Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Master Chief (Halo)

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted 01:32, 14 October 2007.

[edit] Master Chief (Halo)

Hopefully this is full of enough of out universe, real-world info on one of the most recognizable video game characters of all time (not that I'm knocking Mario). David Fuchs ^(talk) 20:48, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Comment I think this is too soon after the release of Halo 3. Buc 21:18, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

I don't see how this makes a difference. The Master Chief's facets and his impact were documented before the game came out. David Fuchs ^(talk) 23:04, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

The article might be a bit unstable. Buc 06:18, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

If you'll look at the history, there haven't been any edit wars or rapid changing of content, so I would say that it is fairly stable. David Fuchs ^(talk) 01:44, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

• Comment. I'm currently undertaking a copyedit and trim of some original research that seems to have been added since I last looked at this in detail. — TKD::Talk 23:45, 1 October 2007 (UTC)
  • In case this wasn't clear from my support below, I had finished with this. :) — TKD::Talk 04:31, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

• Comment. Few things:
  • Could you read through and make sure that important people, places, and things with which the Master Chief interacts in the Halo universe are sufficiently described so that the casual reader isn't lost? A couple examples that I found and fixed involved the Arbiter and the Covenant; neither was explained on first reference. Alternatively, tangential things can be removed; I did so in a couple of places where it seemed to break the flow of plot.
  • The image in the infobox, from the pre-beta stages of Halo 3, is outdated. Could we instead use something like Image:Halo3chief.jpg (except without the Bungie watermark)?
  • I removed (what appeared to me to be) original research in the form of a novel synthesis regarding the Master Chief's character and sacrifice of lives. This appears to have been added in the flurry of editing in the wake of Halo 3. Since the plot sections are heavy on primary sources, could you go through and make sure that the attributes and points made actually do appear in the novels? Alternatively, do we have any third-party reviews that cover his character from what was revealed in the novels?
• — TKD::Talk 00:48, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
  • An IP user restored the section that I had deemed original research (because of novel synthesis). I tried to salvage it by sticking more closely to what the books actually say (there wasn't an explicit contrast). I'm still not entirely comfortable with depending solely on the text itself for character traits, though. — TKD::Talk 06:49, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
  • James086 has replaced the infobox image. — TKD::Talk 11:22, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

As the person who added them, I can vouch for the veracity of the text citations (although I was using a .pdf version for sourcing). But I'll look and see if I can find additional thirdy party refs to shore it up as well. David Fuchs ^(talk) 11:33, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

I wasn't worried that each of the individual points wasn't correct (I myself have the books, but haven't yet read them); I was concerned that there was some original synthesis occurring in setting up the contrast between the situations, because the books don't make the link explicit. However, after trying to shuffle the wording to stick more closely to what the books actually say, I can live with what's there now with respect to that point.

With regards to secondary sources, here's a review of The Fall of Reach that spends a long paragraph on the Master Chief's character (and serves as a source for the notion that John-117 is a biblical reference). Here's another review that basically says that the Master Chief is confusingly portrayed as a completely different character in The Fall of Reach, compared to the video games. — TKD::Talk 16:19, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

I've added in the above two links into the personality section: good finds! David Fuchs ^(talk) 01:44, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

←Support. Thanks. After having made one more copyediting pass through the text, I think that all of my concerns have been addressed. — TKD::Talk 16:04, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

• Comment The citation for a Madame Tussauds statue is broken, and the Halo 2 image is very dull. Alientraveller 10:19, 2 October 2007 (UTC) Works fine at my house. Alientraveller 19:50, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

The citation isn't broken... as for the image, if you can find a better one, do so. This is wikipedia. David Fuchs ^(talk) 11:31, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

• Support Well written and I think it's our of universe enough to be featured. I made a few minor changes [1]. I think his name is "Shi Ki Wang" so I removed the "a" in "Shi Kai Wang" (see my diff) but if I'm wrong please change it back and I spelt out his height per WP:MOSNUM#Spelling_out_numbers. The sentence "The Master Chief has been used in marketing on a variety of products, from 7-Eleven Slurpees to t-shirts, Xbox 360 controllers, and Mountain Dew." from the final section is awkward, could it be reworded? The format of the sentence: "From w to x, y, and z." just sounds weird when you read it. Still an excellent article. James086^{Talk | Email} 09:07, 3 October 2007 (UTC)
• Support - An excellent article, and an excellent character :)  — Dihydrogen Monoxide (H₂O) 02:26, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
• Support - Spartan meets all criteria. Good luck! Dfrg.msc 06:41, 6 October 2007 (UTC)
• Support - The content of the article is impresive, I can't find anything that can particulary prevent this from being featured (the post-Halo 3 anon vandalism taken under consideration), then again you have to wonder what would the High Prophets say? - Caribbean~H.Q. 07:27, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

"You are, all of you... vermin", perhaps? :P David Fuchs ^(talk) 17:46, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

• Support since the article meets all criteria and is impressive in quality of prose, which I found compelling. John-117 would be honored. Cliff smith 16:16, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
• Comment The section in the lead about the comparison to other icons like Mario and Sonic – is this something that is compared to in one of the sources below? Could a specific citation be tacked onto that sentence? hbdragon88 22:59, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
  • It's expanded upon a bit in the second paragraph of Master Chief (Halo)#Impact and reception. Although information in the lead doesn't always require citations, it's probably a comparison that warrants citation; it took me a bit to figure out which article it was as well. I've added the citation to the lead. — TKD::Talk 00:21, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
    • Thanks. I know that lead sections generally don't have cites, but this comparison stuck out at me as needing one. hbdragon88 07:39, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
• Comment. By chance, I happened to find this piece from The Escapist. It provides a lengthy comparison of Halo to Virgil's Aeneid (and, by extension, of the Master Chief to Aeneas). This article from IGN cites a connection to Starhammer, and provides yet another opinion that John-117 might be a reference to biblical John 1:17. Based on this (and the reviews above), I think that it would be a good idea, in the interests of FA criterion 1b, to include a paragraph describing these literary connections. If no one gets to this before tonight, I can do it. — TKD::Talk 16:09, 9 October 2007 (UTC)
  • Done. — TKD::Talk 04:31, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.