History Administrivia / SpoilersOff

** '''However, a notice cautioning the reader about the spoiler-heavy nature character should be added at the top of these pages as a form of courtesy'''. If possible, give the character an alternate name for the entry folder while leaving their real name in the entry. If the character is part of a larger set of characters in a single folder (i.e. Roz from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' being part of the "Monsters Inc. Staff" folder), please add a spoiler notice before the sub-entry.

* '''{{Characters}} entries with [[WalkingSpoiler Walking]] or LateArrivalSpoiler[=s=]'''. Sometimes, some seemingly minor characters are so significant that discussing or even ''mentioning'' them would spoil a major plot point of a work, if not the entire work. In character pages for these works, these characters' entire entries could be spoiler-tagged to the point of the entry being unreadable to the average reader, making the effort pointless. Later works can also inadvertently spoil significant points about these characters if the reader hadn't read any prior works featuring them. Thus, it's recommended that character entries whose subjects fall under Walking and/or Late-Arrival spoiler have their spoilers un-tagged from the works' character pages; they can still be tagged on main, trivia and YMMV pages as well as other character entries mentioning the characters in question.

* '''{{Characters}} entries with [[WalkingSpoiler Walking]] or LateArrivalSpoiler[=s=]'''. Sometimes, some seemingly minor characters are so significant that discussing or even ''mentioning'' them would spoil a major plot point of a work, if not the entire work. In character pages for these works, these characters' entire entries could be spoiler-tagged to the point of the entry being unreadable to the average reader, making the effort pointless. Thus, it's recommended that character entries whose subjects fall under Walking and/or Late-Arrival spoiler have their spoilers un-tagged from the works' character pages; they can still be tagged on main, trivia and YMMV pages as well as other character entries mentioning the characters in question.

** '''However, a notice cautioning the reader about the spoiler-heavy nature character should be added at the top of these pages as a form of courtesy'''. If the character is part of a larger set of characters in a single folder (i.e. Roz from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' being part of the "Monsters Inc. Staff" folder), please add a spoiler notice before the sub-entry.

* '''CompleteMonster pages.''' It's a [[Administrivia/CompleteMonster complicated trope]], and it requires one to have seen basically the entire work so as to have as much context as possible for said character's actions. As with the post-viewing discussion pages, it can be safely assumed that anyone reads these pages has seen the entire work. However, CompleteMonster entries on general YMMV pages may be tagged.

* '''CompleteMonster pages.''' It's a [[Administrivia/CompleteMonster complicated trope]], and it requires one to have seen basically the entire work so as to have as much context as possible for said character's actions. As with the post-viewing discussion pages, it can be safely assumed that anyone reads these pages has seen the entire work. However, CompleteMonster entries on general {{YMMV}} pages may be tagged.

* '''Certain AudienceReactions that re-examine events in a later installment.''' When dealing with things like FridgeBrilliance, HilariousInHindsight, or a FunnyAneurysmMoment, it may be tempting to put a spoiler for a later installment when describing something that is seen in a new light because of events in that later installment. Don't put those details in the earlier page ''at all''; only reference them in the page for the later work (and in its {{YMMV}} page only). If a plot element is re-examined because of RealLife events, then said tropes go in the {{YMMV}} page for the earlier work, and without spoiler tags.

This is an incomplete list of series or bodies of work which are officially free to spoil. Enough time has gone by in enough markets that only one or two humans are left who haven't seen/read it. We feel for them, but not enough to make our wiki look like some sort of weird Swiss cheese.

Take note of other spoiler guidelines on Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. See also ItWasHisSled and LateArrivalSpoiler.

Note that ''Theatre/TheMousetrap'' will '''[[SeriousBusiness never]]''' be on this list because of [[DoNotSpoilThisEnding its unique nature]].

