title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Goldust appeared on the celebration of the 800th episode of "Raw" on November 3, 2008, dancing alongside his father Dusty Rhodes, Lilian Garcia and several other wrestlers. A noticeably slimmer and quicker Goldust finally made a full-time return on the "Raw" roster once again on the November 24, 2008 episode of "Raw", where he defeated Santino Marella. Goldust participated in the 2009 Royal Rumble match and stared down his real-life half-brother, Cody Rhodes, but was eliminated by him later. Goldust participated at WrestleMania XXV as a lumberjack during the tag team championship unification match between The Colóns and John Morrison and the Miz.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the May 25 episode of "Raw", Goldust teamed up with Hornswoggle in a tag team match, where they defeated Festus and The Brian Kendrick. Goldust then teamed with Hornswoggle on multiple occasions, mainly feuding with Kendrick, where they had many matches both on "WWE Superstars" and "Raw".


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: The team of Goldust and Hornswoggle came to an end on June 29, 2009, when Goldust was traded to the ECW brand via a 15-man trade. His debut match for the brand came on the July 14 episode of "ECW", in which he lost to Zack Ryder. In the upcoming weeks, he started a feud with Sheamus leading to his first televised singles win in several months on "Superstars" against Sheamus pinning him using an inside cradle. After several weeks of feuding, Sheamus defeated Goldust in a "No Disqualification" match on the September 1 episode of "ECW on Syfy" to end the feud.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Following this loss, he garnered his first number one contender's match for the ECW Championship on the September 15, 2009, episode of "ECW on Syfy" in a 10-Man Battle Royal where he was the seventh participant eliminated and Zack Ryder earning the title shot in the end. The September 29, 2009, episode of "ECW on Syfy" saw Goldust win his first match on ECW in an eight-man tag team match where Yoshi Tatsu pinned William Regal to score the win for their team. On the November 10 episode of "ECW on Syfy", Goldust won his first televised singles match on the ECW brand by pinning Paul Burchill. Goldust participated in an "ECW Homecoming" Match on the December 22 episode of "ECW on Syfy" to determine who got an opportunity to challenge Christian for the ECW Championship, but was defeated by Vance Archer.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: In early January, he teamed with Yoshi Tatsu and began a feud with ECW newcomers Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft. The duos exchanged victories in singles and tag team competition until the feud came to an end on the February 9 episode of "ECW", when Goldust and Tatsu defeated Barreta and Croft in a match to determine the number one contenders to the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. However, Goldust and Tatsu failed in capturing the titles on the final episode of "ECW on Syfy". The team of Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu came to an end when Tatsu signed with the "Raw" brand after "ECW on SyFy" was canceled.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On March 3, 2010, Goldust joined the "SmackDown" brand, He made his debut for the brand on the March 4 episode of "Superstars" in a losing effort against Chris Jericho. The following week on "Superstars", he won his first match as a SmackDown star after defeating Mike Knox using his finishing move, the Final Cut, as well as beating William Regal also using the Final Cut soon afterwards. He appeared in a dark 26-man battle royal match at WrestleMania XXVI, but failed to win, although his past ally Yoshi Tatsu won.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: As part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft, Goldust was drafted back to the Raw brand. On the May 3 episode of "Raw", Goldust made his re-debut for the brand in a backstage segment with the guest host for that week, Wayne Brady. In late September, a mysterious stalker was sending messages to Maryse and Ted DiBiase Jr., but it was unsure who they were aimed at. On the October 4 episode of "Raw", Goldust was revealed as the mystery stalker, but the messages were not directed to Maryse, but at DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship, which he then took.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: During the season 2 finale of "NXT" on August 31, 2010, it was announced that Goldust would take part in NXT's third season as a Pro with Aksana as his Rookie. On the October 12 episode of "NXT" Goldust proposed to Aksana, who was facing deportation from the country, so she could stay in America. On the October 18 episode of "Raw", DiBiase tried to reclaim his Million Dollar Championship after Goldust's match with Zack Ryder by attacking him, but he was unsuccessful in retrieving his belt. At Bragging Rights, DiBiase defeated Goldust, but Goldust still left with the title after Aksana distracted DiBiase long enough for Goldust to hit his finisher on him. Goldust and Aksana were married on the November 2 episode of "NXT" with father Dusty Rhodes and real-life half-brother "Dashing" Cody Rhodes in attendance. Immediately afterwards Aksana slapped Goldust and walked out on him. The following Monday on "Raw" Aksana stole the Million Dollar Championship belt during Goldust's match with Ted DiBiase. The following week on "Raw" Goldust managed to steal the Million Dollar Championship belt back from Aksana and then returned it to Ted DiBiase Sr., and on "NXT" he asked Aksana for a divorce after she was eliminated.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On December 7, 2010, it was reported that Runnels had suffered a shoulder injury. He underwent surgery to repair the injury on December 10 and, as a result, was expected to be out of action for five to six months. On the April 11, 2011, episode of Raw, he was seen (without makeup) hugging Edge after his retirement speech. On July 11, Runnels began working backstage as a producer. On the November 29 episode of the "Smackdown Live Holiday Special" Goldust made his surprise return on a backstage segment with his father Dusty Rhodes. On the December 12 episode of the "WWE Slammy Awards" he appeared to announce the Slammy for A-Lister of The Year with Vickie Guerrero. On the December 30, 2011, episode of SmackDown Rhodes appeared in his suit attire and no make up, to defend Booker T and confront his half brother, Cody Rhodes. Rhodes made an appearance on the April 9, 2012 edition of "Raw" where he, along with numerous other WWE officials and superstars, were attempting to break up a brawl between Brock Lesnar and John Cena. On May 6, 2012, WWE acknowledged Goldust's departure from the company.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Runnels returned to professional wrestling on April 11, 2012, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, for Championship Wrestling Entertainment's event "WrestleFest", defeating JD Maverick in the main event. He then wrestled on July 14, 2012, in Hollywood, Florida, for the NWA Ring Warriors (part of NWA territories) promotion as Goldust, losing to Vordell Walker via disqualification when "Iceman" Buck Q interfered in the match. Runnels appeared for the Dreamwave Wrestling on September 15 in LaSalle, Illinois. Runnels continued to use the Goldust name outside WWE. Runnels appeared on Mr. Chainsaw Pro Wrestling's "Battle Ground 5" event on May 18, 2013, in Kalkaska, Michigan, and billed as Dustin "Goldust" Rhodes.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Runnels returned to WWE as Goldust at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013, as the eighth participant in the Rumble match. He was eliminated by his half-brother, Cody Rhodes, teasing a possible feud. but Goldust later confirmed that his return was a one night only deal.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: When Cody was (kayfabe) fired for speaking out against chief operating officer Triple H and then losing to the WWE Champion Randy Orton, Goldust returned on the September 9 "Raw" to face Orton in a match to get his half-brother Cody Rhodes rehired, but was defeated. Following this, Goldust's father Dusty Rhodes returned to WWE to ask Stephanie McMahon for Cody to be rehired. After much dialogue in which The Shield and Big Show interrupted, Stephanie McMahon gave Dusty two choices, which were to get knocked out by an unwilling Big Show or get "mauled by The Shield." Big Show then knocked Dusty out and stayed with Dusty while the paramedics arrived. In return, the Rhodes brothers gatecrashed "Raw" by attacking the Shield. At Battleground, Cody and Goldust won their jobs back when they defeated the WWE Tag Team Champions, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a non-title match. The Rhodes brothers heaped more misery on the Shield by winning a no disqualification match on the October 14 "Raw" (with the help of Big Show) to capture the tag titles, marking Goldust's first title in WWE in nearly 11 years. By this point, many longtime Goldust mannerisms such as wearing a robe and platinum blonde wig to the ring were dropped in exchange for wearing a jacket similar to his brother; additionally, Goldust would now speak with his normal Texan voice. At Hell in a Cell, the Rhodes brothers' first successful title defense came with winning a triple threat match against the Usos and Rollins and Reigns. At Survivor Series, Goldust alongside his half-brother Cody, participated in the traditional Survivor Series Tag Team match where Goldust survived till the final two alongside Rey Mysterio. However, he got eliminated by Roman Reigns and his team lost. At , the Rhodes Brothers retained the title in a fatal-4-way elimination match against Curtis Axel and Ryback, The Real Americans and Big Show and Rey Mysterio, but they lost the title to New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) at the Royal Rumble. Later in the Royal Rumble match, he would accidentally eliminate Cody Rhodes. After continuing to team together for months, Goldust and Cody broke up in June, after mounting losses. Cody prompted Goldust to find a new partner to replace him.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the June 16 episode of "Raw", Cody debuted a new character, "Stardust", wearing face paint and a bodysuit and adopting mannerisms similar to those of Goldust. At Money in the Bank, Goldust and Stardust defeated RybAxel (Curtis Axel and Ryback). Goldust and Stardust appeared in backstage segments, speaking of a "Cosmic Key". On the August 25 episode of "Raw", Goldust and Stardust defeated The Usos in a title match via count-out, but, as a result, they did not win the title. The duo would then attack the Usos out of frustration, turning heel in the process. They confirmed their heel turn after attacking El Torito the following night on "Main Event", having defeated Los Matadores in their tag team match. At Night of Champions they won the WWE Tag Team Championships once again by beating The Usos. At Hell in a Cell they retained their title by beating The Usos. At Survivor Series they lost the title to The Miz and Damien Mizdow. They had a rematch for the tag team titles the following night on Raw, but were unsuccessful.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the February 2, 2015 episode of "Raw", after being defeated by The Ascension, Stardust would start to show his frustrations toward Goldust. On the February 16 episode of "Raw", following a loss to The New Day members Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, Stardust would turn on Goldust by using his old finisher, Cross Rhodes on him, marking the end of Gold and Stardust, turning Goldust face in the process. This led to a match at Fastlane, where Goldust defeated Stardust. Later that night, while speaking to their father, Dusty Rhodes, Goldust would be attacked by Stardust again. At WrestleMania 31, Goldust participated in the 2nd annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by Ryback. On the March 30, 2015 episode of "Raw", Goldust lost via submission to Rusev.