title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The word Baháʼí () is used either as an adjective to refer to the Baháʼí Faith or as a term for a follower of Baháʼu'lláh. The proper name of the religion is the Baháʼí Faith, not "Baháʼí" or "Baha'ism" (the latter, once common among academics, is regarded as derogatory by the Baháʼís). It is derived from the Arabic Baháʼ (), a name Baháʼu'lláh chose for himself, referring to the 'glory' or 'splendor' of God. In English, the word is commonly pronounced (), but the more accurate rendering of the Arabic is ().


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The accent marks above the letters, representing long vowels, derive from a system of transliterating Arabic and Persian script that was adopted by Baháʼís in 1923, and which has been used in almost all Baháʼí publications since. Baháʼís prefer the orthographies "Baháʼí", "the Báb", "Baháʼu'lláh", and "ʻAbdu'l-Bahá". "Bahai", "Bahais", "Bahaʼi", "the Bab", "Bahaullah" and "Bahaʼullah" are often used when accent marks are unavailable.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The teachings of Baháʼu'lláh form the foundation of Baháʼí belief. Three principles are central to these teachings: the unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of humanity. Baha'is believe that God periodically reveals his will through divine messengers, whose purpose is to transform the character of humankind and to develop, within those who respond, moral and spiritual qualities. Religion is thus seen as orderly, unified, and progressive from age to age.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Baháʼí writings describe a single, personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe. The existence of God and the universe is thought to be eternal, without a beginning or end. Though inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of creation, with a will and purpose expressed through messengers called Manifestations of God.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼí teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, or to create a complete and accurate image of by themselves. Therefore, human understanding of God is achieved through his revelations via his Manifestations. In the Baháʼí Faith, God is often referred to by titles and attributes (for example, the All-Powerful, or the All-Loving), and there is a substantial emphasis on monotheism. Baháʼí teachings state that the attributes applied to God are used to translate Godliness into human terms and to help people concentrate on their own attributes in worshipping God to develop their potentialities on their spiritual path. According to the Baháʼí teachings the human purpose is to learn to know and love God through such methods as prayer, reflection, and being of service to others.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼí notions of progressive religious revelation result in their accepting the validity of the well known religions of the world, whose founders and central figures are seen as Manifestations of God. Religious history is interpreted as a series of dispensations, where each "manifestation" brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation that is rendered as a text of scripture and passed on through history with greater or lesser reliability but at least true in substance, suited for the time and place in which it was expressed. Specific religious social teachings (for example, the direction of prayer, or dietary restrictions) may be revoked by a subsequent manifestation so that a more appropriate requirement for the time and place may be established. Conversely, certain general principles (for example, neighbourliness, or charity) are seen to be universal and consistent. In Baháʼí belief, this process of progressive revelation will not end; it is, however, believed to be cyclical. Baháʼís do not expect a new manifestation of God to appear within 1000 years of Baháʼu'lláh's revelation.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼís assert that their religion is a distinct tradition with its own scriptures and laws, and not a sect of another religion. The religion was initially seen as a sect of Islam because of its origins. Most religious specialists now see it as an independent religion, with its religious background in Shiʻa Islam being seen as analogous to the Jewish context in which Christianity was established. Baháʼís describe their faith as an independent world religion, differing from the other traditions in its relative age and in the appropriateness of Baháʼu'lláh's teachings to the modern context. Baháʼu'lláh is believed to have fulfilled the messianic expectations of these precursor faiths.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Baháʼí writings state that human beings have a "rational soul", and that this provides the species with a unique capacity to recognize God's status and humanity's relationship with its creator. Every human is seen to have a duty to recognize God through his Messengers, and to conform to their teachings. Through recognition and obedience, service to humanity and regular prayer and spiritual practice, the Baháʼí writings state that the soul becomes closer to God, the spiritual ideal in Baháʼí belief. According to Baháʼí belief when a human dies the soul is permanently separated from the body and carries on in the next world where it is judged based on the person's actions in the physical world. Heaven and Hell are taught to be spiritual states of nearness or distance from God that describe relationships in this world and the next, and not physical places of reward and punishment achieved after death.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Baháʼí writings emphasize the essential equality of human beings, and the abolition of prejudice. Humanity is seen as essentially one, though highly varied; its diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of appreciation and acceptance. Doctrines of racism, nationalism, caste, social class, and gender-based hierarchy are seen as artificial impediments to unity. The Baháʼí teachings state that the unification of humanity is the paramount issue in the religious and political conditions of the present world.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: When ʻAbdu'l-Bahá first traveled to Europe and America in 1911–1912, he gave public talks that articulated the basic principles of the Baháʼí Faith. These included preaching on the equality of men and women, race unity, the need for world peace, and other progressive ideas for the early 20th century. Published summaries of the Baháʼí teachings often include a list of these principles, and lists vary on wording and what is included.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The concept of the unity of mankind, seen by Baháʼís as an ancient truth, is the starting point for many of the ideas. The equality of races and the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty, for example, are implications of that unity. Another outgrowth of the concept is the need for a united world federation, and some practical recommendations to encourage its realization involve the establishment of a universal language, a standard economy and system of measurement, universal compulsory education, and an international court of arbitration to settle disputes between nations. Nationalism, according to this viewpoint, should be abandoned in favor of allegiance to the whole of mankind. With regard to the pursuit of world peace, Baháʼu'lláh prescribed a world-embracing collective security arrangement.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Other Baháʼí social principles revolve around spiritual unity. Religion is viewed as progressive from age to age, but to recognize a newer revelation one has to abandon tradition and independently investigate. Baháʼís are taught to view religion as a source of unity, and religious prejudice as destructive. Science is also viewed in harmony with true religion. Though Baháʼu'lláh and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá called for a united world that is free of war, they also anticipate that over the long term, the establishment of a lasting peace (The Most Great Peace) and the purging of the "overwhelming Corruptions" requires that the people of the world unite under a universal faith with spiritual virtues and ethics to complement material civilization.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Shoghi Effendi, the head of the religion from 1921 to 1957, wrote the following summary of what he considered to be the distinguishing principles of Baháʼu'lláh's teachings, which, he said, together with the laws and ordinances of the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas" constitute the bedrock of the Baháʼí Faith:


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼís highly value unity, and Baháʼu'lláh clearly established rules for holding the community together and resolving disagreements. Within this framework no individual follower may propose 'inspired' or 'authoritative' interpretations of scripture, and individuals agree to support the line of authority established in Baháʼí scriptures. This practice has left the Baháʼí community unified and avoided any serious fracturing. The Universal House of Justice is the final authority to resolve any disagreements among Baháʼís, and the dozen or so attempts at schism have all either become extinct or remained extremely small, numbering a few hundred collectively. The followers of such divisions are regarded as Covenant-breakers and shunned.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The "canonical texts" of the Baháʼí Faith are the writings of the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice, and the authenticated talks of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The writings of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh are considered as divine revelation, the writings and talks of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and the writings of Shoghi Effendi as authoritative interpretation, and those of the Universal House of Justice as authoritative legislation and elucidation. Some measure of divine guidance is assumed for all of these texts.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Some of Baháʼu'lláh's most important writings include the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas" ("Most Holy Book"), which defines many laws and practices for individuals and society, the "Kitáb-i-Íqán" ("Book of Certitude"), which became the foundation of much of Baháʼí belief, and "Gems of Divine Mysteries", which includes further doctrinal foundations. Although the Baháʼí teachings have a strong emphasis on social and ethical issues, a number of foundational texts have been described as mystical. These include the "Seven Valleys" and the "Four Valleys". "The Seven Valleys" was written to a follower of Sufism, in the style of ʻAttar, the Persian Muslim poet, and sets forth the stages of the soul's journey towards God. It was first translated into English in 1906, becoming one of the earliest available books of Baháʼu'lláh to the West. "The Hidden Words" is another book written by Baháʼu'lláh during the same period, containing 153 short passages in which Baháʼu'lláh claims to have taken the basic essence of certain spiritual truths and written them in brief form.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Baháʼí Faith traces its beginnings to the religion of the Báb and the Shaykhi movement that immediately preceded it. The Báb was a merchant who began preaching in 1844 that he was the bearer of a new revelation from God, but was rejected by the generality of Islamic clergy in Iran, ending in his public execution for the crime of heresy. The Báb taught that God would soon send a new messenger, and Baháʼís consider Baháʼu'lláh to be that person. Although they are distinct movements, the Báb is so interwoven into Baháʼí theology and history that Baháʼís celebrate his birth, death, and declaration as holy days, consider him one of their three central figures (along with Baháʼu'lláh and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá), and a historical account of the Bábí movement ("The Dawn-Breakers") is considered one of three books that every Baháʼí should "master" and read "over and over again".


