Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-1038387-20120921185155/@comment-47881-20130123133135

In Avatar Wiki we have this tenet in the Images policy that I neglected to import here:
 * Animated .GIFs are disallowed due to their lack of purpose and distractive quality. If a still image is insufficient to illustrate the text it accompanies, then one should consider rewriting the text to better convey the intended message.

Basically, animated gifs are horrible and extremely distracting in a encyclopedic article. We don't allow videos or galleries, and an animated gif is basically a circumvention of that. Text takes precedence over images. Images are not something we should take for granted and need to be cautions with their usage. That is why we don't allow people to dump images they like on their profiles. Images illustrate the text besides it; they should not replace the need for descriptive prose. I don't see how an animated gif of the Canary Cry enriches the text besides it. Have you tried to read something with an annoying animated gif on the side? And do we need to see bullets being deflected from bracelets to get an idea of how they work?