title: MasterChef Junior

text: On March 5, 2014, "MasterChef Junior" was renewed for a third season before production on season two began. The second season premiered on November 4, 2014. The third season premiered on January 6, 2015. The fourth season premiered on November 6, 2015. The fifth season premiered on February 9, 2017. The sixth season premiered on March 2, 2018. On February 13, 2019, it was announced that the seventh season would premiere with a two-episode special on March 12, 2019, with the judges being Gordon Ramsay, Christina Tosi, and Aarón Sánchez.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: In July 2019, it was announced that the show would be returning for an eighth season, with Ramsay and Sánchez as returning judges, along with new judge Daphne Oz replacing Tosi. The season premiered on March 17, 2022.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: Any child between ages eight and thirteen can apply to become a contestant on the series by applying online or by going to an open casting call. The contestants are announced through a variety of methods over the years, sometimes via competitions, or sometimes the top contestants are simply announced.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: As in its parent show "MasterChef", the following challenges have all been regularly featured on the show:


title: MasterChef Junior

text: Once the competition is reduced to either the final two or three competitors, the finalists will compete against each other in a three-course cook-off. All courses of the meal are judged and an overall winner is crowned. The winner of each season wins $100,000, the "MasterChef Junior" trophy, and the title of "MasterChef Junior". Some seasons have also added other prizes.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: Like its adult counterpart, at its inception "MasterChef Junior" was judged by Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot. Bastianich did not return for the show's fourth season, being replaced by prominent pastry chef Christina Tosi. Elliot did not return for the show's fifth season, and a series of rotating guest judges served for the third judge. For the sixth season, Bastianich returned to his judging position. In the seventh season, Bastianich left again and was replaced by Aarón Sánchez, who was one of the guest judges in season 5 as well as a judge on the adult "MasterChef".


title: MasterChef Junior

text: Fox placed casting calls for participants in January 2013. Fox officially ordered the series (then under the name "Junior MasterChef") on May 10, 2013. The name was later changed to "MasterChef Junior". There were concerns that Ramsay's style of cursing at the contestants on his other competition shows (most notably "Hell's Kitchen" and the adult "MasterChef") would carry over to "MasterChef Junior". It did not. One contestant (named Gavin) said that Ramsay had only cursed twice during the production of the series and never at the contestants. In the final editing, he cursed once in front of (but not at) the contestants.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The first season premiered on September 27, 2013, with chefs Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich acting as the judges.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The winner of "MasterChef Junior" season 1 was Alexander Weiss, a thirteen-year-old from New York City.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: Semifinalist Troy Glass is now an actor, appearing on "Kids React" and other cooking shows, and making cameos on shows like "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The second season premiered on November 4, 2014, with chefs Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich again acting as the judges.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The winner of "MasterChef Junior" season 2 was Logan Guleff, an eleven-year-old from Memphis, Tennessee.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The third season premiered on January 6, 2015, with chefs Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich once again acting as the judges.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The winner of "MasterChef Junior" season 3 was Nathan Odom, a twelve-year-old from San Diego, California.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The fourth season premiered on November 6, 2015, with chefs Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Christina Tosi acting as the judges.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The winner of "MasterChef Junior" season 4 was Addison Smith, a nine-year-old from River Forest, Illinois.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The fifth season premiered on February 9, 2017, with chefs Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi acting as the judges, along with numerous guest judges including Julie Bowen and Mayim Bialik.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The winner of "MasterChef Junior" season 5 was Jasmine Stewart, an eleven-year-old from Milton, Georgia. She is the first previously eliminated contestant to win the competition.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The sixth season premiered on March 2, 2018, with returning chefs Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi acting as the judges, along with returning judge Joe Bastianich as the third judge.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The winner of "MasterChef Junior" season 6 was Beni Cwiakala, a nine-year-old from Chicago, Illinois.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The seventh season premiered on March 12, 2019, with returning chefs Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi acting as the judges, along with returning judge Aarón Sánchez as the third judge.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The winner of "MasterChef Junior" season 7 was Che Spiotta, a twelve-year-old from Boiceville, New York.


title: MasterChef Junior

text: The eighth season premiered on March 17, 2022, with Gordon Ramsay and Aarón Sánchez as returning judges, along with new judge Daphne Oz replacing Christina Tosi.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Blade Runner is an American neo-noir science fiction media franchise originating from the 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick, about the character of Rick Deckard. The book has been adapted into several media, including films, comics, a stage play, and a radio serial. The first film adaptation was "Blade Runner", directed by Ridley Scott in 1982. Although the film initially underperformed at the American box office, it became a cult classic, and has had a significant influence on science fiction. A novelization and a comic adaptation of the film were released in the same year. From 1995 to 2000, three novels serving as sequels to both "Blade Runner" and the original novel were written by K. W. Jeter, a friend of Dick's. A film sequel to "Blade Runner", "Blade Runner 2049", was released in 2017. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Blade Runner" in 2012, a short film was released, and in the lead up to the release of "Blade Runner 2049", several more short films detailing events that occurred between 2019 and 2049 were released. The influence of the franchise has helped spawn the cyberpunk genre.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: A replicant is a fictional bioengineered or biorobotic android in the "Blade Runner" franchise. Virtually identical to adult humans, replicants typically have superior strength, agility, and variable intelligence depending on the model. Because of their similarity to humans, a replicant can only be detected by means of the fictional Voight-Kampff test in which emotional responses are provoked; replicants' responses differ from humans' responses. Nexus 6 replicants also have a safety mechanism, namely a four-year lifespan, to prevent them from developing empathic cognition and therefore immunity to a Voight-Kampff machine. Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", the inspiration for "Blade Runner", used the term android (or "andy") rather than "replicant"; "Blade Runner" director Ridley Scott requested a new, separate term that did not have preconceptions from David Peoples. As Peoples was rewriting the film's screenplay he consulted his daughter, who was then involved in biochemistry and microbiology, who suggested the term "replicating", the biological process of a cell making a copy of itself. From that, either Peoples or his daughter (each would recall later it was the other) coined the term replicant, which was inserted into Hampton Fancher's screenplay.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The Voight-Kampff machine is a fictional interrogation tool, originating in the 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". The Voight-Kampff is a polygraph-like machine used by blade runners to determine whether or not an individual is a replicant. It measures bodily functions such as blush response, respiration, heart rate and eye movement in response to questions dealing with empathy. In the film two replicants take the test, Leon and Rachael, and Deckard tells Tyrell that it usually takes 20 to 30 cross-referenced questions to distinguish a replicant; in contrast with the book, where it is stated it only takes "six or seven" questions to make a determination. In "Blade Runner", it takes Deckard more than one hundred questions to determine that Rachael is a replicant.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Spinner is a nickname given for the type of flying car featured throughout the "Blade Runner" universe; they are seen in "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner 2049". The police variant of the vehicle in the original movie features a small "Spinner" logo attached to driver's door between "caution" and Japanese "警察" labels; today the model can be seen in Seattle MoPOP. Since the logo was not clearly visible on low-resolution home-video copies, it was often misspelled as "Skimmer", before high-resolution editions of the movie were released. These vehicles can drive on the ground as a normal car, take off vertically, cruise and hover. Spinners use an unspecified form of jet propulsion, similar to Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft. In "Blade Runner", they are used extensively by the LAPD to survey the general population, as well as by wealthy entrepreneurs. The Spinner was designed by Syd Mead. The Spinner has been replicated in films such as "Back to the Future Part II", "The Fifth Element" and the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Interest in adapting Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" developed shortly after its 1968 publication. Director Martin Scorsese was interested in filming the novel, but never optioned it. Producer Herb Jaffe optioned it in the early 1970s, but Dick was unimpressed with the screenplay written by Herb's son Robert: "Jaffe's screenplay was so terribly done ... Robert flew down to Santa Ana to speak with me about the project. And the first thing I said to him when he got off the plane was, 'Shall I beat you up here at the airport, or shall I beat you up back at my apartment?


