Forum:SH:Project Creatures: Wookieepedia's Seventh Barn-Burner!

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Obsolete per Wookieepedia:Mofferences/May 17, 2015

Welcome to the seventh Wookieepedia Barn-Burner! This is the latest in a series of highly successful, short-term projects where we focus on improving articles that fall under a general theme. This time around, it's the Creature Feature! Per a community discussion, let's get to work on those fauna, varmints, critters, and steeds.

The Barn-Burner will run during January and February, 2014. We are going live a couple of weeks early, though, so feel fee to start researching, writing, and nominating!

Purpose and overview

There are several goals that drive Barn-Burners. First, they bring the community together to focus on a topic that otherwise has been overlooked. There are relatively few creature-related FAs, GAs, and CAs on Wookieepedia, so this is our chance to swell their ranks a bit. Second, the Barn-Burners are a great opportunity for folks to work toward a common goal. We have WookieeProjects, of course, but the idea here is to focus on topics that don't have their own projects already. If a permanent project develops out of the Barn-Burner, all the better!

Before you dive in, a few words on what we mean by creature. Think non-sentient species, or something that is most likely non-sentient. You can find technical definitions of all these terms at the Sentience page, but as a rule of thumb, if it's alive, if it can move, if it doesn't wear clothes, if it doesn't fire blasters or throw spears, and if it can't talk, it's probably a non-sentient creature. In other words, if a layperson would call it an animal, It's probably fair game for our purposes. Heck, even some plants may fit in here if they are able to move.

A few caveats, though. There are lots of critters in Star Wars that fit the above rule of thumb but which have never been "officially" labeled non-sentient. An example might be something that only appears in the background of a comic book. Maybe the hero swats a pesky bug on her arm. If the comic doesn't say that bug was non-sentient, can we rule out the possibility that it might have been a member of an intelligent species? Nope. There's thus a gray area here in whether to categorize that bug as Category:Species of undefined sentience or not; this is arguably something that needs to be hashed out in a consensus track discussion. But what role did the bug play in the story? Was it that of an unintelligent animal? Yep. Here, we'll go with the spirit of things; it's fine to write up that pesky biter here if you want and count it as a Barn-Burner nomination.

One final note: Star Wars is also full of "semi-sentient" creatures. Generally, this either means a really smart animal that can't talk, or a really dumb species that can talk. Technically, semi-sentient creatures are covered under the purview of WookieeProject Aliens, so they are beyond our scope here. If you have a question about the level of sentience of a particular species, don't hesitate to ask in the "Discussion" area below.

Ideas for projects

Below are some ideas for articles that would fit the theme of this Barn-Burner. "Simpler" projects are those that would probably be good for a Comprehensive Article or a shorter Good Article. "Moderate" projects are those that are probably in the Good Article or shorter Featured Article range. "More difficult" projects are still doable, but they are almost certainly Featured Article-level projects.

Movie creatures

Simpler

Moderate

More difficult

Other creatures from movie planets

Maybe something from one of the films seems too intimidating? You're in luck, because there are plenty of other creatures on the planets featured in the six Star Wars films. Note that some of these are breeds or subtypes of movie critters; these are good alternatives for folks who like something in the films but can't commit to writing up the species as a whole.

Simpler

Moderate

More difficult

Other significant critters

Simpler

Moderate

More difficult

They have those in Star Wars?

  • Anything listed List of references to Earth in Star Wars#Animal species|here is fair game. Here are some suggestions from that list:

Simpler

Moderate

More difficult

Named creatures

For people who may not be interested in writing up entire species of critters, the movies and EU also provide plenty of named non-sentients who can be treated as characters rather than species. Check out Category:Named creatures and Category:Pets for more ideas (and note that those categories need a serious cleanup, sending much of the "Named creatures category" to the "Pets" category. Perhaps a task for someone who wants to pitch in but isn't able to write up articles at the moment?)

Simpler

Moderate

More difficult

Sign ups

Ready to research something and write it up? Let us know what you're working on!

SavageBob

  • Rugger
  • Unidentified multi-legged Endor creature

Ayrehead02

501st dogma

Corellian Premier

Clonehunter

Jinzler

Trip391

Cade Calrayn

Actually, my major contribution to this barnburner will be an overhaul of the categorization system currently used with creatures. I'm currently working on sorting everything into applicable categories, and will implement it when I'm done.

LelalMekha

Riffsyphon1024

Manoof

Exiledjedi

Current nominations

Once you have nominated an article for status, please record your nomination in the appropriate field. It's the best way to keep track of who nominated what, and which nominations still need reviews. Remember, try to help each other out by reviewing one another's nominations.

FeaturedIcon Current Featured article nominations

Article Nominator(s) Notes FAN
Gorgodon Ayrehead02 Link
K'kayeh dragon Jinzler Link
Silooth Jinzler Link
Ghest Ayrehead02 Link

GoodIcon Current Good article nominations

Article Nominator(s) Notes GAN

Era-comp Current Comprehensive article nominations

Article Nominator(s) Notes CAN

The articles below are a good source of models for your own creature-article nominations. After a creature-related article passes because of the Barn Burner, please place it and its new status in the second set of boxes below. Let's bloat those suckers up!

Creature-related featured articles (Prior to Barn-burner)
Creature-related comprehesive articles (Prior to Barn-Burner)
Creature-related featured articles promoted during this Barn-Burner

Don't forget to tag your article's talk page with {{Creature barnburner}} once it's promoted to status:

Luketauntaun

—"I thought they smelled bad… on the outside!"
SH:Project Creatures: Wookieepedia's Seventh Barn-Burner! was nominated and gained status as part of Wookieepedia's seventh "Barn-Burner," focusing on articles related to creatures. The barn-burner ran during January and February 2014.

