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Wikipedia:Wikipe-tan

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Wikipe-tan
First appearance
Futaba Channel (January 8, 2006)
Created byKasuga[a]
Based onMoe anthropomorphism of Wikipedia
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman
GenderFemale
FamilyCommons-tan (sister)
Wikiquote-tan (sister)

Wikipe-tan (Japanese: ウィキペたん; pronounced [wikipeꜜtan]) is a personification of Wikipedia created in January 2006 by Japanese editor Kasuga.[a] She[1] is an unofficial mascot of Wikipedia and is used at several WikiProjects. The -tan in "Wikipe-tan" is a hypocoristic suffix, in the form of a Japanese honorific. Like the OS-tans, she is a product of moe anthropomorphism.

Background

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Wikipe-tan's initial design

The general idea for a "Wikipe-tan" mascot was posted on January 5, 2006, by the anonymous Taiwanese IP address 192.192.170.2, who suggested a mascot "just like OS-tan" on the Wikipedia mascot vote.[2] Japanese Wikipedia user Kasuga drew at least two images of a "Wikipe-tan" character and posted them on the Futaba Channel's /q/ oekaki board on January 8; the thread was linked from the mascot discussion on January 13,[3] and two of the images were uploaded to Commons and added directly to the discussion on January 18.[4]

Kasuga has stated that when designing Wikipe-tan and, later, her sisters, he kept two things in mind: Fujiko F Fujio's advice that a good character design should have a distinctive silhouette, and an observation by Scott McCloud in his Understanding Comics that golden age comic book artists gave each character symbolic color charts.[5]

On March 29, 2007, Wikipe-tan was joined by the moe anthropomorphisms for Wikipedia's sister projects, Commons-tan and Quote-tan. Kasuga has stated "...new Wiki-sisters will be designed in the future". However, Kasuga also stated that "there was no page that needed other sisters' images up to now. I might draw their images if there are pages which need them."

Although Wikipede received more support in the mascot vote, new Wikipe-tan images were made and saw continued use. Jimbo Wales described Wikipe-tan as a community mascot in 2007,[6] though he has since noted that he personally dislikes the character.[7]

Wikipe-tan is the mascot character for WikiProject Anime and manga and WikiProject Holidays' Christmas task force; she was also the mascot for Admin coaching, the Counter-Vandalism Unit, and a contender for an official Wikipedia mascot. In addition, Wikimedia Hong Kong uses Wikipe-tan images and her cosplay during functions and promotions. Wikimedia Malaysia has also used art of the character in their social media posts on Instagram.[8] Wikipe-tan has occasionally been treated as a mascot for Wikipedia or its community in news reports.

Character

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Appearance

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The normal and adult designs of Wikipe-tan

Wikipe-tan is usually depicted as a fair-skinned girl with teal twintails held with two jigsaw puzzle piece-shaped hair ties. Her most common outfit is a dark blue maid dress, with a white apron tied in a bow and a collar with a puzzle piece pin on it. She wears tights that are the same color as her dress, originally without shoes, though she was given dark brown slip-ons in later drawings. Wikipe-tan was also given an adult design, with a stylized wolf cut and brown tights.

The puzzle pieces worn by the character are similar to some of the pieces in the Wikipedia logo:

  • she wears a puzzle piece on her collar with the symbol "ワィ", which is a misspelling of the katakana "ウィ", the first syllable of the Japanese katakana transliteration of "Wikipedia" present in the Wikipedia logo's previous version).
  • 祖 is a kanji character apparently changed from the logo's 袓, the latter being a Chinese character not used in Japanese.[9]
  • Ω is a letter from the Greek alphabet.

The most up-to-date picture by Kasuga[which?] shows her wearing the characters 維 (being the first character of Wikipedia's Chinese name) and the correct Japanese katakana ウィ from the current Wikipedia logo.

Personality

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While there is little canon dialogue, Wikipe-tan is generally depicted as being amiable and eager to share knowledge, even to a fault.

