The Marvel Database contains tens of thousands of articles and images. In order to keep the site organized, a uniform set of rules is used for naming articles and files. These conventions attempt to cover the vast majority of situations, though exceptions may arise. The conventions are not optional since often unseen aspects of the site's inner workings depend heavily on consistency.
General Conventions
- Begin pagenames with a capital letter. No matter what the circumstance or word that may start the article title. This is a software requirement.
- Do not capitalize prepositions, conjunctions and articles in a pagename unless they are the first word (see above). These include but are not limited to:
- and
- at
- by
- de
- for
- from
- in
- of
- on
- or
- the
- to
- van
- von
- Exception: Names should follow the capitalization style used on sources.
- Example: Victor Van Damme (Earth-1610)
- Capitalize every word in the title (except as above). The convention prevents the confusion of whether certain words should be capitalized or not. (eg. Senator_Kelly_for_President, not Senator_Kelly_for_president)
- Do not capitalize file extensions. Always use lowercase for .jpg, .gif, .png, etc.
- Do not use symbols (
# < > [ ] | { } _) in page names. The # symbol is reserved in HTML code to signify links to a specific area of a page. For more information on technical restrictions, please refer to MediaWiki manual. - Do not use a forward slash (/). The forward slash symbol (/) is reserved in our software code to signify a separation between sub-pages. Using the symbol on a page name will result in a page being a subpage.
- Avoid using a period (aka full-stop) (.) at the end of a page name. In certain cases having a period at the end of your page name can cause some very unexpected and unwanted results. This is not a requirement as this only occurs when the page is viewed with certain web-browsers.
Article Pages
Character Pages
Because the Marvel Database covers the entire Marvel Multiverse, all character pages must contain both the subject's most well-known real name and their reality of origin (in parenthesis). Full real names should be used whenever possible.
Real Name Known
- A character's real name consists of their legal birth name or the name bestowed upon them by their parent/guardian, unless the character had rejected the name on grounds not attributable to insanity.
- Alternate reality counterparts of a known character are assumed to have the same real name unless there are in-story reasons to suspect otherwise. This only applies to the name used in the page title and not to the middle name or any other honorifics or initials.
- Example: Baron Zebro (Earth-8311) instead of "Helmut Zebro (Earth-8311)"
- For conventional modern characters, real name will usually consists of: "First name" "Surname". None of the names are to be shortened in any way as long as the full version can be sourced. No assumptions on the full name applicable to a given shortened name can be made.
- Examples: Anthony Stark (Earth-616) instead of "Tony Stark (Earth-616)", Robert Drake (Earth-616) instead of "Bobby Drake (Earth-616)", Bob Dobalina (Earth-616) instead of "Robert Dobalina (Earth-616)"
- If the form most commonly used within the sources includes the middle name, initials, Sr./Jr., or roman numerals, they are considered part of the full name. Use American English format of Sr. or Jr. with a period and no comma, even when different spellings appear within sources.
- Alternatively, if the character goes exclusively by their middle name, the first name may be dropped.
- Example: Bruce Banner (Earth-616) instead of "Robert Bruce Banner (Earth-616)", Robert Banner (Earth-616)"
- As proper names, real names follow their native language's grammar rules regarding accent marks, special characters, or surname coming before the given name. However, to be used as page title, the grammatically appropriate form has to appear in a published source at least once.
- For names from other writing systems, always use anglicized forms. For characters from Slavic countries, note that the patronymics are not commonly used when speaking English despite the widespread use in the native language.
- Examples: Xuân Cao Mạnh (Earth-616), Piotr Rasputin (Earth-616) instead of "Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin (Earth-616)"
- For characters from cultures with only a single name, that name is considered full and not partial.
- Examples: Ronan (Earth-616), Shuri (Earth-616)
- Articles for real world people and their fictional counterparts should use the name they're most commonly known by, even if it's a pseudonym, a pen/stage name, or a shortened form of their full name.
- Example: Tobey Maguire (Earth-1610) instead of "Tobias Maguire (Earth-1610)", "Chip Zdarsky (Earth-51838)" instead of "Steven Murray (Earth-51838)"
- Do not include degrees or titles in a character's name.
- Example: Victor von Doom (Earth-616) instead of "Doctor Doom (Earth-616)"
- Alternate reality counterparts of a known character are assumed to have the same real name unless there are in-story reasons to suspect otherwise. This only applies to the name used in the page title and not to the middle name or any other honorifics or initials.
