi-O. Maestro.
* **Examples that would simply be a separate key:** Super Saiyan Goku. Super Sonic. Emperor Joker.

**Adaptations:** Those are versions of the character coming from adaptations that have their own separate canon. Those characters should only be allowed if the adaptation they come from is relevant enough.

* **Examples that would be allowed:** Batman from the Arkham games. Spider-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spawn from the animated series.
* **Examples that would not be allowed:** Pegasus Seiya from the Sanctuary game. Rorschach from the Watchmen motion comic. Son Goku from Dragon Ball SD.

The most important thing to keep in mind is the notability of the alternate version of the character, as well as how different the version is from the original character, to avoid to simply having the same page but with a higher tier.

## Composite Characters

Composite profiles should generally only be given to characters who have legitimate reasons to be composited, for example:

* Characters who literally cannot be properly cataloged without being composited, such as characters from verses that do not care about continuity, such as Super Mario or Spongebob Squarepants. Those characters come from franchises in which continuity is not the main focus, and will always reset back to the status quo in the next installment, and as such, it is impossible to make non-composite profiles for those characters.

* Characters who have a canonical reason to be composited, such as Pokémon or Digimon. Those profiles are not simply looking at the characters as individuals, but instead taking into account the entire species, and as such, the profile should cover a composite version of the species, excluding only members of the species that are significantly different from the rest.

It is worth noting that simply being an extremely prominent well-known character with multiple incarnations is not enough for the character to get a composite profile, and that composites should be kept to a minimum and only used for verses that strictly require them.