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The screenplay by Hampton Fancher was optioned in 1977. Producer Michael Deeley became interested in Fancher's draft and convinced director Ridley Scott to film it. Scott had previously declined the project, but after leaving the slow production of "Dune", wanted a faster-paced project to take his mind off his older brother's death. He joined the project on February 21, 1980, and managed to push up the promised Filmways financing from US$13 million to $15 million. Fancher's script focused more on environmental issues and less on issues of humanity and religion, which are prominent in the novel and Scott wanted changes. Fancher found a cinema treatment by William S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse's novel "The Bladerunner" (1974), titled "Blade Runner (a movie)". Scott liked the name, so Deeley obtained the rights to the titles. Eventually he hired David Peoples to rewrite the script and Fancher left the job over the issue on December 21, 1980, although he later returned to contribute additional rewrites.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Having invested over $2.5 million in pre-production, as the date of commencement of principal photography neared, Filmways withdrew financial backing. In ten days Deeley had secured $21.5 million in financing through a three-way deal between The Ladd Company (through Warner Bros.), the Hong Kong-based producer Sir Run Run Shaw and Tandem Productions.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Philip K. Dick became concerned that no one had informed him about the film's production, which added to his distrust of Hollywood. After Dick criticized an early version of Hampton Fancher's script in an article written for the Los Angeles "Select TV Guide", the studio sent Dick the David Peoples rewrite. Although Dick died shortly before the film's release, he was pleased with the rewritten script and with a 20-minute special effects test reel that was screened for him when he was invited to the studio. Despite his well-known skepticism of Hollywood in principle, Dick enthused to Ridley Scott that the world created for the film looked exactly as he had imagined it. He said, "I saw a segment of Douglas Trumbull's special effects for "Blade Runner" on the KNBC-TV news. I recognized it immediately. It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly." He also approved of the film's script, saying, "After I finished reading the screenplay, I got the novel out and looked through it. The two reinforce each other, so that someone who started with the novel would enjoy the movie and someone who started with the movie would enjoy the novel." The motion picture was dedicated to Dick. Principal photography of "Blade Runner" began on March 9, 1981, and ended four months later.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In 1992, Ford revealed, ""Blade Runner" is not one of my favorite films. I tangled with Ridley." Apart from friction with the director, Ford also disliked the voiceovers: "When we started shooting it had been tacitly agreed that the version of the film that we had agreed upon was the version without voiceover narration. It was a nightmare. I thought that the film had worked without the narration. But now I was stuck re-creating that narration. And I was obliged to do the voiceovers for people that did not represent the director's interests." "I went kicking and screaming to the studio to record it." The narration monologues were written by an uncredited Roland Kibbee.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In 2006, Scott was asked "Who's the biggest pain in the arse you've ever worked with?", he replied: "It's got to be Harrison ... he'll forgive me because now I get on with him. Now he's become charming. But he knows a lot, that's the problem. When we worked together it was my first film up and I was the new kid on the block. But we made a good movie." Ford said of Scott in 2000: "I admire his work. We had a bad patch there, and I'm over it." In 2006 Ford reflected on the production of the film saying: "What I remember more than anything else when I see "Blade Runner" is not the 50 nights of shooting in the rain, but the voiceover ... I was still obliged to work for these clowns that came in writing one bad voiceover after another." Ridley Scott confirmed in the summer 2007 issue of "Total Film" that Harrison Ford contributed to the "Blade Runner" Special Edition DVD, and had already recorded his interviews. "Harrison's fully on board", said Scott.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles served as a filming location, and a Warner Bros. backlot housed the LA 2019 streets. Other locations included the Ennis-Brown House and the 2nd Street Tunnel. Test screenings resulted in several changes including adding a voice-over, a happy ending and the removal of a Holden hospital scene. The relationship between the filmmakers and the investors was difficult, which culminated in Deeley and Scott being fired but still working on the film. Crew members created T-shirts during filming saying, "Yes Guv'nor, My Ass" that mocked Scott's unfavorable comparison of U.S. and British crews; Scott responded with a T-shirt of his own, "Xenophobia Sucks" making the incident known as the T-shirt war.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In June 2009, "The New York Times" reported that Scott and his brother, director Tony Scott, were working on a series of 5–10 minute shorts, "Purefold", inspired by "Blade Runner" and aimed first at the web and then perhaps television. Due to rights problems, the series was not to be linked too closely to the characters or events of the 1982 film. On February 7, 2010, it was announced that production on "Purefold" had ceased, due to funding problems.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On March 3, 2011, it was reported that Alcon Entertainment, a production company financed by Warner Bros., was "in final discussions to secure film, television and ancillary franchise rights to produce prequels and sequels to the iconic 1982 science-fiction thriller "Blade Runner"." It was also reported that month that Christopher Nolan was desired as director.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On August 18, 2011, it was announced that Ridley Scott would direct and produce a new "Blade Runner" film, although work would not begin until at least 2013. Producer Andrew A. Kosove suggested that Harrison Ford, who had starred in the original film, was unlikely to be involved. Scott said that the film was "liable to be a sequel" but without the previous cast, and that he was close to finding a writer who "might be able to help [him] deliver". On February 6, 2012, Kosove stated: "It is absolutely, patently false that there has been any discussion about Harrison Ford being in "Blade Runner". To be clear, what we are trying to do with Ridley now is go through the painstaking process of trying to break the back of the story ... The casting of the movie could not be further from our minds at this moment." When Scott was asked about the possibility of a sequel in October 2012, he said, "It's not a rumor—it's happening. With Harrison Ford? I don't know yet. Is he too old? Well, he was a Nexus-6 so we don't know how long he can live. And that's all I'm going to say at this stage."


