title: Covariance matrix

text: Equivalently, the correlation matrix can be seen as the covariance matrix of the standardized random variables formula_32 for formula_31.


title: Covariance matrix

text: Each element on the principal diagonal of a correlation matrix is the correlation of a random variable with itself, which always equals 1. Each off-diagonal element is between −1 and +1 inclusive.


title: Covariance matrix

text: The inverse of this matrix, formula_35, if it exists, is the inverse covariance matrix (or inverse concentration matrix), also known as the "precision matrix" (or "concentration matrix").


title: Covariance matrix

text: Just as the covariance matrix can be written as the rescaling of a correlation matrix by the marginal variances:


title: Covariance matrix

text: So, using the idea of partial correlation, and partial variance, the inverse covariance matrix can be expressed analogously:


title: Covariance matrix

text: This duality motivates a number of other dualities between marginalizing and conditioning for gaussian random variables.


title: Covariance matrix

text: For formula_38 and formula_39, where formula_40 is a formula_41-dimensional random variable, the following basic properties apply:


title: Covariance matrix

text: The joint mean formula_58 and joint covariance matrix formula_59 of formula_4 and formula_8 can be written in block form


title: Covariance matrix

text: formula_66 and formula_67 can be identified as the variance matrices of the marginal distributions for formula_68 and formula_69 respectively.


title: Covariance matrix

text: The matrix formula_78 is known as the matrix of regression coefficients, while in linear algebra formula_79 is the Schur complement of formula_66 in formula_81.


title: Covariance matrix

text: The matrix of regression coefficients may often be given in transpose form, formula_82, suitable for post-multiplying a row vector of explanatory variables formula_83 rather than pre-multiplying a column vector formula_68. In this form they correspond to the coefficients obtained by inverting the matrix of the normal equations of ordinary least squares (OLS).


title: Covariance matrix

text: A covariance matrix with all non-zero elements tells us that all the individual random variables are interrelated. This means that the variables are not only directly correlated, but also correlated via other variables indirectly. Often such indirect, common-mode correlations are trivial and uninteresting. They can be suppressed by calculating the partial covariance matrix, that is the part of covariance matrix that shows only the interesting part of correlations.


title: Covariance matrix

text: If two vectors of random variables formula_4 and formula_8 are correlated via another vector formula_87, the latter correlations are suppressed in a matrix


title: Covariance matrix

text: The partial covariance matrix formula_89 is effectively the simple covariance matrix formula_90 as if the uninteresting random variables formula_87 were held constant.


title: Covariance matrix

text: If a column vector formula_68 of formula_93 possibly correlated random variables is jointly normally distributed, or more generally elliptically distributed, then its probability density function formula_94 can be expressed in terms of the covariance matrix formula_95 as follows


title: Covariance matrix

text: Applied to one vector, the covariance matrix maps a linear combination c of the random variables X onto a vector of covariances with those variables: formula_100. Treated as a bilinear form, it yields the covariance between the two linear combinations: formula_101. The variance of a linear combination is then formula_102, its covariance with itself.


title: Covariance matrix

text: Similarly, the (pseudo-)inverse covariance matrix provides an inner product formula_103, which induces the Mahalanobis distance, a measure of the "unlikelihood" of "c".


title: Covariance matrix

text: which must always be nonnegative, since it is the variance of a real-valued random variable, so a covariance matrix is always a positive-semidefinite matrix.


title: Covariance matrix

text: The above argument can be expanded as follows:formula_107where the last inequality follows from the observation that formula_108 is a scalar.


title: Covariance matrix

text: Conversely, every symmetric positive semi-definite matrix is a covariance matrix. To see this, suppose formula_109 is a formula_110 symmetric positive-semidefinite matrix. From the finite-dimensional case of the spectral theorem, it follows that formula_109 has a nonnegative symmetric square root, which can be denoted by M. Let formula_4 be any formula_113 column vector-valued random variable whose covariance matrix is the formula_110 identity matrix. Then


title: Covariance matrix

text: The variance of a complex "scalar-valued" random variable with expected value formula_116 is conventionally defined using complex conjugation:


title: Covariance matrix

text: where the complex conjugate of a complex number formula_118 is denoted formula_119; thus the variance of a complex random variable is a real number.


title: Covariance matrix

text: If formula_120 is a column vector of complex-valued random variables, then the conjugate transpose formula_121 is formed by "both" transposing and conjugating. In the following expression, the product of a vector with its conjugate transpose results in a square matrix called the covariance matrix, as its expectation:


title: Covariance matrix

text: The matrix so obtained will be Hermitian positive-semidefinite, with real numbers in the main diagonal and complex numbers off-diagonal.


title: Covariance matrix

text: For complex random vectors, another kind of second central moment, the pseudo-covariance matrix (also called relation matrix) is defined as follows:


title: Covariance matrix

text: In contrast to the covariance matrix defined above, Hermitian transposition gets replaced by transposition in the definition.


title: Covariance matrix

text: If formula_125 and formula_126 are centred data matrices of dimension formula_127 and formula_128 respectively, i.e. with "n" columns of observations of "p" and "q" rows of variables, from which the row means have been subtracted, then, if the row means were estimated from the data, sample covariance matrices formula_129 and formula_130 can be defined to be


title: Covariance matrix

text: These empirical sample covariance matrices are the most straightforward and most often used estimators for the covariance matrices, but other estimators also exist, including regularised or shrinkage estimators, which may have better properties.


title: Covariance matrix

text: The covariance matrix is a useful tool in many different areas. From it a transformation matrix can be derived, called a whitening transformation, that allows one to completely decorrelate the data or, from a different point of view, to find an optimal basis for representing the data in a compact way (see Rayleigh quotient for a formal proof and additional properties of covariance matrices).


title: Covariance matrix

text: The covariance matrix plays a key role in financial economics, especially in portfolio theory and its mutual fund separation theorem and in the capital asset pricing model. The matrix of covariances among various assets' returns is used to determine, under certain assumptions, the relative amounts of different assets that investors should (in a normative analysis) or are predicted to (in a positive analysis) choose to hold in a context of diversification.


title: Covariance matrix

text: The evolution strategy, a particular family of Randomized Search Heuristics, fundamentally relies on a covariance matrix in its mechanism. The characteristic mutation operator draws the update step from a multivariate normal distribution using an evolving covariance matrix. There is a formal proof that the evolution strategy's covariance matrix adapts to the inverse of the Hessian matrix of the search landscape, up to a scalar factor and small random fluctuations (proven for a single-parent strategy and a static model, as the population size increases, relying on the quadratic approximation).


title: Covariance matrix

text: Intuitively, this result is supported by the rationale that the optimal covariance distribution can offer mutation steps whose equidensity probability contours match the level sets of the landscape, and so they maximize the progress rate.


