title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: "Star Wars Battlefront II (2017)" depicts Palpatine as intentionally having no clear line of succession, desiring either immortality or the destruction of the Empire. Darth Vader is the Emperor's ruthless chief enforcer, greatly feared throughout the galaxy; a command from Vader is to be considered a command from Palpatine. Vader and his Inquisitors are routinely given control over Imperial assets, but lay outside the traditional chain of command; they travel extensively to most of the galactic regions to enforce the Emperor's rule and hunt the Jedi survivors of the purge. His personal Imperial armada—the 501st Legion and "Death Squadron"—participate in the capture of Princess Leia, the Battle of Hoth and the Battle of Endor.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The Senate, now known as the Imperial Senate, nominally continues to exist, though it is virtually powerless. Palpatine dissolves the Senate (off-camera) in "A New Hope" after discovering that several members of the Senate are founding members of the Rebel Alliance, a guerrilla army dedicated to overthrowing the Empire and restoring the Republic.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: Aside from Palpatine, power resides in the hands of "Administrators" (planetary governors), the "Moffs" (sector governors) and the "Grand Moffs" (oversector governors). Through this chain of command, Palpatine dictates direct control over all population centers. Grand Moff is a political title in the hierarchy of the Galactic Empire. Governor Wilhuff Tarkin suggests the creation of the role and becomes the first ever Grand Moff.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In the series "Andor", the Empire is depicted as arbitrary and cruel in its rule over ordinary people, particularly when it comes to certain agencies such as the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), which is the Empire's secret police force. In the latter part of the series, the Empire takes to retroactively extending the sentences of prisoners, moving prisoners around to different facilities after they're due to be released, euthanizing labor camp prisoners when they become too ill to work, not permitting defendants in criminal cases to present a defense, and committing mass murder when its officers feel they are losing control of a situation. It also engages in torture of subjects of interest and carries out arbitrary executions for political purposes. ISB agents are assigned to spy on political dissidents in the Imperial Senate, such as Mon Mothma.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In "Star Wars", the Tarkin Doctrine was the plan presented by Tarkin himself to Palpatine in 18 BBY that outlined the Empire's goal and structure: bringing order to the galaxy and restoring rule of law to sectors overtaken by piracy and organized crime, ending destructive conflicts through grand strategy and military doctrine, a plan for maximizing social control and propaganda, maintaining economic order and increasing security in the Galactic Empire. Tarkin believed the chief factor that contributed most to the demise of the Republic was not, in fact, the war, but rampant self-interest, which left the body politic feckless and corrupt.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The plan which Palpatine ultimately had implemented in its entirety contained three main principles: territorial consolidation, rapid communication, and coercive diplomacy. Tarkin's concept was that rule could be established and maintained "through fear of force rather than force itself", and he believed grand displays of power—when combined with oppressive means of terrorizing communities—could suppress dissent and crush any would-be rebellion. This Doctrine became the Empire's core military doctrine of peacekeeping, internal security, counter-insurgency, and state terrorism-philosophy. The instrument of this power is the military, which includes the Imperial stormtroopers, a massive fleet of 25,000 Star Destroyers, 50 Super Star Destroyers, and the Death Star, a moon-sized superweapon capable of destroying entire planets.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: Plans for the Death Star first appear (in universe chronology) in "Attack of the Clones" and construction begins at the end of "Revenge of the Sith". Summarized measures set forth by the Tarkin Doctrine:


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The Imperial Naval Command (INC), also referred to as the Imperial Starfleet, is the military arm of the Galactic Empire in charge of maintaining security, peace and order in the galaxy. Commanded by Darth Vader, it absorbed the military forces of the Galactic Republic after Palpatine's declaration of the New Order. Organization of the Imperial Navy is assigned to the Moffs.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: At its peak, the Imperial Navy fields millions of warships, including an estimated 25,000 Star Destroyers, fulfilling the Emperor's will throughout the galaxy. The Empire's central warship cadre is well structured and uniformed, but the Imperial Navy suffers against strike craft, largely due to the inadequacies of its own starfighters and point defense. The Empire's focus on size, firepower, and terror comes at the expense of a well-balanced fleet. After its defeat at the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire splits up into warring factions, and the Imperial Starfleet along with it. While much of the remnants of the Imperial Navy are later reunited under impressive Imperial commanders, the military organization ceases to exist shortly after the death of the Emperor.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: Specific responsibilities of the Imperial Navy include defending Imperial citizens from space-based threats (such as pirates, smugglers and rebel contingents), enforcing Imperial will, and overseeing commerce through customs and blockade operations. The Imperial Navy also performs orbital bombardments and transports major ground force deployments, supporting them with space, orbital, and aerial support. Imperial Navy officers wear the same standard uniform that their Army counterparts use but is colored grey, and both services use colored chest plaques to denote rank.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) is the intelligence branch of the Galactic Empire that is charged with matters of internal state security and law enforcement. Consisting of several supervisors overseeing multiple sectors, they are charged with matters of counter-terrorism, criminal investigation, internal affairs, state security, state-sponsored propaganda and ensuring the political loyalty of citizens to the Empire.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: Towards the end of the Galactic Empire's reign after the death of Emperor Palpatine, ISB officers were entrusted with carrying out Operation Cinder. When that operation fails and the empire collapses, some former ISB officers, such as Moff Gideon, become warlords and part of the Imperial remnants.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The Imperial Starfighter Corps (ISC) was the starfighter pilot branch of the Galactic Empire. Although the Corps was a component of the Navy, most pilots were assigned to ground operations with the Imperial Army. Some Imperial starfighters include TIE (Twin Ion Engine) fighters, TIE Interceptors, TIE Defenders, TIE Strikers, TIE Silencers (by the First Order), and TIE Bombers. The Corps were scattered after the Battle of Endor (4 ABY).


