User:Jinnai/Wikipe-tan

Wikipe-tan (ウィキペたん) is one of the personifications and an unofficial mascot of Wikipedia. The "-tan" in "Wikipe-tan" is ahypocoristic suffix, in the form of a Japanese honorific. Like the OS-tans, she is a product of moe anthropomorphism.

Wikipe-tan is the mascot character for WikiProject Anime and manga, the Counter-Vandalism Unit, and Admin coaching (in which she is dressed like a stereotypical gym teacher); she was also a contender for the Wikipedia mascot. In addition, Wikimedia Hong Kong uses the images and cosplay of Wikipe-tan as their mascot, during their functions and promotions.

Creation
On January 5, 2006 during the vote for a Wikipedian mascot, an IP user suggested that the Wikipedian mascot should be like the OS-tans. A Japanese Wikipedia user Kasuga drew and posted a image that showed up on the Wikipedia mascot vote. Although Wikipede won the mascot vote, new Wikipe-tan images have been made and see continued use in multiple Wikimedia related pages.

Use on Wikipedia and Wikimedia
In June 2006, Wikipe-tan was made the mascot for the Anime and manga WikiProject after the previous mascot, fan-art image of the title character from Midori Days, was removed from Commons due to copyright problems. Since her first appearance, many users across the entire Wikimedia project have adopted her into their userpages (see Commons usage for each image).

On August 8, 2006, an image of Wikipe-tan was promoted as a featured picture, and it appeared on the main page as the October 2 Picture of the day. On October 29, 2007, the image was delisted and is no longer a featured picture.

Starting in September 2006, Wikipe-tan is also acting as the mascot of the Counter-Vandalism Unit since their previous logo had been removedin February 2006 due to trademark and copyright-related complications. In 2009 a new image replaced Wikipe-tan, however the old logo with Wikipe-tan is still kept on the talk page.

On February 21, 2007 WikiProject Military history began using a Wikipe-tan image, requested to be created with her in a navy uniform for featured articles, to decorate one of their userboxes.

On March 29, 2007 Wikipe-tan was joined by Wikipedia's sister projects' mascots Commons-tan and Quote-tan. Kasuga has stated "...new Wiki-sisters will be designed in the future". However, Kasuga also stated that "...there was no page that needed other sisters' images up to now. I might draw their images if there are pages which need them."

In June 2007, a suggestive image of Wikipe-tan was proposed to be used in the article on lolicon. The image was from Commons by Jimbo Wales, who acknowledged Wikipe-tan as a "community mascot" who should not be subject to such "pedophilic sexualization". Kasuga later drew a new image for the article which did not use Wikipe-tan.

Recepton
Jimbo Wales dislikes Wikipe-tan.

Use outside Wikipedia and Wikimedia organizations

 * A userChrome.css, written by Kylu, is available for Firefox users to add Wikipe-tan in their browsers.
 * games™, a United Kingdom gaming magazine, used an image of Wikipe-tan as an illustration of maid cafés (p 30, Issue 48).
 * On October 12, 2006, Apple Daily ran a short article discussing Wikipe-tan, and how the GFDL license helped her spread across Wikimedia.
 * Two Wikipe-tan cosplayers have been spotted in a cosplay activity at the University of Hong Kong. One of them was later interviewed by the Hong Kong magazine Easy Finder, which erroneously reported that she had been invited by Kasuga and Norwegian "administrator" GunnarRene to become the real-life personification of Wikipe-tan.  The Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily compounded that error, reporting that she had became a representative for Wikipedia.
 * On June 15, 2007, the German newspaper Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten(circulation ca. 31,000) used Wikipe-tan |on the front page as well as next to an article on the variety of manga.
 * In March 2007, the Swedish foreign ministry published a promemoria about Japanese anime and manga, using text and Kasuga's Wikipe-tan image from the Swedish Wikipedia without acknowledgement as required by the GFDL licence. The Swedish media reported this violation in April, and the Chancellor of Justice ruled that the act was a copyright infringement in November.
 * British newspaper The Observer featured a picture of the cropped sailor fuku version of Wikipe-tan in the article "Girl geeks find manga haven" (World, Page 35, 2008-06-01, by Justin McCurry). The article makes no mention of Wikipedia, Wikipe-tan, or the GFDL license.