title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals finished the 2005–06 season in the cellar of the Southeastern Division again, with a 29–41–12 campaign, earning 12 more points than the 2003–04 season, good for 27th out of the 30 NHL teams. The team, however, played close in every game, playing in 42 one-goal games, although losing two-thirds of those games. Ovechkin's rookie season exceeded the hype, as he led all 2005–06 NHL rookies in goals, points, power-play goals and shots. He finished third overall in the NHL in scoring and tied for third in goals, and his 425 shots not only led the league, but also set an NHL rookie record and was the fourth-highest total in NHL history. Ovechkin's rookie point total was the second-best in Capitals history, and his goal total was tied for third in franchise history. Ovechkin won the Calder Memorial Trophy, beating out Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby and Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Many longtime Capitals had career years, with Dainius Zubrus netting 57 points, Halpern having a career-best 33 assists, Matt Pettinger putting in a career-best 20-goal, 38-point effort and seven others on the relatively young team topping 20 points for the first time. Two notable landmarks were also hit by Capitals, as the team's longest-tenured player, Olaf Kolzig, won his 250th game in goal, and Andrew Cassels became the 204th player to play 1,000 games, although he did not finish his season with Washington. A notable first was that Washington area native Jeff Halpern was named captain of his hometown Capitals. At the 2006 NHL trade deadline, on March 8, Brendan Witt was traded to the Nashville Predators.


title: Washington Capitals

text: In the 2006 off-season, Halpern left the Capitals to join the Dallas Stars; Chris Clark subsequently became the Capitals' new captain. Richard Zednik returned to the Capitals in 2006–07 after a disappointing 16-goal, 14-assist season in 2005–06 with the Montreal Canadiens, but was later dealt at the trade deadline to the New York Islanders after a disappointing and injury-plagued season. The Caps also signed former Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Donald Brashear. Despite the transactions, however, the Capitals finished with the same point total (70) in 2006–07 as they did the year before, although they won one fewer game. Ovechkin was the Capitals' lone representative in the season's All-Star Game, with Washington's campaign also seeing the breakout of Alexander Semin, who notched 38 goals in only his second NHL season.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals signed Swedish phenom Nicklas Backstrom, the fourth overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, to a three-year entry-level contract. They also signed 19-year-old Semyon Varlamov to a three-year entry-level contract. They then went on to fill needs at defense, signing puck-moving defenseman Tom Poti; right wing, by signing Viktor Kozlov; and center, by signing playmaker Michael Nylander. As a result of these signings, there was much more hope for the 2007–08 season and players were looking towards the playoffs.


title: Washington Capitals

text: After starting the season 6–14–1, the Capitals fired head coach Glen Hanlon and replaced him with Hershey Bears head coach Bruce Boudreau on Thanksgiving Day, 2007. On January 10, 2008, the Capitals signed Ovechkin to an NHL-record $124 million contract extension at 13 years, the second-longest term of any contract in the NHL after New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro's 15-year contract. Despite the Capitals' young defense and injuries to key players such as Michael Nylander and Brian Pothier, Boudreau engineered a remarkable turnaround. Aided by key acquisitions at the trade deadline (Matt Cooke, Sergei Fedorov and Cristobal Huet), Ovechkin's NHL-leading 65 goals, and Mike Green's league defensemen-leading 18 goals, the Capitals won the Southeast Division title for the first time since the 2000–01 season, edging out the Carolina Hurricanes for the Division title on the final game of the season. Washington's remarkable end-of-season run included winning 11 of the final 12 regular-season games. The Capitals became the first team in NHL history to make the playoffs after being ranked 14th or lower in their conference standings at the season's midpoint. For the postseason, the Capitals drew the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round and managed to force a Game 7 after being down three games to one in the series. However, they ultimately lost to the Flyers 3–2 in overtime. After the season concluded, Boudreau's efforts were rewarded with a long-term contract extension.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The accolades for the team continued to grow after the end of the season. Ovechkin won the Art Ross Trophy, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award, becoming the first player in NHL history to win all four awards in the same season. He also was the first player to win an MVP award in any major sport in the Washington, D.C., area since Joe Theismann won the National Football League (NFL) MVP award in 1983. Moreover, Ovechkin was also named an NHL First Team All-Star and became the first player since 1953 to be named as such in each of his first three years in the NHL. Nicklas Backstrom was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, but ended up second to the Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane, though Backstrom was nonetheless selected to the All-Star Rookie Team. In addition to player awards, head coach Bruce Boudreau won the Jack Adams Award for the NHL's coach of the year. Ovechkin and Mike Green were named to the "Sporting News" All-Star team, with Ovechkin being the "Sporting News" Player of the Year.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The 2008–09 season was highlighted by the play of Mike Green (who was the third of the Capitals' three first-round selections in Ovechkin's draft year) and Ovechkin. Green led all NHL defensemen in goals and points, also setting the record for the longest consecutive goal-scoring streak by a defenseman with eight games. Ovechkin won his second Hart Trophy, his second Lester B. Pearson Award and his second Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. The Capitals finished the regular season with a record of 50–24–8 and a team-record 108 points, and they won their second consecutive Southeast Division championship. They then defeated the New York Rangers in the first round of the 2009 playoffs four games to three, overcoming a 3–1 deficit. The Capitals were then defeated by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals finished the 2009–10 season regular season first in the NHL with 121 points, thereby winning the Presidents' Trophy. Ovechkin led the team in points with 109 and finished as the third-highest goal scorer, despite playing nine games fewer than the league leaders. Backstrom finished with 101 points, fourth-most in the NHL. Once again, Mike Green led all defensemen in points, finishing with 76. The Capitals also dominated the plus-minus category, finishing with five players in the top six in the league. Despite having a top-ranked regular season, Washington were defeated by the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The 2010–11 season saw the Capitals repeat as the Southeast Division champions and as the top team in the Eastern Conference with 107 points. The season was highlighted by their participation in the 2011 NHL Winter Classic, where they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–1 at Heinz Field. However, the Capitals' playoff disappointment continued. After again defeating the New York Rangers in five games in the first round, they were swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals started the 2011–12 season with a record of 7–0, but they only won five of their next 15 games. As a result, general manager George McPhee fired head coach Boudreau, hiring Capitals legend Dale Hunter as his replacement. By the end of the 2011–12 season, the team's top two goaltenders, Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun, were injured and the Capitals were required to lean on their goaltending prospect Braden Holtby to help the team into the 2012 playoffs. The Capitals made a strong push and finished with the seventh overall seed in East, drawing the defending champion Boston Bruins in the first round. The Capitals shocked the NHL by defeating the heavily favored Bruins in seven games on an overtime goal by Joel Ward. Every game in the series was decided by a one-goal margin; previously, no single series in the Stanley Cup playoffs had ever gone as far as six or seven games while neither team ever held more than a one-goal lead. The Capitals then advanced to the second round to face the top-seeded New York Rangers. The series again went seven games, ending with a 2–1 Rangers victory at Madison Square Garden. Following the season's end, head coach Dale Hunter announced he would step down. Adam Oates was later named permanent head coach of the team.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The lockout-shortened 2012–13 season saw the Capitals off to a rocky start, as they managed just two wins in their first ten games. The team rebounded to win the Southeast Division, thereby earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Unfortunately for Washington, the Capitals' playoff woes continued as they again fell to the Rangers in seven games.


title: Washington Capitals

text: In the 2013–14 season, the Capitals started the season winning five of their first ten games. The Capitals struggled to stay in a playoff spot and ultimately missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006–07. On April 26, 2014, 15 days after the regular season ended, the Capitals announced they would not renew general manager George McPhee's contract and that they had fired head coach Adam Oates.


title: Washington Capitals

text: On May 26, 2014, the Capitals announced the promotion of Brian MacLellan from director of player personnel to general manager and the hiring of Barry Trotz as the new head coach. In Ovechkin's 691st NHL game on November 4, 2014, he became the Capitals' all-time points leader during a game against the Calgary Flames, surpassing Peter Bondra. On January 1, 2015, the Washington Capitals defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3–2 in the annual NHL Winter Classic at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The Capitals finished in a second-place tie with the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division during the 2014–15 season and held home-ice advantage in the first-round playoff series between the two, as they had defeated the Islanders in the season series with two home wins and two road overtime losses (in comparison, the Islanders had two home wins, one road loss and one road shootout loss). The teams split the first four games of the series, with the Islanders winning the first and third games, and the Capitals winning the second and fourth games. After winning Game 5, the Capitals had a chance to clinch the series in Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but the Islanders won Game 6 to send the series to a deciding Game 7 in Washington, which the Capitals would go on to win and defeat the Islanders, setting up a match-up against the top-seeded Rangers in the Second Round for the third time in four years.


title: Washington Capitals

text: In the second round, all seven games were decided by a one-goal margin. The Capitals and the Rangers split the first two games (with Joel Ward scoring a game-winning buzzer beater goal for Washington in Game 1, coupled with a loss by Washington in Game 2) by a 2–1 margin. Braden Holtby would then post a 1–0 shutout in Game 3, with Jay Beagle scoring the game's only goal, which was then followed by another 2–1 victory in Game 4. After Washington held a 3–1 series lead, the Rangers would then cut the series lead to 3–2 after scoring the game-tying goal and the game-winning overtime goal in Game 5. The Rangers then tied the series with a 4–3 victory in Game 6 to force a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. Both teams scored a goal during regulation time in Game 7, but the Capitals would lose the game and the series in overtime via a Derek Stepan goal.