* If [[PublicDomainCharacter the copyright has expired]], or if it predates the very concept of copyright, it's probably free to spoil. In the vast majority of countries, this roughly coincides with anything OlderThanRadio. The cat is out of the bag for all of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's plays.
* Anything from myth (e.g., [[Theatre/OedipusTheKing Oedipus]]), religion (e.g., Literature/TheBible), or even legends (e.g., Myth/RobinHood). If it's OlderThanDirt (or at least OlderThanFeudalism), it's definitely OK. That said, ''occasionally'' spoiling Biblical events ([[spoiler:Jesus dies]] but [[spoiler: comes back to life]]) [[RuleOfFunny can be very funny]]. Just don't go overusing it.
* If you spoiler-tag a ''fact'', something that happened in RealLife, you have our full and express permission to punch yourself in the face. Unless you do it [[RuleOfFunny to be funny]], then the person who doesn't realize it's a joke and angrily deletes the tag has the face punching permission. Obviously, this only applies if the real facts are completely and absolutely canon: if the story is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, if fictional characters get involved in the historical events (as in BeenThereShapedHistory, BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy, etc.) or if the premise or the setting is AlternateHistory to begin with, then all bets are off. If a plot twist is based on a reference to a real but obscure event from real life, it would be a GeniusBonus.
* Quotes from a work. Either it doesn't need spoilers, or it doesn't need to be quoted; use ellipses (...) if need be.
* If the article is an episode recap, no spoiler font. The nature of the thing is to give detailed information about the episode. A person who wants both all the details and to not see spoilers is not a person we can help. However, do not add spoilers for future episodes, even under tags. Those go on the later episode pages.
** {{Foreshadowing}} is a special case -- state only what is doing the foreshadowing, not what is being foreshadowed.
* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions of the work in question - spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them. It's good practice to put a warning at the header as a courtesy to your fellow tropers who may be unaware that they are wandering into unmarked territory.
** Conversely, please refrain from spoiling later episodes/installments in examples for earlier episodes/installments. We want to minimize the LateArrivalSpoiler effect. Due to its nature, Headscratchers can ''reference'' that the issue was addressed in a future episode/installment to close the question in the earlier one, but should not provide details if they spoil said future episode/installment.
** On that note, when a moment in an earlier episode/installment is made {{Harsher|InHindsight}}, {{Heartwarming|InHindsight}} or HilariousInHindsight, made into a FunnyAneurysmMoment, or [[FridgeBrilliance made more clear]] by a later installment, the respective reaction goes onto the YMMV page for the ''later'' installment; the earlier installment should ''never'' reference the later one for these reactions. If the event in question is made so by events in RealLife, then it still goes on the earlier work's YMMV page.
* While they may be hidden on the YMMV pages, CompleteMonster pages may not have spoilers hidden.

Incidentally, if big blocks of [[spoiler:whited-out text (blacked-out text in Night Vision)]] turning everything into Swiss cheese look needlessly hideous to you, you can set it up so that spoilers are always visible by going to [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/profile.php your profile]] or just by hitting the spoilers switch to the right near the top of the page. You could also check to see if the spoiler text really has anything to do with the trope. [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers If it doesn't, delete it]].

If you need to remove spoilers for a whole page, you can use the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/strip_spoilers.php?g=Namespace&t=PageName strip spoilers tool]] for that. Be sure to add a warning about unmarked spoilers afterwards. Note that it can sometimes mess up potholes within spoiler tags, so it's a good idea to do a search on the page afterward for any stray brackets.

Take note of other spoiler guidelines on Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. See also ItWasHisSled and LateArrivalSpoiler. [softreturn]

* If you spoiler-tag a ''fact'', something that happened in RealLife, you have our full and express permission to punch yourself in the face. Unless you do it [[RuleOfFunny to be funny]], then the person who doesn't realize it's a joke and angrily deletes the tag has the face punching permission. Obviously, this only applies if the real facts are completely and absolutely canon: if the story is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, if fictional characters get involved in the historical events (as in BeenThereShapedHistory, BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy, etc.) or if the premise or the setting is AlternateHistory to begin with, then all bets are off.

* If you spoiler-tag a ''fact'', something that happened in RealLife, you have our full and express permission to punch yourself in the face. Unless you do it [[RuleOfFunny to be funny]], then the person who doesn't realize it's a joke and angrily deletes the tag has the face punching permission. Obviously, this applies to any works based on true stories (unless they're [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory only inspired by the facts]] and take significant liberties with the historical record).

Take not of other spoiler guidelines on Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. See also ItWasHisSled and LateArrivalSpoiler. Note that ''Theatre/TheMousetrap'' will '''[[SeriousBusiness never]]''' be on this list because of [[DoNotSpoilThisEnding its unique nature]].