Timeline

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The three current Wikimedia sisters (from left to right): Commons-tan, Wikipe-tan, and Quote-tan.
  • January 5, 2006 — An IP user suggests the name.
  • May 31, 2006 — A userscript userChrome.css is written and made available by Kylu, allowing users to add Wikipe-tan to their Firefox browser. However, Firefox has changed the format of their user interface chrome system since then.[10]
  • June 2006 — Wikipe-tan is made the mascot for the Anime and manga WikiProject after the previous mascot, a fan-art image of the title character from Midori Days, was removed from Commons due to copyright problems. Since her first appearance, many users across the entire Wikimedia project have placed images of her on their userpages (see Commons usage for each image).
  • June 2006 — issue 48 of games™, a United Kingdom gaming magazine, used an image of Wikipe-tan on page 30 as an illustration of maid cafés.[11]
  • August 2006 — Two Wikipe-tan cosplayers participate in a cosplay activity at the University of Hong Kong. One of them was later interviewed by the Hong Kong magazine Easy Finder, which erroneously reported that she had been invited by Kasuga and Norwegian "administrator" GunnarRene to become the real-life personification of Wikipe-tan.[12][13]
  • August 9, 2006 — An image of Wikipe-tan is promoted as a featured picture, and it appeared on the main page as the October 2 Picture of the day.
  • September 2006[14] — Wikipe-tan is adopted as the mascot of the Counter-Vandalism Unit since their previous logo had been removed[15] in February 2006 due to trademark and copyright-related complications.
  • October 12, 2006 — Hong Kong's Apple Daily ran a short article discussing Wikipe-tan, and how the GFDL helped her spread across Wikimedia.
  • December 18, 2006 — The Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily compounded that error, reporting that she had become a representative for Wikipedia.[16]
  • February 21, 2007 — WikiProject Military history requested an image of the adult Wikipe-tan design in a navy outfit to use for their featured articles.
  • March 2007 — the Swedish foreign ministry published a memorandum[17] about Japanese anime and manga, using text and Kasuga's Wikipe-tan image from the Swedish Wikipedia without acknowledgement as required by the GFDL. The Swedish media reported this violation in April,[18] and the Chancellor of Justice ruled that the act was a copyright infringement in November.[19]
  • June 15, 2007 — the German newspaper Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (circulation ca. 31,000) used Wikipe-tan on the front page as well as next to an article on the variety of manga.[citation needed]
  • July 2007 — a suggestive image of Wikipe-tan (not drawn by Kasuga) is proposed for use in the article on lolicon. The image was removed[20] from Commons by Jimbo Wales, who called Wikipe-tan a "community mascot" who should not be subject to such "pedophilic sexualization".[20] Kasuga later drew a new image for the article which did not use Wikipe-tan. The image was later undeleted in November 2025 on the basis that there was no community consensus to delete and Wales is not an "absolute monarch".[21]
  • August 4, 2007 — A Wikipe-tan standee is displayed at Wikimania.
  • December 21, 2007 — an image of Wikipe-tan wearing baro't saya is added to Wikipedia:Tambayan Philippines.[citation needed]
  • June 1, 2008 — British newspaper The Observer featured on page 35 in the 'World' section a picture of the cropped sailor fuku version of Wikipe-tan in the article "Girl geeks find manga haven", byline Justin McCurry. The article makes no mention of Wikipedia, Wikipe-tan, or the GFDL.