title: Washington Capitals

text: In the 2015–16 season, the Capitals finished in first place in the league with a record of 56–18–8 and 120 points. In the first round of the playoffs, they would face the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals won the first three games of the series and were looking for their first sweep in the playoffs of a best-of-seven series in franchise history. However, the Flyers would win the next two games to send the series to a sixth game in Philadelphia; the Capitals nevertheless won that series in six games to advance to the second round of the playoffs. In the second round, they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time since 2009. After winning the first game of the series in Washington, the Capitals lost three straight games, and were in danger of elimination. Washington would stave off elimination with a win in Game 5, but they would lose the series in six games, with the Penguins going on to win the Stanley Cup.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Ovechkin reached the 1,000-point milestone on January 11, 2017, with a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins 35 seconds into the first period of that game. Ovechkin is the 84th NHL player to reach the 1,000-point milestone, the fourth Russian-born player and the 37th player to reach the milestone while playing for one team throughout their NHL career. The Capitals won their second Presidents' Trophy in a row, becoming just the seventh team in NHL history to win back-to-back Presidents' Trophies. Ovechkin finished the 2016–17 regular season with 33 goals, leading the Capitals in goals for the twelfth straight season. In the 2017 playoffs, the Capitals defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games in the first round to set up a second consecutive showdown with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. After falling behind 3–1 in the series, they battled back to force a game seven at home, where they were eliminated 2–0, and lost their series 4–3.


title: Washington Capitals

text: After the 2017 playoffs, the Capitals were unable to retain a number of players, losing Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, Justin Williams, and Daniel Winnik to free agency, and budding young defenseman Nate Schmidt to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. In addition, to get under the cap, the Capitals shipped Marcus Johansson to the New Jersey Devils. Despite a slow 5–6–1 start, which extended out to 10–9–1, the Capitals caught fire in December, going 10–2–2, and were able to clinch the Metropolitan Division for a third straight year on April 1. They qualified for the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years.


title: Washington Capitals

text: In the playoffs, the Capitals were able to battle back from a 2–0 series deficit against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2018 playoffs, winning four straight and beating the Blue Jackets in six games. They faced the Penguins again in the second round, and this time, on May 7, 2018, they were able to beat the Penguins in the second round with an overtime goal on the road in Game 6 by Evgeny Kuznetsov. It marked the first time in 20 seasons that the Capitals made a Conference Final and the first time in 24 seasons that they had defeated the Penguins in a playoff series.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals advanced to the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals on May 23, after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games after a 4–0 rout at Amalie Arena in Tampa. The Capitals then faced the expansion Vegas Golden Knights and overcame them in five games, including a 4–3 win in the decisive game five at T-Mobile Arena after Lars Eller scored with about seven minutes to go. Not only was it the Capitals' first Stanley Cup win, but it was also the first championship for a Washington, D.C. team in one of the four major North American sports leagues since the Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 26 years beforehand in Super Bowl XXVI.


title: Washington Capitals

text: On April 4, 2019, the Capitals clinched their fourth straight Metropolitan Division title and with that accomplishment, Washington became only the second organization in NHL history to win four consecutive division titles twice in their history (Boston Bruins from 1927–28 to 1930–31 and again from 1975–76 to 1978–79). The Capitals' previous streak was from the 2007–08 season to the 2010–11 season in the now-defunct Southeast Division. In the 2019 playoffs, the Capitals efforts to repeat as champions ultimately fell short, as they were eliminated in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. In the following season, the Capitals clinched another division title, but lost to the New York Islanders in the first round of the 2020 playoffs. The next season the Capitals finished second in the division, ultimately losing to the Boston Bruins in five games of the first round of the 2021 playoffs. Following their 3rd straight first round exit since their Stanley Cup win, the Washington Capitals started the following season strong, holding first place through the Christmas break. However, they ended up falling to 4th place in the division, which was good enough for the 2nd Wild card, and was matched against the Presidents trophy winning Florida Panthers in the first round of the 2022 playoffs, falling to them in 6 games.


title: Washington Capitals

text: NBC Sports Washington (NBCSW) has carried Capitals games locally since its founding as Home Team Sports (HTS) in 1984. NBC Sports Washington was known as Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (CSN) from 2001 through 2017. NBCSW's commentators are Joe Beninati, Craig Laughlin, "Inside-the-Glass" reporter Alan May, and rinkside reporter Al Koken.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals' flagship radio station is WJFK-FM (106.7 FM); commentators are John Walton and Ken Sabourin. The team's radio network consists of stations in Washington, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Mike Vogel has been covering the team online for the Washington Capitals on its website since the 1995–96 season, writing daily game stories and analysis. Vogel, who also participates in podcasts and in-stadium video presentations as well as guesting on various Washington DC radio and television programs, has been described as "the most interesting man in Caps media".


title: Washington Capitals

text: WTOP-TV (channel 9) picked up television coverage for the Capitals' first three seasons, covering 15 road games in the 1974–75 season. Sportscaster Warner Wolf was the commentator for the first season. Team radio broadcaster Ron Weber moved to the TV booth for telecasts in the second and third seasons. WTOP-TV's coverage was sporadic and poorly received, to the point of being called "revolting" by the "Washington Post"; game broadcasts were scheduled around network commitments and often joined live in progress or tape-delayed entirely. Station management had little interest in the games and said they received far more complaints about the preempted CBS shows. Before the 1977–78 season, the Capitals signed a five-year deal with WDCA (channel 20), which had regional cable carriage and as an independent station was able to commit to more expansive live coverage.


title: Washington Capitals

text: WDCA later split games with HTS/CSN upon its founding in 1984. The 1991–92 season illustrates a typical arrangement: WDCA showed 20 road games and any road playoff games, while HTS picked up 34 home games and any home playoff games, leaving 28 regular season games not televised. After 18 seasons on WDCA, the Capitals moved their over-the-air broadcasts to WBDC (channel 50) for the 1995–96 season. All 82 games were televised for the first time in the 2001–02 season. The Capitals have not aired any games over-the-air locally since the end of the 2005–06 season.


title: Washington Capitals

text: WTOP (1500 AM) was the Capitals' first radio home through the 1986–87 season. After nine years on WMAL (630 AM), the games returned to 1500 AM for the 1996–97 season. Ron Weber was the first announcer, and never missed a game through his retirement at the end of the 1996–97 season. WJFK-FM began airing postseason games during the 2008 playoffs. 1500 AM, since renamed WFED, remained the flagship station until 2012, when WJFK took over all coverage. WFED continues to broadcast games as a network affiliate. This is primarily to take advantage of its 50,000-watt clear-channel signal, which brings Capitals games to the entire eastern half of North America at night.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Weber rejoined current announcers Walton and Sabourin for the first period of Game 4 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals.


title: Washington Capitals

text: WJFK-FM attracted controversy when it elected to drop the Capitals in the 2016–17 season, leaving the Capitals to air solely on WFED. However, WFED's signal is unusable in some portions of the Washington suburbs at night, since it is directed north–south to protect co-channel KSTP. The Washington Wizards also took priority over the Capitals on WFED in case of a conflict, leading to some games in which the only home broadcast was available via Internet streaming. The team responded to fan complaints by reaching a temporary deal in January 2017 to place the rest of its games on WWDC-HD2, which is available metro-wide to those with HD Radios and has a low-powered analog signal that covers the city itself. The Capitals reached a deal to return to WJFK-FM for the 2017–18 season.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals took to the ice in red, white and blue jerseys featuring contrast-colored shoulders and stars on the chest and sleeves based on the flag of the United States. The team originally had red, white, and blue pants options, but retired the white pants only after a few games in their first season, and the red ones at season's end. The blue pants would eventually become the only option used. The original logo crest underwent a few modifications throughout the jersey's history.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Prior to the start of the 1995–96 season, in an attempt to modernize the look and improve merchandise sales, the team abandoned its traditional red, white and blue color scheme in favor of a blue, black, and bronze palette with an American bald eagle with five stars as its logo. The alternate logo depicted the Capitol building with crossed hockey sticks behind. For the 1997–98 season, the team unveiled a black alternate jersey, devoid of blue with bronze stripes on the ends of sleeves and at the waist. The crest on the white and blue jerseys were the bald eagle logo, while the crest on the black jersey was the Capitol logo. Initially, the team name was placed along the bottom black stripe, but was removed on the white jersey in 1997, while it remained on the blue jersey until its retirement. Prior to the 2000–01 season, the team retired its blue road jersey in favor of the black alternate jersey, but still kept the white jersey for home games.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals unveiled new uniforms on June 22, 2007, which coincided with the NHL Entry Draft and the new league-wide adaptation of the -designed uniform system for 2007–08. The change marked a return to the red, white and blue color scheme originally used from 1974 to 1995. The new primary logo is reminiscent of the original Capitals' logo, complete with a hockey stick formed by the letter "t"; it also includes a new feature not present in the original logo in the form of three stars representing DC, Maryland and Virginia. More simply, the stars are a reference to the flag of Washington, D.C., which is in turn based on the shield of George Washington's family coat of arms. The new alternate logo uses an eagle in the shape of a "W" with the silhouette of the Washington Monument and the United States Capitol building in the negative space within and below.


title: Washington Capitals

text: For the 2011 NHL Winter Classic, the Capitals wore a white jersey honoring the franchise's past with the original logo. The jersey resembled the one the franchise wore from 1974 to 1995. Instead of wearing the combination of blue pants and white helmets the team used when it played at the Capital Centre, the Capitals chose red pants and helmets for the New Year's Day game. The Capitals wore the same jersey, minus the NHL Winter Classic patch, on February 1, 2011, to honor Hockey Hall of Fame winger Dino Ciccarelli.