title: Covariance matrix

text: In covariance mapping the values of the formula_133 or formula_134 matrix are plotted as a 2-dimensional map. When vectors formula_68 and formula_69 are discrete random functions, the map shows statistical relations between different regions of the random functions. Statistically independent regions of the functions show up on the map as zero-level flatland, while positive or negative correlations show up, respectively, as hills or valleys.


title: Covariance matrix

text: In practice the column vectors formula_137, and formula_138 are acquired experimentally as rows of formula_93 samples, e.g.


title: Covariance matrix

text: where formula_141 is the "i"-th discrete value in sample "j" of the random function formula_142. The expected values needed in the covariance formula are estimated using the sample mean, e.g.


title: Covariance matrix

text: where the angular brackets denote sample averaging as before except that the Bessel's correction should be made to avoid bias. Using this estimation the partial covariance matrix can be calculated as


title: Covariance matrix

text: where the backslash denotes the left matrix division operator, which bypasses the requirement to invert a matrix and is available in some computational packages such as Matlab.


title: Covariance matrix

text: Fig. 1 illustrates how a partial covariance map is constructed on an example of an experiment performed at the FLASH free-electron laser in Hamburg. The random function formula_142 is the time-of-flight spectrum of ions from a Coulomb explosion of nitrogen molecules multiply ionised by a laser pulse. Since only a few hundreds of molecules are ionised at each laser pulse, the single-shot spectra are highly fluctuating. However, collecting typically formula_147 such spectra, formula_148, and averaging them over formula_149 produces a smooth spectrum formula_150, which is shown in red at the bottom of Fig. 1. The average spectrum formula_151 reveals several nitrogen ions in a form of peaks broadened by their kinetic energy, but to find the correlations between the ionisation stages and the ion momenta requires calculating a covariance map.


title: Covariance matrix

text: In the example of Fig. 1 spectra formula_148 and formula_153 are the same, except that the range of the time-of-flight formula_154 differs. Panel a shows formula_155, panel b shows formula_156 and panel c shows their difference, which is formula_157 (note a change in the colour scale). Unfortunately, this map is overwhelmed by uninteresting, common-mode correlations induced by laser intensity fluctuating from shot to shot. To suppress such correlations the laser intensity formula_158 is recorded at every shot, put into formula_138 and formula_160 is calculated as panels d and e show. The suppression of the uninteresting correlations is, however, imperfect because there are other sources of common-mode fluctuations than the laser intensity and in principle all these sources should be monitored in vector formula_138. Yet in practice it is often sufficient to overcompensate the partial covariance correction as panel f shows, where interesting correlations of ion momenta are now clearly visible as straight lines centred on ionisation stages of atomic nitrogen.


title: Covariance matrix

text: Two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy employs correlation analysis to obtain 2D spectra of the condensed phase. There are two versions of this analysis: synchronous and asynchronous. Mathematically, the former is expressed in terms of the sample covariance matrix and the technique is equivalent to covariance mapping.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: Authentic Brands Group LLC (ABG) is an American brand management company headquartered in New York City. Its holdings include various apparel, athletics, and entertainment brands, for which it partners with other companies to license and merchandise. ABG owns more than 50 consumer brands, as well as the likeness rights or estates of celebrities, including Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: The company was founded in 2010 by Jamie Salter, after he stepped down as CEO of Hilco Consumer Capital, a company that was involved in the restructuring of struggling consumer brands (such as Bombay Company and Polaroid Corporation). Salter invested US$250 million in the new venture, and the majority of the equity was sold to Leonard Green & Partners. Two of ABG's first major purchases were the clothing brands Silver Star and Tapout. In January 2011, Authentic Brands Group acquired rights to the likeness of Marilyn Monroe.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In October 2013, ABG announced the purchase of Juicy Couture from Fifth & Pacific for US$195 million. The following month, ABG acquired the estate of Muhammad Ali, and CORE Media Group's 85% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises (which includes the estate of Elvis Presley, likeness rights, and music publishing assets).


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In December 2015, basketball player Shaquille O'Neal signed with ABG to manage his likeness and marketing rights. In September 2016, Julius Erving also sold his name and licensing rights to ABG, and Aéropostale was purchased out of bankruptcy by a consortium that included ABG and other investors.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In March 2018, ABG announced that they would acquire Nautica from VF Corporation. On June 10, 2018, ABG announced that it was the winning bidder for the intellectual property of Nine West Holdings. The acquisition was completed on July 3, 2018. On October 10, 2018, ABG announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase a majority stake in the intellectual property of the Camuto Group's proprietary brands in partnership with DSW Inc.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In May 2019, ABG announced its acquisition of sports magazine Sports Illustrated from Meredith Corporation for US$110 million. The company stated it planned to leverage its trademarks and other non-core assets in new ventures. Meredith will continue to publish the "Sports Illustrated" magazine and digital properties under license for at least two years. On June 18, 2019, it was announced that rights to publish the "Sports Illustrated" editorial operations would be licensed to The Maven under a 10-year deal, with Ross Levinsohn as CEO. In August 2019, BlackRock became the largest shareholder in Authentic Brands.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In May 2020, ABG and David Glasser's 101 Studios formed a joint venture, Sports Illustrated Studios, for feature film and television projects. The joint venture would have a slate of several TV series and films per year. The first announced project was the "Covers" two-hour docuseries based on the magazine's cover stories.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In August 2020, it was announced that Brooks Brothers was sold to ABG and Simon Property Group, the biggest mall operator in the US. The new owners committed to continue to operate at least 125 Brooks Brothers retail locations, worldwide (down from 424 global locations before the COVID-19 pandemic).


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In June 2021, it was announced that ABG would acquire the Izod, Van Heusen, Arrow, and Geoffrey Beene brands from PVH.


title: Authentic Brands Group

text: In August 2021, it was announced that ABG would be acquiring the sports clothing brand Reebok from Adidas for at least US$2.5 billion, in a deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. Private equity companies CVC Capital Partners and HPS Investment Partners invested $3.5 billion in ABG in a deal that closed in November 2021. ABG announced they would delay the IPO until 2023 or 2024.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the second game in the "Uncharted" series and was released in October 2009 for PlayStation 3. Set two years after the events of "" (2007), the single-player story follows Nathan Drake, Chloe Frazer, and Elena Fisher as they search for the Cintamani Stone and Shambhala while battling a militia led by war criminal Zoran Lazarević.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Development for "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" began immediately following the critical and commercial success of the first entry. The development team drew inspiration from explorer Marco Polo and his expeditions through archipelagos and eastern Asia. Naughty Dog developed an updated proprietary engine for "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves", which runs exclusively on the Naughty Engine 2.0 system. These improvements enabled extensive motion capture, greater in-game cinematic sequences, and inclusion of an online multiplayer component, a first for the franchise.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" received critical acclaim for its elaborate set pieces, character design, storytelling, graphics, technical innovation, and gameplay mechanics. It received Game of the Year accolades from numerous publications and award events and is considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made, and among the most significant titles for the seventh console generation. It also enjoyed great commercial success, with over six million copies sold worldwide. The game was followed by a sequel titled "" in 2011, and was re-released on PlayStation 4 as part of "".


