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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Fat Controller

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was speedy keep. Piotrus, the nom, has withdrawn, with no other non-keep !votes. (non-admin closure) YorkshireLad  ✿  (talk) 09:48, 12 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The Fat Controller

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The Fat Controller (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)
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I prodded it with the following rationale: "The coverage (references, external links, etc.) does not seem sufficient to justify this article passing Wikipedia:General notability guideline and the more detailed Wikipedia:Notability (fiction) requirement. WP:BEFORE did not reveal any significant coverage on Gnews, Gbooks or Gscholar." It was deprodded by User:Necrothesp with the following rationale "too iconic for prodding; take to AfD". so here we go Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 07:15, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Fictional elements-related deletion discussions. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 07:15, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United Kingdom-related deletion discussions. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 07:15, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Transportation-related deletion discussions. YorkshireLad  ✿  (talk) 13:06, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep per the sources provided above and below in this discussion. This character has become a part of popular culture in a way the other recently deleted Thomas characters have not. This one has enough notability to be kept, though it should be cleaned up. Rhino131 (talk) 13:22, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep per above, per common sense (an iconic character), and per in opposition to the recent and continuing deletion attempts to cull Wikipedia's Railway Series collection. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:29, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep - is as notable as Thomas himself Spiderone 13:39, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep per Andrew and Ally D. Nightfury 14:27, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep - The preview I can get suggests some good discussion here, although I can't get the whole thing - He's analyzed as a symbol of capitalism. Less direct mentions here, but the article tends to use him as an extended metaphor. There's more like this. This character does seem to have gotten significant coverage, even in scholarly sources. Hog Farm Bacon 18:18, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep per identified sources. — Toughpigs (talk) 18:21, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep He is notable. There are a lot of TTTE related fancruft here that's better suited to the fandom wiki, but the Fat Controller is obviously notable. He is a main and iconic character. GhostDestroyer100 (talk) 18:56, 10 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment. AFD is not a vote. Please share sources where this character is discussed in depth. All I am seeing so far are few newspaper articles which mention him in passing, none of which contains any analysis to speak of. Academic article found by User:Hog Farm can be assessed through Library Genesis (I can't link it as it is blacklisted, sigh). But most of the discussion there is pure plot summary. Here is the non-plot summary content I was able to find in the article in its entirety (Fat Controller's name is Topham Hatt FYI): "it is prudent to briefly assess the role of Sir Topham Hatt and the show’s setting, the land of Sodor. Sir Topham Hatt (referred to in the UK version as “the fat controller” and made to resemble the capitalist archetype with an iconic top hat and morning suit) was described on the show’s website as “the director of the Railway [who] is responsible for making sure the engines are always Right on Time and Really Useful. He has a firm but kind manner in dealing with the engines and staff, and has risen through the ranks from a railway engineer to his current position.” This description alone implies much about the ideological discourse of upward mobility and worker-management relations. By suggesting that he “has risen through the ranks,” children are encouraged to believe that good manners, hard work, and conformity will eventually pay off despite the sad reality that even with obedience and hard work, few will actually move up the ranks to upper management." That's it. It's not bad, but I don't think this is sufficient to make the subject pass GNG/NFICTION, a few sentences is not in-depth coverage. In the end, al usable content that is not fancruft can be boiled down to one-two sentences - that a single scholar called this character a "capitalist archetype". That's it, as there is nothing else to squeeze from the source. If the article was about him, we could find more, but it is not, this fictional character is just used to reinforce a bigger argument. I am sorry, but we need more and better sources that are in-depth to conclude this character is iconic and notable. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 08:12, 11 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
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