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Capitals announced on September 16, 2011, that they would wear a third jersey modeled after the Winter Classic jersey for 16 road games during the 2011–12 season.


title: Washington Capitals

text: For the 2015 Winter Classic, which took place on New Year's Day at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., the Capitals wore a newly designed jersey intended to pay homage to hockey's outdoor roots. The primary color of the jersey was a vintage deep red. The addition of stripes on the shoulders, waist and legs brought in elements of Washington's professional hockey jerseys from the 1930s, predating the Capitals franchise's formation in the 1970s. A large "W" on the front of the jersey, topped with the common three stars, offset in blue to contrast the white "Capitals" wordmark.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Capitals wore their throwback red third jerseys, replacing the white Winter Classic thirds.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Prior to the 2017–18 season, the NHL announced a new partnership with Adidas, and the Capitals unveiled new uniforms with minor changes. There were no third jerseys during that season, but the return of the program in the 2018–19 season saw the return of the Capitals' red throwback uniforms as their alternates.


title: Washington Capitals

text: For the 2018 Stadium Series, the Capitals used newly designed navy uniforms, honoring the fact that the game was held at the U.S. Naval Academy. The chest logo was based on the regular stylized "Capitals" logo, but shortened to "Caps", the nickname commonly used for the team. There were also features honoring various aspects of D.C., as well as the presence of a slightly altered W logo from the 2015 Winter Classic on the pants.


title: Washington Capitals

text: In 2021, as part of Adidas' "Reverse Retro" uniform series, the Capital unveiled a recolored version of their blue "screaming eagle" uniform used from 1995 to 2000. The base color is red with dark blue accents. The Capitals also replaced their throwback red alternates with a dark blue third jersey; this design featured three red stars and a uniquely-designed white "W" with the Washington Monument triangle in the middle. The uniform also features white/red/white stripes on the waist and sleeves and a white shoulder yoke. In 2022, a second "Reverse Retro" uniform was released, this time featuring a black version of the "screaming eagle" uniform with blue and bronze accents.


title: Washington Capitals

text: Since 1995, the Capitals' mascot has been Slapshot, a bald eagle that wears the number 00. Slapshot is seen before games driving his car on the ice and waving flags to excite the fans. He is also a common fixture of the community and attends Capitals functions and community activities, such as the annual Pride Parade.


title: Washington Capitals

text: "This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Capitals. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Washington Capitals seasons"


title: Washington Capitals

text: "Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime Losses/SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against"


title: Washington Capitals

text: The Washington Capitals hold an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Eight inductees from the players category of the Hall of Fame are affiliated with the Capitals. In 2015, two former Capital players, Sergei Fedorov, and Phil Housley, were the latest Capitals players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, with five out of the eight (Gartner, Oates, Stevens, Langway, and Murphy) having played at least five seasons with the club.


title: Washington Capitals

text: In addition to players, members of the local sports media that cover the Capitals, and the NHL, were honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2007, Dave Fay, a sports journalist for the "Washington Times" was a recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award. In 2010, play-by-play radio broadcaster, Ron Weber, was awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hall of Fame for his contributions to hockey broadcasting.


title: Washington Capitals

text: These are the top-ten regular season point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.


title: Washington Capitals

text: "Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game"


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Sarpatta Parambarai (), known more simply as "Sarpatta", is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language period sports action film directed by Pa. Ranjith, who also co-produced the film under his banner Neelam Productions, along with Shanmugam Dhakshanaraj of K9 Studios. The film stars Arya, John Kokken, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Dushara Vijayan, Pasupathy, Anupama Kumar and Sanchana Natarajan. Set in the 1970s, the film revolves around a clash between two clans namely Idiyappa Parambarai and Sarpatta Parambarai in North Chennai, which also showcases the boxing culture in the locality and the politics involved in it.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Pa. Ranjith shelved his biopic drama based on the life of Birsa Munda, and wrote this script with Karthi in mind, but due to his prior commitments, he later approached Arya to play the lead role. The film was eventually supposed to begin production in during February and March 2020, after the intensive training sessions of the actors being involved in the film, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown, the production delayed further and eventually began in September 2020 which was completed within December 2020, with filming took place for nearly four months in and around North Chennai. The film's technical crew comprises music director Santhosh Narayanan, cinematographer Murali G. and editor Selva R. K.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: "Sarpatta Parambarai" was originally scheduled for theatrical release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which as a result, the makers opted for a direct-to-digital release, and the streaming rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video. The film released through the streaming service on 22 July 2021, coinciding the Prime Day celebrations and received critical acclaim praising the characterisation and performances of the lead cast members, direction, story, screenplay, music, cinematography and other major technical aspects of the film. Critics further praised Ranjith for the setting and realistic portrayal of North Madras and the 1970s boxing culture. It was the second most watched regional film on Amazon Prime, only bested by "Soorarai Pottru" (2020).


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: In North Madras (Karuppar Nagaram/Perumparacheri) in the early 1970s, Kabilan is a Dalit labourer at the Madras Port who wants to become a prominent boxer like his father Munirathnam. But his mother Bakkiyam refuses to let him do so, as Munirathnam's fighting prowess led him to be killed in an ambush by a rival gang. Kevin (nicknamed 'Daddy'), an Anglo-Indian friend of Kabilan's father, and who Bakkiyam works for, has been supporting Kabilan's passion since his childhood as his godfather.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: In 1975, when Indira Gandhi declares the 18-month Emergency, Rangan, a former boxer, coach and DMK member manages to host a boxing tournament between the Sarpatta and Idiyappan clans. At that tournament, Sarpatta clan faces a massive shock after Meeran, their main bout boxer, gets defeated by Vembuli, a talented boxer representing the rival Idiyappan clan. Afterwards, Rangan announces that he will bring up a prominent boxer to defeat Vembuli the following match, and accepts the condition that the Sarpatta clan would never fight again if they face defeat. Rangan announces that Raman, an amateur boxer will battle against Vembuli, much to the disapproval of the other clan members especially Rangan's son Vetri. Later, Rangan gets dissatisfied by Raman's performance in the training sessions. After Raman insults Rangan, Kabilan, who hears of it, floors Raman black and blue.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Impressed by Kabilan's fighting ability and techniques, Rangan decides to match him up against Vembuli instead. The Idiyappan clan scoffs at the idea of Kabilan as a challenge to Vembuli. After a heated debate Daddy challenges Rose, a legendary retired boxer nicknamed 'Dancing Rose' for his dance-like moves with elegant foot movements, to fight Kabilan. Rose is loved by the crowd and has respect even from the opponents. The upcoming fight soon becomes the talk of the town and the fans dismiss Kabilan as a tomato can. Kabilan manages to defeat Rose, much to the surprise and dismay of the audience. Enraged, Vembuli challenges Kabilan to defeat him in the ring. Raman's uncle Thaniga, who feuded with Kabilan's father in the past, plots against Kabilan for humiliating Raman. He tells Vembuli that he would help him if he is on verge of losing. In the match, Kabilan dominates Vembuli most of the match and almost knocks him out in fourth round. The fifth (last) round starts, but is stopped suddenly as the police come into the venue to arrest Rangan, as the DMK government has been dismissed minutes ago by the Union government and Governor has ordered the arrest of all prominent DMK leaders. Everyone refuses to move until the match ends, and the police wait for the last round to end. The last round resumes, and as Kabilan is to give the final blow to the tired and hopeless Vembuli, Thaniga's goons attacks Kabilan and interrupt the match. Goons attack all the spectators and strip Kabilan naked on stage. The match ends in no result. Rangan and other party members are immediately jailed under the MISA Act. Kabilan is injured in back of head, but recovers.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Kabilan decides to quit boxing after the incident and plans to live a modest life with his mother and his wife Mariyamma. Kabilan and Vetri go to meet Rangan in prison. On the way, the two meet Thaniga as they stop by a restaurant, who provokes Kabilan. In a fit of rage, Kabilan hacks Thaniga's mouth with a sword, he gets imprisoned for six months, though Thaniga survives. In 1978, Vetri Selvan joined the ruling AIADMK, led by Chief minister M. G. Ramachandran. He and Kabilan initially work under Manja kannan to brew illegal liquor, and eventually start their own brewing business due to Vetri's clout in the party. Vetri, despite growing rich, employs Kabilan as his mere henchman. Kabilan slowly slips into alcoholism which strains his relationship with his mother and his wife.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Rangan is released from prison in 1979 and is disturbed by the changes. Kabilan, now overweight and addicted to alcohol, attends the boxing match between Raman and Vembuli, where the former gets defeated thoroughly. Post match, Vembuli gets challenged by Kabilan and Daddy due to his intentional disruption before. An embarrassed Vembuli accepts but Rangan wants to use another boxer instead, due to Kabilan's lack of fitness and flexibility. However Kabilan stands his ground and insists the fight go on. Vetri asks him to join the liquor trade full time, but is angrily rejected. Kabilan wails to Bakkiyam over the fact that he failed both as a family member and a boxer. Bakkiyam, tells Kabilan to resume boxing to redeem himself. The following day, Daddy sends Kabilan to train under 'Beedi' Rayappan, a fisherman and former legendary Sarpatta boxer. Under Rayappan's guidance he regains his fitness and improves his game. In the match, Vembuli dominates in the early rounds and dislocates Kabilan's left shoulder decreasing his punch power and movements, but Rangan, Vetri, Meeran and other members show up and motivate Kabilan to perform his best. In the final round Kabilan knocks Vembuli out, and the Sarpatta clan gains its prime-match victory after years of failure.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Sarpatta Parambarai is the name of the movie, The word Sarpatta really means "Four Patta Knives" , The word Paramparai means "Clan", It originates from Tamil word பரண் பரை means 7th generation parent In Tamil. In Urdu it is "چار پٹا" in Hindi it is चार + पट्टा , Meaning – Four Patta knives Clan, Which come from the older clan named Babu Bhai Paramparai, The other clan is " Idiyappa Parambarai" comes from the Tamil words இடி + அப்பா, Meaning they hit like Thunder, There other clan is "Ellappan Chettiar Paramparai".


