Wikipedia:Spoiler
 | This page documents an English Wikipedia style guideline. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Wikipedia contains revealing plot details of fictional works; this is expected. Spoiler warnings should only be used in articles about fictional subjects. When adding or removing a spoiler warning, be prepared to obtain consensus. |
A spoiler is a piece of information in an article about a narrative work (such as a book, feature film, television show or video game) that reveals plot events or twists.
Spoilers on the Internet are sometimes preceded by a spoiler warning.[1] In Wikipedia, however, it is generally expected that the subjects of our articles will be covered in detail. For purposes of style and clarity, spoiler notices should only be used if a plot spoiler appears in an unexpected place. When a spoiler notice is used, it should be placed with careful consideration to assure that it does not create a damaging effect on article organization. As with all content notices and issues, if placement or removal of a spoiler notice is disputed, talk page discussion should be used to find consensus with regard to whether or not a spoiler notice shall be used in the article, and if so, where it would best be placed.
Spoiler tags are an exception to our general guideline no disclaimers in articles, and the weight and significance of the disclaimers guideline should be considered when trying to form a consensus for their use. Concerns about revealing spoilers in an article's lead should be governed by the lead section style guideline. There are additional considerations for deciding whether to include spoiler tags or not; for example, it is generally redundant to put the tags in sections marked 'Plot' or 'Plot Summary'.
It is not acceptable to delete information from an article about a work of fiction because you think it spoils the plot. Such concerns must not interfere with neutral point of view, encyclopedic tone, completeness, or any other element of article quality. Do not make spoiler-free parallel versions (content forks). Other unacceptable approaches include concealing spoilers using codes such as ROT13, and setting the text and background colors to the same color using HTML.
When spoiler warnings should not be used
- Spoiler warnings are usually inappropriate in articles discussing classical works of literature, poetry and theatre. In grey areas, editors placing spoiler templates should use the article's talk page to discuss the matter.
- Spoilers and spoiler warnings should not be used in articles on non-fictional subjects. If explicit spoilers[2] are mentioned in non-fiction articles (e.g. articles on authors, actors, real-life locations in which fictional texts are set, or literary concepts like climax), consider whether the spoiler improves the encyclopedic quality of the article. It may be better to remove the example.
- Spoiler warnings are usually redundant when used to cover an entire "Plot" or "Synopsis" heading, or fictional "History" headings of any sort in articles whose subject is fictional, since spoilers are to be expected in a plot summary. If readers can easily deduce what is to be covered within a titled section, then there is no need to insert additional warning tags. If a section is not explicitly tagged as a plot section, and it contains an unexpected spoiler, consider whether the article can be improved by better section titling.
- Spoiler warnings should not be used when they can be replaced by more accurate heading information. If a "Themes" heading starts with a plot description, the best thing to do is break the plot description into a separate heading. If there are no headings, it is usually better to add them.
- Articles about fictional characters, objects, or places can be expected to include significant elements of the story. They should only contain spoiler warnings around specific details that a reader might not expect to come across.
When spoiler warnings may be appropriate
- Spoiler notices may be appropriate when significant plot revelations appear in unexpected places.
- Spoiler notices are more likely to be appropriate in newer works than in older works. But consider using instead the {{current fiction}} tag, which is consistent with the {{current}} tag on current real-world events.
- Very rarely, a spoiler warning may appear in the article lead. Plot details that are not significant from an out-of-universe perspective should not be found in the lead at all. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)
How to add or remove spoiler warnings
- Where it is appropriate, a {{Spoiler}} tag can be used to mark spoiler sections, with {{Endspoiler}} to mark the end. Whether one is adding or removing, be sure to do both. Do not improvise such warnings in plain text.
- When adding a spoiler notice to a plot section of an article that has a clear section heading indicating it is a plot section, it is best to use the {{Spoiler}} and {{Endspoiler}} templates to bracket only the portion of the plot that includes the spoilers. That way readers can benefit from the other parts of the plot summary that do not include spoilers, while knowing which sections to skip if they wish to avoid the spoilers.
- A reminder: before adding or removing a tag it is helpful to check the talk page; others may already be discussing the tag in question, or may have consensus as to its presence or absence.