Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Timeline of Batman

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 delete. — Nearly Headless Nick ^{C} 10:10, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Timeline of Batman (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)

Delete this POV-laden, OR-laden article. Superheroes' personal timelines are nto generally pinned down to specific "years ago". Batman's age is not specified. The issues cited for some of those items refer in no way to specific dates or connected to now. All fiction is supposed to be written in present tense anyway. Real world calendars do not correlate with superheroes' fictional personal history, and the fictional personal history is rarely dated. It exists on a well-established sliding scale of time without exact spans of time. Even when exact spans of time are mentioned, they continually shift to fit the sliding scale of time for the fictional history. Batman and his supporting cannot naturally age. Doczilla 05:03, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete per nom and add Timeline of the DC Universe to it. Otto4711 05:22, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete per nom. Almost exclusively original research and speculation. ~CS 05:29, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete This is WP:OR. janejellyroll 05:36, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep OK. I will respond to each of the points that you have raised here.

"Superheroes' personal timelines are nto generally pinned down to specific "years ago".

This is debatable as no official stance has been provided on this. If you can provide one, please do.

"Batman's age is not specified."

True. However if you'll read the hidden comment I placed next to that section you'll find determining the character's age (approximate with a 1-2 year margin of error) is a matter of simple addition.

"The issues cited for some of those items refer in no way to specific dates or connected to now."

Character's ages, such as Tim Drake's, are often mentioned in the comics (they vary). The time differences between the points in this article are based on the differences in the given ages of the characters between stories.

"All fiction is supposed to be written in present tense anyway."

I'm not sure what you mean by this. There are clearly chronological gaps in the Batman stories, as shown by the changes in the characters' ages.

"Real world calendars do not correlate with superheroes' fictional personal history"

This article is a chronicling of a fictional personal history and doesn't refer to real world history.

"the fictional personal history is rarely dated."

No dates are given in the article.

"It exists on a well-established sliding scale of time without exact spans of time. Even when exact spans of time are mentioned, they continually shift to fit the sliding scale of time for the fictional history. Batman and his supporting cannot naturally age."

I realise that the timeline the DC universe uses is not parallel to that of the real world. This seems to be the misunderstanding here.

• Delete Not a repository for movie or TV-show trivia Usedup 08:40, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete. WP:NOR and WP:NOT a plot summary. The idea of an absolute timeline for a DC character is ridiculous, as adherence to such a timeline, if it exists, is never a concern for writers. Also, where are the sources for exact years? Where is the source of Jason Todd becoming robin and dying in the same year? ' ^{(Feeling chatty? ) (Edits!)} 08:41, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete as fancruft. The understanding of specific fictional events in the world of Batman is not useful to the understanding of the significance and notability of the Batman series. NetOracle 21:41, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

delete it now

I see this article as no less relevant than a plot summary in a film article. It is a list of the most siginifcant events in the current version of the character. If it is clarified within the article how this timeline is irrefutable to a one year margin of error, will that satisfy everyone?A gx7 01:18, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Timeline of the DC Universe is not fancruft, it is an official DC comics institution, featured in their comics (usually on Annuals or Secret Files specials) and used as reference by both creators and comics fans. It therefore deserves inclusion in Wikipedia as much as the timeline of any other fictional series or universe. Complaints that it might contain inaccuracies are irrelevant, as we're trying to present the facts as DC publishes them, not getting into fan arguments. (Whether Batman deserves his own separate timeline or should be merged with the main DC Timeline is debatable- I understand an official Batman timeline was once published but have no access to it.) - Wilfredo Martinez 03:06, 11 February 2007 (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.