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2" is an action-adventure platform video game played from a third-person view, with the player in control of Nathan Drake. Drake is physically adept and can jump, climb, and scale narrow ledges and wall faces to get between points. Drake can be equipped with up to two firearms – one single-handed and one two-handed – and a limited supply of grenades. Drake can pick up weapons, automatically replacing the existing weapon he was using, and additional ammunition from slain enemies. The player can direct Drake to take cover behind corners or low walls using either aimed or blind-fire to kill his enemies. The player can also have Drake fire while moving. If Drake is undetected by his enemies, the player can attempt to use stealth to take them out, such as by sneaking up behind them to knock them out with one hit, or by pulling an unsuspecting foe over a ledge from which Drake is hanging. In most areas, if all of the foes patrolling are killed stealthily then other waves that would normally appear do not. Some areas of the game require the player to solve puzzles with the use of Drake's journal, which provides clues to the puzzles' solutions. When enabled, a hint system provides gameplay clues, such as the direction of the next objective.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Throughout the game are 101 special treasures that may be hidden or in difficult-to-reach places that the player can collect. There is also one secret "hidden" relic exactly the same as the one in "". Collecting these treasures, along with completing certain feats within the game, is tracked by the awarding of medals, which give the player in-game money to use to unlock extra content on the disc, including concept art, game movies, and game cheats such as guns with infinite ammunition. A large portion of the in-game medals is used to award trophies.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted " features both competitive and co-operative multiplayer. The co-op multiplayer allows a maximum of three players to take the roles of Nathan and two other "hero" companions and features missions involving gunfights, platforming, and teamwork-based objectives. Players can also assist their comrades if they become critically injured or if they are grabbed by an enemy.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: The competitive multiplayer allows a maximum of ten players to play against each other in two teams of five. Six competitive modes are featured: Deathmatch, Plunder, Elimination, Turf War, King of the Hill and Chain Reaction. Deathmatch features two teams of five, with one team acting as heroes and the other as villains. Players can choose their own appropriate character models (such as Nathan, Elena, Sully, and new characters Tenzin and Chloe for the heroes team). As players accrue points and rank up, they can purchase more skins for both heroes and villains. Players can select two Boost abilities that assist them in the matches. Plunder is similar to the traditional capture the flag game mode, and sees each team attempt to capture the treasure from a central point in the map and return it to their base; the player carrying the treasure is slowed down a great deal, and may also choose to hurl the treasure away at any point, to keep it out of reach of the enemy or to pass it to a teammate. Elimination has two teams of five players against each other to kill everyone on the other team. In Elimination, the players do not respawn. The goal is to eliminate the other team three out of five times.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Chain Reaction is a mode that is similar to Turf War. This has the player capturing posts, but the player must do them in a specific order – one team works out from their base needing to capture 1 through 5 while the other team starts from their home and needs to snag 5 through 1. King of the Hill has players capturing a hill, spawned on the map to score points. They must stay on the hill to score points while the enemy team tries to do the same.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Gold Rush is a cooperative mode of play where 2–3 players must team up to obtain a treasure, which is randomly spawned on the map, and take it back to their base, much like Plunder. However, AI enemies try to stop the players from returning the treasure. If a player goes down and is not revived before the timer goes out, they will not come back until the next round. In each consecutive round, the enemies become tougher to defeat. Survival is the second cooperative mode of play, where 2–3 players must work together to defeat a total of ten waves of enemies, each wave becoming more and more difficult. A new co-op game mode, titled "Siege", was also added, in which 2–3 players must team up to secure a zone while holding off waves of enemies.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Two years after the events of the , treasure hunter Nathan "Nate" Drake (Nolan North) is approached by former associate Harry Flynn (Steve Valentine) and Flynn's associate Chloe Frazer (Claudia Black) to help steal a Mongolian oil lamp connected to Marco Polo's doomed 1292 voyage from China. The group plans to cheat Flynn's client and take Polo's treasure for themselves. Unbeknownst to Flynn, Chloe and Nate are former partners, and Chloe plans on escaping with Nate afterward.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Nate and Flynn break into a museum in Istanbul and find the lamp, which contains a map and flammable resin that reveals Polo's fleet was shipwrecked in Borneo, and was carrying the Cintamani Stone from the fabled city of Shambhala. Flynn double-crosses Nate, leaving him to be arrested.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Three months later, Chloe helps free Nate with his long-term friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Richard McGonagle). She reveals that Flynn is working for Zoran Lazarević (Graham McTavish), a Serbian war criminal seeking the stone. In Borneo, Nate and Sully infiltrate Lazarević's camp, with Chloe as a mole. Nate discovers that the stone never left Shambhala. They locate a temple containing the bodies of Polo's crew, as well as a phurba and map detailing that its carrier will gain passage to Shambhala through a temple in Nepal. Nate and Sully escape after being cornered by Flynn and his men.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Sully backs out, so Nate and Chloe continue to Nepal, which has been ravaged by Lazarević's mercenaries. They encounter Nate's ex-girlfriend journalist Elena Fisher (Emily Rose) and cameraman Jeff (Gregory Myhre), tracking Lazarević. At the temple, Nate and Chloe use the phurba to uncover Shambhala's location in the Himalayas. After Jeff is shot in an ambush, Chloe insists on abandoning him; Nate and Elena help him but are caught by Lazarević. Chloe switches sides to maintain her cover while Lazarević kills Jeff and obtains Shambhala's location from Nate, who escapes with Elena.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: With Elena's help, Nate catches up to Lazarević's train. He fights through it to find Chloe, but she refuses to leave after he compromised their mission to help Jeff and Elena. Flynn arrives and shoots Nate. Cornered, Nate causes an explosion that derails the train over a cliff. He escapes the hanging train car, recovers the phurba, and falls unconscious. A Tibetan Sherpa, Tenzin (Pema Dhondup), brings Nate to his village.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Nate reunites with Elena and is introduced to German explorer, Karl Schäfer (René Auberjonois). Schäfer sends him and Tenzin after the remains of Schäfer's failed expedition for the Cintamani Stone decades ago. Nate and Tenzin travel through ice caves and fight off strange monsters. They discover that Schäfer was working for the Nazi Ahnenerbe and killed his men to protect the world from the stone. They return to repel an attack on the village by Lazarević, who kidnaps Schäfer and steals the phurba. Elena and Nate follow Lazarević's convoy to a monastery, where the mortally-wounded Schäfer warns Nate to destroy the stone before Lazarević can obtain its power.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: After reacquiring the phurba from Chloe, Nate and Elena unlock the secret passage to Shambhala underneath the monastery, but Lazarević corners them. With Chloe's cover blown, Lazarević forces Nate to open the pathway to Shambhala. The monsters attack but are killed by Lazarević, who reveals them as human-like guardians of Shambhala. After the gate is opened, unsuited guardians attack, allowing Nate, Elena, and Chloe to escape.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: In the city, the group discovers that the Cintamani Stone is a giant amber derived, along with the flammable resin, from the sap of an ancient tree of life. The sap gives the drinker inhuman powers, explaining the guardians and Polo's doomed crew. Flynn, left for dead by Lazarević, ambushes them in a suicide attack, seriously wounding Elena. Nate leaves her in Chloe's care and confronts Lazarević at the tree. Lazarević drinks the tree sap, becoming nearly invincible. By shooting explosive pockets of resin, Nate defeats Lazarević and leaves him to be killed by the guardians. As the city crumbles under the collapse of the tree and exploding resin, Nate and Chloe carry Elena to safety.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: In the village, Chloe advises Nate to tell Elena that he loves her, before bidding him farewell. Sully leaves a recovering Elena to Nate. The couple pays their respects at a memorial for Schäfer and kiss.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: First revealed by "Game Informer" in December 2008, the first teaser trailer showed a weary, wounded Nathan Drake marching through a snowstorm to reach a phurba half-buried in the snow. Lead character artist Richard Diamant remarked that the trailer was rendered in real-time, using the game's engine. A second teaser trailer was released soon after, showing a badly wounded Drake stuck in the remains of a wrecked train hanging precariously over a cliff. The story begins "in medias res "with this opening. The narrative opens with a quote attributed to Marco Polo: "I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed".


