Wikipedia:WikiGryphon

The WikiGryphon, or WikiGriff, is a mythical WikiBeast that is a type of gryphon, with the head, talons, and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. Known as the "guardian of treasures; protector from evil, witchcraft and secret slander", WikiGryphons are beasts with a dual mission: their protective instincts guide them to soar first in one direction to collect and safeguard their treasures, then in another, to take other WikiFauna under their wing. As with WikiDragons, WikiGryphons can be powerful when collecting treasures and placing them appropriately, and tenacious when annoying vermin encroach upon their aeries. In contrast to the dragon, however, WikiGryphons are very noble and courteous and are surprisingly patient with newcomers, welcoming them if they've made a good edit and chiding them gently for making bad ones.

Due to their protective instincts, they will not tolerate Vandals and WikiTrolls or other besieging warriors, and won't hesitate to dive-bomb and drop boulders on them. In fact, WikiGryphons regularly hunt these creatures no matter where they are and frequently use them as an excuse to travel out of their aeries. Like WikiOtters, WikiGryphons are very friendly and love helping new users and are devoted to guiding them and setting them on the right track (if they aren't already). While WikiGryphons don't snap as easily as WikiOtters, they're definitely not pushovers as they can knock a bullying user to next week with a swipe of a talon. Aside from these principal traits, WikiGryphons are behavioral amalgamations of other benevolent WikiFauna and can have any combination of their behaviors.

Behavior
WikiGriffs generally work alone but occasionally band together – sometimes with each other, sometimes with other WikiFauna – to hunt down vandals and WikiTrolls and improve Wikipedia in every other way. Despite their seemingly aloof attitudes, WikiGryphons are very sociable, provided they are not provoked and/or catch vandals in the act. Edits and vandals aside, they are quite laid-back (though not as much as WikiSloths). They are very tolerant and accepting of all other good-spirited WikiFauna, including the much persecuted WikiDragons, and will even stand up and protect new users being attacked by the WikiVampire. While there may be a few rather short-tempered individuals, WikiGryphons are usually very civil and would never willingly vandalize pages.

The editing habits of WikiGryphons varies between individuals. Some are content to correct typos and faulty grammar in their aeries and occasionally remove a vandal while others are devoted vandal hunters, regularly prowling through the Canyon of Recent Changes and carefully observing the recently edited articles passing through. If a WikiGriff sees vandalism in an article, it will immediately swoop down upon it and revert it to its unvandalized state. If the WikiGryphon judges the edit to be actual vandalism instead of a good faith edit, it will track down the vandal and drop a warning stone on the vandal's talk page. However, the editing behaviors of WikiGryphons are not set in black and white and can be much more varied as the section below explains.

Species mimicry
One distinguishing trait of WikiGryphons is their ability to instantly mimic the editing habits of other benevolent WikiFauna. For example, if an article needs cleanup, they will shift to WikiGnome-like behavior; if giant, bold edits are needed, they can become as large as WikiDragons to carry out the task; and if a user needs the aid of a WikiOtter but can't quite find one, a WikiGryphon can do the job just as well. These are just some of the manifold opportunities for WikiGriffs; for this reason, they can be described as a sort of "jack-of-all-trades" or "the Swiss Army knives" of Wikipedia.

Relationship with WikiPlatypi
Because of the fact that the behaviors of both WikiGriffs and WikiPlatypi are amalgamations of other WikiFauna, there is a theory that they are actually related; "kindred spirits" as one WikiPlatypus put it. However, the reasons for such behavior are vastly different. While WikiPlatypi do so because they simply cannot settle on which of the other WikiFauna they want to be (or fully identify with), WikiGryphons do so in order to adapt to a current situation.

Population
It is unknown how many WikiGryphons are out there due to the IUCN not doing a census yet. The IUCN says they will start a census in the future. It is thought that it is plentiful due to its positive nature.

Self identification
WikiGryphons may identify themselves by simply proclaiming it on their userpage. They can also use a spiffy userbox:


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Another way is with a top icon:
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 * Night Griffan.jpg
 * Wiki gryphon.svg
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 * Wiki gryphon.svg
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