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: Imperial Stormtrooper Corps (ISC) are elite corps of rapid response all-environment shock troops—organized like the U.S. Marine Corps with their own separate divisions. The Stormtroopers operate in conjunction with the Army Ground Troopers and Navy Marine Troopers—who were used as garrison forces—to reinforce and hold defensive positions until the regular military arrived. When not in their signature white armor, stormtrooper officers wear black uniforms.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: After the formation of the Empire and the purge of the Jedi, Palpatine declares martial law throughout the galaxy. Those in hiding, or attempting to either flee from or oppose the New Imperial Order, are subject to persecution or death. This is the start of the bloody decades-long Galactic Civil War fought between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: As portrayed in the animated series "Star Wars Rebels" and "", the Empire explores ways to weaponize Force-sensitive kyber crystals, which are sacred to the Jedi and are at the core of every lightsaber. They mine for kyber crystals across worlds, but are thwarted twice in securing massive crystals by the "Ghost" crew and Saw Gerrera. On Jedha, however, the Empire uncovers a surplus of kyber, with which they power the Death Star.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The Death Star, a moon-sized battle station with sufficient firepower to destroy an entire planet, is designed to be the supreme weapon of the Empire's power. Tarkin, the station's commander, demonstrates that power in "A New Hope" when he destroys Alderaan as a show of force. In the film's climactic scene, however, the station is attacked by Rebel starfighters who have come into possession of the station's blueprints. The battle ends with the Death Star's destruction at the hands of Luke Skywalker, which is the Rebel Alliance's first major success against the Empire.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: After four more years of conflict, the Alliance achieves a decisive victory over the Empire in "Return of the Jedi". In the film's climactic battle, the Rebellion destroys the second Death Star and a number of capital ships that contain a great portion of the Imperial Navy's highest-ranking officers. During this battle, Vader redeems himself by sacrificing his life to kill Palpatine in order to save his son, Luke Skywalker.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The dual loss of the Emperor and the majority of decorated military leadership creates a power vacuum of chaos and instability. By design, the Empire had no clear line of succession; and there was no second-in-command after Palpatine and Vader. Revolts, infighting, fiefdoms and warlordism gradually fracture the Empire apart more effectively than any damage capable of being inflicted by the Rebel Alliance, as the Moffs and Grand Moffs maneuver to grab power for themselves amidst civil unrest.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: Palpatine left posthumous orders. Upon verification of his death, messenger droids are sent to select Imperial officers to relay his last orders: to begin "Operation: Cinder", a scorched earth policy tasking hardline Imperials to destroy entire planets so the Rebellion cannot claim them. Palpatine does not desire the Empire to continue without his presence; if he cannot live forever as the galaxy's Emperor, he would rather see it destroyed.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: A year after the Battle of Endor, the bolstered Rebellion defeats the weakened Empire during the Battle of Jakku and formally establishes the New Republic.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: By the time of "The Mandalorian", set five years after the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire no longer exists as an official government or a major power, and is essentially a failed state. Its former leaders who are now warlords that represent several different rump states, are competing with each other, as well as the New Republic over the power vacuum left behind. One Imperial remnant established a base on the planet Navarro, where Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin was hired to acquire an asset, later revealed to be a Force-sensitive infant named Grogu. Djarin abandoned his job and decided to protect the child, making him an enemy of Imperial warlord Moff Gideon and his army of mercenary stormtroopers.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: Djarin later returned to Navarro, reuniting with his allies Greef Karga and Cara Dune, as well as an unnamed Mythrol, to take down an Imperial facility to eradicate the Empire's presence on the planet. The group soon discovered that it was housing Imperial experiments, using blood rich in midichlorians obtained from Grogu. The group succeeded in taking down the base. Gideon was informed of the developments while overseeing a unit of enhanced droids known as darktroopers, who would later help him capture Grogu. Djarin led a mission to rescue Grogu, assisted by several allies include Dune, Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze. The group boarded Gideon's command ship and subdued him. Djarin turned Grogu over to Luke Skywalker, who took down the Moff's darktroopers.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The most successful remnants of the Empire reform as the First Order, led by Supreme Leader Snoke and former Imperial officers. They become a major faction in the galaxy in "" and face a reformed Rebel Alliance called the Resistance. The First Order rises to power through the use of Starkiller Base, a converted planet turned into a superweapon that later destroys the Hosnian system, the location of the New Republic's capital. Starkiller Base is destroyed by the Resistance in "The Force Awakens". In the sequel "", however, First Order forces draw the Resistance out of hiding and wipe out a majority of their fleet. During the battle, Snoke is killed by his apprentice Kylo Ren, who assumes the title of Supreme Leader.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In "", the final film in the sequel trilogy, the First Order allies itself with the "Final Order", led by a faction of Sith cultists known as the Sith Eternal, overseen by none other than Palpatine, who had transferred his essence into a cloned body and formerly positioned himself to control the First Order over Snoke, a puppet ruler. The cult is stationed on the isolated Sith planet of Exegol. Palpatine offers Ren, who had tracked him to the planet, control of the Final Order in exchange for killing the young Jedi Rey, Palpatine's own granddaughter. Ren initially accepts the assignment, but later forsakes the dark side after a duel with Rey in the wreckage of the second Death Star. With Ren's defection, Palpatine turns command over to Allegiant General Enric Pryde, previously an Imperial officer.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: With help from the spirit of Luke Skywalker, Rey eventually makes her way to Exegol, guiding the Resistance fleet away to the planet to take down the Final Order. With help from a redeemed Ren and the spirits of Jedi past, she resists Palpatine's promises of power and turns his own Sith lightning against him, destroying the Sith Lord once and for all. The Resistance fleet, with help from their allies across the galaxy, defeats the Sith Eternal fleet to officially wipe out the Final Order and the Galactic Empire with it, after a grand total of 54 years of its existence. It's unknown what succeeded it as the dominating government in the galaxy.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed "Star Wars" novels and comics produced since the original 1977 film, known as the Expanded Universe, were rebranded as "Legends" and declared non-canon to the franchise on April 25, 2014.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn trilogy" of novels – "Heir to the Empire" (1991), "Dark Force Rising" (1992), and "The Last Command" (1993) – an army of former Imperials, led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, attempt to overthrow the New Republic and install a dictatorship known as the Empire of the Hand. The backstory of the series explains that, following their defeat at the Battle of Endor, the Imperial sectors are governed by several different military juntas that fight each other in a conflict known as the Imperial Civil War, all the while resuming the Galactic Civil War with the Rebellion's successor, the New Republic, for control of the galaxy for years until mostly joining together under Grand Admiral Thrawn. By the time of "The Last Command", Thrawn has nearly defeated the New Republic, but they claim victory in a last-ditch effort, and Thrawn is killed by his own bodyguard, shattering the Empire's unity.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: "Agent of the Empire" is a 10-issue comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2011 to 2013. It was written by John Ostrander and illustrated by Stephane Roux, and is set three years before the original "Star Wars" film. Two five-issue story arcs follow an Imperial secret agent, and feature characters such as Han Solo, Princess Leia and Boba Fett. Both arcs were collected in trade paperback volumes.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In the "Jedi Prince" novel series, a group of impostors calling themselves the Prophets of the Dark Side install a three-eyed mutant named Trioculus as Emperor by claiming that he is Palpatine's son, reforming the Empire (as Trioculus's Empire). By the end of the series, Palpatine's true son, Triclops, helps the Rebels defeat this new enemy.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In the "Dark Empire" comic book series, Palpatine is reborn in a clone body and unites most of the scattered remnants of the Empire (forming the Dark Empire), hoping to retake control of the galaxy. By the sequel, "Empire's End", he is defeated and destroyed once and for all.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In the "Jedi Academy" trilogy, an Imperial admiral named Daala commandeers the remainder of the Imperial Navy (the Crimson Empire) and mounts a ferocious assault on the New Republic. She nearly succeeds in taking over the galaxy, but is foiled by New Republic pilots Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian in the final entry, "Champions of the Force". A year later she would arrange the assassination of the rival Imperial warlords to unify the feuding Imperial factions into the Imperial Remnant and bring an end to the Imperial Civil War.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In the 1995 novel "Darksaber", Daala, frustrated with the Imperial warlords in the Core fighting and bickering amongst themselves, orchestrates the warlords' deaths and unites and becomes the leader of the remaining Imperial forces. After being defeated in battle once again by the New Republic, she resigns and selects Gilad Pellaeon (originally in the "Thrawn" trilogy) as the new leader, where he becomes Grand Admiral Pellaeon. At the end of the novel, he signs a peace treaty with the New Republic representative Ponc Gavrisom and ends the Galactic Civil War.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: By the time of the "New Jedi Order" series, the remaining Imperial military factions sign a truce with the New Republic, becoming the Imperial Remnant. The former enemies then become allies against the invading Yuuzhan Vong. A few years later, the Remnant help the Galactic Alliance fight an assimilating insect species known as the Killiks, which become a third party in the Second Galactic Civil War. Eventually, they make peace with the Alliance and Confederation. All three of these are represented by former Imperial commanders.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: The "" comic book series, set 127 years after the original "Star Wars" film, explains that, during a civil war, the New Galactic Empire known as the Fel Empire declares war on the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances (Galactic Alliance), the successor state of the New Republic, after 83 years of a cold war that began in 44 ABY. This conflict begins the Sith-Imperial War, which after three years leads to the eventual defeat of the Galactic Alliance and the Galactic Empire asserting its domination over the galaxy once again in 130 ABY. A few months later, the Sith overthrows the Fel Empire. The Sith Lord Darth Krayt, the leader of the One Sith, usurps the throne and forces Emperor Roan Fel to take refuge in the fortress planet of Bastion.


title: Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

text: In 138 ABY, the Galactic Alliance Remnant led by Admiral Gar Stazi, Fel's forces known as the Empire-in-exile led by Empress Marasiah Fel, and the New Jedi Order led by Jedi Master K'Krukk unite against Krayt's empire and eventually destroy it in the Battle of Coruscant, after a grand total of 157 years of its existence. The three united factions form a new galactic government called the Galactic Federation Triumvirate. The One Sith, led by Darth Wredd, remains at large and wages a war against the GFT. One year later, the former Empire-in-exile works with the other two factions, killing Wredd and dissolving the One Sith. The next year, the GFT defeats the secular alliances of the One Sith and in the aftermath of that conflict, the galaxy enters an era of peace and unity.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: Dog the Bounty Hunter is an American reality television series which aired on A&E and chronicled Duane "Dog" Chapman's experiences as a bounty hunter. With a few exceptions, the series took place in Hawaii or Dog's home state of Colorado.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: On May 21, 2012, A&E canceled the series after eight seasons. The series began airing in syndication on September 16, 2013. Dog and his wife, Beth Chapman, then starred in a spin-off series, "" on CMT, before that series ended in August 2015. On November 14, 2017, A&E announced that they would be airing a two-hour special called "Dog and Beth: Fight of Their Lives". The special aired two weeks later, on November 27, documenting Beth Chapman and her family as she was fighting Stage 4 throat cancer. At the age of 51, she died on June 26, 2019, about a week after having lost consciousness and subsequently being placed in a medically induced coma.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: A second spin-off series, entitled "Dog's Most Wanted", premiered in September 2019 on WGN America. A third spin-off series entitled "Dog's Unleashed", is currently in production and set to premiere sometime in 2022 on the streaming service "Unleashed".


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: The program spun off from Chapman's appearance on the show "Take This Job", a program about people with unusual occupations. "Dog the Bounty Hunter" captured an audience immediately by drawing viewers into the interaction of Chapman and his family/team, mixing street smarts, romance, arguments, teamwork, adrenaline-laced arrests and a philosophy of hope and second chances.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: Viewers are taken along as Chapman and his family/team locate and arrest people who have broken the terms of their bail agreements. Bounty hunts and arrests segue into the rides to jail, during which Chapman and his team show compassion and strongly counsel the fugitives to start over, leaving behind drugs and/or crime to become dependable members of their families and society. Rounding out most episodes are scenes featuring Dog, Beth and their large family of children, grandchildren and friends.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: As the show progressed, viewers were taken further behind the scenes during Baby Lyssa's training as a licensed bail bondswoman and bounty hunter; Dog's capture of Andrew Luster and the ensuing arrests of Chapman, Tim and Leland in Mexico; the deaths of Beth's father (Garry Smith) and Dog's oldest daughter (Barbara Katie Chapman); Chapman and Beth's 2006 wedding; Baby Lyssa's wedding and the birth of her second child; and the shock and fear of the family after Dog, Tim and Leland were arrested by federal marshals in Hawaii to await possible extradition to Mexico.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: Chapman and Beth freely invited viewers into their lives, sharing personal stories about Chapman's 1976 imprisonment; his ex-wives and custody battles; While Chapman was serving his sentence, his first wife LaFonda filed for divorce, and married his best friend. Chapman did field work for the prison, in addition to serving as the warden’s barber. When an inmate was attempting to escape, Chapman tackled him, which prevented the escapee from being shot at by guards. This, in addition to Chapman’s overall good behavior, led to him being paroled after only 18 months. Inspired by his tackle, Chapman decided to pursue becoming a bounty hunter once released.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: Production and airing of the show was halted by A&E on November 2, 2007, after the release of an audio tape that featured Duane Chapman using the word "nigger" repeatedly in a discussion about the word itself with son Tucker regarding Tucker's black girlfriend's probable sensitivity to the word. Tucker had sold the tape to the "National Enquirer", and it quickly was picked up by numerous print and broadcast media outlets. This media exposure led Duane to make an apology on CNN's "Larry King Live" for his lack of sensitivity on the matter, and vowed to educate himself and make amends. On February 19, 2008, A&E announced that the show would return. Reruns of "Dog the Bounty Hunter," along with never-before-seen episodes from season 4, began airing on June 25, 2008, and the show continued, along with special episodes about the arrest and fallout from the Luster situation.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: On April 21, 2009, during filming of Season 6, Chapman was allegedly shot at with a handgun while his crew, along with bail bondsman Bobby Brown, were attempting to arrest a fugitive named Hoang Nguyen in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The suspect escaped on a motorcycle and was captured by Chapman about six hours later. This is contrary to evidence shown in the A&E airing of the episode titled "Easy Rider", on December 16, 2009. According to Chapman's website and TMZ, Nguyen was arrested and charged with attempted murder related to the shooting attempt of Chapman and the Chapman family. On May 15, 2009, the El Paso County, Colorado Assistant District attorney dropped the attempted murder charge against the alleged shooter due to lack of evidence and conflicting statements by Chapman, his son Leland, and bail bondsman Bobby Brown. The prosecutors also state that they have not received the requested video footage from the incident, which was allegedly filmed by the television crew. In March 2011, Nguyen filed a lawsuit against Chapman, Brown, and Chapman's sons Duane Chapman II and Leland Chapman. In the lawsuit, Nguyen claims he lost his job as a result of the incident and had to relocate. He also says he was injured by pepper pellets that were allegedly fired at him. Chapman's attorney, James A. Quadra, told "Celebrity Crime Reporter" the lawsuit has no basis "in law or fact". The lawsuit was in mediation the first week of March 2011 with a trial date on November 28, 2011.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: In 2011, Leland and Duane Lee quit working with their father and stepmother and severed ties with their family. The March 21, 2012 episode showed Duane Lee telling Beth "You want me fired, you gotta fire me," and then Leland weighed in, saying "I quit too." In January 2012, the two brothers confirmed leaving the show. As of 2015 Leland now operates his own bail bond company in Alabama and heads Bounty Hunter Tactical Supply Co. while Duane Lee moved to Florida. Beth tweeted, "It will take 6 weeks to get through the whole thing tonight's jus the beginning."