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2" features an online multiplayer component; Naughty Dog hired a dedicated multiplayer designer in August 2008 to work on this aspect of the game. The beta phase of the multiplayer was playable by those who bought early copies of the game "inFamous". The beta was also accessible by annual subscribers of the PlayStation Network service, Qore, on June 3, to those who had subscribed to Qore by May 15. The beta codes from Qore began to be sent out on May 8, 2009. Beta codes from "inFamous" shipped inside the game's packaging, on May 26. On September 15, another beta was released and an open beta was released to the EU and US on September 29 via the PSN store. Both expired on October 12. In the first year since the game's launch, more than 125 million matches and 10,500 man-years had been played online.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: One of the inspirations for the Tibetan village sequence was the 2008 video game "The Graveyard" by Tale of Tales.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: In E3 2009 videos from Naughty Dog showed the voice actors of the characters performing the motion captures in some of the scenes. The actors act out the scene wearing specially designed motion capture suits. Their performance was used to provide both motion capture and voice work. The actors would even rehearse together in a room and had discussions with the creative directors of the game before carrying out the performance to create a highly realistic and cinematic dialogue throughout the game.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Naughty Dog intended to maximize the utilization of the Cell's SPUs, as their estimates for utilization in the first "Uncharted" were only around 30%. As a result, the game has more realistic environments and animations. "Uncharted 2" has 564 in-game cinematic animations in comparison to 80 in "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune".


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2" uses Naughty Engine 2.0, a revamped and optimized version of the that has allowed the game to have real-time moving environments, more realistic textures, and animations. The Naughty Dog Game Engine 2.0 also works in harmony with Havok Physics.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2" uses between 90 and 100% of the Cell's processor and uses all 25GB of a single Blu-ray Disc. However, Evan Wells later pointed out:


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: In the interview, Christophe Balestra also pointed out how important it was to ship every system with a hard drive:


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Naughty Dog's creative director Amy Hennig revealed a special Fortune Hunter edition of "Uncharted 2" that was not obtainable in stores. The Fortune Hunter edition contains the game, a replica of the Phurba Dagger artifact and stand, a BradyGames strategy guide, an art book, the official soundtrack, and a collector's case autographed by Naughty Dog. It was also said to include various downloadable content. A collector's edition of "Uncharted 2" was not announced for sale in the United States.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: SCEA marketing manager Asad Qizilbash told readers of the PlayStation Blog at the time that the limited edition giveaways took place on that blog, PlayStation Home, the game's multiplayer demo, and a few other unnamed places. Qizilbash also mentioned that only residents in the US were eligible to win. Only 200 copies were released.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Exclusive to the PAL region, the "Uncharted 2" special edition contains the game, gold versions of the Beretta and AK-47 weapons, two post cards, a PlayStation 3 theme, and multiplayer skins. The game comes packaged in a steel case by SteelBook. Never formally announced, the Special Edition was discovered on the game's official European launch site, with the only link for the special edition leading to one of Britain's major game retailers, Game.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: A "Game of the Year Edition" was released on October 12, 2010. Among other features, this edition includes all previously released downloadable content (with the exception of the Sidekicks Skin Pack), four motion comics, and "Pinball Heroes: Uncharted" for the PSP. Besides being available as an individual "Greatest Hits" title, "Uncharted 2" and "" have been released together, as a "Greatest Hits DualPack", and an "Ultimate Combo Pack" which includes a metallic blue DualShock 3 controller.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: The first pack of downloadable content (DLC) was released on November 27, 2009, and featured a new multiplayer map, "The Fort", from The Fortress chapter in "Drake's Fortune" for free. It was quickly followed by "Uncharted: Eye of Indra Multiplayer Skin Pack" in December, exclusively for the PAL PlayStation Store. It included all four parts of the motion comic "Uncharted: Eye of Indra" and two "Uncharted 2" multiplayer skins based on the motion comic. The pack contained Rika for the heroes and Pinkerton for the villains. The pack was later released in North America.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Several packs were released in 2010: "PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack" was released in January, containing Sev and a Helghast soldier from "Killzone 2", Nathan Hale and a Chimera from the "Resistance" series, and Cole (Evil and Good) along with Zeke from "inFamous". A DLC pack that contained two new multiplayer maps, six skins based on "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune", 12 PSN Trophies, and 13 medals was released in February. Skins were released as a single purchase and the 2 maps with the 12 PSN Trophies were released as a single purchase. A bundle of both purchases was also released. On April 22, the third expansion pack, "Siege" was released. This DLC pack contained a new co-op multiplayer mode known as "Siege", two new multiplayer maps, six new character skins, and 11 PSN Trophies (10 of which are bronze, one of which is silver). Two of the six new skins are from "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" and the other four are new and exclusive to the game. The "Sidekick Skin Pack" was released on August 26, containing 6 alternate appearances of previously available characters, and 2 new villain skins, Dillon and Mac. The "Golden Guns" DLC was released on December 12. This DLC pack contained gold skins for the AK-47 and Beretta weapons.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: In PlayStation Home, the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, Naughty Dog has released a themed game space for "Uncharted 2", developed by Outso. This makes the second game space to be released from Naughty Dog, the first being the game space for "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune". This space is called "Nepalese Village" and features the mini-games Mask Mayhem, Torch Race, and Fortunate Thieves with rewards. There's also an Uncharted 2 Blog that lets users access the "Uncharted 2" blog. It was released on October 23, 2009 in the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home. In the video on the PlayStation blog, Jack Buser, the director of Home for SCEA, describes the mini-game, Fortunate Thieves, as being a "full-on, interactive mini-MMO". The "Uncharted" series is the first game series to have a game space for both games of the series in Home.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: Between the hours of 8 am PT on November 5 and 12 pm PT on November 6, there was a contest in the North American Home (in which only U.S. citizens could participate), where users could win the "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" – Fortune Hunter Edition. Between those times, users went to the "Uncharted 2" space and played the "Mask Mayhem" mini-game. The user who placed first on the "Uncharted 2" space's leader board won a copy of the Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had another chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition in the "Uncharted 2" space between the times of 8 am PT November 20 and 12 pm PT November 21. Between those times, users had to try to get in first place on the "Fortunate Thieves" mini-game leader board to win the Fortune Hunter Edition. The user who placed first on the Fortunate Thieves leader board won the Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had one final chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition from 8 am PT December 18 to 12 pm PT December 21. Users had to play the "Torch Race" mini-game and be first on its leader board in the "Uncharted 2" space.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: An "Uncharted" apartment was released in May 6, 2010 for European and North American versions of PlayStation Home called the "Uncharted Fortune Hunter's Apartment". "Uncharted" themed costumes have also been released in Home. The apartment was released on May 27 in the Asian version.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" received universal acclaim, being praised as one of the best video games of all time, and earning numerous "Game of the Year" awards, including Spike's Video Game Awards. The game got 41 perfect review scores, receiving a Metacritic score of 96 out of 100, making it the most critically acclaimed game of 2009.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: The first publication to review "Uncharted 2" was the French edition of "PSM3". In their review, they called the game "long, visually stunning, deep and explosive, "Uncharted 2" combines all the qualities you can find in a videogame, and more! A new milestone has been reached in the videogame history". The magazine awarded the game 21/20, a score that was reached five years prior by "". "" awarded the game a perfect score. In their review, they stated: "Forget Game of The Year. This is one of the greatest games of all time!" The edition of the magazine also gave the game a perfect score, named it the 2nd best PS3 game of all time, while readers of the same magazine voted it the greatest PlayStation title released.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: ... no video game has ever done a better job of capturing the style and rhythm of the movies. The action sequences in "Uncharted 2" look as if they were shot by a team of cinematographers, then edited into a coherent and thrilling narrative. The game's storyline is trite, but a first-rate cast of voice-over actors carry it off with flair.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "The Los Angeles Times" review suggested the game would "fit better on a big screen in some multiplex", and also added that ""Uncharted 2" is ridiculously immersive, so much so that you forget you are controlling the actions of treasure hunter Nathan Drake ... everything is done right". In a review for "The New York Times", Seth Schiesel described it as "perhaps the best-looking game on any system, and no game yet has provided a more genuinely cinematic entertainment experience".