Source requests

Dire-cat in Galaxies

Can anyone supply information and/or images of Dire-cats from Star Wars Galaxies? As well as whatever a ferine razorfang is? Surprisingly the SWG wiki doesn't have a picture of it, and in truth, is it possible to even get back on the game in any way to get that stuff? There was a Prima/Generic Publisher Game Guide, so if some one has that. Thanks in advance~ --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 00:43, January 4, 2014 (UTC)

  • No hope then? :( --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 04:19, January 27, 2014 (UTC)
    • No success googling it? I found quite a lot of information on lantern birds in Galaxies just Googling the name of the creature + galaxies. What does that bring up? ~SavageBOB sig 18:08, February 3, 2014 (UTC)
      • Pretty much just pictures from Open Seasons, and the covers of the books that Dire-cats are mentioned in. And some misc SWG creatures. Unless the SWG dire-cat looks a helluva lot different than the comic book creature. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 19:25, February 4, 2014 (UTC)
        • Does anyone have a Prima or Game Guide for Galaxies that this may be present in? --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 18:28, February 16, 2014 (UTC)
          • It's mentioned in Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience: Prima Official Game Guide on pp. 376 and 379. The book reveals it's found on Corellia, it's a carnivore, it has a "bristly" hide, it's a mammal, it can be tamed with a fair amount of difficulty, and it travels in packs (p. 376). On p. 377, we learn that there are female dire-cats. It's also in Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Guide: Prima Official Game Guide, p. 277, and on p. 177 of Star Wars Galaxies Quick Reference Guide, but these books only give some of the information listed above. ~SavageBOB sig 12:31, February 27, 2014 (UTC)
            • Hm, nothing noting about a ferine razorfang? Otherwise thanks, some of that info will be good, especially the bristly hide and the fact it can be tamed. Galaxies didn't have a pet system, did it? The Taming part seems interesting. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 20:54, February 27, 2014 (UTC)

Kreetle in Galaxies

Hey folks, can anyone tell me what the Star Wars Galaxies guides say about the Kreetle? Thanks. Corellian PremierJedi symbolThe Force will be with you always 23:23, January 7, 2014 (UTC)

  • He's a longshot, but the go-to person for Galaxies used to be Craven. He's been inactive for a while, but his email address may still work, or he may be active on another Wikia wiki, which would alert him to any talk page messages here. ~SavageBOB sig 15:32, January 12, 2014 (UTC)

Mee (daggert) in Episode I: The Visual Dictionary

Trying to find the source of one statement in this article preventing it from GAN. Looking for information on whether it actually sent poison from its spines to tiny holes on its body and expelled them into the water column. Thank you. -- Riffsyphon1024 09:54, January 13, 2014 (UTC)

  • I have The Complete Visual Dictionary, which contains all text from TPM one. All it has is a picture of a mee with its central spine labeled as "Poison spine." No other information on the fist except the generic scalefish description that they live near Otoh Gunga, are drawn to its lights, but don't pass through the membrane due to previous experience. ~SavageBOB sig 13:04, January 15, 2014 (UTC)

Dire-cat in The Old Republic

Wondering if anyone had what context the Dire-cats existed in for The Old Republic, if it's alright. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 16:25, January 21, 2014 (UTC)

  • You might try asking Cade on his talk page about this. I'm not sure if I've encountered them in my own playthroughs. ~SavageBOB sig 18:09, February 3, 2014 (UTC)
    • I'll ask him. However, the Dire-cat page's appearance section, which I haven't modified, says they're only mentioned, so you probably wouldn't encounter them, per-say. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 19:26, February 4, 2014 (UTC)

Oro woods

Well, more of an image request. Anyone have the Alderaan section from The Illustrated Star Wars Universe? Corellian PremierJedi symbolThe Force will be with you always 21:29, February 13, 2014 (UTC)

Discussion

  • Could we have a notice board update that announces the barn burner? It might help spread the word. 501st dogma(talk) 18:18, January 6, 2014 (UTC)
    • That's a good idea. Who's the right person to ask for that? Any admin? ~SavageBOB sig 14:15, January 7, 2014 (UTC)
      • How's that look? —MJ— War Room 21:09, January 7, 2014 (UTC)
        • Great! Thanks :) 501st dogma(talk) 21:34, January 7, 2014 (UTC)

Sperm

The ghest article mentions some interesting facts about the species' reproduction. This involves the use of terms such as sperm, for which I figured it would be good to have an article. I cobbled one together (sperm is mentioned in at least three sources), but I'm prevented from making the article since it's redirected to a "Permission errors" page. I think there is enough information to justify this article, so I'd like to request permission to create the page if an admin will allow it. I figured I'd try here before posting on the admin noticeboard. I'm happy to provide the proposed text if that helps. Thanks, ~SavageBOB sig 18:49, January 8, 2014 (UTC)

I removed it from Wookieepedia:Constantly recreated pages, so you should be able to create it. If not, wait a few hours, as cascading protection does not always update instantly. —MJ— Council Chambers 20:43, January 8, 2014 (UTC)
Cool, thanks! Created the article. There may be other mentions out there that folks come across during the Barn-Burner, so other should feel free to edit the article. ~SavageBOB sig 23:20, January 8, 2014 (UTC)
Great to see the Ghest article going up for FAN. Probably one of the most frightening creatures I've seen in content. -- Riffsyphon1024 12:55, January 15, 2014 (UTC)