Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Horta (Star Trek)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   redirect to The Devil in the Dark with no prejudice against restoring the full article if additional information is added or sources found (non-admin closure) Ron Ritzman (talk) 00:27, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

Horta (Star Trek)

 * ( [ delete] ) – (View AfD) (View log)

An enemy of one Star Trek episode. While I agree that Klingons and Vulcans and such should have articles of their own, the Horta never really got past "alien menace of the week" status. As far as content goes, the article doesn't get anymore in depth about the Horta than the episode's article, which makes the Horta article redundant. Furthermore, no real world perspective present anywhere in the article and unsourced. Suitable for Memory Alpha, but not Wikipedia. Atlan (talk) 19:33, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Update: User:A Nobody has since added some sourced real word perspective to the article so I struck that sentence from my nomination.--Atlan (talk) 09:54, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Redirect to The Devil in the Dark. --EEMIV (talk) 19:57, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Redirect - Not notable enough for its own article. §FreeRangeFrog 20:23, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Merge/Redirect to List of Star Trek races, which can link to The Devil in the Dark. Agree that the species is not notable enough for its own stand-alone article.  Baileypalblue (talk) 20:25, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Redirect - to List of Star Trek races sounds best to me, since it's more in keeping with summary style. -- Explodicle (T/C) 20:28, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * A Nobody's out-of-universe context is worth keeping, so I think a merge to The Devil in the Dark makes the most sense for now. Not really enough content for a whole article, though. -- Explodicle (T/C) 14:53, 17 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Redirect to The Devil in the Dark; as far as I know there's no other (canon) information about the species besides what is discussed there, and any real-world info is best put into the production of the episode. -- Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs ( talk ) 22:26, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete as fancruft and unlikely search term. Hello, My Name Is SithMAN8 (talk) 23:26, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Redirect to The Devil in the Dark. This article got 2314 hits last month, so that's not an "unlikely search term". --B (talk) 23:31, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I think that's because the auto-complete function of the find box now comes with existing suggestions, instead of things you've looked for before. It makes redirects with words in parentheses much more likely to be found through the find function.--Atlan (talk) 07:00, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * The redirect inclusion guideline specifies that as long as someone finds it useful, that's enough. We don't need any number of hits. -- Explodicle (T/C) 14:59, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Merge - Peregrine Fisher (talk) (contribs) 08:16, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * There are 2 suggested places to redirect/merge to. Could you state your preference?--Atlan (talk) 09:20, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Strong keep. While this species was introduced in The Devil in the Dark, it has also appeared in other Star Trek media, including a major character in a series of novels by Diane Duane and a few other isolated characters scattered throughout the available media. A merge to that location is therefore inappropriate, as it would be irrelevant to discuss these additional works in that article.  That these are not considered by Star Trek fans to be "canon" does not prevent their discussion here.  Article meets all guidelines in terms of having reliable independent sources that comment upon both the plot-related aspects as well as real-world related aspects of the subject.  Plus, this fictional species is well-known as being one of the first widely documented descriptions of a species that is not based upon carbon chemistry. JulesH (talk) 14:26, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * "Plus, this fictional species is well-known as being one of the first widely documented descriptions of a species that is not based upon carbon chemistry." Protonk (talk) 02:06, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't have a good source to hand, but might find time to look for one later. For now, consider the fact that it is the first item listed in alternative biochemistry that comes from a TV or film source.  The authors of that page clearly considered it important. JulesH (talk) 08:33, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * So? That's another Wikipedia article. Wikipedia is riddled with crappy fanboy "in popular culture" and "in fiction" sections. Notice how poorly sourced that section of the article is.--Atlan (talk) 10:47, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * So then it isn't "widely documented." For one I'd be pretty surprised if the Horta were anywhere near the first appearance of a non-carbon based species in sci-fi. Protonk (talk) 14:35, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Merge to The Devil in the Dark unless we can find some reliable sources which cover the subject in significant detail. By reliable sources I mean non-fictional sources.  That they appear in Star Trek Novels (canon or not) isn't something that helps us write an article free from UNDUE weight and original research. Protonk (talk) 02:10, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * No, but it does mean a merge to just one of the media that contain this species is totally inappropriate, as it would mean having to discuss Duane's series of novels on a page about a TV episode, which is nonsensical. The only merge that makes any sense is into the list of star trek races.  JulesH (talk) 08:33, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Well that's the point of this afd. If I thought the Horta was notable enough to be discussed as a species, instead of as part of an episode's plot, I wouldn't have listed. Besides, don't the novels have articles themselves? Who says we can't merge any pertinent information there?--Atlan (talk) 10:47, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Who says we have to discuss the novels on the page? Here's an idea, we could just write a blurb about the horta on whatever page those novels have right now and then merge the content in the Horta page to the episode they appear in. Protonk (talk) 14:35, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Science fiction-related deletion discussions.   -- • Gene93k (talk) 21:17, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Merge and/or redirect to The Devil in the Dark. I have yet to see a one-off TV monster that can't be covered in the article of the episode it appeared in. – sgeureka t•c 20:38, 19 February 2009 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.