Talk:SmallAnt

Yo uhm does anyone know where I could find a copyright-free Image of Smant? I can’t look on social media (don’t ask why) I have trash art skills and would not even attempt at drawing even his avatar Rew256 (talk) 22:43, 3 March 2025 (UTC)

Well for one, exceptions can be made for channel avatars on wikipedia articles if and only if:

1. The article is fully published instead of being a draft.
2. The icon is shrunk to a low quality.

If you would like to upload an image of SmallAnt himself (the person), then you will have to seek a freely licensed image, i.e: anyone can use, copy, modify, and sell it. The image has to be explicitly described as freely licensed by its creator, otherwise it can't be uploaded. I have personally tried to look around for free images of SmallAnt but I have been unable to do so. However, if you believe it is necessary, I can go ahead and contact SmallAnt myself and ask him to upload a free image of himself for this Wikipedia article. ―Howard • 🌽³³ 09:24, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

@Rew256, also I can recommend some sources for you to consult in the making of this article:

• https://aclanthology.org/2024.nlp4dh-1.48.pdf
• https://www.polygon.com/2020/3/2/21161880/pokemon-platinum-no-damage-smallant-twitch-youtube-playthrough-game-freak-nintendo-smallant1
• https://www.distractify.com/p/smallant-twitch-real-name
• https://www.polygon.com/24191500/super-mario-odyssey-hide-and-seek-mod
• https://www.gamesradar.com/games/pokemon/the-hardest-pokemon-challenge-isnt-a-nuzlocke-its-playing-one-of-the-rpgs-in-a-language-you-dont-speak-with-an-absurd-list-of-rules-and-exercising-every-time-you-mess-up/
• https://www.gamesradar.com/games/the-legend-of-zelda/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-speedrunner-wasted-absolutely-no-time-breaking-echoes-of-wisdom-into-little-pieces/
• https://www.cbr.com/pokemon-brilliant-diamond-shining-pearl-complete-pokedex-24-hours/
• https://www.gamesradar.com/update-ruins-minecraft-streamers-200-hour-challenge-just-one-week-after-he-completed-it-oh-my-god-this-whole-playthrough-was-for-nothing/

―Howard • 🌽³³ 09:33, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Distractify is an unreliable source and shouldn't be used in BLPs (WP:DISTRACTIFY). KnowDeath (talk) 23:55, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, you’re right. I'll strike that out. ―Howard • 🌽³³ 06:41, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

Thank you Rew256 (talk) 12:48, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Should I go ahead and ask SmallAnt for a photograph? ―Howard • 🌽³³ 14:56, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

I would really appreciate it if you would do that Rew256 (talk) 16:32, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

I believe it would be better to first have the text of the article ready for publication. ―Howard • 🌽³³ 17:24, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

I guess that is probably the best idea Rew256 (talk) 17:59, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

The best bet to find a copyright-free image of a famous person is to either look up photos of them in public and ask the creator to release the photos under a free license (like what happened with Eminem) or find a YouTube video with a CC-BY license and screenshot the frame with the famous person. Asking the person in question for a photo/permission is also a possibility. Though getting satisfactory results like that is uncommon, it's still worth trying. Getting a response from Smant doesn't seem to be that hard.

In the case of asking for permission, this can be used as a base. Dabmasterars (talk) 06:57, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Games (probably in order from most streamed to least streamed)

Early Life (before gaming career) Rew256 (talk) 02:32, 6 March 2025 (UTC)

I have not been able to find any secondary sources reporting on SmallAnt's personal life at all - only primary sources. As such, with no sources to support the personal life, I removed the section. If anybody manages to find a secondary source for his personal life maybe we could make a section as it would be useful to have a personal life section in a BLP. ArjunQM (talk) 22:30, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Some evidence of SmallAnt's real name (other than the photo of his license) can be found in an interview he did with Anthony Padilla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4eMzNyRV5k . I have no idea what that's worth. ―Howard • 🌽³³ 22:37, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, I'm finding it difficult to source something like a person's name. This interview is an example of him being referred to as Tanner Minecraft, but I'm not sure that the Anthony Padilla interview would work as a reliable source - Padilla is more of a content creator than a fully recognised journalist in a reliable publication. Also not sure about primary sources like the license image, but I don't think there's any other way to verify the name of a person other than whatever they say - primary sources. ArjunQM (talk) 22:54, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

I would say the Anthony Padilla interview is permissible as a primary source given that personal names are not difficult to obtain directly in an interview. There is also no prohibition on primary sources for basic biographical data, per WP:ABOUTSELF. I would say at least the personal name and birth date are allowed to be sourced using primary sources. ―Howard • 🌽³³ 07:57, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

That sounds reasonable to me. ArjunQM (talk) 09:46, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

SmallAnt has said on multiple occasions that he has changed his last name to Minecraft, WP:ABOUTSELF may apply. However, I understand that the name seems unusual and could be a joke. Sources that do use his real name tend to use Tanner Ant, but to be fair they are from before SmallAnt said that he changed his name. As @Howardcorn33 said, this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4eMzNyRV5k provides some reference to his real name, using Minecraft - it is not particularly difficult to use basic biographical information in an interview. If we have to use 'Ant', I think we should at least add an explanatory footnote. ArjunQM (talk) 18:26, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

@ArjunQM If we have several sources confirming that his surname is "Minecraft", then I'm okay with us adding it to the article. The interview you've linked + the tweet should be enough. I removed it just to be sure the article was free of issues when I accepted it out of AfC.

