Talk:Queen Jamillia

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[edit] Fact and fiction

I think it's striking that the article text does not even mention a single work of fiction that this character appears in. This is something that is dictated by WP:CITE, so that what is stated about the character may be tied directly to the source that first states it, but it's especially important for characters that only exist in such works. Someone who is unfamiliar with the topic has no idea where or how this character is depicted. Is this a character that merely makes a cameo in the films, but is described at length in novels? The article should make this clear and organize the information by the relevant work of fiction. See also the style guide comments on writing about fiction. --Postdlf 17:06, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

I've done some work on the article, and removed the tag. I think I've addressed in the main your criticism, though I'm going to be asking over at Wookieepedia whether the abdication information is drawn from the New Essential Chronology like I suspect it is. --maru (talk) Contribs 20:09, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for doing that...it's a good start. Let me take you point-by-point through the remaining problems in the article:

• Like her predecessor, she is regal and dignified, though she is not as young as Padmé was during her reign.
  • Does this mean that as portrayed in the films, she appears regal and dignified? If so, how does this come across, through acting? Or does it mean that she's described that way in a book? Which book? And where is her age given?
• After the events of the prequel movie...Queen Amidala completed her two constitutionally permitted terms...
  • This should instead be "In the [book, etc...(title)], Queen Amidala completes her two constitutionally permitted terms..." per our style guidelines; a fictional event perpetually takes place in the work that depicts it. What work depicts the events between Episode I and Episode II? The paragraph about Episode II also needs to be written in the present tense.
• As the Clone Wars dragged on...
  • Once again, what work of fiction is this depicted in? It's been awhile since I saw Episode II, but I don't believe it was in that film, particularly since this paragraph attributes a lot of action to a character Apailana that only appears in a brief (unnamed? without dialogue?) cameo in Episode III.

The problems I see with this article, as with most Star Wars articles, and most articles about fictional characters (I personally spend more time on comic book characters) is that they attempt to give a loyal summary of established fictional canon rather than the actual works of fiction from which this canon is derived. On Wikipedia, canon is incidental; it's a fictional conceit that fans and writers use to pretend that there is a "true" story out there that is revealed piecemeal through all these works. But the works themselves are the only "truths", and so all subjects of fiction must be described in clear terms of what works used them and how, and hopefully why. If the bulk of the article is derived not from movies or novels, but from fan supplements (i.e., Star Wars encyclopedias), well, then we have a bigger problem to solve than just writing style. Postdlf 22:36, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Keeping in mind that my knowledge in this area is a little weak (George Lucas and co. turned out a truly insane amount of material for the prequels; there's no way anyone could possibly have kept up with all the novels and video games and comics and tv series and movies and...):

• I believe from the acting. She appears in Ep II, so that's almost certainly where it comes from.
• As for the two permitted terms, I do not know. The general info on Naboo politics comes from a variety of sources, and I suspect the more specific data on her comes from the Visual Dictionary.
• The Clone Wars are depicted in tons of works; for a complete reference see the The Clone Wars article- it says it a lot better than I: "The Clone Wars span the three years between Episodes II and III, and thus are, for the most part, "off-screen". The Expanded Universe is recounting events with an ambitious multimedia campaign."

--maru (talk) Contribs 00:22, 16 January 2006 (UTC)