- Characters who changed their name:
- For characters who have changed their name legally, their new name should be used only in realities where the change was confirmed or implied to have taken place.
- Examples: Lucas Cage (Earth-616), Francis Castle (Earth-616)
- An exception for this rule is made for married characters. Due to the existence of alternate realities where that marriage had not taken place, it is preferable to keep the maiden form as the page name for unity across Variants. This exception does not apply to character whose marriage was established before the start of the Modern Age.
- Example: Susan Storm (Earth-616) instead of "Susan Richards (Earth-616)", "Susan Storm Richards (Earth-616)"
- When only the married last name but not the maiden last name is known, the married name is used as part of the full name by default.
- Example: Anna Marie LeBeau (Earth-616)
- For transgender characters, use of their preferred name is mandatory.
- For characters without legal status and without a true name bestowed by their parent, changing their assumed name is considered to be equivalent to a legal name change.
- Example: Goblyn (Earth-616)
- Other instances of characters rejecting or changing their name on the basis of insanity, delusions, outside influence, and so on are not considered a valid basis for renaming their page.
- For characters who have changed their name legally, their new name should be used only in realities where the change was confirmed or implied to have taken place.
- Multiple characters with the same name:
- When one character is overwhelmingly more prominent than the other(s) with the same full name, it is preferable for the major character to keep the simpler "First name" "Surname" form, and for the less prominent ones to utilize appropriate distinguishers.
- If one or both of the characters sharing the exact same first and last name have a known middle name or patronymic, it can be used as a distinguisher in the page name even when not commonly used by the character.
- Example: Benjamin Richard Parker (Earth-982)
- If one of related characters is the namesake of another and neither of them use Sr./Jr. or roman numerals in their name, numerals can be applied editorially to less prominent characters.
- For characters with no family relations, articles should use additional parenthesis before the reality designation to specify the difference between two or more characters with the same name and designation. For consistency purposes and to facilitate disambiguation pages and other automatized processes, all alternate counterparts will receive the same qualifier even if it would not apparently be needed for a particular counterpart.
- In some exceptional cases, additional qualifiers can be used for alternate counterparts that would not seemingly need them per the general rule above. For instance, when the adaption doesn't share the same first name as the original character. In that case, keeping the qualifier helps distinguish the main article it is a counterpart of.
Real Name Unknown
- If no part of the real name is known, but the character has used a codename or an alias:
- The codename or alias is used as the page title.
- Examples: Muse (Earth-616), Contagion (Earth-928)
- If the character had used multiple codenames or aliases, the most well-known codename is preferred over the most recent one.
- For costumed identities that were used by multiple people with no clear visual distinction (Hobgoblin, Jack O'Lantern, Deathlok, etc.), the alternate reality versions should have the character pages named after the alias and not assume the real name unless explicitly given by an official source.
- The codename or alias is used as the page title.
- If only the partial name is known, and the character has used a codename or an alias:
- Name consists of the most well-known codename and the partial real name (or alias) in parenthesis. The most well-known codename is preferred, and the real name is better than an alias, even if it seems less complete.
- If only partial real name is known:
- If the character does not have a recognizable codename, but has a specific rank, title or degree, the name of the article consists of the rank followed by the surname. The list of ranks includes, but is not limited to: "Agent, Captain, Doctor, General, Professor, Senator etc."
- If the character is referred to by an honorific title, the name of the article consists of the honorific "Mr.", "Mrs.", or "Ms." (depending on gender and marital status) followed by the surname.
- Examples: Mr. Taylor (Earth-616), Mrs. Abbott (Earth-616)
- If only the first or the last name is known, and that name is unoccupied for the given reality, it may be used as the page title.
- Examples: Angelica (Earth-9602), Simmons (Earth-41101)
- If the first or the last name is common, and the character has storyline prominence, a distinguishing characteristic may be used in parenthesis after the name. The distinguisher must be a permanent part of the character, and not based on their residence, occupation, or one-time interaction with someone.
- In case the character is too minor to be given its own page, use the Character Index instead (characters with known first and last names should never be listed on the index).
- Characters with no legal name at all:
- Clones of other characters are by default named after their genetic template.
- If the clone has been given an individual name or nickname, either by themselves or by their creator, that name is preferred to the template's name.
- Example: Joyce Delaney (Earth-616) instead of "Gwendolyne Stacy (Clone) (Earth-616)".
