All The Tropes:Media Categories FAQ
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Is there any particular order the categories should go in?
We generally favour ordering the categories alphabetically, though it's OK to put the Trope Namer's category first. Also, if a trope is primarily associated with one medium, that medium should naturally go at the top.
However, in all cases, Real Life always goes last, and Other goes before Real Life but after everything else. If you see an category in the wrong place, go ahead and move it.
What category do animated films go in?
They get their own category, namely Film -- Animated.
Why do animated films get their own category?
To avoid confusion over whether they belong under Film or Western Animation (or Film or Anime and Manga, for Japanese animated films).
Couldn't you solve that problem by having a unified Film category and a unified Television category? Alternately, couldn't you solve that problem by having a unified Live-Action category and a unified Animation category?
The Western Animation, Live Action TV, and Film categories are often very large already. Combining them into two larger categories would make it more difficult to find specific examples.
Also, trying to do the combination might lead to holy war between people who think the film vs. television distinction is more important and people who think the live-action vs. animation distinction is more important. It's much simpler just to make both distinctions.
Why is there a single Anime and Manga category rather than separate Anime and Manga categories?
The relatively close relationship between anime and manga makes this more convenient. So much anime has a manga version and vice versa, and the adaptations are often so similar, that separating the two categories would lead to a lot of duplicated examples, as well as making it difficult for people who aren't familiar with an example to figure out which of the categories it should go in.
Why is Anime and Manga its own category, rather than being combined with the Animated Television and Comic Books categories?
There are several reasons for this:
- It allows us to lump anime and manga together without lumping all animation and comics together -- the previous answer should explain to you why this is a good idea.
- Again, the combination would mean we were lumping categories together which are often very large already.
- Many TV Tropes readers are either extremely interested in anime and manga or not at all interested in them. Separating them out makes it easier for these people to find the examples they're interested in, especially on pages with folders.
Where should examples from Shakespeare go?
If there's a Poetry category, list his poems there. If not, they can be listed under Literature, or you can make a Poetry section.
His plays are always listed under Theatre; if you see one listed under Literature, that is an error, and it should be moved.