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Scott said in November 2014 that he would not direct the film and would instead produce; that filming would begin in late 2014 or 2015, and that Ford's character would only appear in "the third act" of the sequel. On February 26, 2015, the sequel was confirmed, with Denis Villeneuve as its director. Ford was confirmed to be returning as Deckard; so too Hampton Fancher, one of the two writers of the original film. The film was expected to enter production in mid-2016.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner", the first film in the franchise, is a 1982 neo-noir science fiction film, serving as a loose adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". The film is set in a dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, in which genetically bioengineered replicants, which are visually indistinguishable from adult humans, are manufactured by the Tyrell Corporation to work on off-world colonies. Those that escape and return to Earth are hunted down and "retired" by special police operatives known as "blade runners". The story focuses on burnt-out expert blade runner Rick Deckard, who reluctantly agrees to take on one last assignment to hunt down a group of recently escaped replicants led by Roy Batty. During his investigations, Deckard meets Rachael, an advanced experimental replicant who causes him to question his attitude towards replicants and what it means to be human. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it was released in the United States on June 25, 1982. It underperformed in North American theaters, but has since become a cult film. The year following its release, the film won the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Hailed for its production design, depicting a "retrofitted" future, it remains a leading example of neo-noir cinema. The film's soundtrack, composed by Vangelis, was critically acclaimed and nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best original score. In 1993, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". "Blade Runner" is now regarded by many critics as one of the all-time best science fiction films.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On April 16, 2015, Ryan Gosling entered negotiations for a role in a "Blade Runner" sequel. Gosling confirmed his casting in November 2015, citing the involvement of Villeneuve and Deakins as factors for his decision. On May 20, Roger Deakins was hired as director of photography. Principal photography was set to begin in July, with Warner Bros. distributing the film domestically and Sony Pictures Entertainment handling international release. An official release date of January 12, 2018, was announced on February 18, 2016. When interviewed at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, Villeneuve disclosed that the plot would include the ambiguity of whether or not Deckard is a human or a replicant. On March 31, 2016, Robin Wright entered final negotiations for a role in the film, and on April 2, Dave Bautista posted a picture of himself with an origami unicorn, hinting at a role in the film. Bautista and Wright were confirmed to be joining the cast on April 4, and a filming start date of July was established. In late April 2016, the film's release date was moved up to October 6, 2017, as well as Ana de Armas and Sylvia Hoeks being added to the cast. Carla Juri was cast in May 2016. In June, Mackenzie Davis and Barkhad Abdi were cast, with David Dastmalchian, Hiam Abbass and Lennie James joining in July. Jared Leto was added to the cast in August. In March 2017, Edward James Olmos confirmed he was in the film in a sequence playing original character Gaff. In September 2015, Warner Bros. trademarked the name "Blade Runner: Androids Dream", prompting speculation that this was the film's title; this was revealed to have been an early title of the film by in October 2017. However, after principal photography began in July 2016 and, as of September 2016, was filming in Budapest, Hungary, Warner Bros. announced the title of the film to be "Blade Runner 2049" in October 2016. Shooting ended in November 2016 in Hungary, and the film was released on October 6, 2017.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: During an interview with "Yahoo!" during a promotional tour for the 2015 film "The Martian", Ridley Scott expressed interest in making additional films. In October 2017, Villeneuve said that he expected a third film would be made if "2049" was successful. Writer of both films Hampton Fancher also revealed that he was considering reviving an old story idea involving Deckard travelling to another country, and Ford said that he would be open to returning if he liked the script. In January 2018, Scott stated that he had "another [story] ready to evolve and be developed, [that] there is certainly one to be done for sure", referring to a third "Blade Runner" film.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On August 29, 2017, Denis Villeneuve, director of "Blade Runner 2049", announced that he had organized for two filmmakers to direct several short films exploring incidents that occurred between the events of "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner 2049". These films were included as bonus features on most home video releases of "Blade Runner 2049".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On September 26, 2017, the first short film, "Blade Runner Black Out 2022", was released on Crunchyroll. It is a prequel to "2036: Nexus Dawn" and "2048: Nowhere to Run", directed by Shinichirō Watanabe and produced by CygamesPictures. The film is primarily set in 2022, following an EMP detonation that has caused a global blackout, which has had massive, destructive implications all over the world. During a preview of the film, Watanabe said that the original film was "definitely the movie that influenced me the most as an anime director". Edward James Olmos reprises his role as Gaff.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The second short film released in the lead up to "Blade Runner 2049", "2036: Nexus Dawn", is directed by Luke Scott, who had previously developed short films connecting the events of Ridley Scott films "Prometheus" and "". The film stars Jared Leto as Niander Wallace and Benedict Wong as Lawmaker, following Wallace as he presents a new Nexus-9 replicant to the lawmakers in an attempt to have a prohibition on replicants lifted.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The third and final short film, "2048: Nowhere to Run", also directed by Scott, follows Nexus-8 replicant Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista) as he protects a mother and daughter from thugs.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner: Black Lotus" is an animated series being produced for Adult Swim and Crunchyroll. It was announced on November 29, 2018, and was created in partnership with Alcon Television Group, part of Alcon Entertainment, the owners of the "Blade Runner" franchise. It has Shinichirō Watanabe as creative producer. Shinji Aramaki and Kenji Kamiyama directed the series, which has 13 episodes. It aired English dubbed on Adult Swim on its Toonami programming block and streamed by Crunchyroll. The series has been produced by Japanese animation studio Sola Digital Arts. It has premiered on November 14, 2021.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The series takes place in the year 2032 and includes "familiar" characters from the "Blade Runner" universe. The series is set ten years after the anime short "Blade Runner Black Out 2022".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In November 2021, Ridley Scott stated that a pilot for a "Blade Runner" television series and the show's bible had been written, with the project likely set to consist of 10 hour-long episodes. In February 2022, the series was officially announced to be in development, with the title of "Blade Runner 2099". Silka Luisa has signed onto the project as writer, and executive producer. Ridley Scott, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Michael Green, Ben Roberts, Cynthia Yorkin, David W. Zucker, and Clayton Krueger will serve as additional executive producers. Scott is in early negotiations to serve as director for the episodes. The project is being developed as a joint-venture production between Scott Free Productions, Amazon Studios, and Alcon Entertainment. The series is intended to be released via streaming as an Amazon Prime Video exclusive. On October 12, 2022, an apparent official approval to actually make a "Blade Runner 2099" TV series was reported.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: This table shows the characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise. A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: While not initially a success with North American audiences, the film was popular internationally and garnered a cult following. The film's dark style and futuristic designs have served as a benchmark and its influence can be seen in many subsequent science fiction films, video games, anime, and television programs. For example, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, the producers of the re-imagining of "Battlestar Galactica", have both cited "Blade Runner" as one of the major influences for the show. "Blade Runner" continues to reflect modern trends and concerns, and an increasing number consider it one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. It was voted the best science fiction film ever made in a poll of 60 eminent world scientists conducted in 2004. "Blade Runner" is also cited as an important influence to both the style and story of the "Ghost in the Shell" film series, which itself has been highly influential to the future-noir genre.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner" has been very influential to the cyberpunk movement. It also influenced the cyberpunk derivative biopunk that revolves around biotechnology and genetic engineering.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is used in university courses. In 2007 it was named the second-most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner" is one of the most musically sampled films of the 20th century. The 2009 album, "I, Human", by Singaporean band Deus Ex Machina makes numerous references to the genetic engineering and cloning themes from the film, and even features a track titled "Replicant".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner" has influenced adventure games such as the 2012 graphical text adventure "Cypher", "Rise of the Dragon", "Snatcher", the Tex Murphy series, "Beneath a Steel Sky", "", "Bubblegum Crisis" (and its original anime films), the role-playing game "Shadowrun", the first-person shooter "Perfect Dark", and the "Syndicate" series of video games. The film is also cited as a major influence on Warren Spector, designer of the computer-game "Deus Ex", which displays evidence of the film's influence in both its visual rendering and plot. The look of the film, darkness, neon lights and opacity of vision, is easier to render than complicated backdrops, making it a popular choice for game designers.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner" has also been the subject of parody, such as the comics "Blade Bummer" by "Crazy" comics, "Bad Rubber" by Steve Gallacci, and the "Red Dwarf" 2009 three-part miniseries, "".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Among the folklore that has developed around the film over the years has been the belief that the film was a curse to the companies whose logos were displayed prominently as product placements in some scenes. While they were market leaders at the time, Atari, Bell, Cuisinart and Pan Am experienced setbacks after the film's release. The Coca-Cola Company suffered losses during its failed introduction of New Coke in 1985, but soon afterwards regained its market share.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee who dazzled the world by running in the 2012 Olympics on blade-like prosthetic legs, was given the nickname "Blade Runner" by the media for "literally running on blades", leading him to later title his autobiography "Blade Runner: My Story".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The "Blade Runner" soundtrack by Vangelis is a dark melodic combination of classic composition and futuristic synthesizers which mirrors the film-noir retro-future envisioned by Ridley Scott. Vangelis, fresh from his Academy Award-winning score for "Chariots of Fire", composed and performed the music on his synthesizers. He also made use of various chimes and the vocals of collaborator Demis Roussos. Another memorable sound is the haunting tenor sax solo "Love Theme" by British saxophonist Dick Morrissey, who performed on many of Vangelis's albums. Ridley Scott also used "Memories of Green" from the Vangelis album "See You Later, "an orchestral version of which Scott would later use in his film "Someone to Watch Over Me".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Along with Vangelis' compositions and ambient textures, the film's soundscape also features a track by the Japanese ensemble Nipponia – "Ogi No Mato" or "The Folding Fan as a Target" from the Nonesuch Records release "Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music" – and a track by harpist Gail Laughton from "Harps of the Ancient Temples" on Laurel Records.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Despite being well received by fans and critically acclaimed and nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Original Score, and the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the end titles of the film, the release of the official soundtrack recording was delayed for over a decade. There are two official releases of the music from "Blade Runner". In light of the lack of a release of an album, the New American Orchestra recorded an orchestral adaptation in 1982 which bore little resemblance to the original. Some of the film tracks would, in 1989, surface on the compilation "Vangelis: Themes", but not until the 1992 release of the "Director's Cut" version would a substantial amount of the film's score see commercial release.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: These delays and poor reproductions led to the production of many bootleg recordings over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, and in 1993, Off World Music, Ltd created a bootleg CD that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis' official CD in 1994. A set with three CDs of "Blade Runner"-related Vangelis music was released in 2007. Titled "Blade Runner Trilogy", the first disc contains the same tracks as the 1994 official soundtrack release, the second features previously unreleased music from the film, and the third disc is all newly composed music from Vangelis, inspired by, and in the spirit of the film.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Jóhann Jóhannsson, who had worked with Villeneuve on "Prisoners", "Sicario", and "Arrival", was initially announced as composer for "Blade Runner 2049". However, Villeneuve and Jóhannsson decided to end the collaboration because Villeneuve felt the film "needed something different, and I needed to go back to something closer to Vangelis's soundtrack". New composers Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch joined in July 2017. In September, Jóhannsson's agent confirmed that he was no longer involved and that he was contractually forbidden from commenting on the situation.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: According to Epic Records, Zimmer and Wallfisch sought to continue the legacy of the original "Blade Runner" score by incorporating the Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer. Zimmer has said of the soundtrack: "First of all, I realized that Denis [Villeneuve] is a director who has a vision; he has a voice. Remember, I've done a lot of movies with Ridley Scott. So, it was important that this was an autonomous piece of work. Let's just be honest. Ridley is a hard act to follow—as is Vangelis. While Ben [Wallfisch] was four-years-old, I had actually experienced all of this. We watched and literally, as we stopped watching, we decided on the palette. We decided this wasn't going to be an orchestral thing. The story spoke to us."