- Alternate versions of clone characters who did not receive new names within their reality should still be named after their template.
- Example: Peter Parker (Clone) (Earth-81141) instead of "Benjamin Reilly (Earth-81141)".
- When multiple clones of the same character exist within the same reality, disambiguate them by their creator, place or time of creation, or other distinguishing characteristics rather than naming them "Clone 1", "Clone 2" etc.
- Artificial creations (robots, genetic experiments, magical constructs, etc.) should utilize the name given by their creator or guardian, or the one most commonly used either by themselves and others. As entities with no legal name at all, should such characters reject their given name and adopt a new one, it will be treated as their real name.
- Example: Rocket Raccoon (Earth-199999) instead of "89P13 (Earth-199999)".
- Pets and other non-speaking characters should utilize the most commonly used name.
- Example: Lucky (Earth-616) instead of "Arrow (Earth-616)"
Reality of Origin
- Every character page must include their reality of origin in parenthesis in the name. For most characters, this will be designated as Earth-numeral, but other unique dimensions such as Otherworld, Mojoverse, or Null-Time Zone can also be used when appropriate.
- For characters not known to be cross-dimensional travelers, their reality or dimension of origin will be the one they are encountered in.
- For characters who are known to have traveled between dimensions, realities, or through time at least once, their dimension of origin is the one they inhabited before their first known instance of dimensional or time travel. For characters whose exact birthplace is known, that will always be their reality of origin, but such information is rarely available.
- For dimensional or time travelers with no information about their origin, their page may be named after the reality they inhabit on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. In this case, their reality of origin being unknown should be specified both in the infobox and the body of the article.
- Unique characters of unknown origin that lack Variants may list Multiverse as their disclaimer.
- If the Earth-designation is known:
- The Earth-designation is listed after the real name in parenthesis.
- Examples: Sersi (Earth-616), Eugene Thompson (Earth-96283)
- The Earth-designation is listed after the real name in parenthesis.
- If the Earth designation is not known:
- For prominent characters from fleshed-out realities utilize the Temporary Reality Number system. Since only Administrators can assign new TRNs, please only contact current Administrators after making sure that it is, in fact, not a previously known reality.
- For minor Variant characters for whom a TRN is unwarranted, use the Character Index for Unknown Realities instead.
Items/Vehicles/Locations/Races Pages
- Items, vehicles, races and locations utilize a single, standard page, for all information about their various alternate reality counterparts. All Asgards on the Asgard page, all Quinjets on the Quinjet page, etc. Each alternate reality version, when enough information is present to require one, is presented as a separate section of that page.
- When sharing a name with anything else, the item lists (Item) after its name, the vehicle lists (Vehicle) after its name, and so on.
- If one item, vehicle, location, etc. is overwhelmingly more prominent than the other page(s) with the same name, the distinguisher can be forgone and the disambiguation page is given the "(Disambiguation)" distinguisher instead.
- The Earth designation can be used as a qualifier if the name would be confusing without it.
- Articles for character suits are named after the wearer's primary alias, incorporating a permanent change where applicable.
- Example: Spider-Man's Suit for both Peter Parker and Miles Morales
- Example: Both Ms. Marvel's Suit and Captain Marvel's Suit for Carol Danvers
Comic and Volume Pages
- All volume pages are named by comic title and volume number. Volume number is required, even if it is Volume 1 and Volume 2 does not yet exist. Do not use the # character in the title. If a volume is canceled, it remains until it is superseded by a new volume. In that case, the canceled series is renamed with "(Canceled)" in its title.
- Volume Pagename: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber
- Example: Avengers Vol 2, Punisher Vol 10
- Volume Pagename: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber
- All comic pages are named by comic title, volume number, and issue number. Volume number is required, even if it is Volume 1 and Volume 2 does not yet exist. Do not use the # character in the title.
- Comic Pagename: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber
- Example: Iron Man Vol 1 3, X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong Vol 1 5
Comics
Comic titles and numbers are primarily based on indicia, although exceptions can be made to bring the titles more in line with Marvel's current naming conventions:
- When the indicia is given in ALL CAPS, that is to be ignored and the title of the Volume to be capitalized appropriately.
- Example: Wolverine Max Vol 1 instead of Wolverine MAX Vol 1
- When the title contains a “/” slash symbol, any spaces before and after the slash are to be excluded.