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: In May, Goldust announced that he would undergo surgery to address a shoulder injury and that he would be out of action for 2–4 months. Goldust made an appearance at without any facepaint to congratulate Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe after they won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Goldust returned from injury at Survivor Series, competing in a 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match during the pre-show, teaming with The Dudley Boyz, Neville and Titus O'Neil, where they defeated the team of Stardust, The Ascension, The Miz and Bo Dallas. Goldust would continue feuding with his brother, Stardust, on Raw and SmackDown during the months of November and December. On the December 17 episode of "SmackDown", Goldust would cost Tyler Breeze his match against O'Neil after distracting Breeze by appearing at ringside. On the December 31 episode of "SmackDown", Goldust would be defeated by Breeze.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: In early 2016, during various episodes of "Raw" and "SmackDown", Goldust approached R-Truth and proposed they form a tag team to no avail. At Fastlane, Goldust inadvertently cost R-Truth his match against Curtis Axel. Following Fastlane, R-Truth began to apologize and attempt to form a tag team with Goldust, with Goldust rejecting. On the March 21 episode of "Raw", Goldust came to R-Truth's aid after Truth was defeated by Bubba Ray Dudley. At WrestleMania 32, Goldust took part in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in a losing effort. On the April 11 episode of "Raw", Shane McMahon announced a number one contenders tournament for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which included Goldust and Truth teaming together. On the April 14 episode of "SmackDown", Goldust would tell R-Truth before their match they would not team together, with Goldust instead teaming with Fandango, where they were defeated by The Vaudevillains in the first round. On the April 22 episode of Smackdown, Goldust was the special referee for the match of R-Truth and Fandango, which R-Truth won. On the May 2 episode of "Raw", Goldust faced off against R-Truth's new partner, Tyler Breeze, in a losing effort following a distraction from R-Truth. On the May 12 episode of "SmackDown", the two teams would face each other, with Goldust and Truth refusing to fight each other, resulting in Fandango and Breeze forming an alliance and attacking Goldust and R-Truth, with Fandango subsequently allowing Breeze to pin Goldust. On the May 16 episode of "Raw", Goldust and Truth began teaming together, where they were defeated by the newly dubbed Breezango (Fandango and Breeze). The week after on "SmackDown", Golden Truth started a losing streak, losing to the likes of Breezango and The Dudley Boyz. Golden Truth earned their first victory on the Money in the Bank pre-show after defeating Breezango.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: In the 2016 WWE Draft, Goldust, along with R-Truth, was drafted to "Raw". The Golden Truth later entered into a feud with The Shining Stars. On the July 25 episode of "Raw", The Golden Truth would enter the ring during a tag team match between Enzo and Cass and The Shining Stars, playing Pokémon Go! Over a number of months The Shining Stars would attempt to persuade R-Truth into purchasing a one-way ticket to Puerto Rico which saw Goldust continually but in and save R-Truth from being conned. On the August 1 episode of "Raw", The Golden Truth would be defeated by The Shining Stars. On the October 17 episode of "Raw", The Golden Truth were joined by Mark Henry in their feud against the Shining Stars. They would go on to defeat The Shining Stars & Titus O'Neil in an 8-man tag team match on the same episode of "Raw". On the October 31 episode of "Raw", Goldust would compete in a battle royal with the winner being added to Team Raw at Survivor Series. Goldust was unsuccessful with Braun Strowman winning the battle royal and joining Team Raw in the process. The Golden Truth were later announced as members of the 10-man Survivor Series Raw Tag Team stable but later lost their spots a week later when it was revealed R-Truth had sold their spots on the team to the Shining Stars for tickets to Puerto Rico. On the November 7 episode of "Raw", The Shining Stars defeated The Golden Truth to join Team Raw. On the November 28 episode of "Raw", Goldust attacked Braun Strowman after his victory over R-Truth. Sami Zayn would then run into the ring and help in attacking Strowman. At "WWE Tribute to the Troops" on December 14, The Golden Truth competed in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match to determine the #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson, and The Shining Stars, which was won by Cesaro and Sheamus.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the March 27, 2017 episode of "Raw", the Golden Truth was confirmed for the 4th annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, however neither one of them was successful in winning. On the April 17 episode of "Raw", The Golden Truth were going to compete against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson but were attacked backstage by Braun Strowman, leaving Enzo Amore and Big Cass to take The Golden Truth's place in the match.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the May 8 episode of "Raw", The Golden Truth participated in the tag team turmoil match for the No. 1 Contenders spot against The Hardy Boyz, but lost to Cesaro and Sheamus. On the May 15 episode of "Raw", R-Truth apologized to Goldust for "letting the team down" and Goldust replied by saying they "win and lose as a team". Later that night, Goldust attacked R-Truth before a match against Gallows and Anderson, turning heel for the first time since 2015 and breaking up The Golden Truth.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the May 22 episode of "Raw", a vignette was aired with Goldust, stating that he was in the director's chair and that "the Golden Age is back", starting a feud with R-Truth. On the July 10 episode of "Raw", Goldust defeated R-Truth, concluding their feud. On the August 28 episode of "Raw", Goldust participated in the 15-man battle royal for a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. Goldust was unsuccessful though, as he was eliminated by Luke Gallows.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the September 11 episode of "Raw", Goldust faced Bray Wyatt in a losing effort. After the match, Wyatt used a towel to remove his facepaint, saying he was "just a man", as a shot towards the face and body paint Wyatt's rival Finn Bálor would use. The next week on "Raw", under his real name and without his signature facepaint (although still using Goldust's theme and ring attire), Rhodes faced Wyatt once again in a losing effort. Bálor ran down to help Rhodes after the match, when Wyatt continued to attack him. Rhodes, however, resented the help and attacked Bálor during a confrontation backstage on the September 25 episode of "Raw". He had a match against Bálor later that night, but was defeated. At Starrcade, he competed as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes, defeating Dash Wilder with the bulldog.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the January 1, 2018 episode of "Raw", Rhodes, now back as Goldust, teamed with Cedric Alexander to defeat Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari. A rematch took place on the January 2 episode of "205 Live", a show usually reserved for competitors under 205 pounds. At the Royal Rumble, Goldust entered the Royal Rumble match at number 29, but was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. In January, Goldust was announced as a competitor in the WWE Mixed Match Challenge alongside Alicia Fox. Fox was replaced by Mandy Rose after an injury, and Goldust and Rose lost in the first round to Jimmy Uso and Naomi on February 6. On the March 5 episode of Raw, Goldust would confront and attack John Cena during a promo, stating he would "shatter his dreams", but was subsequently defeated by Cena that same night. On the April 2 episode of Raw, Goldust cut a backstage promo where he announced his participation in the upcoming André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal match at WrestleMania 34, and lost a match to "Woken" Matt Hardy that same night. At Wrestlemania 34, Goldust participated in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he eliminated R-Truth. At the Greatest Royal Rumble, Goldust entered the aforementioned match at number 18 and lasted 10 minutes before being eliminated by Bobby Roode. In July, Goldust underwent surgery on both knees. On March 28, 2019, it was reported by "Pro Wrestling Sheet" that Runnels left the WWE after his contract expired, thus ending his six-year tenure with the promotion. Runnels confirmed his departure on April 21, 2019, stating he asked for his release.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On April 20, 2019, it was revealed on "Road to Double or Nothing" that Runnels would face his real life half-brother, Cody, at All Elite Wrestling (AEW)'s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. At Double or Nothing on May 25, Runnels, under his old gimmick as "The Natural", failed to win. The match was rated 5 stars by professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer. Post-match, the brothers embraced after the announcement they would reunite to face The Young Bucks at the Fight for the Fallen event on July 13. On August 2, 2019, it was announced that Dustin Rhodes had signed a multi-year deal with All Elite Wrestling as wrestler and coach. On the premiere episode of "AEW Dynamite" on October 2, Rhodes returned to TNT for the first time in over 18 years, Rhodes, The Young Bucks and his half-brother Cody were attacked by The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Santana and Ortiz, Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager). On the October 22, 2019, episode of "AEW Dark", Runnels picked up his first victory, by pinning Cima, in an 8-Man Tag Team Match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of "" where he helped his brother Cody and MJF attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. Runnels' feud with The Inner Circle concluded when he lost to Jake Hager in Hager's AEW debut match at Revolution. On the Road to Double or Nothing special, Dustin Rhodes announced that if he were to lose to Kip Sabian in the first round of the TNT Championship tournament then he would retire. On the April 22, 2020, episode of "Dynamite", Dustin defeated Kip Sabian to win the quarterfinals match and advance to the second round of the TNT Championship Tournament. The second round saw him facing "The Murderhawk" Lance Archer, with Dustin losing the match. During the May 20 broadcast of "Dynamite", Shawn Spears insulted Dustin and the Rhodes family during a segment, setting up a match between the two at the Double or Nothing on May 23, 2020. During his Double or Nothing return match, Dustin ripped Spears' clothes and won via pinfall after hitting the Final Reckoning (Curtain Call). Dustin and Q. T. Marshall who first teamed as "The Natural Nightmares" on February 19, unsuccessfully challenged for the AEW World Tag Team Championship against Kenny Omega and Adam Page on the June 17 "Dynamite". To avenge Cody losing the TNT Championship to Brodie Lee, Dustin and Marshall teamed with Matt Cardona and Scorpio Sky at All Out, defeating The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson). After the match, Dustin challenged Brodie for the TNT Championship on the following "Dynamite", which he lost.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: On the November 11, 2020, episode of "Dynamite", "The Natural Nightmares" teamed up again to defeat Butcher and Blade in a Bunkhouse match. On the December 9, 2020, episode of "Dynamite", "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes wrestled in a singles match, defeating the Dark Order's 10 by pinfall.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: At AEW Battle of the Belts on January 8, 2022 Dustin lost to Sammy Guevara in an Interim AEW TNT Championship title match.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: He also appears in Black Moth Super Rainbow's video for "Hairspray Heart", from their album "Cobra Juicy".