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2" also received praise from other developers. "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" producer Gordon Van Dyke said that ""Uncharted 2" is an amazing-looking game. But we're reaching that level of quality. It's going to be hard for any game to be able to make a claim that they look better...to even be close, to me is quite an honor as a developer. The one thing I did was when I looked at their game I was like, damn them! What have they done to the rest of us? I was looking for something where I could say, okay, that we're doing better".


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: IGN gave the game a 9.5 out of 10, praising its "stunning visuals" and saying that ""Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" is fantastic", and calling the multiplayer mode "one of the best multiplayer experiences that you'll find in any game around ... it almost feels like Naughty Dog has given us an extra game for free". X-Play's Adam Sessler gave the game a 5 out of 5, saying that ""Uncharted 2" has the best single-player I have ever played".


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: The game was criticized for some negative issues, such as lapses in the control system. "The New York Times" noted that "... its finicky controls can frustrate at times". Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer found that "there are ... a few occasions where the platforming lets you down ... despite the feeling you were jumping in the right direction". IGN described certain repetitive gunfight sequences as "a little aggravating" and complained about the "very linear" climbing sections, yet calling it a forced complaint.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: The game was placed 19th in Dengeki online's reader poll of the best games of 2009, making it the only non-Japanese game in the list.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: NPD Group's sales data show that "Uncharted 2" was the top-selling game in the United States for October 2009, at about 537,000 units sold, while Media Create's sales data has "Uncharted 2" selling 47,000 units for its first day in Japan. Phil Rosenberg of SCE says the game has crossed the one million sold mark on November 12, 2009. According to gaming analyst Jesse Divnich, "Uncharted 2" is the third first-party title on the PlayStation 3 to sell over 1 million units in North America. As of February 2010, the game has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling first-party title on any PlayStation platform. "Uncharted 2" is now part of Sony's selection of Greatest Hits. Naughty Dog said that the title sold 3.8 million worldwide in September 2010. By December 2011, over 5 million copies of the game had been sold. As of March 2015, "Uncharted 2" has sold 6.5 million copies.


title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

text: "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" received over 300 industry awards including over 200 Game of the Year awards and has been called one of the best video games of all time for its set pieces, graphics, motion capture acting, original characters and performances, as well as the story and multiplayer. At the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, it earned a record eight award nominations, winning three, including Game of the Year. IGN, among numerous other video gaming websites and publications awarded "Uncharted 2" their overall Game of the Year award. The game also won ten AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards including Game of the Year.


title: Roy Raymond

text: Roy Larson Raymond (April 15, 1947 – August 26, 1993) was an American businessman who founded the Victoria's Secret lingerie retail store in California in 1977.


title: Roy Raymond

text: Roy Raymond was born April 15, 1947, in Connecticut. He started an early business at age 13 in Fairfield that produced wedding invitations. He attended Tufts University, graduating in 1969. Raymond earned his master's degree in Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1971.


title: Roy Raymond

text: Raymond worked in marketing for several companies early in his career, including Guild Wineries, Richardson-Merrell, and the Vicks company. His greater aspiration was to start his own business.


title: Roy Raymond

text: On June 12, 1977, Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy and Gaye Raymond in Delaware. Raymond opened the first Victoria's Secret store at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. Raymond was inspired to start Victoria's Secret after feeling embarrassed purchasing lingerie for his wife in a department store. To open the store, he borrowed $40,000 from a bank and $40,000 from his family. Roy and Gaye Raymond worked together to design and launch the first store with a Victorian-inspired style. A reference to Queen Victoria, the name Victoria's Secret was meant to evoke the sophistication and propriety associated with Victorian era boudoirs while alluding to the ‘secret’ underneath the clothes. On selecting the name Victoria for the business, Raymond stated that there were "a couple hundred names we came up with, but only that one seemed to have all the elements for the character we were trying to portray."


title: Roy Raymond

text: The company earned $500,000 in its first year and Raymond started a mail order catalog and opened three stores in San Francisco.