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Baháʼí community was mostly confined to the Iranian and Ottoman empires until after the death of Baháʼu'lláh in 1892, at which time he had followers in 13 countries of Asia and Africa. Under the leadership of his son, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the religion gained a footing in Europe and America, and was consolidated in Iran, where it still suffers intense persecution. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's death in 1921 marks the end of what Baháʼís call the "heroic age" of the religion.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: On the evening of 22 May 1844, Siyyid ʻAlí-Muhammad of Shiraz gained his first convert and took on the title of "the Báb" ( "Gate"), referring to his later claim to the status of Mahdi of Shiʻa Islam. His followers were therefore known as Bábís. As the Báb's teachings spread, which the Islamic clergy saw as blasphemous, his followers came under increased persecution and torture. The conflicts escalated in several places to military sieges by the Shah's army. The Báb himself was imprisoned and eventually executed in 1850.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼís see the Báb as the forerunner of the Baháʼí Faith, because the Báb's writings introduced the concept of "He whom God shall make manifest", a messianic figure whose coming, according to Baháʼís, was announced in the scriptures of all of the world's great religions, and whom Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, claimed to be. The Báb's tomb, located in Haifa, Israel, is an important place of pilgrimage for Baháʼís. The remains of the Báb were brought secretly from Iran to the Holy Land and eventually interred in the tomb built for them in a spot specifically designated by Baháʼu'lláh. The writings of the Báb are considered inspired scripture by Baháʼís, though having been superseded by the laws and teachings of Baháʼu'lláh. The main written works translated into English of the Báb are compiled in "Selections from the Writings of the Báb" (1976) out of the estimated 135 works.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Mírzá Husayn ʻAlí Núrí was one of the early followers of the Báb, and later took the title of Baháʼu'lláh. In August 1852, a few Bábís made a failed attempt to assassinate the Shah. The Persian government responded by killing and in some cases torturing about 50 Bábís in Tehran initially, further bloodshed was spread around the country: hundreds were reported in period newspapers by October, and tens of thousands by the end of December. Baháʼu'lláh was not involved in the assassination attempt but was imprisoned in Tehran until his release was arranged four months later by the Russian ambassador, after which he joined other Bábís in exile in Baghdad.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Shortly thereafter he was expelled from Iran and traveled to Baghdad, in the Ottoman Empire. In Baghdad, his leadership revived the persecuted followers of the Báb in Iran, so Iranian authorities requested his removal, which instigated a summons to Constantinople (now Istanbul) from the Ottoman Sultan. In 1863, at the time of his removal from Baghdad, Baháʼu'lláh first announced his claim of prophethood to his family and followers, which he said came to him years earlier while in a dungeon of Tehran. From the time of the initial exile from Iran, tensions grew between him and Subh-i-Azal, the appointed leader of the Bábís, who did not recognize Baháʼu'lláh's claim. Throughout the rest of his life Baháʼu'lláh gained the allegiance of almost all of the Bábís, who came to be known as Baháʼís, while a remnant of Bábís became known as Azalis.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: He spent less than four months in Constantinople. After receiving chastising letters from Baháʼu'lláh, Ottoman authorities turned against him and put him under house arrest in Adrianople (now Edirne), where he remained for four years, until a royal decree of 1868 banished all Bábís to either Cyprus or ʻAkká.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: It was in or near the Ottoman penal colony of ʻAkká, in present-day Israel, that Baháʼu'lláh spent the remainder of his life. After initially strict and harsh confinement, he was allowed to live in a home near ʻAkká, while still officially a prisoner of that city. He died there in 1892. Baháʼís regard his resting place at Bahjí as the Qiblih to which they turn in prayer each day.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: He produced over 18,000 works in his lifetime, in both Arabic and Persian, of which only 8% have been translated into English. During the period in Adrianople, he began declaring his mission as a Messenger of God in letters to the world's religious and secular rulers, including Pope Pius IX, Napoleon III, and Queen Victoria.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: ʻAbbás Effendi was Baháʼu'lláh's eldest son, known by the title of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (Servant of Bahá). His father left a will that appointed ʻAbdu'l-Bahá as the leader of the Baháʼí community. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had shared his father's long exile and imprisonment, which continued until ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's own release as a result of the Young Turk Revolution in 1908. Following his release he led a life of travelling, speaking, teaching, and maintaining correspondence with communities of believers and individuals, expounding the principles of the Baháʼí Faith.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: As of 2020, there are over 38,000 extant documents containing the words of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, which are of widely varying lengths. Only a fraction of these documents have been translated into English. Among the more well known are "The Secret of Divine Civilization", "Some Answered Questions", the "Tablet to Auguste-Henri Forel", the "Tablets of the Divine Plan", and the "Tablet to The Hague". Additionally notes taken of a number of his talks were published in various volumes like "Paris Talks" during his journeys to the West.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼu'lláh's "Kitáb-i-Aqdas" and "The Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá" are foundational documents of the Baháʼí administrative order. Baháʼu'lláh established the elected Universal House of Justice, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá established the appointed hereditary Guardianship and clarified the relationship between the two institutions. In his Will, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá appointed Shoghi Effendi, his eldest grandson, as the first Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith. Shoghi Effendi served for 36 years as the head of the religion until his death.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Throughout his lifetime, Shoghi Effendi translated Baháʼí texts; developed global plans for the expansion of the Baháʼí community; developed the Baháʼí World Centre; carried on a voluminous correspondence with communities and individuals around the world; and built the administrative structure of the religion, preparing the community for the election of the Universal House of Justice. He unexpectedly died after a brief illness on 4 November 1957, in London, England, under conditions that did not allow for a successor to be appointed.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: In 1937, Shoghi Effendi launched a seven-year plan for the Baháʼís of North America, followed by another in 1946. In 1953, he launched the first international plan, the Ten Year World Crusade. This plan included extremely ambitious goals for the expansion of Baháʼí communities and institutions, the translation of Baháʼí texts into several new languages, and the sending of Baháʼí pioneers into previously unreached nations. He announced in letters during the Ten Year Crusade that it would be followed by other plans under the direction of the Universal House of Justice, which was elected in 1963 at the culmination of the Crusade.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Since 1963, the Universal House of Justice has been the elected head of the Baháʼí Faith. The general functions of this body are defined through the writings of Baháʼu'lláh and clarified in the writings of Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. These functions include teaching and education, implementing Baháʼí laws, addressing social issues, and caring for the weak and the poor.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Starting with the Nine Year Plan that began in 1964, the Universal House of Justice has directed the work of the Baháʼí community through a series of multi-year international plans. Starting with the Nine-Year Plan that began in 1964, the Baháʼí leadership sought to continue the expansion of the religion but also to "consolidate" new members, meaning increase their knowledge of the Baháʼí teachings. In this vein, in the 1970s, the Ruhi Institute was founded by Baháʼís in Colombia to offer short courses on Baháʼí beliefs, ranging in length from a weekend to nine days. The associated Ruhi Foundation, whose purpose was to systematically "consolidate" new Baháʼís, was registered in 1992, and since the late 1990s the courses of the Ruhi Institute have been the dominant way of teaching the Baháʼí Faith around the world. By 2013 there were over 300 Baháʼí training institutes around the world and 100,000 people participating in courses. The courses of the Ruhi Institute train communities to self-organize classes for the spiritual education of children and youth, among other activities. Additional lines of action the Universal House of Justice has encouraged for the contemporary Baháʼí community include social action and participation in the prevalent discourses of society.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Annually, on 21 April, the Universal House of Justice sends a 'Ridván' message to the worldwide Baháʼí community, that updates Baháʼís on current developments and provides further guidance for the year to come.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: At local, regional, and national levels, Baháʼís elect members to nine-person Spiritual Assemblies, which run the affairs of the religion. There are also appointed individuals working at various levels, including locally and internationally, which perform the function of propagating the teachings and protecting the community. The latter do not serve as clergy, which the Baháʼí Faith does not have. The Universal House of Justice remains the supreme governing body of the Baháʼí Faith, and its 9 members are elected every five years by the members of all National Spiritual Assemblies. Any male Baháʼí, 21 years or older, is eligible to be elected to the Universal House of Justice; all other positions are open to male and female Baháʼís.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa, who became Baháʼí in 1968 and died in 2007, was the first serving head of state to embrace the Baháʼí Faith.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: As of around 2020, there were about 8 million Bahá'ís in the world. In 2013, two scholars of demography wrote that, "The Baha'i Faith is the only religion to have grown faster in every United Nations region over the past 100 years than the general population; Bahaʼi [sic] was thus the fastest-growing religion between 1910 and 2010, growing at least twice as fast as the population of almost every UN region." (See Growth of religion.)