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Runnels is the son of Virgil Runnels, better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (1945–2015), and his first wife Sandra. His half-brother is fellow wrestler Cody Rhodes. He has two sisters, Kristin Runnels Ditto, who is a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, and Teil Gergel.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Runnels was previously married to Terri Runnels. They have a daughter, Dakota Avery, who was born in 1994. The couple divorced after six years of marriage on October 18, 1999. Runnels also has a step son.


title: Dustin Rhodes

text: Runnels' autobiography, "Cross Rhodes: Goldust, Out of the Darkness", was released on December 14, 2010. In the book, Runnels mentioned that he was married a second time to an unnamed woman. "I also had a short-lived and highly volatile second marriage. We only dated for a few months, then, one day, we just went to the justice of the peace and did the deed." He was referring to Milena Martelloni, whom he married on December 18, 2002; they divorced in 2003. Runnels married his third wife, Ta-rel Marie Roche, on June 22, 2012.


title: Beretta M9

text: The Beretta M9, officially the Pistol, Semiautomatic, 9mm, M9, is the designation for the Beretta 92FS semi-automatic pistol used by the United States Armed Forces. The M9 was adopted by the United States military as their service pistol in 1985.


title: Beretta M9

text: The 92FS won a competition in the 1980s to replace the M1911A1 as the primary sidearm of the U.S. military, beating many other contenders, and only narrowly defeating the SIG Sauer P226 for cost reasons. It officially entered service in 1990. Some other pistols have been adopted to a lesser extent, namely the SIG P228 pistol, and other models remain in use in certain niches.


title: Beretta M9

text: The M9 was scheduled to be replaced under a United States Army program, the "Future Handgun System" (FHS), which was merged with the "SOF Combat Pistol" program to create the "Joint Combat Pistol" (JCP). The JCP was renamed "Combat Pistol" (CP), and the number of pistols to be bought was drastically cut back. The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps are replacing the M9 with the SIG Sauer M17 and M18.


title: Beretta M9

text: In the 1970s, every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces (except the U.S. Air Force) carried the .45 ACP M1911 pistol. The USAF opted to use .38 Special revolvers, which were also carried by some criminal investigation/military police organizations, USAF strategic missile (ICBM) officer crews, and military flight crew members across all the services when serving in combat zones, or when engaged in nuclear weapons duties.


title: Beretta M9

text: The Department of Defense then decided to synchronize the weapons of all five branches of the U.S. armed forces. The service members from the ground combat branches found this arrangement highly contentious. However, they recognized that the decision was made for the purpose of eliminating the need to buy replacements for worn-out M1911 frames, and to establish a common NATO pistol round to simplify logistics (in the circumstance of war against the Soviet Union in Europe). In 1979, the Joint Service Small Arms Program began searching for a replacement for the venerable M1911, and the 9×19mm Parabellum round was selected for compliance with the NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG). In 1980, the Beretta 92S-1 design was chosen over entries from Colt, Smith & Wesson, Walther, the Star M28, and various Fabrique Nationale and Heckler & Koch models.


title: Beretta M9

text: The result, however, was challenged by the US Army, and new tests were done by the Army. In 1984, the trials started again with updated entries from Smith & Wesson, Beretta, SIG Sauer, Heckler & Koch, Walther, Steyr, and Fabrique Nationale. Beretta won this competition, but there was a new trial, the XM10 competition, in 1988. This resulted in two different trials that were more limited, but resulted in the Beretta being chosen—albeit with an updated design.


title: Beretta M9

text: Starting in 1979 while the pistol selection processes were concurrently underway, the Bianchi International holster company began its development of a multi-functional military holster to be ready for the issuance of a new pistol. The resulting holster was designed by John Bianchi and Richard Nicholas, and designated as the M12. The M12 has served the U.S. Armed Forces well for decades, and was adopted simultaneously with the adoption of the Beretta 92FS in 1985.


title: Beretta M9

text: The Beretta 92FS performed successfully in a number of survivability trials, which included: exposure to temperature ranges between ; salt water corrosion tests; repeated drops onto concrete; and being buried in sand, mud, and snow. Additionally, the 92FS proved an MRBF (mean rounds before failure) of 35,000 rounds—the number often touted as the equivalent to five or six times the pistol's service life. While this is normally true in European militaries, armed forces of the United States normally subject sidearms to much more extensive use. The Iraq War, which featured frequent urban and room-to-room combat, has required American soldiers to rely more heavily on their pistols.


title: Beretta M9

text: The M9 is a short recoil, semi-automatic, single-action / double-action pistol that uses a 15-round staggered box magazine with a reversible magazine release button that can be positioned for either right or left-handed shooters. The M9 is used with the Bianchi M12 Holster, though other holsters are often used.


title: Beretta M9

text: It also has an enlarged hammer pin that fits into a groove on the underside of the slide. The main purpose is to stop the slide from flying off the frame to the rear if it cracks. This was added after slide failures were observed in Beretta models with very high round counts during tests (failures later deemed to be caused by defective ammunition used in tests).


title: Beretta M9

text: The M9 features multiple internal safeties, including a firing pin block that prevents the firing pin from moving without the trigger being pulled, and a firing pin striker that rotates when the safety lever is engaged, preventing the firing pin from being hit even if the hammer falls. The M9 also has an ambidextrous external safety lever, allowing both left and right-handed users to engage or disengage the safety mechanism.


title: Beretta M9

text: The M9 was updated to the M9A1 in 2006. It added—among other things—a one-slot Picatinny rail for mounting lights, lasers, and other accessories to the weapon. The M9A1 has more aggressive front, backstrap checkering, and a beveled magazine well for easier reloading of the weapon. M9A1 pistols are sold with Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coated magazines that were developed to better withstand the conditions of sandy environments in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.


title: Beretta M9

text: The M9 was further updated to M9A3 (the M9A2 concept never went into production) in 2015. The main updates to M9A3 were:


title: Beretta M9

text: The M9 22LR is a variant of the M9 in .22 Long Rifle, and features the same operation, controls, and takedown as the M9. The M9 22 is available with 10 and 15-round magazines, removable sights, and interchangeable grip panels which fit the Beretta M9.


title: Beretta M9

text: The M9 has been the standard sidearm of the United States Navy, United States Army, and the United States Air Force since 1985, replacing the Colt M1911A1 in the Army and Navy, and the Smith & Wesson .38 Special in the Air Force. The M9A1 is also seeing limited issue to the United States Marine Corps. A large number of M9s and M9A1s were ordered in 2006. During the 2009 SHOT Show, Beretta announced it had received a US$220 million contract for the delivery of 450,000 M9s and M9A1s to the U.S. military, within five years.


title: Beretta M9

text: The Beretta M9 General Officer's Model is a special model issued to general officers in the Army and Air Force that replaced the special issue RIA M15 General Officer's Pistol and Colt M1911A1 beginning in 1986. It is identical to the standard M9 sidearm, with standard Bruniton-polymer finish and black composite grips, except it has a "GO"-prefix added to its serial number range, starting with GO-001. It comes with a metal belt buckle that is available in gold metal for Army generals, and silver metal for Air Force generals.


title: Beretta M9

text: The "Marine Corps Times" reported plans in July 2007 for all officers below the rank of colonel and all SNCOs to be issued the M4 carbine instead of the M9. The new assignment policy will still assign M9s to Marine colonels and above, and Navy petty officer first class and above.


title: Beretta M9

text: The United States Coast Guard has replaced most of its M9 pistols with the SIG P229 DAK, though some M9s remain in service with certain units.


title: Beretta M9

text: On September 30, 2011, Beretta USA announced that the U.S. Army's Foreign Military Sales program has purchased an additional 15,778 Model 92FS pistols for the Afghan military and other U.S. allies. The Model 92FS is the non-U.S. military designation for the M9 pistol.


title: Beretta M9

text: In September 2012, Beretta USA announced that the U.S. Army had bought 100,000 M9 pistols, and that the M9 “would remain their sidearm for the next five years.”


title: Beretta M9

text: Prior to its widespread adoption by the U.S. military, questions were raised in a 1987 General Accounting Office report after an incident where a slide failure on a Beretta 92SB injured a Naval Special Warfare member, and two more failures were later observed in additional testing. These failures included both military and civilian Beretta models with very high round counts, and after investigation, Beretta deemed them the result of ammunition supplied by the U.S. Army, which exceeded the recommended pressures specified by NATO. Conversely, the U.S. Army concluded that the faults were the result of the low metal toughness present in the Italian-made slides. This event nonetheless provoked a modification in the M9 design to prevent slide failures from causing injuries to the user, after which no further slide fractures were reported.


title: Beretta M9

text: In December 2006, the Center for Naval Analyses released a report on U.S. small arms in combat. The CNA conducted surveys on 2,608 troops returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 12 months. Only troops who fired their weapons at enemy targets were allowed to participate. 161 troops were armed with M9 pistols, making up 6% of the survey. 58% of M9 users (93 troops) reported they were satisfied with the weapon, which was the lowest satisfaction rate in the survey. 48% of users (77 troops) were dissatisfied with the M9's ammunition. 64% (103 troops) were satisfied with handling qualities, such as size and weight. M9 users had the lowest levels of satisfaction with weapon performance, including: 76% (122 troops) with accuracy, 66% (106 troops) with range, and 88% (142 troops) with rate of fire. 48% of M9 users (77 troops) were dissatisfied with its ability to attach accessories. 26% of M9 users (42 troops) reported a stoppage, and 62% of those that experienced a stoppage said it had a small effect on their ability to clear the stoppage and re-engage their target. Only 45% of M9 users (72 troops) reported their weapon's magazine did not fail to feed completely. 83% (134 troops) did not need their pistols repaired while in theater. 46% (74 troops) were not confident in the M9's reliability, defined as level of soldier confidence their weapon will fire without malfunction, mainly due to difficulty of maintenance. 63% (101 troops) were confident in its durability, defined as level of soldier confidence their weapon will not break or need repair. The M9 had the lowest levels of soldier confidence in reliability and durability. 74% of M9 users offered recommendations for improvements. 26% of requests were for increased caliber or stopping power, with some specifically requesting returning to .45 ACP rounds. 20% of requests were for a new pistol. Other recommendations were for more durable magazines and better grips.