I don't think it would be a good idea to refer to him throughout the article as "Minecraft", though, since it would be fairly confusing. Should probably just retain the current style of calling him "SmallAnt". Toadspike [Talk] 21:39, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

Great. I definitely agree with you about still referring to him as SmallAnt as well. ArjunQM (talk) 21:41, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

Would it be possible to remove the ne Ant and other references to it being his “Birth Name”? He has never used Ant as a last name. There is evidence of his actual birth last name in a secondary source, but he wants to keep that information private and not widely publicized. Considering he is a public figure trying to maintain a level of privacy, I think either just using Minecraft or listing his last name as unknown is both respectful and factual. Even something like “As a joke, SmallAnt edited his drivers license so that it would appear that his last name is now Minecraft. While he has not made his last name public, he has instead chosen to use Minecraft as his last name in public.” CurlyCorona (talk) 18:43, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

You say that SmallAnt 'has never used Ant as a last name'. This is false, as shown in this source, which we already use in the article.https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/17514/variety-speedrunner-smallant-on-making-content-in-a-world-where-being-first-is-all-that-matters. — ArjunQM|talk 18:46, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

Oh! I guess he has! Listing it as his birth name is still factually incorrect. He goes by these names, but his last name is publicly unknown. How is that typically handled for living persons? (I tried to find this info before commenting, but couldn’t find anything) CurlyCorona (talk) 18:58, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

I don't fully understand what you mean. The source refers to him as Tanner 'SmallAnt' Ant (was published before the name change). This would make his original name Tanner Ant. Could you please clarify what you mean? Because his last name is publicly known. — ArjunQM|talk 19:01, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

The source uses his assumed last name. His actual last name is not publicly known. He did not actually change his last name to minecraft. The image and tweet used in reference has evidence that it was digitally altered so that it appeared that his last name was changed to Minecraft. I’m trying to not reveal his last name publicly here in the talk, but SmallAnt operates under an assumed last name for personal privacy reasons. CurlyCorona (talk) 19:09, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

Here on Wikipeda, articles should have the information in reliable secondary sources. The reliable secondary source that we are using states that his birth name is Tanner Ant. If I understand you correctly, you seem to be saying that this source does not use his genuine last name. However, you have not provided any evidence or source for this claim that you are making.

As for your point about the name change being a joke, I'm fully willing to discuss and come to a compromise on that one because it very well could be. But your point about an 'assumed last name' being in the source and not his real last name is not supported. — ArjunQM|talk 19:28, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

Here are my reasons for keeping SmallAnt's surname as 'Minecraft'. I think that WP:BLPSELFPUB and WP:ABOUTSELF apply here - for biographical detail as basic as a name I think that it is perfectly reasonable to use primary sources such as the tweet that I cited. The interview provides some more evidence of the name - it is not difficult or extraordinary to get personal names in an interview, and SmallAnt also confirmed the name that was in the interview in this other tweet, besides the one that I cited: https://x.com/SmallAnt/status/1738350739846840321. I didn't link it because I couldn't get it to work with the Wayback Machine. Personally, I see absolutely no reason to go against the name which SmallAnt stated. ArjunQM (talk) 14:00, 21 June 2025 (UTC)

Not only does SmallAnt repeatedly claim he legally changed his name, but his mom also has said the same on her streams. He even told a story once about how his mom had to make an appointment of some kind for him, and their reaction when she told them his name. I think there's plenty of evidence he really did change his surname to "Minecraft" and very little reason to disbelieve it (besides that it's a little silly).

However there is zero evidence that his previous last name was ever "Ant," and in fact it almost certainly wasn't. He has said on stream multiple times that he's never revealed his last name, and he's also said that his username came from when he was in middle school playing Runescape, and he needed to make up a username on the spot, and he saw and ant on the windowsill so he just kind of went with that. NONE of the linked sources say anything about his previous surname being "Ant." It's kind of a weird assumption. ~2026-59952-1 (talk) 20:24, 27 January 2026 (UTC)

The InvenGlobal source refers to him as Tanner "SmallAnt" Ant. That's why the article states that this was his previous surname. I agree that things are a bit unclear here. I also agree with you about leaving the present surname as Minecraft, of course. If you have reasonable evidence that Ant was never his last name and that the source is not using his real/accurate last name, I personally don't have a strong preference about whether the "né Ant" part is left in. Other editors might disagree. — ArjunQM|talk 20:56, 30 January 2026 (UTC)

I've removed "Ant" from the lede and sidebar, as I agree with ~2026-59952-1's reasoning as to why "Ant" seems unlikely to be his birth name. I'm starting to reconsider that, though, because it seems unlikely that someone who interviewed him would have gotten that completely wrong: I suspect what's happened is that he's changed his surname more than once, and that it used to be "Ant"; the phrasing "né Ant" (and use of birth_name in the sidebar) would be inapplicable in that case, although the name would still be worth noting. But that's WP:SYNTH; and I'm not sure how to phrase something more grounded that would still be fit for the lede. —Twice Nothing (talk) 17:11, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Since we do have information which is sort of conflicting here as you said, I think this current method is probably perfectly fine. — ArjunQM|talk 18:03, 10 March 2026 (UTC)