Talk:Dancing Spear Guy

Where in Yoshi's Island DS is the difference between Spear Guy and Dancing Spear Guy made? 13:15, 2 January 2007 (EST)

In the Player's Guide.

How come the article title says Cannibal Guy but it says Dancing Spear Guy in the article itself? 13:57, 14 September 2008 (EDT)

Merge into Spear Guy
They're visually-identical, are in the same games, and the only place they're named differently is a guide (published by which company?). Just because they're dancing doesn't make them a different enemy. If that were true, then the sleeping Piranha Plants in Super Mario 64 would have their own article. Merging this into the main page under "==Dancing Spear Guys==" would keep it all in a clean, more informative place. Redstar 15:39, 2 December 2009 (EST)
 * Then we should merge Paratroopa with Koopa, shouldnt we? I quote, "are a variant of the Spear Guy", therefore, are not the same enemy. -- 15:54, 2 December 2009 (EST)
 * Paratroopas have wings, Koopas can't fly. They're different "sub-species". Spear Guys have the exact same appearance and both are capable of dancing, just one is and one isn't. Redstar 15:58, 2 December 2009 (EST)
 * THis is basically the same as your proposal, so, unless it passes, its a no.
 * Dancing Spear Guys are an entirely different type of enemy appearing in the same game as regular Spear Guys, and they differ from regular Spear Guys in appearance in more than one way, the only real similarity being part of their name (and that isn't even true in at least one non-English language), their mask and the fact they're holding a spear. There is also no evidence that regular Spear Guys would be "capable of dancing" as well, since they never do; there is no way for a Spear Guy to become a Dancing Spear Guy. They shouldn't be merged.--vellidragon 16:12, 2 December 2009 (EST)
 * I own Yoshi's Island, and they're identical. The article does say their appearance was changed for the sequel, which would suggest they wanted to differentiate between the two, but the point is they're a variety of the same species, rather than sub-species. What I meant by "capable of dancing" was that, if we were in their "world", I'm sure they could easily sway their hips and jump around. They're fully capable of doing something that the supposed "Dancing" Spear Guys can. Many enemies in the Mario series sleep and then attack, but we don't divide them as different "Sleeping" and "Lucid" sub-species. Dancing is merely an action one is currently doing, not a factor contributing to an entirely different enemy. Redstar 16:23, 2 December 2009 (EST)
 * Read page's 2 first comments --
 * The animated sprite in the article is from Yoshi's Island, and it's quite clearly not identical to the regular variety. We don't divide sleeping and awake enemies because sleeping enemies can wake up, but non-dancing Spear Guys cannot start dancing. May as well put all kinds of Shy Guys in a single article by your logic because they could change their outfit and attack/movement pattern; fact is that they don't, so they are treated as seperate enemies and have their own article each.--vellidragon 16:38, 2 December 2009 (EST)
 * Dancing Spear Guys and Spear Guys are just sub-species, but that doesn't mean they should be merged because they attack differently, they look different, they move differently, and stuff. I have Yoshis Island and Yoshis Island DS, and I never found them to be similar at all.

@Redstar: Your example is flawed because the sleeping Piranha Plant would have to have an official name to even be considered a separate sub-specie. @Tucayo: Redstar's proposal affects nothing outside of the 8 articles he proposed to be merged, pass or fail.- 16:57, 2 December 2009 (EST)
 * I don't see any difference between the two, excepting for the yellow cloak and the lack of a shield... And the shield could be explained because of the difficulty in animating its movements.


 * @Tucayo: Which player's guide? The one for Yoshi's Island, or Yoshi's Island DS? And which company for each, since both Nintendo and Prima printed a guide for each game. If it's Nintendo, then I'd be more than happy to agree to their statements if its explicit, and not just "These are dancing Spear Guys, that dance." It would have to actually treat them as different enemies, and not just a dancing Spear Guy.


 * @Vellidragon: You don't seem to understand my logic. I in know way want to merge the different Shy Guys into one article because they're all sub-species of the main species, Shy Guy. However, Dancing Spear Guy isn't a sub-species of Shy Guy... it's a variety of Spear Guy. It's a sub of a sub.


 * @Knife: My example wasn't meant to be taken to heart. My point is that if the official, Nintendo, guide suggests they are a different enemy, it's good. But if it just says they dance, then it shouldn't be taken as a differentiation. Also, I removed two of the articles I proposed to be merged from my proposal. You might want to check out which ones those are, and maybe reconsider. Redstar 17:01, 2 December 2009 (EST)


 * @Knife: Wouldnt that be inconsistency then?
 * @Redstar: I dunno, perhaps any will work.
 * My point is that Dancing Spear Guys are sufficiently different from regular Spear Guys to have their own article (in fact, they are clearly described as an entirely different type of Shy Guy in the German strategy guide for Yoshi's Island; it appears to be only the English translation that even calls them "Dancing Spear Guys"); Shy Guys on Stilts have their own article since they are a different type of enemy than regular Shy Guys, why shouldn't Dancing Spear Guys, which are considerably more different from regular Spear Guys than afforementioned Shy Guys on Stilts are from regular Shy Guys, have their own article? The fact they have a different name (which is not being used as an alternative name for the other variety) alone should be enough to classify them as seperate enemies, actually.--vellidragon 17:13, 2 December 2009 (EST)

Just for the record, the names of Spear Guys and Dancing Spear Guys in Japanese are 「ヤリホー」yarihō and 「ヤリヤリダンサー」yariyari dansā, respectively. The former is a portmanteau of 「槍」yari, which means spear, and 「ヘイホー」heihō, which means Shy Guy. The latter is simply "Spearspear Dancer" (This kind of ABAB construction is common in Japanese). Make of it what you will. 22:00, 2 December 2009 (EST)