- Example: Spider-Man/Fantastic Four Vol 1 instead of Spider-Man / Fantastic Four Vol 1
- When different volumes of the same series (including related Annuals and Reprints) are named both with and without the definitive article "The", that article is to be dropped for all Volumes for consistency.
- Example: Punisher Vol 1 (listed as "The Punisher" by the indicia and Marvel.com), Punisher Vol 3 (listed as "Punisher" by the same)
- When the indicia changes mid-Volume without any indication of a relaunch or a retitling, that Volume is treated as singular for consistency, using the most common version of the indicia.
- Example: Ultimate Comics Ultimates Vol 1 lists the first two issues as "Ultimates" in the indicia, before it changes to "Ultimate Comics Ultimates" for the remaining 28 issues.
- Especially cumbersome indicia may be ignored in favor of the commonly used title. This is not a universal rule but is decided on a case-by-case basis.
- Example: Chee'ilth Vol 1 instead of Custom Kabam 2023 Comic Vol 1; Venom (Sony) Vol 1 instead of Custom Sony Pictures 2018 Venom English Comic Vol 1
- Comics from other companies later acquired by Marvel (CrossGen, Malibu Comics), published by others in collaboration with Marvel (IDW Publishing, Shōnen Jump+), or reprinted by Marvel under license (Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars and Conan Comic Books) all follow the same naming conventions. In case they share the exact names with titles published by Marvel, they do not count towards the Marvel Volume numbering and are to be named with the publisher in parentheses after the title instead. This does not apply to Marvel's own imprints such as MAX Comics, which share the main Volume numbering.
- Example: Mystic (CrossGen) Vol 1 (Original CrossGen series), Mystic Vol 2 (Marvel relaunch series)
- The same rule applies to foreign reprints and original publications: they keep the published title as is when it is unique but append it with the two-letter country code of the publication in parentheses if the title is shared with the main Volumes.
- When an ongoing series jumps numbering to reach a legacy milestone (e.g., Fantastic Four #70 is followed by Fantastic Four Vol 3 #500), the new legacy-numbered issues are considered part of the current Volume rather than reverting to an earlier one. This reflects the practice used by Marvel and helps maintain consistency across uninterrupted creative runs. Volumes should only be split at legacy milestones when there is a clear relaunch.
- Example: Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 500 instead of Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 500
- For Original Graphic Novels and other series that include unique subtitles in their indicia while treated as single volumes by Marvel.com, the subtitles should be placed after the volume and issue number.
Annuals
Annuals not identified as such by their indicia are named to reflect their Annual status on Marvel.com.
- A series of Annuals with consecutive numbering is considered a Volume.
- When Annuals include the year in their indicia, it is treated as the number, and not the part of the title. Always use the full year instead of any shortened form.
- Examples: Gambit Annual Vol 1 1999, Gambit Annual Vol 1 2000
- An annual without any additional numbering is considered a standalone Volume.
- Example: Black Panther Annual Vol 2 (2018)
- Annual Volumes are separate from the main series Volumes and are not required to share their numbering:
- Example: Eternals Annual Vol 2 (main series being Eternals Vol 4)
Reprint Collections
TPBs, Hardcovers, Omnibuses, Masterworks, Epic Collections and other reprints should follow the naming of their original series as close as possible, incorporating all of the modifications described above.
- Reprint collections sharing the name with their core titles must indicate whether they are a Trade Paperback (TPB), a Hardcover (HC), or an Omnibus in their title before the Volume number.
- TPB Volumes are not required to share the Volume number with their main series.
- Example: Scarlet Witch TPB Vol 1 (main series being Scarlet Witch Vol 2)
- Trade Paperback Collections of a single series are also commonly called "volumes". For the purposes of standardization on the Marvel Database, these are treated as the issues of their main TPB Volume.
- Example: Runaways TPB Vol 2 3, otherwise known as "Runaways, Vol. 3" (2007)
- Due to the fundamental insistency in the naming of standalone collections and series of collections by Marvel, the differences are reflected in their naming on Marvel Database. Subtitles are placed before the volume and issue number for standalone collections, and after for entries in a series.
Movie Pages
- Pages list the movie's full release title. If no release title is yet known, or it shares its name with an existing page, the film's year of release and the word film is added in parenthesis following the title.
- Example: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 film), Ultimate Avengers: The Movie
Television Series Pages
- All episode pages are named by series name, season number, and episode number. Season number is required, even if it is Season 1 and Season 2 does not yet exist. Do not use the # character in the title.
