Hi Michele -- responding to the phrase "but they remain on the tree." The answer is that with very rare exceptions, like pre BCE profiles, we do not delete profiles once they are created. That means once a profile is created, if it turns out to be a duplicate, we can merge it into the proper profile, or if it turns out to be fiction, we can document why it is a fiction and detach it from all other profiles (because people who never existed can't have parents, spouses, or children!) But once a profile is created, every possible step reqauires research and documentation. That is why the "wild west" days when WikiTree began and anything went up on line are over and we're much more careful now about creating profiles, especially pre-1700 and pre-1500. But the poor profiles already created are waiting for the steady hand of researchers like yourself!