title: Beretta M9

text: In 2007, soldiers in the field had many concerns with the M9, notably a lack of confidence in its stopping power resulting from the use of the 9mm ball round, a significant factor in military evaluations because the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) prohibit use of expanding bullets in warfare between contracting parties. The United States is not a signatory, but generally observes the agreement.


title: Beretta M9

text: The U.S. military has been criticized for not purchasing magazines from Beretta. The military awarded a contract to Airtronic USA, because the previous manufacturer, Check-Mate Industries, was charging too much per magazine, though Check-Mate magazines are still sometimes issued. Prior to Check-Mate magazines being purchased, the military purchased magazines from the Italian firm Mec-Gar. Airtronic has stated that its M9 magazines will be made similarly to Mec-Gar's, because of reliability problems with Check-Mate magazines.


title: Beretta M9

text: There were reported failures with the government-contracted 9mm magazines. After extensive testing and actual testimony given by the troops, it was concluded that the failures were caused by the heavy phosphate finish that were requested in the government contract, combined with the unique environmental conditions in Iraq. After corrections to the government-required specifications for the magazine finish, almost two million new magazines have been distributed without any further malfunctions.


title: Beretta M9

text: The U.S. Army and Air Force sought to replace their M9s through the Modular Handgun System program. The House Armed Services Committee attempted to terminate the program in favor of upgrading the M9. However, program officials said that buying a new pistol is the better option due to several factors, including: advances in handgun designs; the difficulty in addressing all of the M9's issues; other pistols being less expensive to produce and maintain; and the low confidence soldiers have in the M9. A three-year engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) phase began in early 2014. Commercial off-the-shelf pistols were tested for various capabilities, such as: accuracy, dispersion, compatibility, and corrosion resistance under extreme weather and extreme combat conditions. The pistol's service life was expected at 25,000 rounds. The M9 was required to fire 5,000 rounds, while data from Beretta shows the average reliability of the M9 pistol to be 17,500 rounds without a stoppage.


title: Beretta M9

text: In December 2014, Beretta unveiled its M9A3 pistol upgrade for a separate Army effort to identify Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs) under its existing contract. The company presented the upgrade to improve the M9's performance as a more cost-effective solution, without needing to buy a different handgun. Improvements include: a thin grip with a removable, modular wrap-around grip; MIL-STD-1913 accessory rail; removable front and rear tritium sights; extended and threaded barrel for suppressor use; 17-round sand-resistant magazine; and other small features, all in an earth-tone finish. Later that month, the Army decided not to evaluate the M9A3 in favor of pursuing the MHS program, maintaining that the M9 design does not meet requirements, and a cost-benefit analysis determined the old fleet would cost more to replace and repair than buying a new service pistol. Beretta claims the M9A3’s upgraded features address a majority of the complaints, and could be sold for less than the cost of previous M9 versions. The Army formally rejected the M9A3 ECP proposal at the end of January 2015.


title: Beretta M9

text: On January 19, 2017, it was announced that a customized version of the SIG Sauer P320 had won the United States Army's XM17 Modular Handgun System competition. The full-sized model will be known as the M17, and the carry-sized model will be known as the M18. In an editorial, firearms writer Bob Owens noted that “only the Sig Sauer P320, with a serialized core frame and the ability to swap different grip lengths and slide-barrel combinations, seems to meet the requirements of the RFP among the named designs.”


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is a character in the "Star Wars" franchise and the main protagonist of the sequel film trilogy. She was created by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt for "" (2015), the first installment of the trilogy, and is primarily portrayed by Daisy Ridley. She also appears in the film's sequels, "" (2017) and "" (2019), and related "Star Wars" media.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is introduced as a scavenger who was abandoned on the planet Jakku when she was a child. She becomes involved in the Resistance's conflict with the First Order. Powerfully Force-sensitive, Rey trains to be a Jedi under siblings Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and faces adversaries such as Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke and the resurrected Emperor Palpatine—who is revealed to be her grandfather in "The Rise of Skywalker". Despite being enemies, Rey and Kylo Ren share a connection called a 'Force dyad' and eventually become romantically involved with one another. Following Palpatine's final defeat and her own resurrection, Rey adopts the name Rey Skywalker to honor her mentors and their family legacy and renounce her lineage. As the last remaining Jedi, she makes it her mission to rebuild the Jedi Order.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Screenwriter Michael Arndt said that he found Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's offer to write "Episode VII" daunting in mid-2012, but he became interested when it was explained to him that the tale was about the origin story of a female Jedi and he met with George Lucas. The character was known as Kira in the early stages of production, and Arndt described her as a "loner, hothead, gear-head, badass". Arndt said that he struggled with introducing the young woman as the main character in his story while keeping her from being overshadowed after her early meeting with Luke Skywalker, whose role in the film was eventually minimized. Ridley recalled that director and writer J. J. Abrams originally intended to name the character "Keera" , but during filming in Abu Dhabi, Abrams revealed to Ridley that he was thinking of going with "Rey".


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: On creating a female lead for the new trilogy, Abrams stated that from his initial discussions with writer Lawrence Kasdan, he was excited at the concept of having a woman at the center of the story. He said that "We always wanted to write Rey as the central character" and that other female representation in the story was also important. Kennedy stated that, "Rey is the new generation's Luke Skywalker." Rey's background as a scavenger was part of the developers attempting to portray her as "the ultimate outsider and the ultimate disenfranchised person", due to their belief that a person of that nature would likely experience a prolonged journey compared to other types of people.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Daisy Ridley was largely unknown before being cast for the role of Rey. Ridley said that she auditioned many times for the role over the course of seven months and had to keep her casting a secret for three months. She was announced as part of the cast at the end of April 2014. She only had experience with small parts in TV shows. Her inexperience and lack of exposure were a crucial part of what convinced Abrams to give Ridley the role, as the previous installments had featured relatively unknown talent that would not experience heightened degrees of scrutiny. Abrams stated that Ridley "was so funny and had a great spark", as well as having her act out an emotional scene, proclaiming that "she nailed it on the first take." Abrams went on to praise Ridley, saying, "She was born with this gift to be in a moment and make it her own. She simultaneously works from the inside out and the outside in." Kennedy proclaimed, "Daisy had a physicality and a self-confidence that was so important to the character we were looking for. She epitomizes that optimism where anything is possible." Director Dusan Lazarevic, who was present at the casting of Ridley for a role in British drama series "Silent Witness", in addition to praising her acting range, stated, "She showed a combination of vulnerability and strength which gave her a complexity, and there was an intelligence in her eyes that was an indicator she could play quite a complicated part." Cailey Fleming was additionally cast to portray a young Rey.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Although Ridley said she was "riddled with doubts and insecurities", she said that Rey's hopefulness is what she related to most: it "was something driving me through the auditions—even though it felt so insanely out of anything that I could've imagined." Ridley recalled her shooting experience as starting off bumpy, with Abrams telling her that her first few takes were "wooden". But Ridley and Abrams had an "incredibly collaborative" process creating Rey; Ridley recalled that the character "changed from when we first began, she became softer. And I think that's probably me, because Americans tend not to understand me, so it helped, slowing down the speech and everything just made it softer than I am." Ridley has said that Rey will have "some impact in a girl power-y way", adding that the character "doesn't have to be one thing to embody a woman in a film. It just so happens she's a woman but she transcends gender. She's going to speak to men and women." In an interview with "Elle", Ridley said, "She's so strong. She's cool and smart and she can look after herself," adding, "Young girls can look at her and know that they can wear trousers if they want to. That they don't have to show off their bodies."


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Composer John Williams said he immediately loved Ridley in the film and found composing her theme an interesting challenge. He said that her theme does not suggest a love theme, but rather a strong female adventurer character infused with the Force for a mature, thoughtful theme. He added that the "musical grammar" of Rey's theme is not heroic, but conveys "an adventurous tone that needs to illustrate empathy."


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is introduced as a 19-year-old woman in "The Force Awakens". She is stubborn, headstrong, brave, optimistic, and maintains fierce loyalty to her friends. Matthew Yglesias of "Vox" wrote, "Rey is considerably less callow than Luke". Ridley says of the character, "It's not because Rey is strong that she's amazing. It's all the complexities of a human. It's because she is a well-drawn person who is struggling with things and you're with her."


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is highly Force-sensitive, which is revealed when she is presented with the lightsaber first owned by Anakin Skywalker, then his son Luke. Without training, she is able to use the Force and defeat the powerful (albeit injured) Kylo Ren in a duel.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: On the mirror-invoking vision Rey experiences in "The Last Jedi", writer and director Rian Johnson said that it represents the character learning that she has to connect with herself.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: In "The Last Jedi", Rey also discovers she has a connection in the Force with Kylo Ren, in which Rian Johnson claims that it was used as a way to make Rey engage with him and get the two characters to talk without fighting each other, to further develop their relationship. Johnson explains that Rey seeing Kylo shirtless during one of these connections shows the increasing intimacy between them during their interactions. In "The Rise of Skywalker", it is revealed that this connection makes them two halves of a "dyad" in the Force, and the co-writer of the film, Chris Terrio, explains this relationship as being "sort of soulmate[s] in the Force" and “twins of fate, twins of destiny.”


