I've recently run into an art post where there's a shapeshifter. Though this shapeshifter is known under a different name depending on the form he takes.
The question is: Should both names (Form and true Form) be listed, is it up to the uploaders decision? Or perhaps would only the form's name be enough?

Additionally, the original poster is aware that the character has a different true form, however has decided against listing the real name for spoiler reasons.

Ideally, you should only tag the name of the alternate form he takes and not their default/normal name.
E.g., Ben_Tennyson from the Ben_10 is human by default, but he can turn into multiple forms of aliens. However, if he does transform, only the alien's name is tagged instead.

Exception to this if if the transformation/shapeshifting is happening half-way or can be perceived as some form of cosplay, then both the form's name and the character's name can be tagged.

thegreatwolfgang said:

Exception to this if if the transformation/shapeshifting is happening half-way or can be perceived as some form of cosplay, then both the form's name and the character's name can be tagged.

You can argue that shapeshifting is just a really extreme form of cosplay

snpthecat said:
You can argue that shapeshifting is just a really extreme form of cosplay

I mean, honestly tho?

I dunno, I feel like we should still be tagging the "actual" character alongside the form they're currently taking, even if they're not at all recognizable.

dba_afish said:
I mean, honestly tho?

I dunno, I feel like we should still be tagging the "actual" character alongside the form they're currently taking, even if they're not at all recognizable.

What about in the case of something like a character gets reincarnated into another form?

dba_afish said:
I mean, honestly tho?

I dunno, I feel like we should still be tagging the "actual" character alongside the form they're currently taking, even if they're not at all recognizable.

IMO, every identifiable (canon/official) form should have a unique character tag to refer to just that form. If they were to all imply a "base" character tag, that tag should stand apart as not referring to any particular form. This may not be easy or practical depending on the character, if their normal tag has a lot of uses and/or people are too used to using that tag for a particular form (e.g. link, there's no practical way to have his different forms imply link without worsening the ability to search for or blacklist his humanoid form the tag is currently used for, or to find posts that have both his humanoid and another form together).

snpthecat said:
What about in the case of something like a character gets reincarnated into another form?

we should have tags both for each incarnation and the spirit, for the most part, at least. probably not for situations like The Avatar, where it's more of a spiritual lineage; each incarnation effectively entirely separate characters, aside from the title and powers. for situations like kenai_(brother_bear) where it's effectively the same character in a new body, or link where inheritors generally share design characteristics (and the name) but are otherwise their own dudes, we definitely should.

If the character is known as X and their alternate form is also known as X, then it is fine to call them both as X.*
If the character is known as X and their alternate form is known as Y, then it should only be tagged as they appear respectively.
^{*(Link seems to be the only exception I think, where he has different tags for different forms; i.e., link_(wolf_form) & link_(rabbit_form).)}

You don't tag Clark_Kent on every Superman post, nor do you tag Peter_Parker on every Spiderman.
However, we do tag Beast_Boy on every transformation he takes since he still has the same name after.

dba_afish said:
we should have tags both for each incarnation and the spirit, for the most part, at least. for situations like kenai_(brother_bear) where it's effectively the same character in a new body, or link where inheritors generally share design characteristics (and the name) but are otherwise their own dudes, we definitely should.

For the spirit as well? How would that go, using your kenai_(brother_bear) example

snpthecat said:
For the spirit as well? How would that go, using your kenai_(brother_bear) example

I mean, I don't see why not.

for example, if I wanted to see posts with TP Link and Midna, regardless of form there's not really any great way to do that. currently, since both characters have different forms (imp/true Midna, human/wolf Link), you'd need at least two searches to catch every case*, _{and even then the post would be potentially diluted with other Links}. if we had a tag for both of these characters' identities it'd be easy.

_{*wildcards (*) might work here, but that solution isn't necessarily, like, scalable or whatever. and this would also potentially lead to dilution dependant on the character names.}