Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gary Oak

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was keep. Deathphoenix 22:35, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Gary Oak
Is it absurdly ridiculous that we have an article about the grandson of a Pokémon professor, or is this encyclopedic information which makes Wikipedia a more valuable resource? Gary Oak +pokemon returns 313 google hits while his grandfather, Professor Oak returns over 16,500 in contrast. Should this article remain or be deleted? GRider\talk 00:49, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, minor fictious character, pokemon fancruft. Megan1967 01:26, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong Keep. Gary is a major character in the cartoon version of Pokemon. He is the arch-rival of Ash (the main character). See Template:Anime characters. Carrp | Talk 01:33, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Would justifying the existence of an article by referring to a Wikipedia template (Template:Anime characters) be an exercise in circular reasoning? Why or why not?  GRider\talk 18:28, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I don't believe that would circular reasoning. Circular reasoning would be if I justified the Gary Oak article by pointing out the fact that he has an article on Wikipedia. However, what I actually did was to show that Gary is one of the main Pokemon characters. He is the main character's arch-rival and is prominently featured in many plots. There's plenty of Pokecruft on Wikipedia, but Gary isn't part ot it. Carrp | Talk 15:36, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Weak keep. &#9999; Oven Fresh  ²  02:33, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. "Gary + Pokémon" gets over 40,000 Google hits; it seems that the character is rarely referred to by his full name, and anyone anal enough to spell out his full name when using it would likely also remember to put the accent over the e in "Pokémon".  -Sean Curtin 04:17, Feb 25, 2005 (UTC)
 * Invalid search phrase. "Greg +Pokémon" gets over 15,000 Google hits .  For the record, I am not a character in the Pokémon world.  Pulling a random name from a hat, "Dave +Pokémon" receives over 45,000 Google hits; . GRider\talk  18:35, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Non-notable information.  ComCat 09:03, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Has no relevence whatsoever separate from the Pokemon series (i.e. isn't a wider cultural figure in the way that, say, Darth Vader or Hannibal Lecter are). Personally, I'd rather redirect to Oregon white oak, which is also known as the Garry oak and will be of longer significance. Average Earthman 11:08, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment - I'm undecided about this, but this isn't some random character, it's the main antagonist in the series so basically every other character except Ash Ketchum is less notable than him and would have to go if he went. DopefishJustin (&#12539;&#8704;&#12539;) 08:50, Feb 26, 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong Keep - Gary Oak is the nemesis of the main character in the Pokemon anime series, and has been in it for some 9 years now, has 198,000 google hits. To be replaced with an article about an obscure type of tree? Don't make me laugh. Oregon white oak should not have an article to itself anyway. Wikipedia is not an encyclopedia of trees. Trip: The Light Fantastic 15:49, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Very Strong Keep - Gary is one of the core (semi)regular characters in Pokémon, both at the start and end of the series. Furthermore, he is very important in terms of the story. kelvSYC 17:55, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)


 * Keep - the character is more important to the series than the aformentioned grandfather. Not that I watch Pokeman... --BD2412 20:45, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep - the character has had an important role in the series for a long time and is also represented in some of the franchise's video games as the game's main rival.Sinistro 00:14, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep - give a disambiguation line at the top for the Oregon White Oak. Why shouldn't Wikipedia have trees in it? Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy)  07:03, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Googling for "Gary Oak" + pokémon gets over 7,000 hits. Bart133 (t) 01:49, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Non-notable fancruft.  Just becasue something that is popular among one segment of the population of the world and can therefore show many google hits does not make it notable.  In fact, I would imagine that 7,000 hits is a very low total for a pokemon topic. Indrian 04:36, Mar 1, 2005 (UTC)
 * That's likely because his last name is rarely used. Since "Gary" is a common name, a search for "Gary" + pokemon will result in too many unrelated hits. Carrp | Talk 12:52, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep: I cannot believe this. -- unsigned comment by 64.172.25.87, whose second edit this vote is.
 * Keep. The Recycling Troll 09:40, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * 'Strong keepp.  I do not watch Pokemon but I know that this person is very important! 67.110.225.100 17:20, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.