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Both Johnson and director J.J. Abrams described their relationship as a romance. Abrams elaborated about his perception of it during the production of "The Force Awakens" as having a "brother-sister thing" as much as a "romantic thing", and that it is not "literally a sexually romantic kind of thing", but they are spiritually bound together in way that Abrams claims that it felt romantic to him.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is first introduced as an orphan living alone on the desert planet Jakku, scraping a living through scavenging parts from ships. She rescues the astromech droid BB-8 and encounters Finn (John Boyega), a former stormtrooper. Attacked by First Order troops, Rey steals and pilots the "Millennium Falcon" to evade them and escape Jakku. Smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Wookiee Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) take back the "Falcon" in their freighter ship. She saves Finn and they escape the freighter in the "Falcon." Impressed with Rey's bravery and piloting skill, Han offers her a job on the "Falcon;" however, Rey declines his offer, feeling that she has to return to Jakku.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: After they convene at Maz Kanata's (Lupita Nyong'o) castle on the planet Takodana to return BB-8 to the Resistance, the First Order is alerted to their presence. Rey visits the castle's basement vault in which Maz has stored a lightsaber that once belonged to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his father before him. Upon touching it, she experiences a terrifying vision: she sees a battle led by First Order enforcer Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a flashback of her younger self being left behind on Jakku, and a vision of Luke, the last Jedi Master in the galaxy, who has been missing for several years. Maz debates that whoever abandoned her will never return to Jakku, and her only option is to seek out strength in the Force. Feeling overwhelmed, Rey rejects the lightsaber and flees into the forest.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: The First Order attacks Maz's castle, and Ren captures Rey when the Resistance arrives. Ren takes her to Starkiller Base, where he probes her mind for the map piece that BB-8 showed her. Ren uses the Force to read Rey's mind, revealing Rey feels that Han is like the father she never had. Rey then resists him and reads Ren's emotions, exposing his fear that he will never be as powerful as his grandfather, Darth Vader. Ren reports to his master, Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), who commands that Rey should be brought before him. Left alone with a stormtrooper guarding her, Rey uses a Jedi mind trick to get him to help free her. After sneaking around inside the base looking for a way to escape, she is elated to find Finn, Han, and Chewbacca have come for her. They watch in horror as Ren kills his own father, Han.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: As they try to escape the base through the woods, Ren challenges Rey and Finn, using his lightsaber. After Ren seriously injures Finn and disarms him of Luke's lightsaber, Rey uses the Force to retrieve the weapon and battles Ren herself. Initially overpowered, Rey rejects Ren's offer to train her and uses the Force with the lightsaber, disfiguring his face. After escaping the destroyed base in the "Millennium Falcon" with Chewbacca and the wounded Finn, she returns to the Resistance base. While the Resistance celebrates the victory, Rey mourns Han's death with Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and visits Finn, who is still unconscious. She decides to seek out Luke's location, using information provided by BB-8 and the reactivated R2-D2 (Kenny Baker). Rey, Chewbacca, and R2 travel in the "Falcon" to the oceanic planet of Ahch-To; upon finding Luke, Rey presents him with his longtime lightsaber.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is featured in "" (2015) by Greg Rucka, an anthology book for young readers that focuses on the lives of Poe, Rey and Finn before the events of "The Force Awakens". "Rey's Survival Guide" (2015) by Jason Fry is a first-person account from Rey's perspective about herself and her home planet, Jakku. Rey is also a point of view character in the of "The Force Awakens" by Alan Dean Foster, in which she unknowingly scavenges her uncle Gallius Rax's corpse.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: On the release of "", fans noticed a lack of tie-in toys featuring Rey, despite her being presented as the film's primary protagonist. Hasbro released a version of Monopoly based on "The Force Awakens" that excluded the Rey character. After receiving criticism, Hasbro stated that they did not include Rey to avoid revealing spoilers, and would be including Rey in future toy releases. Paul Southern, the head of Lucasfilm Licensing, said that they wanted to protect the secrets that "the Force awakens in Rey" and that her character carries a lightsaber. He said that demand for Rey products was underestimated. Abrams said, "I will say that it seems preposterous and wrong that the main character of the movie is not well represented in what is clearly a huge piece of the "Star Wars" world in terms of merchandising." Regarding Rey's relative absence in "Star Wars" merchandising, CBBC presenter and voice actor Christopher Johnson stated: "It still baffles me to this day that some toy manufacturers don't think that girls want to play with 'superhero' toys and that boys aren't interested in female characters."


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is one of the key characters of "The Last Jedi." Picking up directly where the previous installment left off, Rey presents Luke with his lightsaber, but Luke dismissively throws it aside. Luke eventually agrees to teach Rey the ways of the Force. Rey demonstrates immense raw strength and a clear temptation toward the dark side of the Force that reminds Luke of Kylo Ren, who was once his nephew and student, Ben Solo. All the while, Rey feels a sudden connection through the Force with Ren, who tells her that Luke tried to kill him while he was the Jedi master’s student (Luke later tells her that he was tempted to kill Ben after seeing a vision of the pain and suffering he would cause, but relented). In one of their conversations, Rey and Ren touch hands, and through this Rey swears that she is able to feel conflict within Ren, and becomes determined to turn him back to the light side. Rey asks Luke once more to come with her and rejoin the Resistance, but he declines. So, Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 leave without him, and Rey goes to meet Ren in the "Mega"-class Star Dreadnought "Supremacy".


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Ren takes Rey prisoner and brings her before Snoke. Snoke tells her that he created the Force connection between her and Ren as a trap to reach Luke. Snoke tortures and taunts Rey, showing her the attack on the Resistance transports, and eventually orders Ren to kill her. Ren instead kills Snoke, and he and Rey fight Snoke's guards side by side. After the duo win, Ren asks Rey to join him and create a new order separate from the legacies of Snoke and Luke. While attempting to get her to join him, Ren gets Rey to admit that her parents abandoned her. Despite the revelation, Rey hesitates but ultimately refuses to join him in the dark side. She uses the Force to summon Luke's lightsaber, but then Ren does the same, resulting in a standoff that ends up breaking the lightsaber. Shortly afterwards, Resistance leader Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) rams the MC85 Star Cruiser "Raddus" into Snoke's flagship, separating Rey from Ren. Rey subsequently uses Snoke's escape craft to flee the Mega-Destroyer as later stated by General Hux.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is later revealed to have made her way back to the "Millennium Falcon", aiding the Resistance in fighting the First Order’s troops during the Battle of Crait. Despite their valiant efforts, the Resistance loses the battle, and Rey focuses her efforts on finding the surviving Resistance fighters to help evacuate them. Eventually, she finds the Resistance fighters behind a dead-end, and uses the Force to move the rocky barrier aside, clearing the path for them to board the Falcon. Rey reunites with Finn and Leia and meets Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) for the first time aboard the "Falcon". Rey feels Luke’s death through the Force, and reassures Leia that he met his end with "peace and purpose". As she holds the leftovers of Luke's lightsaber, Rey asks Leia how they can rebuild the Resistance from what remains, and Leia, gesturing towards Rey, says that they now have all they need. Unbeknownst to Leia, that includes the fact that Rey stole the sacred Jedi texts from Luke before Yoda's (Frank Oz) Force spirit burned the tree cave they were in.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is the main protagonist of the trilogy's final film, "The Rise of Skywalker", which is set one year after the events of "The Last Jedi". Rey is continuing her Jedi training at the Resistance base under the tutelage of Leia. The Resistance announces that the resurrected Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has been manipulating events from the Sith world Exegol and has built the Sith Eternal's fleet of "Xyston-"class Star Destroyers—the Final Order. Rey discovers from Luke's old notes that a Sith wayfinder can lead them to Exegol. Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and BB-8 leave for Pasaana, where a clue to the wayfinder's location is hidden. Rey locates the clue—a dagger with Sith inscriptions—with the help of Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). Meanwhile, Rey continues communicating with Ren; through this correspondence, Ren learns where Rey is and comes for her. Rey confronts Ren, inadvertently allowing Chewbacca to be taken aboard a First Order transport. Attempting to save Chewbacca, Rey accidentally destroys the transport with Force lightning, seemingly killing him. Rey is stricken with guilt and reveals to Finn that she has been having visions of herself and Ren sitting on the Sith throne.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey and the others travel to Kijimi, where programmer Babu Frik extracts the location of the wayfinder—the moon Kef Bir—from C-3PO's memory files. Ren and the First Order follow Rey to Kijimi. Rey senses Chewbacca is alive and the group mounts a rescue mission. Rey retrieves the dagger aboard Ren's "Resurgent"-class Star Destroyer "Steadfast" and has visions of her parents being killed with it; Ren informs her that she is Palpatine's granddaughter. Palpatine had fathered a son named Dathan who renounced him; he and his wife, Miramir hid Rey on Jakku, assuming lives as "nobodies" to protect her. Palpatine’s assassin Ochi eventually found the couple and murdered them, but never found Rey. Ren also reveals that as the grandchildren of Sith Lords, their connection is actually a dyad in the Force. Ren urges her to join him so they can overthrow Palpatine and take the throne of the Sith together, but Rey refuses and escapes aboard the "Millennium Falcon" with her friends.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Together, they travel to Kef Bir where Rey retrieves the wayfinder on the remains of the second Death Star; upon touching the artifact, she has a vision of herself as a Sith Lady. Having tracked them, Ren destroys the wayfinder and duels Rey. Leia, dying, calls to Ren through the Force; Rey impales him as he is distracted. Also sensing Leia's death, Rey realizes what she did to Ren and regrets impaling him. She uses the Force to heal him and confesses that she did want to join him as Ben Solo before escaping aboard his TIE whisper. Disturbed by her Sith lineage, Rey exiles herself on Ahch-To. Luke's Force spirit encourages her to face Palpatine and gives her Leia's lightsaber and his old T-65B X-wing "Red Five". Rey departs for Exegol with the wayfinder from Ren's ship. Meanwhile, Ren resumes his true identity as Ben Solo.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey transmits her coordinates to the Resistance, allowing them to launch an offensive against the Sith Eternal forces, including the Sith fleet. Rey confronts Palpatine, who demands she kill him in anger for his spirit to pass into her, which will allow him to possess her body. However, Ben arrives and joins Rey. Palpatine absorbs their life energy to restore his full power and incapacitates Ben. He then attacks the Resistance fleet with Force lightning. Weakened, Rey hears the voices of past Jedi, who restore her strength. Palpatine attacks her with lightning, but Rey deflects it using Luke and Leia's lightsabers, killing him and herself. Ben uses the Force to revive Rey at the cost of his own life; Rey kisses Ben before he vanishes into the Force. Rey then returns to the Resistance base and reunites with her friends, celebrating their victory against Palpatine and the Sith Eternal.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Sometime later, Rey visits Luke's abandoned childhood home on Tatooine and buries the Skywalker lightsabers, having built her own with a yellow blade out of her stick. A passerby asks Rey her name; after seeing the Force spirits of Luke and Leia, she responds, "Rey Skywalker".