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The "Blade Runner 2049" soundtrack was released on October 5, 2017, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music at the 71st British Academy Film Awards.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Before filming of "Blade Runner" began, "Cinefantastique" magazine commissioned Paul M. Sammon to write an article about "Blade Runner"s production. This article became the book "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Philip K. Dick refused a $400,000 offer to write a "Blade Runner" novelization, saying: "[I was] told the cheapo novelization would have to appeal to the twelve-year-old audience" and it "would have probably been disastrous to me artistically". He added, "That insistence on my part of bringing out the original novel and not doing the novelization – they were just furious. They finally recognized that there was a legitimate reason for reissuing the novel, even though it cost them money. It was a victory not just of contractual obligations but of theoretical principles." "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was eventually reprinted as a tie-in, with the film poster as a cover and the original title in parentheses below the "Blade Runner" title. Eventually, a novelization of the movie entitled "Blade Runner: A Story of the Future", written by Les Martin, was released in 1982.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In 1994, K. W. Jeter, a personal friend of Philip K. Dick, began developing a series of "Blade Runner" novels that would serve as a continuation of both the film "Blade Runner", and the novel upon which it was based, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". The first of these novels, "Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human", was published on October 1, 1995. The novel was set several months after the events of "Blade Runner", following Deckard living in an isolated shack outside of Los Angeles, with Rachael with him in a Tyrell transport container, intended to slow down the replicant aging process. Deckard is called in by the human template of Rachael, Sarah Tyrell, to hunt down a missing replicant in exchange for technology allowing Rachael to live. Meanwhile, Roy Batty, the human template for the replicant of the same name, hires Dave Holden, a blade runner previously attacked by Leon, to help him hunt down the man that he believes to be the sixth replicant – Deckard.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In 1996, K. W. Jeter published science fiction novel "Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night", the sequel to "Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human". The novel follows Rick Deckard, now living on Mars, as he is acting as a consultant to a film crew filming the story of his days as a blade runner. He finds himself drawn into a mission on behalf of the replicants he was once assigned to kill. Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding the beginnings of the Tyrell Corporation is being dragged out into the light.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner 4: Eye and Talon", also known as "Blade Runner 4: Beyond Orion", is the third novel written by K. W. Jeter that continues the storyline started in the 1982 "Blade Runner" film. The novel was published in 2000. The story takes place concurrently with the events of "Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night", following Iris, a Blade Runner who has been sent on an assignment to find Eldon Tyrell's "real owl", which appears to have special significance to the Tyrell Corporation and other organizations.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: There are three video games based on "Blade Runner": one from 1985 for Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC by CRL Group PLC based on the music by Vangelis (due to licensing issues), another action adventure PC game from 1997 by Westwood Studios, and a VR game from 2018 by Seismic Games. Both the 1997 and 2018 video games feature new characters and branching storylines based on the "Blade Runner" world. Eldon Tyrell, Gaff, Leon, Rachael, Chew, J. F. Sebastian and Howie Lee appear in the 1997 video game, their voice files are recorded by the original actors, with the exception of Gaff, who is replaced by Javier Grajeda (as Victor Gardell) and Howie Lee, who is replaced by Toru Nagai. The player assumes the role of McCoy, another replicant-hunter working at the same time as Deckard. Gaff and Dave Holden both appear in the 2018 game, voiced respectively by Kirk Thornton and Steve Prince, while Carolyn Hennesy voices Lilith Tyrell, niece of Eldon Tyrell; Lilith previously appeared in "Blade Runner" in photographic form, actress unaccredited.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The PC game and VR game feature a non-linear plot, non-player characters that each ran in their own independent AI, and an unusual pseudo-3D engine (which eschewed polygonal solids in favor of voxel elements) that did not require the use of a 3D accelerator card to play the game.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: There is also a tabletop role-playing game set between the events of the original film and the sequel Blade Runner 2049. The release came as part of a trend of increased tabletop games based on popular movies and television shows.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Archie Goodwin scripted the comic book adaptation of "Blade Runner", entitled "", published in September 1982 as the twenty-second issue of the "Marvel Comics Super Special" series of titles which, by the year 1982, only printed adaptations of films Marvel had obtained the rights to. It was later reprinted as a two-part miniseries, without the feature content contained in the special. In some printings, several pages of the comic were published out of order. Other printing set these pages in the correct order. In the UK it was reprinted as the "Blade Runner Annual" published by Grandreams. Again, the feature content of the original special was not reprinted. The trade paperback was published in black and white and contains images from the film; it is one of the rarest Marvel Comics trades ever.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The book was poorly received upon its initial release. It was ridiculed for what the critics perceived as bad writing and misquoted lines of dialogue from the film.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In 2009, BOOM! Studios published "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", a 24 issue comic book limited series and direct adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel by the same name. The series was drawn by Tony Parker, and was nominated for an Eisner Award in the category Best New Series. The characters in the adaptation were drawn in similar styles to the versions of the characters as presented in the original 1982 film.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In 2010, BOOM! Studios published "Dust to Dust", an 8-issue comic book limited series serving as a prequel to the events of both "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (1968), "Blade Runner" (1982) and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (2009). The series was written by Chris Roberson and drawn by Robert Adler, detailing the days after World War Terminus. The series was marketed with a sneak peek of an eight-page digital preview which was released on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On October 4, 2018, "The Hollywood Reporter" published an announcement about a new "Blade Runner" comic series that would be set in the film universe. The comic was co-written by Michael Green (who had worked on the second film) together with Mike Johnson, who scripted the comic. The first issue was released on July 17, 2019, with the twelfth and final issue released on November 18, 2020. The comic was collected into three volumes, with the first released on November 20, 2019, and the last on February 24, 2021.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On December 16, 2020, a sequel to "Blade Runner 2019" was released, continuing the 2019 series of comics. Titan Comics again are publishing.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On March 10, 2021, "Blade Runner Origins" was released by Titan Comics. Written by Mike Johnson, K. Perkins, and Mellow Brown, it is set ten years before "Blade Runner".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In the 2000s, Scott proposed a sequel to "Blade Runner", entitled "Metropolis". The project never came to fruition due to rights issues.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: In June 2009, "The New York Times" reported that Scott and his brother, director Tony Scott, were working on a series of 5–10 minute shorts, "Purefold", inspired by "Blade Runner" and aimed first at the web and then perhaps television. Due to rights problems, the series was not to be linked too closely to the characters or events of the 1982 film. On February 7, 2010, it was announced that production on "Purefold" had ceased, due to funding problems.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Soldier" is a 1998 American science fiction action film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and written by David Peoples (credited as David Webb Peoples). The film tells the story of a highly skilled genetically-advanced soldier defying his commanders and facing a relentless and brutal rival soldier. In the DVD commentary of "Soldier", Peoples revealed that he had written the film's script in 1982, during production of "Blade Runner". In 1998, while promoting "Soldier" (then recently released), Peoples then revealed that he had written "Soldier" as a "spin-off sidequel-spiritual successor" to "Blade Runner", seeing both films as existing in the same fictional universe. The film obliquely refers to various elements of stories written by Philip K. Dick, and film adaptations thereof. Connections to "Blade Runner" in the film are as follows:


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: The television film "Total Recall 2070" was initially planned as a spin-off of the film "Total Recall", and would eventually be transformed into a hybrid of "Total Recall" and "Blade Runner". The "Total Recall" film was also based on a Philip K. Dick story, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"; many similarities between "Total Recall 2070" and "Blade Runner" were noted, as well as apparent inspiration from Isaac Asimov's "The Caves of Steel" and the TV series "Holmes & Yoyo".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: Debates by the movie press and science fiction communities have suggested the "Blade Runner" and "Alien" films (at least those in which Ridley Scott is involved) may share a joint universe. Recent franchise installments ("Prometheus" and "") lean heavily toward the themes of artificial intelligence and humanoid robots as opposed to 'creature features'. The tone of "Alien: Covenant" in particular has been noted as having a much more "Blade Runner" than "Alien" feel to it. A joint universe has not been publicly endorsed by Ridley Scott though he has indicated future "Alien" films will lean further towards the use of A.I.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: On December 12, 2012, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the release of "Blade Runner", Joanna Cassidy, who portrayed the replicant Zhora Salome in the film, released a short film on her YouTube channel entitled "What Might Have Been: Snake Dance". Directed by Tamela D'Amico, based on an unfilmed scene from "Blade Runner" written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, with Cassidy reprising her role as Zhora, the film depicts the replicant performing the "snake dance", a dance Salome was stated to do for a living in "Blade Runner". The song "Touched a Dream" by R. Kelly plays over the course of the film. The film, set shortly before the events of the original 1982 film, originated from Cassidy's infrequent unsuccessful requests to have the "snake dance" scene mentioned in "Blade Runner" filmed for "Blade Runner: The Final Cut"; despite this, Cassidy was successful in having Zhora's death scene refilmed, as a stunt double had filmed the scene in the theatrical version of the film.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Blade Runner – The Aquarelle Edition" is a 2013 film reinterpretation of "Blade Runner" (1982). Running 35 minutes, the film follows the general storyline of the original film while taking certain liberties, with the film creator, Anders Ramsell referring to the film as a "paraphrase" of the original "Blade Runner". The animated film, developed over the course of one and a half years, consists of 12,597 handmade aquarelle paintings. Archival audio from various characters from "Blade Runner" is reused during the film. Critic Mike Krumboltz observed of the film: the "result is like a Monet painting come to dystopian life".


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Tears in the Rain" is a 2017 short film set in the fictional universe established by "Blade Runner" (1982), set before the events of the film. Written and directed by Christopher Grant Harvey on a budget of $1,500, "Tears in the Rain" follows John Kampff (Sean Cameron Michael), the future inventor of the Voight-Kampff machine, as he heads up the Tyrell Retirement Division. Following the recent rebellion of Nexus-3 replicants off-world, Kampff confronts Nexus-3 Andy Smith (Russel Savadier) a replicant janitor unaware of his true nature, as his body is about to shut down. Eleven minutes and eleven seconds in length, the film has won multiple awards.


title: Blade Runner (franchise)

text: "Slice of Life" is a short film set in the fictional universe established by "Blade Runner" (1982), set in 2019, the same year as the events of "Blade Runner". The film was developed over the course of three years, directed by Luka Hrgović and written by Anton Svetić. All special effects in "Slice of Life" are made using miniatures, back projections, matte paintings and practical effects. The film is approximately 25 minutes long. Although described as a fan movie, "Slice of Life" does not include Rick Deckard. It is simply an homage, using the same universe and telling its own original story with original characters. The film follows "low-life drug dealer who tries to turn his life around, but finds himself at the mercy of fate when he encounters a cop with an agenda of his own".


title: One Ordinary Day

text: One Ordinary Day () is a South Korean web series starring Kim Soo-hyun and Cha Seung-won. It is based on the British television series "Criminal Justice" written by Peter Moffat. It premiered on Coupang Play in South Korea on November 27, 2021. It is streaming exclusively through Viu outside South Korea.


title: One Ordinary Day

text: On an ordinary day, a day no different from any other, a straight up university student Kim Hyun Soo makes the mistake of his life. Just as any other college kid would do, Hyun Soo is on his way to hang out with his friends. Late night, he takes his father’s taxi to head over to where his friends are. Hong Guk Hwa, a sad-looking mysterious girl mistakes Hyun Soo’s taxi for an on-duty cab and hops in. That was the beginning of everything. All the choices Hyun Soo made that night leads the normal university student to become the prime suspect of a violent murder case. While Hyun Soo shivers from fear and the fact that he is falsely accused, everyone still points at him as the only possible murderer. In this hopeless situation, those who stretch a helping hand are a low-life attorney, Shin Joong Han, and a criminal king who rules the prison food chain, Do Ji Tae. To prove his innocence in any way possible, Hyun Soo gives everything he got to fight against the police and the Korean prosecution.


title: One Ordinary Day

text: On January 5, 2021, it was announced that The Studio M, Chorokbaem Media and Gold Medalist would co-produce a television series based on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) crime series "Criminal Justice". BBC Studios confirmed the adaptation on January 13, through its media centre. Kim Soo-hyun and Cha Seung-won stars in leading roles, Kwon Soon-kyu wrote the screenplay, and Lee Myung-woo directed the series. Filming began in the first half of 2021. It is Coupang Play's first original series with exclusive broadcast rights in South Korea.


Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a contemporary fantasy debut novel by American author Ransom Riggs. The story is told through a combination of narrative and a mix of vernacular and found photography from the personal archives of collectors listed by the author.


title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

text: This young adult book was originally intended to be a picture book featuring photographs Riggs had collected, but on the advice of an editor at Quirk Books, he used the photographs as a guide from which to put together a narrative. Riggs was a collector of photographs, but needed more for his novel. He met Leonard Lightfoot, a well-known collector at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, and was introduced to other collectors. The result was a story about a boy who follows clues from his grandfather's old photographs, tales, and his grandfather's last words which lead him on an adventure that takes him to a large abandoned orphanage on Cairnholm, a fictional Welsh island.


text: The book has been a "New York Times" best seller. It reached the 1 spot on the Children's Chapter Books list on April 29, 2012, after being on the list for 45 weeks, remaining there until May 20, when it dropped to the fourth spot on the list. Critics have generally praised the book for creative use of vintage photographs in the sepia style and surrealist form, as well as good characterization and settings.


text: As a child, Jacob Magellan Portman has been fascinated with his grandfather Abraham's stories about surviving as a Jew during World War II, running from man-eating monsters, and living with peculiar children in a secret home guarded by "a wise old bird." As Jacob grows older, he begins to doubt the stories until the arrival of his grandfather's death. Blood-strewn, exhausted, and lying in his back garden on the outskirts of Florida Woods, Abraham's last words are a mystery: "...find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave on September 3, 1940, and tell them what happened." As his grandfather dies, Jacob catches sight of a horrific monster just like the ones described in Abraham's stories. Soon, he starts experiencing trauma and being plagued with nightmares relating to those monsters. Believing their son to be going crazy, Jacob's parents take him to Dr. Golan, a psychiatrist, who suggests that Jacob go to Cairnholm, Wales, the location of his grandfather's children's home to confront the place of his trauma. On his own, Jacob locates and explores the old house only to find it empty and everything caked in dust. According to the local people, the place is haunted and a bomb had killed all its inhabitants many years ago, on September 3, 1940.


text: Sensing a connection, Jacob refuses to give up and returns to the house one more time, where he encounters a mysterious girl who can conjure fire with her hands whom he follows, trying to question her after hearing her call out his grandfather's name. They reach the bogs surrounding the house before Jacob realizes that the people of Cairnholm are different, including the patrons at the inn and his father isn't there. Luckily, a confused Jacob is rescued by the girl from before and an invisible boy, who introduce themselves as Emma Bloom and Millard Nullings respectively. A suspicious Emma holds him captive and brings him to the children's home, where he finds it magically transformed to the paradise of his grandfather's stories, complete with the peculiar children and the "wise old bird", who is, in fact, the headmistress Miss Alma LeFay Peregrine (named after that well-known raptorial bird of prey the peregrine falcon).


text: There Jacob is also introduced to other peculiar children apart from Emma and Millard: Bronwyn Bruntley, a girl with incredible strength, Claire Densmore, a little girl with an extra mouth at the back of her head, Olive Abroholos Elephanta, a little girl who can levitate, Enoch O'Connor, a boy who can animate non-living things for a short amount of time by transplanting organs, Hugh Apiston, a boy with bees living in his stomach, Fiona Frauenfeld, a girl with an affinity for growing plants, and Horace Somnusson, a boy with prophetic dreams. Jacob is shocked and befuddled by the state of the place, so Olive and Millard explain that they are currently existing in a time loop, a place where time is constantly reversed and where they all relive the same day every day, September 3, 1940. This is all thanks to Miss Peregrine, a special type of peculiar being known as an "ymbryne", one who can shapeshift into birds (namely a peregrine falcon after which she is named) and manipulate time. Apart from keeping them alive (if not the bomb would have killed them), this time loop also protects the peculiar children from being hunted by hollowgast — humanoid, tentacle-mouthed creatures that devour peculiars. That experiment occurred in the Siberian tundra, which was marked by a cataclysmic explosion, and from there the hollowgast were born. In addition to hollowgast being a threat, hollows who have consumed enough peculiars are evolved into wights, beings who resemble humans in every aspect save their eyes, which have no pupils. These wights' ultimate goal is to gain power from the peculiars, as well as morph every one of their fellow hollowgast into wights that will rule the world.


text: Soon, Miss Peregrine's former mentor Miss Avocet arrives at the loop mad with grief over the kidnapping of her wards to wights, who have executed their plan of raiding loops. Fearing for the children's safety, Jacob is tasked with the job of reporting any suspicious information going on in the outside world. With his comings and goings, Jacob and Emma begin to develop feelings for each other, as well as get a glimpse into his own peculiar self: he can see the hollows while other peculiars can't, just like his grandfather. Miss Peregrine's fears are confirmed when eyeless sheep bodies begin to pile up, and Martin, a worker in the Cairnholm Local Museum, is killed. Going against Miss Peregrine's orders to not leave the house, Enoch, Bronwyn, Emma, Jacob and Millard escape, and Enoch uses a sheep heart to briefly bring Martin back to life. Martin manages to inform the group of the presence of a wight on the island, but by then it is too late as one appears right behind them along with a hollow companion. To Jacob's shock, he reveals himself to be Dr. Golan, as well as Jacob's family's hired lawn gardener, and Jacob's middle school bus driver. Jacob refuses Golan's offer to join him in finding peculiars, and decides to stay with his friends. Golan sends his hollow after the group, and Emma and Jacob split up from the rest. After a brief scuffle, Jacob kills it with a pair of sheep shears. They make their way back to the orphanage, but discover that Golan has kidnapped Miss Peregrine and Miss Avocet and locked the rest of the children in the house.


text: Dr. Golan warns them not to attempt to rescue Miss Peregrine and leaves the loop, but Millard manages to sneak out invisibly and follow him. Jacob and his friends follow Millard's tracks and find Golan near a lighthouse trying to catch a boat with his other wight comrades. During the process of saving Miss Peregrine, who is trapped in her bird form, Millard is wounded from a gunshot, but Golan is ultimately killed by Jacob. Just then, the other wights arrive and even though they are able to rescue Miss Peregrine, Miss Avocet is taken away. Returning to the orphanage, they find it destroyed, leaving them having to track down the wights and discover how to help Miss Peregrine. It is then Jacob decides to follow his friends and returns to the present to say goodbye to his father, but promises to return when his mission is finished. Guided by only a prophetic dream from Horace, they set sail to find help.


text: Otherwise known as "syndrigasti" (a word meaning "peculiar spirit" in the Old Peculiar language, which is in turn the author's adaptation of Old English, or Anglo-Saxon language), peculiar folk are a branch of humanity possessing a second soul which manifests itself in strange ways such as abnormal characteristics and abilities commonly referred to as "peculiarities". Very rarely are peculiar children born to peculiar parents as the essence or gene of peculiarity often skips entire generations, making peculiar population vastly less than that of normal people.


text: An ymbryne (pronounced "IMM-brinn") is a specific kind of female peculiar who can transform into distinct birds, control and manipulate time as she sees fit, and govern the peculiar world. Most essentially, the ability to control time lets these women possess a period of historical time by looping it, creating a potentially eternal sanctuary for peculiars. They often set out into the present-day world to rescue peculiars in dire situations or to search for those without an ymbryne. "Ymbryne" means "revolution" or "circuit" in Old Peculiar.


text: The Council of Ymbrynes is the official government and law of peculiardom. Their responsibilities include the maintenance of loop order, the writing or amending of laws on a regular basis, and the determination of sentences for those convicted of a crime. Members are not specified.


text: Time loops are the fabric of the peculiar world, often referred to as peculiardom. Similar to towns, cities, states, and countries, they act as specific locations. Together they create a vast and quite complex world of varying whereabouts and dates only peculiars are able to enter. Within these loops, peculiars live indefinitely without aging or reliving previous experiences, even as the day around them repeats itself. While it may appear to be a form of eternal youth, it is the suspension of time inevitable. In reality, many, if not all, of Miss Peregrine's children are over fifty years old, but the loop detains them as teenagers and small children physically and mentally. A loop must be reset daily or it will collapse, leaving all peculiars within it exposed to the outside world.


text: As a result of time loops, those who reside in them may not be able to return to the present day, depending on how long they've been there. In a mere matter of hours outside of the loop, the amount of time evaded will catch up. An example of this is Miss Peregrine's own former ward, a young girl named Charlotte who left the loop while Miss Peregrine was away. She was discovered by police in the mid-1980s and sent to a welfare agency. When Miss Peregrine found her just two days later, she'd already aged thirty-five years. Although she survived the ordeal, the unnatural aging process had caused Charlotte a great deal of mental disorder, and she was sent to live with Miss Nightjar, an ymbryne more suited for her care. The same process of deterioration applies to anything taken out of time loops as another instance was an apple Jacob took back to the inn where he and his father were staying in the present day. He left it on the nightstand next to his bed as he fell asleep that night, but by morning, found it had rotted to the point of disintegrating.


text: A word meaning "empty spirit." The hollowgast are monsters who feed on peculiars. They were created by a freak-accident in an unethical and illegal experiment conducted by Miss Peregrine's two brothers. Hundreds had joined their cause, and with the aid of misguided but powerful ymbrynes, it was intended to achieve immortality without the limitations of time loops. Instead, it led to a catastrophic collapse that destroyed half of Siberia where the experiment took place. Everyone involved was presumed dead, but their corpses became deformed and crawled back to a lesser, animalistic state of life. Apart from their shadows, hollows are invisible to all but a gifted few including Abraham and Jacob Portman. They are also identified by the groups of large tentacle-like tongues that occupy their grotesquely stretched mouths. It is speculated that this outcome was the result of being reverse-aged to a time before their souls existed, thus the word "hollowgast." Their souls, having been erased, hollows possess no form of peculiarity, rendering them unable to enter time loops.