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The largest proportions of the total world Bahá'í population were found in sub-Saharan Africa (29.9%) and South Asia (26.8%), followed by Southeast Asia (12.7%) and Latin America (12.2%). Lesser populations are found in North America (7.6%) and the Middle East/North Africa (6.2%), while the smallest populations in Europe (2.0%), Australasia (1.6%), and Northeast Asia (0.9%). In 2015, the internationally recognized religion was the second-largest international religion in Iran, Panama, Belize, Bolivia, Zambia, and Papua New Guinea; and the third-largest in Chad, and Kenya.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: From the Bahá'í Faith's origins in the 19th century until the 1950s, the vast majority of Baháʼís were found in Iran; converts from outside Iran were mostly found in India and the Western world. From having roughly 200,000 Baháʼís in 1950, the religion grew to having over 4 million by the late 1980s, with a widespread international distribution. Most of the growth in the late 20th century was seeded out of North America by means of the planned migration of individuals. Yet, rather than being a cultural spread from either Iran or North America, in 2001, sociologist David Barrett wrote that the Baháʼí Faith is, "A world religion with no racial or national focus". However, the growth has not been even. From the late 1920s to the late 1980s the religion was harassed and banned in the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc, and then again from the 1970s into the 1990s across some countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The most intense opposition has been in Iran and neighboring Shia-majority countries, considered by some scholars and watch agencies as a case of attempted genocide. Meanwhile in other times or places the religion has experienced surges in growth. Before it was banned in certain countries, the religion "hugely increased" in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1989 the Universal House of Justice named Bolivia, Bangladesh, Haiti, India, Liberia, Peru, the Philippines, and Taiwan as countries where growth in the religion had been notable in the previous decades. Bahá'í sources claimed "more than five million" Bahá'ís in 1991-2. However, since around 2001 the Universal House of Justice has prioritized statistics of the community by their levels of activity rather than simply their population of avowed adherents or numbers of local assemblies.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Because Bahá'ís do not represent the majority of the population in any country, and most often represent only a tiny fraction of countries' total populations, there are problems of under-reporting. In addition, there are examples where the adherents have their highest density among minorities in societies who face their own challenges.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The following are a few examples from Baháʼu'lláh's teachings on personal conduct that are required or encouraged of his followers:


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The following are a few examples from Baháʼu'lláh's teachings on personal conduct that is prohibited or discouraged:


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The observance of personal laws, such as prayer or fasting, is the sole responsibility of the individual. There are, however, occasions when a Baháʼí might be administratively expelled from the community for a public disregard of the laws, or gross immorality. Such expulsions are administered by the National Spiritual Assembly and do not involve shunning.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: While some of the laws from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are applicable at the present time, others are dependent upon the existence of a predominantly Baháʼí society, such as the punishments for arson or murder. The laws, when not in direct conflict with the civil laws of the country of residence, are binding on every Baháʼí.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The purpose of marriage in the Baháʼí Faith is mainly to foster spiritual harmony, fellowship and unity between a man and a woman and to provide a stable and loving environment for the rearing of children. The Baháʼí teachings on marriage call it a "fortress for well-being and salvation" and place marriage and the family as the foundation of the structure of human society. Baháʼu'lláh highly praised marriage, discouraged divorce, and required chastity outside of marriage; Baháʼu'lláh taught that a husband and wife should strive to improve the spiritual life of each other. Interracial marriage is also highly praised throughout Baháʼí scripture.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼís intending to marry are asked to obtain a thorough understanding of the other's character before deciding to marry. Although parents should not choose partners for their children, once two individuals decide to marry, they must receive the consent of all living biological parents, whether they are Baháʼí or not. The Baháʼí marriage ceremony is simple; the only compulsory part of the wedding is the reading of the wedding vows prescribed by Baháʼu'lláh which both the groom and the bride read, in the presence of two witnesses. The vows are "We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God."


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Transgender people can gain recognition of their gender in the Baháʼí Faith if they have medically transitioned and undergone sex reassignment surgery (SRS). After SRS, they are considered transitioned and may have a Baháʼí marriage.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼu'lláh prohibited a mendicant and ascetic lifestyle. Monasticism is forbidden, and Baháʼís are taught to practice spirituality while engaging in useful work. The importance of self-exertion and service to humanity in one's spiritual life is emphasised further in Baháʼu'lláh's writings, where he states that work done in the spirit of service to humanity enjoys a rank equal to that of prayer and worship in the sight of God.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Bahá'í devotional meetings in most communities currently take place in people's homes or Bahá'í centres, but in some communities Bahá'í Houses of Worship (also known as Bahá'í temples) have been built. Bahá'í Houses of Worship are places where both Baháʼís and non-Baháʼís can express devotion to God. They are also known by the name "Mashriqu'l-Adhkár" (Arabic for "Dawning-place of the remembrance of God"). Only the holy scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith and other religions can be read or chanted inside, and while readings and prayers that have been set to music may be sung by choirs, no musical instruments may be played inside. Furthermore, no sermons may be delivered, and no ritualistic ceremonies practiced. All Bahá'í Houses of Worship have a nine-sided shape (nonagon) as well as nine pathways leading outward and nine gardens surrounding them. There are currently eight "continental" Bahá'í Houses of Worship and some local Bahá'í Houses of Worship completed or under construction. The Bahá'í writings also envision Bahá'í Houses of Worship being surrounded by institutions for humanitarian, scientific, and educational pursuits, though none has yet been built up to such an extent.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Baháʼí calendar is based upon the calendar established by the Báb. The year consists of 19 months, each having 19 days, with four or five intercalary days, to make a full solar year. The Baháʼí New Year corresponds to the traditional Iranian New Year, called Naw Rúz, and occurs on the vernal equinox, near 21 March, at the end of the month of fasting. Once every Baháʼí month there is a gathering of the Baháʼí community called a Nineteen Day Feast with three parts: first, a devotional part for prayer and reading from Baháʼí scripture; second, an administrative part for consultation and community matters; and third, a social part for the community to interact freely.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Each of the 19 months is given a name which is an attribute of God; some examples include Baháʼ (Splendour), ʻIlm (Knowledge), and Jamál (Beauty). The Baháʼí week is familiar in that it consists of seven days, with each day of the week also named after an attribute of God. Baháʼís observe 11 Holy Days throughout the year, with work suspended on 9 of these. These days commemorate important anniversaries in the history of the religion.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The symbols of the religion are derived from the Arabic word Baháʼ ( "splendor" or "glory"), with a numerical value of nine. This numerical connection to the name of Baháʼu'lláh, as well as nine being the highest single-digit, symbolizing completeness, are why the most common symbol of the religion is a nine-pointed star, and Baháʼí temples are nine-sided. The nine-pointed star is commonly set on Baháʼí gravestones.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The ringstone symbol and calligraphy of the Greatest Name are also often encountered. The ringstone symbol consists of two five-pointed stars interspersed with a stylized Baháʼ whose shape is meant to recall God, the Manifestation of God, and the world of man; the Greatest Name is a calligraphic rendering of the phrase Yá Baháʼu'l-Abhá ( "O Glory of the Most Glorious!") and is commonly found in Baháʼí temples and homes.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Since its inception the Baháʼí Faith has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural co-ops, and clinics.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 was released. Baháʼís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Baháʼí teachings, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Baháʼí socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Current initiatives of social action include activities in areas like health, sanitation, education, gender equality, arts and media, agriculture, and the environment. Educational projects include schools, which range from village tutorial schools to large secondary schools, and some universities. By 2017, the Baháʼí Office of Social and Economic Development estimated that there were 40,000 small-scale projects, 1,400 sustained projects, and 135 Baháʼí-inspired organizations.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼu'lláh wrote of the need for world government in this age of humanity's collective life. Because of this emphasis the international Baháʼí community has chosen to support efforts of improving international relations through organizations such as the League of Nations and the United Nations, with some reservations about the present structure and constitution of the UN. The Baháʼí International Community is an agency under the direction of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, and has consultative status with the following organizations:


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Baháʼí International Community has offices at the United Nations in New York and Geneva and representations to United Nations regional commissions and other offices in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Nairobi, Rome, Santiago, and Vienna. In recent years, an Office of the Environment and an Office for the Advancement of Women were established as part of its United Nations Office. The Baháʼí Faith has also undertaken joint development programs with various other United Nations agencies. In the 2000 Millennium Forum of the United Nations a Baháʼí was invited as one of the only non-governmental speakers during the summit.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼís continue to be persecuted in some majority-Islamic countries, whose leaders do not recognize the Baháʼí Faith as an independent religion, but rather as apostasy from Islam. The most severe persecutions have occurred in Iran, where more than 200 Baháʼís were executed between 1978 and 1998. The rights of Baháʼís have been restricted to greater or lesser extents in numerous other countries, including Egypt, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Yemen, and several countries in sub-Saharan Africa.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The most enduring persecution of Baháʼís has been in Iran, the birthplace of the religion. When the Báb started attracting a large following, the clergy hoped to stop the movement from spreading by stating that its followers were enemies of God. These clerical directives led to mob attacks and public executions. Starting in the twentieth century, in addition to repression aimed at individual Baháʼís, centrally directed campaigns that targeted the entire Baháʼí community and its institutions were initiated. In one case in Yazd in 1903 more than 100 Baháʼís were killed. Baháʼí schools, such as the Tarbiyat boys' and girls' schools in Tehran, were closed in the 1930s and 1940s, Baháʼí marriages were not recognized and Baháʼí texts were censored.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: During the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to divert attention from economic difficulties in Iran and from a growing nationalist movement, a campaign of persecution against the Baháʼís was instituted. An approved and coordinated anti-Baháʼí campaign (to incite public passion against the Baháʼís) started in 1955 and it included the spreading of anti-Baháʼí propaganda on national radio stations and in official newspapers. During that campaign, initiated by Mulla Muhammad Taghi Falsafi, the Bahá'í center in Tehran was demolished at the orders of Tehran military governor, General Teymur Bakhtiar. In the late 1970s the Shah's regime consistently lost legitimacy due to criticism that it was pro-Western. As the anti-Shah movement gained ground and support, revolutionary propaganda was spread which alleged that some of the Shah's advisors were Baháʼís. Baháʼís were portrayed as economic threats, and as supporters of Israel and the West, and societal hostility against the Baháʼís increased.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Iranian Baháʼís have regularly had their homes ransacked or have been banned from attending university or from holding government jobs, and several hundred have received prison sentences for their religious beliefs, most recently for participating in study circles. Baháʼí cemeteries have been desecrated and property has been seized and occasionally demolished, including the House of Mírzá Buzurg, Baháʼu'lláh's father. The House of the Báb in Shiraz, one of three sites to which Baháʼís perform pilgrimage, has been destroyed twice. In May 2018, the Iranian authorities expelled a young woman student from university of Isfahan because she was Baháʼí. In March 2018, two more Baháʼí students were expelled from universities in the cities of Zanjan and Gilan because of their religion.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: According to a US panel, attacks on Baháʼís in Iran increased under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights revealed an October 2005 confidential letter from Command Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Iran ordering its members to identify Baháʼís and to monitor their activities. Due to these actions, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights stated on 20 March 2006, that she "also expresses concern that the information gained as a result of such monitoring will be used as a basis for the increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Baháʼí faith, in violation of international standards. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating."