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: The reveals that Rey's father was a nonidentical clone of Palpatine. The novel "" depicts Rey in the lead-up to the film, while an issue of the comic book series "Star Wars Adventures" will feature a story set after the events of the film featuring Rey, Finn, and Poe continuing to fight the remnants of the First Order.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey makes a brief cameo as a disembodied voice in the television series "Star Wars Rebels," in the episode "A World Between Worlds". In the episode, set 16 years before her birth and 35 years before "The Force Awakens", the young Padawan Ezra Bridger briefly hears some of her lines from the film (specifically her speaking to the unconscious Finn at the end) in the World Between Worlds, a dimension that exists outside of time and space.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey is the protagonist of "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special", set the Life Day after the events of "The Rise of Skywalker". Now a Jedi Master, Rey unsuccessfully attempts to train Finn as her Padawan after having recognized him as Force sensitive. Meditating before turning to ancient Jedi texts, Rey learns of a Jedi Temple on Kordoku where on Life Day, "a key to the galaxy's past will help make a Jedi's future clearer" can be found. Leaving Finn to prepare Life Day preparations with Poe, Rey travels to the temple on Kordoku, where the Force leads her to a mysterious blue-green crystal key lying before a sealed doorway. While pondering as to its purpose, Rey witnesses the door begin revolving, opening a portal to the World Between Worlds, a dimension that exists outside of time and space. Sucked through the doorway, Rey lands in the swamps of Dagobah (during the events of "The Empire Strikes Back"), where she witnesses a younger Luke Skywalker training under Yoda. Rey watches Luke struggle before reopening the portal with the key, bringing her to back to the Kordoku temple in the present. Realising that she can train Finn by travelling in time to other Life Days and watch other Jedi Masters train their students, Rey convinces a reluctant BB-8 to follow her through time, watching Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi as they wait to meet the Trade Federation (during the events of ""), before travelling further to witness an older Kenobi and his own Padawan Anakin Skywalker (the future Darth Vader, during the events of ""). After being noticed by the duo, who ignite their lightsabers, Rey bids the pair farewell before turning the key and reopening the portal, finding her in Luke's cockpit during the Battle of Yavin, inadvertently helping him destroy the Death Star before returning to the present.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Exhilarated by her experiences of encountering previous Jedi Masters, Rey insists on seeing one more master and apprentice for Finn against BB-8's wishes. Finding themselves onboard the second Death Star in her grandfather Emperor Palpatine's throne room (during the events of "Return of the Jedi"), Rey witnesses his apprentice, Darth Vader, give him a mug as a gift, of which Palpatine is dismissive. Uneasy, Rey reactivates the portal and leave through it, unknowingly witnessed by Palpatine, who sends Vader through the portal to investigate. On Kordoku, Rey is shocked as Vader enters through the portal before she can close it, igniting his lightsaber before using the Force to snatch the key out of Rey's hands upon noticing her. While the Sith Lord tries to figure out what the device is, Rey charges at him with her lightsaber, and the pair battle with both lightsabers and Force-thrown rocks. He asks if she is a Jedi and Rey confirms this is so. The two fight over the key, causing it to open another portal, sucking them inside and leaving BB-8 behind.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Emerging at Echo Base during the Battle of Hoth (during the events of "The Empire Strikes Back"), Vader is impressed by Rey's abilities as the two parry, only to be confused by the entrance of his past self onto the scene. Assuming the other Vader to be an imposter, the past Vader attempts to exert his authority, prompting a lightsaber duel between the two Vaders, before size up their Force powers, realizing that they are the same person from two points in time, and ordering their snowtroopers to destroy Rey. She manages to activate the portal and escape, following by the future Vader and two snowtroopers to Mustafar, where Kenobi is dueling Vader's younger self, who has become Vader (during the events of ""). After one of the snowtroopers attempts to pass the key to Vader after Rey drops it, Rey snatches it in mid-air with the Force, collapsing the platform and causing herself, Vader, the snowtroopers, Kenobi, and Anakin slide down the time portal as lava flows down a valley. Falling through several portals to Nevarro ("The Mandalorian"), Tatooine ("The Phantom Menace"), Saleucami (""), Exegol ("The Rise of Skywalker"), and several other planets, Rey and Vader continue their duel, rapidly entering and exiting a large number of portals, gathering more and more people with them, before finally crashing again on Tatooine, as an adolescent Luke Skywalker watches. As a battle breaks out between the combatants of the struggle between light and dark throughout galactic history, Rey and Vader notice the watching Luke to have the key, before tackling him and being sucked through another portal, landing back on Kordoku before a waiting BB-8. Vader manages to retrieve the key, destroying BB-8 before reactivating the portal and departing before Rey can follow him.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: As Luke repairs BB-8, Rey regrets her recklessness in setting Vader on the loose with the ability to travel through time, before being confronted by Yoda's Force spirit. Lamenting her failure to teach Finn and stop Vader, Yoda reassures her that she can learn from failure to be a better student or better teacher, showing her a Force vision of her friends celebrating Life Day aboard the "Millennium Falcon", and Finn using what she thought him to prevent a tree from being toppled, before showing her visions of various Jedi masters with their students including Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin, Yoda, and Luke, leading Rey to realize that these masters and students shared a friendship. After Yoda leaves, Rey meditates and uses the Force to light up the other crystals in the cave surrounding the doorway, creating a new portal which she enters with BB-8 and Luke. Finding herself on the second Death Star again, Rey is shocked to see Kylo Ren, Palpatine having thirty years into the future (after the events of "The Last Jedi") learned of his own betrayal and apparent death at Vader's hands (although unaware of his secret survival), and recruited Ren to the past to take Vader's place as his primary apprentice.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Recognizing Rey and the younger Luke, Ren engages her in a lightsaber duel, before Vader returns with the older Luke from the moon of Endor, surprising Ren and allowing Rey the opportunity to throw him into Vader. Enlisting the older Luke's help, a lightsaber battle ensures with Ren fighting Luke and Rey fighting Vader, before Palpatine unleashes Force lightning upon Rey and Vader, planning to kill them both. Avoiding the lightning, Rey charges at Palpatine before being intercepted by Ren; to Rey's surprise, Ren deactivates his lightsaber and invites her again to rule the galaxy alongside him, as BB-8 steals back the key from Palpatine. A saddened Rey looks at Kylo Ren and calls him Ben again, before using the key to send him back to his ship in his time. Rey witnesses Palpatine unleash Force lightning upon Luke and Vader, before inviting her to join him as his newest apprentice, which she rejects. Vowing to rule the galaxy by himself, Palpatine summons the key again and attempts to create a new portal, only to be stopped by Rey, who joined by the older Luke, uses the Force to levitate the key before causing it to slam into the Palpatine and Vader, who crashes into the former's throne. With the Sith distracted, Rey departs through a portal with the younger Luke and BB-8, as the older Luke witnesses Vader fling Palpatine down the reactor shaft. Rey takes the younger Luke back to Tatooine before taking the various combatants back to their now separate-timelines, and returning herself to the Jedi Temple on Kordoku.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Returning to the Life Day celebrations on the "Millennium Falcon", Rey tells Finn that she is ready to train him, before seeing the Force spirits of Luke and Leia Organa look on.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey appears in the eleventh season of "Robot Chicken", voiced by Jessica Barden. In addition to appearing in skits parodying "The Force Awakens" and "The Rise of Skywalker", Rey stars in "The Inconvenient Return of Rey Skywalker". Set immediately after the events of "The Rise of Skywalker", after introducing herself as "Rey Skywalker" to Barbara and moving into the former Lars household on Tatooine, Rey remains oblivious as Barbara and her husband Victor attempt to steal back a shipment of spice they had stashed in the household, briefly considering killing her to retrieve it before recognizing her as a Jedi. After several unsuccessful attempts at retrieving the spice, during which Rey disposes of her former scavenging gear and the Lars' family remains, the duo attempt to retrieve the spice during Rey's housewarming party, only to find that Rey had discovered the spice and begun sharing it with her guests. Barbara distracts Rey by asking her about her romantic experiences as Victor attempts to take the spice out of the house, only to be discovered by Rey, who flips over the stash and pulls out her lightsaber. Before Rey can do anything else, Luke's Force spirit shows up to join the "spice party", encouraging Rey and the other partygoers to dance, as Barbara and Victor decide it would be best to try and steal their spice back again the next day.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: The character of Rey appears in the video games "Disney Infinity 3.0" (2015), "" (2016), and "Star Wars: Battlefront II" (2017), all voiced by Ridley, as well as in the strategy video game "" (2017). Helen Sadler voiced the character in "", the alpha version of "Star Wars Battlefront II", and "". The character was also introduced as an outfit in the game "Fortnite".


