Dungeon Crawler Carl Wiki is an independent fan reference. Its purpose is to help readers locate, compare, and understand information about the novels and their adaptations without presenting fan inference as confirmed canon or reproducing the books in place of reading them. This policy defines which sources support which claims, how editions and adaptations are separated, how spoilers are labeled, and what happens when the archive cannot verify a detail.
The policy applies to character, chapter, timeline, mechanics, item, monster, organization, adaptation, and editorial pages. It also applies to captions, infoboxes, navigation labels, search descriptions, and structured data. A short field can mislead as easily as a paragraph, so every public claim needs an appropriate evidence class.
The archive uses separate canon tracks rather than forcing every source into one continuity.
Novel canon covers the published main-series novels by Matt Dinniman. When a page says an event happens in the story without another qualifier, it should refer to this track. Later revelations may reframe an earlier scene, but the earlier character point of view remains part of the record.
Audio performance covers narration, sound design, production choices, and audio-exclusive presentation. Performance can clarify pronunciation or distinguish voices, but it does not silently rewrite novel events. Any substantive audio-only addition should be labeled.
Comic and screen adaptations are their own continuities. Casting, design, episode structure, and adapted scenes belong on adaptation pages. A change made for another medium must not be inserted into a novel character biography as though it occurred in the books.
Publishing and production history covers editions, covers, release dates, rights announcements, studios, platforms, and public development status. These are real-world facts, not events inside the Dungeon Crawler Carl universe.
Site editorial material covers policy, navigation, contributor guidance, and maintenance. It describes this archive and never establishes story canon.
For novel-canon claims, the strongest source is the relevant published novel in a legitimate edition. A chapter locator is preferred. When pagination varies between print, ebook, and audio, chapter and scene context are more stable than page number.
Official author, publisher, audiobook producer, studio, retailer, or platform statements are primary for their own announcements. Use the organization closest to the fact: a publisher for an edition date, an audio producer for cast information, and a studio or rights holder for an adaptation status.
Reputable reporting may document public industry news when it identifies sources and publication dates. It remains secondary. Fan wikis, social posts, forums, retailer metadata, search snippets, and automated summaries may help locate a lead, but they do not by themselves establish a disputed canon detail.
- Explicit: directly stated or unambiguously shown in the cited source.
- Demonstrated: inferred from an observed result, such as a spell blocking one attack type in a specific scene.
- Character report: asserted by a character who may be mistaken, deceptive, or working with incomplete information.
- System report: supplied by the dungeon interface, AI, or an item description. This is evidence inside the story but can contain jokes, manipulation, or selective wording.
- Editorial inference: a conclusion drawn by comparing confirmed facts. It must be signaled with language such as "suggests" or "appears."
- Unresolved: plausible but not verified strongly enough for a declarative claim.
These labels are especially important for Agatha, the AI, Valtay control, NPC memory, item status, and faction motives. The series frequently delays the difference between appearance and explanation.
Every content page should have one of four scopes.
Book-specific pages may discuss the named volume through its end. They should not reveal later consequences in the lead.
Chapter-specific pages may discuss that chapter and earlier material. Later callbacks belong in a clearly marked section or a separate page.
Mixed pages begin with the earliest safe context and divide later developments under book-labeled headings.
Full-series pages may compare all covered volumes. Their title and opening note must make that clear before any spoiler appears.
Adaptation news receives a date scope rather than a book scope because development status changes over time.
The first paragraph should define the subject using the earliest information necessary. It should not reveal a death, hidden identity, final allegiance, later class, or faction outcome merely because the editor already knows it. Place consequential later facts under headings that name the relevant book or say "Later-series spoilers."
Link text can spoil. Avoid using a late identity as the visible label on a Book 1 page. Navigation cards, related-page lists, image alt text, and meta descriptions follow the same rule as prose.
Articles use original summary, organization, and analysis. Do not reproduce long notifications, item descriptions, dialogue exchanges, chapter passages, audiobook transcripts, or song lyrics. Short names and brief identifiers may be necessary to discuss an achievement, spell, or item. Surrounding mechanics and events should be paraphrased.
Quotation is reserved for wording whose exact form is itself the subject, such as a disputed title, and should remain brief. A citation does not make extended copying acceptable. The wiki is a reference to the novels, not a substitute edition.
When print, ebook, audiobook, or revised editions differ, record the variation without declaring one reader's copy defective. Prefer stable locators such as book, chapter, and nearby event. Exact statistics or spelling variants should include an edition note when the difference affects interpretation.
Do not merge values from two editions into a synthetic description. If the current edition changes an item effect, retain the historical note only when it is useful and clearly labeled.
System descriptions establish intended rules; scenes establish demonstrated behavior. Both matter. A spell page should distinguish its stated effect from what happens under unusual geometry. A monster page should distinguish an interface weakness from a tactic that succeeds once. A gear page should separate ownership, equip status, and activation.
One absence is not a rule. If an item is not mentioned in a later fight, the archive should not claim it was lost. If a character does not use a spell, do not infer that the spell was unavailable unless the text explains why.
Timelines should preserve sequence before interpretation. Use chapter order, explicit countdowns, floor-collapse notices, and travel statements. Relative phrases such as "the next morning" can be recorded, but converting them to a calendar date requires an anchored chronology.
When simultaneous groups are shown in separate scenes, label the order as narrative order unless the novel confirms exact simultaneity.
Retrospective pages may explain a mystery, but chapter pages should preserve what the viewpoint character knew then. Agatha's early appearances, the nature of NPCs, and the AI's intentions are all damaged by retroactive certainty. A later reveal belongs in a separate subsection linked back to the original clue.
Character statements should not be converted into omniscient fact when the speaker has a reason to lie, perform, or speculate. This includes managers, administrators, gods, sponsors, and the AI.
Use dated official announcements whenever available. Record exactly what was announced, by whom, and when. "In development," "optioned," "ordered," "cast," and "released" are different statuses. Do not upgrade one to another through optimistic language.
News reports may summarize negotiations or industry context, but rumors and unattributed reposts stay out of factual fields. If a status becomes outdated, update the current summary and retain a dated history when useful.
If evidence conflicts, narrow the sentence to what both sources support. If that is impossible, present the alternatives with their source and edition. Do not choose the version that creates a cleaner narrative merely for convenience.
Unverified claims can remain in private research notes. Public pages should not use vague phrases such as "it is known" to hide the lack of a locator. A page may explicitly say a question remains unanswered.
A correction request should include the page URL, disputed sentence or field, proposed correction, source type, and a short locator. Editors reproduce the check independently, review linked pages that may contain the same error, and record the correction date for material changes.
Corrections should fix the claim rather than blame the contributor. Good-faith disagreement about interpretation is resolved by stronger sourcing and clearer labels.
Cover art, adaptation stills, promotional images, and fan-created graphics must be labeled by source and continuity. An adaptation portrait should not silently illustrate a novel-only physical claim. Captions require the same spoiler and evidence review as body text.
Search, transcription, drafting, and comparison tools may assist the editorial process. Their output is not a source. Every factual claim must still trace to the novels or an appropriate official/public reference. Automated text can conflate characters, invent statistics, and smooth uncertainty into false confidence, so publication requires human review against evidence.
Last substantive review: 2026-10-20. Related pages include Editorial Policy, Editorial Program, Copyright, Reader Path Full-Series Story Guide, and Adaptation Media Index.