Category talk:Parasites
Figure out what to do with this category
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This talk page section contains an unresolved talk page proposal. Please try to help and resolve the issue by voting or leaving a comment. |
Current time: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 07:40 GMT
This category makes me sick, and not with malaria or a tapeworm. No, I'm sick with Flurritis, spread to me via a kiss from Flurrie. Her offspring, a genetic clone of her, is currently growing in my left lung. I won't die (though only having one lung will make me even less athletic than I already am), but I'll be forced to use Gale Force at any moment to breathe the Flurrie clone out, and I don't know how I'd explain it if it happened at work. Especially if she starts kissing my coworkers to continue the life cycle.
Obviously, Flurrie is not a parasite. And while she's the most egregious example, the vast majority of the subjects under this category aren't parasites, either (while Fuzzies are described as parasites in some games, they aren't really and should fall under how we handle "brainwashing" vs "mind control"). Instead, as the category states: "They often attach themselves to other creatures, typically to attack or hinder abilities. They may also use this to replenish their own health." Okay, so this is really just Category:Leech. But then there are a couple actual parasites that don't do this, like the Belly Blech. And don't get me started on the subcategories of Vampires and Viruses (specifically for the Dr. Mario series ones).
We need to do something about this category. Here are the voting options:
Delete the category. This will delete the category entirely, though Category:Vampires and Category:Viruses will remain, just not as subcategories to anything. Voting for this indicates you see no need for either an actual parasites category (the biological term) or a leech category (HP/FP/etc suckers).
Rename the category to exclusively cover "leech" subjects. This would keep the category mostly as it is now, with subjects that don't fit the gameplay definition of "[attaching] themselves to other creatures" being removed. Category:Vampires would remain a subcategory, but not Category:Viruses. I'm not fully sure on the name yet, so let me know suggestions in the comments if this voting option gets support. And while members of the wiki Discord have mentioned maybe making a category for moves instead, some enemies don't have named moves with pages.
Do nothing.
I was considering having an option to keep the category with the same name but only use it for actual parasites in the series. I just don't think there are enough definitive parasites in the series to warrant one; I tried going through this in my sandbox and it only gave me a headache. A lot of discourse would ensue about which Bowser's Inside Story enemies count too, probably (or at least there was a debate I had with myself while doing sandbox stuff). If people do want this category, though, let me know in the comments.
Going along with the above, there would be another voting option added alongside it. This option would use the biological meaning of "parasite" for this category but also make a separate "leech" category.
Proposer: Technetium (talk)
Deadline: February 24, 2025, 23:59 GMT
Delete category
- Madame Flurrie (talk): As proposer, or rather, from proposer. How dare I be called a parasite?! And I don't want to be lumped in with leeches, either. Some recover HP when they attack, some recover something else, some don't recover anything at all...it boggles my mind! I simply cannot comprehend how such a category would be useful to our wiki's dear readers.
- Camwoodstock (talk) Primary option; this category is currently stuck between being both a category for parasites as a species, and characters with status leeching abilities, and as a result, it kind of does a terrible job of being both. Is a given article in this category a literal parasite as a creature, or a parasite in the sense it can siphon HP? Unless you click the article, you literally won't know which is which, which is kind of a fundamental failure for a category.
Rename category
- Camwoodstock (talk) Secondary option; personally, we'd prefer an category for biological parasites over the game mechanic, but that's mostly personal preference.
