L5r: Legend of the Five Rings Wiki
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Manual of Style

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Source conflicts

Because of the nature of Legend of the Five Rings, factual conflicts often arise in the details of various parts of the story. Sometimes, the story team decided to go a different direction than those before them, sometimes the facts are changed to try to create a better overall storyline, and sometimes -- due to the sheer volume of information from the storyline -- even members of the story team simply miss details. Because of this, conflicts will continue to arise. There are several different ways to handle these issues.

Methods of choice[]

Preferred method: Both are correct[]

If possible, both sets of facts should be treated as correct. For the case of Tenjin and Tengen, this is a very simple matter. For the case of the dual Tsi family origin, this is a more complicated method, but still the optimal solution.

Next-best method: Logical deduction[]

When the two cases cannot both be correct, use logic to determine what the truth must be. For Isawa Tsuke, this was a simple matter of recognizing that the text simply did not describe a Guardsman (a case of one source conflicting against itself). For the Shimizu family, however, it was not so obvious that the source was conflicting itself until it was contrasted against the second source; once the difference was clear, then the logical conclusion was also clear.

Last resort: Oldest is correct[]

Unlike game mechanics, where the most recent printing of a rule is considered valid, here, the oldest printed fact is considered accurate until proven otherwise. Because of the potential for the current writers to miss information and because of the nature of this wiki as a preservation of storyline detail, not game mechanics, the oldest facts are given precedence over newer revisions, such as with Isawa Taiko.

The rabble[]

On the other hand, if a fact is specifically, purposefully, and officially changed, it should be changed here as well. References should still be given for both versions of facts, to track the possible questions and answers. This will happen rarely, as the story team generally has great respect for the previously established facts, but it does happen. One instance is the Toritaka family, which is almost universally noted as being absorbed into the Crab in 1129, but has recently had that date changed to 1125.

The novels[]

The L5R novels are not considered canon and should never be used as primary sources. If anything in one of the novels contradicts a point in any official publication, the information in the novel is considered in error. That said, for events already established by the canon storyline that also appear in the novels, information from the novels may be used to support or flesh out the canon storyline information. keep in mind, however, that this information is generally still suspect and should be considered with care.

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