title: Roy Raymond

text: Leslie Wexner discovered Raymond's store in the early 1980s, described it as unique, and declared that he had never encountered anything like it in his travels. Although Wexner was interested in purchasing Victoria's Secret, Raymond was initially wary of Wexner, who later stated "When I met him, it was as if he met the devil." Six months later the business was headed towards bankruptcy, and Raymond contacted Wexner to discuss a potential sale. In 1982, after five years of operation, Raymond sold the Victoria's Secret company for $1 million to Wexner, with its five stores and 42-page catalogue, then reported to be grossing $6 million per year.


title: Roy Raymond

text: For approximately a year after the sale to Wexner, Raymond stayed on as president of Victoria's Secret while working towards the start of his next company, an upscale store for children called My Child's Destiny. In 1984, Raymond personally invested $850,000 in the new venture. The business catered to professional couples and sold computer games, imported dolls and expensive toys in a single store in San Francisco and through mail order catalogues. Business at the store suffered due to a poor location with limited walk in traffic and due to a limited marketing strategy which focused on the wealthy, lending to an image of being elitist. In 1986, the company was forced to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. As Raymond had not incorporated the company, he was ultimately liable for the financial burden. He and his wife lost their homes (in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe) as well as their vehicles. He continued to generate business ideas and to work towards the launch of companies including a children's book store (Quinby's), a mail-order home-repair hardware business, and a company that produced wigs for those who had lost their hair due to cancer treatments.


title: Roy Raymond

text: Raymond secured funding to launch Quinby's from Diane Disney Miller and Ron W. Miller but within two years he was bought out due to financial disputes.


title: Roy Raymond

text: Raymond and his wife, Gaye, had two children together, a son and a daughter; they divorced in 1990. After his divorce, Raymond was reportedly in a relationship with Peggy Knight of Ross, California.


title: Roy Raymond

text: On August 26, 1993, Raymond ended his life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. He was last seen walking toward the bridge, and hours afterward, his body was found by the Coast Guard near the Marin County shoreline. Investigators concluded that he had jumped off the bridge. Gaye Raymond stated that she believed he had suffered from depression following a series of business failures.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: Vacuum permittivity, commonly denoted (pronounced "epsilon nought" or "epsilon zero"), is the value of the absolute dielectric permittivity of classical vacuum. It may also be referred to as the permittivity of free space, the electric constant, or the distributed capacitance of the vacuum. It is an ideal (baseline) physical constant. Its CODATA value is:


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: It is a measure of how dense of an electric field is "permitted" to form in response to electric charges, and relates the units for electric charge to mechanical quantities such as length and force. For example, the force between two separated electric charges with spherical symmetry (in the vacuum of classical electromagnetism) is given by Coulomb's law:


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: Here, "q" and "q" are the charges, "r" is the distance between their centres, and the value of the constant fraction formula_2 (known as the Coulomb constant, "k") is approximately 9 × 10 N⋅m⋅C. Likewise, "ε" appears in Maxwell's equations, which describe the properties of electric and magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation, and relate them to their sources. In electrical engineering, "ε" itself is used as a unit to quantify the permittivity of various dielectric materials.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: where "c" is the defined value for the speed of light in classical vacuum in SI units, and "μ" is the parameter that international Standards Organizations call the "magnetic constant" (commonly called vacuum permeability or the permeability of free space). Since "μ" has an approximate value 4π × 10 H/m, and "c" has the "defined" value  m⋅s, it follows that "ε" can be expressed numerically as


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: The historical origins of the electric constant "ε", and its value, are explained in more detail below.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: The ampere was redefined by defining the elementary charge as an exact number of coulombs as from 20 May 2019, with the effect that the vacuum electric permittivity no longer has an exactly determined value in SI units. The value of the electron charge became a numerically defined quantity, not measured, making "μ" a measured quantity. Consequently, "ε" is not exact. As before, it is defined by the equation , and is thus determined by the value of "μ", the magnetic vacuum permeability which in turn is determined by the experimentally determined dimensionless fine-structure constant "α":


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: with "e" being the elementary charge, "h" being the Planck constant, and "c" being the speed of light in vacuum, each with exactly defined values. The relative uncertainty in the value of "ε" is therefore the same as that for the dimensionless fine-structure constant, namely


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: Historically, the parameter "ε" has been known by many different names. The terms "vacuum permittivity" or its variants, such as "permittivity in/of vacuum", "permittivity of empty space", or "permittivity of free space" are widespread. Standards Organizations worldwide now use "electric constant" as a uniform term for this quantity, and official standards documents have adopted the term (although they continue to list the older terms as synonyms).


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: Another historical synonym was "dielectric constant of vacuum", as "dielectric constant" was sometimes used in the past for the absolute permittivity. However, in modern usage "dielectric constant" typically refers exclusively to a relative permittivity "ε"/"ε" and even this usage is considered "obsolete" by some standards bodies in favor of relative static permittivity. Hence, the term "dielectric constant of vacuum" for the electric constant "ε" is considered obsolete by most modern authors, although occasional examples of continuing usage can be found.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: As for notation, the constant can be denoted by either formula_6 or formula_7, using either of the common glyphs for the letter epsilon.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: As indicated above, the parameter "ε" is a measurement-system constant. Its presence in the equations now used to define electromagnetic quantities is the result of the so-called "rationalization" process described below. But the method of allocating a value to it is a consequence of the result that Maxwell's equations predict that, in free space, electromagnetic waves move with the speed of light. Understanding why "ε" has the value it does requires a brief understanding of the history.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: The experiments of Coulomb and others showed that the force "F" between two equal point-like "amounts" of electricity, situated a distance "r" apart in free space, should be given by a formula that has the form


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: where "Q" is a quantity that represents the amount of electricity present at each of the two points, and "k" is the Coulomb constant. If one is starting with no constraints, then the value of "k" may be chosen arbitrarily. For each different choice of "k" there is a different "interpretation" of "Q": to avoid confusion, each different "interpretation" has to be allocated a distinctive name and symbol.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: In one of the systems of equations and units agreed in the late 19th century, called the "centimeter–gram–second electrostatic system of units" (the cgs esu system), the constant "k" was taken equal to 1, and a quantity now called "Gaussian electric charge" "q" was defined by the resulting equation


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: The unit of Gaussian charge, the statcoulomb, is such that two units, a distance of 1 centimeter apart, repel each other with a force equal to the cgs unit of force, the dyne. Thus, the unit of Gaussian charge can also be written 1 dyne cm. "Gaussian electric charge" is not the same mathematical quantity as modern (MKS and subsequently the SI) electric charge and is not measured in coulombs.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: The idea subsequently developed that it would be better, in situations of spherical geometry, to include a factor 4π in equations like Coulomb's law, and write it in the form:


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: This idea is called "rationalization". The quantities "q"′ and "k"′ are not the same as those in the older convention. Putting generates a unit of electricity of different size, but it still has the same dimensions as the cgs esu system.