text: If a hollow consumes enough peculiar souls, its original human form is restored, with the exception of irises and pupils leaving the eyes entirely white. Because of this, peculiars refer to these evolved creatures as wights. They possess no extraordinary abilities but are highly skilled in posing as normal people under multiple identities and can even pass into time loops. Much of their existence revolves around procuring peculiars for remaining hollows to devour. Once they set their eyes on a peculiar child, they will follow them around, as they did with Jacob all the way to the island.


text: All ymbrynes take on last names which correspond to the type of bird into which they can shapeshift (e.g., Miss Peregrine can turn into a peregrine falcon).


text: "Miss Peregrine's" spent seventy weeks on "The New York Times" Best Sellers list for children's chapter books. It reached the number one spot on the list on April 29, 2012, after being on the list for forty-five weeks. It remained there until 20 May, when it dropped to the fourth spot on the list. The book dropped off the list on September 9, 2012, after sixty-three weeks.


text: According to Deborah Netburn for the "Los Angeles Times", the best part of the novel is "a series of black-and-white photos sprinkled throughout the book". "Publishers Weekly" called the book "an enjoyable, eccentric read distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very creepy monsters."


text: A sequel, titled "Hollow City", was released on January 14, 2014. The novel is set immediately after the first, and sees Jacob and his friends fleeing from Miss Peregrine's to the "peculiar capital of the world", London.


text: The third installment in the Miss Peregrine's series, titled "Library of Souls", was announced in early 2015. It was released on September 22, 2015.


text: "A Map of Days", the first installment of a new trilogy set in the United States and featuring the main protagonists from the original trilogy, was released on October 2, 2018, by Dutton Books for Young Readers (a division of Penguin Group).


text: On February 23, 2021, the sixth and final book of the second trilogy, "The Desolations of Devil's Acre", was released.


text: An original graphic novel adaptation by Cassandra Jean and Ransom Riggs, called "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel" was released in October 2013.


text: A film adaptation of the book was released in the United States on September 30, 2016. It was directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Jane Goldman. Eva Green played Miss Peregrine in the film, along with Asa Butterfield as Jacob, and Ella Purnell as Emma Bloom.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The Turkish Land Forces (), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the foundation of the army include suppression of rebellions in southeastern Turkey from the 1920s to the present day, combat in the Korean War, the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the current Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, as well as its NATO alliance against the USSR during the Cold War. The army holds the preeminent place within the armed forces. It is customary for the Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces to have been the Commander of the Turkish Land Forces prior to his appointment as Turkey's senior ranking officer. Alongside the other two armed services, the Turkish Army has frequently intervened in Turkish politics, a custom that is now regulated to an extent by the reform of the National Security Council. The current commander of the Turkish Land Forces is General Musa Avsever.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: From late 2015, the Turkish Army (along with the rest of the Armed Forces) saw its personnel strengths increased to a similar level as the previous decade. Factors that contributed to this growth include the Turkish occupation of northern Syria, as well as a renewal of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The Turkish Army traces its origin to the Ottoman Army. A theory accepted officially was that the Ottoman Armed Forces had been founded in 1363, when the Pençik corps (the predecessor of the Janissary corps) had been formed and, in this context, on 28 June 1963, it celebrated the 600th anniversary of its foundation. In the same year, one of the prominent Pan-Turkists, Nihal Atsız, asserted that the Turkish Army had been founded in 209 BC, when Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu is thought to have formed an army based on the decimal system. In 1968, Yılmaz Öztuna proposed this theory to Cemal Tural, who was the Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey at the time. In 1973, when the Turkish Army celebrated the 610th anniversary of its foundation, Nihal Atsız published his claim again. After the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, the Turkish Army formally adopted the date 209 BC as its year of foundation.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The modern Turkish Army has its foundations in nine remnant Ottoman Army corps after the Armistice of Mudros at the end of World War I. After the rise of Turkish resistances ("Kuva-yi Milliye") in Anatolia, Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his colleagues formed the Grand National Assembly (GNA) in Ankara on April 23, 1920, Kâzım Pasha's XV Corps was the only corps which at that time had any combat value. On November 8, 1920, the GNA decided to establish a standing army ("Düzenli ordu") instead of irregular troops ("Kuva-yi Milliye", Çerkes Ethem's "Kuva-yi Seyyare" etc.).


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: On August 26, 1922, the Army of the Grand National Assembly ("Büyük Millet Meclisi Ordusu") launched the general offensive known as the Great Offensive ("Büyük Taarruz") against the Greek forces around Kara Hisâr-ı Sâhip. Nurettin Pasha's 1st Army and Yakup Şevki Pasha's 2nd Army encircled the main body of Major General Nikolaos Trikoupis's group and defeated it near Dumlupınar. Fahrettin Pasha's V Cavalry Corps entered Smyrna (Izmir) on September 9, 1922. Şükrü Naili Pasha's III Corps entered Constantinople (Istanbul) peacefully on October 6, 1923. Subsequent to the founding of the Republic of Turkey, the Army of the GNA was reorganized into three army inspectorates ("ordu müfettişliği", 1st, 2nd and 3rd army inspectorate).


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: There were several Kurdish rebellions in southeastern Turkey in the 1920s and 1930s, the most important of which were the 1925 Sheikh Said rebellion and the 1937 Dersim rebellion. All were suppressed by the TAF, sometimes involving large-scale mobilisations of up to 50,000 troops. Associated atrocities against civilians include the Zilan massacre.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: In 1935, Turkey purchased 60 T-26 mod. 1933 light tanks from the USSR (also, two twin-turreted T-26 mod. 1931 were presented to the Turkish government in 1933–1934), along with about 60 BA-6 armoured cars to form the 1st Tank Battalion of the 2nd Cavalry Division at Lüleburgaz. The Armoured Brigade of the Turkish Army consisted of the 102nd and the 103rd Companies armed with the T-26 mod. 1933 tanks (four platoons in a company, five tanks in the platoon) at the end of 1937. The reserve group of the brigade had 21 T-26 tanks also. At the beginning of 1940, the Turkish Army had the Armoured Brigade in Istanbul, which belonged to the 1st Army, and the 1st Tank Battalion, which belonged to the 3rd Army. Turkish T-26 tanks were taken out of service in 1942.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: During World War II, Turkey mobilized more than a million personnel. The Turkish Army order of battle in 1941 shows a number of formations. Neutral for most of the war, Turkey declared war on Nazi Germany in February 1945, after being given an ultimatum by the Allies of World War II to do so by March 1, 1945, if Turkey wanted a seat in the future United Nations.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The command of the Turkish Army was formed on July 1, 1949, and Nuri Yamut was appointed as the first commander of the Turkish Army.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The Turkish Army participated in the Korean War as a member state of the United Nations. Of the 5,000 soldiers of the Turkish Brigade there, 731 were killed. They fought in the Battle of Wawon where it was credited with saving the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division from encirclement. The brigade also fought at Gimnyangjang-ni, 'Operation Ripper,' or the Fourth Battle of Seoul, and the Battle of the Hook. Even before Turkey joined NATO on February 18, 1952, large amounts of United States military aid began arriving, facilitated by the Joint American Military Mission to Aid Turkey (JAMMAT).