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: In September 2011 Bobby Brown, who appeared in 30 episodes, sued A&E Television Networks, Hybrid Films, and D&D Television Productions in Colorado federal court, claiming he was promised to be a full cast member, but received only $6,000 for his contributions. The lawsuit is for "the misappropriation of his publicity rights as well as claims of breach of contract and promises.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: The show's theme song, "Dog the Bounty Hunter", is sung by heavy metal artist Ozzy Osbourne. The song can be heard on Osbourne's "Prince of Darkness" box set. Many episodes feature at least one song from a band that is either unsigned or with an independent label, usually played during an action scene. These songs are plugged at the end of each episode, following the closing credits. Several episodes in season three and four have music from New York City-based dub reggae group Subatomic Sound System's "On All Frequencies" album. Featured songs include "Criminal", "Doin' It", and "Ghetto Champion". Soulja Boy's music video for "Yahhh!" includes an impersonation of "Dog Woof Woof"


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: All the hour-long episodes were split into two parts for broadcast syndication. Full episodes are shown on streaming sites and DVD releases.


title: Dog the Bounty Hunter

text: The television series led to a 2007 autobiographical book, "You Can Run But You Can't Hide", which chronicles Chapman's years before becoming a bounty hunter and some of his more infamous hunts, including the controversial hunt that took him and his team to Mexico to capture serial rapist Andrew Luster. It also delves into his criminal past as well as his family background, imprisonment in Texas, marriages and children. A second book, "Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given", was published in 2009. Its title reflects Chapman's overriding philosophy of second chances, which he writes about at length as he asks the public for a second chance of his own. The book largely deals with the fallout from two factors: the federal marshals' arrest and the scandal over his use of the word "nigger".


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: In the year 2020, a series of cyber-attacks across Tokyo are the result of catastrophic events in another world within the internet, the Digital World, where creatures called Digimon roam. Taichi "Tai" Kamiya, a young boy gets transported to the internet and meets Agumon while they are attacked by a swarm of Argomon. They meet up with Yamato "Matt" Ishida and his partner Gabumon and together they defeat the Mega Argomon as Omnimon.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: While getting ready for summer camp, Tai, Matt, Sora Takenouchi, Koshiro "Izzy" Izumi, Mimi Tachikawa and Joe Kido are transported to the Digital World where they acquire Digivices and Digimon partners while learning that they have been chosen to stop the evil Dark Digimon army causing attacks both the Network and the Digital World. They are lured into a fake Tokyo dimension where Eyesmon, another opponent attacks them. Omnimon is able to destroy Nidhoggmon (Eyesmon's Mega form) before the countdown to annihilate the real Tokyo in the Real World happens.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: They are joined by Takeru "T.K." Takaishi, Matt's brother on their mission to stop Devimon, an evil Digimon who rules the Cloud Continent. Later, after Devimon's defeat, T.K. becomes partners with Patamon on the Eternal Continent where they learn that another Holy Digimon named Gatomon, had been corrupted into SkullKnightmon/DarkKnightmon. They are joined by Tai's sister Kari, who serves as their guide to the Sealed Grounds, where Millenniummon, an ultimate weapon of the Dark Digimon, is to be revived. During their journey, they defeat DarkKnightmon, who reverts back into her true form Gatomon, and becomes Kari’s partner, and along the way, they befriend several friendly Digimon, and the remaining Digimon partners reunite and continue their quest to stop Millenniummon. However, Sakkakumon, a servant of Millenniummon, captures Tai, Matt, Izzy, and T.K. and their Digimon partners in its sphere, where they are forced to fight copies of their past defeated opponents. T.K. and Patamon were confronted by Devimon again, who revealed that he was an entity of Patamon. Patamon absorbs Devimon, becoming his ultimate form and defeats the sphere, helping the others escape. Unfortunately, Millenniummon's servants, Vademon and Sakkakumon were able to restore Millenniummon's body and was unleashed in an attempt to destroy the entire Digital World, but was defeated by WarGreymon with the hopes of the friendly Digimon the DigiDestined befriended in their adventure.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: And finally, after Millenniummon's defeat, all eight DigiDestined must discover the true power of the Crests in their Digivices to stop Negamon, the benefactor of the Dark Digimon and the creator of the Argomon and Eyesmon, from bringing the Great Catastrophe (and also learn that Omnimon can stop Negamon). Tai and Agumon encountered the Argomon again, and this time meet a humanoid Argomon sent by Negamon to test Taichi and Agumon's bond. After reuniting with each other, the DigiDestined face a swarm of Soundbirdmon, who digivolve to their true form, Ghoulmon. After Ghoulmon's defeat, Negamon was released from its prison and begins the Great Catastrophe. The DigiDestined come face to face with their final enemy after defeating the humanoid Argomon. A brutal battle between Negamon and the DigiDestined begins and later, Negamon digivolves into Abbadomon and destroys the physical forms of four of the DigiDestined while Tai, Kari, T.K. and Matt continue to fight Abbadomon. The hopes of the humanity restore the four children back into their physical forms and enable Agumon and Gabumon to fuse into Omnimon. Taichi, Yamato, and Omnimon enter Abbadomon where they confront the core body. After a great battle, Omnimon destroys Abbadomon who reformats into a Digi-Egg and peace of both worlds were restored.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: In the epilogue, the DigiDestined return home accompanied by their Digimon partners in secret while Tai chose to remain in the Digital World to explore it there with Agumon.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: The series was officially announced in the March issue of Shueisha's "V Jump" magazine on January 20, 2020. The project was developed independently and in the same period of time as the theatrical release of "", by producer Hiroyuki Sakurada and series director Masato Mitsuka, initially together behind "Digimon Xros Wars" and "Dragon Ball Super". Matsuki Hanae and Naoko Sagawa are also the producers, Atsuhiro Tomioka is supervising the series scripts, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru returns from "Digimon Adventure" to design the characters, Akihiro Asanuma is the chief animation director, Ryouka Kinoshita is the art director, Toshiki Amada is in charge of art setting.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: The opportunity of a reboot of the original "Digimon Adventure" series was hoped for since the days of "Digimon Adventure tri." by Hiroyuki Sakurada, then producer of "Dragon Ball Super". Sakurada expressed that the stopping point of the original "Adventure" series reached on its twentieth anniversary by "" was "sad", but opportune to be able to propose, produce this reboot and deliver it in its current form, terming it as a "proper Digimon entry" that wasn't for the "children of the past", but "for a new generation of children" "And in order to introduce it to them, what better way to do it than to start from the beginning one more time with "Digimon Adventure"?" while mentioning the difficulties encountered to find the right timing back then, as the production team wanted to broadcast Digimon again on Fuji TV at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning "To secure that timeslot and produce content for it, you need the right timing and right elements for all sorts of things. Without such a close gamble, it’s difficult to produce a TV anime". The nine o'clock slot on Sunday morning is the historical timeslot for the first five "Digimon" series on Fuji TV, from 1999 to 2007.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: The original "Digimon Adventure" staff, working on the movie "", was not consulted for this project. Masato Mitsuka was referred to as a director "representing the younger generation"; "He ensures the future of Toei Animation, as well as the rest of its staff," said Hiroyuki Sakurada.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Hiroyuki Sakurada indicated that the highlights of this series would be the battle scenes, the "special trait" of each Digimon and how they would deal with the abilities of the Digimons that will attack them. Atsuhiro Tomioka announced that as many different Digimon as possible will be shown, defining it as a "festival" "according to the situation, without holding back".


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: "Our important task is to make sure things come across to the viewer as "cool"" stated Masato Mitsuka and specified that, although they were very enthusiastic about wanting to show off the pride of a Digimon of the Champion-level, they had trouble thinking about how to portray "cool" action sequences using the physics of the Digimon and especially Greymon, compared to Son Goku and his panoply of attacks in the director's work on "Dragon Ball Super" ; Mitsuka also claimed in August 2020 that the Digimon will reach the Ultimate-level "very quickly", so in the long run, the time Agumon will actively spend as a Greymon will be gone ; calling Omnimon one of the most impressive "symbols" of "Digimon" to this very day with many derivatives. Its appearance and the when and how in the series were determined even before Mitsuka was brought into the project.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: In response to the Japanese media outlet "What's In", calling the first three episodes "A start close to be a cinematic project, yet chaotic" by the story developments ; Sakurada said that the intention behind it was to display freshness without waiting. For Mitsuka, the overuse of privileged segments in the animation for a TV anime was to show Greymon ; and Omnimon looking ""cool"" from its first fight, in order to leave just as much of a strong impression on those new viewers as on the old ones, a proper action-like depiction of it being uncommon in the previous projects, special circumstances protecting it for very particular moments, this production aimed to depict Omnimon as the miracle that appears after overcoming great difficulties "May each of its appearances in this new TV series be a chance to make it fight powerful enemies, while displaying his strength and a status of crisis saviour". Mitsuka wanted to portray children actively fighting in the fights, a story in which the children participate with a keen awareness of what they have to save. "The children feel an obligation and a determination to "do something" [...] The central theme of the series' direction is "a person and a creature" in both battle and adventure. It is the ""way of life"" that seduces me, my vision of the link between the two".