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Pa. Ranjith shelved his Bollywood debut project based on the life of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, and later worked on another script based on boxing culture of North Chennai in the 1980s. Ranjith initially wrote the script with Surya and Karthi in mind, after working with the latter in "Madras" (2014), but he could not approach both of them due to their prior commitments in other projects and later narrated the script to Arya, whom he immediately agreed after being convinced with the narration. Ranjith and Arya discussed the progressions of the script and was later finalised in September 2019, with Arya playing a boxer in the film. Tamil Prabha who written the novel "Petta", based on life of people living in Chintadripet was announced as the writer. In December 2019, Pa. Ranjith announced the film as a part of their five projects produced under his own banner Neelam Productions, while K9 Studios co-produced the film. Ranjith's norm composer Santhosh Narayanan, and cinematographer Murali G. worked on the project, with Selva R. K. who earlier worked in Ranjith's productions "Pariyerum Perumal" and "Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu" was also a part of the technical team. The film was tentatively titled as "Salpetta Parambarai" and "Salpetta", before the official title "Sarpatta Parambarai" was unveiled with the first look poster was released on 3 December 2020.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Arya played the role of Kabilan, a boxer hailing from North Chennai, which he revealed it as the "most challenging role in his career". To portray the role he underwent six hours of training for seven months, with a combination of cardio, boxing and regular gym. As a result, he shed his weight in order to obtain a lean and "ripped" physique. His look from the fiilm was revealed in February 2020, which drew applause from fans. In September 2019, Attakathi Dinesh and Kalaiyarasan who were part of Ranjith's previous films were reported to be a part of the project, as was Magizh Thirumeni. But, excluding Kalaiyarasan, both Dinesh and Thirumeni did not sign the project eventually. In March 2020, Santhosh Prathap was announced to portray a pivotal role in the film. The same month, debutante Dushara Vijayan was announced as the leading lady for the film.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: During September 2020, John Kokken announced being a part of the film and worked intensively for the role. Sanchana Natarajan was announced to be an integral part of the film, whose character name was revealed to be Lakshmi. Anupama Kumar played the role of "Bakkiyam", whom she described as "loud", "emotional", "fiery" and "lovable". On 28 March 2021, Pa. Ranjith released a special video introducing the characters of the film which is about the fitness and sports training of the male actors, as well as featuring snippets from the acting workshop, which featured the actors and the supporting artists. Further revealing the character names, it was also revealed that Kaali Venkat, Pasupathy, John Vijay and Shabeer Kallarakkal were playing pivotal roles in the film, the latter as Dancing Rose. Maran (of "Ghilli" fame) played a supporting role in the film as Maanja Kannan, which will be his posthumous film before his death in May 2021.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Pa. Ranjith inspired real life prominent boxers for the characters of the film. Arya's character Kabilan was inspired from the famous American boxer Muhammad Ali, a still from that film released by the makers, resembled that of Muhammad Ali's pose in the film. Vembuli's (John Kokken) role was modelled on Mike Tyson. The character 'Dancing' Rose played by Shabeer Kallarakkal was inspired from the British boxer Naseem Hamed, who was known for his unique fluidic movements that almost mimics a dance form. Santhosh Pratap's character Raman, was based on George Foreman, who is considered to be one of the oldest heavyweight champions in the history of international boxing. The character 'Beedi' Rayappan (played by Gajapathi) too was inspired from Kitheri Muthu, a fisherman-boxer, who was known for defeating a prominent Anglo-Indian boxer Nat Terry. Inspired by Muthu's prowess, Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy, the social activist and the founder of Dravidar Kazhagam, bestowed the title of 'Dravida Veeran' (The Dravidian braveheart) to Muthu.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Principal photography was initially scheduled to kickstart in November 2019, but Ranjith delayed the shoot since the male actors underwent extensive training in order to achieve a ripped physique for their roles in the film. The team planned to start the shoot in March 2020, but it was delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 lockdown in India which was announced in the same month. The shooting of the film kickstarted on 15 September 2020, after government granted permission to resume shooting with 75-member crew in the sets and was conducted adhering to the safety precautions set for preventing COVID-19 spread. Arya and Kalaiyarasan were present in the shooting of the first schedule where John Kokken joined the sets the following day. The shooting of the film was mostly set in and around North Chennai. Shooting of the film was completed on 14 December 2020, with the entire filming taking place for four months.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: The film which is mostly based on the life of North Chennai based boxers, and had influences of political ideologies, unlike Ranjith's previous films "Madras", "Kabali" and "Kaala", which focus on the life of the lower-class people and Caste system in Hinduism. It had references to Ambedkarism, Self-Respect Movement and Buddhism, as Ranjith is an ardent follower of the ideologies of B. R. Ambedkar and it was translated in his films to propose the subject of Dalit colossus. In one scene, the film shows about Indian Republic Party (IRP), rooted from Ambedkar's Scheduled Castes Federation.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Harish Wankhede in his critical review in "The Hindu" argues that the hero Kabilan (Arya) though not significantly different from the masculine versions of earlier Dalit hero (like Kabali and Kaala) however he surely stands distinctly from the earlier Dalit protagonists. We see Kabilan first as a part of passionate audience of boxing game that converts into an underdog boxer and by overcoming the traditional social obstacles he became the ultimate champion of the game. Sarpatta thus escapes the typical social burden of the Dalit hero and places him as a young sportsperson that plays the violent game with dedication and grit. Kabilan is not an ideal hero here but surely it is a promising move towards breaking the Dalit hero's fantasies for machoism, violence and revenge.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: "Sarpatta Paramabarai" is set in the 1970s and to reflect the era, political incidents such as The Emergency, imposed by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi during 1975–77 and its opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, then followed by the splitting of the party into two, the latter as All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) by M. G. Ramachandran was portrayed in the film in order to be "realistic". Ranjith told "Press Trust of India", "We had to properly handle these political aspects in minute proportions in the movie though the film is not based on Emergency, which serves only as a political backdrop". He added that the boxing culture in India was present in North Madras from pre-Independence times and after India's Independence, the culture has been split into diverse clans. "Sarpatta Parambarai" also focused on the ground realities of the working-class people.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: The film also shows the DMK government being dismissed by the central government in January 1976, over its stand against emergency, and real footages of the arrests of the party members, including politician M. Karunanidhi's son, M. K. Stalin, during the Maintenance of Internal Security (MISA) Act was shown in the film. As a result, there were difficulties in organising boxing matches and the boxers and kabaddi players turned into mercenaries, following lack of employment. Bhagath Veera Arun, a researcher of North Chennai said that "Though boxers hailed from many communities, boxers from the fishing community were dominant in ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’, whose epicentre was Panaimara Thotti, a place in Royapuram".


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Santhosh Narayanan composed the soundtrack and film's score for the film; It marked the composer's fifth consecutive and final film with Pa. Ranjith, since his and the director's debut film "Attakathi" (2012). According to Santhosh, he said that "the film is influenced by the aspects of "Madras", as it is mostly about the descriptive and realistic portrayal of North Chennai, while the boxing culture during the 1970s also serve as the subplot". To stay authentic to the music of that period, Santhosh chose to bring instruments used in the 1970s, instead of echoing film music from that era. Since, the instruments used in that period were made of skin, he met veteran gaana musicians such as Rev Ravi and Gana Bala, who still had access to those instruments. For the background score, Santhosh replicated the theme music of "The Hateful Eight" originally composed by Ennio Morricone, for this film. The album and score is made with the mix of Tamil folk and brass instrument, as he was inspired by the music of "Black Panther" (2018), which fused African instruments with orchestral music.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: The album featured a theme song under the title "Neeye Oli", which was originally created by Shan Vincent de Paul in collaboration with Santhosh Narayanan and Arivu, who wrote the Tamil lyrics. Shan, who also sung the track with female rap vocals by Navz-47, has created the song for the studio album Made in Jaffna, which was set to be released by the independent music platform Maajja. It was released as a single on 30 June 2021, with the video song released on 16 July, directed by Shan himself with Kalainithan Kalaichelvan as the co-director. The film version of this song was composed and sung by Santhosh, who created a different strophe for this track and also had additional lyrics written by Arivu. Another track for the film is titled "Vambula Thumbula", sung by Santhosh along with Gana Muthu and Isaivani, who were a part of Ranjith's Casteless Collective music band and 'Gana Ulagam' Dharani; the lyrics for this song is written by Kabilan and Madras Meeran. Following popular demand, Santhosh unveiled the theme music for the character Dancing Rose on 28 July 2021. Many critics were appreciative of Santhosh's music and film score, saying it as one of the "key aspects in the film's success".


