Talk:Dalek Time Commander

Rename

If PROSE: Mission to the Known does indeed refer to it as the Dalek Time Commander, I think we should refer to it as such. It's a more specific name than just Time Commander, and supposedly is used in an actual story. As I don't own Mission to the Known, however, it would be nice if somebody could properly verify this. CyberFoundries900 ☎ 17:59, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Agreed, and yes it is used in the actual story. Not as frequently as "Time Commander" though. Danochy ☎ 21:06, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for verifying the name. Although Time Commander is definitely used more than Dalek Time Commander, I'd opt for the latter as it's specifically referring to a Dalek and not potentially some other species. It's like how the page on Dalek Time Strategist (The Shadow Vortex) uses Dalek Time Strategist even though said Dalek is more often just called the Time Strategist. The full name, even if used less often, is more accurate and has an in-universe use. The same logic applies to the Time Commander. CyberFoundries900 ☎ 21:17, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

To play Devil's advocate — is "Dalek" really part of the full name, or is it more of a "demonym"? We have President (Death Comes to Time), not American President (Death Comes to Time), and I imagine we still would name the page like that even if he was described as "the American President" in dialogue, absent need for dabbing. Scrooge MacDuck ☎ 22:34, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

What indicates to you that the "Dalek" in Dalek Time Commander is a demonym? If we start assuming that all uses of the word "Dalek" in the names of individual Daleks are just as demonyms, and should therefore be removed, we get left with names such as Time Controller rather than Dalek Time Controller, or Strategist (New Dalek Paradigm) over Dalek Strategist (New Dalek Paradigm). We get names that end up being unnecessarily vague as to who they're referring to. If we are to call the aforementioned pages as they currently are, with specific use of the word Dalek in their names (as I believe they should be), I believe that rule should apply to all individual Daleks, so long as they are referred to with the word Dalek in their name in an in-universe source. An example of when we wouldn't use the word Dalek in an individual Dalek's name would be Overseer (Planet of the Ogrons), as said Dalek is never referred to as Dalek Overseer in its sole appearance - just "Overseer".

Therefore I see no reason to view the word "Dalek" as a demonym when used as part of an individual Dalek's title. This includes the Time Commander - if it’s explicitly referred to as the "Dalek Time Commander" and not indirectly, such as in a sentence like "the Time Commander was a Dalek", then I believe it's page name should be "Dalek Time Commander" and not "Time Commander". Also, if we are referring to the other Daleks in the Dalek Time Squad as Dalek Prime Strategist or Dalek Executioner (The Guide to the Dark Times), which the Time Commander is also a part of, then there's no need to be explicitly vague with the Time Commander's page name. CyberFoundries900 ☎ 23:19, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

As I said, I was only playing Devil's advocate; I'm not actually personally against the rename, but merely ensuring that every point is looked over and the decision is taken with all possible precaution. Renames of recurring characters are a pain; best to be very sure of what we're going with while this guy's appearances list is still relatively small.

Hence, still in the same spirit, my answer to your counterarguments: the Time Commander is a unique individual; his name needn't be treated the same way as the titles of various Dalek variants. I would point to Emperor of the Restoration and (although it has, of course, now been merged) to Golden Emperor as precedents for unique Daleks' "title-used-as-name" not necessarily having "Dalek" in them. Scrooge MacDuck ☎ 23:26, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

When it comes to pages on unique Daleks that lack the word "Dalek" in their names, I believe that it's best to use a unique title used in-universe to refer to that Dalek, as it's more distinctive than naming that Dalek by its rank, followed by its debut story. Hence why I believe that Emperor of the Restoration is a better name for said Dalek Emperor, rather than something like Dalek Emperor (Defender of the Daleks), or any other title that uses the Dalek's rank and a story in brackets. If we have a non-nickname, in-universe name for it, we can ignore the absence of "Dalek" in its name.

However, if, let's say, in a later in-universe story, the Emperor of the Restoration is referred to as the Dalek Emperor of the Restoration, I believe that the page's name should be changed to reflect such a development. I believe page names should be as accurate as possible, so if a page on a Dalek has a name that lacks the word "Dalek" in it, it should be kept as such unless, in a future story, the word Dalek is featured in its full name. The Time Commander's current name was the most accurate name for a few months, as, as far as I can tell, no in-universe source referred to it by a full title beyond Time Commander, but now that we do have an in-universe source that explicitly refers to it as the Dalek Time Commander (that being PROSE: Mission to the Known), I believe that the inclusion of the word "Dalek" is necessary in its page name, as page names incorporate full titles so long as they're used in-universe. CyberFoundries900 ☎ 12:41, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Fair enough. I think we've given this a fair shake and will now perform the rename.

Note however that Dalek Emperor (Defender of the Daleks), while we have retained it as a redirect, was never really an option. We had no choice but to go with an individualised in-universe name, because due to a continuity snarl worthy of "who is the Valeyard anyway?", there is some amount of doubt on whether this Emperor should be considered to have debuted in PROSE: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe or in TV: The Parting of the Ways — but he definitely didn't actually debut in Defender. Scrooge MacDuck ☎ 15:23, 7 December 2020 (UTC)