  • August 2008 — a new image replaced[22] Wikipe-tan on the Counter-Vandalism Unit WikiProject, though the old logo with Wikipe-tan was still used on the Project template until[23] March 2011.
  • December 17, 2008 — An article in The Guardian mostly about Internet Watch Foundation and Wikipedia mentioned the 2007 lollicon art deletions as an example of Wales' "little patience" with shock jocks.[24]
  • April 10, 2010 — A vinyl 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) green-haired figure of Wikipe-tan designed by Harold J. Sasaki with partial inspiration from the Wikipede is put up for preorder by the Japanese company Mel Factory. A large-scale statue of the character by the same company was also installed in a private library.[25]
  • November 2, 2010 — Kasuga posts Go Go! Encyclopedia Girls (Q66447505), a manga featuring dialogue between the three main wiki-sisters.
  • 2014 — A modified version of the adult Wikipe-tan picture without her signature puzzle pieces hair accessories is used on the cover of the book Anime and the Visual Novel: Narrative Structure, Design and Play at the Crossroads of Animation and Computer Games by Dani Cavallaro. Kasuga is credited for the cover art in the colophon.
  • September 15, 2015 — Wikipe-tan was mentioned alongside various other mascot characters in a Hopes and Fears article.[26]
  • 2017 — Wikipe-tan is used as an example of a character with a super-deformed version in a textbook.[27]
  • April 18, 2022 — An article in Futurism used Wikipe-tan to illustrate the concept of catgirls.[28]
  • November 13, 2023 — Wikipe-tan became a viable redirect to moe anthropomorphism.[29]
  • May 1, 2024 — The article on quick time events went viral on Twitter for an image of a soccer ball hurtling towards Wikipe-tan being used as an example of the subject. This led to some editors removing the image or vandalizing the article.[30] The image was later refined and reinstated.[31]
  • November 14, 2024 — A Wikipe-tan topicon template was made by Skullers.
  • September 23, 2025 — American animator sadi1v [Wikidata] who specializes in object show gijinkas posted an animation of a half-frame-glasses-wearing Wikipe-tan holding a book and grooving to a remix of the song "Impostor Syndrome" by Sidney Gish from her 2017 New Year's Eve album No Dogs Allowed, with this page as a scrolling background.[32]
  • May 3, 2026 — Shipping ethics controversy in fanfiction, an article that uses Wikipe-tan and Commons-tan in the example image, became a featured article.[33] Its featuring went viral on Twitter, with some seeing it as an inappropriate inclusion to the front page.[34]
  • May 22, 2026 — The article Wikipedia mascots is created, which has a full section on Wikipe-tan as well as Baby Globe and the Wikipede.[35]
  • June 6, 2026 — Official stamps of Wikipe-tan and Baby Globe together were given out for free at Malaysian Wikipedia's temporary booth in the Avenue K shopping mall.[36]
  • July 30, 2026 — sadi1v [Wikidata] posted a second animation of Wikipe-tan dancing to a remix of the song Psycho Teddy.[37]
  • August 28, 2026 — The article for clothing fetishism went viral on Twitter for its example image being art of Wikipe-tan's adult design in fetish clothing.[38]
  • September 11, 2026 — The Wikipedia mascots article was featured in the Did You Know? section of Chinese Wikipedia's frontpage.[39]
  • September 15, 2026 — The publication It's Nice That ran an article about Wikipedia's graphic design and mascots, with a short section on Wikipe-tan.[40]