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: "Sarpatta Parambarai" was initially scheduled for theatrical release, but was later decided for a direct-to-digital release through Amazon Prime Video due to COVID-19-related cinema closures. The film made prior to its release, including the satellite television rights and Hindi dubbing rights of the film. The broadcast rights of the film was intended to be sold to Colors Tamil and Star Vijay. However, it was later announced that Kalaignar TV, had acquired the television rights.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: The film which was originally slated for release on 12 August 2021 during the Independence Day weekend. However, on 8 July 2021, Amazon Prime Video India announced a series of the original shows and contents for the platform's July release, to coincide the Prime Day celebrations (26–27 July), with "Sarpatta Parambarai" being scheduled for release on 22 July 2021. The date coincided the anniversary of Rajinikanth's "Kabali" (2016), also directed by Pa. Ranjith. However, "Sarpatta Parambarai" released earlier on the midnight of 21 July 2021.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: The film opened to critical acclaim from critics praising the setting, production values, script, direction, music, cinematography and performances of the lead cast in particular. M. Suganth of "The Times of India", rated the film 3.5 stars (out of 5), saying "The film’s major success lies in transporting us to the era and ensuring that not a character or a prop feels out of place" and praised the casting and production design. He further added "Even as the drama around boxing keeps us hooked, as in this director’s films, the social and political undertones give us another story in parallel — of another community, which has to fight both inside and outside the ring to reclaim its rights". Sowmya Rajendran of "The News Minute" too gave 3.5 stars (out of 5) saying ""Sarpatta Parambarai" is like watching a live match ― it brings the heat of the sport, the excitement of each move, and most of all, the glorious unpredictability of sport". In his review for "The Hindu", Srinivasa Ramanujam praised Pa. Ranjith for the setting of North Madras in the 1970s, and further said that "the incorporating of elements such as caste conflict and the question of pride into the sporting milleu makes the film an engaging watch".


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: Saibal Chatterjee of "NDTV" called that the film "vivifies a 1970s North Madras milieu in a strikingly effective manner, in the process transporting the audience back in time to a space and culture with its own unique rhythm", further calling "The screenplay, production design and propulsive soundscape serve to create a socio-political and cultural ambience that lends the film's underdog-fighting-all-odds story the shape and scope of an intriguing and enlightening period chronicle even as it plays out on largely familiar genre lines." Giving a score of 3.5 stars (out of 5), Manoj Kumar R of "The Indian Express" called "Sarpatta Parambarai" as one of the "best boxing film in the history of Tamil cinema" as "the bar for combat sport films set by Ranjith’s predecessors was quite low; in a way, Ranjith has broken new ground in the genre by simply trying to be mindful of the sport he’s dealing with and tried to show has tried to show boxing as authentically as possible". He further called "Sarpatta Parambarai isn’t a giant leap for the genre, but it takes first baby steps in the right direction".


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: A critic from "Sify" called the film as "a comeback film for both Pa. Ranjith and Arya". Nandini Ramanath of "Scroll.in" wrote: "Ranjith’s screenplay sets out to layer the average boxing drama with questions about identity politics and the political dynamics of the era. Yet, it is the depiction of the sport and its practitioners that endures over the nearly three hour-long movie." "Behindwoods" rated three out of five stars for the film, saying "Arya, Pa Ranjith and team have delivered an intense and inspirational sports drama that works well". The "Hindustan Times"-based critic Haricharan Pudipeddi wrote "Sarpatta Parambarai is already the contender for the best film of the year. But it’ll be more importantly remembered as the film that marked Ranjith’s return to form. This rousing story of an underdog’s triumph set against the boxing culture of North Madras is unmissable, simply because it’s more than a sports drama." Ranjini Krishnakumar of "Firstpost" gave 4 (out of 5) stars rating and said ""Sarpatta Parambarai" is a rooted film. Both in writing and direction, Ranjith is in complete control. He straddles his role as a storyteller and an anthropologist with precision. This film certainly packs a punch."


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: However, Prahlad Srihari of "The Quint" gave a mixed review saying "Ranjith’s boxing opus throws some forceful punches to the classic underdog story. Only, the end result doesn’t pack much of a wallop". He gave 2 (out of 5) stars for the film. Gauthaman Bhaskaran of "News18" wrote "There is much hysteria and dramatics outside the ring, and all these diversions dilute the core plot – probably in the mistakenly belief among producers, writers and directors that the ticket-paying masses want 'wholesome entertainment', which does not quite work in these times." Sudhir Srinivasan of "Cinema Express" wrote "With this film, Ranjith continues to jab at Indian mythology, while throwing strong punches at anyone who doesn’t stand for equality". Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "It’s rare to find a film where everyone, including the director, is at the top of their game."


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: In 1980, M. G. Ramachandran brought boxing icon Muhammad Ali to Chennai in order to raise funds for Tamil Nadu Amateur Boxing Association, but it was not showcased by the team. Former Tamil Nadu fisheries minister D. Jayakumar from the AIADMK government, criticised Pa. Ranjith for the portrayal of M. G. Ramachandran in poor light. He further recalled the schemes introduced by MGR to encourage sportspersons from underprivileged backgrounds to participate in international sports events and said "Not only in boxing, MGR also excelled in other sports like maan kombu (a type of martial art), fencing and horse riding. In most of his films, he showcased himself as a sportsman. Inspired by his films, many of his fans took up sports". He further called the film as a "DMK propaganda film", following the incident and also questioned Pa. Ranjith about criticising DMK in the past. MGR Viswanathan, a supporter of Ramachandran too criticised the director and also threatened to protest in front of his residence. One of the kins of boxer Kitheri Muthu pointed out the inaccuracies in the film; it had few dialogues spoken by Arya, that a student of Rangan Vaathiyar defeated Nat Terry in the film, but Kitheri Muthu, who was the first boxer of Sarpatta Parambarai in 1940s, defeated Nat Terry.


title: Sarpatta Parambarai

text: "Sarpatta Parambarai" became the most watched Tamil film of the year on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and became the second-most watched regional film on the platform only bested by "Soorarai Pottru" (2020), another Amazon original film. Many celebrities such as directors and actors among the Tamil film fraternity, praised the film through social media. A report said that the film has been watched over multiple households living across 3,200 towns and cities in India, and was further streamed in more than 150 countries and territories across the world. A still featuring Kabilan (Arya) and Rangan Vaathiyar (Pasupathy), was widely parodied by netizens and used in internet memes. It was listed as one of the "best Tamil films of 2021" according to several publications: "The Indian Express", "The News Minute", "Hindustan Times", "Firstpost", and "India Today". According to the social networking site Letterboxd, it also secured the 14th position in the "highest rated International films of 2021". "The New York Times" listed it as one of "the five best International films to stream on digital platforms". Raj Shinde, critic-based at the Indian news website "ThePrint", cited "Sarpatta Parambarai" as an example on "how Indian film industry being evolved with anti-caste films in 2021".


title: Punctuation

text: Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. Another description is, "It is the practice, action, or system of inserting points or other small marks into texts in order to aid interpretation; division of text into sentences, clauses, etc., by means of such marks."


title: Punctuation

text: In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences. For example: "woman, without her man, is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of men to women), and "woman: without her, man is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of women to men) have very different meanings; as do "eats shoots and leaves" (which means the subject consumes plant growths) and "eats, shoots, and leaves" (which means the subject eats first, then fires a weapon, and then leaves the scene). The sharp differences in meaning are produced by the simple differences in punctuation within the example pairs, especially the latter.


title: Punctuation

text: The rules of punctuation vary with language, location, register, and time and are constantly evolving. Certain aspects of punctuation are stylistic and are thus the author's (or editor's) choice, or tachygraphic (shorthand) language forms, such as those used in online chat and text messages.


title: Punctuation

text: The first writing systems were either logographic or syllabic; for example, Chinese and Mayan script, which do not necessarily require punctuation, especially spacing. This is because the entire morpheme or word is typically clustered within a single glyph, so spacing does not help as much to distinguish where one word ends and the other starts. Disambiguation and emphasis can easily be communicated without punctuation by employing a separate written form distinct from the spoken form of the language that uses slightly different phraseology. Even today, written English differs subtly from spoken English because not all emphasis and disambiguation is possible to convey in print, even with punctuation.


title: Punctuation

text: Ancient Chinese classical texts were transmitted without punctuation. However, many Warring States period bamboo texts contain the symbols and indicating the end of a chapter and full stop, respectively. By the Song dynasty, addition of punctuation to texts by scholars to aid comprehension became common.


title: Punctuation

text: The earliest alphabetic writing – Phoenician, Hebrew, and others of the same family – had no capitalization, no spaces, no vowels (see abjad) and few punctuation marks. This worked as long as the subject matter was restricted to a limited range of topics (for example, writing used for recording business transactions). Punctuation is historically an aid to reading aloud.


title: Punctuation

text: The oldest known document using punctuation is the Mesha Stele (9th century BC). This employs points between the words and horizontal strokes between the sense section as punctuation.


title: Punctuation

text: Most texts were still written in "scriptura continua", that is without any separation between words. However, the Greeks were sporadically using punctuation marks consisting of vertically arranged dots—usually two (dicolon) or three (tricolon)—in around the 5th century BC as an aid in the oral delivery of texts. Greek playwrights such as Euripides and Aristophanes used symbols to distinguish the ends of phrases in written drama: this essentially helped the play's cast to know when to pause. After 200 BC, the Greeks used Aristophanes of Byzantium's system (called ) of a single dot () placed at varying heights to mark up speeches at rhetorical divisions:


title: Punctuation

text: In addition, the Greeks used the paragraphos (or gamma) to mark the beginning of sentences, marginal diples to mark quotations, and a koronis to indicate the end of major sections.


title: Punctuation

text: The Romans () also occasionally used symbols to indicate pauses, but the Greek —under the name "distinctiones"—prevailed by the 4th century AD as reported by Aelius Donatus and Isidore of Seville (7th century). Also, texts were sometimes laid out , where every sentence had its own separate line. Diples were used, but by the late period these often degenerated into comma-shaped marks.


title: Punctuation

text: Punctuation developed dramatically when large numbers of copies of the Bible started to be produced. These were designed to be read aloud, so the copyists began to introduce a range of marks to aid the reader, including indentation, various punctuation marks (diple, , ), and an early version of initial capitals (). Jerome and his colleagues, who made a translation of the Bible into Latin, the "Vulgate" (), employed a layout system based on established practices for teaching the speeches of Demosthenes and Cicero. Under his layout every sense-unit was indented and given its own line. This layout was solely used for biblical manuscripts during the 5th–9th centuries but was abandoned in favor of punctuation.


