howto:tag characters

This wiki serves as a guide to creating and formatting a character tag. The information presented here may be incomplete.

For a more general concept of tag categories, see e621:tag_types.

Creating character tags

These are the only methods for turning a tag into a character tag.

Method 1

- Add character: to the beginning of a tag. If the tag already has posts in it, this method will fail.

Method 2

- Add the tag to an image. The site wont allow you to change the tag type until a tag is used.
- From the tag list on the left, select the ? next to the tag you want to turn into a character tag. This will bring you to a wiki page.
- From the wiki page, select Edit Tag from the menu bar.
- Select the character option.

Be careful when changing the type of a tag that already exists. If the tag is already being used for something else, view the Formatting section of this guide for further instructions.

Formatting character tags

These are recommended guidelines to how a character tag should be formatted.

A character tag does not need to have a suffix name_(example), but one should be used if the character's name is too common, or used for more than one character. You can check this by using the site's autocomplete, or by searching for a character name in the Tags page. This page has wildcard (*) support.

Proper formats
  • name_(<owner/copyright>) - Most preferred, but if a character's name is already fairly unique, adding a suffix is optional.
  • name_(character) - Mainly used when a character's name is the same as an owning artist, or the copyright it belongs to.

If the character has a species suffix, it should typically use the following:

  • <character>_the_<species> - This is preferred over <character>_(<species>), and <character>_(<the_<species>).
Bad formats

The following formats are improper and should not be used.

  • jessica(character) - Tags should always contain an underscore separating a suffix and the name.
  • character_jessica
  • Do not use _(fursona), or _(sona) as part of tags. These do not add information that is useful for searching.
Copyrighted characters

There is no absolute standard for formatting copyrighted character tags. In the case of a name suffix, usually the copyright takes priority over the owner of the copyright.

Example
Counterexample

This is proper when a character belongs to more than one copyright.

Common situations

Sometimes there are complications while tagging. Don't sweat it! Your issue may be listed below!

I do not know the character name

This artist drew a character that does not seem to have a name that I can find / remember.

Q. Is the artwork a commission, YCH, art trade?

If, yes, the artist may not own the character. Follow the source information if available to identify the likely owner.

Q. Are you confident that this character has a name?

The character_request tag is used for instances where a character's name is most likely identifiable.

Q. Do you believe this character does not have a name?

There are a few tagging options to choose from.

a. Does this character seem to be someone's persona (fursona)? If so, use <owner_name>_(character), or <owner_name>_(<owner_name>) if the former is too vague.

b. If not, use one of these tags:

  • anonymous_character - A character that the artist drew to fill a certain role in an image, and is unlikely to end up as a recurring design. These characters do not need their own character tags. These characters should be more detailed than the feature minimal anon designs.
  • nameless_character - A character is being used more than a few times, especially if by multiple artists. The character itself can be tagged using the species name as an identifier.

Examples: unnamed_cat_(<owner name>), pink_dog_(<owner name>)

  • unknown_character - It is unlikely that this character's name will be resolved, but there is a slight possibility they have, or will have a name.

Leaving it untagged is always an option if you really don't know who it is.

I know the character name

Very common names get disambiguated. If your character name has a very simple name, it is encouraged that you include the character owner, or copyright name in the tag suffix.

Recommended format: name_(<owner_name>)

Avoiding tag duplication
  • Check for an existing tag.

Some characters will already have a suffix. The autocomplete will help here.

  • Not all character tags require a suffix, but it is a good practice. It all depends on uniqueness.

The character name is vague, but I do not know the owner.

- Use a disambiguation tag if it cannot be avoided. Do not use a tag you know is being used by another character, artist, or subject. Using name_(unknown_owner) is probably better than borrowing an existing tag.
- The species of the character can be used as a defining suffix, but this practice should be avoided, and never be used if a unique name can be found some other way. name_(cat)

If all else fails, putting the character name in the image description is an option.

Finding techniques

- Check the source. Artists tend to credit the owner / commissioner.
- Use a wildcard search and look for similar looking characters.

Example: You have a character with a first name (or only name) "Ruby" with an unknown owner. Here is what you can do.

Searching for ruby_* will find characters (and artists, copyrights etc) tagged as ruby_<something>. If you know the species, that's even better. ruby_* cat

Fan characters

A fan character, also known as an original character (OC) is a character designed for, or drawn in the style of an existing copyright, but is not an official part of that copyright.