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Producer Sakurada invited children to have the feeling of traveling through this anime "even if they are stuck at home [...] From the jungle to the oceans, discover a vast world without constraints"; by experiencing things that had become difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in August 2020. Atsuhiro Tomioka has been called to be the main screenwriter of the project, with the request of Toei Animation to take the manga "Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01" as a reference. "Of course, [Tai] still works together with other allies, but we want him to be a heroic figure with a strong sense of responsibility and dependability. It's a willingness with the director and the production team to mix influences".


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: The show premiered on April 5, 2020, on Fuji TV. "", "the last adventure of Tai and Agumon", was still on the big screens and in promotion up to the end of July 2020, due to the shutdowns and postponements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of movie theaters. In mid-2020, Toei Animation Europe listed "Adventure" for 66 episodes. On September 2, 2021, a 67th episode was announced. Two weeks later it was confirmed the series would end with 67 episodes and be succeeded by "Digimon Ghost Game".


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: On March 30, 2020, Toei Animation organized an advertising campaign at Shibuya Stream, a retail complex in Tokyo's Shibuya district and in the Shibuya Station with posters and animations. On March 19, 2021, Toei Animation unveiled a new key visual that hinted at new digivolved forms appearing within the series; with new taglines: "Everything of "Digimon Adventure" is Epic! The story reaches its climax!" and a marketing campaign based on the buzzword "Epic" on social media.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: On March 6, the first trailer for the series was released, announcing the series' April 5, 2020 premiere date. "Digimon Adventure:" has been broadcast on Fuji Television, and became available for streaming on Netflix, U-NEXT, Bandai Channel, Anime Hodai and Docomo Anime Store in Japan. On April 19, 2020, Toei Animation announced that the fourth scheduled episode and new episodes would be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A delay of about two months occurred until the return of the show; from April 26 to May 31, 2020, "GeGeGe no Kitarō" reruns in Digimon Adventure: timeslot. Episodes were rebroadcast from Episode 1 beginning June 7. Toei Animation later announced on June 19 that the series will resume broadcasting new episodes starting with Episode 4 on June 28.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Crunchyroll began streaming the series starting April 4, 2020. The series is distributed simultaneously by Crunchyroll in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, the MENA and CIS zones, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa with English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Italian, German and Russian subtitles. The anime was also simulcast on Hulu (1–49) and VRV in the United States, AnimeLab (1-52)/Funimation ANZ (from episode 53–60) in Australia and New Zealand and iQIYI (1-48) in Southeast Asia with English subtitles and other languages including Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai. In France, the anime is also available on Anime Digital Network and J-One.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: In May 2021, iQIYI stopped its simulcast at episode 48. Hulu stopped its simulcast at episode 49, having bought a licence for the first forty nine episodes. Previously released episodes remain available on demand ; the licensing agreement won't be renewed for further episodes during the simulcast. On August 11, 2021, AnimeLab and Funimation ANZ announced that they were unable to offer new weekly episodes. Released episodes were no longer available on Funimation ANZ ; the licensing agreement won't be renewed during the simulcast.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Toei Animation Europe announced that the show would run for 66 episodes, though on September 2, 2021, the episode count was official changed to 67 episodes on Bandai's calendar. The series ended on September 26, 2021, with a total of 67 episodes and was succeeded by "Digimon Ghost Game", at the same time on Fuji TV.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: On February 26, 2022, the "Digimon Con 2022" event announced that the series is getting an English dub that will star Zeno Robinson as Tai and Ben Diskin as Agumon, through a dubbed trailer and two videos of the voice actors. Tai's original English actor, Joshua Seth, revealed that the cast was informed by the producers months ago that they would be recasting everyone and that no one from the old cast would be returning. The first two episodes aired as a special preview at Toei Animation's booth at the "Anime NYC 2022" event on November 19, 2022.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Composer Toshihiko Sahashi was commissioned to write forty compositions by the director of the series, the idea explored was sounds played by a large orchestra. A first recording was conducted on February 25, 2020. Two soundtrack albums were released by Nippon Columbia. The first volume on September 30, 2020 featuring 34 tracks and the second volume on August 25, 2021, for 31 tracks.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: The opening theme for the series is "Mikakunin Hikousen", performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto. Tanimoto also sung three Insert Songs. The first is "Be The Winners", which is the theme song for the Champion level digivolutions, the second is "X-treme Fight", which is the theme song for the Ultimate level digivolutions and the third is "Break the Chain", which is the theme song for the Mega level digivolutions.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: The first ending theme during episodes 1-13 is "Kuyashisa wa Tane" by Chiai Fujikawa. The second ending theme during episodes 14-26 is "Q?" by Reol. The third ending theme during episodes 27-38 is "Mind Game" by Maica_n. The fourth ending theme during episodes 39-54 is "Overseas Highway" by Wolpis Carter and Orangestar. The fifth ending theme during episodes 55-67 is "Dreamers" by the K-pop boy band Ateez.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: "Digimon Adventure:" was distributed in Japan on DVD and Blu-ray by Happinet: in a first box set on December 2, 2020, containing the first 12 episodes. Episodes 13 to 24 were released in a second box set on March 3, 2021. Episodes 25 to 36 were released in a third box set on June 2, 2021. Episodes 37 to 48 were released in a fourth box set on September 3, 2021. Episodes 49 to 67 were released in a fifth, and final, box set on February 2, 2022.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: As the series is not only the reboot of the first anime, but also the first "Digimon" series to be simultaneously distributed around the world, the launch attracted a great amount of media coverage and critical reviews. The announcement and debut of the anime was encouraged by qualities seen in the original series. "Digimon Adventure:" is considered part of the reboots & revivals craze seen in the West and Japan in the early 2020s.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: First impressions of the series' debut episodes were mostly positive-to-mixed with production values being praised; although criticized for noticeably recycled plot beats from previous productions and specifically the "Digimon" movie' "", "Polygon"'s Karen Han felt that Masato Mitsuka's take lacked a sense of character, both in terms of the world it takes place in, and the characters themselves. and Joshua Graves of "Comic Book Resources" feels that "it comes across more as a disservice to fans". Most critics were puzzled by the general approach and shared some concerns about the possibilities of world-building, character developments, the way the show can keep the stakes presented meaningful and the series' potential for reaching a new audience due to the pace, the lack of introductions and exposition about the overall concept and the digivolutions as anything other than regarded as a "senseless plot boost" in this early stage.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: "Digimon Adventure:" received harsh responses and criticism through its run and, getting panned due to the overall structure, style, prioritization of the story and the lack of motivating ideas of the plot, as well as the absence of character, emotional and interpersonal dynamics developments, "an absurd character psychology with no sense of wonder nor amazement"; and an excessive focus on Tai, sidelining the other characters in favor of successive episodes of showdowns, fights and unearned power-ups.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: "Digimon Adventure:" was named one of "The Worst Anime of 2020" by "Anime News Network" in their year-end selection; termed as a failure and a wasted attempt, Christopher Farris criticized the lack of planning of the staff behind it and the lack of development for characters with ready-made connections, for audiences who might remember them and their power-levels enough, to justify any real interest or investment in. "Manga News" considered it as a lazy and a hardly praiseworthy work for such prolific figures, "artificial" for some action and digivolution moneyshots. Writing for "Comic Book Resources", Laura Thornton criticized its reintroduction of some talking Digimon after thirty episodes for essentially portraying them as victims to be protected by Tai rather than making them proper characters with a culture or unique problem and stated it as fatigued story "not only for its characters but for the audience as well", far removed from the light-hearted episodes in the original series, but also from models such as "My Hero Academia" or "", perceived as important and considering that constant spectacle of over-the-top fights "has long grown stale" ; Hannah Collins deplored that its "trade" for "spectacle" meant "near-constant separation of the main group"."" As the forty-episode mark was reached; what were considered to be the first demonstrations of development and interaction would be observed in the first filler episodes of the series;"" these episodes also received a more favorable critical reception for their more episodic, calm and humorous tone.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: "Digimon Adventure:" was regarded as predicated on a nostalgia simplified to "mere style references" and a feeling of false-familiarity.; the commercial target was considered ambiguous ; "Manga-News" then questioned the legitimacy of such regarding the intentions of "". The anime is also observed as an attempt to turn "Digimon Adventure" into action-packed genres and to expand marketing with ingredients similar and compared to what was done with the "Dragon Ball" franchise in the 2010s"."


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Responses from fans and spectators would be observed by various media and the international broadcaster as very mixed through its run. Promotional images of episode 38 ""The Blazing Blue Friendship"", depicting crucifixions; went viral; spreading via memes from fans and nostalgics.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Daniel Dockery, senior writer for "Crunchyroll" expressed his understanding of viewers' disappointment due to, among other things, the excessive focus on Tai and said that the series doubled down on the aspects that the creators found to be the most appealing "Namely the idea of [Tai] as a hero and the Digimon as combatants. I understand it if isn't everyone's cup of tea".