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: In July 1974, Turkey intervened in Cyprus, following a coup organized by EOKA-B and led by Nikos Sampson who ousted the democratically elected Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios III in order to establish Enosis (Union) between Cyprus and Greece. The coup was backed by the Greek military junta in Athens.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The 1974 Turkish military operations in Cyprus can be divided into two distinct Turkish offensives, the first being "Atilla 1", which commenced in the early hours of July 20, 1974, with an amphibious landing force, directed by the 6th Corps, forming a beachhead at Kyrenia's Five Mile Beach. It comprised only infantry troops, but was supported by rolling air and naval artillery attacks, and met with limited resistance from the Cyprus National Guard, which was in disarray as a result of the July 15, 1974 coup. The majority of fighting ceased on the 23rd of July, though sporadic clashes continued after this date until the 14th of August. "Atilla 1" successfully achieved its objective of forming a bridgehead with the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Agyrta-Nicosia.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The second Turkish offensive began on August 14, 1974, as Greek and Turkish Cypriot representatives met in Geneva to discuss the situation on the island. Turkish pleas for international intervention having failed and very slow diplomatic progress, in addition to being confined to an indefensible and non-viable region in Cyprus, Turkish Armed forces took action again. Despite a UN ceasefire in place (several had already been disregarded), the Turkish Army, massively reinforced from weeks of build-up, launched an all-out surprise attack on ill-prepared Greek Cypriot and Greek units. With the little answer to the masses of armour, mechanised units, artillery, and air support that the Turks could bring to bear, virtually all Greek Cypriot defences collapsed in a matter of days, and by August 16, 1974, Turkish forces, spearheaded by the 28th and 39th Infantry Divisions, had extended to capture some 37% of the island, including the towns of Famagusta, Varosha and Morphou.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The conflict in Cyprus resulted in the de facto division of the island between the Turkish Cypriot controlled north and the Greek Cypriot controlled south. Turkey still maintains troops in Cyprus, since a political solution could not yet be achieved and since many members of the Turkish Cypriot community fear a return to the intercommunal violence which occurred between 1963 and 1974.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The Turkish Army has since the mid-1960s operated on a corps-division-brigade system, with a varying number of divisions and brigades assigned to a corps. The IISS Military Balance 1966–67 recorded a total strength of 360,000, with 16 infantry divisions (14 NATO assigned), 4 armoured brigades (Zırhlı tugay) with M47 Patton tanks, armoured cavalry regiments, and two parachute battalions. At some point in the 1960s the Army apparently utilised the Pentomic structure for a period, before adopting the American ROAD divisional organisation. Back in the early 1970s, there was a 6th Infantry Division based at Istanbul.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The U.S. "Area Handbook for the Republic of Turkey," written by Thomas Roberts, said in late 1968 that the army had 425,000 men (p. 385), three field armies (First: Istanbul, Second: Konya, Third: Erzurum), thirteen infantry divisions, one armoured division (with M-47s and M-48s), four armoured brigades (M47 Patton tanks), two armoured cavalry regiment, two mechanised infantry brigades, and two parachute battalions. There was a trained reserve of 450,000.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: According to official British military reports in 1974, the Turkish Army included the First Army (2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 15th Corps), Second Army (4th, 6th, and 7th) and Third Army (8th, 9th and 11th Corps). There were also three Interior Zones with three recruit training divisions and four recruit training brigades. For a long period, these formations were grouped under the NATO headquarters Allied Land Forces South-Eastern Europe (LANDSOUTHEAST) in Izmir, led by a Turkish Army four-star General.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: In 1981–82, the Army had one armoured division, two mechanised infantry divisions, and fourteen Infantry Divisions, with 3,000 M47 MBTs, 500 M48 MBTs, as well as 70 Leopard 1A3 on order, for a total of 3570 tanks.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: Until the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1990, the Army had a static defense mission of countering any possible attack on Thrace by Soviet/Warsaw Pact forces and deterring Greece, and any attack by the Soviet Transcaucasus Military District on the Caucasus frontier. The Third Army was responsible for holding the Caucasus line with about a third of the Army's total strength of one armoured, two mechanised, and fourteen infantry divisions (1986 data). Soviet forces immediately facing the Third Army in the Caucasus were the 31st Army Corps in the Georgian SSR and the 7th Guards Army in the Armenian SSR. Together the 31st Corps and 7th Guards Army had six divisions (roughly three Category "B" and three "C") plus some immobile fortified defence areas.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: Nigel Thomas's "NATO Armies 1949–87", published in 1988, attributed the 2nd, 3rd Corps, 5th, and 15th Corps to the First Army; the 6th and 7th Corps to the Second Army, the 4th, 8th, and 9th Corps to the Third Army, and the 11th Corps to the Aegean Army. He wrote that the 11th Corps comprised the 28th and 39th Divisions.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: When the General Staff attempted to shift 120,000 troops to the frontier with Iraq in 1990, they discovered that there were serious deficiencies in the Army's ability to respond to crises that could erupt suddenly in distant regions.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: After the fall of the Soviet Union LANDSOUTHEAST in Izmir became Joint Command Southeast for a period, before becoming Allied Air Component Command Izmir in 2004. The headquarters' land-focused roots were revived in the 2010s when NATO's two air commands were reduced into one (at Ramstein, Germany) and Allied Land Command was established at the site.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: Towards the end of the 1980s, a restructuring and modernization process has been initiated by the Turkish Armed Forces, which still continues today. The final goal of Turkey is to produce indigenous military equipment and to become increasingly self-sufficient in terms of military technologies.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: Gen. Büyükanıt, who sent crucial messages regarding the future of the Land Forces, said that the country's own instabilities should also be taken into consideration. He reported that the land forces will shrink considerably within the next eight years. But he said that despite this process, the force's capacities will be increased.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: "The Land Forces aim at being equipped with new opportunities and capabilities in order to carry out its duty in full strength against a large variety of threats, varying from classical threats to asymmetrical ones.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: "The targets for our land forces are to be realized through 'Forces 2014' project. This project aims to shrink the forces without undermining its combat capabilities. On the contrary, under the plan, the efficiency of the force will increase.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: "Within this period of time, the Land Forces will gradually decrease by 20 to 30 percent in terms of the number of personnel and forces formations. It will be equipped with modern arms and war devices as the distinct features of this new formation. Thus the battle capability will be given to high-ranking brigades. Moreover, with the Combat Zone Management System, the land tactical map will be numerically formed in real-time or close to real-time and a constant tracking will be provided," said Büyükanıt. (The New Anatolian, Evren Değer, 10 August 2006.)


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: At present, the primary main battle tanks of the Turkish Army are the Leopard 2A4 and the M60T. There are also around 400 Leopard 1 and 750 M60 Patton variants in service (excluding the M60T which were upgraded with the 120 mm MG253 guns), but the Turkish Army retains a large number of older vehicles. More than 2,800 M48 Pattons are still in service (upgraded with the 105 mm M68 guns) though only around 1,300 of these are stored as reserve MBTs, while the rest are mostly transformed into other types of military vehicles (such as cranes, MBT recovery vehicles and logistical support vehicles) or used as spare parts resources.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: Turkey plans to build a total of 1,000 new Otokar Altay MBTs, in four separate batches of 250 units, with the MİTÜP Turkish National Tank Project. The tanks will be produced by the Turkish firm Otokar, and share some of the systems that are used in the K2 Black Panther main battle tank of South Korea.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: Turkey has signed an agreement with the US to buy fourteen CH-47F Chinook helicopters, for $400 million. Because of financial constraints, however, the Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry, or SSM, Turkey's procurement agency, later wanted to buy only six CH-47Fs, five for the Army and one for the Special Forces, leaving a decision on the remaining eight platforms for the future. Contract negotiations between the SSM, the U.S. government and Boeing were launched last year.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The length of compulsory military service is six months for private and non-commissioned soldiers (the service term for reserve officers chosen among university or college graduates is 12 months). All male Turkish citizens over the age of 20 are required to undergo a one-month military training period, but they can obtain an exemption from the remaining five months of their mandatory service with a paid exemption option.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: Turkey has chosen a Chinese defence firm to co-produce a US$4 billion long-range air and missile defence system FD-2000, rejecting rival bids from Russian, US and European firms. The Turkish defence minister announced the decision to award the contract to China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) in a statement on Thursday, September 26, 2013. NATO has said that missiles should be compatible.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The TLF has seen frequent recent combat around and beyond its borders. It is fighting a conflict in south-eastern Turkey against the prolonged Kurdish PKK insurgency, and monitoring ISIS, Russian intervention in Syria, the Kurdish YPG, as well as multiple other elements, in Syria. It maintained a prolonged command of Regional Command Capital in ISAF. Thus the TLF has had extensive combat experience.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The structure of the Turkish Army has historically had two facets: operational and administrative. The operational chain consists of the field fighting formations, and the administrative the arms and service branches – infantry, armour, artillery etc.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The army's 14 armoured brigades are the most powerful brigades in the restructured organisation; each includes 2 armoured, 2 mechanised infantry and 2 self-propelled artillery battalions. The 17 mechanised brigades each have 1 armoured, 2 mechanised and one artillery battalion. The army's 9 infantry brigades each have 4 infantry battalions and one artillery battalion, while the 4 commando brigades have 3 commando battalions.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: From 1992 the Army began to change from a corps-division-regiment structure to a corps-brigade arrangement, with divisions remaining on Cyprus and for certain special other cases, such as for NATO's reaction forces. In accordance with NATO's new strategy in the early 1990s, Turkey agreed to commit forces to NATO's ACE Rapid Reaction Corps. 'Therefore, the decision was made to create a new division. Thus, the old 1 Inf Div which had been abolished many years ago was reactivated and renamed as 1 TU Mech Inf Div and attached to 4 TU Corps on 30 November 1993.’ This division appears to have been replaced within 3rd Corps by the 52nd Armoured Division, formed later on.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The Military Balance, 1994–1995 also lists the following units: the Presidential Guard Regiment, an infantry regiment, 5 border defense regiments (Brigades (?)), and 26 border defense battalions. The fate of these independent units under the reorganization remains unclear.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: In late 2002 the 3rd Corps, with its headquarters near Istanbul, was certified as one of the six NATO High Readiness Force-Land (HRF-L) headquarters and gained the additional title of the Rapidly Deployable Turkish Corps (RDTC). A year later, Jane's Defence Weekly reported on 9 July 2003 that as part of force restructuring, its 4 existing armies would be reorganized into a Western Army, in Istanbul, and the Eastern Army would replace 2nd Army in Malatya. This plan does not appear to have been carried out.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The Army announced plans in mid-2004 to abolish four brigades across Turkey. The arms and equipment of the brigades closed will be kept in depots. The plan involves the disbandment of:


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The IISS and the Turkish Army's website give differing figures as to the number of formations in the Army. The official site gives totals of 9 Army Corps, 1 Infantry Division, 2 Mechanized Infantry Divisions, 1 Armored Division, 1 Training Division, 11 Infantry / Motorized Infantry Brigades, 16 Mechanized Infantry Brigades, 9 Armored Brigades, 5 Para-Commando Brigades, 1 Army Aviation Brigade, 2 Artillery Brigades, 5 Training Brigades and one Humanitarian Aid Brigade.


title: Turkish Land Forces

text: The IISS Military Balance 2008 lists the Turkish Land Forces with 4 Army HQ, 10 corps HQ, 17 armoured brigades, 15 mechanised infantry brigades, 2 infantry divisions, 11 infantry brigades, 1 Special Force command HQ, 5 commando brigades, one combat helicopter battalion, 4 aviation regiments, 3 aviation battalions (totalling 1 transport and 2 training battalions), and 4 training/artillery brigades.


title: Leopard seal

text: The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. It feeds on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins. It is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. Its closest relatives are the Ross seal, the crabeater seal and the Weddell seal, which together are known as the tribe of Lobodontini seals. The name "hydrurga" means "water worker" and "leptonyx" is the Greek for "thin-clawed".