title: Punctuation

text: In the 7th–8th centuries Irish and Anglo-Saxon scribes, whose native languages were not derived from Latin, added more visual cues to render texts more intelligible. Irish scribes introduced the practice of word separation. Likewise, insular scribes adopted the system while adapting it for minuscule script (so as to be more prominent) by using not differing height but rather a differing number of marks—aligned horizontally (or sometimes triangularly)—to signify a pause's value: one mark for a minor pause, two for a medium one, and three for a major. Most common were the , a comma-shaped mark, and a 7-shaped mark (), often used in combination. The same marks could be used in the margin to mark off quotations.


title: Punctuation

text: In the late 8th century a different system emerged in France under the Carolingian dynasty. Originally indicating how the voice should be modulated when chanting the liturgy, the migrated into any text meant to be read aloud, and then to all manuscripts. first reached England in the late 10th century, probably during the Benedictine reform movement, but was not adopted until after the Norman conquest. The original were the , , , and , but a fifth symbol, the , was added in the 10th century to indicate a pause of a value between the and . In the late 11th/early 12th century the disappeared and was taken over by the simple (now with two distinct values).


title: Punctuation

text: The late Middle Ages saw the addition of the (slash or slash with a midpoint dot) which was often used in conjunction with the for different types of pauses. Direct quotations were marked with marginal diples, as in Antiquity, but from at least the 12th century scribes also began entering diples (sometimes double) within the column of text.


title: Punctuation

text: The amount of printed material and its readership began to increase after the invention of moveable type in Europe in the 1450s. As explained by writer and editor Lynne Truss, "The rise of printing in the 14th and 15th centuries meant that a standard system of punctuation was urgently required." Printed books, whose letters were uniform, could be read much more rapidly than manuscripts. Rapid reading, or reading aloud, did not allow time to analyze sentence structures. This increased speed led to the greater use and finally standardization of punctuation, which showed the relationships of words with each other: where one sentence ends and another begins, for example.


title: Punctuation

text: The introduction of a standard system of punctuation has also been attributed to the Venetian printers Aldus Manutius and his grandson. They have been credited with popularizing the practice of ending sentences with the colon or full stop (period), inventing the semicolon, making occasional use of parentheses, and creating the modern comma by lowering the virgule. By 1566, Aldus Manutius the Younger was able to state that the main object of punctuation was the clarification of syntax.


title: Punctuation

text: By the 19th century, punctuation in the western world had evolved "to classify the marks hierarchically, in terms of weight". Cecil Hartley's poem identifies their relative values:


title: Punctuation

text: The use of punctuation was not standardised until after the invention of printing. According to the 1885 edition of "The American Printer", the importance of punctuation was noted in various sayings by children such as


title: Punctuation

text: The introduction of electrical telegraphy with a limited set of transmission codes and typewriters with a limited set of keys influenced punctuation subtly. For example, curved quotes and apostrophes were all collapsed into two characters (' and "). The hyphen, minus sign, and dashes of various widths have been collapsed into a single character (-), sometimes repeated to represent a long dash. The spaces of different widths available to professional typesetters were generally replaced by a single full-character width space, with typefaces monospaced. In some cases a typewriter keyboard didn't include an exclamation point (!) but this was constructed by the overstrike of an apostrophe and a period; the original Morse code did not have an exclamation point.


title: Punctuation

text: These simplifications have been carried forward into digital writing, with teleprinters and the ASCII character set essentially supporting the same characters as typewriters. Treatment of whitespace in HTML discouraged the practice (in English prose) of putting two full spaces after a full stop, since a single or double space would appear the same on the screen. (Some style guides now discourage double spaces, and some electronic writing tools, including Wikipedia's software, automatically collapse double spaces to single.) The full traditional set of typesetting tools became available with the advent of desktop publishing and more sophisticated word processors. Despite the widespread adoption of character sets like Unicode that support the punctuation of traditional typesetting, writing forms like text messages tend to use the simplified ASCII style of punctuation, with the addition of new non-text characters like emoji. Informal text speak tends to drop punctuation when not needed, including some ways that would be considered errors in more formal writing.


title: Punctuation

text: In the computer era, punctuation characters were recycled for use in programming languages and URLs. Due to its use in email and Twitter handles, the at sign (@) has gone from an obscure character mostly used by sellers of bulk commodities (10 pounds @$2.00 per pound), to a very common character in common use for both technical routing and an abbreviation for "at". The tilde (~), in moveable type only used in combination with vowels, for mechanical reasons ended up as a separate key on mechanical typewriters, and like @ it has been put to completely new uses.


title: Punctuation

text: There are two major styles of punctuation in English: British or American. These two styles differ mainly in the way in which they handle quotation marks, particularly in conjunction with other punctuation marks. In British English, punctuation marks such as periods and commas are placed inside the quotation mark only if they are part of what is being quoted, and placed outside the closing quotation mark if part of the containing sentence. In American English, however, such punctuation is generally placed inside the closing quotation mark regardless. This rule varies for other punctuation marks; for example, American English follows the British English rule when it comes to semicolons, colons, question marks, and exclamation points. The serial comma is used much more often in the United States than in England.


title: Punctuation

text: Other languages of Europe use much the same punctuation as English. The similarity is so strong that the few variations may confuse a native English reader. Quotation marks are particularly variable across European languages. For example, in French and Russian, quotes would appear as: (in French, each "double punctuation", as the guillemet, requires a non-breaking space; in Russian it does not).


title: Punctuation

text: In French of France, the signs : ; ? and ! are always preceded by a thin non-breaking space. In Canada, this is only the case for :.


title: Punctuation

text: In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point , known as the ().


title: Punctuation

text: In Georgian, three dots, , were formerly used as a sentence or paragraph divider. It is still sometimes used in calligraphy.


title: Punctuation

text: Spanish and Asturian (both of them Romance languages used in Spain) use an inverted question mark at the beginning of a question and the normal question mark at the end, as well as an inverted exclamation mark at the beginning of an exclamation and the normal exclamation mark at the end.


title: Punctuation

text: Armenian uses several punctuation marks of its own. The full stop is represented by a colon, and vice versa; the exclamation mark is represented by a diagonal similar to a tilde , while the question mark resembles an unclosed circle placed after the last vowel of the word.


title: Punctuation

text: Arabic, Urdu, and Persian—written from right to left—use a reversed question mark: , and a reversed comma: . This is a modern innovation; pre-modern Arabic did not use punctuation. Hebrew, which is also written from right to left, uses the same characters as in English, and .


title: Punctuation

text: Originally, Sanskrit had no punctuation. In the 17th century, Sanskrit and Marathi, both written using Devanagari, started using the vertical bar to end a line of prose and double vertical bars in verse.


title: Punctuation

text: Punctuation was not used in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese Chu Nom writing until the adoption of punctuation from the West in the late 19th and early 20th century. In unpunctuated texts, the grammatical structure of sentences in classical writing is inferred from context. Most punctuation marks in modern Chinese, Japanese, and Korean have similar functions to their English counterparts; however, they often look different and have different customary rules.


title: Punctuation

text: In the Indian subcontinent, is sometimes used in place of colon or after a subheading. Its origin is unclear, but could be a remnant of the British Raj. Another punctuation common in the Indian Subcontinent for writing monetary amounts is the use of or after the number. For example, Rs. 20/- or Rs. 20/= implies 20 rupees whole.


title: Punctuation

text: Thai, Khmer, Lao and Burmese did not use punctuation until the adoption of punctuation from the West in the 20th century. Blank spaces are more frequent than full stops or commas.


title: Punctuation

text: In 1962, American advertising executive Martin K. Speckter proposed the interrobang (‽), a combination of the question mark and exclamation point, to mark rhetorical questions or questions stated in a tone of disbelief. Although the new punctuation mark was widely discussed in the 1960s, it failed to achieve widespread use.


title: Punctuation

text: In 1966, the French author Hervé Bazin proposed a series of six innovative punctuation marks in his book ("Let's pluck the bird", 1966). These were:


title: Punctuation

text: An international patent application was filed, and published in 1992 under World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) number WO9219458, for two new punctuation marks: the "question comma" and the "exclamation comma". The "question comma" has a comma instead of the dot at the bottom of a question mark, while the "exclamation comma" has a comma in place of the point at the bottom of an exclamation mark. These were intended for use as question and exclamation marks within a sentence, a function for which normal question and exclamation marks can also be used, but which may be considered obsolescent. The patent application entered into the national phase only in Canada. It was advertised as lapsing in Australia on 27 January 1994 and in Canada on 6 November 1995.


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: Keshia Knight Pulliam (born April 9, 1979) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, and landed her breakthrough role as Rudy Huxtable, on the NBC sitcom "The Cosby Show" (1984–1992), which earned her a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards. She later starred as Miranda Lucas-Payne on the TBS comedy drama "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (2007–present).


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: In 1986, Knight Pulliam became one of the youngest actresses to be nominated for an Emmy Award, receiving a nomination at age 6 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series. She made her professional debut at 9 months old, in a national print advertisement for Johnson & Johnson baby products. At age 3, she was on "Sesame Street". She continued working, appearing in television commercials and TV shows, and making her feature film debut in "The Last Dragon" (1985). She also appeared in the movies "Polly" and its sequel "Polly: Comin' Home!" with her "Cosby Show" co-star Phylicia Rashad. She is ranked at No. 27 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars".