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Although the producer's ambition was to bring the franchise back "for a new generation of children"; Toei Animation declared that the series "struggled to acquire new audiences of children" in May 2021. The official reason given was the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Digimon Adventure (2020 TV series)

text: Six episodes can be seen in the TV Rankings of Japanese Animation: Episode 6 "The Targeted Kingdom", on July 12, 2020 (for 2.9% rating), episode 11 "The Wolf Standing Atop the Desert", on August 16, 2020 (for 2.3% rating), episode 40 "Strike! The Killer Shot", on March 21, 2021 (for 2.6% rating), episode 58 "Hikari New Life", on July 25, 2021 (for 1.9% rating), episode 59 "Bolt, HerakleKabuterimon", on August 1, 2021 (for 2.3% rating), and episode 60 "Vikemon Ventures the Glaciers", on August 8, 2021 (for 1.5% rating). Due to the spread of COVID-19, from April 26 to May 31, 2020, it was "Kitarō" (2018) that was temporarily rerun in the slot of "Digimon", the repeats of the first episodes of "Adventure:" and its pilot aired from June 7, 2020, with unranked ratings.


title: Kobold

text: A kobold (occasionally cobold) is a mythical sprite. Having spread into Europe with various spellings including "goblin" and "hobgoblin", and later taking root and stemming from Germanic mythology, the concept survived into modern times in German folklore.


title: Kobold

text: Although usually invisible, a kobold can materialize in the form of a non-human animal, a fire, a human, and a candle. The most common depictions of kobolds show them as humanlike figures the size of small children. Kobolds who live in human homes wear the clothing of peasants; those who live in mines are hunched and ugly and some can materialise into a brick; kobolds who live on ships smoke pipes and wear sailor clothing.


title: Kobold

text: Legends tell of three major types of kobolds. Most commonly, the creatures are household spirits of ambivalent nature; while they sometimes perform domestic chores, they play malicious tricks if insulted or neglected. Famous kobolds of this type include King Goldemar, Heinzelmann, and Hödekin. In some regions, kobolds are known by local names, such as the Galgenmännlein of southern Germany and the "Heinzelmännchen" of Cologne. Another type of kobold haunts underground places, such as mines. A third kind of kobold, the "Klabautermann", lives aboard ships and helps sailors.


title: Kobold

text: Kobold beliefs are evidence of the survival of pagan customs after the Roman Catholicization of Germany, or merely that the legends of them have lived on as stories. Belief in kobolds dates to at least the 13th century, when German peasants carved kobold effigies for their homes. Such pagan practices may have derived from beliefs in the mischievous "kobalos" (pl. "kobaloi") (Ancient Greek: Κόβαλος, plural: Κόβαλοι) of ancient Greece which was a sprite, a mischievous creature fond of tricking and frightening mortals, even robbing Heracles/Hercules. Greek myths depict the "kobaloi" as impudent, thieving, droll, idle, mischievous, gnome-dwarfs, and as funny, little tricksy elves of a phallic nature. Depictions of "kobaloi" are common in ancient Greek art. Other similar sprites include the household "lares" and "penates" of ancient Rome, or native German beliefs in a similar room spirit called "kofewalt" (whose name is a possible rootword of the modern "kobold" or a German dialectal variant). Kobold beliefs mirror legends of similar creatures in other regions of Europe, and scholars have argued that the names of creatures such as goblins and "kabouters" derive from the same roots as "kobold". This may indicate a common origin for these creatures, or it may represent cultural borrowings and influences of European peoples upon one another. Similarly, subterranean kobolds may share their origins with creatures such as gnomes and dwarves and the aquatic Klabautermann with similar water spirits.


title: Kobold

text: The name of the element cobalt comes from the creature's name, because medieval miners blamed the sprite for the poisonous and troublesome nature of the typical arsenical ores of this metal (cobaltite and smaltite) which polluted other mined elements.


title: Kobold

text: The kobold's origins are obscure. Sources equate the domestic kobold with creatures such as the English boggart, hobgoblin and pixy, the Scottish brownie, and the Scandinavian nisse or tomte; while they align the subterranean variety with the Norse dwarf and the Cornish knocker. Irish historian Thomas Keightley argued that the German kobold and the Scandinavian nis predate the Irish fairy and the Scottish brownie and influenced the beliefs in those entities, but American folklorist Richard Mercer Dorson discounted this argument as reflecting Keightley's bias toward Gotho-Germanic ideas over Celtic ones.


title: Kobold

text: Kobold beliefs represent the survival of pagan customs into the Roman Catholic and modern eras and offer hints of how pagan Europeans worshipped in the privacy of their homes. Religion historian Otto Schrader has suggested that kobold beliefs derive from the pagan tradition of worshipping household deities thought to reside in the hearth fire. Alternatively, Nancy Arrowsmith and George Moorse have said that the earliest kobolds were thought to be tree spirits. According to 13th-century German poet Conrad of Würzburg, medieval Germans carved kobolds from boxwood and wax and put them "up in the room for fun". Mandrake root was another material used. People believed that the wild kobold remained in the material used to carve the figure. These kobold effigies were high and had colourful clothing and large mouths. One example, known as the "monoloke", was made from white wax and wore a blue shirt and black velvet vest. The 17th century expression "to laugh like a kobold" may refer to these dolls with their mouths wide open, and it may mean "to laugh loud and heartily". These kobold effigies were stored in glass and wooden containers. German mythologist Jacob Grimm has traced the custom to Roman times and has argued that religious authorities tolerated it even after the Germans had been Christianised.


title: Kobold

text: Several competing etymologies for "kobold" have been suggested. In 1908, Otto Schrader traced the word to "kuba-walda", meaning "the one who rules the house". According to this theory, the root of the word is "chubisi", the Old High German word for house, building, or hut, and the word akin to the root of the English 'cove'. The suffix "-old" means "to rule". Classicist Ken Dowden has identified the "kofewalt", a spirit with powers over a single room, as the antecedent to the term "kobold" and to the creature itself. He has drawn parallels between the kobold and the Roman "lares" and "penates" and the Anglo-Saxon "cofgodas", "room-gods". Linguist Paul Wexler has proposed yet another etymology, tracing "kobold" to the roots "koben" ("pigsty") and "hold" ("stall spirit").


title: Kobold

text: Grimm has provided one of the earlier and more commonly accepted etymologies for "kobold", tracing the word's origin through the Latin "cobalus" to the Greek "koba'los", meaning "rogue". The change to the word-final "-olt" is a feature of the German language used for monsters and supernatural beings. Variants of "kobold" appear as early as the 13th century. The words "goblin" and "gobelin", rendered in Medieval Latin as "gobelinus", may in fact derive from the word "kobold" or from "kofewalt". Related terms occur in Dutch, such as "kabout", "kabot", and "kaboutermanneken". Citing this evidence, British antiquarian Charles Hardwick has argued that the house kobold and similar creatures, such as the Scottish bogie, French goblin, and English Puck, all descend from the Greek "kobaloi", creatures "whose sole delite consists in perplexing the human race, and evoking those harmless terrors that constantly hover round the minds of the timid." In keeping with Grimm's definition, the "kobaloi" were spirits invoked by rogues. Similarly, British writer Archibald Maclaren has suggested that kobold beliefs descend from the ancient Roman custom of worshipping "lares", household gods, and "penates", gods of the house and its supplies.


title: Kobold

text: Another class of kobold lives in underground places. Folklorists have proposed that the mine kobold derives from the beliefs of the ancient Germanic people. Scottish historical novelist Walter Scott has suggested that the Proto-Norse based the kobolds on the short-statured Finns, Lapps, and Latvians who fled their invasions and sought shelter in northern European caves and mountains. There they put their skills at smithing to work and, in the beliefs of the proto-Norse, came to be seen as supernatural beings. These beliefs spread, becoming the kobold, the Germanic gnome, the French goblin and the Scottish bogle. In contrast, Humorists William Edmonstoune Aytoun and Theodore Martin (writing as "Bon Gaultier") have proposed that the Norse themselves were the models for the mine kobold and similar creatures, such as dwarfs, goblins, and trolls; Norse miners and smiths "were small in their physical proportions, and usually had their stithies near the mouths of the mines among the hills." This gave rise to myths about small, subterranean creatures, and the stories spread across Europe "as extensively as the military migrations from the same places did".


title: Kobold

text: German writer Heinrich Smidt believed that the sea kobolds, or "Klabautermann", entered German folklore via German sailors who had learned about them in England. However, historians David Kirby and Merja-Liisa Hinkkanen dispute this, claiming no evidence of such a belief in Britain. An alternate view connects the Klabautermann myths with the story of Saint Phocas of Sinope. As that story spread from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. Scholar Reinhard Buss instead sees the Klabautermann as an amalgamation of early and pre-Christian beliefs mixed with new creatures.


title: Kobold

text: Kobolds are spirits and, as such, part of a spiritual realm. However, as with other European spirits, they often dwell among the living. Although "kobold" is the general term, tales often give names to individuals and classes of kobolds. The name Chim is particularly common, and other names found in stories include Chimmeken, King Goldemar, Heinzchen, Heinze, Himschen, Heinzelmann, Hödekin, Kurd Chimgen, Walther, and Wolterken. Local names for kobolds include Allerünken, Alraune, Galgenmännlein (in southern Germany), Glucksmännchen, Heinzelmännchen (in Cologne), Hütchen, and Oaraunle. The Heinzelmännchen are a class of kobolds from Cologne, and the Klabautermann is a kobold from the beliefs of fishermen and sailors of the Baltic Sea. Many of these names are modifications of common German given names, such as Heinrich (abbreviated to Heinze), Joachim, and Walther.


title: Kobold

text: Kobolds may manifest as non-human animals, fire, humans, and objects. Fiery kobolds are also called "drakes", "draches", or "puks". A tale from the Altmark, recorded by Anglo-Saxon scholar Benjamin Thorpe in 1852, describes the kobold as "a fiery stripe with a broad head, which he usually shakes from one side to the other..." A legend from the same period taken from Pechüle, near Luckenwald, says that the kobold flies through the air as a blue stripe and carries grain. "If a knife or a fire-steel be cast at him, he will burst, and must let fall what which he is carrying." Some legends say the fiery kobold enters and exits a house through the chimney. Legends dating to 1852 from western Uckermark ascribe both human and fiery features to the kobold; he wears a red jacket and cap and moves about the air as a fiery stripe. Such fire associations, along with the name "drake", may point to a connection between kobold and dragon myths.