- Series Pagename: seriestitle_Season_seasonnumber_episodenumber
Novel Pages
- Novels have the full title of the novel, with being "(novel)" following it in cases where there are other media with the same name.
- Example: Wolverine: Election Day and Blade (novel)
Files
Cover Images
Cover images are named with the following conventions. Volume number is required, even if it is Volume 1 and Volume 2 does not yet exist.
- Basic Cover: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber.jpg
- Example: Avengers Vol 9 1.jpg
- Textless Cover and Virgin Cover: Versions of covers without additional elements, like volume's title, issue's number, barcode, etc.
- If such version is only available digitally, for example, in official solicits or artist's social media, then such version is known as Textless.
- If it is a textless version of main cover, then it should be named: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_Textless.jpg
- Example: Avengers Vol 9 1 Textless.jpg
- If if is a textless version of variant cover, then the name of that variant cover should be used with word "Textless" added at the end.
- If it is a textless version of main cover, then it should be named: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_Textless.jpg
- If such version was released and printed as actual cover, then it is known as Virgin cover instead of Textless.
- If it is a virgin version of main cover, then cover should be named: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_Virgin_Variant.jpg
- Example: Avengers Vol 8 1 Virgin Variant.jpg for Avengers Vol 8 1.jpg
- If if is a virgin version of variant cover, then the name of that variant cover should be used with a word "Variant" replaced by "Virgin Variant".
- If it is a virgin version of main cover, then cover should be named: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_Virgin_Variant.jpg
- If such version is only available digitally, for example, in official solicits or artist's social media, then such version is known as Textless.
- Additional Covers (such as back covers or wraparound covers): comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_descriptivephrase.jpg
- Example: All-New X-Men Vol 1 1 Wraparound.jpg
- Variant Cover: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_descriptive phrase_Variant.jpg
- If variant cover's name was stated in the official solicits, then it should be used.
- For additionally printed issues the number of the printing ("Second Printing", "Third Printing", etc.) should be used in the name.
- If only one cover was used for specific additional printing, then only the number of the printing should be used.
- If multiple covers were used for the same additional printing, then cover artist's surname should be added to differentiate them.
- If variant cover was a part of a series of covers, for example, Category:Negative Space Variants, then the name of the series should be used in the name.
- If variant cover was exclusively released by some retailer, then the name of the retailer should be used in the name with a word "Exclusive" before "Variant".
- In all other cases the surname of the main cover artist should be used.
- Sketch Cover: comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_descriptivephrase_Sketch.jpg
- Vintage Cover (If a digital version of a cover is available, it should be the primary file name (see the first example) and any relevant existing cover images obtained by a scan should be renamed with the descriptor "Vintage".): comictitle_Vol_volumenumber_issuenumber_Vintage.jpg
Subject Images
- Images of a specific subject (character, team, item, etc.) are named by the subject and the source material. The subject is listed using its full page title and not any shortened forms. If the subject has a glossary page, "Glossary:" is omitted. The incremental number should be three digits long to ensure there will be sufficient numbers for future use.
- One Subject: primarysubject_from_source_incrementalnumber.jpg
- Two or More Subjects: primarysubject,_secondarysubject_and_tertiarysubject_from_source_incrementalnumber.jpg
Full Page Interior Images
- Full page interior images may be named by the comic pagename and an appended, incremental number.
- Example: Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 233 001.jpg, Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 233 002.png
Miscellaneous Notes
- Avoid Abbreviations. The title of a file for Uncanny X-Men Volume 1, #20, should not be 'UXM120.jpg', but rather more fully written out like 'Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 20.jpg'. This helps our search feature to more easily locate these images later. It also avoids the possibility of conflicting names. The first example is ambiguous and could also be interpreted as Uncanny X-Men #120 or Ultimate X-Men, Volume 1, #20.
- Use subpages. In order to keep related pages grouped together, sub-pages are often utilized. Sub-pages exist in the same namespace as their parent page and can usually be found from automatically generated links in corresponding article templates.
- Some subpage examples include:
- Character/Gallery
- Team/Gallery
- User/Blog
- User/Collection
- User/Favourites
- User/Gallery
- User/News
- User/Sandbox
- User/Wishlist
Please submit any questions regarding special circumstances or any other concerns to the Administrators for review and we will either establish a new, relevant convention or direct you to the existing convention that would be applicable in that case.
Thank you again!
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