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: Knight Pulliam won a celebrity version of "Fear Factor" in September 2002. She also won a celebrity version of "The Weakest Link", and participated in "Celebrity Mole: Yucatan". In 2004, she appeared in Chingy's music video for "One Call Away". In 2005, she played Darnelle in "Beauty Shop" with Queen Latifah. Knight Pulliam performed in Donald Gray's play "The Man of Her Dreams" in the fall of 2006 in St. Louis. In 2008, she joined the cast of "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" as Miranda, the new wife of Calvin Payne. The role earned her the 2009 and 2010 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2009, she played Candace "Candy" Washington-Collins in the film "Madea Goes to Jail". Knight Pulliam appeared in Tank's 2010 music video for his cover of "I Can't Make You Love Me", playing his love interest.


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: In 2011, commenting on the fact that only white actors had won Golden Globe Awards that year, she said: "I think that there is definitely work to be done. It can always be more diverse. We live in a very multicultural and global society. More needs to be done to increase the representation of all people and really show the world for what it is. It’s not just one color."


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: In 2013, she was a contestant on the ABC celebrity diving show "Splash". She was first to be eliminated. In 2015, Knight Pulliam was a contestant on the NBC show "The Celebrity Apprentice Season 7" and was the first contestant eliminated after being the losing project manager for her team. In 2018, Knight Pulliam was a HouseGuest on the first season of the CBS series "Celebrity Big Brother", where she was the second person evicted out of the house, on Day 13.


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: Keshia Knight Pulliam was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Denise and James Knight Pulliam Sr., a manager. She has three brothers, James Knight Pulliam II, Mshon Knight Pulliam, and Juwan Pulliam. Knight Pulliam attended Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, New Jersey.


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: When "The Cosby Show" ended its run in 1992, her family moved to Virginia, where Knight Pulliam attended the Potomac School in McLean and Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia, from which she graduated in 1997. She received a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Spelman College in 2001. She is a member of the Eta Kappa chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: On New Year's Eve 2015, Knight Pulliam became engaged to retired National Football League player Edgerton Hartwell. They were married the next day, January 1, 2016, in Knight Pulliam's Atlanta home. Hartwell filed for divorce on July 25, 2016. On January 23, 2017, Knight Pulliam gave birth to a daughter, named Ella Grace Hartwell. The divorce was finalized in April 2018, with Knight Pulliam receiving primary custody of Ella while Hartwell was ordered to pay child support of about $3,000 a month.


title: Keshia Knight Pulliam

text: In December 2020, she became engaged to actor Brad James. The pair began dating in 2019 after they met on the set of the TV movie "Pride and Prejudice: Atlanta". They were married in an intimate ceremony in September 2021. In December 2022, it was announced the couple were expecting their first child together.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Jill Valentine is a character in "Resident Evil" ("Biohazard" in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was introduced as one of two player characters in the original "Resident Evil" (1996). Valentine is a former member of the Raccoon City Police Department's S.T.A.R.S team, and initially worked alongside her partner Chris Redfield to fight the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company whose bioterrorism creates zombies and other bio-organic weapons. Jill and Chris Redfield later became founding members of the United Nations' Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (B.S.A.A).


title: Jill Valentine

text: Valentine is the protagonist of several "Resident Evil" games, novelizations, movies, and other media. In later games, such as the 2002 "Resident Evil" remake, "," and "Resident Evil 5", her features were based on Canadian model and actress Julia Voth. Valentine also appears in the "Resident Evil" film series, portrayed by actress Sienna Guillory, and in the , played by Hannah John-Kamen. She is featured in several other game franchises, including "Street Fighter", "Marvel vs. Capcom", and "Project X Zone".


title: Jill Valentine

text: Video game publications listed Valentine among the most popular and iconic video game characters, and praised her as the most likable and consistent "Resident Evil" character. She has received both acclaim and criticism with regard to gender representation in video games. Several publications praised the series for its portrayal of women and considered Valentine significantly less sexualized than other female game characters; she was also cited as an example of a female character who was as competent and skilled as her male counterparts. Others argued she was weakened as a protagonist by attributes that undermined her role as a heroine, specifically an unrealistic body shape that did not reflect her military background; some of her overtly sexualized costumes have also been criticized.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Jill Valentine was introduced as one of two playable protagonists, alongside her partner Chris Redfield, in Capcom's 1996 survival horror video game "Resident Evil." She was created by director Shinji Mikami and designer Isao Ohishi. To avoid the sexual objectification of women in video games, Mikami refused to eroticize or portray women as submissive in "Resident Evil"; instead, Valentine was characterized as independent.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Of Japanese and French descent, Valentine excelled at bomb disposal during her training with Delta Force, and later joined the Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS) special operations unit. Experienced with weapons, explosives material, and lock picking, she was intelligent, brave, and loyal. Although their storylines progress toward "the same general direction", the gameplay differs for Valentine and Redfield; her inventory is larger, and she has a lock pick, giving her early access to more health and ammunition. Based on these differences, Valentine was recommended to first-time players of "Resident Evil".


title: Jill Valentine

text: According to digital media scholar Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Mikami's female roles possess unique qualities making them viable choices for players to select over their male counterparts, and said their combat attire helped them avoid criticism of adhering to the male gaze. Mikami explained: "I don't know if I've put more emphasis on women characters, but when I do introduce them, it is never as objects. In [other] games, they will be peripheral characters with ridiculous breast physics. I avoid that sort of obvious eroticism." Despite this, subsequent games in the series not directed by Mikami depicted her wearing revealing costumes. Media scholars said players have been intentionally encouraged to both objectify and identify with the character. Several commentators suggested that Mikami's initial portrayal of Valentine as a military professional tempered the ability of subsequent game directors to overtly sexualize the character.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Valentine continued to be redesigned over the course of the series. In the 2002 remake of the original game, her appearance was based on Canadian model and actress Julia Voth. Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said they made her more "kawaii" in the remake, but also kept her tough and muscular. Voth's likeness was reused for "" (2007) and "Resident Evil 5" (2009). "Resident Evil 5" features Redfield as a protagonist; designers opted to focus on how both characters had aged since the original game. Valentine underwent another redesign for "Resident Evil 5" to reflect her status as a test subject in biological research experiments. Depicted with blonde hair, pale skin, and tight-fitting outfitdescribed as a battle suitthese changes represent the effects of the experimentation. Fans criticized the new appearance as an example of whitewashing. MacCallum-Stewart suggested the popularity of the series was damaged by the unexplained reappearance of Valentine as a "mind-controlled BDSM assassin". In the 2020 remake of "Resident Evil 3", Jill is modeled after Russian model Sasha Zotova. Jill's redesign reflects the developers' creative vision behind the character's reimagination as a genuine action hero; because the art direction for the remake is based on photorealism, Capcom wanted to ensure that Jill fits into the game world environment.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Alternate costumes as rewards for players have been a staple of the "Resident Evil" series. Completing the 2002 remake unlocked the ability to dress Valentine in her "" miniskirt costume and as Sarah Connor from the 1991 film "". The miniskirt was added during development upon the staff's request. Following its addition, developers changed camera angles to reduce the amount of upskirting and matched the color of the skirt and underwear to make it less obvious. The outfit reappears in "" (2011). A prequel to the events of "Resident Evil 5", the downloadable content (DLC) episode "Lost in Nightmares" includes an alternative outfit for Valentine, based on military clothing and sportswear. Since "" (2012) was set at sea, her costume was made to resemble a wetsuit. The initial design featured more tactical gear attached to her buoyancy control device, but it was removed to highlight her body's contours. Her alternate outfit in the game, a revealing pirate costume, was deliberately made to be colorful to contrast with the storyline's dark themes.


title: Jill Valentine

text: The actresses who appeared in the original game's live-action cutscenes and recorded the voice work were credited only by their first names; Valentine was portrayed by a high school student credited as "Inezh". Over the course of the franchise, voice actresses who played Valentine included Catherine Disher in "Resident Evil 3", Heidi Anderson in the 2002 remake, Kathleen Barr in Capcom's 2004 action-adventure game "Under the Skin", and Tara Platt in "Pachislot Biohazard", a recreational arcade game released solely in Japan. Patricia Ja Lee provided the voice and motion capture for both "The Umbrella Chronicles" and "Resident Evil 5". Kari Wahlgren voiced the character in the 2011 game "". In "Revelations", Valentine was voiced by Michelle Ruff, who returned for the non-canon game "". Nicole Tompkins voiced and provided motion capture performance for Valentine in the 2020 "Resident Evil 3" remake. Atsuko Yuya voiced Valentine in the Japanese versions of the games.


title: Jill Valentine

text: The character appeared in three entries of the original "Resident Evil" film series, where she was portrayed by English actress Sienna Guillory. Hannah John-Kamen is cast in the role for the 2021 film "".


title: Jill Valentine

text: Every game in the series is set in the fictional American metropolitan area Raccoon City until its destruction at the end of "Resident Evil 3: Nemesis". Subsequent games featuring Valentine take place on an international scale: namely Russia, Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea. The original game is set in July 1998 in a mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City, which Valentine and her team enter into while searching for colleagues. Working with partner Barry Burton, she discovers the property is a façade for a biological warfare laboratory operated by the Umbrella Corporation and its undead occupants are the scientists who developed the T-virus mutagen. Her commander Albert Wesker is revealed to be a double agent for Umbrella. Valentine and Redfield are among the five survivors of the incident, who form a strong friendship and become passionate opponents of bioterrorism.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Valentine did not appear in the 1998 sequel, as the production team used new protagonists (Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield) to preserve the original game's horror elements: Mikami believed Valentine and Chris Redfield would be too experienced to be scared by the events in the sequel. She returned as the sole protagonist in "Resident Evil 3" (1999). Mikami – the lead producer of both "Nemesis" and the concurrently-produced "" (2000) – wanted each game to highlight a female character who had previously appeared in the series; Valentine is the protagonist in "Nemesis", while Claire Redfield is the lead character in "Code: Veronica". Commentators suggested these decisions were made as a result of the success of the "Tomb Raider" series, which featured Lara Croft as the protagonist.