title: Kobold

text: Kobolds who live in human homes are generally depicted as humanlike, dressed as peasants, and standing about as tall as a four-year-old child. A legend recorded by folklorist Joseph Snowe from a place called Alte Burg in 1839 tells of a creature "in the shape of a short, thick-set being, neither boy nor man, but akin to the condition of both, garbed in a party-coloured loose surcoat, and wearing a high-crowned hat with a broad brim on his diminutive head." The kobold Hödekin (also known as Hüdekin and Hütchen) of Hildesheim wore a little hat down over his face ("Hödekin" means "little hat"). Another type of kobold known as the Hütchen is said to be tall, with red hair and beard, and clad in red or green clothing and a red hat and may even be blind. Yet other tales describe kobolds appearing as herdsmen looking for work and little, wrinkled old men in pointed hoods. Some kobolds resemble small children. According to dramatist and novelist X. B. Saintine, kobolds are the spirits of dead children and often appear with a knife that represents the means by which they were put to death. Heinzelmann, a kobold from the folklore of Hudermühlen Castle in the region of Lüneburg, appeared as a beautiful boy with blond, curly hair to his shoulders and dressed in a red silk coat. His voice was "soft and tender like that of a boy or maiden."


title: Kobold

text: Legends variously describe mine kobolds as 0.6 metre-tall (2-ft) old men dressed like miners to short, bent creatures with "ugly" features, including, in some tales, black skin. In 1820, Spiritualist Emma Hardinge Britten recorded a description of mine kobolds from a Madame Kalodzy, who stayed with peasants named Dorothea and Michael Engelbrecht:


title: Kobold

text:
We were about to sit down to tea when Mdlle. Gronin called our attention to the steady light, round, and about the size of a cheese plate, which appeared suddenly on the wall of the little garden directly opposite the door of the hut in which we sat.

Before any of us could rise to examine it, four more lights appeared almost simultaneously, about the same shape, and varying only in size. Surrounding each one was the dim outline of a small human figure, black and grotesque, more like a little image carved out of black shining wood, than anything else I can liken them to. Dorothea kissed her hands to these dreadful little shapes, and Michael bowed with great reverence. As for me and my companions, we were so awe-struck yet amused at these comical shapes, that we could not move or speak until they themselves seemed to flit about in a sort of wavering dance, and then vanish, one by one.


title: Kobold

text: The same informant claimed to later have seen the kobolds first-hand. She described them as "diminutive black dwarfs about two or three feet in height, and at that part which in the human being is occupied by the heart, they carry the round luminous circle first described, an appearance which is much more frequently seen than the little black men themselves." The Heinzelmännchen of Cologne resemble short, naked men, and the Klabautermann, a kobold from the beliefs of fishermen and sailors of the Baltic Sea, typically appears as a small, pipe-smoking humanlike figure wearing a yellow nightcap-style sailor's hat and a red or grey jacket.


title: Kobold

text: Other kobolds appear as non-human animals. Folklorist D. L. Ashliman has reported kobolds appearing as wet cats and hens, and Arrowsmith and Moorse mention kobolds in the shape of bats, cats, roosters, snakes, and worms. Thorpe has recorded that the people of Altmark believed that kobolds appeared as black cats while walking the earth. The kobold Heinzelmann could appear as a black marten and a large snake.


title: Kobold

text: Most often, kobolds remain completely invisible. Although King Goldemar (or Goldmar), a famous kobold from Castle Hardenstein, had hands "thin like those of a frog, cold and soft to the feel", he never showed himself. The master of Hundermühlen Castle, where Heinzelmann lived, convinced the kobold to let him touch him one night. The kobold's fingers were childlike, and his face was like a skull, without body heat. One legend tells of a female servant taking a fancy to her house's kobold and asking to see him. The kobold refuses, claiming that to look upon him would be terrifying. Undeterred, the maid insists, and the kobold tells her to meet him later—and to bring along a pail of cold water. The kobold waits for the maid, nude and with a butcher knife in his back. The maid faints at the sight, and the kobold wakes her with the cold water. In one variant, the maid sees a dead baby floating in a cask full of blood; years before, the woman had born a bastard child, killed it, and hidden it in such a cask. Legends tell of those who try to trick a kobold into showing itself being punished for the misdeed. For example, Heinzelmann tricked a nobleman into thinking that the kobold was hiding in a jug. When the nobleman covered the jug's mouth to trap the creature, the kobold chided him:


title: Kobold

text: If I had not heard long ago from other people that you were a fool, I might now have known it of myself, since you thought I was sitting in an empty jug, and went to cover it up with your hand, as if you had me caught. I don't think you worth the trouble, or I would have given you, long since, such a lesson, that you should remember me long enough. But before long you will get a slight ducking.


title: Kobold

text: When a man threw ashes and tares about to try to see King Goldemar's footprints, the kobold cut him to pieces, put him on a spit, roasted him, boiled his legs and head, and ate him. The Heinzelmänchen of Cologne marched from the city and sailed away when a tailor's wife strewed peas on the stairs to trip them so she could see them. In 1850, Keightley noted that the Heinzelmänchen "[had] totally disappeared, as has been everywhere the case, owing to the curiosity of people, which has at all times been the destruction of so much of what was beautiful in the world."


title: Kobold

text: Domestic kobolds are linked to a specific household. Some legends claim that every house has a resident kobold, regardless of its owners' desires or needs. The means by which a kobold enters a new home vary from tale to tale. One tradition claims that the kobold enters the household by announcing itself at night by strewing wood chips about the house and putting dirt or cow manure in the milk cans. If the master of the house leaves the wood chips and drinks the soiled milk, the kobold takes up residence. The kobold Heinzelmann of Hundermühlen Castle arrived in 1584 and announced himself by knocking and making other sounds. Should someone take pity on a kobold in the form of a cold, wet creature and take it inside to warm it, the spirit takes up residence there. A tradition from Perleberg in northern Germany says that a homeowner must follow specific instructions to lure a kobold to their house. They must go on St John's Day between noon and one o'clock, into the forest. When they find an anthill with a bird on it, they must say a certain phrase, which causes the bird to transform into a small human. The figure then leaps into a bag carried by the homeowner, and they can then transfer the kobold to their home. Even if servants come and go, the kobold stays.


title: Kobold

text: House kobolds usually live in the hearth area of a house, although some tales place them in less frequented parts of the home, in the woodhouse, in barns and stables, or in the beer cellar of an inn. At night, such kobolds do chores that the human occupants neglected to finish before bedtime: They chase away pests, clean the stables, feed and groom the cattle and horses, scrub the dishes and pots, and sweep the kitchen. Other kobolds help tradespeople and shopkeepers. A Cologne legend recorded by Keightley claims that bakers in the city in the early 19th century never needed hired help because, each night, the kobolds known as Heinzelmänchen made as much bread as a baker could need. Similarly, biersal, kobolds who live in breweries and the beer cellars of inns or pubs, bring beer into the house, clean the tables, and wash the bottles, glasses and casks. One such legend, first appearing late in the 19th century, concerns a house spirit named Hödfellow that resided at the Fremlin's Brewery in Maidstone, Kent, England who was wont to either assist the company's workers or hinder their efforts depending on whether he was being paid his share of the beer. This association between kobolds and work gave rise to a saying current in 19th-century Germany that a woman who worked quickly "had the kobold".


title: Kobold

text: A kobold can bring wealth to his household in the form of grain and gold. A legend from Saterland and East Friesland, recorded by Thorpe in 1852, tells of a kobold called the Alrûn. Despite standing only about a foot tall, the creature could carry a load of rye in his mouth for the people with whom he lived and did so daily as long as he received a meal of biscuits and milk. The saying "to have an Alrûn in one's pocket" means "to have luck at play". However, kobold gifts may be stolen from the neighbours; accordingly, some legends say that gifts from a kobold are demonic or evil. Nevertheless, peasants often welcome this trickery and feed their kobold in the hopes that it continue bringing its gifts. A family coming into unexplained wealth was often attributed to a new kobold moving into the house.


title: Kobold

text: Kobolds bring good luck and help their hosts as long as the hosts take care of them. The kobold Heinzelmann found things that had been lost. He had a rhyme he liked to sing: "If thou here wilt let me stay, / Good luck shalt thou have alway; / But if hence thou wilt me chase, / Luck will ne'er come near the place." Three famous kobolds, King Goldemar, Heinzelmann, and Hödekin, all gave warnings about danger to the owners of the home in which they lived. Heinzelmann once warned a colonel to be careful on his daily hunt. The man ignored the advice, only to have his gun backfire and shoot off his thumb. Heinzelman appeared to him and said, "See, now, you have got what I warned you of! If you had refrained from shooting this time, this mischance would not have befallen you." The kobold Hödekin, who lived with the bishop of Hildesheim in the 12th century, once warned the bishop of a murder. When the bishop acted on the information, he was able to take over the murderer's lands and add them to his bishopric.


title: Kobold

text: In return, the family must leave a portion of their supper (or beer, for the "biersal" - see Hödfellow) to the spirit and must treat the kobold with respect, never mocking or laughing at the creature. A kobold expects to be fed in the same place at the same time each day, or in the case of the Hütchen, once a week and on holidays. One tradition says that their favourite food is grits or water-gruel. Tales tell of kobolds with their own rooms; the kobold Heinzelmann had his own chamber at the castle, complete with furnishings. and King Goldemar was said to sleep in the same bed with Neveling von Hardenberg. He demanded a place at the table and a stall for his horses. Keightley relates that maids who leave the employ of a certain household must warn their successor to treat the house kobold well.


