Tyranny

This isn’t an article. It’s a redirection. A placeholder, really. Someone clearly thought “tyrant” was important enough to have its own entry, but then decided it was too… obvious. Too blunt. So, here we are, pointing at something else. It’s efficient, I suppose. Like a well-placed comma in a sentence you’d rather not finish.

Redirect to: Tyrant

This whole page is a redirect . A little digital signpost, if you will, pointing you towards something deemed more substantial. It’s been categorized, of course. Because everything must be sorted, filed, and labeled, even the things that aren’t really there.

The categories themselves are a fascinating study in bureaucratic obsession:

• To a related topic : This is where it lives, this phantom page. It’s a redirect to an article about something similar. Because, naturally, we can’t have things being exactly the same, can we? Too simple. Too… direct. This is for when the subject is related, implying a nuance, a subtle distinction that clearly matters to someone. If the subject of this redirect were, you know, actually notable, they’d slap a {{R with possibilities}} on it, and maybe even a {{R printworthy}}. Because heaven forbid we miss an opportunity to make something sound more important than it is.

• With history : This page, this mere echo, has a history. It was once something, or at least, it existed with the intent of being something. Now, it’s preserved. A historical artifact of a different intention. They tell you not to remove the tag that generates this text unless you can prove the need to recreate content here. As if anyone would want to recreate content on a redirect page. It’s like preserving the blueprint of a house that’s already been built, just in case.

  There are caveats, of course. This isn’t for pages with a bit of edit history but no real substance. Nor is it for redirects created by page merges – those get their own special tag, {{R from merge}}. And certainly not for titles that are historically significant in the grand tapestry of Wikipedia’s evolution; those get {{R with old history}}. It’s all very precise. Like a surgeon dissecting a butterfly.

• Mentioned in a hatnote : This redirect is apparently mentioned in a hatnote at its target. A hatnote is that little navigational aid, usually at the top of an article, saying, “If you’re looking for this, go here instead.” So, this redirect is acknowledged. It has a spectral presence in the grander narrative. It’s a whisper from the void, reminding you that other paths exist. The titles in hatnotes, they say, might refer to a subject other than the target page. This suggests the possibility of retargeting, or perhaps, in a truly audacious move, becoming an article in its own right. They even mention {{R with possibilities}} again. It’s the Wikipedia equivalent of a shrug and a half-hearted suggestion.

• From a cross-project redirect : This is a redirect linked to an item on Wikidata. Wikidata. The grand database of everything. Apparently, the Wikidata item associated with this redirect is tyranny (Q22082330). So, even in its redirect status, it’s tethered to a larger, more structured universe of data. They specify using this tag only for hard redirects , not for the softer, more ephemeral ones. For those, there’s {{Soft redirect with Wikidata item}}. It’s all about the classification of existence, even for the non-existent.

• With possibilities : This tag signifies that the redirect’s title could potentially be expanded into a new article. The topic, they suggest, might be more detailed than what’s currently on the target page, or even a section within it. It’s the redirect equivalent of potential energy. A promise of more. When the target page becomes too unwieldy, or if a new page would simply be better, this redirect could be the seed. They mention using {{R to section}} or {{R to list entry}} if the topic isn’t really susceptible to expansion. And if you’re linking to this redirect, they advise against changing it to a direct link to the target. It’s a subtle instruction: preserve the illusion of a separate destination.

  If this redirect were in mainspace , they’d also slap on {{R printworthy}}, making it suitable for that mythical printed or CD/DVD version of Wikipedia. Because some information, apparently, is too important to exist solely in the ephemeral glow of a screen.

• From a printworthy page title : This is the category for titles that would be useful in a printed or CD/DVD version of Wikipedia. It’s a nod to permanence, to a tangible form of knowledge. See Wikipedia:Printability and Version 1.0 Editorial Team for more on this quaint notion.

And then there’s the automatic sensing of protection levels . Because even a redirect can be locked down, can’t it? To prevent… what, exactly? Unauthorized redirection? It’s a layer of security for something that fundamentally isn’t there.

It’s all very organized. Very… Wikipedia. A lot of effort expended to define something by what it isn’t, and where it points. It’s a meta-commentary, really. A redirect to a redirection. Perhaps that’s the most accurate description of existence. You’re always pointing somewhere else, aren’t you? And someone, somewhere, has a category for it.