8

Any objections if we just get rid of ?

A new question today used it and I see it now has a whopping 3 questions, one closed. Two use and one uses

It seems redundant to me and should be under . (Occasionally or might work better, or they could be combined with )

Any interest in keeping as a synonym of ? My inclination is not to but it would keep people from recreating this unneeded tag.

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    horror and fantasy are genre tags; at a glance, monsters seems not, to me (it seems more a story element). So while it's certainly a valid question whether we should have monsters at all, they are not quite in the same category in my book. – a CVn♦ May 23 at 15:33
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    @aCVn I hear you. Pretty much every question about monsters though will, or should, have a horror tag (the rare exceptions will have another genre tag). I can't really think of any question about monsters that wouldn't (aside from the colloquial use of "monster"). – Cyn♦ May 23 at 15:45
  • Do serial-killers fall into the monster category? What do you expect to talk about when you ask about monsters? Btw, I am 100% in favor of removing tags. Following aCVn: monsters could be a sub-category of story-element, maybe. – NofP May 23 at 23:42
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    @NofP Monsters can mean a horror/fantasy being or they can mean bad people/villains. Not both in one tag please. So far, this monsters tag has been the former. We already have antagonists which covers villains. – Cyn♦ May 23 at 23:55
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    @NofP Unfortunately, there is no way (that I am aware of) within the Stack Exchange ecosystem of having "subtags" or tag hierarchies. It would be a really useful feature for sites like Writing, though. – a CVn♦ May 24 at 7:49
12

Add a wiki and keep the tag

Not being a popular tag should not be ground for deletion. The three question that use it are clearly related and no other tag would aptly describe how or why they are related. Additionally there at 66 questions that use the word monster but don't have the tag. I'm sure at least some of them would benefit from it.

Here is a suggestion for the usage guidance:

For questions about things that go bump in the night. Questions about real or imaginary monstrous creature, how to describe them or incorporate them into works of fiction.

And a tag wiki:

Monsters are a staple of the and genres, but also appear in 's literature and various other works. From the monster under the bed to the bogeyman, this tag covers any creature that could be described as a monster.

Questions with this tag should focus on the elements of including a monster in a story, or the physical description of monsters. Questions about creating monsters are off-topic. Some example questions:

  • How can I make the monsters in my children's story less scary?

  • How do I make a monstrous character relatable?

  • What are the advantages of keeping the monster unnamed in a horror story?

Related tags:

From those suggestions you should be able to see what I think this tag should be used for. I can see a clear use-case and don't think it needs to be removed.

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    You make a good case. If we keep it then I think your wiki is fantastic. And you're right, there are a lot of questions out there. Maybe it is a useful tag... – Cyn♦ May 24 at 3:56
  • @Cyn I have made this tag wiki suggestion now. – linksassin May 24 at 4:43
  • I approved the edit but I think it's like other edits, that it takes two people. – Cyn♦ May 24 at 4:47
  • I agree with linksassin, the tag could be useful. @Cyn, I went ahead and approved the edits. – Liquid May 24 at 9:22
  • +1 Put it this way I agree with linkassassin. Also great wiki entry. – NofP May 24 at 13:18
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    I honestly wasn't convinced at all, until I saw the wiki proposal. Now I am. – Cyn♦ May 24 at 14:24
  • And I found one typo in the approved wiki and fixed it (creature --> creatures). If I'm wrong, speak up. – Cyn♦ May 24 at 14:26

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