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: The character and Ridley's portrayal have received critical acclaim. Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" proclaims that Rey is "a woman warrior with the stylish ferocity of a kung-fu star," praising "the verve [Ridley] must have been born with plus the skill she must have acquired as a young actress coming up in England," and stating, "It's hard to imagine what the movie—and the sequels to come—might have been if they'd cast the wrong person, but here Daisy Ridley is in all her unassuming glory, and all's right with the galaxy." Adam Howard of "MSNBC" states that "one of the most pleasant surprises of the film has been the strength of its lead female character," adding that some have likened Rey to a "new feminist icon". In a personal essay, Nicole Sperling of "Entertainment Weekly" writes about her daughters feeling empowered after viewing the film, stating, "They never commented on how pretty Rey is. They never had to flinch because Rey was a sexual object to some man in power. They just felt strong. Equal." Megan Garber of "The Atlantic" writes that Rey "proves herself to be, in extremely short order, extremely adept as a fighter".


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Emily Rome of "HitFix" describes Rey as "more 'strong female character' than strongly written", saying "the speed with which Rey mastered Jedi mind tricks and lightsaber fighting with zero training is the stuff of fan fiction. Rey is geek feminist wish-fulfillment". Rome says Rey is "everything we wanted in a "Star Wars" female character," praising her for being a character that is "independent, skilled, scrappy, tough, and doesn't need saving." Some have debated whether Rey is too skilled despite her inexperience, making her a Mary Sue. Screenwriter Max Landis posted a series of tweets in 2015 derisively referring to "The Force Awakens" as "a fanfic movie with a Mary Sue as the main character", on the basis of Rey's seemingly natural skills as a mechanic, a fighter, a pilot, and a user of the Force. Tasha Robinson of "The Verge" writes that Rey is "kind of a Mary Sue character" who "keeps falling into standard-issue damsel-in-distress situations, then capably rescuing herself [...] She's a fantasy wish-fulfillment character with outsized skills, an inhuman reaction time, and a clever answer to every question but so are the other major "Star Wars" heroes." Robinson suggests viewers enjoy these qualities in Rey, saying, "We wouldn't be worrying about Rey's excessive coolness if she were Ray, standard-issue white male hero". Other outlets, including Ridley herself, have argued that the term "Mary Sue" carries an inherent gender bias, and that the male characters from the original trilogy did not face comparable criticism. Media critic Caroline Framke argues that Rey's abilities are not necessarily any more impressive than those of the character of Luke Skywalker, writing that fans' "instinctive" criticism of characters like Rey reflects a double standard. J. J. Abrams stated that "the people who are getting freaked out are the people who are accustomed to [male] privilege, and this is not oppression, this is about fairness." He elaborated, "You can probably look at the first ["Star Wars"] movie that George [Lucas] did and say that Leia was too outspoken, or she was too tough. Anyone who wants to find a problem with anything can find the problem. The internet seems to be made for that." Adrienne Tyler of "Screen Rant" argued that Rey's abilities are explained in "The Rise of Skywalker" as resulting from the pair forming a dyad in the Force, sharing the same fighting capabilities.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Rey's unique hairstyle attracted attention before and after "The Force Awakens" was released, being compared to Leia's hairdo from the original film, with debate over whether it would become as popular. Rey has also been compared to the titular character from the Hayao Miyazaki anime film "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" (1984).


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Richard Roeper described Ridley's portrayal of Rey as "a breakout performance", continuing by calling the character "tough and resourceful and smart and brave". Ridley was nominated for a 2016 Saturn Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. The first Reel Women in Technology Award for a fictional character was awarded to the character Rey.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Some fans criticized Rey's trilogy-wide character arc as insufficient. Fan fiction author Ricca said that tension that was built in the first two films never gets resolved in the last film. She wanted a moment at the end of "The Rise of Skywalker" in which Rey reacts to and reflects on everything that has happened to her.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Some critics and fans have noted a visual resemblance between Rey's character design to that of Bastila Shan from the video game "", and that her character arc shares thematic similarities with that of Bastila's.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: The question of Rey's parentage was a significant point of discussion for the series, and spawned numerous fan theories. The most popular theories were that she is the daughter of Luke Skywalker or Han Solo, or is Obi-Wan Kenobi's granddaughter (because of a scene where Rey hears Kenobi's echoed voice following a vision in "The Force Awakens"). The view that she is Luke's daughter was especially prominent, with fans and critics highlighting their story arc similarities, "Star Wars" being a Skywalker saga, Rey having a strong attachment to Luke's lightsaber, and being exceptionally strong with the Force without any training. Some fan theories about Rey's parentage pointed to "Rey's Theme" featured in John Williams' , as the theme shared similarities with the themes for Darth Vader and Luke.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Abrams stated that he intentionally withheld Rey's last name and background in "The Force Awakens". He said that he felt that the origin of Kylo Ren was the only thing that could be revealed in his film and that he knew "quite a bit" about Rey's origin but would give courtesy to "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson by not saying any more.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: In "The Last Jedi", Rey is coaxed by Kylo Ren into admitting that her parents were "nobodies". Emily VanDerWerff of "Vox" equated this scene with Luke finding out that Darth Vader is his father, which was his greatest nightmare. To VanDerWerff, "Rey's greatest nightmare is being no one." She added that while Kylo Ren "has every reason to be lying" about this, to her mind it is a good thing that "Rey is the child of nobody of particular importance to the story so far." Josh Spiegel of "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that although some fans might be disappointed by Ren's revelation, it "fits in perfectly" with the film's through line that one can be "both exceptionally gifted in the Force and also not a Skywalker" because "the spirit of the Jedi extends ... to anyone with a gift and the power to believe." Conversely, Casey Cipriani of "Bustle" opined that while Ren might be right about Rey's parents, he is unreliable and "we have to take what he says with a grain of salt and look elsewhere [within the story] for hints of Rey's lineage."


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Before the release of "The Rise of Skywalker", Abrams said that "there's more to the story than you've seen," though, according to Ridley, the facts presented in "The Last Jedi" would not change. Rey being revealed as a Palpatine in "The Rise of Skywalker" received a mixed reception. Joanna Robinson of "Vanity Fair" interprets the twist as a rebuttal to the themes presented in "Episode VIII", calling it "a blow to those fans who eagerly devoured [Rian] Johnson’s message that anyone from anywhere can be a Force-wielding hero." Contrarily, Ryan Britt of "Fatherly" writes that the revelation may be resonant for those with a "Dark Side-inclined family," because Rey decides not to play Palpatine's "stupid game", and "when Palpatine’s face melts off and the dark side disappears into the ether, a lot of emotional family bullshit goes with it." "Inverse" similarly argues that the end of the film sees Rey reject "any power her grandfather held over her" and "bury the past", in a completion of the hero's journey.


title: Rey (Star Wars)

text: Following the release of "The Rise of Skywalker", Daisy Ridley revealed that the identity of Rey's parents had been in constant flux over the course of the production of the sequel trilogy. According to Ridley, during the early production of the trilogy, Lucasfilm had been "toying with an Obi-Wan connection" before settling on the idea of her character being no one. J. J. Abrams then pitched the idea of Palpatine being Rey's grandfather to Ridley during on "Episode IX", although this aspect of her character "kept changing" even into production. James Hunt of "Screen Rant" argues that the idea of an Obi-Wan connection "would've been an equally bad decision," because it would still mean the character "is powerful because of her lineage, rather than Rey simply being powerful because the Force chose her. It [would have continued] the focus on nostalgia and trying to connect everything, rather than letting Rey be wholly new." Kathleen Kennedy later clarified that "there were a lot of ideas being thrown around" but that Obi-Wan having offspring "was pretty much off the table".


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq. Since 1984, the PKK has utilized asymmetric warfare in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (with several ceasefires between 1993 and 2013–2015). Although the PKK once sought an independent Kurdish state, in the 1990s its aims shifted toward autonomy and increased rights for Kurds within Turkey.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, the EU and some other countries; however, the labeling of the PKK as a terrorist organization is controversial, and some analysts and organizations contend that the PKK no longer engages in organized terrorist activities or systemically targets civilians. Turkey has often viewed the demand for education in Kurdish language as supporting terrorist activities by the PKK. Both in 2008 and 2018 the EU Court of Justice ruled that the PKK was classified as a terror organization without due process. Nevertheless, the EU has maintained the designation.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The PKK's ideology was originally a fusion of revolutionary socialism and Marxism–Leninism with Kurdish nationalism, seeking the foundation of an independent Kurdistan. The PKK was formed as part of a growing discontent over the suppression of Turkey's Kurds, in an effort to establish linguistic, cultural, and political rights for the Kurdish minority. Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life. Many who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned. The Turkish government denied the existence of Kurds and the PKK was portrayed trying to convince Turks of being Kurds.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The PKK has been involved in armed clashes with Turkish security forces since 1979, but the full-scale insurgency did not begin until 15 August 1984, when the PKK announced a Kurdish uprising. Since the conflict began, more than 40,000 people have died, most of whom were Kurdish civilians. In 1999, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was captured and imprisoned. In May 2007, serving and former members of the PKK set up the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organisation of Kurdish organisations in Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian, and Syrian Kurdistan. In 2013, the PKK declared a ceasefire and began slowly withdrawing its fighters to Iraqi Kurdistan as part of a peace process with the Turkish state. The ceasefire broke down in July 2015. Both the PKK and the Turkish state have been accused of engaging in terror tactics and targeting civilians. The PKK has and recruited child soldiers, while Turkey has depopulated and burned down thousands of Kurdish villages and massacred Kurdish civilians in an attempt to root out PKK militants.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: As a result of the military coup of 1971, many militants of the revolutionary left were deprived of a public appearance, movements like the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO) or the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (TKP-ML) were cracked down upon and forbidden. Following, several of the resting political actors of the Turkish left organized away from the public in university dorms or in meetings in shared apartments. In 1972–1973 the organization's core ideological group was made up largely of students led by Abdullah Öcalan ("Apo") in Ankara who made themselves known as the "Kurdistan Revolutionaries." The new group focused on the oppressed Kurdish population of Turkish Kurdistan in a capitalist world. In 1973, several students who later would become founders of the PKK established the student organization ADYÖD, which would be banned the next year. Then a group around Öcalan split from the Turkish left and held extensive discussions focusing on the colonization of Kurdistan by Turkey. Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life. Many who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned. At this time, expressions of Kurdish culture, including the use of the Kurdish language, dress, folklore, and names, were banned in Turkey. In an attempt to deny their separate existence from Turkish people, the Turkish government categorized Kurds as "Mountain Turks" until 1991. The PKK was then formed, as part of a growing discontent over the suppression of Kurds in Turkey, in an effort to establish linguistic, cultural, and political rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Following several years of preparation, the Kurdistan Workers Party was established during a foundation congress on 26 and 27 November 1978 in a rural village called Fis in Kurdish and Ziyaret in Turkish. On 27 November 1978, a central committee consisting of seven people was elected, with Abdullah Öcalan as its head. Other members were: Şahin Dönmez, Mazlûm Dogan, Baki Karer, , , Cemil Bayık. The party program "Kürdistan Devrimci Yolu" drew on Marxism and saw Kurdistan as a colonized entity. Initially the PKK concealed its existence and only announced their existence in a propaganda stunt when they attempted to assassinate a politician of the Justice Party, Mehmet Celal Bucak, in July 1979. Bucak was a Kurdish tribal leader accused by the PKK of exploiting peasants and collaborating with the Turkish state to oppress Kurds.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The organization originated in the early 1970s from the radical left and drew its membership from other existing leftist groups, mainly Dev-Genç. During the 1980s, the movement included and cooperated with other ethnic groups, including ethnic Turks, who were following the radical left. The organization initially presented itself as part of the worldwide communist revolution. Its aims and objectives have evolved over time towards the goals of national autonomy and democratic confederalism.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Around 1995, the PKK ostensibly changed its aim from independence to a demand for equal rights and Kurdish autonomy within the Turkish state, though all the while hardly suspending their military attacks on the Turkish state except for ceasefires in 1999–2004 and 2013–2015. In 1995, Öcalan said: "We are not insisting on a separate state under any condition. What we are calling for very openly is a state model where a people's basic economic, cultural, social, and political rights are guaranteed".