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: The next step was to treat the quantity representing "amount of electricity" as a fundamental quantity in its own right, denoted by the symbol "q", and to write Coulomb's Law in its modern form:


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: The system of equations thus generated is known as the rationalized meter–kilogram–second (rmks) equation system, or "meter–kilogram–second–ampere (mksa)" equation system. This is the system used to define the SI units. The new quantity "q" is given the name "rmks electric charge", or (nowadays) just "electric charge". The quantity "q" used in the old cgs esu system is related to the new quantity "q" by:


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: One now adds the requirement that one wants force to be measured in newtons, distance in meters, and charge to be measured in the engineers' practical unit, the coulomb, which is defined as the charge accumulated when a current of 1 ampere flows for one second. This shows that the parameter "ε" should be allocated the unit C⋅N⋅m (or equivalent units – in practice "farads per meter").


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: In order to establish the numerical value of "ε", one makes use of the fact that if one uses the rationalized forms of Coulomb's law and Ampère's force law (and other ideas) to develop Maxwell's equations, then the relationship stated above is found to exist between "ε", "μ" and "c". In principle, one has a choice of deciding whether to make the coulomb or the ampere the fundamental unit of electricity and magnetism. The decision was taken internationally to use the ampere. This means that the value of "ε" is determined by the values of "c" and "μ", as stated above. For a brief explanation of how the value of "μ" is decided, see "Vacuum permeability".


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: By convention, the electric constant "ε" appears in the relationship that defines the electric displacement field D in terms of the electric field E and classical electrical polarization density P of the medium. In general, this relationship has the form:


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: For a linear dielectric, P is assumed to be proportional to E, but a delayed response is permitted and a spatially non-local response, so one has:


title: Vacuum permittivity

text: where "ε" is the permittivity and "ε" the relative static permittivity. In the vacuum of classical electromagnetism, the polarization , so and .


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Balian of Ibelin (; 1143 – 1193), also known as Barisan the Younger, was a crusader noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was lord of Ibelin from 1170 to 1193. As the leader of the defense of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 1187, he surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin on 2 October 1187.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, a knight in the County of Jaffa, had been rewarded with the lordship of Ibelin after the revolt of Hugh II of Le Puiset. Barisan married Helvis of Ramla, heiress of the wealthy lordship of Ramla. Balian's name was also Barisan, but he seems to have adapted the name to the Old French "Balian" c. 1175–76; he is sometimes known as Balian the Younger or Balian II when his father is also referred to as Balian. He is also called Balian of Ramla or Balian of Nablus. In Latin his name appears variously as Balian, Barisan, Barisanus, Balianus, Balisan, and Balisanus. Arabic sources call him "Balian ibn Barzan" which translates "Balian, son of Barzan."


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: His precise year of birth is unknown, but he was of the age of majority (usually 15) by 1158, when he first appears in charters, having been described as under-age (""infra annos"") in 1156.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: After the death of Balian's eldest brother Hugh c. 1169, the castle of Ibelin passed to the next brother, Baldwin. Baldwin, preferring to remain lord of Ramla, gave it to Balian. Balian held Ibelin as a vassal of his brother, and indirectly as a rear-vassal of the king, from whom Baldwin held Ramla.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Baldwin supported Raymond III of Tripoli over Miles of Plancy as regent for King Baldwin IV in 1174, and in 1177 the brothers were present at the Battle of Montgisard, leading the vanguard victoriously against the strongest point of the Muslim line. That year Balian also married Maria Comnena, widow of King Amalric I, becoming stepfather to Amalric's younger daughter Isabella. He received the lordship of Nablus, which had been a dower gift to Maria following her marriage to Amalric. In 1179, Baldwin of Ramla was captured by Saladin after the Battle of Jacob's Ford, and Balian helped arrange for his ransom and release the next year; the ransom was eventually paid by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, Maria's great-uncle.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: In 1183 Balian and Baldwin supported Raymond against Guy of Lusignan, husband of Amalric's elder daughter Sibylla and by now regent for Baldwin IV, who was dying of leprosy. The king had his 5-year-old nephew Baldwin of Montferrat crowned as co-king in his own lifetime, in an attempt to prevent Guy from ascending. Shortly before his death in spring 1185, Baldwin IV ordered a formal crown-wearing by his nephew at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was Balian himself—a notably tall man—who carried the child Baldwin V on his shoulder at the ceremony, signifying the support of Isabella's family for her nephew. Soon after, the eight-year-old boy became sole king. When he, too, died in 1186, Balian and Maria, with Raymond's support, put forward Maria's daughter Isabella, then about 14, as a candidate for the throne. However, her husband, Humphrey IV of Toron, refused the crown and swore fealty to Guy. Balian reluctantly also paid homage to Guy, while his brother refused to do so and exiled himself to Antioch. Baldwin placed Balian in charge of raising his son Thomas, the future lord of Ramla, who did not go with his father to Antioch.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Balian remained in the kingdom, as an advisor to Guy. At the end of 1186, Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Damascus, threatened the borders of the kingdom after Guy's ally Raynald of Châtillon, Lord of Oultrejordain, had attacked a Muslim caravan. Saladin was allied with the garrison of Tiberias in the north of the kingdom, a territory held by Raymond III. Guy gathered his army at Nazareth, planning to besiege Tiberias, but Balian disagreed with this, and instead suggested that Guy send an emissary to Raymond in Tripoli, hoping the two could be reconciled before Guy made a foolish attack on Saladin's larger army. The first embassy was a failure and the situation remained unchanged throughout the early months of 1187. After Easter of that year, Balian, Gerard of Ridefort (Grand Master of the Knights Templar), Roger de Moulins (Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller), Reginald of Sidon, and Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre were sent on a new embassy to Tripoli. During the journey they stopped at Balian's fief of Nablus, and Balian planned to remain behind briefly while the others went ahead. On May 1, the Templars and Hospitallers were defeated by Saladin's son al-Afdal at the Battle of Cresson; Balian was still a day behind, and had also stopped at Sebastea to celebrate a feast day. After reaching the castle of La Fève, where the Templars and Hospitallers had camped, he found that the place was deserted, and soon heard news of the disastrous battle from the few survivors. Raymond heard about the battle as well and met the embassy at Tiberias, and agreed to accompany them back to Jerusalem.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Since al-Afdal's army had been allowed to enter the kingdom through their alliance with Raymond, the count now regretted his actions and reconciled with Guy. Guy marched north and camped at Sephoria, but insisted on marching the army across a dry and barren plain to relieve Tiberias. The army had no water and was constantly harassed by Saladin's troops, and was finally surrounded at the Horns of Hattin outside Tiberias early in July. In the Battle of Hattin that followed on July 4, Balian and Joscelin III of Edessa commanded the rearguard, but the crusader army was completely defeated. The anonymous text, "De Expugnatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum Libellus" claims that Balian, Raymond and Reginald of Sidon fled the field in the middle of the battle, trampling ""the Christians, the Turks and the Cross"" in the process—but this is not corroborated by other accounts, and likely reflects the author's hostility to the "Poleins" (a European born in the Levant).


