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Should we allow comparison of anime characters here? For example, "Which character is better? Character X or Character Y?" Like,

Light Yagami (Death Note) VS. Lelouch Vi Britannia

Others might ask something like that or put them (characters that are being compared) into a situation where they will have a fight or something. Or ask something of others' opinion of who's better. Or they might ask of their differences and similarities.

Should we allow questions like that?

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  • Do you have any examples of these questions? Your hypothetical sounds blatantly non constructive, but a real live question always helps. – Shog9 Dec 18 '12 at 1:35
  • I would just like to confirm if comparison-type of questions should be allowed, like on the example I've given. Though I personally disagree to allow these type of questions since it will arise speculations and opinions from an individual and not from a solid fact from the story itself. An example, "Who is smarter, Light Yagami (Death Note) or Lelouch Vi Britannia (Code Geass)?" That would only trigger user's opinions and answers won't end and there would be no "real answer" for it. – xjshiya Dec 18 '12 at 1:44
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    You should read this: blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/08/gorilla-vs-shark – Shog9 Dec 18 '12 at 1:45
  • Agreed to that. I just asked for confirmation. – xjshiya Dec 18 '12 at 1:48
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Not in the sense that you mean. "If X and Y fought, who would win?" is subjective, argumentative, and pointless.

There is are a few "compare these characters" questions that are allowed, but they take a slightly different form from what you've offered.

Theme based:

How do each of the transformations in Ranma 1/2 reflect the characters who have them? (or pick any two and compare)

"Character Fight" where we have some evidence:

Looking at the record of the game, how much stronger WAS Sai than Akira Toya, at the beginning of the Hikaru no Go anime?

Character Inspiration/Knockoff:

Moving from Cloud Captor Sakura to Tsubasa Chronicles, how would you compare Shouran/Sakura/their relationship?

The last one is the only one I would say is questionable due to being subjective, but simply making it a bit more specific would redeem the question.

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No

Asking who is better in some situation is subjective and will lead to arguments for which there is no answer. It's maybe a borderline case if both characters are from the same series, but even then I'm opposed to it unless there's a good reason why we'd expect there to be a definitive answer.

Asking about differences and similarities should also not be allowed. The only exception I would make is if one character is directly based on another, and even then I don't think these make good questions most of the time.

As per the FAQ, questions here should be practical and answerable. This sort of comparison is neither (except in a few exceptional cases), and so we should not allow such questions.

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  • Can you give an example of some of "few exceptional cases" that can be considered with regards to comparison-type of questions? – xjshiya Dec 18 '12 at 1:29
  • @xjshiya I honestly can't think of any that are anime-related, though there probably are some. Shog9's link is a good explanation for why these types of questions typically aren't good for a Q&A format. – Logan M Dec 18 '12 at 1:50
  • It would always depend on the question's construction. Thanks for the clarifications. – xjshiya Dec 18 '12 at 1:53

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