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Whilst this shift in the mid-nineties has been interpreted as one from a call for independence to an autonomous republic, some scholars have concluded that the PKK still maintains independence as the ultimate goal, but through society-building rather than state-building.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The PKK has in March 2016 also vowed to overthrow the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, through the 'Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement'.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The organization has adapted the new democratic confederalist views of its arrested leader, which aim to replace the United Nations, capitalism and nation state with the democratic confederalism which is described as a system of popularly elected administrative councils, allowing local communities to exercise autonomous control over their assets while linking to other communities via a network of confederal councils. Followers of Öcalan and members of the PKK are known, after his honorary name, as "Apocu" (Apo-ites) under his movement, "Apoculuk" (Apoism). The slogan "Bijî Serok Apo", which translates into Long Live leader Apo, is often chanted by his sympathizers.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: While the PKK has no known Islamist or practicing religious member among its leadership, it has supported the creation of religious organizations. It has also supported Friday prayers to be in Kurdish instead of the Turkish language. Öcalans early writings did not have a positive view of Islam, but later works had a more favorable tone, specifically regarding the revolutionary symbol of Muhammed against an established order. Öcalan viewed Zoroastrianism as the original religion of the Kurds.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Even though the PKK has several prominent representatives in various countries such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, Russia, and West European countries Abdullah Öcalan stayed the unchallenged leader of the organization. Today, though serving life imprisonment, Öcalan is still considered the honorary leader and figurehead of the organization.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Murat Karayılan led the organization from 1999 to 2013. In 2013 Cemil Bayik and Besê Hozat assumed as the first joint leadership. Cemil Bayik was one of the core leaders since its foundation. The organization appointed "Doctor Bahoz," nom de guerre of Fehman Huseyin, a Syrian Kurd, in charge of the movement's military operations signifying the long-standing solidarity among Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: In 1985, the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (, ERNK) was established by the PKK as its popular front wing, with the role of both creating propaganda for the party, and as an umbrella organization for PKK organizations in different segments of the Kurdish population, such as the peasantry, workers, youth, and women. It was dissolved in 1999, after the capture of Abdullah Öcalan.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: In 1983, the Association of Artists ("") was established in Germany under the lead of the music group . Its activities spread over Kurdish community centers in France, Germany and the Netherlands. In 1994 the Hunerkom was renamed into the 'Kurdish Academy of Culture and Arts'. Koma Berxwedans songs, which often were about the PKK resistance, were forbidden in Turkey and had to be smuggled over the border.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The PKK has an armed wing, originally formed in 1984 as the Kurdistan Freedom Brigades (, HRK), renamed to the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (, ARGK) in 1986, and again renamed to the People's Defense Forces (, HPG) in 1999.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The Free Women's Units of Star (, YJA-STAR) was established in 2004 as the women's armed wing of the PKK, emphasizing the issue of women's liberation.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The Civil Protections Units (YPS) is the successor of the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), the youth wing of the PKK. In February 2016 the ANF news agency reported the establishment of the women's branch of the YPS, the YPS-Jin.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The first training camps were established in 1982 in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and also in Beqaa Valley with the support of the Syrian government. In the third party congress of October 1986, the PKK established the Mahsum Korkmaz Academy in the Beqaa Valley. After Turkey pressured Syria to enforce its closure in 1992, the academy moved to Damascus. After the Iran-Iraq War and the Kurdish Civil War, the PKK moved all its camps to Northern Iraq in 1998. The PKK had also completely moved to Qandil Mountains from Beqaa Valley, under intensive pressure, after Syria expelled Öcalan and shut down all camps established in the region. At the time, Northern Iraq was experiencing a vacuum of control after the Gulf War-related Operation Provide Comfort. Instead of a single training camp that could be easily destroyed, the organization created many small camps. During this period the organization set up a fully functioning enclave with training camps, storage facilities, and reconnaissance and communications centers.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: In 2007, the organization was reported to have camps strung out through the mountains that straddle the border between Turkey and Iraq, including in Sinaht, Haftanin, Kanimasi and Zap. The organization developed two types of camps. The mountain camps, located in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, are used as forward bases from which militants carry out attacks against Turkish military bases. The units deployed there are highly mobile and the camps have only minimal infrastructure. The other permanent camps, in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq, have more developed infrastructure—including a field hospital, electricity generators and a large proportion of the PKK's lethal and non-lethal supplies. The organization is also using the Qandil mountain camps for its political activities. It was reported in 2004 that there was another political training camp in Belgium, evidence that the organization had used training camps in Europe for political and ideological training.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The PKK could count on support from protests and demonstrations often directed against policies of the Turkish government. The PKK also fought a turf war against other radical Islamist Kurdish and Turkish organizations in Turkey. Turkish newspapers said that the PKK effectively used the prison force to gain appeal among the population which PKK has denied.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The organization had sympathizer parties in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey since the beginning of the early 1990s. The existence of direct links between the parties and the PKK have several times been a question in Turkish politics but also in Turkish and European courts. In sequence HEP/DEP/HADEP/DEHAP/DTP and the BDP, which later changed its name to Democratic Regions Party (DBP) on 11 July 2014, as well as the HDP have been criticized of sympathizing with the PKK, since they have refused to brand it as a terrorist group.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Political organizations established in Turkey are banned from propagating or supporting separatism. Several political parties supporting Kurdish rights have been reportedly banned on this pretext. The constitutional court stated to find direct links between the HEP/DEP/HADEP and the PKK. In 2007 against the DTP was initiated a closure case before the constitutional court which resulted in its closure on 11 December 2009. In 2021, against the HDP was also initiated a closure case during which the HDP is accused of being linked to the PKK. It is reported that Turkey has used the PKK as an excuse to close Kurdish political parties. Senior DTP leaders maintained that they support a unified Turkey within a democratic framework. In May 2007, the co-president of DTP Aysel Tuğluk, published an article in "Radikal" in support of this policy.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Several parliamentarians and other elected representatives have been jailed for speaking in Kurdish, carrying Kurdish colors or otherwise allegedly "promoting separatism", most famous among them being Leyla Zana. The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Turkey for arresting and executing Kurdish writers, journalists and politicians in numerous occasions. Between 1990 and 2006 Turkey was condemned to pay 33 million euros in damages in 567 cases. The majority of the cases were related to events that took place in southeastern Anatolia. In Iraq the political party Tevgera Azadî is said to have close to the PKK.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: During the controversial Ergenekon trials in Turkey, allegations have been made that the PKK is linked to elements of the Turkish intelligence community.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Şamil Tayyar, author and member of the ruling AK Party, said that Öcalan was released in 1972 after just three months' detention on the initiative of the National Intelligence Organization (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT), and that his 1979 escape to Syria was aided by elements in MİT. Öcalan has admitted making use of money given by the MIT to the PKK, which he says was provided as part of MIT efforts to control him.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: Former police special forces member Ayhan Çarkın said that the state, using the clandestine Ergenekon network, colluded with militant groups such as the PKK, Dev-Sol and Turkish Hezbollah, with the goal of profiting from the war.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: The secret witness "First Step" testified that General Levent Ersöz, former head of JITEM, had frequent contact with PKK commander Cemîl Bayik.


title: Kurdistan Workers' Party

text: In Turkey, anything which could be perceived as a support of the PKK is deemed unsuitable to be shown to the public. Turkey views the demand for education in Kurdish language or the teaching of the Kurdish language as supporting terrorist activities by the PKK. The fact that both the HDP and the PKK support education in Kurdish language was included in the indictment in the Peoples Democratic closure case. In January 2016, the Academics for Peace who signed a declaration in support of peace in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict were labelled and prosecuted for "spreading terrorist propaganda" on behalf of the PKK. In November 2020, a playground for children in Istanbul was dismantled after the municipality decided its design too closely resembled the symbol of the PKK. Politicians of pro-Kurdish like the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) or the HDP were often prosecuted and sentenced to prison term for their alleged support of the PKK. The possession of "Devran", a book authored by the political prisoner Selahattin Demirtaş, was viewed as an evidence for a membership in a terrorist organization in 2019 because according to the prosecution it described events involving the PKK.