Vs.
| Synonyms: | versus, Vs. debate, versus forum, etc. |
| See also: | Death Battle |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Vs. is the abbreviation for versus. In fannish terms, this is the shorthand for a debate between two or more parties regarding which of two fictional entities would prevail if pitted against each other. Vs. debates tend very heavily towards affirmational fandom, as there are usually strong lines drawn between canon and non-canon materials and users are expected to cite their claims. Public Vs. debates are usually held on forums in longform discussions, refereed by forum moderators and/or the OP of the Vs. thread.
Debate Rules
The rules for Vs. debates vary wildly depending on where they take place and who starts the debate, but there are a few common things that most Vs. rules address.
Canon Materials
[SpaceBattles]
4) Canon Policy The recognized canon in a given debate will depend upon the opening post or upon the existing guidelines established by the franchises in question. Canon interpretation used in discussions will be based on board consensus and VS forum moderator consent. Any arguments over the nature of canon or what qualifies as such will be restricted to threads devoted to the topic. Any arguments over canon policy in a thread not devoted to that topic will be treated as a thread hijack, and dealt with accordingly.[1]
[SpaceBattles]
15) Fan fiction themed debates are not to be used unless you are given permission to do so by Staff.
This applies to fanfiction and fanon characters and settings. We are not necessarily adverse to fanfiction and fanon debates occuring, but they need to be run by us in Staff Communications before we will allow you to post it. Failure to do so will result in your thread being locked and punishments meted out.[1]
[KMC Forums]
No Non-canon Sources
Non-canon sources are invalid for evidence. With rare exceptions, comics not in continuity such as Elseworlds, What Ifs, or alternate universes are not used for evidence in debates of a particular mainstream character.
A canon source is one that is regarded as being 'in continuity'. In the example of Star Trek; instances from the series and movies can be used, but books are definitely out. Comic book crossovers are usually unusable as they ignore common sense most of the time (DC vs. Marvel is certainly unusable in some cases in our debates!).[2]
[Naruto Forums — Outskirts Battledome]
Canon:
This is pretty much clear cut in most people's minds.
Any form of a series that the original author or creator had the largest part, and near full autonomy, in creating. This would of course mean manga for most series, and anime for a select few. In 99% of most cases, whatever form of a series came first is what is considered to be canon.
There are some special cases though, like with Final Fantasy VII, where two of the creators of the original game, Nomura Tetsuya and Nojima Kazushige, were also the directors of the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. In this case, the movie is also considered canon, even though it isn't the original form of the series.
Another is s-CRY-ed, where both the anime and manga were written by the same person, but both series ended up being totally different. It is completely up to those replying in the thread to choose which version of the characters involved should be used.[4]
Civility
"Burden of Proof" and Other Citation Concerns
External links
Meta
Vs. Communities
- Vs. Debates on SpaceBattles
- Naruto Forums
- KillerMovies Community Forums
- VS Battles Wiki
References
- ^ a b ATTENTION VERSUS FORUM: The Versus Forum RULES & GUIDE BOOK (v1.0) Has Arrived. READ IT NOW! by LT_Ryguy, posted Sep 17, 2016. Last edited Dec 5, 2018.
- ^ Forum Rules (read before posting!) UPDATED PLEASE READ. by Digi. Posted Aug 17th, 2007, last edited Feb 12th, 2019.
- ^ Rules of the Battledome [Re-revised / Suggestions and Concerns] by Suu, posted Mar 11, 2009. Last edited Mar 3, 2017.
- ^ [https://www.narutoforums.org/threads/general-obd-assumptions.247288/ General OBD Assumptions by Wobbly, posted Jul 22, 2007. Last edited Sep 10, 2007.