Kasuga's art

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Wikipe-tan

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2006

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2007

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2008

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2009

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2010

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2014-2025

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Cropped versions

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Derived from Kasuga's art

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Barnstars

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Miscellaneous

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The following are images which have been used on the English and International Wiki. These include displays on Wikipedia articles, displays on Wikipedia project pages, and displays on Humorous and/or user pages.

Stubs

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Userboxes

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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. 1 2 カスガ (Japanese pronunciation: [kasuga]) In the aftermath of the unified login finalization, the user now going by Kasuga on Commons and on English Wikipedia is a different person. The accounts of the creator of Wikipe-tan were renamed Kasuga~enwiki, Kasuga~jawiki and Kasuga~commonswiki.

References

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  1. ↑ "Wikipe-tan by Kasuga39 on DeviantArt". www.deviantart.com. 2006-06-08. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
  2. ↑ 192.192.170.2 (January 5, 2006). "How about Wikipe-tan just like OS-tan". Meta. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ 72.137.173.201 (January 13, 2006). "something like the one here?". Meta. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  4. ↑ Shii (January 18, 2006). "Um... it seems those images are GFDL ... let's put them here, then". Meta. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  5. ↑ Kasuga (October 23, 2007). "Adult Wikipe-tan by ~Kasuga39". deviantArt. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  6. ↑ Wales, Jimbo (June 8, 2007). "Community mascot". Wikimedia Commons. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  7. ↑ Wales, Jimbo (February 7, 2011). "I am not a fan". Wikipedia. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  9. ↑ "What is on the back of the logo?" from Tzu-Chiang Liou to foundation-l on July 23, 2008
  10. ↑ "Contributors guide on Firefox advanced customization with CSS". 2025-04-01.
  11. ↑ "Magazine Issues | Videogames Magazine - gamesTM - Part 3". www.gamestm.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-07-13. Retrieved Feb 20, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2006-12-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)[bare URL image file]
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2006-12-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)[bare URL image file]
  14. ↑ "Wikipedia:Counter Vandalism Unit/Nav". Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "Wikipedia:Counter Vandalism Unit/Nav". Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  16. ↑ "维基娘代言人出展游戏展" [Wikigirl Spokesperson Appears at Game Expo]. 21CN Game Channel (in Chinese). 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 16 March 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  17. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ↑ Helander, Magnus (2007-04-30). "UD plankade Wikipedia" (in Swedish). resume.se. Archived from the original on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  19. ↑ "Filecrunch.com homepage". filecrunch.com. 22 November 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  20. 1 2 "Deletion log". Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  21. ↑ https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?page=File%3ALoliWikipetan.jpg&title=Special:Log
  22. ↑ "Wikipedia:Counter-Vandalism Unit: Difference between revisions". Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  23. ↑ "Template:Counter-Vandalism Unit: Difference between revisions". Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  24. ↑ Finkelstein, Seth (17 December 2008). "Sting in the Scorpions tale is the exposure of Wiki's weakness". The Guardian.
  25. ↑ "ウィキペたんフィギュア発売決定！！ - FGR.com". fgr.hariko.com. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  26. ↑ Howard, Dorothy (15 September 2015). "Meet the manga avatars of your favorite tech platforms". Hopes&Fears. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  27. ↑ Neto, Ernane Alves Guimarães; de Lima, Leonardo Souza (7 June 2018). Narrativas e Personagens para Jogos (in Portuguese). Editora Érica. p. figure 4.6. ISBN 9788536525716.
  28. ↑ Tangermann, Victor (18 April 2022). "Elon Musk Says He Could Make "Catgirl" Sex Robots If He Wanted To". The Byte. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  29. ↑ "Wikipe-tan", Wikipedia, 2023-11-13, retrieved 2026-05-14
  30. ↑ "Snoozie (@SuzySnoozie) on X". X (formerly Twitter). 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  31. ↑ "Snoozie (@SuzySnoozie) on X". X (formerly Twitter). 2025-06-05. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  32. ↑ the shorts version too half her head kinda got cut off we don’t mention it #givemebackmykids #osc. Retrieved 2026-09-20 – via www.youtube.com.
  33. ↑ "Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 3, 2026", Wikipedia, 2026-05-03, retrieved 2026-05-14
  34. ↑ Lise. "dude open the wikipedia home page it doesn't matter what browser". X.
  35. ↑ "Wikipedia mascots", Wikipedia, 2026-05-22, retrieved 2026-05-27
  36. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  37. ↑ wikipetan. Retrieved 2026-07-31 – via www.youtube.com.
  38. ↑ "ElectronicBodyMoid (@EBMoid) on X". X (formerly Twitter). 2026-08-28. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  39. ↑ "Talk:维基百科吉祥物", 维基百科，自由的百科全书 (in Chinese), 2026-09-11, retrieved 2026-09-21
  40. ↑ "The mascots, design and visual history of Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that puts functionality above aesthetics". www.itsnicethat.com. Retrieved 2026-09-21.
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