title: Singham

text: Shubha Shetty Saha from "MiD DAY" gave the film a score of two stars and deemed that "Nothing turns director Rohit Shetty on more than cars meeting mid air. We all know that by now. And this film has some breath taking action sequences, too. That's about it is." Meenakshi Rao from "The Pioneer" describes the film as "the David Dhawan of action, or for that matter the Golmaal of fights. To keep the audience engaged all through such unending babble needs some kind of acumen which normal people do not always have and through which people like Rohit Shetty get to make a whole lot of money, if not sense." giving it seven out of ten stars. Kunal Guha from "Yahoo! Movies" gave two stars and says that "The film's assumption that mispronunciation is funny makes us endure words like honest (with a loud 'h'), clean cheet (clean chit), noun-saans (nonsense) and sooocide (suicide). The dialogues are spouted with immense enthusiasm but the words defuse the intensity and make them seem trivial. Devgn does a fair job and conveys sufficient conviction and humility through his character. Kajal Aggarwal makes an unobjectionable debut and her eyes would surely inspire a few compliments."


title: Singham

text: "Singham" started extremely well at single screens with occupancy around 90% and was average at multiplexes with 50%–60% occupancy, In the first four days, the film collected . After five days, the earnings were around without any drop. The opening week gross collections were in India and from overseas to fetch a total opening week gross of , thus putting the nett weekend collections at , including in Mumbai area alone. In the second week, it collected nett to take the total two-week net collections at . The film is currently the sixth highest second week grosser. The third weekend collections were estimated to be . After three weeks, the nett collections amounted to . It collected in its fourth week bringing its collections to in four weeks. "Singham" earned nett in India, at the end of its theatrical run.


title: Singham

text: The film grossed over worldwide. It has grossed a total of worldwide, including in India and () overseas.


title: Singham

text: The album was panned by music critics. Joginder Tuteja of "Bollywood Hungama" awarded the album two stars out of five and said ""Singham" turns out to be a fine album though one does feel that there could have been much more than just three songs here. While 'Saathiyaa' is the pick of the lot and has the potential to play on beyond the theatrical run of the film as well, title song "Singham" brings in the right mood despite its setting. However given the fact that the film is not quite a musical and the focus would be primarily on pushing its action flavour, the album would find it tough to make much of a mark commercially." Tanuj Manchanda of Planet Bollywood gave the album five and a half stars citing that "Ajay-Atul produces a satisfactory soundtrack, after their first attempt in Virudh and shows their versatility in a short span of 3 songs. One looks forward to their forthcoming venture "My Friend Pinto" which will be their second Bollywood film as composers. Overall, the songs are decent and have the ability in them to become a success. It will help in enhancing the film's narrative."


title: Singham

text: "Singham" had been removed from cinemas in Karnataka while some cinemas had cancelled the shows following pressure from various groups protesting against derogatory statements against the Kannadigas. Various organisations raised voices against the anti-Kannadiga dialogues in "Singham" and the film which was released faced problems in continuing with the shows. There was a demand to remove such scenes from the film and the filmmakers contemplated on the next course of action.


title: Singham

text: "Singham" commenced in Karnataka after the removal of some "objectionable" dialogues, a day after disruptions in its screening.


title: Singham

text: The music video for the 2020 Black Eyed Peas song "Action" pays tribute to Indian film action scenes, including "Singham".


title: Singham

text: "Singham Returns", a sequel to "Singham" directed by Shetty and produced by Ajay Devgn Films, released in 2014. Devgn reprises his role from the previous film, while also co-producing the project. Kareena Kapoor plays the female lead. The film was also simultaneously made in Marathi. The film was released worldwide on 15 August 2014. The plot is loosely based on the 1993 Malayalam film "Ekalavyan".


title: Singham

text: "Simmba", a spin-off to "Singham" directed by Shetty and produced by Dharma Productions, was released in 2018. Starring Ranveer Singh, the film features Sangram "Simmba" Bhalerao, a corrupt cop hailing from the same town as Singham. Devgn reprises his role in a special appearance. Another sequence or spin-off, "Sooryavanshi", starring Akshay Kumar as another DCP named Veer Sooryavanshi who join hands with Simmba and Singham to stop a terrorist attack on Mumbai is directed again by Shetty. All these films are set in the "Cop Universe".


title: Singham

text: Commemorating the film's ninth anniversary, Devgn revealed in a throwback post on his social media handles that the film had been made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. Five months later, it was also simultaneously made available on Netflix.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: Mikami grew up in the Yamaguchi Prefecture of Honshū island. His father, who had to enter the workforce early and drop out of high school to support his family, beat him almost daily. Beyond family life, his was a normal childhood, without video games but full of outdoor play: "Back in those days, kids had to be somewhat creative in coming up with games to play, because there wasn't that much else to occupy your free time". His dream career was to be a Formula One driver. In his adolescence Mikami became “obsessed” with horror films, such as "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "The Evil Dead". Another hobby was the study of karate and kendo. After failing entrance exams two years straight, Mikami enrolled into and graduated from Doshisha University, where he majored in the study of merchandise.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: Although Mikami played arcade video games often, his entrance into the industry came by happenstance:


title: Shinji Mikami

text: His application was rejected at the screening process, then approved one week later. He joined Capcom in 1990 as a junior game designer, Mikami and fellow new hires were sent to a warehouse and ordered to "think hard about game design", then left unsupervised for the entire day. After a few months of just doing that, he was suddenly placed on a team and given a leadership position despite knowing nothing about game development.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: His first title, a quiz game for the Game Boy titled "Capcom Quiz: Hatena? no Daibōken", was made in three months. His three subsequent releases were all based on Disney-licensed properties: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" for the Game Boy, and "Aladdin" and "Goof Troop" for the Super NES. "Aladdin" was his first hit, selling over 1.75 million units worldwide. Mikami also worked on "Super Lap", an unreleased F1 racing game for the Game Boy that was scheduled to be released in 1992, but was canceled after eight months of development.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: Mikami learned by observing his seniors; whenever he showed them his game design documents, they call his work "uninteresting" without giving any advice. He found this environment comfortable, since it engendered independence and freedom of thought. To Mikami, the art of game making was instilled in him by Tokuro Fujiwara.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: After the release of "Goof Troop", Mikami began development in 1993 of a horror-themed adventure game for the PlayStation set in a haunted mansion, called "Resident Evil", originally conceived as a remake of "Sweet Home" (an earlier Famicom game by Capcom based on the Japanese horror film of the same name). "Sweet Home" director Fujiwara entrusted Mikami, who was initially reluctant because he hated "being scared", with the project, because he "understood what's frightening." Mikami said that "Resident Evil" was a response to his disappointment with "Zombi 2", a gory 1979 film by Italian director Lucio Fulci; Mikami was determined to make a game with none of the failings of the movie. The resulting game became "Biohazard", an action-adventure game which combined 3D polygonal characters and objects with pre-rendered backgrounds and featured zombies (among other monsters) heavily influenced by George A. Romero's "Dead" films. The game was retitled "Resident Evil" during its English localization under Capcom USA's suggestion and was released in Japan and North America on March 22, 1996, and became one of the PlayStation's first successful titles. It was the first game to be dubbed a survival horror, a term Capcom coined to promote the game. It was later ported to the Sega Saturn.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: "Resident Evil" was considered the defining title for survival horror games and was responsible for popularizing the genre. Its control scheme becoming a staple of the genre, and future titles would imitate its challenge of rationing highly limited resources and items. The game's commercial success is credited with helping the PlayStation become the dominant game console, and also led to a series of "Resident Evil" films. Mikami had creative control over the screenplay and script of the first movie being dubbed a creative consultant. They had Mikami in this position to make sure fans of the games would be happy. He then dropped out of the later movies because he believed that the movies were heading in the wrong direction. Many games have tried to replicate the successful formula seen in "Resident Evil", and every subsequent survival horror game has arguably taken a stance in relation to it.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: The success of "Resident Evil" was shortly followed by an internal restructuring at Capcom, whose development departments were turned into a plurality of numbered divisions, and a number of game directors promoted as their leaders. The staff behind "Resident Evil" became Capcom Production Studio 4, with Mikami appointed as its general manager, changing his focus towards being a producer. He considers the eight years spent in this position as the nadir of his career: he could not spend all his time on creative aspects and felt that he missed out on the best phase of his life. In his new role, he oversaw the development of "Resident Evil's" sequel, "Resident Evil 2", which he intended to tap into the classic notion of horror as "the ordinary made strange," thus rather than setting the game in a creepy mansion no one would visit, he wanted to use familiar urban settings transformed by the chaos of a viral outbreak. The game sold over five million copies, proving the popularity of survival horror. Following its release in 1998, he oversaw the development of "" and also directed another survival horror title "Dino Crisis", both of which released in 1999.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: Shortly after the release of "Resident Evil 3" in Japan, Studio 4's output turned towards further original properties, Mikami as executive producer, including the original "Devil May Cry" (originally conceived as a "Resident Evil" game). In 2000, Mikami became involved as producer of a new "Resident Evil" game. "". This game was designed from the ground up for the Dreamcast. Being a much more powerful console than the PlayStation, the Dreamcast allowed the team behind the game to add for the first time, 3D environments instead of the usual pre-rendered backgrounds. "Resident Evil Code: Veronica" was released in 2000 and went on to sell 1,140,000 units. That same year, Mikami's "Dino Crisis 2" was released, selling 1,190,000 copies worldwide.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: In 2001, an expanded version of "Code: Veronica" was released for the Dreamcast exclusively in Japan, alongside a PlayStation 2 port that was released worldwide. This version of the game, titled "Biohazard - Code: Veronica Complete Edition" in Japan and "Resident Evil - Code: Veronica X" abroad, added ten minutes of new cutscenes not in the original release. The PS2 version, which initially came packaged with a trial version of "Devil May Cry", went on to sell 1,400,000 units, according to Capcom's sales data for March 2006. In 2001, in what was to be one of his most controversial business decisions, Mikami formed an exclusivity agreement with Nintendo in which the main "Resident Evil" games would be sold only for the GameCube. The GameCube would receive, in addition to ports of previous PlayStation and Dreamcast installments, three new numbered entries in the series: a remake of the original "Resident Evil", "Resident Evil Zero", and "Resident Evil 4". "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil Zero" were both released in 2002.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: The remake of "Resident Evil" was released in Japan on the sixth anniversary of the release of the original, on March 22, 2002. The remake was billed as the definitive version of the game, selling 490,000 copies in the US and 360,000 copies in Europe. In total, "Resident Evil" managed to sell 1,250,000 units during its first year of release. The remake's sales data was made public by Capcom during its Financial Review Report for 2002.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: On November 12, 2002, "Resident Evil Zero" was released. Gaming site gamefront.de reported that 138,855 copies of the game were sold on its first day of release. Capcom expected "Resident Evil Zero" to sell 1.42 million copies, but sold only 1.12 million. The fact that "Resident Evil Zero" did not match or surpass the remake's sales figures, spread fear among Capcom executives and share holders. They worried that "Resident Evil 4" would not sell well enough on GameCube.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: In spite of "Resident Evil Zero"s underwhelming sales, Mikami remained confident in his support for Nintendo and announced four exclusive titles for the GameCube under development by Production Studio 4 in addition to "Resident Evil 4"; "P.N.03", "Viewtiful Joe", "killer7" and "Dead Phoenix". This lineup became known as the Capcom Five.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: The first of these games to be released was the Mikami-directed "P.N. 03". The game was both a commercial and critical failure, receiving lukewarm reviews from the press and selling below expectations. As a result, Mikami stepped down as manager of Production Studio 4, while remaining as one of the head producers within the team. After his failure with "P.N.03", Mikami decided to concentrate instead on the creative aspects of the Capcom 5. He eventually took over directorial duties for "Resident Evil 4" from previous director, Hiroshi Shibata. Under his direction, "Resident Evil 4" went through some substantial changes. "Resident Evil 4" was released in 2005 and was one of the GameCube's top-selling titles, selling 1,250,000 units worldwide within a year. The game was critically praised, winning many game of the year awards.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: "Resident Evil 4" is regarded as one of the most influential games of the 2000s decade, due to its influence in redefining at least two video game genres: the survival horror and the third-person shooter. "Resident Evil 4" attempted to redefine the survival horror genre by emphasizing reflexes and precision aiming, thus broadening the gameplay of the series with elements from the wider action game genre. It helped redefine the third-person shooter genre by introducing a "reliance on offset camera angles that fail to obscure the action." The "over the shoulder" viewpoint introduced in "Resident Evil 4" has now become standard in third-person shooters, including titles ranging from "Gears of War" to "". It has also become a standard “precision aim” feature for action games in general, with examples ranging from "Dead Space" and "Grand Theft Auto" to the "Ratchet & Clank Future" series.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: Mikami touted the game as a GameCube exclusive. In an interview with a Japanese magazine, Mikami even said that he would "commit harakiri" if it came out on another platform. This was loosely translated as Mikami claiming to "cut [his own] head" and later parodied in "God Hand", which featured a racing dog named "Mikami's Head". In a 2017 interview, he apologized for "Resident Evil 4" going multiplatform.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: After the success of "Resident Evil 4", Mikami left Studio 4 and was transferred over to and originally established Clover Studio in July 2004, which employed an all-star lineup of Capcom development talent, including Atsushi Inaba (producer of "Steel Battalion" and "Viewtiful Joe"), and Hideki Kamiya ("Devil May Cry" director). At Clover, Mikami directed "God Hand", a beat 'em up comedy game that parodies American and Japanese pop culture. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2006, and on October 10, 2006 in North America. After Clover Studio closed in 2007, Mikami joined Seeds Inc, now known as PlatinumGames, the newly formed successor of his former studio. PlatinumGames is composed of several of Mikami's former Capcom colleagues, including Hideki Kamiya, Atsushi Inaba, Yuta Kimura, Nao Ueda, Mari Shimazaki and Masami Ueda.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: Mikami formed a private development studio called Straight Story in 2006. The name of the studio is taken from David Lynch's 1999 film. Their works are under the PlatinumGames branding and he is a contract employee ("external board member") of PlatinumGames. He also collaborated with Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda on Shadows of the Damned using the Unreal Engine 3 and published by EA. Mikami revealed that Straight Story will close once development of "Vanquish" is completed. Straight Story will be replaced with Mikami's new studio, Tango, which has already been established.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: Much like "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil 4" before it, the third-person shooter game "Vanquish", released in 2010, has proven to be an influential title for action games. It significantly improved upon the cover system, where in contrast to previous cover-based shooters, the cover in "Vanquish" is easily destructible, with often a single shot from a robotic enemy being enough to blast away the wall the player was hiding behind. The game also penalizes the player's ranking for the number of times they have taken cover, though its most important innovation is the power-slide mechanic that allows the player to slide into and out of cover at high speeds, or in bullet time when the player's health is low. The game was given GameSpot's Best Original Game Mechanic award for its rocket-sliding game mechanic, which acts as both a defensive escape and an offensive setup, opening up new gameplay possibilities for shooter games and increasing the pace significantly. "Vanquish" was itself inspired by Tatsunoko's 1970s anime series, "Casshern".


title: Shinji Mikami

text: As Platinum was "overwhelmingly understaffed", Mikami sent the entire "Vanquish" team to work on "Bayonetta". He considers his final year at the company as the second worst nadir of his career: Once "Vanquish" was done, his team was disbanded, and he was not given any work besides attending meetings three times a week, effectively stuck in a position.


title: Shinji Mikami

text: A teaser website opened on March 18, 2010, titled "Mikami Project" with a countdown attached. The website changed into a job employment page, for Mikami's new studio, "Tango". On October 28, 2010, ZeniMax Media, parent company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, announced Mikami joined ZeniMax after it acquired Tango Gameworks. An April 2012 "Famitsu" interview with Mikami revealed the codename title of "Zwei" for the company's survival horror game "The Evil Within", with Mikami directing. The game was released October 2014. The game is published by Bethesda on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Mikami stated that this will be the last game he directs. He stated that it will be a "true" survival horror game, "one in which the player confronts and overcomes fear", because he was disappointed by recent survival horror games becoming action horror games. In 2019, it was announced at E3 that his studio is working on a new project titled "".


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: Adrian Czajkowski (spelled as Adrian Tchaikovsky for his books) is a British fantasy and science fiction author. He is known best for his series "Shadows of the Apt", and for his novel "Children of Time".


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: "Children of Time" was awarded the 30th Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2016. Author James Lovegrove described it as "superior stuff, tackling big themes – gods, messiahs, artificial intelligence, alienness – with brio".


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: Adrian Czajkowski was born in Lincolnshire in Woodhall Spa on 4 June 1972. He is of Polish descent. He studied zoology and psychology at the University of Reading. He then qualified as a legal executive. He was employed as a legal executive for the Commercial Dispute Department of Blacks, Solicitors, of Leeds. In late 2018 he became a full time writer.


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: In 2008, after Tchaikovsky had spent fifteen years trying to get published, his novel "Empire in Black and Gold" was published by Tor Books (UK)an imprint of Pan Macmillanin the United Kingdom. The series was later published in America by Pyr Books. Tchaikovsky expressed desire that the Polish editions of his novels feature the original Polish spelling of his surname, but these too used "Tchaikovsky".


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: On 23 January 2019, Tchaikovsky was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts by the University of Lincoln.


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: Tchaikovsky revealed the basis of "Shadows of the Apt" in an online essay entitled "Entering the Shadows" at Upcoming4.me.


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: Whilst studying at the University of Reading he managed a role-playing game named "Bugworld". The game concerned the story of the insect-people of the Lowlands, threatened by the encroaching Wasp Empire. From this original scenario the entire series of books grew.


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: Tchaikovsky still uses role-playing games to help develop his stories, but now also uses live action role-playing, which assists in describing the numerous action and battle sequences in his books. He is currently involved with the LARP game "Empire".


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: Tchaikovsky has regularly expressed his intention regarding the "Shadows of the Apt" series not to make science better than magic, or vice versa: "This is another key element, really: the magic/tech divide is a concept that turns up here and there in fantasy, but usually one side is good (mostly magic) and the other (dirty polluting tech) is bad. With the world of the kinden, they’re basically both as bad as the people who use them, whether it’s blood sacrifice in a Mantis-kinden grove or the Wasp Empire’s city-levelling weaponry."


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: "Redemption's Blade" (Solaris Books, 2018), , is the first book in a multi-author series. The series was continued with "Salvation's Fire" by Justina Robson and published on 4 September 2018.


title: Adrian Tchaikovsky

text: Tchaikovsky's first "Warhammer 40,000" novel "Day of Ascension" (2022), like his short story "Raised in Darkness" from "Inferno! Volume 6" (2021), concerns the insidious Genestealer Cults.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Game development occurred in parallel with "Final Fantasy VIII". Envisioned by developers as a retrospective for the series, it departed from the futuristic settings of "Final Fantasy VI", "Final Fantasy VII", and "Final Fantasy VIII" by returning to the medieval style of the earlier games. Consequently, it draws heavy influence from the original "Final Fantasy" and features allusions to the rest of the series. The game introduced new features to the series despite this approach, such as "Active Time Event" cutscenes, "Mognet", and skill systems. "Final Fantasy IX" was the last game in the main series whose music was composed solely by Nobuo Uematsu.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: "Final Fantasy IX" released to critical acclaim and was commercially successful, selling more than 5.5 million copies on PlayStation by March 2016. It was re-released in 2010 as a PS1 Classic on the PlayStation Store—this version was compatible with PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable; PlayStation Vita support arrived in 2012. Square Enix released ports featuring minor gameplay and graphical enhancements for various other platforms in the late 2010s. An animated series adaptation by Square Enix and Cyber Group Studios was announced in 2021.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: In "Final Fantasy IX", the player navigates a character through the game world, exploring areas and interacting with non-player characters. Most of the game occurs on "field screens" consisting of pre-rendered backgrounds representing towns and dungeons. To aid exploration on the field screen, "Final Fantasy IX" introduces the "field icon", an exclamation mark appearing over the lead character's head, indicating a point of interest. Players speak with Moogles to record their progress, recover their energy, and purchase items. An extensive optional quest involves sending and receiving letters from Moogles and other non-playable characters via Mognet, an in-game postal service.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Players journey between field screen locations on the world map, a three-dimensional representation of "Final Fantasy IX"s world presented from a top-down perspective. Players can freely navigate around the world map unless restricted by obstacles such as bodies of water or mountain ranges. To traverse these impediments, players can ride chocobos, sail on a boat, or pilot airships. Like previous "Final Fantasy" games, players enter battles caused by random encounters with enemies while traveling across the world map or hostile field screens. "Final Fantasy IX" offers a new approach to town exploration with Active Time Events (ATE). These allow the player to view events unfolding at different locations, providing character development, unique items, and prompts for story-altering decisions. ATEs are occasionally used to simultaneously control two teams when the party divides to solve puzzles and navigate mazes.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: When the player encounters an enemy, the map changes to a battle screen. The player issues commands to characters from an on-screen menu on the battle screen, including physically attacking, using items from the inventory, and unique character-specific abilities that define their role in battle. For example, the thief Zidane can steal items, Eiko and Garnet can summon "eidolons" to aid the party, and Vivi can use black magic to damage the opposition. The speed and order in which the characters and enemies take their turn varies according to their agility, an implementation of the Active Time Battle system first featured in "Final Fantasy IV". Character-specific commands change when the character goes into "Trance mode", which is activated for a short duration when the character sustains a specified amount of damage similar to the Limit Breaks in "Final Fantasy VII". Trance mode amplifies the character's strength and allows the player to select more powerful attack commands. For example, Vivi's "Black Magic" command changes into "Double Black", allowing him to cast two magic spells at once. Winning battles awards money, items, "experience points", and "ability points".


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Experience points determine a character's combat attributes like agility, strength, and magical power. Accumulating sufficient experience points results in a "level up", which permanently increases combat attributes. Equipment worn by a character may also amplify their attributes. Certain weapons and armor also bestow special abilities, which the character may use when equipped. When the character earns enough ability points, it becomes usable without the item equipped. There are two types of abilities: action and support. Action abilities require magic points to use and include magical spells and special moves used in battle. Support abilities provide functions that remain in effect passively, such as increasing power against certain types of enemies. The maximum number of effects characters can equip at once is determined by level.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: "Final Fantasy IX" takes place primarily in a world named Gaia. Most of Gaia's population lives on the Mist Continent, named after the thick Mist that blankets the lowlands. Large mountain ranges act as natural borders that separate its four nations: Alexandria, Lindblum, Burmecia, and Cleyra. Alexandria is a warmongering monarchy that controls the eastern half of the continent. One of its cities is Treno, a cultural nexus under perpetual starlight that is home to many aristocrats and paupers alike. The technologically advanced Lindblum, a hub of airship travel, is nestled on a plateau to the southwest. Both countries feature a mix of humans, humanoids, and anthropomorphic animals. Burmecia, a kingdom showered by endless rain, is in the northwest. Cleyra, a neighboring settlement that seceded from Burmecia due to the latter's appreciation for war, is situated in a giant tree in the desert, protected by a sandstorm. Both are inhabited by anthropomorphic rats with a fondness for dance and spear fighting.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Players eventually explore the Outer, Lost, and Forgotten Continents as well. Civilizations on the Outer Continent include Conde Petie, home of the dwarves; Black Mage Village, a secret settlement of sentient magician drones; and Madain Sari, once home to a near-extinct race of horned humanoid summoners who conjure powerful magical beings called eidolons. Also on the Outer Continent is the Iifa Tree, which disperses the Mist to other continents through its roots. This Mist stimulates the fighting instinct in humanoids and contributes to Gaia's bloody history. The Lost and Forgotten continents are littered mostly with ancient ruins. Scattered throughout the marshes of Gaia are the Qu: large, frog-eating, and seemingly androgynous humanoids who are considered great gourmands. Late in the game, players briefly travel to the parallel world of Terra and the dream realm of Memoria.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: The main playable characters are: Zidane Tribal, a member of a group of bandits called Tantalus who are masquerading as a theater troupe; Garnet Til Alexandros XVII (alias Dagger), the Princess of Alexandria who runs away with Zidane; Vivi Ornitier, a young, timid, and kind black mage with an unknown origin; Adelbert Steiner, a brash Alexandrian knight captain and loyal servant of Princess Garnet; Freya Crescent, a Burmecian dragoon searching for her lost love; Quina Quen, a Qu whose master wants them to travel the world so that they will learn about cuisine; Eiko Carol, a young girl living in Madain Sari who is one of the last summoners; and Amarant Coral, a bounty hunter hired to return Garnet to Alexandria. Other important characters include Cid Fabool, the charismatic Regent of Lindblum; Brahne, Garnet's mother and the power-hungry Queen of Alexandria; General Beatrix, the general of Alexandria's all-female army; Garland, an elderly Terran male tasked with saving his world; and antagonist Kuja, an arms dealer and pawn of Garland who questions his own existence.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: In Alexandria, Zidane and Tantalus kidnap Princess Garnet by order of Cid. Garnet does not resist, for she was already planning to flee and warn Cid of Queen Brahne's increasingly erratic behavior. Vivi and Steiner join the party during the escape. En route to Lindblum, the group discovers that Brahne is manufacturing soulless black mage soldiers that look similar to Vivi. In Lindblum, Cid confirms that he hired the group to protect Garnet from Brahne's newfound aggression. After learning that Alexandria has invaded Burmecia with the black mages, Zidane and Vivi join Freya to investigate. Garnet and Steiner secretly return to Alexandria to reason with Brahne.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Zidane's team finds that the Alexandrian forces, headed by Beatrix, conquered Burmecia with help from Kuja and the refugees have fled to Cleyra. Brahne imprisons Garnet, extracts her eidolons, and uses the eidolon, Odin to destroy Cleyra while Zidane's group defends the city. The party escapes on Brahne's airship, rendezvous with Steiner, and rescues Garnet. Meanwhile, Brahne cripples Lindblum with another eidolon, Atomos. Cid explains that Kuja supplies Brahne with black mages and the knowledge to use eidolons. The party befriends Quina and tracks Kuja to the Outer Continent. Brahne hires bounty hunters Lani and Amarant to capture Garnet. On the Outer Continent, the party defeats Lani and meets Eiko, a summoner who lives with a group of moogles in the village of Madain Sari. Eiko leads Zidane and the others to the Iifa Tree. Inside, they learn that Kuja uses Mist to create the black mages and that Vivi was a prototype. The party defeats the monster that generates the Mist within the Tree, which clears it from the Mist Continent. While waiting for Kuja's reprisal at Madain Sari, Lani and Amarant attempt to kidnap Eiko but Zidane and the moogles foil them. Amarant then challenges Zidane to a duel and loses. He joins the party and Garnet learns of her heritage as a summoner who was adopted by Brahne as a child. At the Tree, Brahne attempts to kill Kuja with an eidolon so she can rule unopposed, but he takes control of it and destroys her and her army.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: After Garnet's coronation, Kuja attacks Alexandria Castle. Garnet and Eiko summon an extremely powerful eidolon in defense; Kuja attempts to steal the eidolon as a means to kill his master, Garland, but the latter arrives and destroys it. The party chases Kuja through a portal to Terra, where the antagonists' goals become clear. The Terrans created Garland to merge their dying world with Gaia; Garland, in turn, created self-aware, soulless vessels called Genomes. For millennia, Garland has been using the Iifa Tree to replace deceased Gaian souls with the hibernating Terran souls, turning the former into Mist in the process; this will allow the Terrans to be reborn into the Genomes after the planetary merge. Kuja and Zidane are Genomes created to accelerate this process by bringing war and chaos to Gaia. Kuja had betrayed Garland to avoid becoming occupied by a Terran soul. Kuja defeats Garland, who reveals before dying that the former has a limited lifespan anyhow: Garland designed Zidane to be his replacement. Enraged, Kuja destroys Terra and escapes to the Iifa Tree.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: At the Iifa tree, the party enters Memoria and reaches the origin of the universe: the Crystal World. They defeat Kuja, preventing him from destroying the original crystal of life and thus the universe. After defeating Necron, a force of death, the Tree collapses; the party flees, while Zidane stays behind to rescue Kuja. One year later, the game reveals the cast's fate: Tantalus arrives in Alexandria to put on a show; Vivi has implicitly died as Black Mages only live for a year, but he has left behind several identical "sons"; Freya and Fratley are rebuilding Burmecia; Cid has adopted Eiko; Quina works in the castle's kitchen; Amarant and Lani are travelling together; and Garnet presides as queen of Alexandria, with Steiner and Beatrix as her guards. In the climax of Tantalus's performance, the lead actor reveals himself as Zidane in disguise and reunites with Queen Garnet.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Early planning for "Final Fantasy IX" began in July 1998 before Square had finished development on "Final Fantasy VIII". The game was developed in Hawaii as a compromise to developers living in the United States. As the series' last game on the PlayStation, Sakaguchi envisioned a "reflection" on the older games of the series. Leading up to its release, Sakaguchi called "Final Fantasy IX" his favorite "Final Fantasy" game as "it's closest to [his] ideal view of what "Final Fantasy" should be". This shift was also a response to demands from fans and other developers. Additionally, the team wanted to create a coherent story with deep character development; this led to the creation of Active Time Events which showcase the character's individual exploration away from the protagonist. Sakaguchi wrote the scenario for the game.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: In the game's conceptual stage, the developers made it clear that the title would not necessarily be "Final Fantasy IX", as its break from the realism of "Final Fantasy VII" and "Final Fantasy VIII" may have alienated audiences. This idea led fans to speculate that it would be a "gaiden" (side story) to the main series. By late 1999, however, Square had confirmed that the game would indeed be titled "Final Fantasy IX", and by early 2000, they had almost finished the game. The developers made several adjustments to the game, such as changing the ending seven times. Director Hiroyuki Ito had designed the battle system used in the game.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: The game's developers sought to make the game's environment more "fantasy-oriented" than its PlayStation predecessors by reintroducing a medieval setting. In the game world, steam technology is just beginning to become widely available. The population relies on hydropower or wind power for energy sources but sometimes harness Mist or steam to drive more advanced engines. Norse and Northern European mythology also inspired the game's setting. According to Ito, "[The development team is] attracted to European history and mythology because of its depth and its drama". The main "Final Fantasy IX" website says the development of the game's world serves as a culmination of the series by blending the "successful elements of the past, such as a return to the fantasy roots," with newer elements. To accomplish this and satisfy fans who had become used to the realistic designs of "Final Fantasy VIII", the designers stressed creating characters with whom the player could easily relate. The characters had "comic-like looks" as a result. Ito suggested that the protagonist Zidane should be flirtatious towards women.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Unlike the previous game, the cutscenes in "Final Fantasy IX" don't use motion capture for the characters.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu wrote the music of Final Fantasy IX. In early discussions about the game, Ito asked him to compose themes for the eight main characters along with "an exciting battle track, a gloomy, danger-evoking piece, and around ten other tracks." Uematsu spent a year composing and producing "around 160" pieces for "Final Fantasy IX", with 140 appearing in the game. During writing sessions, Square gave him a travel break in Europe for inspiration, where he spent time admiring ancient architecture in places like Germany. Uematsu cited medieval music as a significant influence on the score of "Final Fantasy IX". He aimed for a "simple" and "warm" atmosphere and incorporated uncommon instruments like the kazoo and dulcimer. Unlike the stark realism of its predecessors, the high fantasy undertones of "Final Fantasy IX" allowed for a broader spectrum of musical styles and moods. Uematsu composed with a piano and used two contrasting methods: "I create music that fits the events in the game, but sometimes, the [developers] will adjust a game event to fit the music I've already written."


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Uematsu incorporated several motifs from older "Final Fantasy" games into the score, such as the original battle music intro, a reworked "Volcano Theme" from "Final Fantasy" and the Pandemonium theme in "Final Fantasy II". Tantalus' band plays "Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony" from "Final Fantasy VII" near the beginning of the game. Uematsu has stated on several occasions that "Final Fantasy IX" is his favorite score. "Melodies of Life" is the theme song of "Final Fantasy IX" and shares its main melody with pieces frequently used in the game itself, such as the overworld theme and a lullaby that Garnet sings. Emiko Shiratori performed this piece in both the Japanese and English versions with arrangement by Shirō Hamaguchi.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: "Final Fantasy IX"s release was delayed to avoid a simultaneous release with then-rival Enix's "Dragon Quest VII". On October 7, 2000, a demo day for the North American version of "Final Fantasy IX" was held at the Metreon in San Francisco, California. The first American release of the game was also at the Metreon; limited-edition merchandise was included with the game and fans cosplayed as "Final Fantasy" characters in celebration of the release. In Canada, a production error left copies of "Final Fantasy IX" without an English version of the instruction manual, prompting Square to ship copies of the English manual to Canadian stores several days later. Square heavily promoted the game both before and after its release. Starting on March 6, 2000, "Final Fantasy IX" characters appeared in a line of computer-generated Coca-Cola commercials. Figurines of several characters were also used as prizes in Coca-Cola's marketing campaign. That same year, "IGN" awarded "Final Fantasy" dolls and figurines for prizes in several of their contests.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: "Final Fantasy IX" was also the benchmark of Square's interactive PlayOnline service. PlayOnline was initially developed to interface with "Final Fantasy X" but became a strategy site for "Final Fantasy IX" when those plans fell through. Square designed the website to complement BradyGames' and Piggyback Interactive's official strategy guides for the game, where players who bought the print guide had access to "keywords" that they could search for on PlayOnline's site for extra tips and information. This design caused anger among buyers of the guide who felt cheated by the expensive print version's omissions. The blunder made "GameSpy"'s "Top 5 Dumbest Moments in Gaming" list, and Square dropped the idea for "Final Fantasy X", which was under development at the time.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: On December 18, 2012, Square Enix re-released the game as part of the "Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ultimate Box" Japanese package. On February 10, 2016, a remastered version was released for iOS and Android.<ref name="iOS/Android"></ref> The remaster features HD movies and character models, an auto-save feature, seven different game boosters, including high speed and no encounter modes, and achievements. A port for Microsoft Windows was released on April 14, 2016. In September 2017, the Windows port was released on PlayStation 4. It was also released on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Windows 10 in North America on February 13, 2019, and in other regions a day later.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: "Final Fantasy IX" sold over 2.65 million copies in Japan by the end of 2000, making it the second-highest selling game of the year in the region. Although it was a top-seller in Japan and America, "Final Fantasy IX" did not sell as many copies as "Final Fantasy VII" or "Final Fantasy VIII" in either Japan or the United States. In 2001, the game received a "Gold" certification from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD), for sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The original PlayStation version sold over 5.5 million copies by March 2016.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: "Final Fantasy IX" released to critical acclaim both in Japan and abroad. It achieved a 94/100 on the review aggregator Metacritic making it their highest-scoring "Final Fantasy" game. The game was voted the 24th-best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine "Famitsu". Francesca Reyes of "Next Generation" called it "an imaginative return to the roots of the "Final Fantasy" series that hits the RPG mark dead-on."


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Critics generally praised the title's gameplay and combat system. "GameSpot" approved of the simple learning curve and that the ability system is not as complex as in "Final Fantasy VII" or "Final Fantasy VIII". Each character possesses unique abilities, which prevents one character from overpowering the others. "GameSpot" describes the battle system as having a tactical nature and notes that the expanded party allows for more interaction between players and between enemies. Nevertheless, "IGN" disliked the lengthy combat pace and the repeated battles, describing it as "aggravating". "RPGFan" felt the Trance system was ineffective because the meter buildup is slow and unpredictable, with characters Trancing just before the enemy dies.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: The characters and graphics also received positive reviews. Although "IGN" felt that the characters were similar to those in other "Final Fantasy" games, the characters were still engaging and sympathetic. "GameSpot" found the characters amusing and full of humor. "IGN" also noted that even the Active Time Event system helps expand the player's understanding of the characters' personalities as they grapple with many ideas and emotions. "RPGFan" enjoyed the detailed animation and design of the semi-deformed graphical style. They also praised the pre-rendered backgrounds, noting the careful attention given to the artwork, movement in animations, and character interactivity. They commended the cutscenes for being emotionally compelling and highlighted the seamless transition between cutscenes and in-game graphics. The music also received praise, with "Electronic Gaming Monthly" listing it the best soundtrack on their list of top five original soundtracks, while "GamePro" praised the audio for evoking "emotions throughout the story, from battles to heartbreak to comedy".


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: Critics acknowledged that Square primarily built the storyline upon elements found in previous "Final Fantasy" installments, such as evil empires and enigmatic villains. The main villain, although considered by "GameSpot" to be the least threatening in the series, was seen by "IGN" as an impeccable combination of "Kefka's cackling villainy" and "plenty of the bishonenosity that made Sephiroth such a hit with the ladies". "RPGFan" felt that the music was "uninspired and dull" compared to previous "Final Fantasy" titles and criticized composer Uematsu for reusing some tracks from past iterations of the series. Still, reviewers have concluded that this and many other elements are part of the overall effort to create a nostalgic game for fans of the older "Final Fantasy" games.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: The strategy guide also received criticism; it urged buyers to log onto an online site to gain the information instead of providing it within the actual guide. The book's given links are no longer accessible on the PlayOnline website. The minigame Tetra Master was seen by "GameSpot" as inferior and confusing compared to "Final Fantasy VIII"s minigame Triple Triad as the rules are vaguely explained and offered few rewards despite its expansive nature.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: "Final Fantasy IX" was voted the 4th best "Final Fantasy" game in a poll by Japan's national broadcasting organization NHK. "IGN" named it the 14th best game on the original PlayStation, calling it an "incredible" way to close out the "Final Fantasy" series's first nine games and complimented its reverence for those titles. "Rock Paper Shotgun" named the title their 4th best "Final Fantasy" game, praising the cast and its eclectic group of heroes. Though overshadowed during its initial release by other "Final Fantasy" titles, the game has been recognized for its mature themes, including mortality and handling death and is considered a JRPG masterpiece. The music has also been called one of Uematsu's greatest scores. The game has inspired a number of mods such as "Moguri Mod", which is an unofficial remaster project developed by fans which saw its initial release in 2018.


title: Final Fantasy IX

text: In 2015, OverClocked ReMix released a four-disc collection called "Worlds Apart" with 120 songs to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the game's release. in June 2021, Cyber Group Studios and Square Enix announced plans to develop an animated television series based on "Final Fantasy IX", with production starting in 2022.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: Christopher James Paolini (born November 17, 1983) is an American author and screenwriter. He is best known for "The Inheritance Cycle", which consists of the books "Eragon", "Eldest", "Brisingr", "Inheritance", and the follow up short story collection "The Fork, the Witch and the Worm". His first science fiction novel, "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars", was published on September 15, 2020. He lives in Paradise Valley, Montana, where he wrote his first book.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: Paolini was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in the area of Paradise Valley, Montana. His family members include his parents, Kenneth Paolini and Talita Hodgkinson, and his younger sister, Angela Paolini. Home schooled for the duration of his education, Paolini graduated from high school at the age of 15 through a set of accredited correspondence courses from the American School of Correspondence in Lansing, Illinois.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: He started his work on his first novel, "Eragon", at the age of 15. This novel would become the first of a four-book series set in the mythical land of Alagaësia.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: In 2002, "Eragon" was published for the first time by Paolini International LLC, Paolini's parents' publishing company. To promote the book, Paolini toured over 135 schools and libraries, discussing reading and writing, all the while dressed in "a medieval costume of red shirt, billowy black pants, lace-up boots, and a jaunty black cap." He drew the cover art for the first edition of "Eragon", which featured Saphira's eye, along with the maps on the inside covers of his books.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: In mid-2002, the stepson of author Carl Hiaasen found "Eragon" in a bookstore and loved it; this led to Hiaasen bringing it to the attention of his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. Knopf subsequently made an offer to publish "Eragon" and the rest of "The Inheritance Cycle". The second edition of "Eragon" was published by Knopf in August 2003. At the age of nineteen, Paolini became a "New York Times"-bestselling author.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: In December 2006, Fox 2000 released the film adaptation of "Eragon" in theaters around the world. It received mostly negative reviews from critics, and made a combined domestic and international gross of $249,488,115 USD against a production budget of $100,000,000.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: "Eldest", the sequel to "Eragon", was released August 23, 2005. The third book in the cycle, "Brisingr", was released on September 20, 2008. Although "The Inheritance Cycle" was originally planned as a trilogy, a fourth book, "Inheritance", was released on November 8, 2011 in the US, Australia, New Zealand, the EU, and India, and was subsequently translated and published in fifty-three countries. "The Inheritance Cycle" has sold more than 41 million copies.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: On December 31, 2018, "The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm", the first book in a series called "Tales of Alagaësia", was published and released to the public.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: Paolini's new science fiction novel, "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars", was released on September 15, 2020, by Tor Books. He also plans to return to the world of Alagaësia with a fifth book when he finishes his science-fiction book.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: On July 25, 2022, "Variety" reported that Paolini was co-writing a live action television series adaptation of "Eragon" for Disney+, with Bert Salke executive producing.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: On October 3, 2022, Paolini announced "Fractal Noise", the second instalment in the Fractalverse and a prequel to "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars".


title: Christopher Paolini

text: Paolini's literary inspirations include the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and E. R. Eddison, as well as the epic poem "Beowulf". Paolini has said that "Eragon" was "specifically inspired" by "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher", by Bruce Coville. Other literary influences include David Eddings, Andre Norton, Brian Jacques, Anne McCaffrey, Raymond E. Feist, Mervyn Peake, Ursula K. Le Guin and Frank Herbert. Other favorite books include works by Jane Yolen, Philip Pullman, and Garth Nix.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: Nature influences much of Paolini's writing. In an interview with Philip Pullman and Tamora Pierce, Paolini said that Paradise Valley, Montana is "one of the main sources" of his inspiration.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: In the acknowledgments of "Brisingr", Paolini acknowledged the influence of Leon and Hiroko Kapp's "The Craft of the Japanese Sword" for his description of the forging of Eragon's sword. Additionally, Paolini has admitted that he is a "Doctor Who" fan, which inspired his reference to the "lonely god" (the epithet given to the Doctor by the Face of Boe in the episode "New Earth"), to "rooms that are bigger on the inside than the outside" (from "Questions Unanswered" in "Inheritance"), as well as to Raxacoricofallapatorius, the home of the Slitheen ("Blood Price" in "Inheritance").


title: Christopher Paolini

text: Paolini's books have sold very well and have topped the charts of "The New York Times", "USA Today", and "Publishers Weekly" bestsellers lists.


title: Christopher Paolini

text: The Guinness World Records recognized Christopher Paolini as the "youngest author of a bestselling book series" on January 5, 2011.


title: David Essex

text: David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most success with his 1973 single "Rock On". He has also had an extensive career as an actor.


title: David Essex

text: Essex was born in Plaistow, Essex (now a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Newham, included within Greater London on 23rd July 1947). His father, Albert, was an East End docker and his mother, Olive (née Kemp), was a self-taught pianist and an Irish Traveller. His grandfather, Thomas Kemp, was nicknamed "Philimore", which was the anglicised version of "Philly Mor" – being Irish for "Big Philly". Essex was two years old when his parents moved out of the overcrowded home the family was sharing with relatives, to Canning Town where he grew up.


title: David Essex

text: Essex attended Star Lane Primary School. He loved playing football and did not answer any of the questions in the Eleven plus exam for entry into a grammar school, so that he could ensure he attended Shipman County Secondary School where he knew they played the game. He was also a member of West Ham United Juniors for a while, and dreamed of one day being a professional player. He then also became interested in music and played drums with a local band (China Plates), before becoming a singer. In his teens he moved to Marks Gate near Chadwell Heath and Romford in Essex.


title: David Essex

text: He made his first record, titled "And the Tears Came Tumbling Down", for the Fontana label in 1965. He then toured with a band called 'David Essex and the Mood Indigo' for two years, and released a further seven singles in the 1960s. He also recorded two songs, "A Rose" and "Leon and John and Billy and Me" which remain unreleased, but exist as acetates. His first notable acting role, aside from small appearances in the films "Assault" and "All Coppers Are...", was the lead in the stage musical "Godspell" in 1971 at the age of 23.


title: David Essex

text: Two years later, he starred in the film "That'll Be the Day" (1973) and recorded his international hit single, the self-penned "Rock On", in the same year. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1974. It was nominated for a Grammy and reached No. 5 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. A second single, "Lamplight", also reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.


title: David Essex

text: In the 1970s, Essex emerged as a performer of some note. Contrary to a claim made in his own biography, his first concert was at the Granada in East Ham on Saturday 2 November 1974, and not at the Odeon. His biggest hits during this decade included two UK number one singles: "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974) and "Hold Me Close" (1975). He also appeared in "Stardust", a 1974 sequel to "That'll Be the Day". The title song was another Top 10 hit. In 1976, Essex covered the Beatles song "Yesterday" for the musical documentary "All This and World War II".


title: David Essex

text: Essex's pop idol looks gave him a strong female fan base, and his British tours created scenes of hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania. According to "The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles", he was voted the number one British male vocalist in 1974, and was a teen idol for more than a decade.


title: David Essex

text: In 1978, he appeared on Jeff Wayne's musical version of "The War of the Worlds", as the Artilleryman. In the UK the two-record set remains a best-seller.


title: David Essex

text: In the same year, Essex played the character Che in the original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Evita", and his recording of the show's "Oh What a Circus" reached number 3. As the best known of the principal performers, Essex actually received top billing, above Elaine Paige whose stardom seemingly arrived overnight with her casting in the show. His contract required him to remain with the show for just five and half months during which, unusually and as Essex had predicted, his understudy, Nigel Planer, was never required to perform.


title: David Essex

text: Two years later, he starred in the motorcycle racing film "Silver Dream Racer"; and the soundtrack song "Silver Dream Machine" was a top 5 hit in the UK Singles Chart. Essex, a keen motorcyclist, waived his fee for the then-new 1980 electric-start Triumph Bonneville he had contracted to advertise on behalf of the struggling Triumph motorcycle workers' co-operative.


title: David Essex

text: In 1985, he co-wrote and starred as Fletcher Christian in the West End musical "Mutiny!", based on the novel "Mutiny on the Bounty" by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The score produced two more hit singles, including "Tahiti", his tenth Top 10 success.


title: David Essex

text: Essex continued to perform in all areas of show business. A 1988 sitcom, "The River", achieved good ratings. In 1991, a music compilation entitled "His Greatest Hits" reached number 13; a 1993 album, "Cover Shot", featuring a cover version of the Buzz Cason/Mac Gayden song "Everlasting Love", peaked at number 3. His autobiography, "A Charmed Life", was published in 2002, and became a best-seller.


title: David Essex

text: In the 1999 New Year Honours, Essex was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for charitable services, especially to Voluntary Service Overseas." He still tours the UK every year and releases albums through his website. Despite his long and successful British career, he remains largely unknown in the United States. "Rock On" reached Number 3 in 1974, and was his only US "Cash Box" Top 40 hit single.


title: David Essex

text: Essex, who comes from a family of Irish Travellers, played a kind-hearted nomad in one episode of ITV1's 1960s Yorkshire-based drama "Heartbeat" in 2000. He played a character called Johnny Lee Essex told Jake Bowers of the BBC's "Rokker Radio", a programme for Gypsies and Travellers, on 30 July 2006, that he has always been openly proud of his Traveller family history. He was Patron of Britain's National Gypsy Council, which works for equal rights, education, and services for Romany and Irish Travellers.


title: David Essex

text: In 2005, he appeared as a guest vocalist on, and wrote songs for, Saint Etienne's album "Tales from Turnpike House". Also that year, he appeared in the Channel 4 documentary "Bring Back...The Christmas Number One".


title: David Essex

text: Essex was due to join the cast of soap opera "EastEnders", in early 2006, as new character Jack Edwards. However, the role was expanded beyond the three weeks planned, and Essex was unable to commit the time. The role instead went to Nicky Henson.


title: David Essex

text: A model and recording of Essex is featured in the museum of West Ham United Football Club. In the recording, he explains his reasons for supporting West Ham and his love of the team.


title: David Essex

text: Essex spent six years as an ambassador for Voluntary Service Overseas, which earned him an OBE in 1999.


title: David Essex

text: Essex used to record and release records on his own record label, Lamplight. He has since changed the name of his company to Joseph Webster Ltd, named after his first grandchild. He tours regularly and continues to act, appearing in "Boogie Nights 2", "Footloose" and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Aspects of Love". From September 2008 to the summer of 2009 he took his own musical, "All the Fun of the Fair", on a tour of the United Kingdom. He followed this in the autumn with a sell-out solo tour of the UK, named the Secret Tour. Essex has released a DVD on his website of the last night of the tour, filmed in Bournemouth. He returned to London's West End with "All the Fun of the Fair" but with a different ending from that performed in the provinces.


title: David Essex

text: On 20 September 2010, Essex married Welsh actress Susan Hallam-Wright (born 1973) his third wife, at St Cross Church, Talybont, near Bangor, North Wales. He first met her at the end of 2008 when she was auditioning for a role in "All the Fun of the Fair". She got the part of Sally, then got promoted to the role of Mary, Jack's girlfriend, for the West End version at the Garrick Theatre in London in April 2010. Essex had previously been married to Maureen Neal (in 1971) and Carlotta Christy (in 1997).


title: David Essex

text: Essex has five children. He had two children (Verity and Danny) with his first wife, Maureen Neal; twins (Billy and Kit) with his second wife, Carlotta Christy; and a fourth son (Sonny) with his third wife, Susan Hallam-Wright.


title: David Essex

text: In January 2011, it was announced that Essex had finally joined the cast of "EastEnders" as Eddie Moon, five years after he was initially supposed to appear in the show. His first on-screen appearance was on 3 June 2011. Eddie left the square on 6 October 2011. He then wrote the music score for the film "Traveller" (2013), in which he co-starred with his son Billy Cook who played the main role as a half-gypsy trying to find his identity.


title: Sandra Vergara

text: Sandra Vergara (born September 11, 1988) is a Colombian actress, television host and model. Since 2020, she has served as a correspondent for "People" magazine‘s series "People (The TV Show)." She is also the co-host and beauty expert of Yahoo!'s digital series "Hook'd" (2019–present).


title: Sandra Vergara

text: Sandra Vergara Medina was born on September 11, 1988 in Colombia. She was adopted by her aunt at one month old, due to her biological mother's failing health. Her mother, Margarita Vergara de Vergara, was a homemaker, and her father, Julio Enrique Vergara Robayo, was a cattle rancher for the meat industry. She is the cousin and adopted sister of actress Sofía Vergara and singer Veronica Vergara. Upon arriving to Los Angeles, she lived with sister Sofia for four years and worked as a wardrobe stylist and makeup artist. She worked with several celebrity clients, such as Jordana Brewster, Asia Argento, Bijou Phillips, Casey Johnson and Rumer Willis.


title: Sandra Vergara

text: Vergara started her modeling at age 24, and appeared in pictorials for "Maxim, Esquire" and "Regard". In 2009, she portrayed Beauty in the CBS police procedural drama series "", in the episode "". In 2010, Vergara appeared in 40 episodes of the soap opera "Chico de mi Barrio" as Sofia. She appeared in the horror film "Fright Night" (2011) as Ginger. In March 2011, Vergara was cast in the pilot of NBC's "Mann's World". In 2013, she landed the role of Theresa Corazon in six episodes of the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful".


title: Sandra Vergara

text: She had guest roles on television shows such as "Nip/Tuck, Eleventh Hour" and "". In 2015, she became the beauty expert and co-host of E!'s talk show revolving around plastic surgery titled "Good Work", alongside RuPaul and Terry Dubrow. The show featured the hosts and guests discussing the "good work" and the "not so good work" of Hollywood celebrities regarding the quality of their plastic surgery. In 2019, she became the co-host of Yahoo!’s digital series "Hook’d" and a regular contributor to Yahoo! Lifestyle digital.


title: Sandra Vergara

text: In August 2020, "Variety" announced that Vergara is serving as a Los Angeles correspondent for "People" magazine‘s new series "People (The TV Show)". The series premiered on September 14, 2020 on "People"'s website, other "People" platforms, and on Meredith’s local television markets.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian (; ; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He was an early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy, including contemporary Christian Gnosticism. Tertullian has been called "the father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology".


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian originated new theological concepts and advanced the development of early Church doctrine. He is perhaps most famous for being the first writer in Latin known to use the term "trinity" (Latin: "trinitas").


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian was never recognized as a saint by the Eastern or Western Catholic churches. Several of his teachings on issues such as the clear subordination of the Son and Spirit to the Father, as well as his condemnation of remarriage for widows and of fleeing from persecution, contradict the doctrines of these traditions, and his later rejection of orthodoxy for Montanism has led these communions to refrain from considering him a Church father, important ecclesiastical writer though he was.


title: Tertullian

text: Scant reliable evidence exists regarding Tertullian's life; most knowledge comes from passing references in his own writings. Roman Africa was famous as the home of orators, and that influence can be seen in his writing style with its archaisms or provincialisms, its glowing imagery and its passionate temper. He was a scholar with an excellent education. He wrote at least three books in Greek. In them, he refers to himself, but none of them is extant.


title: Tertullian

text: Some sources describe him as Berber. The linguist René Braun suggested that he was of Punic origin but acknowledged that it is difficult to decide since the heritage of Carthage had become common to the Berbers. Tertullian's own understanding of his ethnicity has been questioned. He referred to himself as "Poenicum inter Romanos" () in his book "De Pallio" and claimed Africa as his patria. According to church tradition, Tertullian was raised in Carthage and was thought to be the son of a Roman centurion. Tertullian has been claimed to have been a trained lawyer and an ordained priest. Those assertions rely on the accounts of Eusebius of Caesarea, "Church History", II, ii. 4, and Jerome's "De viris illustribus" ("On famous men") chapter 53. Jerome claimed that Tertullian's father held the position of "centurio proconsularis" ("aide-de-camp") in the Roman army in Africa.


title: Tertullian

text: Further, Tertullian has been thought to be a lawyer, based on his use of legal analogies and on an identification of him with the jurist Tertullianus, who is quoted in the "Pandects". Although Tertullian used a knowledge of Roman law in his writings, his legal knowledge does not demonstrably exceed what could be expected from a sufficient Roman education. The writings of Tertullianus, a lawyer of the same "cognomen", exist only in fragments and do not explicitly denote a Christian authorship. Finally, any notion of Tertullian being a priest is also questionable. In his extant writings, he never describes himself as ordained in the church and seems to place himself among the laity.


title: Tertullian

text: His conversion to Christianity perhaps took place about 197–198 (cf. Adolf Harnack, Bonwetsch, and others), but its immediate antecedents are unknown except as they are conjectured from his writings. The event must have been sudden and decisive, transforming at once his own personality. He writes that he could not imagine a truly Christian life without such a conscious breach, a radical act of conversion: "Christians are made, not born" ("Apol.", xviii). Two books addressed to his wife confirm that he was married to a Christian wife.


title: Tertullian

text: In his middle life (about 207), he was attracted to the "New Prophecy" of Montanism, but today most scholars reject the assertion that Tertullian left the mainstream church or was excommunicated. "[W]e are left to ask whether Saint Cyprian could have regarded Tertullian as his master if Tertullian had been a notorious schismatic. Since no ancient writer was more definite (if not indeed fanatical) on this subject of schism than Saint Cyprian, the question must surely be answered in the negative."


title: Tertullian

text: In the time of Augustine, a group of "Tertullianists" still had a basilica in Carthage, which within the same period passed to the orthodox church. It is unclear whether the name was merely another for the Montanists or that it means that Tertullian later split with the Montanists and founded his own group.


title: Tertullian

text: Jerome says that Tertullian lived to old age. By the doctrinal works he published, Tertullian became the teacher of Cyprian and the predecessor of Augustine, who in turn became the chief founder of Latin theology.


title: Tertullian

text: Thirty-one works are extant, together with fragments of more. Some fifteen works in Latin or Greek are lost, some as recently as the 9th century ("De Paradiso, De superstitione saeculi, De carne et anima" were all extant in the now damaged Codex Agobardinus in 814 AD). Tertullian's writings cover the whole theological field of the timeapologetics against paganism and Judaism, polemics, polity, discipline, and morals, or the whole reorganization of human life on a Christian basis; they gave a picture of the religious life and thought of the time which is of great interest to the church historian.


title: Tertullian

text: Like other early Christian writers Tertullian used the term "paganus" to mean "civilian" as a contrast to the "soldiers of Christ". The motif of Miles Christi did not assume the literal meaning of participation in war until Church doctrines justifying Christian participation in battle were developed around the 5th century. In the 2nd-century writings of Tertullian, "paganus" meant a "civilian" who was lacking self-discipline. In "De Corona Militis" XI.V he writes:


title: Tertullian

text: The chronology of his writings is difficult to fix with certainty. It is in part determined by the Montanistic views that are set forth in some of them, by the author's own allusions to "this" writing, or "that," as antedating others (cf. Harnack, "Litteratur" ii.260–262), and by definite historic data (e.g., the reference to the death of Septimius Severus, "Ad Scapulam", iv). In his work against Marcion, which he calls his third composition on the Marcionite heresy, he gives its date as the fifteenth year of the reign of Severus ("Adv. Marcionem", i.1, 15) – which would be approximately 208.


title: Tertullian

text: The writings may be divided with reference to the two periods of Tertullian's Christian activity, the mainstream and the Montanist (cf. Harnack, ii.262 sqq.), or according to their subject matter. The object of the former mode of division is to show, if possible, the change of views Tertullian's mind underwent. Following the latter mode, which is of a more practical interest, the writings fall into two groups. Apologetic and polemic writings, like "Apologeticus", "De testimonio animae", the anti-Jewish "", "Adv. Marcionem", "Adv. Praxeam", "Adv. Hermogenem", "De praescriptione hereticorum", and "Scorpiace" were written to counteract Gnosticism and other religious or philosophical doctrines. The other group consists of practical and disciplinary writings, e.g., "De monogamia", "Ad uxorem", "De virginibus velandis", "De cultu feminarum", "De patientia", "De pudicitia", "De oratione", and "Ad martyras".


title: Tertullian

text: Among his apologetic writings, the "Apologeticus," addressed to the Roman magistrates, is a most pungent defense of Christianity and the Christians against the reproaches of the pagans, and an important legacy of the ancient Church, proclaiming the principle of freedom of religion as an inalienable human right and demanding a fair trial for Christians before they are condemned to death.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian was the first to disprove charges that Christians sacrificed infants at the celebration of the Lord's Supper and committed incest. He pointed to the commission of such crimes in the pagan world and then proved by the testimony of Pliny the Younger that Christians pledged themselves not to commit murder, adultery, or other crimes. He adduced the inhumanity of pagan customs such as feeding the flesh of gladiators to beasts. He argued that the gods have no existence and thus there is no pagan religion against which Christians may offend. Christians do not engage in the foolish worship of the emperors, that they do better: they pray for them, and that Christians can afford to be put to torture and to death, and the more they are cast down the more they grow; "the blood of the Christians is seed" ("Apologeticum", 50). In the "De Praescriptione" he develops as its fundamental idea that, in a dispute between the Church and a separating party, the whole burden of proof lies with the latter, as the Church, in possession of the unbroken tradition, is by its very existence a guarantee of its truth.


title: Tertullian

text: The five books against Marcion, written in 207 or 208, are the most comprehensive and elaborate of his polemical works, invaluable for gauging the early Christian view of Gnosticism. Tertullian has been identified by Jo Ann McNamara as the person who originally invested the consecrated virgin as the “bride of Christ”, which helped to bring the independent virgin under patriarchal rule.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian reserves the appellation God, in the sense of the ultimate originator of all things, to the Father, who made the world out of nothing through his Son, the Word, has corporeity though he is a spirit ("De praescriptione", vii.; "Adv. Praxeam," vii). However Tertullian used 'corporeal' only in the Stoic sense, to mean something with actual material existence, rather than the later idea of flesh.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian is often considered an early proponent of the Nicene doctrine, approaching the subject from the standpoint of the Logos doctrine, though he did not state the later doctrine of the immanent Trinity. In his treatise against Praxeas, who taught patripassianism in Rome, he used the words "trinity", "economy" (used in reference to the three persons), "persons", and "substance," maintaining the distinction of the Son from the Father as the unoriginate God, and the Spirit from both the Father and the Son ("Adv. Praxeam," xxv). "These three are one substance, not one person; and it is said, 'I and my Father are one' in respect not of the singularity of number but the unity of the substance." The very names "Father" and "Son" indicate the distinction of personality. The Father is one, the Son is another, and the Spirit is another ("dico alium esse patrem et alium filium et alium spiritum" "Adv. Praxeam", ix), and yet in defending the unity of God, he says the Son is not other ("alius a patre filius non est", "Adv. Prax." 18) as a result of receiving a portion of the Father's substance. At times, speaking of the Father and the Son, Tertullian refers to "two gods". He says that all things of the Father belong also to the Son, including his names, such as Almighty God, Most High, Lord of Hosts, or King of Israel.


title: Tertullian

text: Though Tertullian considered the Father to be God (Yahweh), he responded to criticism of the Modalist Praxeas that this meant that Tertullian's Christianity was not monotheistic by noting that even though there was one God (Yahweh, who became the Father when the Son became his agent of creation), the Son could also be referred to as God, when referred to apart from the Father, because the Son, though subordinate to God, is entitled to be called God "from the unity of the Father" in regards to being formed from a portion of His substance. "The Catholic Encyclopedia" comments that for Tertullian, "There was a time when there was no Son and no sin, when God was neither Father nor Judge." Similarly J.N.D. Kelly stated: "Tertullian followed the Apologists in dating His 'perfect generation' from His extrapolation for the work of creation; prior to that moment God could not strictly be said to have had a Son, while after it the term 'Father', which for earlier theologians generally connoted God as author of reality, began to acquire the specialized meaning of Father of the Son." As regards the subjects of subordination of the Son to the Father, the "New Catholic Encyclopedia" has commented: "In not a few areas of theology, Tertullian’s views are, of course, completely unacceptable. Thus, for example, his teaching on the Trinity reveals a subordination of Son to Father that in the later crass form of Arianism the Church rejected as heretical." Though he did not fully state the doctrine of the immanence of the Trinity, according to B. B. Warfield, he went a long distance in the way of approach to it.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian denied eternal generation of the Son and saw Christ as being generated in time. The idea that the Son did not always exist, before it developed into Arianism, appears to be thought by Tertullian as follow: "There was a time when there was no Son and no sin, when God was neither Father nor Judge".


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian was a defender of the necessity of apostolicity. In his "Prescription Against Heretics", he explicitly challenges heretics to produce evidence of the apostolic succession of their communities.


title: Tertullian

text: Unlike many early Christian writers, Tertullian along with Clement of Alexandria used the word "figure" and "symbol" to define the Eucharist, Tertullian in his book "Against Marcion" implied that: "this is my body" should be interpreted as "a figure of my body". While others have also suggested that Tertullian believed in a spiritual presence in the Eucharist.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian advises the postponement of baptism of little children and the unmarried, he mentions that it was customary to baptise infants, with sponsors speaking on their behalf. He argued that an infant ran the risk of growing up and then falling into sin, which could cause them to lose their salvation, if they were baptized as infants.


title: Tertullian

text: Contrary to early Syrian baptismal doctrine and practice, Tertullian describes baptism as a cleansing and preparation process which precedes the reception of the Holy Spirit in post-baptismal anointing ("De Baptismo" 6). "De Baptismo" includes the earliest known mention of a prayer for the consecration of the waters of baptism. This invocation may suggest a change in practice from baptizing in living (or running) water, where the Spirit was believed to be present, to baptizing in still water.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian had an ex opere operato view of the baptism, thus the efficiency of baptism was not dependent upon the faith of the receiver. He also believed that in an emergency, the laity can give the baptism.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian interpreted that in "Matthew 16:18-19" the rock is referring to Peter. For Tertullian Peter is the type of the one Church and its origins, this Church, is now present in a variety of local churches. Tertullian also believed that the power to "bind and unbind" has passed from Peter to the apostles and prophets of the Montanist church, not the bishops. Tertullian mocked Pope Calixtus or Agrippinus (it is debated which one he was referring to) when he challenged him on the Church forgiving capital sinners and letting them back into the church.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian believed that the people who committed grave sins, such as sorcery, fornication and murder should not be let inside the church.


title: Tertullian

text: As a Montanist, Tertullian attacked the church authorities as more interested in their own political power in the church than in listening to the Spirit. Tertullian's criticism of Church authorities has been compared to the Protestant reformation.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian's view of marriage was heavily influenced by Montanism, in Tertullian's book "Exhortation to Chastity" it can be seen that Terullian had a huge shift in his views on marriage after becoming a Montanist. He had previously held marriage to be fundamentally good, but after his conversion he denied its goodness. Tertullian argues that marriage is considered to be good "when it's compared with the greatest of all evils". Tertullian argued that before the coming of Christ, the command to reproduce was a prophetic sign pointing to the coming of the Church; after it came, the command was superseded. Tertullian also believed lust for one's wife and for another woman as basically the same, thus he even saw marital desire as similar to adulterous desire. Tertullian believed that sex even in marriage would disrupt the Christian life and that abstinence was the best way to achieve the clarity of the soul. Tertullian's views would later influence much of the western church.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian was the first to introduce a view of "sexual hierarchy": he believed that those who abstain from sexual relations should have a higher hierarchy in the church than those who do not, because he saw sexual relations as a barrier that stopped one from a close relationship with God.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian did not have a specific listing of the canon; however, he quotes 1 John, 1 Peter, Jude, Revelation, the Pauline epistles and the four Gospels. After Tertullian's conversion to Montanism, he also started to use the Shepherd of Hermas. Tertullian made no references to the book of Tobit, however in his book "Adversus Marcionem" he quotes the book of Judith. He quoted most of the Old Testament including many deuterocanonical books, however he never used the books of Chronicles, Ruth, Esther, 2 Maccabees, 2 John and 3 John. He defended the book of Enoch and he believed that the book was omitted by the Jews from the canon. He believed that the epistle to the Hebrews was made by Barnabas. For Tertullian scripture was authoritative, he used scripture as the primary source in almost every chapter of his every work, and very rarely anything else. He seems to prioritize the authority of scripture above anything else.


title: Tertullian

text: When interpreting Scripture, Tertullian would occasionally believe passages to be allegorical or symbolic, while in other places he would support a literal interpretation. Tertullian would especially use allegorical interpretations when dealing with Christological prophecies of the Old Testament. Tertullian's view of interpration also included the belief of the simplicity of scripture, he believed that scripture interprets itself, for Tertullian Scripture must be interpreted in the light of a greater number of texts and that they need to agree with each other.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, and he was extensively quoted by Helvidius in his debate with Jerome. J.N.D. Kelly also argued that Tertullian believed that Mary had imperfections, thus denying her sinlessness. Tertullian held similar views as Antidicomarians.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian held to a view similar to the priesthood of all believers and that the distinction of the clergy and the laity is only because of ecclesiastical institution and thus in an absence of a priest the laity can act as priests; his theory on the distinction of the laity and clergy is influenced by Montanism and his early writings do not have the same beliefs.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian believed in historic premillenialism: that Christians will go through a period of tribulation, to be followed by a literal 1000-year reign of Christ.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian attacked the use of Greek philosophy in Christian theology. For Tertullian, philosophy supported religious idolatry and heresy. Tertullian believed that many people became heretical because of relying on philosophy. Tertullian stated "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?".


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian's views of angels and demons were influenced by the Book of Enoch. Tertullian held that the Nephilim were born out of fallen angels who mingled with human women and had sexual relations. Tertullian believed that because of the actions of the watchers as described in the book of Enoch, men would later judge angels. He believed that angels are inferior to humans, and not made in the image of God. he believed that Angels are imperceptible to our senses, however they may choose to take on a human form or shape shift.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian taught fideistic concepts such as the later philosophers William of Ockham and Søren Kierkegaard.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian was drawn to Montanism mainly because of its strict moral standards. Tertullian believed that the Church had forsaken the Christian way of life and entered a path of destruction. Montanism in North Africa seems to have been a counter-reaction against secularism. The form of Montanism in North Africa seems to have differed from the views of Montanus, and thus the North African Montanists believed bishops to be successors of the apostles, the New Testament to be the supreme authority on Christianity and they did not deny most doctrines of the Church.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullianists were a group mentioned by Augustine, founded by Tertullian. There exists differences of opinion on Tertullianists, Augustine seems to have believed that Tertullian, soon after joining the Montanists, started his own sect derived from Montanism, while some scholars believe that Augustine was in error, and that Tertullianists was simply an alternative name of North African Montanism and not a separate sect.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian was a determined advocate of strict discipline and an austere code of practise, and like many of the African fathers, one of the leading representatives of the rigorist element in the early Church. These views may have led him to adopt Montanism with its ascetic rigor and its belief in chiliasm and the continuance of the prophetic gifts. In his writings on public amusements, the veiling of virgins, the conduct of women, and the like, he gives expression to these views.


title: Tertullian

text: On the principle that we should not look at or listen to what we have no right to practise, and that polluted things, seen and touched, pollute ("De spectaculis", viii, xvii), he declared a Christian should abstain from the theater and the amphitheater. There pagan religious rites were applied and the names of pagan divinities invoked; there the precepts of modesty, purity, and humanity were ignored or set aside, and there no place was offered to the onlookers for the cultivation of the Christian graces. Women should put aside their gold and precious stones as ornaments, and virgins should conform to the law of St. Paul for women and keep themselves strictly veiled ("De virginibus velandis"). He praised the unmarried state as the highest ("De monogamia", xvii; "Ad uxorem", i.3) and called upon Christians not to allow themselves to be excelled in the virtue of celibacy by Vestal Virgins and Egyptian priests. He even labeled second marriage a species of adultery ("De exhortatione castitatis", ix), but this directly contradicted the Epistles of the Apostle Paul. Tertullian's resolve to never marry again and that no one else should remarry eventually led to his break with Rome because the orthodox church refused to follow him in this resolve. He, instead, favored the Montanist sect where they also condemned second marriage. One reason for Tertullian's disdain for marriage was his belief about the transformation that awaited a married couple. He believed that marital relations coarsened the body and spirit and would dull their spiritual senses and avert the Holy Spirit since husband and wife became one flesh once married.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian in modern days has been criticized as misogynistic, on the basis of the contents of his "De Cultu Feminarum," section I.I, part 2 (trans. C.W. Marx): "Do you not know that you are Eve? The judgment of God upon this sex lives on in this age; therefore, necessarily the guilt should live on also. You are the gateway of the devil; you are the one who unseals the curse of that tree, and you are the first one to turn your back on the divine law; you are the one who persuaded him whom the devil was not capable of corrupting; you easily destroyed the image of God, Adam. Because of what you deserve, that is, death, even the Son of God had to die."


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian had a radical view on the cosmos. He believed that heaven and earth intersected at many points and that it was possible that sexual relations with supernatural beings can occur.


title: Tertullian

text: Tertullian's writings are edited in volumes 1–2 of the "Patrologia Latina," and modern texts exist in the "Corpus Christianorum Latinorum." English translations by Sydney Thelwall and Philip Holmes can be found in volumes III and IV of the "Ante-Nicene Fathers" which are freely available online; more modern translations of some of the works have been made.


title: Tertullian

text: The following chronological ordering was proposed by John Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln in the 19th century:


title: Tertullian

text: There have been many works attributed to Tertullian in the past which have since been determined to be almost definitely written by others. Nonetheless, since their actual authors remain uncertain, they continue to be published together in collections of Tertullian's works.


title: Tertullian

text: The popular "Passio SS. Perpetuae et Felicitatis" (Martyrdom of SS. Perpetua and Felicitas), much of it presented as the personal diary of St. Perpetua, was once assumed to have been edited by Tertullian. That view is no longer widely held, and the work is usually published separately from Tertullian's own works.


title: Tertullian

text: The Novatians refused forgiveness to idoltarers or for people who committed other larger sins, and made much use of the works of Tertullian, some Novatians even joined Montanists. The views of Novatian on the Trinity and Christology are also strongly influenced by Tertullian.


title: Tertullian

text: Ronald E. Heine writes, "With Novatianism we return to the spirit of Tertullian, and the issue of Christian discipline.


title: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

text: Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen years. He was also Foreign Secretary for much of his tenure, and during his last two years of office he was Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. He avoided alignments or alliances, maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation".


text: Lord Robert Cecil, also known as Lord Salisbury, was first elected to the House of Commons in 1854 and served as Secretary of State for India in Lord Derby's Conservative government 1866–1867. In 1874, under Disraeli, Salisbury returned as Secretary of State for India, and, in 1878, was appointed foreign secretary, and played a leading part in the Congress of Berlin. After Disraeli's death in 1881, Salisbury emerged as Conservative leader in the House of Lords, with Sir Stafford Northcote leading the party in the Commons. He succeeded William Ewart Gladstone as prime minister in June 1885, and held the office until January 1886.


text: When Gladstone came out in favour of Home Rule for Ireland, Salisbury opposed him and formed an alliance with the breakaway Liberal Unionists, winning the subsequent general election. His biggest achievement in this term was obtaining the majority of new territory in Africa during the Scramble for Africa, avoiding a war or serious confrontation with the other powers. He remained as prime minister until Gladstone's Liberals formed a government with the support of the Irish nationalists at the 1892 general election. The Liberals, however, lost the 1895 general election, and Salisbury for the third and last time became prime minister. He led Britain to victory in a bitter, controversial war against the Boers, and led the Unionists to another electoral victory in 1900. He relinquished the premiership to his nephew Arthur Balfour in 1902 and died in 1903. He was the last prime minister to serve from the House of Lords.


text: Historians agree that Salisbury was a strong and effective leader in foreign affairs, with a wide grasp of the issues. Paul Smith characterises his personality as "deeply neurotic, depressive, agitated, introverted, fearful of change and loss of control, and self-effacing but capable of extraordinary competitiveness." A representative of the landed aristocracy, he held the reactionary credo, "Whatever happens will be for the worse, and therefore it is in our interest that as little should happen as possible." Searle says that instead of seeing his party's victory in 1886 as a harbinger of a new and more popular Conservatism, he longed to return to the stability of the past, when his party's main function was to restrain demagogic liberalism and democratic excess.


text: Lord Robert Cecil was born at Hatfield House, the third son of the 2nd Marquess of Salisbury and Frances Mary, "née" Gascoyne. He was a patrilineal descendant of Lord Burghley and the 1st Earl of Salisbury, chief ministers of Elizabeth I. The family owned vast rural estates in Hertfordshire and Dorset. This wealth increased sharply in 1821, when his father married his mother, Frances Mary Gascoyne, heiress of a wealthy merchant and Member of Parliament who had bought large estates in Essex and Lancashire.


text: Robert had a miserable childhood, with few friends; he filled his time with reading. He was bullied unmercifully at the schools he attended. In 1840, he went to Eton College, where he did well in French, German, Classics, and Theology; however, he left in 1845 because of intense bullying. The unhappy schooling shaped his pessimistic outlook on life and his negative views on democracy. He decided that most people were cowardly and cruel, and that the mob would run roughshod over sensitive individuals.


text: In December 1847 he went to Christ Church, Oxford, where he received an honorary fourth class in Mathematics conferred by nobleman's privilege due to ill health. Whilst at Oxford he found the Oxford movement or "Tractarianism" to be an intoxicating force; he had an intense religious experience that shaped his life. He was involved in the Oxford Union serving as secretary and treasurer of the society. In 1853 he was elected a prize fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.


text: In April 1850 he joined Lincoln's Inn, but did not enjoy law. His doctor advised him to travel for his health, and so in July 1851 to May 1853 Cecil travelled through Cape Colony, Australia, including Tasmania, and New Zealand. He disliked the Boers and wrote that free institutions and self-government could not be granted to the Cape Colony because the Boers outnumbered the British three-to-one, and "it will simply be delivering us over bound hand and foot into the power of the Dutch, who hate us as much as a conquered people can hate their conquerors". He found the Native South Africans "a fine set of men – whose language bears traces of a very high former civilisation", similar to Italian. They were "an intellectual race, with great firmness and fixedness of will" but "horribly immoral" as they lacked theism.


text: In the Bendigo goldmine in Australia, he claimed that "there is not half as much crime or insubordination as there would be in an English town of the same wealth and population". Ten thousand miners were policed by four men armed with carbines, and at Mount Alexander 30,000 people were protected by 200 policemen, with over 30,000 ounces of gold mined per week. He believed that there was "generally far more civility than I should be likely to find in the good town of Hatfield" and claimed this was due to "the government was that of the Queen, not of the mob; from above, not from below. Holding from a supposed right (whether real or not, no matter)" and from "the People the source of all legitimate power," Cecil said of the Māori of New Zealand: "The natives seem when they have converted to make much better Christians than the white man". A Maori chief offered Cecil five acres near Auckland, which he declined.