title: Kobold

text: Legends tell of slighted kobolds becoming quite malevolent and vengeful, afflicting errant hosts with supernatural diseases, disfigurements, and injuries. Their pranks range from beating the servants to murdering those who insult them. One holyman visited the home of Heinzelmann and refused to accept the kobold's protests that he was a Christian. Heinzelmann threatened him, and the nobleman fled. Another nobleman refused to drink to the kobold's honour, which prompted Heinzelmann to drag the man to the ground and choke him near to death. When a kitchen servant got dirt on the kobold Hödekin and sprayed him with water each time he appeared, Hödekin asked that the boy be punished, but the steward dismissed the behaviour as a childish prank. Hodeken waited for the servant to go to sleep and then strangled him, tore him limb from limb, and threw him in a pot over the fire. The head cook rebuked the kobold for the murder, so Hodeken squeezed toad blood onto the meat being prepared for the bishop. The cook chastised the spirit for this behaviour, so Hodeken threw him over the drawbridge into the moat. According to Lüthi, these abilities reflect the fear of the people who believe in them. Thomas Keightley has attributed the feats of kobolds to "ventriloquism and the contrivances of servants and others."


title: Kobold

text: Archibald Maclaren has attributed kobold behaviour to the virtue of the homeowners; a virtuous house has a productive and helpful kobold; a vice-filled one has a malicious and mischievous pest. If the hosts give up those things to which the kobold objects, the spirit ceases its annoying behaviour. Heinzelmann punished vices; for example, when the secretary of Hudenmühlen was sleeping with the chamber maid, the kobold interrupted a sexual encounter and hit the secretary with a broom handle. King Goldemar revealed the secret transgressions of clergymen, much to their chagrin. Joseph Snowe has related the tale of a kobold at Alte Burg: When two students slept in the mill in which the creature lived, one of them ate the offering of food the miller had left the kobold. The student who had left the meal alone felt the kobold's touch as "gentle and soothing", but the one who had eaten its food felt that "the fingers of the hand were pointed with poisoned arrowheads, or fanged with fire." Even friendly kobolds are rarely completely good, and house kobolds may do mischief for no particular reason. They hide things, push people over when they bend to pick something up, and make noise at night to keep people awake. The kobold Hödekin of Hildesheim roamed the walls of the castle at night, forcing the watch to be constantly vigilant. A kobold in a fishermen's house in Köpenick on the Wendish Spree reportedly moved sleeping fishermen so that their heads and toes lined up. King Goldemar enjoyed strumming the harp and playing dice. One of Heinzelmann's pranks was to pinch drunken men to make them start fights with their companions. Heinzelmann liked his lord's two daughters and scared away their suitors so that the women never married.


title: Kobold

text: Folktales tell of people trying to rid themselves of mischievous kobolds. In one tale, a man with a kobold-haunted barn puts all the straw onto a cart, burns the barn down, and sets off to start anew. As he rides away, he looks back and sees the kobold sitting behind him. "It was high time that we got out!" it says. A similar tale from Köpenick tells of a man trying to move out of a kobold-infested house. He sees the kobold preparing to move too and realises that he cannot rid himself of the creature. The lord of the Hundermühlen Castle disliked Heinzelmann and tried to escape him by taking up residence with his family and retinue elsewhere. Nevertheless, the invisible kobold travelled along with them as a white feather, which they discovered when they stayed at an inn.


title: Kobold

text: Why do you retire from me? I can easily follow you anywhere, and be where you are. It is much better for you to return to your own estate, and not be quitting it on my account. You see well that if I wished it I could take away all you have, but I am not inclined to do so.


title: Kobold

text: Exorcism by a Christian priest works in some tales; the bishop of Hildesheim managed to exorcise Hödekin from the castle. Even this method is not fool-proof, however; when an exorcist tried to drive away Heinzelmann, the kobold tore up the priest's holy book, strewed it about the room, attacked the exorcist, and chased "him" away. Insulting a kobold may drive it away, but not without a curse; when someone tried to see his true form, Goldemar left the home and vowed that the house would now be as unlucky as it had been fortunate under his care. Actions a Hütchen considers insulting include giving him clothing, rushing him in his work, burning the house down, and leaving a wagon wheel in front of it.


title: Kobold

text: Medieval European miners believed in underground spirits. The kobold filled this role in German folklore and is similar to other creatures of the type, such as the English bluecap, Cornish knocker and the Welsh coblynau. Stories of subterranean kobolds were common in Germany by the 16th century. Superstitious miners believed the creatures to be expert miners and metalworkers who could be heard constantly drilling, hammering, and shoveling. Some stories claim that the kobolds live "in" the rock, just as human beings live in the air.


title: Kobold

text: Legends often paint underground kobolds as evil creatures. In medieval mining towns, people prayed for protection from them. They were blamed for the accidents, cave-ins, and rock slides that plagued human miners. One favoured kobold prank was to fool miners into taking worthless ore. For example, 16th-century miners sometimes encountered what looked to be rich veins of copper or silver, but which, when smelted, proved to be little more than a pollutant and could even be poisonous. These ores caused a burning sensation to those who handled them. Miners tried to appease the kobolds with offerings of gold and silver and by insisting that fellow miners treat them respectfully. Nevertheless, some stories claim that kobolds only returned such kindness with more poisonous ores. Miners called these ores "cobalt" after the creatures from whom they were thought to come. In 1735, Swedish chemist Georg Brandt isolated a substance from such ores and named it "cobalt rex". In 1780, scientists showed that this was in fact a new element, which they named "cobalt".


title: Kobold

text: Tales from other parts of Germany make mine kobolds beneficial creatures, at least if they are treated respectfully. Nineteenth-century miners in Bohemia and Hungary reported hearing knocking in the mines. They interpreted such noises as warnings from the kobolds to not go in that direction. Other miners claimed that the knocks indicated where veins of metal could be found: the more knocks, the richer the vein. In 1884, spiritualist Emma Hardinge Britten reported a story from a Madame Kalodzy, who claimed to have heard mine kobolds while visiting a peasant named Michael Engelbrecht: "On the three first days after our arrival, we only heard a few dull knocks, sounding in and about the mouth of the mine, as if produced by some vibrations or very distant blows..." Kobolds are sometimes portrayed as being indifferent to human miners, so long as they are left alone. In these depictions, they are content to simply mine ore themselves, collect it, and haul it away by windlass.


title: Kobold

text: The "Klabautermann" (also spelt "Klaboterman" and "Klabotermann") is a creature from the beliefs of fishermen and sailors of Germany's north coast, the Netherlands, and the Baltic Sea, and may represent a third type of kobold or possibly a different spirit that has merged with kobold traditions. Belief in the Klabautermann dates to at least the 1770s. According to these traditions, Klabautermanns live on ships and are generally beneficial to the crew. For example, a Klabautermann will pump water from the hold, arrange cargo, and hammer at holes until they can be repaired. The creatures are thought to be especially useful in times of danger, preventing the ship from sinking. The Klabautermann is associated with the wood of the ship on which it lives. It enters the ship via the wood used to build it, and it may appear as a ship's carpenter.


title: Kobold

text: The Klabautermann's benevolent behaviour lasts as long as the crew and captain treat the creature respectfully. A Klabautermann will not leave its ship until it is on the verge of sinking. To this end, superstitious sailors in the 19th century demanded that others pay the Klabautermann respect. Ellett has recorded one rumour that a crew even threw its captain overboard for denying the existence of the ship's Klabautermann. Heinrich Heine has reported that one captain created a place for his ship's Klabautermann in his cabin and that the captain offered the spirit the best food and drink he had to offer. Klabautermanns are easily angered. Their ire manifests in pranks such as tangling ropes and laughing at sailors who shirk their chores.


title: Kobold

text: The sight of a Klabautermann is an ill omen, and in the 19th century, it was the most feared sight among sailors. According to one tradition, they only appear to those about to die. Another story recorded by Ellett claims that the Klabautermann only shows itself if the ship is doomed to sink.


title: Kobold

text: German writers have long borrowed from German folklore and fairy lore for both poetry and prose. Narrative versions of folktales and fairy tales are common, and kobolds are the subject of several such tales. Kobolds appear in a number of other works. For example, in his Bible, Martin Luther translates the Hebrew "lilith" in Isaiah 34:14 as "kobold". In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Faust", the kobold represents the Greek element of earth:


title: Kobold

text: Similarly, a kobold is musically depicted in Edvard Grieg's lyric piece, opus 71, number 3. Likewise, kobold characters such as Pittiplatsch and Pumuckl appear in German popular culture. "Der Kobold", Op. 3, is also Opera in Three Acts with text and music by Siegfried Wagner; his third opera and it was completed in 1903.


title: Kobold

text: Kobolds also appear in many modern fantasy-themed games like "Clash of Clans", usually as a low-power or low-level enemy. They exist as a playable race in the "Dark Age of Camelot" video game. They also exist as a non-playable race in the "World of Warcraft" video game series, and also feature in tabletop games such as "". In "Dungeons & Dragons", the kobold appears as an occasionally playable race of lizard-like beings. In "Might and Magic" games (notably "Heroes VII"), they are depicted as being mouse-dwarf hybrids. The anime franchise "Record of Lodoss War" depicts kobolds as dog-like based on earlier versions of "Dungeons & Dragons", resulting in many Japanese media depictions doing the same.


title: Kobold

text: Also in the book ""[American Gods]"", by Neil Gaiman, one of the secondary character depicted, Heinzelmann, is portrayed as an ancient kobold who helps the city of Lakeside by killing one teenager once a year.


title: Milo Manheim

text: Milo Manheim (born March 6, 2001) is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as Zed in the 2018 Disney Channel Original Movie "Zombies", and its sequels "Zombies 2" (2020) and "Zombies 3" (2022). In 2018, he finished in second place on season 27 of "Dancing with the Stars".


title: Milo Manheim

text: Manheim was born and raised in Venice, Los Angeles, in California. He is the son of actress Camryn Manheim and former model Jeffrey Brezovar. He is Jewish and had his bar mitzvah ceremony, exploring the topic of "Activism at Any Age," with the Sholem Community, a secular Jewish Sunday school in Los Angeles, California. Manheim plays guitar, drums, piano, and ukulele, as well as various wind instruments.


title: Milo Manheim

text: Manheim's acting career began at the age of six, in a local after-school program in Culver City. Since 2008, he starred in 20 different musicals with Liza Monjauze Productions. In 2009, he appeared in a three-line guest appearance on the CBS television series "Ghost Whisperer" alongside his mother. In 2017, he won "Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role" at the 2017 New York Musical Theatre Festival for his role in the musical "Generation Me".


title: Milo Manheim

text: Manheim followed this up by being cast in a lead role in the Disney Channel television movie "Zombies", which premiered on February 16, 2018. Manheim reprised his role as Zed in the sequel films, "Zombies 2", which premiered on February 14, 2020, and "Zombies 3" which was released on Disney+ on July 15, 2022.


title: Milo Manheim

text: On September 11, 2018, Manheim was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on season 27 of "Dancing with the Stars". He was paired with professional dancer Witney Carson. On November 19, 2018, Manheim and Carson finished the competition in second place, losing to radio personality Bobby Bones.


title: Milo Manheim

text: In August 2022, Manheim was cast in a lead role, opposite Peyton List, in an upcoming Paramount+ series with the working title "School Spirits".