title: Leopard seal

text: The leopard seal has a distinctively long and muscular body shape when compared to other seals, but it is perhaps best known for its massive jaws, which allow it to be one of the top predators in its environment. The front teeth are sharp like those of other carnivores, but their molars lock together in a way that allows them to sieve krill from the water in the manner of the crabeater seal. The coat is counter-shaded with a silver to dark gray blend and a distinctive spotted "leopard" coloration pattern dorsally and a paler, white to light gray color ventrally. Females are slightly larger than males. The overall length of adults is and weight is from making them the same length as the northern walrus but usually less than half the weight. The whiskers are short and clear.


title: Leopard seal

text: As "true" seals, they do not have external ears or "pinnae", but possess an internal ear canal that leads to an external opening. Their hearing in air is similar to that of a human, but scientists have noted that leopard seals use their ears in conjunction with their whiskers to track prey under water.


title: Leopard seal

text: Leopard seals are pagophilic ("ice-loving") seals, which primarily inhabit the Antarctic pack ice between 50˚S and 80˚S. Sightings of vagrant leopard seals have been recorded on the coasts of Australia, New Zealand (where individuals have been seen even on the foreshores of major cities such as Auckland, Dunedin and Wellington), South America, and South Africa. In August 2018, an individual was sighted at Geraldton, on the west coast of Australia. Higher densities of leopard seals are seen in the Western Antarctic than in other regions.


title: Leopard seal

text: Most leopard seals remain within the pack ice throughout the year and remain solitary during most of their lives with the exception of a mother and her newborn pup. These matrilineal groups can move further north in the austral winter to sub-antarctic islands and the coastlines of the southern continents to provide care for their pups. While solitary animals may appear in areas of lower latitudes, females rarely breed there. Some researchers believe this is due to safety concerns for the pups. Lone male leopard seals hunt other marine mammals and penguins in the pack ice of antarctic waters. The estimated population of this species ranges from 220,000 to 440,000 individuals, putting leopard seals at "least concern". Although there is an abundance of leopard seals in the Antarctic, they are difficult to survey by traditional visual techniques because they spend long periods of time vocalizing under the water during the austral spring and summer, when visual surveys are carried out. The trait of vocalizing underwater for long periods means they can be the subject of acoustic surveys, allowing researchers to gather most of what is known about them.


title: Leopard seal

text: The male seals produce loud calls (153 to 177 dB re 1 μPa at 1 m) for many hours each day. While singing the seal hangs upside down and rocks from side to side under the water. Their back is bent, the neck and cranial thoracic region (the chest) is inflated and as they call their chest pulses. The male calls can be split into two categories: vocalizing and silencing, in which vocalizing is when they are making noises underwater, and silencing noted as the breathing period at the air surface. Adult male leopard seals have only a few stylized calls, some are like bird or cricket-like trills yet others are low haunting moans. Scientists have identified five distinctive sounds that male leopard seals make, which include: the high double trill, medium single trill, low descending trill, low double trill, and a hoot with a single low trill. These cadence of calls are believed to be a part of a long range acoustic display for territorial purposes, or the attraction of a potential mate. The leopard seals have age-related differences in their calling patterns, just like birds. Where the younger male seals have many different types of variable calls – the adult male seals have only a few, highly stylized calls. Each male leopard seal produces these individual calls, and can arrange their few call types into individually distinctive sequences (or songs). The acoustic behavior of the leopard seal is believed to be linked to their breeding behaviour. In male seals, vocalizing coincides with the timing of their breeding season, which falls between November and the first week of January; captive female seals vocalize when they have elevated reproductive hormones. Conversely, a female leopard seal can attribute calls to their environment as well; however, usually it is to gain the attention of a pup, after getting back from a forage for food.


title: Leopard seal

text: Since leopard seals live in an area difficult for humans to survive in, not much is known on their reproduction and breeding habits. However, it is known that their breeding system is polygynous, meaning that males mate with multiple females during the mating period. A sexually active female (ages 3–7) can give birth to a single pup during the summer on the floating ice floes of the Antarctic pack ice, with a sexually active male (ages 6–7). Mating occurs from December to January, shortly after the pups are weaned when the female seal is in estrus. In preparation for the pups, the females dig a circular hole in the ice as a home for the pup. A newborn pup weighs around 66 pounds and are usually with their mother for a month, before they are weaned off. The male leopard seal does not participate in taking care of the pup, and goes back to its solitary lifestyle after the breeding season. Most leopard seal breeding is on pack ice.


title: Leopard seal

text: Five research voyages were made to Antarctica in 1985, 1987 and 1997–1999 to look at leopard seals. They sighted seal pups from the beginning of November to the end of December, and noticed that there was about one pup for every three adults, and they also noticed that most of the adults were staying away from other adults during this season, and when they were seen in groups they showed no sign of interaction. Leopard seal pups mortality rate within the first year is close to 25%.


title: Leopard seal

text: Vocalization is thought to be important in breeding, since males are much more vocal around this time. Mating takes place in the water, and then the male leaves the female to care for the pup, which the female gives birth to after an average gestation period of 274 days.


title: Leopard seal

text: Research shows that on average, the aerobic dive limit for juvenile seals is around 7 minutes, which means that during the winter months juvenile leopard seals do not eat krill, which is a major part of older seals' diets, since krill is found deeper during this time. This might occasionally lead to co-operative hunting. Co-operative hunting of leopard seals on Antarctic fur seal pups has been witnessed, which could be a mother helping her older pup, or could also be female-male couple interactions, to increase their hunting productivity.


title: Leopard seal

text: The only natural predator of leopard seals is the orca. The seal's canine teeth are up to long. It feeds on a wide variety of creatures. Young leopard seals usually eat mostly krill, squid and fish. Adult seals probably switch from krill to more substantial prey, including king, Adélie, rockhopper, gentoo, emperor and chinstrap penguins, and less frequently, Weddell, crabeater, Ross, and young southern elephant seals. Leopard seals are also known to take fur seal pups.


title: Leopard seal

text: Around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, the Antarctic fur seal ("Arctocephalus gazella") is the main prey. Other prey include penguins and fish including chondrichthyans. Antarctic krill ("Euphausia superba"), southern elephant seal ("Mirounga leonina") pups and seabirds other than penguins have also been taken as prey.


title: Leopard seal

text: When hunting penguins, the leopard seal patrols the waters near the edges of the ice, almost completely submerged, waiting for the birds to enter the ocean. It kills the swimming bird by grabbing the feet, then shaking the penguin vigorously and beating its body against the surface of the water repeatedly until the penguin is dead. Previous reports stating the leopard seal skins its prey before feeding have been found to be incorrect. Lacking the teeth necessary to slice its prey into manageable pieces, it flails its prey from side to side tearing and ripping it into smaller pieces. Krill meanwhile, is eaten by suction, and strained through the seal's teeth, allowing leopard seals to switch to different feeding styles. Such generalization and adaptations may be responsible for the seal's success in the challenging Antarctic ecosystem.


title: Leopard seal

text: Leopard seals' heads and front flippers are extremely large in comparison to other phocids. Their large front flippers are used to steer themselves through the water column making them extremely agile while hunting. They use their front flippers similarly to sea lions (otariids) and leopard seal females are larger than males. They are covered in a thick layer of blubber that helps to keep them warm while in the cold temperatures of the Antarctic. This layer of blubber also helps to streamline their body making them more hydrodynamic. This is essential when hunting small prey items such as penguins because speed is necessary. Scientists take blubber thickness, girth, weight, and length measurements of leopard seals to learn about their average weight, health, and population as a whole. These measurements are then used to calculate their energetics which is the amount of energy and food it takes for them to survive as a species. They also have incredible diving capabilities. This information can be obtained by scientists by attaching transmitters to the seals after they are tranquilized on the ice. These devices are called satellite-linked time depth recorders (SLDRs) and time-depth recorders (TDRs). Scientists attach this device usually to the head of the animal and it records depth, bottom time, total dive time, date and time, surface time, haul out time, pitch and roll, and total number of dives. This information is sent to a satellite where scientists from anywhere in the world can collect the data. This is how we are currently learning so much about leopard seals diet and foraging habits. With this information we are able to calculate and better understand their diving physiology. They are primarily shallow divers but they do dive deeper than 80 meters in search for food. They are able to complete these dives by collapsing their lungs and re-inflating them at the surface. This is possible by increasing surfactant which coats the alveoli in the lungs for re-inflation. They also have a reinforced trachea to prevent collapse at great depth pressures.


title: Leopard seal

text: Leopard seals are large predators presenting a potential risk to humans. However, attacks on humans are rare. Most human perceptions of leopard seals are shaped by historic encounters between humans and leopard seals that occurred during the early days of Antarctic exploration.


title: Leopard seal

text: Examples of aggressive behaviour, stalking and attacks are rare, but have been documented. Notable incidents include:


title: Leopard seal

text: In 2003, biologist Kirsty Brown of the British Antarctic Survey was killed by a leopard seal while snorkeling in Antarctica. This was the first recorded human fatality from a leopard seal. Brown was part of a team of four researchers taking part in an underwater survey at South Cove near the U.K.'s Rothera Research Station. Brown and another researcher, Richard Burt, were snorkeling in the water. Burt was snorkeling 15 meters away when the team heard a scream and saw Brown disappear into the water. She was quickly rescued by her team but they were unable to resuscitate her. It was later revealed that the seal had held her underwater for six minutes at a depth of up to 70 meters. She suffered a total of 45 separate injuries most of which were concentrated around her head and neck. As she was snorkeling at the time she may have seen the seal approaching her.