title: Jill Valentine

text: "Nemesis" occurs two months after the first game, during which time Valentine joined the Raccoon City Police Department (RCPD) to protect as many civilians as possible from the T-virus. The reason given by Capcom for her informal clothing in this entry was her resignation from the police immediately before the city's population was infected with the virus. She quit in protest over the failure of law enforcement to take action against Umbrella but remained in the city to investigate the corporation. The police uniform she wore in the original game was replaced with a less formal blue tube top, black miniskirt and knee-high boots.


title: Jill Valentine

text: In "Nemesis", she escapes Raccoon City before its destruction from a nuclear strike as part of a U.S. government cover-up. She is pursued by Nemesis, a supersoldier whose task is to kill all remaining members of the STARS team. Instead of killing Valentine, Nemesis infects her with the T-virus; her new partner Carlos Oliveira – a former Umbrella mercenary – cures her of the infection with an Umbrella-produced vaccine. "The Umbrella Chronicles" occurs in 2003, when Valentine and Redfield join a private organization with the goal of exposing Umbrella's biological warfare activities, leading a group to destroy their only remaining research facility. After the fall of the corporation, the pair become founding members of the United Nations' Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA). In "Revelations" – set two years later – Valentine and new partner Parker Luciani are sent on a mission to rescue Redfield, who is allegedly being held hostage on a ghost ship in the Mediterranean. Once aboard, she discovers the ship is infested with a new type of mutagen capable of infecting the aquatic ecosystem. Valentine and Redfield then unravel a political conspiracy involving an earlier mutagenic outbreak and a botched investigation by a rival agency.


title: Jill Valentine

text: "Resident Evil 5" takes place in 2009 in the fictional African town of Kijuju, where terrorists are turning local residents into zombies. One of these terrorists is revealed to be Valentine, who was missing in action for the previous two and a half years. Set in 2006, the "Lost in Nightmares" DLC showed Valentine and Redfield searching inside a mansion for Umbrella's founder; to save Redfield from Wesker, Valentine tackled the latter through a window. Neither of their bodies were recovered, and Valentine is declared dead. In fact, she was injured by the fall and taken hostage by Wesker, who then used her as a test subject in his biological experiments. The antibodies produced by Valentine's system as a result of her "Nemesis"-era T-virus infection were used as the basis for the Uroboros Virus, the catalyst for the events of "Resident Evil 5".


title: Jill Valentine

text: During "Resident Evil 5", Redfield discovers that Valentine is alive; Wesker attached a mind-control device on Valentine which forced her to commit the terrorist acts and fight Redfield and his new partner, local BSAA agent Sheva Alomar. Valentine finds enough self-control to open her outfit so the device can be seen and removed. After its removal, she explains that she knew what she was doing but was unable to control her actions and urges Redfield and Alomar to continue their mission. Another DLC episode, "Desperate Escape", describes how Valentine was able to escape safety with the help of local BSAA agent Josh Stone before they aid both Chris and Sheva to kill Wesker.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Valentine features in several of the "Resident Evil" films. She was originally scheduled to be the protagonist for the first "Resident Evil" movie (2002), while it was under the direction of George A. Romero. When Paul W. S. Anderson took over from Romero, he created a new character for the film series, Alice, portrayed by Milla Jovovich. Valentine appears in the 2004 sequel "", where she is a disgraced police officer who escapes the ruins of Raccoon City with the help of Alice and other survivors. Her outfit in the movie is based on her clothing from "Resident Evil 3". Anderson considered explanations to justify the usage of the costume, such as having it described as an undercover outfit, while Jovovich suggested using a heat wave as the reason. Anderson eventually decided to ignore the issue altogether, arguing that people who would criticize her attire "probably shouldn't be watching a "Resident Evil" movie [at all]."


title: Jill Valentine

text: Valentine appears in a post-credits scene in "" (2010), wearing the mind-controlling device from "Resident Evil 5" and leading an attack against Alice, Chris, Claire Redfield, and the survivors they rescued after a virus outbreak in Los Angeles. In "" (2012), Valentine is an antagonist programmed to capture Alice, but regains control of herself after Alice removes Wesker's mind-control device. The film includes a fight between Valentine and Alice containing around 200 moves. She did not appear in the final film, "" (2016), apparently dying offscreen. According to Jovovich, Valentine was excluded because there were too many "Resident Evil" characters to include in the film. The "Resident Evil" film series consistently received negative reviews. "Cinefantastique" praised Guillory's performance in "Apocalypse" as the film's only highlight. In the reboot film "" (2021), Jill is played by Hannah John-Kamen.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Valentine is a playable character in several non-canon "Resident Evil" games. She features in numerous "Resident Evil" mobile games, and is the protagonist of "Resident Evil: Genesis" (2008), an alternative-story version of the original game. She appears in two games in the "Marvel vs. Capcom" franchise and the crossover tactical role-playing games "Project X Zone" and "Project X Zone 2". She makes a brief cameo in 2004's "Under the Skin", and is a playable character in "We Love Golf!" (2007), "Dead by Daylight" (2016) and the digital collectible card game "Teppen" (2019). She appears as an alternate skin for two characters in the "Street Fighter" series: alternate outfits for Chun-Li in "Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix" (1998) and Cammy in "Street Fighter V" (2016) shows them wearing Valentine's costume from the original "Resident Evil". Jill appears as a Spirit in the Nintendo crossover video game "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" (2018). In 2020, Jill made a cameo appearance in "Astro's Playroom". In March 2021 during the "Resident Evil 25th anniversary celebrations", the character Zofia from "Rainbow Six Siege" received Jill Valentine's skin. In October 2021, Jill and Chris appeared in "Fortnite Battle Royale".


title: Jill Valentine

text: Valentine features in novelizations of the films and games and plays a supporting role in the first novel, "" (1998), in a series by S. D. Perry. In "Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy" (1998), Perry's novelization of the original game, Valentine's Delta Force background is not mentioned; before her career in law enforcement, she is said to have acted as an accomplice for her father Dick Valentine, a professional thief. Several comic books based on the games were released, and she is a character in Bandai's "Resident Evil Deck Building Card Game" (2011). Merchandise featuring Valentine include action figures and figurines. The character was featured in "Resident Evil"-themed attractions at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights. Capcom's themed restaurant Biohazard Cafe & Grill S.T.A.R.S., which opened in Shibuya, Tokyo, in 2012, sold a noodle dish named after her.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Game publications, including the 2011 version of the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition", listed Valentine among the most popular and iconic video game characters. At the 2013 Penny Arcade Expo, journalists and game developers nominated her as one of the top-three lead characters of Western and Japanese role-playing video games. Magazines praised her as the most likable "Resident Evil" character, with the most believable and consistent story arc in the series. She was also identified as one of the all-time greatest mascots of the video game industry, as a tough, strong and attractive female character who could appeal to a broad demographic.


title: Jill Valentine

text: Critics commented that Valentine was not oversexualized in her initial appearances. She was highlighted as an example of the series' female characters who were not judged solely on gender, and for having "the most sensible design" for a female character of the mid-to-late 1990s. Her professional relationship with Redfield was celebrated for its basis in loyalty rather than romance and its balance in their personalities: Valentine's intellect and Redfield's brawn. Female digital critics felt that several of Valentine's features undermine her role as a heroine and weaken her as a protagonistspecifically that her body shape is unrealistic and not reflective of her military background or physical training, noting that she was the only member of her team in the original game not to wear a bulletproof vest. The extent to which her appearance changed over the course of the game series has been criticized as excessive, with the "Resident Evil 3" outfit derided for deviating too much from Mikami's initial militaristic iteration of the character. In "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games", feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian criticized Valentine's alternate costumes as too revealing, particularly the pirate costume in "Resident Evil: Revelations". She also cited Valentine's movement in "Revelations" as an example of female characters who walk in an overtly sexualized manner.


title: Jill Valentine

text: MacCallum-Stewart said the first "Resident Evil" game became famous for its "extremely clunky dialogue and voice acting, an element which lent the otherwise suspenseful game an element of charm that endeared it to players". Although she explains that the weak dialogue might be attributed to poor translation of the original Japanese text, she said this inadvertently helped differentiate the series from its rivals. Several lines from the game achieved enduring popularity: "You were almost a Jill sandwich", a quip delivered in awkward voiceover by Barry Burton after a falling ceiling trap almost crushes Valentine, was revived as an Internet meme a decade after the game's release; it became the subject of fan art depicting Valentine in or as a sandwich. Capcom referenced the line in several of their later games, including "Dead Rising" (2006), "" (2009), and "" (2015). Another piece of dialogue spoken by Burton – "And, Jill, here's a lock pick. It might be handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you" – also gained notoriety. The quote has been parodied for containing an excessive amount of silence between words. It was removed from later editions.


title: Stuart Sutcliffe

text: Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a Scottish painter and musician best known as the original bass guitarist of the English rock band the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a painter, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name "Beetles" (sic), as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. They also had a fascination of group names with double meanings (as Crickets, for example, the word referring to both an insect as well as a sport), so Lennon then came up with "The Beatles", from the word "beat" (though Lennon's original spelling was "Beatals"). As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several people sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".


title: Stuart Sutcliffe

text: When he performed with the Beatles in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. After leaving the Beatles, he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. Sutcliffe earned other praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism.