title: Winchester Model 1892

text: Although the Model 1892 made its debut after the closing of the American frontier, and the true "Guns that Won the West" were the earlier Models 1866 and 1873, it nonetheless became an icon of Western mythology through its use in hundreds of motion pictures and television shows, standing in for its older siblings. John Wayne famously carried Model '92s in dozens of films, and owned several personally, some with the distinctive oversized "loop" lever. Other notable screen '92s were those of Chuck Connors in "The Rifleman" and Steve McQueen in "Wanted: Dead or Alive.


title: Winchester Model 1892

text: Hollywood studios purchased the '92 in quantity because it was in regular production (until World War II), but looked sufficiently like Old West Winchesters to substitute for valuable antiques, and because in calibers .44-40 and .38-40 it could fire, together with the Colt Single Action Army "Peacemaker" revolver, the standard 5-in-1 blank cartridge. This latter practice mirrored the real cowboys, who found it convenient to carry a rifle (carbine) and a revolver chambered with the same ammunition.


title: Stephen Rannazzisi

text: Stephen Rannazzisi (born July 4, 1977) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He acted in the FXX comedy series "The League" as Kevin MacArthur.


title: Stephen Rannazzisi

text: Rannazzisi, born in Smithtown, New York on July 4, 1977, briefly attended the Catholic St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, New York on Long Island, leaving after a year in what he called a mutual decision. He went on to graduate from Smithtown High School in 1996. Rannazzisi graduated from State University of New York at Oneonta, where he majored in communications. He is of Italian and Irish descent.


title: Stephen Rannazzisi

text: Rannazzisi lied about working in the South Tower of the World Trade Center at Merrill Lynch, on the 54th floor during the September 11 attacks, and described his experience escaping death. He had said the events inspired him to move to Los Angeles and pursue stand-up comedy. In September 2015, after being contacted by a reporter from "The New York Times" for an article debunking his claim, Rannazzisi admitted his story was a lie. Rannazzisi was never employed by Merrill Lynch, which did not have offices in the World Trade Center then.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Mark Steven Spencer (born 20 January 1970) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries since 2022. He previously served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from February to September 2022 and as Chief Whip from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Sherwood since 2010.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Spencer was born on 20 January 1970. He attended Lambley Primary School and the Colonel Frank Seely School in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. He then qualified at Shuttleworth Agricultural College in Bedfordshire, before joining the family farm business. A former dairy farm, the business diversified into growing potatoes and vegetables and producing free-range eggs, beef and lamb, and employing around 50 local people. Spencer was chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs from 1999 to 2000. Spencer was a trustee of The Royal Agricultural Society of England and for three years, the honorary show director of the Royal Show. Additionally, he is a fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Spencer is a past vice-chairman of school governors of Woodborough Woods Foundation School, where he was chairman of the Disciplinary Committee. As chairman of the Lambley Playground Fund, he helped raise over £100,000 to provide new play equipment in the village and he is also trustee of the Core Centre Calverton, an adult education centre. Spencer is the President of Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: In May 2001, Spencer unsuccessfully stood as a Conservative Party candidate for the Nottinghamshire County Council seat of Hucknall. However, in 2003 he gained the third seat in the safe Conservative ward of Ravenshead on Gedling District Council; he retained this seat at the local elections in 2007. In 2005, Spencer contested a different ward for the Nottinghamshire County Council elections and won the seat of Calverton for the Conservatives; he retained this seat at the local elections in 2009 with an increased majority. In 2006, Spencer was appointed Shadow Spokesman for Community Safety and Partnership for Nottinghamshire County Council.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Spencer gained the Sherwood seat from Labour at the 2010 general election with a majority of 214, after the sitting Labour MP Paddy Tipping stood down. Spencer was re-elected in 2015 and 2017. Following his election as an MP he stood down as a borough councillor and county councillor before the next local elections in 2011 and 2013 respectively.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: In Parliament, Spencer has served on the Environmental Audit Committee, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, the Backbench Business Committee, and on the Selection Committee. He formerly served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Liz Truss, and was appointed Assistant Government Whip on 17 July 2016, before becoming a full government whip in June 2017.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: He worked on environmental issues and energy security through his roles on the Environmental Audit Committee and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. With his farming background, Spencer has also focused in Parliament on agriculture and rural communities, with an interest in ensuring that British food production is recognised and promoted as "world class". He joined the Coalfield Communities All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), whose aim is to restore the economies of former coalfield areas. Spencer was named the Brake Road Safety Parliamentarian of the Year 2011 for campaigning for improved road safety on the A614.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Spencer attracted criticism in February 2015 after appearing to defend a benefits system which, according to Labour MP Lisa Nandy, left a job seeker with learning disabilities unable to afford food or electricity because he was four minutes late for a job centre appointment. In response to Nandy, Spencer said: "It is important that those seeking employment learn the discipline of timekeeping, which is an important part of securing and keeping a job". Writing in "The Spectator" magazine, Isabel Hardman criticised his response, suggesting his rush to defend government policy without showing concern for the constituent was an example of "political tribalism at its worst". Spencer said that critics had "twisted what he said", and stood by his comments that "normal people doing normal jobs, if they turn up late they would get their wages docked".


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: "The Telegraph" reported in August 2015 that Spencer, in a letter to a constituent, had suggested that Extremism Disruption Orders (EDOs) could be used against Christian teachers who tell schoolchildren that same-sex marriage is wrong. He wrote that whilst Christians with traditionalist views are "perfectly entitled to express their views", "The EDOs, in this case, would apply to a situation where a teacher was specifically teaching that gay marriage is wrong". Simon Calvert, deputy director of the Christian Institute, an evangelical pressure group, responded: "I am genuinely shocked that we have an MP supporting the idea of teachers being branded extremists for teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman".


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: In May 2016, it emerged that Spencer was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the 2015 general election party spending investigation, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses. In May 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service said that while there was evidence of inaccurate spending returns, it did not "meet the test" for further action.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: As a backbench MP, Spencer chose to support the official position of the Government and campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union before the EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016. After the result was announced, Spencer continued to support the party leadership and advocated leaving the European Union.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Spencer was criticised in 2017 by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for misusing taxpayers' resources, such as the MPs' newsletter, to link to "overtly party political content". Spencer apologised and a member of his staff, Ben Bradley, was sent on a training course on how to appropriately use parliamentary resources.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Spencer was made Chief Whip on 24 July 2019 under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He was appointed to the Privy Council the next day.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: On 1 August 2020, a Conservative MP was arrested on charges of sexual assault. "The Sunday Times" reported that Spencer, as Chief Whip, was told of the alleged incident a month before the arrest, and did not take action. Spencer said that when the victim came forward to him, there was mention of abuse and other threatful behaviour, but no mention of sexual assault.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: In January 2022, it was alleged that Conservative MP Christian Wakeford was threatened with constituency boundary changes in an attempt to secure support for Johnson over the Westminster lockdown parties controversy. Following this, Wakeford defected to the Labour Party.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: There are local issues on which Spencer chooses to focus as MP for Sherwood. A key focus is an extension to the Robin Hood Line, which would mean the opening to passenger trains of the old freight lines from Shirebrook to Ollerton through Edwinstowe. Spencer has long argued that this extension would be an economic lifeline to the north of Nottinghamshire, better connecting the area to surrounding urban centres such as Nottingham and Sheffield. He met the then Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, to push for support from government, and regularly gives updates on his campaign in his newsletters.


title: Mark Spencer (British politician)

text: Another key area of focus is road safety, and Spencer regularly meets constituents to discuss local problems on roads such as speeding and road safety outside schools. In June 2011 the road safety charity brake named him Road Safety Parliamentarian of the Month.


title: Plasma cell

text: Plasma cells, also called plasma B cells or effector B cells, are white blood cells that originate in the lymphoid organs as B lymphocytes and secrete large quantities of proteins called antibodies in response to being presented specific substances called antigens. These antibodies are transported from the plasma cells by the blood plasma and the lymphatic system to the site of the target antigen (foreign substance), where they initiate its neutralization or destruction. B cells differentiate into plasma cells that produce antibody molecules closely modeled after the receptors of the precursor B cell.


title: Plasma cell

text: Plasma cells are large lymphocytes with abundant cytoplasm and a characteristic appearance on light microscopy. They have basophilic cytoplasm and an eccentric nucleus with heterochromatin in a characteristic cartwheel or clock face arrangement. Their cytoplasm also contains a pale zone that on electron microscopy contains an extensive Golgi apparatus and centrioles (EM picture). Abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum combined with a well-developed Golgi apparatus makes plasma cells well-suited for secreting immunoglobulins. Other organelles in a plasma cell include ribosomes, lysosomes, mitochondria, and the plasma membrane.


title: Plasma cell

text: Terminally differentiated plasma cells express relatively few surface antigens, and do not express common pan-B cell markers, such as CD19 and CD20. Instead, plasma cells are identified through flow cytometry by their additional expression of CD138, CD78, and the Interleukin-6 receptor. In humans, CD27 is a good marker for plasma cells; naïve B cells are CD27−, memory B-cells are CD27+ and plasma cells are CD27++.


title: Plasma cell

text: Another important surface antigen is CD319 (SLAMF7). This antigen is expressed at high levels on normal human plasma cells. It is also expressed on malignant plasma cells in multiple myeloma. Compared with CD138, which disappears rapidly ex vivo, the expression of CD319 is considerably more stable.


title: Plasma cell

text: After leaving the bone marrow, the B cell acts as an antigen-presenting cell (APC) and internalizes offending antigens, which are taken up by the B cell through receptor-mediated endocytosis and processed. Pieces of the antigen (which are now known as "antigenic peptides") are loaded onto MHC II molecules, and presented on its extracellular surface to CD4+ T cells (sometimes called "T helper cells"). These T cells bind to the MHC II-antigen molecule and cause activation of the B cell. This is a type of safeguard to the system, similar to a two-factor authentication method. First, the B cells must encounter a foreign antigen and are then required to be activated by T helper cells before they differentiate into specific cells.


title: Plasma cell

text: Upon stimulation by a T cell, which usually occurs in germinal centers of secondary lymphoid organs such as the spleen and lymph nodes, the activated B cell begins to differentiate into more specialized cells. Germinal center B cells may differentiate into memory B cells or plasma cells. Most of these B cells will become plasmablasts (or "immature plasma cells"), and eventually plasma cells, and begin producing large volumes of antibodies. Some B cells will undergo a process known as affinity maturation. This process favors, by selection for the ability to bind antigen with higher affinity, the activation and growth of B cell clones able to secrete antibodies of higher affinity for the antigen.


title: Plasma cell

text: The most immature blood cell that is considered of plasma cell lineage is the plasmablast. Plasmablasts secrete more antibodies than B cells, but less than plasma cells. They divide rapidly and are still capable of internalizing antigens and presenting them to T cells. A cell may stay in this state for several days, and then either die or irrevocably differentiate into a mature, fully differentiated plasma cell. Differentiation of mature B cells into plasma cells is dependent upon the transcription factors Blimp-1/PRDM1 and IRF4.


title: Plasma cell

text: Unlike their precursors, plasma cells cannot switch antibody classes, cannot act as antigen-presenting cells because they no longer display MHC-II, and do not take up antigen because they no longer display significant quantities of immunoglobulin on the cell surface. However, continued exposure to antigen through those low levels of immunoglobulin is important, as it partly determines the cell's lifespan.


title: Plasma cell

text: The lifespan, class of antibodies produced, and the location that the plasma cell moves to also depends on signals, such as cytokines, received from the T cell during differentiation. Differentiation through a T cell-independent antigen stimulation (stimulation of a B cell that does not require the involvement of a T cell) can happen anywhere in the body and results in short-lived cells that secrete IgM antibodies. The T cell-dependent processes are subdivided into primary and secondary responses: a primary response (meaning that the T cell is present at the time of initial contact by the B cell with the antigen) produces short-lived cells that remain in the extramedullary regions of lymph nodes; a secondary response produces longer-lived cells that produce IgG and IgA, and frequently travel to the bone marrow. For example, plasma cells will likely secrete IgG3 antibodies if they matured in the presence of the cytokine interferon-gamma. Since B cell maturation also involves somatic hypermutation (a process completed before differentiation into a plasma cell), these antibodies frequently have a very high affinity for their antigen.


title: Plasma cell

text: Plasma cells can only produce a single kind of antibody in a single class of immunoglobulin. In other words, every B cell is specific to a single antigen, but each cell can produce several thousand matching antibodies per second. This prolific production of antibodies is an integral part of the humoral immune response.


title: Plasma cell

text: The current findings suggest that after the process of affinity maturation in germinal centers, plasma cells develop into one of two types of cells: short-lived plasma cells (SLPC) or long-lived plasma cells (LLPC). LLPC mainly reside in the bone marrow for a long period of time and secrete antibodies, thus providing long-term protection. LLPC can maintain antibody production for decades or even for the lifetime of an individual, and, unlike B cells, LLPC do not need antigen restimulation to generate antibodies. Human LLPC population can be identified as CD19CD38CD138 cells.


title: Plasma cell

text: The long-term survival of LLPC are dependent on a specific environment in the bone marrow, the plasma cell survival niche. Removal of an LLPC from its survival niche results in its rapid death. A survival niche can only support limited number of LLPC, thus the niche’s environment must protect its LLPC cells but be able to accept new arrivals. The plasma cell survival niche is defined by a combination of cellular and molecular factors and though it has yet to be properly defined, molecules such as IL-5, IL-6, TNF-α, stromal cell-derived factor-1α and signalling via CD44 have been shown to play a role in the survival of LLPC. LLPC can also be found, to a lesser degree, in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), where they produce IgA antibodies and contribute to mucosal immunity. Recent findings suggest that plasma cells in the gut do not necessarily need to be generated "de novo" from active B cells but there are also long-lived PC, suggesting the existence of a similar survival niche. Tissue specific niches that allow for the survival of LLPC have been also described in nasal-associated lymphoid tissues (NALT), human tonsillar lymphoid tissues and human mucosa or mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALT).


title: Plasma cell

text: Originally it was thought that the continuous production of antibodies is a result of constant replenishment of short-lived plasma cells by memory B cell re-stimulation. Recent findings, however, show that some PC are truly long-lived. The absence of antigens and the depletion of B cells does not appear to have an effect on the production of high-affinity antibodies by the LLPC. Prolonged depletion of B cells (with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody treatment that affects B cells but not PC) also did not affect antibody titres. LLPC secrete high levels of IgG independently of B cells. LLPC in bone marrow are the main source of circulating IgG in humans. Even though IgA production is traditionally associated with mucosal sites, some plasma cells in bone marrow also produce IgA. LLPC in bone marrow have been observed producing IgM.


title: Plasma cell

text: Plasmacytoma, multiple myeloma, Waldenström macroglobulinemia, heavy chain disease, and plasma cell leukemia are malignant neoplasms ("cancer") of the plasma cells. Multiple myeloma is frequently identified because malignant plasma cells continue producing an antibody, which can be detected as a paraprotein.


title: Plasma cell

text: Common variable immunodeficiency is thought to be due to a problem in the differentiation from lymphocytes to plasma cells. The result is a low serum antibody level and risk of infections.


title: Plasma cell

text: Primary amyloidosis (AL) is caused by the deposition of excess immunoglobulin light chains which are secreted from plasma cells.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one of the youngest professional players ever to have obtained the qualification. His son, Anthony, was a professional footballer and played at Stoke. Pulis had a 17-year career as a defender where he played for Bristol Rovers, Newport County, AFC Bournemouth and Gillingham. He also had a short spell in Hong Kong with Happy Valley.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis took his first steps into management at Bournemouth, where he was a player/coach and then Harry Redknapp's assistant. He then took control when Redknapp left the club. He then went on to Gillingham before leaving in 1999 after a dispute with chairman Paul Scally. Pulis then had unsuccessful spells at Bristol City and Portsmouth before being appointed manager of Stoke City in 2002. He guided Stoke through a tough 2002–03 season avoiding relegation to the Second Division on the final day of the season. He spent two more seasons with Stoke before being sacked by Stoke's Icelandic board for "failing to exploit the foreign market". He spent the 2005–06 season at Plymouth Argyle before returning to Stoke along with Peter Coates. After narrowly missing out on a play-off spot in the 2006–07 season he guided Stoke to the Premier League in the 2007–08 season by finishing runners-up in the Championship.


title: Tony Pulis

text: With Stoke amongst the favourites for relegation upon their return to the top flight after a 23-year absence, Stoke went on to comfortably survive and finished in 12th position. Pulis made history during the 2010–11 season as he guided Stoke to their first FA Cup Final after beating Bolton Wanderers 5–0 in the semi-final. The "Potters", however, lost the final 1–0 to Manchester City, but had the consolation of qualifying for European football. In the UEFA Europa League, Stoke lost 2–0 on aggregate in the round of 32 to Spanish giants Valencia. The 2012–13 season saw Stoke make little progress and Pulis left the club by mutual consent on 21 May 2013.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis returned to management on 23 November 2013 joining Crystal Palace on a two-and-a-half-year contract. He guided Palace away from relegation, to their highest Premier League finish of 11th in 2013–14, which earned him the Premier League Manager of the Season award. He left the club, however, shortly before the start of the subsequent season. He joined West Bromwich Albion in January 2015, a post he held until November 2017. Pulis achieved a top half finish with West Brom in the 2016–17 season, finishing 10th, but the club made a poor start to the following season, culminating in his sacking. On Boxing Day 2017, Pulis was appointed manager of Middlesbrough, a post he held until May 2019. On 13 November 2020, Pulis returned to management when he was named manager of Sheffield Wednesday; however, on 28 December, he was sacked after 10 games in charge.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis began his career at Bristol Rovers where he joined their school of football excellence in Eastville from Newport YMCA. Pulis cites his time at Eastville as an excellent grounding with his Rovers teammate and friend Ian Holloway also making it in football management. "We learned our trade at a football club with really, really good people who had old fashioned values," I truly believe that it's because of the way we were brought up back then that we have managed to go on and achieve what we have done in the game. "The basic principles were drilled into us, both on and off the pitch. Nothing was given to us and we had to work very, very hard for everything we got."


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis made 85 league appearances for the "Pirates" before leaving to join Hong Kong club Happy Valley AA in 1982. The club finished second in the Hong Kong First Division League and won the Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield in his eight-month stint with the club. He then returned to Rovers the following year and made a further 45 league appearances before moving to his home town club Newport County in 1984. At Newport, Pulis became a popular member of the squad and his former County teammate David Giles believes Pulis was always destined for top-level management.


title: Tony Pulis

text: With County struggling financially, Harry Redknapp signed Pulis at AFC Bournemouth, spending three years at Dean Court before joining Gillingham in 1989 for £10,000 on a three-year deal. Gillingham manager Damien Richardson had envisaged utilising Pulis as a sweeper but his time in Kent was blighted by an injury suffered in a pre-season friendly against West Ham, limiting him to just 16 appearances. After contemplating a career outside of football and studying for a small business qualification Pulis returned to Bournemouth a year later for a free of £15,000 to take up a player/coach role. He made 16 appearances, scoring one goal, while in this role.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis was promoted to the position of manager in 1992, following Harry Redknapp's decision to leave the club for Premier League side West Ham United. Pulis spent two seasons at Bournemouth, both seasons saw the "Cherries" finish in 17th position before moving on. During his time at the club Pulis spent less than £400,000 on transfers, but recouped nearly £2.7 million in player sales. Among his purchases was Steve Fletcher, signed from Hartlepool United for £30,000, who would go on to make a record 728 appearances for the Dorset side across two spells.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis then joined Gillingham in the summer of 1995, whom he managed for a further four seasons, turning a team that had struggled at the very bottom of the Football League into a promotion winning one in his first season, and laying the foundations for the club's eventual elevation to the First Division for the first time in their history.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In the 1995–96 season the Kent side gained promotion after finishing second behind Preston North End, setting a record for the fewest goals conceded by a team in the course of a 46-game Football League season in the process, with goalkeeper Jim Stannard keeping 29 clean sheets. The following season Gillingham started poorly, sitting in the relegation places towards the end of 1996, but improved to finish in 11th place and just six points below the promotion play-off places. The 1997–98 season saw further improvement, with the Gills finishing in 8th place and missing out on the play-off places only on the goals-scored rule.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In the 1999 Second Division play-off final, the "Gills" were 2–0 up with less than two minutes left, following goals by the prolific partnership of Robert Taylor and Carl Asaba, only to see Manchester City score twice, the equaliser in injury time, and after that win a penalty shoot-out 3–1. Following the defeat, Pulis was controversially sacked by the club amidst claims of gross misconduct. He later brought a £400,000 court case against Gillingham chairman Paul Scally for unpaid bonuses, which was settled out of court in 2001 for £75,000.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis was appointed manager of Bristol City in July 1999, prior to the start of the 1999–2000 season. A previous long stint at bitter rivals Bristol Rovers meant that Pulis' appointment was met with mixed reception. He made several reasonably big purchases including Steve Jones and former Rovers player Peter Beadle, but his popularity hit an all-time low only six months into his term as manager and when rumours surfaced of a switch to Portsmouth, home fans chanted for him to leave. He moved on to Portsmouth shortly, where Milan Mandarić had recently taken over as chairman.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In January 2000, Pulis left Bristol City to become manager of Portsmouth. He took Portsmouth from the bottom three to mid-table but lasted only ten months in the job before being sacked and being replaced by Steve Claridge in October 2000.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis was then out of work for two years, before the resignation of Stoke City's manager Steve Cotterill early into the 2002–03 season led to Pulis being given the job that November. Pulis immediately found himself in a relegation battle and it looked likely that the club would be relegated back to the Second Division only a year after being promoted. Pulis, however, completed the signings of striker Ade Akinbiyi and goalkeeper Mark Crossley, on loan from Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough respectively, who helped turn around the club's bad run. Stoke avoided relegation on the final day of the 2002–03 season with a 1–0 win over Reading at the Britannia Stadium, with Akinbiyi scoring the only goal of the match. Pulis rates Stoke's survival in 2002–03 as one of his best achievements in management.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In the following season, 2003–04, Pulis guided the club to an 11th-place finish. Tensions grew between the manager and chairman, Gunnar Gíslason, in the 2004–05 season. Pulis was frustrated with his lack of transfer funds which led to Dave Brammer and Steve Simonsen, both of whom were free agents, being his only significant signings prior to the start of the season. Pulis, however, did add Anthony Pulis, his son, and Lewis Buxton to his squad in January 2005. The disagreement between Pulis and the club's Icelandic ownership culminated with Pulis parting company with the club on 28 June 2005. He was sacked for "failing to exploit the foreign transfer market" by then chairman Gíslason. Following his dismissal, Pulis bemoaned the club's decision to sell Ade Akinbiyi to Championship rivals Burnley, stating, "We sold our top scorer and never replaced him." Dutch manager Johan Boskamp was named as Pulis' successor on 29 June 2005, only a day after Pulis was sacked.


title: Tony Pulis

text: After taking over as manager at Championship side Plymouth Argyle, Pulis managed to turn around a floundering team, to one that with the right investment could challenge for a top half/play off place in 2006–07. The turn-around coincided with the loan of West Ham United central defender Elliott Ward and the club improved even further with the permanent signing of Lilian Nalis from Sheffield United. Plymouth Argyle ended the season 14th in the Championship table.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In May 2006, Pulis was the subject of an approach from former club Stoke, who had recently parted company with manager Johan Boskamp, following Peter Coates' takeover of the club. Plymouth reportedly turned down this approach. On 14 June 2006, however, it was announced that Pulis would be returning as manager of Stoke.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis bolstered his squad for the 2006–07 season with the permanent additions of Danny Higginbotham, Ricardo Fuller and Vincent Péricard. His most notable coup was the loan signing of Lee Hendrie from Aston Villa. Hendrie's arrival along with the loan signings of Salif Diao, Andy Griffin and Rory Delap coincided with a change of form for the "Potters" following a poor start to the season. Stoke went as high as fourth in the table prior to the January transfer window.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis was named Manager of the Month for April 2007 after Stoke picked up 11 points from 5 league games. This unbeaten run lifted Stoke to seventh in the table, on equal points with sixth-place Southampton. A 1–1 draw against Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the season, however, led to Stoke finishing eighth in the Championship. Pulis sold several key players prior to the 2007–08 season; club captain Danny Higginbotham was one of a number of players to depart, joining Sunderland for £3 million. Pulis, however, utilised the loan market again, signing five players on loan, including Ryan Shawcross from Manchester United, with a few of these loan signings joining on a permanent deal in the January transfer window.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis guided Stoke City to promotion to the Premier League on the final matchday of the season, to be Stoke's first top flight campaign in 23 years. Upon promotion, Pulis admitted the need to strengthen his squad but he also made it clear that the club would not go 'over the top' with spending. Stoke's biggest summer signing was that of striker Dave Kitson, who joined from recently relegated Reading for £5.5 million. Kitson was followed by the captures of Seyi Olofinjana from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £3 million, Abdoulaye Faye from Newcastle United for £2.25 million, Amdy Faye from Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee, Andrew Davies joined for £1.2 million from Southampton, defender Ibrahima Sonko signed for an initial £2 million fee from Reading and former "Potter" Danny Higginbotham rejoined his former club from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee. Pulis was also prepared to move players on, including his son Anthony Pulis and striker Jon Parkin.


title: Tony Pulis

text: After a promising start to the Premier League season, Stoke's mid-season slump left them as one of the favourites for relegation. The January additions of Sheffield United's James Beattie and West Ham winger Matthew Etherington, however, helped rejuvenate their season. Stoke dipped in and out of the relegation zone until March, when a good run of form lifted them above the bottom three. Their 2–1 win away to Hull City on 9 May 2009 secured their Premier League survival. Pulis has received much praise for his work with Stoke on a limited budget, in particular his achievement of keeping them in the Premier League. He was mentioned as a possible candidate for the 2008–09 Premier League Manager of the Year award.


title: Tony Pulis

text: The following season saw Stoke consolidating their Premier League status rather than facing relegation, and also saw them reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with victories over York City, Arsenal and Manchester City before losing to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Stoke finished 11th in the Premier League with 47 points, a place higher and two points more than last season. Pulis made his 300th appearance as Stoke manager with a 3–0 win over Blackburn Rovers on 6 February 2010. The result was Stoke's largest top-flight win for nearly 24 years after a 4–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1984. Following criticism from Fulham player Danny Murphy over the way Pulis sets his team out to play, Pulis decided to release a six-minute statement defending the management staff and club as well as questioning Murphy's agenda.


title: Tony Pulis

text: After a number of controversial refereeing decisions that went against Stoke, Pulis advocated the introduction of a relegation system for referees to stop poor decisions. He became only the third manager in Stoke's history to guide the club to the semi-finals of the FA Cup after a quarter-final victory over West Ham. They then went on to beat Bolton 5–0, making Pulis the first manager to guide Stoke to an FA Cup Final. Stoke, however, lost the final 1–0 to Manchester City, with Yaya Touré scoring the only goal. By reaching the final, Stoke qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, after Manchester City confirmed a place in the UEFA Champions League. Club chairman Peter Coates said in May 2011 that Pulis is Stoke's greatest ever manager.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In the Europa League, Stoke were drawn against Croatian giants Hajduk Split, where Stoke won both legs 1–0 to become the first Stoke side to win a two-legged European tie. Pulis signed former England internationals Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson on free transfers to strengthen his centre backs following the departure of Abdoulaye Faye. He took charge of his 800th competitive match in August 2011. On transfer deadline day, Pulis signed Cameron Jerome from Birmingham City as well as Tottenham Hotspur duo Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios; Crouch, at a fee of £10 million, broke the club's transfer record for the fourth successive season. In the group stages of the Europa League, Stoke were drawn against Beşiktaş, Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel Aviv, and after a 1–1 draw against Kyiv in December, Stoke qualified for the knock-out stages. Pulis described the achievement as a "milestone" in the club's history. Stoke were handed a glamour tie against Spanish giants Valencia in the round of 32. He reached 400 matches as Stoke manager in January 2012. Stoke lost both legs against Valencia 1–0 and exited the Europa League. In the second leg in Valencia, Stoke took a largely reserve side and named just four substitutes which included academy captain Lucas Dawson. This attracted much criticism of Pulis by supporters but he defended his choice. Stoke finished the 2011–12 season in 14th position.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In the summer of 2012, Pulis was again busy in the transfer market, letting Ricardo Fuller leave bringing in a number of new midfield players. In came American duo Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu, Scottish pair Jamie Ness and Charlie Adam, Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Michael Kightly, Blackburn's French prospect Steven Nzonzi and former England international striker Michael Owen. Stoke made a steady start to the 2012–13 season despite a tough opening set of fixtures. Pulis has stated that he would like to see out the remainder of his managerial career at Stoke and that he is starting to change his side's style of play. Stoke went on a ten match unbeaten run from 10 November to 29 December, and held one of the best defensive records in Europe.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Stoke, however, made a poor start to 2013 picking up just a point in January and a frustrating transfer window saw just two new arrivals American winger Brek Shea and England goalkeeper Jack Butland. Performances and results remained poor in February and Pulis came under heavy criticism from supporters after an uninspiring home defeat against West Ham. Victories against Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City saw Stoke avoid the threat of relegation and they finished the 2012–13 Premier League season in 13th position. It was a season of little progress at Stoke, and Pulis left the club on 21 May 2013 after a meeting with club chairman Peter Coates. Speaking after his departure, Pulis revealed that he was disappointed by Coates' decision but accepted his reasons. He was replaced by another Welsh manager, Mark Hughes.


title: Tony Pulis

text: On 23 November 2013, Pulis was appointed manager of Crystal Palace on a two-and-half-year contract, taking over from Ian Holloway. His first win came on 3 December 2013, a 1–0 home win against West Ham. In the early part of 2014, the team went on a run of five consecutive victories, which included wins over Chelsea, Cardiff City, Aston Villa, Everton and West Ham. This run of form earned Palace mathematical safety and saw Pulis named as Manager of the Month for April 2014. Palace finished the 2013–14 Premier League season in 11th position with 45 points, which saw Pulis named as the Premier League Manager of the Year.


title: Tony Pulis

text: During the summer of 2014, Pulis was hired by the BBC to be a pundit for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. When he was not working, he used his spare time watching other games to scout new players and to see different managers at work. Shortly before the start of the subsequent 2014–15 season, however, Pulis left the club "by mutual consent", saying that it was because he was not being backed in the transfer market by the Palace board. In November 2016, Pulis was ordered by a high court judge to pay Crystal Palace £3.7 million for fraudulent misrepresentation in a dispute with Steve Parish over a £2 million "survival" bonus paid to him on his request over two weeks earlier than contractually necessary the day before he announced his departure.


title: Tony Pulis

text: On 1 January 2015, Pulis was appointed head coach at West Bromwich Albion. He won his first game in charge 7–0 against Conference Premier side Gateshead in an FA Cup third round match. During the January transfer window, Pulis secured the services of former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher, who Pulis soon promoted to first team captain, with Chris Brunt as deputy. Under Pulis, the "Baggies" went through February unbeaten, keeping three clean sheets in a row in the process. West Brom's form saw Pulis named as the Premier League Manager of the Month for February. West Brom secured victories over Chelsea and Manchester United, and Pulis duly led the team to a 13th-place finish in the Premier League.


title: Tony Pulis

text: For the 2015–16 season, Pulis signed striker Salomón Rondón for a club record fee of £12 million from Zenit Saint Petersburg. Pulis's statement that he wanted Leicester City to win the 2015–16 Premier League and the motivation of his players was credited by "The Daily Telegraph" with spoiling their rivals Tottenham's celebration party. In the summer of 2016, Pulis was hired by ITV to be a pundit for UEFA Euro 2016 in France. He was used for his knowledge and previous punditry experience to commentate live on the Welsh national team. There were other games such as Spain–Turkey where Pulis also commentated live on the match.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Six games into the 2016–17 season, Pulis reached the milestone of 1,000 games as a professional manager which came against his former club, Stoke. At the end of October, Pulis signed a one-year extension to his contract. The extension committed him to the club until the summer of 2018. As the season drew to a close Pulis was part of the six-man shortlist for the Premier League Manager of the Season award, eventually losing out to Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. The club finished in the top half of the table under his guidance, occupying 8th place for much of the season, before a poor run of only two points in their final nine games saw them drop to 10th. On 11 August 2017, Pulis signed a further contract extension which committed him to the club until 2019. Upon signing he said: "I'm delighted to extend my contract because it continues the stability within the Club which is essential for its progress."


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis was sacked as West Brom manager on 20 November 2017, after a poor run of results where they had won only four of their last 22 Premier League games, a run stretching back to 2016–17. He left with West Brom occupying 17th place in the table. Throughout his tenure, concerns had been raised by supporters over his perceived "negative" brand of football, and a lack of progress at the club.


title: Tony Pulis

text: On 26 December 2017, Pulis was appointed as manager of Championship club Middlesbrough, replacing the sacked Garry Monk, who left the club ninth in the Championship table, after an indifferent first half to their season. On that same day as his appointment, Pulis was present in the stands to watch Middlesbrough, managed by Academy manager Craig Liddle in the interim period, defeat Bolton Wanderers 2–0 at the Riverside Stadium. Pulis' first match in charge of Middlesbrough ended in a 1–0 home defeat to Aston Villa.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis' first win as Middlesbrough manager came on 1 January 2018, a comeback 3–2 victory at Preston North End. As the season continued, Middlesbrough temporarily began to suffer under the similar results under Pulis that they received under Monk's management, though Pulis turned the team's fortunes around, and they finished fifth, qualifying to the play-offs. However, they were defeated 1–0 by Villa, thus being confirmed as a Championship club for another season, much to the devastation of the club's fans, players and staff.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In Pulis' first full season as Middlesbrough, the team had a relatively strong run of results through to February, including a 3–2 away win against Pulis' previous club West Bromwich Albion. His side went on to maintain a top six position until March, though a run of six consecutive defeats saw them drop out of the top six for the first time that season. At the end of the season, Pulis left the club when the decision was taken not to extend his contract.


title: Tony Pulis

text: On 13 November 2020, Pulis returned to management after over a year out of football, joining Championship club Sheffield Wednesday, the second consecutive appointment for which he had replaced Garry Monk. He brought in Mike Trusson as his assistant manager and Craig Gardner as first-team coach during his first week. His first match in charge ended in a 1–0 defeat against Preston North End after Josh Windass was sent off, after 17 minutes. He got his first point the following game in another away game, a 1–1 draw against Swansea City, with Adam Reach getting the first goal of his reign. After the 2–0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, he broke the record for worst start for any manager at Sheffield Wednesday, getting 3 points from a possible 24. He won his first game as manager at the ninth time of asking against Coventry City in a 1–0 win, with Tom Lees getting the winning goal. On 28 December 2020, Pulis was sacked as Wednesday manager after having secured just one victory from ten league games. Sky Sports reported that major disagreements between Pulis and club owner Dejphon Chansiri over transfer plans for the upcoming January transfer window were the main cause of Pulis's dismissal. Chansiri later described his appointment of Pulis as a "mistake".


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis has a reputation within the game for achieving solid results on small budgets and also maintains the proud record of never being relegated as a player, coach or manager. Throughout his managerial career Pulis has used the long ball style of play, and been known for placing an emphasis on defence and utilising set-pieces to pose a goal threat. He has a reputation for securing safety for struggling clubs, giving him a "Red Adair" type image which he finds frustrating.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Stoke City chairman Peter Coates stated that Pulis had studied, and was influenced by, Italian styles of play, saying: "The so-called "Catenaccio" defensive system interested him and the Italians haven't done too badly, have they, with their four World Cups?"


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis was born in the Pill area of Newport, in Wales. He was brought up there, with his father, Angelo, a steelworker, and his mother, Jean, as well as his brothers and sisters. Growing up in Newport, he supported Manchester United as well as attending matches at Cardiff City and Newport County. One of his brothers, Ray, also used to play for Newport and is currently chairman of Welsh non-league side Pill AFC. His son Anthony is a retired professional footballer who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF. Pulis' former Bristol Rovers teammate Ian Holloway is Anthony's godfather. He also has a daughter, Stephanie whose partner, Jack Swann is an amateur footballer who played for Bournemouth Poppies. His grandfather was born in Ħaż-Żabbar, Malta before he moved to Wales.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis was awarded an honorary degree at the University of Staffordshire on 10 July 2009. He received the reward for his contribution in helping sports journalism students at the university. He was also awarded the award at the University of Wales, Newport, on 15 April 2013. Pulis participated in the 2009 London Marathon to raise money for the Donna Louise Trust which assists a children hospice. He completed the marathon in 4 hours 31 minutes 57 seconds.


title: Tony Pulis

text: In May 2010, Pulis climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with Nick Hancock to raise money for the Stoke-on-Trent based charity the Donna Louise Trust. In March 2012, he escaped a driving ban for speeding after his lawyer claimed that the city of Stoke-on-Trent would suffer as a result. On 31 May 2012, Pulis was an Olympic Torch bearer for the 2012 Summer Olympics. On 1 June 2015, Pulis completed a 450-mile rowing challenge from Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He once again teamed up with Nick Hancock and other team members for the Donna Louise Hospice in Stoke. The seven-day nautical challenge eventually raised over £250,000 for the charity.


title: Tony Pulis

text: Pulis is a Catholic and regularly attends church. His mother died on 13 September 2010, the same day that Stoke had a Monday night fixture against Aston Villa. Pulis made an unexpected return to the dug-out after the half-time break, having missed the first half, amidst huge applause from the home crowd. At this time, Villa were 1–0 up but goals from Kenwyne Jones and Robert Huth gave Stoke a 2–1 win and their first points of the season.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Super Robot Wars, known in Japan as is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Banpresto. Starting out as a spinoff of the "Compati Hero" series, the main feature of the franchise is having a story that crosses over several popular mecha anime, manga and video games, allowing characters and mecha from different titles to team up or battle one another. The first game in the franchise was released for the Game Boy on April 20, 1991. Later spawning numerous games that were released on various consoles and handhelds. Due to the nature of crossover games and licensing involved, only a few games have been released outside Japan, and in English. The franchise celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016, and its 30th anniversary in 2021.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Most are standalone games, whose background stories may involve the plots of the included series, but no other "Super Robot Wars" titles. However, there are at least five main continuities with a single overall storyline encompassing all of them:


title: Super Robot Wars

text: In most games, the player selects or is given a Banpresto original character and machine, who is connected to the overarching storyline which ties together the events of the constituent anime for the game. Some featured anime also has their plots intertwined: in "Super Robot Wars Alpha", the White Fang from "New Mobile Report Gundam Wing" allies with Paptimus Scirocco's rebellion from "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam", resulting in the two enemy forces working together. The stories play out the events of the anime, albeit altered to make room for characters, settings, and plot elements from other shows. It is said that the events of each game are caused by incursions known as Dimension Quakes that started several years prior with the explosion of a "dimensional bomb", thereby constantly merging and separating the various universes without anyone knowing, and ensuring canonicity with both the other games and the properties they adapt.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: One of the most notable recurring changes in the series is the near-complete absence of character death. Whenever the game gets to a point that a character died within their anime, the games will frequently use an element from another series to ensure the character's survival. This is likely done in order for the games to appeal to a broader audience.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Battles in "Super Robot Wars" are turn-based. The player usually gets to move their forces first, one at a time, then control switches to the game's AI. When a unit attacks, the target reacts by blocking (increasing defense against the attack), evading (reducing the attack's chance to hit), or countering (striking back with their own attack). Once chosen, the battle animation is played out. If the player unit is not destroyed and successfully damaged the enemy, then the unit gains experience points. All battles are carried out either the terrain of land, air, sea or space, which affects the performance of machines, pilots and weapons in various ways. The battlefield also contains objects which grant various effects. For example, besides providing repair and energy refill, a military base also provides land units with defense bonus but will hinder them from moving freely. In addition to standard mecha and vehicle units, the player often has one or more "Battleships", air- or spacecraft units that in addition to powerful long-ranged attacks, can also dock other units to refill energy, repair damage.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Units in-game are generally separated into two categories: "super-type" and "real-type". Super robots are heavy units with exceptionally high hit points and armor, and powerful, close-range weapons with high energy cost. On the other hand, real robots are light units which are faster and more agile, but have less armor and hit points, relying instead on dodging attacks. Their weapons have longer range and better accuracy at the cost of doing less damage per hit. Some units are treated as "support units", regenerating hit points and/or energy to allies, while battleships and carriers serve as transports or to resupply all units, while also providing powerful fire support. Though every unit takes a single grid on the tactical map and has little visual difference in battle animations, a larger unit gains defensive and offensive bonus against smaller units, but carry a disadvantage to evasion and accuracy. In later titles, certain attacks can bypass the size attribute, nullifying the effect of size in combat. Some units have other unique characteristics: for example, Getter Robo can transform into different forms with new weapons and different attributes.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Weapons carry various attributes other than range, accuracy modifier and attack power. All weapons can be divided into melee and shooting categories that determine its effectiveness by pilots' status. Other attributes can be affected by terrain or a target's defensive ability. In addition, some units make use of "MAP Weapons" which affect multiple squares at once, with some damaging everything in the area and others, such as Cybuster's Cyflash, ignoring allies. Some games feature weapons which inflict status effects on enemies that drain their energy, weaken their armor or damage the pilot's stats.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: In 1990, Japanese video game developer Banpresto released "SD Battle Ōzumō: Heisei Hero Basho", the debut entry in its "Compati Hero" series, for the Family Computer (Famicom). A crossover between "super deformed" versions of "Kamen Rider", "Ultraman", and "Mobile Suit Gundam", it was created as a congratulatory gift for Yukimasa Sugiura, who at the time had been promoted president of Banpresto. "SD Battle Ōzumō" enjoyed a commercial success in Japan, prompting Banpresto to create a more mature-oriented successor, "Super Robot Wars", for the Game Boy in 1991. The original game borrowed several concepts from "SD Battle Ōzumō", most notably its usage of characters from other Japanese entertainment properties. Its creation was also in part due to the popularity of both the Game Boy and Famicom in Japan, which continued to dominate the Japanese video game market. Banpresto turned the concept of "Super Robot Wars" into a franchise following its commercial success, beginning with "2nd Super Robot Wars" several months later for the Famicom.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Banpresto outsourced development of earlier "Super Robot Wars" games to Japanese studio Winkysoft. Beginning with "Super Robot Wars Complete Box" in 1999, the company moved production in-house, with Banpresto's consumer game division Banpresoft handling development of future installments. Sugiura intended for "4th Super Robot Wars" to be the final entry, however the franchise's lasting popularity prompted the creation of further sequels to meet demand. The company placed Takanobu Terada in the role of series producer; he at first showed little interest in its super-deformed character designs and gameplay structure. As "Super Robot Wars" sequels added more original character designs and its scope expanded, Terada showed more appreciation and embraced his role. Sugiura hoped the series could help introduce its players to the anime and manga series featured in each installment, commenting that he hoped it would "sell more and more for 20 years".


title: Super Robot Wars

text: In 2005, Banpresto's parent company Bandai merged with Namco, creating Namco Bandai Holdings and subsequently Namco Bandai Games. Banpresto became a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings in 2006, where it continued to develop "Super Robot Wars" games in addition to other projects. On April 1, 2008, Banpresto's video game operations were absorbed by Namco Bandai Games, with Banpresto being reorganized into a toy and prize machine developer. Terada and other Banpresto employees were transferred to Namco Bandai Games, as the company assuming control of the property. In 2011, Banpresoft and BEC (Bandai Entertainment Company) merged to form B.B. Studio, a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Games that would handle further production of the series.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Many mecha titles included are released only in Japan and the number of titles involved within a single game make for complicated rights and licensing issues releasing it elsewhere. Before "Super Robot Wars 30", only "Original Generation" games were officially released for the English market by Atlus USA. The titles of the games are given as "Super Robot Taisen". The games do not have the licensing problems other games may have since only original creations not from any anime or manga series are used in the lineup, thus making it the first game in the series to be released outside of the Asian market. Atlus also released "" for the "Nintendo DS" on April 28, 2009.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: In early 2016, Bandai Namco have announced that "Super Robot Wars OG: Moon Dwellers" and "Super Robot Wars V" will be given an English release for the Southeastern Asian version along with a Chinese translation. In December 2017, Bandai Namco announced that Super Robot Wars X would be released in English for Southeast Asia market in 2018. In November 2018, Bandai Namco announced that "Super Robot Wars T" will be released in English for Southeast Asian market in 2019. "Super Robot Wars 30" has had a global release on the Steam platform in all regions, marking the first time in about 13 years that a "Super Robot Wars" game was released in such a manner.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: As of April 2014, the "Super Robot Wars" series has exceeded 16 million copies across all platforms. The debut entry sold a combined 190,000 units and became a best-seller for the Game Boy during its first few weeks on the market. The best-selling entry is "Super Robot Wars α" on the PlayStation, having sold over 715,000 copies. "Super Robot Wars" games have become consistent best-sellers for both Banpresto and Bandai Namco, having regularly appeared on top sales charts in Japan as late as 2019. As of 2022, the series has shipped over 20 million copies worldwide.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: Ollie Bardner, a writer for "Eurogamer", described "Super Robot Wars" as "one of Japan's most enduring mecha series", showing appreciation towards its turn-based gameplay and large roster of mecha series and characters. Bardner believes part of the franchise's success is introducing its players to older mecha anime series: "Originally intended as a mere mecha anime crossover vehicle," Super Robot Wars" has become something else. Not only has it facilitated new generations of gamers to discover brilliant anime from times long past, but also birthed unique games and anime in their own right." "USgamer"s Kat Bailey stated that the series serves as an "extremely faithful tribute" to the mecha genre and its history, writing that it "beautifully [remixes] everything from "Mobile Suit Gundam" to "Voltron"."


title: Super Robot Wars

text: The games' main influence is the creation of animated shows influenced by original units and characters created for the games. The best examples are "Getter Robo Armageddon", "Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo" and the "Mazinkaiser" OVA, released in the United States in 2002. Shin Getter Robo first appeared in "Ken Ishikawa's" manga for "Getter Robo Go", then became by its apparition in various Super Robot Wars games until receiving its aforementioned OVAs. Mazinkaiser appeared for the first time in "Super Robot Wars F Final", released for the "Sega Saturn" and the Sony PlayStation in 1998, as an upgrade to the original Mazinger Z in order to allow the Mazinger franchise to compete with other super robots such as Shin Getter Robo. Mazinger Z writer and illustrator, Go Nagai, eventually implements it into his manga as the prototype of the other Mazinger machines, and the aforementioned OVA was also created.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: The series was certified by the Guinness World Records for the "most intellectual property licenses used in a role-playing video game series".


title: Super Robot Wars

text: JAM Project, consisting of veteran anime theme musicians, like Hironobu Kageyama, Rica Matsumoto, Eizo Sakamoto, Masaaki Endoh, Hiroshi Kitadani, Masami Okui and Yoshiki Fukuyama have also contributed to many Super Robot Wars soundtracks, usually providing the opening theme song and the song played over the closing credits. The series also spawned a set of concerts and albums called "Super Robot Spirits", where veteran vocalists—some of whom would go on to form JAM Project—sing covers of popular mecha anime openings, and in some cases, live versions of songs they themselves originally sang.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: "Masō Kishin Cybuster" is a loose adaptation on the story of the first original Banpresto mecha in Super Robot Wars into a 26-episode series, featuring characters inspired by the allies of the "Cybuster's" pilot "Masaki Andoh" and original characters created for the anime. In May 2005, Banpresto released the animated OVA "", a 3-part non-canonical sequel to the second Original Generation game. In 2006, the OVA was followed up by "", a retelling of the plot in the first Original Generation game. A variety of drama CDs, manga and model kits accompany the Original Generation lineup. In Fall 2010, Banpresto followed up with "", which is a retelling of the plot of Original Generation 2.


title: Super Robot Wars

text: There have been several Manga adaptations that retell the stories of the Super Robot Wars series. by Akihiro Kimura tells the story of the "" anime over 6 volumes published from 2006 to 2009. Meanwhile, is manga series by Tatsunosuke Yatsufusa that tells a similar story but from the ATX Team's perspective. is a series of short stories that take place across the Original Generation timeline, written and drawn by various authors, some of the stories from OG Chronicle were incorporated into the video game Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden. , is a 2 volume series by Masaaki Fujihara tells the background story for the original machines known as the "Chokijin".


title: Super Robot Wars

text: began to air to go along with the release of the "" anime. The show has been airing since January 2007 with four regular hosts, Tomokazu Sugita, Masaaki Endoh, Mai Aizawa and Rie Saitou. The show often features series' producer Takanobu Terada as a special guest. After Divine Wars ended, the show carried on and was often used to regularly feature and promoted up and coming video game titles.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: Gordon Freeman is the silent protagonist of the "Half-Life" video game series, created by Gabe Newell and designed by Newell and Marc Laidlaw of Valve. His first appearance is in "Half-Life". Gordon Freeman is depicted as a bespectacled Caucasian man from Seattle, with brown hair and a signature goatee, who graduated from MIT with a PhD in theoretical physics. He was an employee at the fictional Black Mesa Research Facility. Controlled by the player, Gordon is often tasked with using a wide range of weapons and tools to fight alien creatures such as headcrabs, as well as Combine machines and soldiers.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: Gordon Freeman's character has been well received by critics and gamers, and various gaming websites often consider him to be one of the greatest video game characters of all time, including UGO and "GameSpot".


title: Gordon Freeman

text: "Half-Life" director Gabe Newell coined the name "Gordon Freeman" during a conversation with the game's writer Marc Laidlaw in his car. Laidlaw had originally named the character "Dyson Poincaré", combining the names of physicist and philosopher Freeman Dyson and mathematician Henri Poincaré. The texture for Gordon's head was "too big of a job for just one person", so Valve designers combined references from four people. An earlier model of Gordon, known as "Ivan the Space Biker", had a full beard that was subsequently trimmed. Other iterations of Gordon's concept featured different glasses, a ponytail, and a helmet.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: Gordon wears a special full-body hazmat suit, known as the Hazardous Environment Suit (or HEV Suit). The suit is designed to protect the user from radiation, energy discharges, and blunt trauma during the handling of hazardous materials. The suit's main feature is its "high-impact reactive armor", an electrically powered armor system that, when charged, absorbs two-thirds of the damage that Gordon would ordinarily suffer in "Half-Life" and 80% in "Half-Life 2". A fully charged suit can survive several dozen hits from small arms and even one direct hit from an RPG. The suit can be charged by various means, and has its own oxygen supply and medical injectors, such as morphine and a neurotoxin antidote. It comes with a built-in flashlight, a radio, various tracking devices, a compass, and a Geiger counter. The suit contains an on-board computer system that constantly monitors the user's health and vital signs, and reacts to any changes in the user's condition. It also projects a heads-up display (HUD) which displays Gordon's health and suit charge level, remaining ammunition, and a crosshair. As a means of immersing the player in the role, Gordon never speaks, and there are no cutscenes or mission briefings—all action is viewed through Gordon's eyes, with the player retaining control of Gordon's actions at nearly all times. The images of Gordon are only seen on the game's cover and menu pages, and also in advertisements, making them marketing tools rather than pictures of what Gordon is "really like". Gabe Newell has stated that Valve sees no reason to give Gordon a voice.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: In "Half-Life", Gordon wears the "Mark IV" suit. Later in the game, the suit is equipped with an optional long-jump module so Gordon can leap great distances. It is charged using power modules throughout Black Mesa. In "Half-Life 2" Gordon receives the upgraded "Mark V" suit, which lacks the long-jump module but gains several new abilities. It features a visual zooming capability, limited sprinting, an anti-venom injector, an optional ammo and health counter on the crosshair, and has been modified to use Combine power nodes to charge the suit.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: The "Mark V" initially used a single power source for the flashlight, sprinting, and oxygen supply; in "" the flashlight was given a separate power source to improve gameplay. The symbol on Gordon's HEV suit is the lower case Greek letter Lambda, λ. This symbol is used by scientists to denote the decay constant of radioactive elements (related to the half-life of an element). As well as appearing on Gordon's suit, the symbol replaces the letter "a" in the game title ("Hλlf-Life"), and is the name of the complex in the Black Mesa Research Facility where teleportation experiments are conducted in the first game. The Lambda symbol is also seen in "Half-Life 2" as a marking of the human resistance, seen close to hidden supplies and on the arm bands of better equipped resistance fighters.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: A Seattle native, Gordon exhibited an early interest in theoretical physics, especially quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. His childhood heroes were Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Richard Feynman. After observing a series of teleportation experiments conducted by the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck, the transmission of matter became Gordon's obsession. Gordon has no known dependents. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. degree in Theoretical Physics. His doctoral thesis on the teleportation of matter through extremely dense elements was titled "Observation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement on Supraquantum Structures by Induction Through Nonlinear Transuranic Crystal of Extremely Long Wavelength (ELW) Pulse from Mode-Locked Source Array". Gordon's research into science eventually led him to accept a job offer by the Black Mesa Research Facility, and begin working on a top-secret research project headed by his mentor at MIT, Dr. Isaac Kleiner. He takes up residence at Black Mesa, conducting nuclear and subatomic research in its Anomalous Materials department. Despite his education as a theoretical physicist, the work Freeman is involved with at Black Mesa is of a more experimental nature.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: The games often make light of the fact that the tasks Gordon performs amount to little more than manual labor, despite his qualifications. Gordon's assigned job at the start of "Half-Life" consists of simply pressing a button and pushing a cart. Barney Calhoun wryly notes this irony at the beginning of "Half-Life 2", when Freeman performs similar "technical" assistance by flipping a switch and returning a plug to its socket.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: A silent protagonist, Gordon does not say a single word during the entire "Half-Life" saga. Although as proficient as the player with weapons and explosives, Freeman had not actually handled any weapons until some cursory training at the Black Mesa Research Facility's Hazard Course.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: In "Half-Life", Gordon Freeman is part of a research team performing an experiment that inadvertently creates an inter-dimensional rift in spacetime. Intelligent (and confused) alien lifeforms from the Xen dimension come pouring through multiple breaches inside the Black Mesa facility, attacking anyone in sight. As scientific, military and civilian personnel fall under the alien onslaught, Freeman finds himself targeted not only by the alien monsters, but also the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU), a U.S. Marine Corps military force sent to contain the situation.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: The untrained theoretical physicist somehow manages to survive the chaos, impressing the few surviving scientists and security guards with his heroic acts, while quickly becoming the HECU's high-priority target. Freeman is eventually transported to Xen by a few surviving Lambda Sector scientists. After the successful elimination of the alien leader Nihilanth, Freeman meets the G-Man, who has been remotely observing Freeman throughout the entire Black Mesa Incident. He briefly teleports Freeman to several locations throughout Earth and Xen, ending on a train (much like how the game begins) where he offers Freeman a choice, either agree to work for him and his mysterious "employers" or be left to die on Xen.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: The two expansions for "Half-Life" feature different playable characters and take place during the events of the main game, and as such Gordon is seen at certain points of the games. In these appearances, Gordon maintains his silence, even though he is not the protagonist. In "", Adrian Shephard only encounters Gordon once when he witnesses Gordon teleport to Xen in the Lambda Complex. Attempts to follow him through the same portal will result in a "temporal paradox" which sends Shephard falling through Xen's void and ends the game. Gordon is also seen three times by Barney Calhoun during the course of "". Barney first sees Gordon passing by in a tram at the beginning of the game, later heading towards the HEV storage area through a surveillance camera, and lastly being dragged to a trash compactor by a pair of HECU troops.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: "Half-Life 2" begins as the G-Man speaks to Gordon in a dreamlike scene, after keeping him "in stasis far from Earth, thought, and time itself" for nearly two decades, during which he did not physically age. He comments that "the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." Gordon is then "point inserted" into a train bound for City 17, to the (mild) surprise of the other passengers. Freeman quickly learns that Earth has been conquered and occupied by the trans-dimensional Combine empire, with a military force powerful enough to have subdued the entirety of Earth's nations within a period of 7 hours. He soon meets up with Barney Calhoun and Alyx Vance, and joins the resistance against the Combine.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: During the course of the game, Gordon battles the forces of the Combine in order to free humanity from its grasp. Already famous for his role in the Black Mesa Incident, Gordon quickly develops a legendary reputation among Earth's surviving human populace, who begin to look up to him and refer to him by such messianic titles as "the One Free Man" or "the Opener of the Way." After slaying scores of Combine soldiers and leading an assault against the Combine stronghold of Nova Prospekt, Gordon eventually sparks a full-scale rebellion, in which he becomes a combatant. Gordon infiltrates one of the Combine's footholds on Earth, City 17's Citadel, and destroys it by detonating its Dark Energy Reactor.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: In doing so, he also prevents antagonist Dr. Wallace Breen, the Combine's human representative on Earth and Gordon's former administrator at Black Mesa, from escaping via teleporter, thereby possibly killing him. Although caught in the reactor's explosion along with Alyx Vance, Gordon is rescued by the G-Man (apparently leaving Alyx Vance to face the explosion alone), who tells Freeman that he is impressed with his work and has received "several tempting offers" for his "services." He deposits Freeman back in stasis, this time without giving him "the illusion of free choice".


title: Gordon Freeman

text: "" rejoins Gordon and Alyx Vance, who are separately removed from the G-Man's stasis by the Vortigaunts and rescued a split second before the reactor explosion, greatly displeasing the G-Man. Gordon regains consciousness under a pile of rubble and is found by Alyx and Dog. Their proximity to the Citadel, coupled with its imminent explosion, which would level much of City 17, requires them to go back inside and stabilize the core, stalling the structure's destruction long enough for both themselves and much of the human population to escape. Gordon and Alyx succeed in doing so, but learn that the local Combine forces are attempting to send a distress message for off-world assistance, using the Citadel's destruction to power the transmission.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: The Combine consider this a positive, as the subsequent explosion would destroy all of City 17 and much of the surrounding countryside, which has been all but lost to human resistance forces. With a copy of the distress message, Gordon and Alyx escape the Citadel and meet up with Barney and other survivors. The pair escape City 17 via an evacuation train as the Citadel core goes critical, sending out the Combine message. The resulting shockwave derails their train.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: In "", Gordon wakes up in the wrecked train and is freed by Alyx, who had earlier escaped the wreckage. A massive superportal is forming over what was once City 17, which will allow the Combine to send an invasion fleet once it is fully formed. The data they carry is the key to destroying it. Gordon and Alyx make their way to White Forest, an apparent Soviet-era missile base turned into a rebel stronghold, where the data can be sent to an orbiting satellite via a rocket, which will allow the resistance to collapse the portal. After Alyx is critically wounded by a Hunter, Gordon assists the Vortigaunts in saving her, their healing ritual giving the G-Man the opportunity to speak to Gordon. During this conversation, the G-Man reveals to Gordon that he saved Alyx from the Black Mesa incident. He also embeds a message in Alyx's brain for her father, Eli: "prepare for unforeseen consequences."


title: Gordon Freeman

text: When the duo reaches White Forest, after a run-in with a Combine Advisor, they are reunited with Dr. Kleiner and Dr. Eli Vance, and are formally introduced to Dr. Arne Magnusson, who has taken control of the base. After Gordon seals the silo from a Combine attack, Gordon, Alyx, Dr. Kleiner, and Dr. Eli Vance watch the transmission from Dr. Mossman seen in "Episode One", acquired with the stolen Combine data. It reveals that she has located the "Borealis", an Aperture Science research vessel which contains something supposedly capable of causing "another Black Mesa." The G-Man compels Alyx to deliver his message, and once Eli sends her away he reveals that he, too, knows of the G-Man, referring to him as "our mutual friend." With the Combine now sending Striders to shoot the rocket down, Magnusson enlists Gordon's aid in stopping them through the use of his special explosive charges known as Magnusson Devices and Gordon's Gravity Gun.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: After repelling the attack, the rocket is launched and the portal is destroyed. As Gordon and Alyx prepare to leave for the "Borealis" in an old helicopter, they are ambushed by Advisors, which kill Eli before Dog forces them to flee. The game ends with Alyx mourning over Eli's body.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: Unlike previous games in the series (apart from the earlier expansion games), the player does not control Gordon, instead playing as Alyx Vance as she tries to locate him to help overthrow the Combine occupation of Earth. The game takes place five years before "Half-Life 2," and Gordon is still being held in stasis by the G-Man. At the end of the game, Alyx reaches a Combine prison that she believes to contain Gordon and she releases its occupant, only to discover it is the G-Man.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: The G-Man shows Alyx the future, with her crying over Eli's body at the end of "Episode 2." The G-Man gives her the opportunity to change the future by killing the Combine Advisor that kills her father. She does so, and the G-Man is impressed, saying that she would be more capable of completing his missions than "a previous hire who was unable - or unwilling" to do so. As he says this, he holds a crowbar, before standing to the side to reveal Gordon, who bends down to pick up his glasses, in the first appearance of the character in the series from a third-person perspective. The G-Man then forces Alyx into stasis, awaiting a mission to be assigned to her.


title: Gordon Freeman

text: After the end credits, the player now has control of Gordon at the end of "Episode 2," albeit with the changed events caused by the G-Man. Eli is furious that Alyx has disappeared, and knows that it must be the G-Man that has taken her. The G-Man can in fact be seen watching events from a balcony at the side of the room, unbeknownst to Eli. Dog jumps in through the window behind him and holds out Gordon's crowbar in his hand. Eli takes it, hands it to Gordon and says "we've got work to do."


title: Gordon Freeman

text: Gordon Freeman quickly became and then remained one of the most popular video game characters ever. In 2008, "The Age" ranked him as the 16th-best Xbox hero of all time, adding that "no one has done more for the reputations and street cred of theoretical physicists than Valve." In 2009, GameDaily listed the "strong and silent type" in their top 25 video game archetypes, using Gordon Freeman as an example. In 2010, "Empire" ranked him as the number one Greatest Video Game Character, commenting that "the character is the quintessential geek fantasy" who "has become a gaming icon, synonymous with the apotheosis of first-person action."


title: Gordon Freeman

text: He was also ranked 14th on UGO.com's list of top 100 heroes in all media, with a comment that "an MIT graduate, donning black-framed glasses and a goatee, he's not the guy you'd picture decimating the alien threat." In 2012, GamesRadar ranked him as the sixth "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games, adding: "It's how the characters of the "Half-Life" universe treat Gordon Freeman, not the way he treats them, that shape such a compelling character." In 2013, "Complex" ranked him as the 45th "most badass" video game character of all time. On the other hand, 1UP.com's Marty Sliva included him among the most unrelatable narrators, stating, "I'm sure some people love the fact that they can become Gordon Freeman -- I just think I'd be a little happier if there was anything there "to" become."


title: Gordon Freeman

text: In 1998, readers of "GameSpot" ranked him as the fifth-Best Hero of gaming. In 2009, a public poll on GameSpot resulted in him being voted the All Time Greatest Video Game Hero. He was also voted as the eighth-best video game character of all time in the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" 2011.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Poltergeist III is a 1988 American supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Gary Sherman, and starring Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, and Lara Flynn Boyle in her film debut, with Heather O'Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein reprising their roles from the previous films. The third and final entry in the original "Poltergeist" film series, it follows young Carol Anne Freeling, who is terrorized by malicious spirits while staying in her aunt and uncle's apartment at Chicago's John Hancock Center.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Released on June 10, 1988, the film marked O'Rourke's final performance, as she died four months before its release at the age of 12. Her death resulted in marketing complications for the film's studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who did not want to exploit the tragedy. The film earned negative reviews from critics and disappointed at the box office, earning $14.1 million against a $9.5 million budget.


title: Poltergeist III

text: The Freeling family has sent Carol Anne away from her native California to live with Diane's wealthy sister Pat and her husband Bruce Gardner in Chicago. Carol Anne has been told she is living with her aunt and uncle temporarily to attend a unique school for gifted children with emotional problems, though Pat thinks it is because Steven and Diane just wanted Carol Anne out of their house. Pat and Bruce are unaware of the events that the Freeling family had endured in the previous two films, only noting that Steven was involved in a bad land deal. Along with Donna, Bruce's daughter from his previous marriage, they live in the John Hancock Center of which Bruce is the manager.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Carol Anne has been made to discuss her experiences by her teacher/psychiatrist, Dr. Seaton. Seaton believes her to be delusional; however, the constant discussion has enabled the evil spirit of Rev. Henry Kane to locate Carol Anne and bring him back from the limbo he was sent during his . Kane drains the high rise of heat and begins appearing in mirrors. Not believing in ghosts, Dr. Seaton has come to the conclusion that Carol Anne is a manipulative child with the ability to perform mass hypnosis, making people believe they were attacked by ghosts. Also during this period, Tangina Barrons realizes that Kane has found Carol Anne and travels cross-country to protect her.


title: Poltergeist III

text: That night, Kane takes possession of reflections in mirrors, causing the reflections of people to act independently of their physical counterparts. When Carol Anne is left alone that night, Kane attempts to use the mirrors in her room to capture her, but she escapes with the help of Tangina, who telepathically tells Carol Anne to break the mirror. Donna and boyfriend Scott sneak into the security office while the guard is away, intending to make sure he sees only a videotape of the swimming pool and not see the swimming pool while their friends are there. On one of the monitors, they see a frightened Carol Anne running through the high rise's parking lot and go to rescue her. Yet before they can, all three are taken to the Other Side through a puddle by Kane and his people. By this point Tangina and Dr. Seaton are both at the high rise, along with Pat and Bruce. Dr. Seaton stubbornly assumes that Carol Anne has staged the entire thing, while Tangina tries to get her back.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Scott is seemingly released from the Other Side through the pool (which appears frozen, at first) and is taken to his home with his parents. Tangina is killed by Kane disguised as Carol Anne; and Donna later reappears by bursting out of Tangina's corpse. As Dr. Seaton attempts to calm Donna, Bruce sees Carol Anne's reflection in the mirror and chases after her while Pat follows. Dr. Seaton is not far behind, and he believes he sees Carol Anne in the elevator. However, after Dr. Seaton approaches the elevator doors, Donna appears behind him and pushes him to his death down the empty elevator shaft. At this point it is revealed that what came back was not Donna, but a ghost under Kane's control, which then vanishes back into the mirror with a ghost imposter of Scott at its side.