See also ItWasHisSled and LateArrivalSpoiler. Note that ''Theatre/TheMousetrap'' will '''[[SeriousBusiness never]]''' be on this list because of [[DoNotSpoilThisEnding its unique nature]].

If you need to remove spoilers for a whole page, you can use the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/strip_spoilers.php?g=Namespace&t=PageName strip spoilers tool]] for that. Be sure to add a warning about unmarked spoilers afterwards. Also note that it can sometimes mess up potholes within spoiler tags, so it's a good idea to do a search on the page afterward for any stray brackets.

* If the article is an episode recap, no spoiler font. The nature of the thing is to give detailed information about the episode. A person who wants both all the details and to not see spoilers is not a person we can help. However, do not add spoilers for future episodes, even under tags. Those go on the later episode pages. {{Foreshadowing}} is a special case -- state only what is doing the foreshadowing, not what is being foreshadowed.

Incidentally, if big blocks of [[spoiler:whited-out text (blacked-out text in Night Vision)]] turning everything into Swiss cheese look needlessly hideous to you, you can set it up so that spoilers are always visible by going to [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/profile.php your profile]] or just by hitting the spoilers switch to the right near the top of the page. You could also check to see if the spoiler text really has anything to do with the trope. [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers If it doesn't, delete it]]. Alternatively, turn on "Night Vision" mode to have the spoilers turn black instead of white.

Incidentally, if big blocks of [[spoiler:whited-out text (blacked-out text in Night Mode)]] turning everything into Swiss cheese look needlessly hideous to you, you can set it up so that spoilers are always visible by going to [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/profile.php your profile]] or just by hitting the spoilers switch to the right near the top of the page. You could also check to see if the spoiler text really has anything to do with the trope. [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers If it doesn't, delete it]]. Alternatively, turn on "Night Vision" mode to have the spoilers turn black instead of white.

Incidentally, if big blocks of [[spoiler:whited-out text]] turning everything into Swiss cheese look needlessly hideous to you, you can set it up so that spoilers are always visible by going to [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/profile.php your profile]] or just by hitting the spoilers switch to the right near the top of the page. You could also check to see if the spoiler text really has anything to do with the trope. [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers If it doesn't, delete it]]. Alternatively, turn on "Night Vision" mode to have the spoilers turn black instead of white.

If you need to remove spoilers for a whole page, you can use the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/strip_spoilers.php?g=Namespace&t=PageName strip spoilers tool]] for that. Be sure to add a warning about unmarked spoilers afterwards.

* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions of the work in question. Spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them. It's good practice to put a warning at the header as a courtesy to your fellow tropers who may be unaware that they are wandering into unmarked territory.

** On that note, when a moment in an earlier episode/installment is made {{Harsher|InHindsight}}, {{Heartwarming|InHindsight}} or HilariousInHindsight, made into a FunnyAneurysmMoment, or [[FridgeBrilliance made more clear]] by a later installment, the respective reaction goes onto the YMMV page for the ''latter'' installment; the elder installment should ''never'' reference the latter for these reactions. If the event in question is made so by events in RealLife, then it still goes on the (eldar) work's YMMV page.

* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions. Spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them.[[note]]It's good practice to put a warning at the header as a courtesy to your fellow tropers who may be unaware that they are wandering into unmarked territory. You should also refrain from spoiling later episodes in examples for earlier episodes.[[/note]]

* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions. Spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them.[[note]]It's good practice to put a warning at the header as a courtesy to your fellow tropers who may be unaware that they are wandering into unmarked territory.[[/note]]

* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions. Spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them. It goes without saying that spoilers should go AFTER the spoiler warning—if there is one— not at the very start of the page or in the page image. That's what warnings are for.

* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions. Spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them.

* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions. Spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them. It goes without saying that spoilers should go AFTER the spoiler warning, not at the very start of the page or in the page image. That's what warnings are for.

* Fridge, Headscratchers, and the various Moments subpages (TearJerker, SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, etc.) are for post-viewing discussions. Spoiler tagging there defeats the purpose of the articles. You shouldn't be going there if you are worried about them.

See also ItWasHisSled and LateArrivalSpoiler. Note that ''Theatre/TheMousetrap'' will '''[[SeriousBusiness never]]''' be on this list because of its unique nature.