Board Thread:Wiki-Related Discussion/@comment-4839682-20140320220703/@comment-24304025-20140320230443

I agree with Lady Junky, Killian and Apple. I will make a list of reasons not to merge:


 * The press releases distinguish counterparts.


 * It would take lots of work to merge.


 * Categories (Storybrooke Character, Enchanted Forest Character etc.) would be completely pointless; the same with Lists of Characters.


 * Infoboxes colors differentiation would not fit (unless we had two infoboxes for each character, which would make the pages heavier and longer than they already are).


 * There would have to be two appearances templates (and the page would be less neat).


 * Summaries: how would we write the summaries? Using which name? Did Mary Margaret give Henry the book or was that Snow? If they are taken as one and the same, we would never know how to refer to the character.


 * Naming pages. We can't decide in a non-arbitrary way which title should each page have. If we use "Snow White", we are ignoring Mary Margaret (who is as important as the other, and who is credited the same way). If we use "Mary Margaret" it won't fit because the events before the first curse happened before she ever took the identity of Mary Margaret. If we name the page "Snow White/Mary Margaret" we will have to do that with all characters. Imagine how would David Anders' character page be: if we use his original name, we are not loyal because Dr. Whale is more relevant to the history than Victor. If we use both names, it is way too spoilery.

I think we should only merge characters whose identity did not change because of magic.

Pan and Malcolm can stay separate. Something magic (Neverland's belief) changed their identities. Snow White and Mary Margaret (and 90% of the characters) can stay separate. Something magic (first curse and second curse) brought them to Storybrooke. Robin Hood (Enchanted Forest) and Robin Hood (Storybrooke) (and similar cases) can stay separate. Something magic (second curse) brought them to Storybrooke. August/Pinocchio, Neal Cassidy/Baelfire and Cora/Queen of Hearts can be merged because nothing magic affected them. However, these three can be separate, IF there is a consensus that they are distinctive enough.

As to Nealfire, I agree with Applegirl. Before deciding on merging or keeping separate we should get clarification on whether Michael-Raymond James was portraying Neal Cassidy or Baelfire in "New York City Serenade" and "Witch Hunt";