title: Poltergeist III

text: However, even in death Tangina is still more powerful than Kane expects. She returns long enough to give Pat and Bruce her necklace and an important piece of advice. Pat and Bruce struggle to find Carol Anne, but Bruce is captured and eventually Pat is forced to prove her love for Carol Anne in a final face-off against Kane. Tangina then appears and manages to convince Kane to go into the light with her. Donna, Bruce, and Carol Anne are then returned to Pat (with the exception of Scott), leaving the other side. In the end, lightning flashes over the building and Kane's evil laughter is heard, hinting that Kane may not be gone for good.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Writer-director Gary Sherman drafted the original screenplay of "Poltergeist III" with screenwriter Brian Taggert, whom he had worked with on "" (1987). Sherman thought the idea of the city setting was just as scary as isolated suburbia. His feeling was that "there are people on the other side of the wall, and no one cares that you are in trouble". Additionally, Sherman was influenced by Lewis Carroll's Alice novel "Through the Looking-Glass", which served as a framework for the film's narrative, specifically the use of mirrors as a plot device.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Tom Skerritt was cast in the film as Bruce, a Chicago apartment building manager, while Nancy Allen was cast as Pat, Bruce's wife and the aunt of Carol Anne who becomes her temporary guardian. Heather O'Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein reprised their roles from the previous two films (as Carol Anne Freeling and Tangina Barrons, respectively) the only cast members to do so. At the time of filming, O'Rourke had been undergoing treatment for a diagnosis of Crohn's disease, which required cortisone injections; this left her with facial swelling, which was evident in the film.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Corey Burton returned to provide the voice work for Kane, although he was uncredited for this effort. Craig T. Nelson was asked to play Steve Freeling again but declined saying two was enough.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Principal photography of "Poltergeist III" began on April 6, 1987, and ended in June. Filming occurred throughout Chicago. The John Hancock Center served as the central high-rise building location, while additional photography occurred at the George Wellington Center, and the Francis W. Parker School, which stood in for Donna's high school. Additional non-location filming took place at Metropolitan Chicago Studios.


title: Poltergeist III

text: According to actress Nancy Allen, one of the earliest scenes she filmed was the finale sequence in which she and Skerritt's characters attempt to scale the building on a window cleaning platform. The sequence was filmed on a real platform, and required the actors to stand on the platform approximately 100-stories high. Because of recurrent budgetary restrictions that arose during the shoot, director Sherman was forced to make unexpected alterations to his and Taggert's original screenplay.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Unlike the previous films, nearly all of the special effects were live and were performed on stage. The only visual effect added in post-production was the lightning flashing over the John Hancock Center in the very final shot of the picture. Sherman himself designed the special visual effects. On May 13, 1987, while filming the snow-covered parking garage sequence in Oakbrook Terrace's Mid America Plaza, a special effects explosion caused six polystyrene foam-covered cars to catch fire. A maintenance worker and two firefighters sustained injuries in the blaze, and the damage caused to the building was estimated at $250,000.


title: Poltergeist III

text: At the time "Poltergeist III" began shooting in spring of 1987, Heather O'Rourke had been ill with flu-like symptoms and subsequently underwent medical treatment during parts of the filming. Principal photography for the movie lasted from April 13 to June 26 of that year, with June 10, 1988 as the film's scheduled release date. After O'Rourke completed filming, she returned home to California with her illness appearing to be in remission. However, in late January 1988, O'Rourke suddenly became ill again, her condition rapidly deteriorated, and she died on February 1, 1988 (barely a month after her 12th birthday) during "Poltergeist III"'s post-production period.


title: Poltergeist III

text: After the completed film was rated PG by the MPAA in November 1987, Sherman and the studio decided to re-shoot at least part of the ending with a different special effects sequence. In the original ending that was scrapped after O'Rourke's death, when Patricia jumps through the glass pane into the apartment, she finds Carol Anne, Donna, Scott, Bruce and Tangina frozen and dying. She then also becomes imprisoned in ice and gets attacked by Kane and her evil mirror reflection who want the necklace. Patricia tries to repel them and declares unconditional love for her family, but trips over frozen Tangina and falls to the floor. Suddenly, Tangina frees her arm from the ice and grabs the necklace. She convinces Kane that she is the one who can take him to the other side, not Carol Anne. Kane puts his hand on the necklace, but instead of ascending, his face cracks and he explodes. The blast frees everyone, but annihilates Tangina and causes a violent thunderstorm. Patricia, Carol Anne, Donna, Scott and Bruce finally leave the mirror dimension. Carol Anne sees a reflection of smiling Tangina in the mirror who waves at them and sheds a tear.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Planning and design for the new SFX make-ups took place between December 1987 and January 1988, with a possible shooting date set for early February. Following O'Rourke's death, Sherman did not want to complete the film, but pressure from the studio prevailed, and the entire ending was re-shot in March 1988 using a stand-in for O'Rourke, 7 year old child actress Heather Holty. In April, a re-edited version of the film including the new ending was submitted to the MPAA, after which it received a PG-13 rating. The finished film proved to be a critical and box office failure. Sherman has said that although he is proud of portions of the movie (particularly the creative use of mechanical "in camera" effects instead of the traditional optical effects often seen in movies of that genre), it is the least favorite of his films.


title: Poltergeist III

text: "Poltergeist III" was released on June 10, 1988, in the United States. O'Rourke's death complicated MGM's marketing campaign for the film, out of fear of appearing to be exploiting her death. Skerritt and Allen were discouraged from giving interviews about the film to avoid questions about O'Rourke's death.


title: Poltergeist III

text: "Poltergeist III" was the lowest grossing and least attended film in the "Poltergeist" trilogy. It opened at No. 5, making $4,344,308 on its opening weekend, averaging about $2,953 from 1,471 theaters. The film then fell out of the top 10 in its second weekend, dropping 52 percent to $2,093,783 (1,467 theaters, $1,427 average) ranking at No. 11, and bringing the 10-day cume to $8,165,286. "Poltergeist III" ended up with a domestic box office total of $14,114,488. The film sold 3.434 million tickets at 1988's ticket price of $4.11, compared with 25.410 million tickets for the first film, and 11.050 million tickets for the second film.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film "two thumbs down" on their weekly syndicated show. They were both annoyed by how frequently the film's characters cry out each other's names, particularly "Carol Anne." Ebert said that when he went to see the film, the audience in the theater also became annoyed at the tactic and started screaming back the names towards the screen. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote that "Gary Sherman, who directed and co-wrote the film, has no notion of creating a coherent universe through the looking glass. He is content with fiery or body-shattering effects, interspersed with irritating small talk and accidental humor." "Variety" stated, "Following the pattern set by his 'Poltergeist' predecessors, director-co-writer Gary Sherman demonstrates absolutely no interest in whether this film ever has a modicum of meaning as he rushes from one special effect to another. Even there, Sherman arrives too late." Michael Wilmington of the "Los Angeles Times" called it "another sequel that seems to exist for no better reason than justifying its title and number ... The effects, which revolve around the conceit of a demonic mirror-world, are ingenious and cleverly executed. The acting plummets into realms of posturing camp, howling corn and eye-rolling hamminess that shatter illusion like a dropped glass."


title: Poltergeist III

text: Dave Kehr of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film two stars out of four and praised the "nifty, how-did-they-do-that?" quality of the special effects, but went on to write, "Sherman gives it a shot, but he can't quite get the family tensions going that provided a psychological undercurrent for the supernatural events in Parts 1 and 2. The new characters are drawn thinly, and the old seem somewhat diminished." Hal Hinson of "The Washington Post" wrote, "Gary Sherman, the film's co-writer and director, has set up a showcase for scary effects, and some of them are rather nice, in a grisly sort of way. It's clear that Sherman knows how to engineer this sort of thing. What's also clear is that without some semblance of an actual movie around them, these pyrotechnics really start to get on your nerves."


title: Poltergeist III

text: As of June 2021, the film holds a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews (3 positive and 15 negative), with an average rating of 3.8/10.


title: Poltergeist III

text: MGM released "" on DVD on August 26, 2003, in a double feature collection along with "Poltergeist III". To date, there has been no standalone DVD release of the film in Region 1. On September 13, 2011, MGM released the film on Blu-ray.


title: Poltergeist III

text: On January 31, 2017, Scream Factory released a Blu-ray Collector's Edition of the film including new commentaries and featurettes and the original ending before it was reshot. The original ending was found among master negatives of the film and is accompanied by subtitles as the original audio track was lost. In the original ending, Pat confronts Kane among the frozen bodies of Bruce, Donna, Carol Anne and Tangina with the latter grabbing the magical amulet that vanquishes Kane. The final shot features the above cast mentioned as well as Scott whose absence in the theatrical cut was never explained.


title: Poltergeist III

text: Following the disappointing release of "Poltergeist III", there were no immediate plans for a sequel. However during the early 1990s a script for a potential prequel as the fourth film was being written. The script would have followed Reverend Kane, the main antagonist of "" and "Poltergeist III" focusing on the events leading up to his followers and his own death which was briefly explored in "Poltergeist II: The Other Side." This version of "Poltergeist IV" was set to have less special effects and be a psychological horror. However this fell through and several other ""Poltergeist IV"" plans came into the line which included the proposed idea of Martin Casella, a cast member from the original 1982 film, writing the fourth film. This was considered as it would be a good marketing tactic however nothing ever came of it.


title: Chen Shui-bian

text: Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which ended the Kuomintang's (KMT) 55 years of continuous rule in Taiwan. He is colloquially referred to as A-Bian (阿扁).


title: Chen Shui-bian

text: A lawyer, Chen entered politics in 1980 during the Kaohsiung Incident as a member of the Tangwai movement and was elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981. He was jailed in 1985 for libel as the editor of the weekly pro-democracy magazine "Neo-Formosa", following publication of an article critical of Elmer Fung, a college philosophy professor who was later elected a New Party legislator. After being released, Chen helped found the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1986 and was elected a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1989, and Mayor of Taipei in 1994.