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen seasons on Spike TV. The show features professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as they train and compete against each other for a prized six-figure contract with the UFC. The series debuted on January 17, 2005, with its first episode, "The Quest Begins". To date, there have been thirty seasons of the show, two per calendar year. Each season features either one or two weight classes in the tournament.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The historic Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar fight in the first season drew millions of viewers to the show and launched the sport into the mainstream. Because of this success, "The Ultimate Fighter" was regarded as instrumental to the survival and expansion of the UFC and mixed martial arts into the mainstream. Many current and past UFC fighters are alumni of the show, with some competitors going on to become coaches in future seasons. The show has undergone multiple format changes since its inception, including the introduction of the wildcard bout. Many winners have gone on to compete for UFC championships with some becoming UFC champions.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: "The Ultimate Fighter" was originally an experimental series financed by the former owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III. The series was aired on Spike TV as a last resort measure to gain mainstream exposure for mixed martial arts (MMA).


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: During the early days of Spike TV, the channel wanted sports programming, but had no budget for sports licensing fees. Spike TV founder Albie Hecht began a search to find programming with broad appeal that the network could afford. In the end, Spike narrowed its choices down to the UFC and K-1. Hecht flew to Japan to meet with the head of K-1, but the meeting did not go well. Weeks later, Hecht met with Lorenzo Fertitta in Las Vegas. Hecht was impressed by the UFC's celebrity following, its plan to acquire and consolidate smaller promotions into the UFC, and with Dana White's ability to be a "Vince McMahon"-like personality.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: Hecht saw K-1 as a safer bet, given it had more international notoriety. He was also not a fan of the grappling aspects of MMA, but the UFC rebuffed his suggestion to change the rules of the sport to accommodate striking. Hecht credits Kevin Kay and his editorial collaboration with the UFC for highlighting the show's story lines, which he believes helped drive its ratings success.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: Airing after World Wrestling Entertainment's flagship show "WWE Raw", "The Ultimate Fighter's" debut episode was able to garner a 57% retention rate in viewers from "Raw", which was double the usual rate for Spike TV. It is believed by some that WWE's Vince McMahon had to approve "The Ultimate Fighter" following "Raw", but this is incorrect. According to Hecht, McMahon did not have the final say, but given his stature and "Raw's"' importance to Spike TV at the time, the network wanted McMahon to "be on board" with the program lineup. At the time, Hecht believes the WWE did not see the UFC as a challenge.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The live finale for the first season saw the historic bout of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar. Now widely regarded as the most influential fight in MMA history, the bout took place in what was the first ever MMA event on live and free television. The bout ended in a unanimous decision victory for Griffin and led to the show's renewal on Spike TV. Regarding the success of the show, UFC president Dana White said, "It's amazing to think... how close we came to not being here today. If it weren't for what these guys did, I don't know if there would even be a UFC. I'll never forget these guys. Ever."


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The renewal of the show saw UFC produce two more series, before subsequent renewals. In order to garner more attention for the sport, "The Ultimate Fighter" utilizes gimmicks: one notable example, in the ninth season, employed a country vs. country theme, with the United States competing against the United Kingdom. These gimmicks enabled the UFC to appeal to fans that had been recently introduced to the sport during UFCs penetration into the European market. "The Ultimate Fighter" also drew record viewing figures for Spike TV when YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice participated in the tenth season. Slice's fight against veteran Roy Nelson attracted viewers to the sport, drawing an audience of 6.1 million, making it one of the most viewed MMA fights in history.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: As part of a new broadcasting relationship between the UFC and Fox Sports, "The Ultimate Fighter" moved to FX beginning in season 15. Season 14 was the final season of the series to air on Spike, who considered the relationship to be "incredibly beneficial in building both our brands.” In September 2013, the series moved to Fox's new mainstream sports network Fox Sports 1.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: Because of the need to keep the fight results secret until the airing of the episode, each fight on "The Ultimate Fighter" is officially an "exhibition", and as such does not count towards the fighters overall record.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: For the first four seasons, prospective UFC fighters from two different weight classes were selected to compete. The fighters are divided into two teams, irrespective of weight class, with each team coached by a current UFC headliner. The teams then compete (in a manner which varies by season), with the loser being eliminated from the competition. Often, incentives are provided for the team of a winning fighter. This can include the right for their team to select the next matchup, in order to pick off fighters from the opposing team by selecting favourable matchups.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: At the end of a season, the two remaining fighters of each weight class are placed in a single-elimination fight at "Ultimate Fighter Finales", such as "The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale" where the title of Ultimate Fighter is awarded to the winner. Seasons five to seven and ten to twelve have featured fighters from just one weight class each, with the other seasons focusing on two weight classes.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The show features the daily preparations each fighter makes to train for competition at the UFC training center, and the interactions they have with each other living under the same roof. Day-to-day events on the show are overseen by UFC president Dana White.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: With the exception of the season finales, fights on "The Ultimate Fighter" are sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission as exhibition matches and do not count for or against a fighter's professional record. This is done to keep the results from going public before the air date. However, going into the semi-final stage of each series, fights are scheduled for the full professional three rounds, as opposed to two rounds (with the possibility of a sudden victory round) for all stages prior. Though officially exhibition fights, the UFC chooses to record the results of semi-final matchups. For example, the seventh season winner Amir Sadollah has one more win on his UFC record than on his official record due to his victory in his season's semi-final round.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The first six seasons featured sixteen fighters, in either one or two weight categories. The first two seasons, however, were very different from each following season. The original format for "The Ultimate Fighter" saw each team compete in challenges, such as hoisting their respective coach up on their shoulders and sprinting down a beach, or a team tug-of-war. These challenges resulted in eliminations of fighters who hadn't fought, until late in the season when the challenge incentive was to select the next fight where fighters would be eliminated, having lost the fight. In the first two seasons, fighters would also leave the house for good upon losing and this often resulted in odd numbers for teams, which forced the moving of fighters to opposing teams.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: Beginning in season four, fighters were no longer removed from the house after losing their fights and did not switch teams except in extraordinary cases, such as being kicked off a team by the head coach. In the seventh season, instead of the usual sixteen fighters, thirty-two fighters participated. This new rule introduced a preliminary fight, in order to get into the house, which gave the coaches an early evaluation.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The final change to date was the introduction of the "wild card" for seasons 11-13. In seasons 11 & 12, 28 fighters competed in the preliminary round, with the winning fourteen entering the house. A "wild card" bout would take place at the end of the "round-of-fourteen" featuring two of the losing fighters. The winner of the wild card bout would then be included in the quarterfinal round of eight fighters. This format proved highly successful for middleweight fighter Kris McCray, who took part in season 11's wild card bout. Having lost his opening match in the house, he won the wild card bout to reach the quarter finals and went on to win his next two bouts, reaching the tournament final. The wild card bout was instituted one last time in season 13, which only featured 14 fighters in the house & no preliminary fights.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: The winners of the first three seasons of "The Ultimate Fighter" competition, and certain runners-up depending on their performance in their competition finals, receive the touted "six-figure" contract to fight in the UFC. These contracts are specifically three-year contracts with a guaranteed first year. Each year consists of three fights, the first year's purse per fight consists of $12,000 guaranteed with a $12,000 win bonus (a maximum of $24,000 per fight). The second year's purse per fight is $16,000 with a $16,000 win bonus (a maximum of $32,000 per fight) and the third year's purse per fight is at $22,000 with a $22,000 win bonus (a maximum of $44,000 per fight).


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: A TUF winner who goes 9–0 can earn $300,000 total on the contract, but only $150,000 is guaranteed for all three years if nine fights are fought. Some TUF competitors who did not win the series were also offered UFC contracts, although not on as attractive terms.


title: The Ultimate Fighter

text: With the exception of seasons 2, 4, 11, 13, 15, 16, 22 and season 1 of TUF: Brazil the coaches fought each other after the conclusion of the show. Season 2 featured Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes, who were in different weight categories, eliminating the possibility for a post-season fight. Season 4 saw multiple guest coaches take the lead, differing from other seasons with two clearly designated coaches. Season 22 did not feature a fight between coaches Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber since McGregor was the UFC Interim Featherweight Champion and had an automatic title unification with Featherweight Champion José Aldo next. As such, these seasons did not feature their respective coaches in competition. Season 11 coaches Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell's fight was cancelled due to Ortiz's need for neck fusion surgery. Season 13 saw the fight between Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos cancelled after Lesnar was diagnosed with his second bout of diverticulitis. 2012 saw the cancellation of a bout between season 15 coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, due to a torn ACL for Cruz. In addition, the expected fight between the TUF: Brazil coaches Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva did not occur after Belfort sustained a broken hand while preparing for the fight. Season 16 was supposed to feature a fight between coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, though this was also cancelled after Carwin suffered a knee injury.