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: On 14 May 2008, members of an informal body known as the "Friends" that oversaw the needs of the Baháʼí community in Iran were arrested and taken to Evin prison. The Friends court case has been postponed several times, but was finally underway on 12 January 2010. Other observers were not allowed in the court. Even the defense lawyers, who for two years have had minimal access to the defendants, had difficulty entering the courtroom. The chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said that it seems that the government has already predetermined the outcome of the case and is violating international human rights law. Further sessions were held on 7 February 2010, 12 April 2010 and 12 June 2010. On 11 August 2010 it became known that the court sentence was 20 years imprisonment for each of the seven prisoners which was later reduced to ten years. After the sentence, they were transferred to Gohardasht prison. In March 2011 the sentences were reinstated to the original 20 years. On 3 January 2010, Iranian authorities detained ten more members of the Baha'i minority, reportedly including Leva Khanjani, granddaughter of Jamaloddin Khanjani, one of seven Baha'i leaders jailed since 2008 and in February, they arrested his son, Niki Khanjani.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Iranian government claims that the Baháʼí Faith is not a religion, but is instead a political organization, and hence refuses to recognize it as a minority religion. However, the government has never produced convincing evidence supporting its characterization of the Baháʼí community. The Iranian government also accuses the Baháʼí Faith of being associated with Zionism. These accusations against the Baháʼís appear to lack basis in historical fact, with some arguing they were invented by the Iranian government in order to use the Baháʼís as "scapegoats".


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: In 2019, the Iranian government made it impossible for the Baháʼís to legally register with the Iranian state. National identity card applications in Iran no longer include the “other religions” option effectively making the Baháʼí Faith unrecognized by the state.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: During the 1920s, Egypt's religious Tribunal recognized the Baha'i Faith as a new, independent religion, totally separate from Islam, due to the nature of the 'laws, principles and beliefs' of the Baha'is.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: Baháʼí institutions and community activities have been illegal under Egyptian law since 1960. All Baháʼí community properties, including Baháʼí centers, libraries, and cemeteries, have been confiscated by the government and fatwas have been issued charging Baháʼís with apostasy.


title: Baháʼí Faith

text: The Egyptian identification card controversy began in the 1990s when the government modernized the electronic processing of identity documents, which introduced a de facto requirement that documents must list the person's religion as Muslim, Christian, or Jewish (the only three religions officially recognized by the government). Consequently, Baháʼís were unable to obtain government identification documents (such as national identification cards, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage or divorce certificates, or passports) necessary to exercise their rights in their country unless they lied about their religion, which conflicts with Baháʼí religious principle. Without documents, they could not be employed, educated, treated in hospitals, travel outside of the country, or vote, among other hardships. Following a protracted legal process culminating in a court ruling favorable to the Baháʼís, the interior minister of Egypt released a decree on 14 April 2009, amending the law to allow Egyptians who are not Muslim, Christian, or Jewish to obtain identification documents that list a dash in place of one of the three recognized religions. The first identification cards were issued to two Baháʼís under the new decree on 8 August 2009.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: The Winds of Winter is the planned sixth novel in the epic fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire" by American writer George R. R. Martin. Martin believes the last two volumes of the series will total over 3,000 manuscript pages. Martin has refrained from making hard estimates for the novel's final release date after several delays. He is still writing the manuscript, having stated in October 2022 that he had written approximately three-quarters of it.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: Martin stated in a 2012 interview that "The Winds of Winter" and the following book "A Dream of Spring" will take readers farther north than any of the previous books, and the Others will appear in the book. The previous installment, "A Dance with Dragons", covered less story than Martin intended, excluding at least one planned large battle sequence and leaving several character threads ending in cliffhangers. Martin intends to resolve these storylines "very early" in "The Winds of Winter", saying "I'm going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen — the battle of Slaver's Bay. And then take it from there." A Victarion Greyjoy chapter will begin five minutes after the end of "A Dance with Dragons", taking place on the eve of the Ironborn's arrival in Slaver's Bay. Arianne Martell sample chapters that Martin released on his website showed her heading for Griffin's Roost to see the young man who is calling himself Aegon Targaryen. At Guadalajara International Book Fair 2016, Martin gave some clues about the dark nature of "The Winds of Winter": ... "I've been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming. Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world, so this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters [are] in very dark places. ... Things get worse before they get better, so things are getting worse for a lot of people."


title: The Winds of Winter

text: Martin has confirmed that the following characters have had point-of-view chapters in "The Winds of Winter":


title: The Winds of Winter

text: Martin confirmed that there are no new viewpoint characters intended for "The Winds of Winter". He also stated that Samwell Tarly and Asha Greyjoy will appear in the novel, but did not elaborate if as viewpoint characters. He has also stated that non-viewpoint characters Lady Stoneheart, Quaithe, Euron Greyjoy and Rickon Stark will appear. He stated that Melisandre will return as viewpoint but did not state which novel her chapters will appear in. He teased at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con that Jeyne Westerling, Robb Stark's widow, will appear in the prologue chapter, but did not reveal who will be the POV character.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: "The Winds of Winter" was originally intended, in the very early stages of the series, to be the final installment of "A Song of Ice and Fire" (then conceived as a trilogy). Following his expansion of the series, Martin eventually concluded it would be succeeded by one final novel, "A Dream of Spring".


title: The Winds of Winter

text: Martin believes the last two volumes of the series will be massive works of more than 1,500 manuscript pages each. He does not intend to separate characters by geography again, as he was forced to do with "A Feast for Crows" because of the unpublishable length of that novel's original manuscript. But, as he stated in a 2011 interview, "Three years from now when I'm sitting on 1,800 pages of manuscript with no end in sight, who the hell knows". In 2018, he revealed that some of his publishers had suggested splitting "The Winds of Winter" into two books but that he was "resisting that notion".


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In 2022, he stated that "The Winds of Winter" could be bigger than "A Storm of Swords" or "A Dance with Dragons"; "A Storm of Swords" had 1521 manuscript pages and the manuscript "A Dance with Dragons" exceeded 1,600 pages before trimming.<ref name="http://grrm.livejournal.com/204875.html"></ref>


title: The Winds of Winter

text: By June 2010, Martin had finished four chapters for "The Winds of Winter" from the viewpoints of Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, and Arianne Martell. In July 2010, he added an Aeron Greyjoy chapter that had been moved from "A Dance with Dragons" to "The Winds of Winter", accumulating around 100 completed manuscript pages. Following the publication of "A Dance with Dragons" in July 2011, Martin announced his return to writing the series in January 2012, having spent the intervening time on his U.S. and overseas book publicity tours and attending various conventions.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In December 2011, Martin posted a Theon Greyjoy viewpoint chapter from "The Winds of Winter"; he also announced that another sample chapter would be included at the end of the North American paperback version of "A Dance with Dragons", which was originally expected to be released in mid-2012, but was released on October 29, 2013. (International paperback editions of "A Dance with Dragons" published a year earlier did not include a new, as yet unpublished sample chapter.) In the first quarter of 2012, Martin read new chapters of other characters at public events, including the chapters of Victarion Greyjoy and Tyrion Lannister. Martin continued work editing anthologies and completing a large, highly detailed series atlas "The Lands of Ice and Fire", which was published in October 2012. Martin published another sample chapter from Arianne Martell's POV on his website in January 2013. On March 27, ten days before the "Game of Thrones" season four premiere, Martin posted a chapter on his website, titled "Mercy". Martin said the new chapter is actually an old one, though never published nor publicly read. In April 2015, Martin posted a Sansa Stark viewpoint chapter from "The Winds of Winter" titled "Alayne". In May 2016, Martin replaced this chapter with an Arianne Martell chapter he had read from at Mysticon, and an Aeron Greyjoy chapter that was removed from "A Dance with Dragons" was read at Balticon.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: As of June 2016, a total of 11 chapters from "The Winds of Winter" had been either read publicly or published as a sample chapter. The point of view characters with released material are Victarion, Aeron, Tyrion, Barristan, Arianne, Theon, Mercy (Arya), and Alayne (Sansa). Several websites, including Goodreads, have dedicated entire discussion panels to any material that has been released from "The Winds of Winter", including plot twists, theories, and speculations. In 2018, Martin indicated he would not release any more sample chapters. In 2020, Martin indicated he had been revising some of the sample chapters.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In April 2011, shortly before the publication of "A Dance with Dragons", which took him six years to write, Martin hoped that "the last two books will go a little quicker than this one has" and estimated that it would take "three years to finish the next one at a good pace". By October 2012, 400 pages of the sixth novel had been written, although Martin considered only the first 200 as "really finished", the rest still needing revisions. In April 2013, Martin estimated that he had a quarter of the book. In the past, Martin has angered some of his fan base for repeatedly estimating his publication dates too optimistically; therefore, he has refrained from making hard estimates for "The Winds of Winter" final release date.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In April 2015, Martin said he would like to have it published before the sixth season of the HBO series "Game of Thrones" (which was to cover material from the book) aired in 2016; in September 2015, statements made by the Spanish editor and the Polish translator of the novel indicated that it was expected to be published in 2016.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In January 2016, Martin confirmed that he had not met an end-of-year deadline that he had established with his publisher for release of the book before the sixth season of the HBO show. He added that completion of the book was "months away still... if the writing goes well". Martin also revealed there had been a previous deadline of October 2015 that he had considered achievable in May 2015, and that in September 2015 he had still considered the end-of-year deadline achievable. He confirmed that some of the plot of the book might be revealed on the show "Game of Thrones" but one of the showrunners, David Benioff, claimed that while certain key elements would be the same, the show would diverge from the book in many respects. In February 2016, Martin stated that he had dropped all his editing projects except for "Wild Cards", and that he would not be writing anything before delivering "The Winds of Winter".


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In 2017, Martin believed that "The Winds of Winter" would be released that same year. However, he also noted that he had believed the same thing would occur the previous year, and later that year he confirmed he was "still months away" from finishing the book, indicating it may not be published until 2018 or later, with "Fire & Blood", the book on the history of House Targaryen, possibly preceding it.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In April 2018, Martin confirmed that "Fire & Blood" would be published before "The Winds of Winter", which would not be published in 2018; he indicated that "Fire & Blood" was the book his publisher wanted next. Since then, he has confirmed at least four times in 2018 that he was continuing work on "The Winds of Winter". In April 2019, Martin said that the writing "has been going very well lately", and in May he wrote that if he did not have a copy of "The Winds of Winter" in hand for 2020 Worldcon New Zealand, Air New Zealand has his permission to imprison him on New Zealand's White Island until he finishes it. In October 2019, Martin said he hoped to finish "The Winds of Winter" "in the relatively near future", and after a "Game of Thrones" prequel, "House of the Dragon", of which Martin is one of the executive producers, was announced, he stated that there was a lot of work to be done on the series but that he would not write any scripts for the series before finishing "The Winds of Winter".


title: The Winds of Winter

text: In an interview published in January 2020, Martin said that while he was still working on "The Winds of Winter", his primary focus, he also continues working with Nnedi Okorafor on a TV adaptation of her science fantasy novel "Who Fears Death", for which he agreed to be executive producer in 2017. In March and April 2020, Martin stated that he was writing "The Winds of Winter" every day. In February 2021, Martin said he had written "hundreds and hundreds of pages" of "The Winds of Winter" in 2020 but that even though it had been the most productive year with regard to "The Winds of Winter", he still had hundreds of pages to write; although he was hopeful of finishing in 2021, he did not want to make any predictions. In March 2022, Martin stated that he had made less progress in 2021 than in 2020, but emphasized that less' is not 'none.


title: The Winds of Winter

text: During an appearance on the October 25, 2022, episode of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", Martin said that approximately three quarters of "The Winds of Winter" had been written.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management from Purdue University and worked as a business manager in Dubai before pursuing a career in acting. Salmaan is a recipient of four Filmfare Awards South and one Kerala State Film Award.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: After a three-month acting course at the Barry John Acting Studio, Salmaan made his acting debut with "Second Show" (2012). He has since established himself as a leading actor in Indian cinema with several commercially and critically successful films including "Ustad Hotel" (2012), "" (2013), "Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi" (2013), "Vaayai Moodi Pesavum" (2014), "Bangalore Days" (2014), "Vikramadithyan" (2014), "O Kadhal Kanmani" (2015), "Charlie" (2015), "Kali" (2016), "Jomonte Suvisheshangal" (2017), "Mahanati" (2018), "Kurup" (2021) and "Sita Ramam" (2022).


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: He has been recognised in the media as a fashion icon and an auto enthusiast. He owns several entrepreneurship ventures and promotes various social causes. He is also the founder of the film production company Wayfarer Films.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: Dulquer Salmaan was born on 28 July 1986 in Kochi. He completed his primary level education at Toc-H Public School, Vyttila, Kochi and his secondary level education at Sishya School in Chennai. He has a bachelor's degree in Business Management from Purdue University and worked at an IT firm in Dubai. Later, he decided to pursue a career in acting and attended a three-month course at the Barry John Acting Studio in Mumbai. He stated in a 2012 interview that he chose acting because "somewhere down the lane, my life became monotonous and routine".


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In 2011, Salmaan signed on for debutante Srinath Rajendran's "Second Show" (2012) in which he played the role of Harilal, a gangster. When asked in an interview about his "unconventional entry with a bunch of newcomers", Salmaan stated that it was his conscious decision as he felt that " ... when an actor debuts, he has to earn the right to be a hero and not get it through a shortcut route." The film received mixed reviews.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: Salmaan next starred in Anwar Rasheed's "Ustad Hotel" (2012). The film, which received the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, was also a major success at the box office. He also won praise for his portrayal of Faizy. For his performance, Salmaan received his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. His third film was "Theevram", a crime thriller directed by Roopesh Peethambaran. The film, which released in November 2012, received mixed reviews and was a box office failure.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In 2013, he signed on to appear in Martin Prakkat's comedy drama "" in which he made his singing debut with "Johnny Mone Johnny". Both the song and the film became popular. Though the film received mixed reviews, his performance was well received by critics. Sify stated: "it is Dulquer Salmaan's show all the way and in all fairness the young actor has given his heart and soul into his character." He was also part of Amal Neerad's segment "Kullante Bharya" in the anthology film "5 Sundarikal" (2013). Salmaan then collaborated with Sameer Thahir in "Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi" (2013), a road movie. Salmaan starred in his "first love story", cinematographer Alagappan's romantic drama "Pattam Pole" (2013), which was a commercial failure.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In 2014, Salmaan took on another romantic role in "Salalah Mobiles", with Nazriya Nazim opposite him; like "Pattam Pole", "Salalah Mobiles" could not garner much success for the actor. Salmaan's next appearance was in the Tamil-Malayalam bilingual "Vaayai Moodi Pesavum" (2014). While the Malayalam version "Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram" was received poorly, the Tamil version received positive reviews and became a sleeper hit. IANS said Salmaan is "a treat to watch" and added, "he earns extra brownie points for dubbing in his own voice and speaking flawless Tamil." He received his second Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for the film.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In Anjali Menon's ensemble romantic comedy drama "Bangalore Days" (2014), Salmaan played Arjun with Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim as his cousins. The film received positive reviews and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time, grossing around . Later that year, he co-starred with Unni Mukundan in Lal Jose's "Vikramadithyan". He then performed in what he called his "most challenging film yet" in Renjith's "Njaan" (2014). His performance received favourable reviews and earned him several accolades, including a second Best Actor nomination at Filmfare.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In 2015, he acted opposite Nithya Menen in two films—Jenuse Mohamed's romantic comedy "100 Days of Love", and Mani Ratnam's Tamil romantic drama "O Kadhal Kanmani". About Salmaan's performance, "The Hindu" critic Baradwaj Rangan wrote: "Dulquer Salmaan checks off all boxes in the Can You Be The Next Madhavan? questionnaire", though he believed the film belonged primarily to Menen. Salmaan next played the titular character in Martin Prakkat's "Charlie" (2015). The film received eight Kerala State Film Awards, with Salmaan receiving his first Best Actor Award. He also received a third Best Actor nomination at Filmfare.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: Salmaan reunited with Sameer Thahir for his first release in 2016, "Kali" co-starring Sai Pallavi. When released, the film earned the highest opening day box office gross for a Malayalam film. He then starred in Rajeev Ravi's action drama "Kammatipaadam" (2016). The film garnered critical acclaim and became his third consecutive financial success in two years.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: He then appeared in Sathyan Anthikad's family drama "Jomonte Suvisheshangal" (2017). Despite comparisons with 2016 Malayalam drama "Jacobinte Swargarajyam", the film did well commercially. His next appearance was in Amal Neerad's action-adventure film "Comrade in America" (2017). "The Hindu" called it "Dulquer's big hit of 2017". He then portrayed four roles in the Malayalam-Tamil bilingual anthology "Solo" (2017) directed by Bejoy Nambiar. The film was critically panned and "faced immense backlash from the audience" He next featured in the Telugu film "Mahanati", a biopic on actress Savitri. His Telugu debut, the film opened to positive reviews from critics and enjoyed commercial success at the box office. Salmaan's portrayal of Gemini Ganesan was also acclaimed. Later that year, Salmaan made his Hindi film debut with "Karwaan". Though the film received "mixed response", Salmaan's performance was appreciated.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In 2019, he starred in "Oru Yamandan Premakadha" a Malayalam romantic comedy film directed by B. C. Noufal. After "Karwaan", Salmaan's next Bollywood movie "The Zoya Factor" released in September 2019. Abhishek Sharma's film adaptation of Anuja Chauhan's novel "The Zoya Factor" did not perform well at the box-office but Salmaan's performance was appreciated. "The Times of India" stated: "From being playful to intense, Dulquer steals the show as he is absolutely brilliant in his portrayal".


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In 2020, his production company Wayfarer films was launched. His first released project as a producer and actor was family drama Varane Avashyamund where he co-starred alongside Suresh Gopi, Shobana and Kalyani Priyadarshan. The film hit the screens in 2020 and garnered positive reviews.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: Other project of him as a producer is Shamzu Zayba's romantic-comedy "Maniyarayile Ashokan" which is produced through his production company Wayfarer Films, and starring Jacob Gregory and Anupama Parameswaran. He starred in the 2021 crime-thriller "Kurup" in which he played the titular role of Sukumara Kurup, also marks his third production venture which has become the highest grossing Malayalam film in 2021 and highest-grossing film of his career.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: In March 2022, his film "Salute" was released in SonyLIV. His Telugu-language period romantic film "Sita Ramam", released in August 2022, became commercially successful. Though he is a Malayali, he dubbed in all the languages in which the movie was released, bagging appreciation from many. He began to be known as pan-Indian actor since this period. Mrunal Thakur played the role of Sita in this movie. His Bollywood Psychological Crime Thriller hit theatres in September 2022. His upcoming projects include Guns&Gulaabs,a Netflix series and King of Kotha.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: On 22 December 2011, he married architect Amal Sufiya in an arranged marriage. Amal comes from a North Indian Muslim family settled in Chennai. The couple has a daughter born in May 2017.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: He has acted in a short film as part of the Kerala motor vehicle department's safe riding campaign. He donated 150 items, including clothing, shoes, books, school supplies and crockery items, as a part of the Chennai Gives initiative. In addition, he used to run a web portal for trading cars, and a dental business chain in Chennai. He also is the director of the Bangalore-based Motherhood Hospital.


title: Dulquer Salmaan

text: Dulquer Salmaan was ranked fourth by GQ in their listing of the 50 most influential young Indians of 2016. He was also featured by GQ in their listing of the Best Dressed Men India 2016. He was selected as the "Most Desirable Man" in 2013 and 2014 by Kochi Times, subsidiary of The Times Group. In 2019, Salmaan became the first actor from Kerala to get featured on the October edition cover of Vogue India.


title: Robin Wright

text: Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television.


title: Robin Wright

text: Wright first gained attention for her role in the NBC Daytime soap opera "Santa Barbara" as Kelly Capwell from 1984 to 1988. She then made the transition to film, starring in the romantic comedy fantasy adventure film "The Princess Bride" (1987). This role led her to further success in the film industry, with starring roles in films such as "Forrest Gump" (1994), the romantic drama "Message in a Bottle" (1999), the superhero drama-thriller "Unbreakable" (2000), the historical drama "The Conspirator" (2010), the biographical sports drama "Moneyball" (2011), the mystery thriller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (2011), the biographical drama "Everest" (2015), the superhero film "Wonder Woman" (2017), and the neo-noir science fiction film "Blade Runner 2049" (2017).


title: Robin Wright

text: Wright starred as Claire Underwood in the Netflix political drama streaming television series "House of Cards", for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2013, becoming the first actress to win a Golden Globe for a streaming television series. Wright has received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations in the Outstanding Lead Actress category for "House of Cards" (one for each season), and two nominations in the Outstanding Drama Series category in 2016 and 2017 as a producer on the show. She has also worked as a director on several episodes of "House of Cards" as well as on two episodes of the Netflix series "Ozark" in its fourth season.


title: Robin Wright

text: Wright is one of the highest paid actresses in the United States, earning US$420,000 per episode for her role in "House of Cards" in 2016.


title: Robin Wright

text: Wright was born April 8, 1966, in Dallas to Gayle Wright (née Gaston), a cosmetics saleswoman for Mary Kay, and Fred Wright, a pharmaceutical company employee. She has an elder brother, Richard (b. 1962), who is a photographer. Her parents divorced when she was two, which led to her relocating to San Diego, California with her mother. She grew up in Southern California, attending La Jolla High School in La Jolla and Taft High School in Los Angeles.


title: Robin Wright

text: Wright began her career as a model, when she was 14. At the age of 18, she played Kelly Capwell in the NBC Daytime soap opera "Santa Barbara", for which she received several Daytime Emmy Award nominations.


title: Robin Wright

text: Wright transitioned into feature film work with a role in "Hollywood Vice Squad" in 1986, followed by her breakthrough role as Princess Buttercup in the cult film "The Princess Bride" in 1987. She gained critical acclaim in her role as Jenny Curran in "Forrest Gump" (1994), receiving Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Robin Wright

text: In 1996, she starred in the lead role of the film adaptation of Daniel Defoe's "Moll Flanders" (1996), for which she received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actress in a Drama. She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress for her role in "She's So Lovely" (1997), a film in which she co-starred with her then-husband Sean Penn. Wright received her third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her role in the television film "Empire Falls" (2005).


title: Robin Wright

text: Since 2013, Wright has appeared in the Netflix political drama streaming television series "House of Cards" in the role of Claire Underwood, the ruthless wife of political mastermind Frank Underwood. On January 12, 2014, she won a Golden Globe for the role, becoming the first actress to win the award for a streaming television series; she was nominated for the same award the following year. She also received nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award in 2013 and 2014 for the same role. Following Season 4 in 2016, Wright stated that she felt Claire Underwood was the equal of Frank Underwood and demanded equal pay for her performance as her co-star Kevin Spacey; Netflix acquiesced. In 2017, for her performance in the fifth season, Wright was nominated for her fifth consecutive Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. For the years 2014, 2016, and 2017, Wright received Best Actress in a Drama Series nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Awards, with her being the only nomination for the show in December 2017.


title: Robin Wright

text: In October 2017, she was set as the show's new lead for the final season, following the firing of Kevin Spacey due to sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey. For her last appearance as Underwood, her performance was acclaimed - described as a "commanding performance [that] is more than enough to keep [the final season] standing strong" - earning her her final nominations for the role at the Screen Actors Guild and Primetime Emmy Awards in 2019. For the latter, she became one of seven women to be nominated for the category six or more times for the same show (the first in 10 years since Mariska Hargitay for "").


title: Robin Wright

text: In 2017, Wright played General Antiope in "Wonder Woman" (2017) and its 2020 sequel alongside Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. She appears in the "Blade Runner" sequel "Blade Runner 2049" alongside Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, and Jared Leto.


title: Robin Wright

text: In April 2019, it was announced that she would make her feature film directorial debut in the film "Land". Wright would also be starring as its lead, Edee Mathis, a lawyer who retreats in grief to the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming. Sales for the film would start at Cannes the following month. Filming began by October that year and the movie was picked up by distributor Focus Features.


title: Robin Wright

text: Recently, Wright directed the final two episodes of the first part of season 4 of the Netflix show, "Ozark". The final two episodes are entitled "Sangre Sobre Todo" and "Sanctified".


title: Robin Wright

text: In April 2022, Wright joined the cast of Netflix's fantasy film "Damsel" directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.


title: Robin Wright

text: From 1986 to 1988, Wright was married to actor Dane Witherspoon, whom she met in 1984 on the set of the soap opera "Santa Barbara".


title: Robin Wright

text: In 1989, Wright became involved with actor Sean Penn following his divorce from Madonna. Wright was offered the role of Maid Marian in the film "", but turned it down because she was pregnant. Their daughter, Dylan Frances, was born in April 1991. She backed out of the role of Abby McDeere in "The Firm" (1993) due to her pregnancy with her second child, and their son, Hopper Jack, was born in August 1993.


title: Robin Wright

text: After breaking up and getting back together, Wright and Penn married in 1996. Their on-and-off relationship seemingly ended in divorce plans, announced in December 2007, but the divorce petition was withdrawn four months later at the couple's request. In February 2009, Wright and Penn attended the 81st Academy Awards together, at which Penn won the Best Actor award. Penn filed for legal separation in April 2009, but withdrew the petition in May. On August 12, 2009, Wright filed for divorce, declaring she had no plans to reconcile. The divorce was finalized on July 22, 2010.


title: Robin Wright

text: In February 2012, Wright began dating actor Ben Foster, and their engagement was announced in January 2014. The couple called off their engagement in November 2014, but reunited in January 2015. On August 29, 2015, they announced they were ending their second engagement. In 2017, Wright began dating Clément Giraudet, a Saint Laurent executive, and they secretly wed in August 2018 in La Roche-sur-le-Buis, France. Wright filed for divorce from Giraudet in September 2022.


title: Robin Wright

text: In 2014, she co-partnered with two California-based companies; Pour Les Femmes and The SunnyLion. The SunnyLion donates a portion of its profits to the Raise Hope For Congo movement.


title: Robin Wright

text: Wright is an activist for human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is the narrator and executive producer of the documentary "When Elephants Fight" which highlights how multinational mining corporations and politicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo threaten human rights, and perpetuate conflict in the region. She also is a supporter of "Stand With Congo", the human rights campaign behind the film. In 2016, Wright spoke publicly in support of the campaign at a film screening at the TriBeCa Film Institute in New York City, in media interviews, with journalists, and across her social media accounts.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after Italian Renaissance artists) trained in ninjutsu who fight evil in New York City. Supporting characters include the turtles' rat sensei Splinter, their human friends April O'Neil and Casey Jones, and enemies such as Baxter Stockman, Krang, and their archenemy, the Shredder.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The franchise began as a comic book, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", which Eastman and Laird conceived as a parody of elements popular in superhero comics at the time. The first issue was published in 1984 by Eastman and Laird's company Mirage Studios and was a surprise success. In 1987, Eastman and Laird licensed the characters to Playmates Toys, which developed a line of "Turtles" action figures. About US$1.1 billion of "Turtles" toys were sold between 1988 and 1992, making them the third-bestselling toy figures ever at the time.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The action figures were promoted with an animated series, which premiered in 1987 and ran for almost a decade. In some European regions, the franchise was called "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" due to the violent connotations of the word "ninja". Three live-action films were released; the first, released in 1990, became the highest-grossing independent film up to that point. Numerous video games have also been released. In 2009, the franchise was purchased by Viacom, now Paramount Global. Viacom commissioned a new comic series, two new live-action films, and new animated series.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The comic book authors Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird met in Massachusetts and began working on illustrations together. In 1983, Laird invited Eastman to move in with him in Dover, New Hampshire. That November, Eastman drew a masked turtle standing on its hind legs armed with nunchucks."" Laird added the words "teenage mutant". The concept parodied several elements popular in superhero comics of the time: the teenagers of "New Teen Titans," the mutants of "Uncanny X-Men" and the ninjas of "Daredevil", combined with the comic tradition of funny animals such as Howard the Duck.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Eastman and Laird developed the concept into a comic book. They considered giving the turtles Japanese names, but instead named them after the Italian Renaissance artists Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, which Laird said "felt just quirky enough to fit the concept". They developed a backstory referencing further elements of "Daredevil": like Daredevil, the Turtles are altered by radioactive material, and their sensei, Splinter, is a play on Daredevil's sensei, Stick.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In March 1984, Eastman and Laird founded a comic book company, Mirage Studios, in their home. Using money from a tax refund and a loan from Eastman's uncle, they printed copies of first issue of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and advertised it in "Comics Buyer's Guide Magazine." This attracted the interest of comic distributors, and all 3,000 copies were sold in a few weeks."" Sales of further issues continued to climb.""


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 1987, Eastman and Laird licensed "Turtles" to Playmates Toys. Between 1988 and 1997, Playmates produced "Turtles" toys including around 400 figures and dozens of vehicles and playsets. About US$1.1 billion of "Turtles" toys were sold in four years, making them the third-bestselling toy figures ever at the time, behind "GI Joe" and "Star Wars".""


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Influenced by the success of "He-Man", "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers", which had promoted toy lines with animated series, Playmates worked with the animation studio Murakami-Wolf-Swenson to produce the first "Turtles" animated series, which premiered in 1987 and ran for almost a decade. It introduced "Turtles" elements such as their color-coded masks, catchphrases, love of pizza and distinct personalities. To make it acceptable to parents and television networks, the series had a lighter tone than the comics, with no expletives, less violence and less threatening villains."" In the United Kingdom and some other European regions, the franchise was renamed "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" for the violent connotations of the word "ninja".


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The first "Turtles" video game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1989, the first of several developed by the Japanese company Konami. It sold approximately four million copies, making it one of the bestselling NES games."" In response to concerns that the series was drifting from its origins, Eastman and Laird published an editorial in the comic in 1989, writing: "We've allowed the wacky side to happen, and enjoy it very much. All the while, though, we've kept the originals very much ours." Eastman later said there was "some stuff that we wish we hadn’t said yes to", and Laird wrote of his dislike for the softer tone of the animated series.""


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The early 1990s saw the commercial peak of the franchise. The first "Turtles" film was released in 1990, featuring costumes designed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. It was based more closely on the comic than the animated series, with a darker tone. It was the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1990 and the highest-grossing independent film at that point, earning more than US$200 million worldwide. A sequel, "The" "Secret of the Ooze", was released the following year. With a rushed production and a lighter tone, it received weaker reviews and was less successful at the box office. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" (1993) was aimed at the Japanese market, the largest foreign market for US films at the time, but failed to see release there and saw weaker reviews and sales.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 1990, a stage musical, "Coming Out of Their Shells", featuring the Turtles as a rock band, played 40 shows across the United States."" The musical was sponsored by Pizza Hut and promoted with an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." A soundtrack album and VHS were released."" After the animated series ended, a live-action television series, "", was created in 1997 with Saban Entertainment. It introduced a fifth, female turtle, Venus de Milo. The series was canceled after one season;"" Laird later said it was the only licensed "Turtles" project he "truly regrets".""


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Eastman sold his share of the "Turtles" franchise to Laird in 2000. In 2003, 4Kids Entertainment launched a new animated "Turtles" series, which ran for seven seasons, concluding with a television film "Turtles Forever" in 2009."" Laird had a role in the production, creating a closer adaptation of the original comic."" A computer-animated "Turtles" film, "TMNT", was released in 2007 and earned $95 million at the box office.""


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: On October 21, 2009, it was announced that Laird had sold the franchise to Viacom. He said he had tired of working on "Turtles", writing: "I am no longer that guy who carries his sketchbook around with him and draws in it every chance he gets." In August 2011, IDW Publishing launched a new "Turtles" comic series, with Eastman as co-writer and illustrator. A third animated series"" premiered in September 2012 on Nickelodeon, and ran for five seasons before ending in 2017.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: A fourth live-action "Turtles" film, produced by Platinum Dunes, Nickelodeon Movies, and Paramount Pictures, directed by Jonathan Liebesman and produced by Michael Bay, was released on August 8, 2014. It received negative reviews, but was a box-office success. A sequel, "", directed by Dave Green, was released in June 2016.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: A fourth animated series, "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", premiered in 2018 and ran for two seasons. A to the series released in 2022 on the streaming service Netflix. Two additional films are in development; "", produced by Seth Rogen, and a live-action reboot produced by Bay.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In most versions, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are created when four baby turtles are exposed to radioactive ooze, transforming them into humanoids. They fight evil in New York City, where they reside in the sewers.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Leonardo, the leader, is the most disciplined and skilled turtle; an expert swordsman, he wields two katana and wears a blue bandana. Raphael, the strongest and most reckless turtle, wears a red bandana and uses a pair of sai. Donatello uses his intellect to invent gadgets and vehicles; he wears a purple mask and uses a bo staff. Michelangelo is the least disciplined and most fun-loving turtle, and is usually portrayed as the fastest and most agile. He wears an orange bandana and uses nunchucks.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Splinter is a mutant rat who is the wise adoptive father of the Turtles and teaches them ninjitsu. In some iterations, he was once the pet rat of ninja master Hamato Yoshi; in others, he is a mutated Yoshi. The Turtles are assisted by April O'Neil, who is variously depicted as a news reporter, lab assistant or genius computer programmer. In most versions, she is pursued romantically by Casey Jones, a hockey mask-wearing vigilante who usually becomes an ally of the Turtles.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The Turtles' nemesis is the Shredder, who leads the criminal ninja clan known as the Foot. His real identity is usually the ninja Oroku Saki. In most versions, the Shredder's second in command is Karai, a skilled martial artist; in some iterations she is the Shredder's daughter. The Shredder allies with Baxter Stockman, a mad scientist, and Krang, an alien warlord. Krang was introduced in the original animated series, and was inspired by the Utrom race from the comics. Also created for the series were the Shredder's buffoonish henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady, a mutant rhinoceros and warthog.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Eastman and Laird's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" premiered in May 1984, at a comic book convention held at a local Sheraton Hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was published by their company Mirage Studios in an oversized magazine-style format using black and white artwork on cheap newsprint, limited to a print run of 3000 copies. It was initially intended as a one-shot, but due to its popularity it became an ongoing series.""


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: After publication was temporarily assumed by Image Comics for the third volume (see below), Laird (by then the sole owner of the franchise) and Lawson relaunched the main series at Mirage with a fourth volume in 2001. Following the sale of the franchise to Nickelodeon in late 2009, Laird retained the right to continue the Mirage series, but no issues have been released since the release of No. 32 in 2014, and Mirage Studios was wound down in 2021.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: All total, the main Mirage series lasted for 129 issues, spanning four separate volumes of 62, 13, 23, and 32 issues, respectively."" Additional one-shot issues and miniseries were published over the years. Mirage also published a companion book entitled "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", which was designed to fill in the gaps of continuity in the TMNT universe.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 1996, Image Comics co-founder Erik Larsen, seeing they there were no TMNT comics in active publication, oversaw a relaunch of the comics through Highbrow Productions, his studio at Image, with writing by Gary Carlson and art by Frank Fosco. This third volume of the main series, intended as a continuation of the Mirage comics, saw Splinter become a bat, Donatello a cyborg, Leonardo lose a hand and Raphael become scarred and assume the identity of the new Shredder. The series was canceled in 1999 after 23 issues without a conclusion. In 2018, IDW began reprinting the series in full color as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Urban Legends", and commissioned Carlson and Fusco to create three additional issues to tie up the unfinished story.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: From 1988 to 1995, Archie Comics published "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures", a series aimed at a younger audience. Initially adapting episodes of the first animated series, it soon moved to original storylines. The main series ran for 72 issues; in addition, there were numerous annuals, specials and miniseries. An ongoing spinoff series, "Mighty Mutanimals," features a team of supporting characters.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: A monthly comic inspired by the 2003 TV series was published by Dreamwave Productions from June to December 2003. It was written by Peter David and illustrated by LeSean Thomas. In the first four issues, which were the only ones directly adapted from the TV series, the story was told from the perspectives of April, Baxter, Casey, and a pair of New York City police officers.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 2011, IDW Publishing acquired the license to publish new collections of Mirage storylines and a new ongoing series. The first issue of the new series was released on August 24 that year. Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz wrote the book, with Eastman and Dan Duncan providing art. In 2017 issue No. 73 of the comic was published, making it the longest running comic series in the franchises history. In addition to the main series and spin-offs set within its continuity, IDW also published comics based on the 2012 "Turtles" animated series and the 2018 animated series, "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: A daily comic strip written and illustrated by Dan Berger began in 1990. It featured an adventure story Monday through Friday and activity puzzles on weekends (with fan art appearing later). The comic strip was published in syndication until its cancellation in December 1996. At its highest point in popularity, it was published in more than 250 newspapers.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Debuting in 1987 as a five-part miniseries and becoming a regular Saturday-morning syndicated series on October 1, 1988, the first animated series follows the adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their allies as they battle the Shredder, Krang, and numerous other villains and criminals in New York City. The property was changed considerably from the darker-toned comics, to make it more suitable for children and the families. Produced by Fred Wolf Films, the series ran for ten seasons and ended in 1996.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In addition to the American series, a Japan-exclusive two-episode anime original video animation (OVA) series was made in 1996, titled "Mutant Turtles: Choujin Densetsu-hen". The OVA is similar in tone to the 1987 TV series and uses the same voices from TV Tokyo's Japanese dub of the 1987 TV series. It featured the Turtles as superheroes, that gained costumes and superpowers with the use of Mutastones, while Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady gained supervillain powers with the use of a Dark Mutastone.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 1997–1998, a live-action series, "Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation," aired on Fox. It introduced a female turtle, Venus de Milo, skilled in the mystical arts of the "shinobi". "The Next Mutation" Turtles made a guest appearance on "Power Rangers in Space". "The Next Mutation" was canceled after one season of 26 episodes.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 2003, a new TMNT series produced by 4Kids Entertainment began airing on the "FoxBox" (later renamed "4Kids TV") programming block. It later moved to "The CW4Kids" block. The series was co-produced by Mirage Studios, and Mirage owned one-third of the rights to the series. Mirage's significant stake in creative control resulted in a cartoon that hews more closely to the original comics, creating a darker and mature tone than the 1987 cartoon, though still considered appropriate for younger viewers. This series lasted until 2009, ending with a feature-length television movie titled "Turtles Forever", which was produced in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the franchise.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Nickelodeon acquired the global rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. and announced a new CGI-animated TMNT television series. The 2012 version is characterized by anime-like iconography and emphasis on mutagen continuing to wreak havoc on the everyday lives of the Turtles and their enemies; in addition, the tone of this version is similar to the original series, but also features a handful of serious episodes as well. The series ran for five seasons and ended in 2017.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was the second Nickelodeon-produced animated series in the franchise and premiered in September 2018. It returned to using 2D animation, while also using some anime iconography, and was characterized by its more lighter humor. The series aired between 2018 and 2020, and was followed by a released on Netflix in 2022.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The Turtles have starred in six theatrical feature films. The first three are live-action features produced in the early 1990s: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1990), "" (1991), and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" (1993). The Turtles were played by various actors in costumes featuring animatronic heads, initially produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The fourth film, a computer-animated film titled "TMNT", was released in 2007.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: A reboot, also titled "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" produced by Platinum Dunes, Nickelodeon Movies, and Paramount Pictures, directed by Jonathan Liebesman, and produced by Michael Bay, was released in 2014. A sequel titled "" was released in 2016. A computer-animated reboot titled "," directed by Jeff Rowe, and produced by Seth Rogen is set to release in 2023.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The franchise generated merchandise sales of in 1988 and in 1989. By May 1990, it had generated in domestic retail revenues. By 1994, it was the most merchandisable franchise, having generated a total revenue of in merchandise sales up until then.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: During the run of the 1987 TV series, Playmates Toys produced hundreds of TMNT action figures, along with vehicles, playsets, and accessories, becoming one of the top collectibles for children. Staff artists at Northampton, Massachusetts-based Mirage Studios provided conceptual designs for many of the figures, vehicles, and playsets and creator credit can be found in the legal text printed on the back of the toy packaging. In addition, Playmates produced a series of TMNT/"Star Trek" crossover figures, due to Playmates holding the "Star Trek" action-figure license at the time. Playmates employed many design groups to develop looks and styles for the toy line, including Bloom Design, White Design, Pangea, Robinson-Clarke, and McHale Design. The marketing vice president of Playmates, Karl Aaronian, was largely responsible for assembling the talented team of designers and writers, which in turn, helped germinate continued interest in the toy line.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Never before in toy history did an action-figure line have such an impact for over two decades, generating billions of dollars in licensing revenue. The series was highly popular in the UK, where in the run-up to Christmas, the Army & Navy Store in London's Lewisham devoted its entire basement to everything Turtle, including games, videos, costumes, and other items. Playmates continued to produce TMNT action figures based on the 2003 animated series. The 2007 film "TMNT" also gave Playmates a new source from which to make figures, while National Entertainment Collectibles Association produced a series of high-quality action figures based on character designs from the original Mirage comics. In 2012, a new toy line and a new classic toy line from Playmates were announced to be released.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: A number of "TMNT" video games had been produced, mostly by Konami. The first console video game based on the franchise, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) under Konami's "Ultra Games" label in 1989 and later ported to home computers and eventually for the Wii on the Virtual Console. Also released by Konami in 1989 was an arcade game, also titled simply "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", later ported to the NES as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game", leading to an NES-only sequel, "", with gameplay taken from the arcade game, as opposed to the first NES game. The next Turtles game, "", was released in 1991 as an arcade game, and was later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES) in 1992, titled "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time", with a sequel numbering to the NES titles appended. "" was also created for the Sega Genesis in the same year, and used many of the art assets from "TMNT IV".


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: There was also a trilogy of TMNT video games for the original Game Boy system made by Konami, consisting of "", "", and "". A PC-exclusive game, "" was also released. Konami's last entries during the original run were "", a set of one-on-one fighting game released for the NES, SNES, and Genesis; each version is a wholly distinct game, sharing only the title and genre in common.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In September 2002, Konami also acquired the license to adapt the 2003 TV series into a video game franchise, resulting in a new series of games with 3D gameplay inspired by the old TMNT beat 'em up games, consisting of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 video game)", "", "", and "".


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 2006, Ubisoft acquired the rights for TMNT games, beginning with a game based on the 2007 animated feature film, along with a distinct game for the Game Boy Advance similar in style to the Konami arcade games. A beat 'em up game "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Arcade Attack" was released for the Nintendo DS in 2009, to coincide with the series' 25th anniversary.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 2013, Activision released the downloadable game "", based on the 2012 TV series and developed by Red Fly Studio for the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Steam.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 2016, Activision and PlatinumGames developed "" for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC. The game is described as a third-person, team-based brawler. The campaign is playable either single-player or co-op and has an original story written by Tom Waltz, IDW comic writer and editor. The art style is based on long time TMNT comic artist Mateus Santolouco.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Legends", a free-to-play Role-playing video game was released by Ludia in summer 2016 for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire. It is based on the 2012 TV series.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appear as playable characters in the DC Comics fighting game "Injustice 2" as a part of the "Fighter Pack 3" DLC, with Corey Krueger, Joe Brugie, Ben Rausch and Ryan Cooper voicing their roles.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: Leonardo, Michelangelo, April O'Neil and Shredder appear as playable characters in the 2021 platform fighting game "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl", with Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman and Jim Cummings reprising their roles from the 1987 animated series while Abby Trott voices the role as part of the June 2022 update of the game. All four of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also appeared as playable characters in the fighting game "Brawlhalla".


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: "", a beat 'em up with all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April, Splinter and Casey Jones as playable characters was released in June 2022. It is inspired by the 1987 Turtles animated series and borrows stylistically from the arcade and home console games, developed by Konami during the 80s and 90s.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: In 1985, Palladium Books published "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness". It is a standalone game, but uses the many key mechanics from Palladium's Megaversal system and is compatible with material from other Palladium games. It introduced rules for creating anthropomorphic animal mutants. Examples of mutants are included in the appendices as potential antagonists, including the Terror Bears, Caesars Weasels, and Sparrow Eagles, as well as including stats for the Turtles and other characters. A series of supplements were released over the next few years, which remained in print until, due to the cost of maintaining the license, Palladium decided to end its license with Mirage Studios in January 2000.


title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

text: During the height of their popularity, the Turtles had a number of food tie-ins. Among the most notable of these products was Ninja Turtles Cereal, produced by Ralston-Purina as a kind of "Chex with TMNT-themed marshmallows." The cereal featured many different in-box premiums during its production run. Ralston also produced Pizza Crunchabungas, which were pizza-flavored corn snacks in the shape of whole, circular pizzas (the commercial starred the Ninja Turtles as Will Vinton-created claymations); Hostess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pies, featuring a crust covered in green glaze with vanilla pudding inside. Each pie came with either one of five yellow stickers with an illustration of one of the turtles on it, or one of 5 different TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze trading cards inside.