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: The defeat led to a changing of the guard in Jerusalem: King Guy was taken prisoner, and nearly every town and castle soon fell to Saladin. Balian, Raymond, Reginald, and Payen of Haifa were among the few leading nobles who managed to escape to Tyre. Raymond and Reginald soon left to attend to the defence of their own territories, and Tyre came under the leadership of Conrad of Montferrat, who had arrived not long after Hattin. Balian was to become one of his closest allies. Leaving Tyre, Balian asked Saladin for permission to return through the lines to Jerusalem to escort his wife and their children to Tripoli. Saladin allowed this, provided that Balian leave the city and take an oath to never raise arms against him.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: When Balian and his small group of knights arrived in the city, the inhabitants begged them to stay, and Balian was absolved of his oath to Saladin by Patriarch Eraclius, who argued that the greater need of Christendom was stronger than his oath to a non-Christian. Balian was recruited to lead the defense of the city, but he found that there were under fourteen, possibly as few as two, other knights there, so he created 60 new knights from the ranks of the burgesses. Queen Sibylla seems to have played little part in the defence, and oaths were taken to Balian as lord. With Eraclius, he prepared for the inevitable siege by storing food and money. Saladin indeed began the siege of Jerusalem on 20 September 1187, after he had conquered almost all of the rest of the kingdom, including Ibelin, Nablus, Ramla, and Ascalon. The sultan felt no ill-will to Balian for breaking his oath, and arranged for an escort to accompany Maria and their children to Tripoli. As the highest ranking lord remaining in Jerusalem, Balian, as Ibn al-Athir wrote, was seen by the Muslims as holding a rank "more or less equal to that of a king."


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Saladin was able to knock down portions of the walls, but was unable to gain entrance to the city. Balian then rode out to meet with the sultan, to report to him that the defenders would rather kill each other and destroy the city than see it taken by force. After negotiations, it was decided that the city would be handed over peacefully, and that Saladin would free seven thousand men for 30,000 bezants; two women or ten children would be permitted to take the place of one man for the same price. Balian handed over the keys to the Tower of David (the citadel) on October 2. There was a 50-day period for the payment of ransoms. Those who could not pay for their freedom were forced into slavery. Balian and Patriarch Eraclius had offered themselves as hostages for the ransoming of the remaining Frankish citizens, but Saladin had refused. The ransomed inhabitants marched away in three columns. Balian and the Patriarch led the third, which was the last to leave the city, probably around November 20. Balian joined his wife and children in Tripoli.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: The fall of Jerusalem, and the death of Sibylla at the Siege of Acre in 1190, led to a dispute over the throne of the kingdom. Balian's stepdaughter Isabella was now rightful queen, but Guy refused to concede his title, and Isabella's husband Humphrey—who had let her cause down in 1186—remained loyal to him. If Isabella were to succeed, she needed a politically acceptable and militarily competent husband, the obvious candidate being Conrad of Montferrat, who also had some claim as Baldwin V's paternal uncle. Balian and Maria seized Isabella and talked her into agreeing to a divorce. There were precedents: the annulment of Amalric I's marriage to Agnes of Courtenay, and the unsuccessful attempts to force Sibylla to divorce Guy.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Isabella's marriage was annulled by Ubaldo Lanfranchi, Archbishop of Pisa, who was Papal legate, and Philip of Dreux, Bishop of Beauvais. The Bishop of Beauvais then married her to Conrad (controversially, since his brother had been married to her half-sister and it was uncertain whether he had been divorced by his Byzantine wife). The succession dispute was prolonged by the arrival of Richard I of England and Philip II of France on the Third Crusade: Richard supported Guy, as a Poitevin vassal, while Philip supported Conrad, his late father's cousin.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Balian and Maria's role in Isabella's divorce and their support for Conrad as king earned them the bitter hatred of Richard and his supporters. Ambroise, who wrote a poetic account of the crusade, called Balian "more false than a goblin" and said he "should be hunted with dogs". The anonymous author of the "Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi" wrote that Balian was a member of a "council of consummate iniquity" around Conrad, accused him of taking Conrad's bribes, and said of Maria and Balian as a couple:


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: On 28 April 1192, only days after his kingship was confirmed by election, Conrad was assassinated in Tyre. It is said that one of the two assassins responsible had entered Balian's household in Tyre some months previously, pretending to be a servant, in order to stalk his victim; the other may have similarly infiltrated Reginald of Sidon's or Conrad's own household. Richard was widely suspected of involvement in the murder. Isabella, who was expecting her first child (Maria of Montferrat), married Henry II of Champagne only a week later.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Balian became one of Henry's advisors, and later that year (along with William of Tiberias), he commanded the rearguard of Richard's army at the Battle of Jaffa of 1192. Later, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Jaffa in 1192 between Richard and Saladin, essentially ending the crusade. Under this treaty, Ibelin remained under Saladin's control, but many sites along the coast which had been reconquered during the crusade were allowed to remain in Christian hands. After Richard departed, Saladin compensated Balian with the castle of Caymont and five other nearby sites, all outside Acre.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: Balian's squire Ernoul, who was with him on the embassy to Tripoli in 1187, wrote parts of the Old French continuation of the Latin chronicle of William of Tyre (William had died in 1186, before the fall of Jerusalem). Although this family of manuscripts now often bears his name, his account survives in only fragments within it, mainly for the period 1186–88, with a heavy bias in favour of the Ibelin family.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: "Balian" became a common name in the Ibelin family in the 13th century. Balian, lord of Beirut, son of John and grandson of the above Balian, succeeded his father as lord of Beirut in 1236. Balian of Beirut's brother, also named John, had a son named Balian; this Balian was lord of Arsuf and married Plaisance of Antioch.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: The name also passed into the family of the Greniers of Sidon, since Balian's daughter Helvis and Reginald of Sidon named their son Balian.


title: Balian of Ibelin

text: A fictionalized version of Balian, played by English actor Orlando Bloom, is the protagonist of Ridley Scott's 2005 film "Kingdom of Heaven".


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: Denys Anatoliyovych Shmyhal (; born 15 October 1975) is a Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur who is the current Prime Minister of Ukraine since 2020. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, Shmyhal was the governor of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and an acting vice prime minister in the Honcharuk Government.


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: As a Prime Minister, Shmyhal has been in charge of handling the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine.


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: In 1997, Shmyhal graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic. He holds the title of Candidate of Economic Sciences (2003). From his graduation in 1997 until September 2005, Shmyhal worked as an accountant in various companies. From September 2005 to June 2006, Shmyhal was Deputy General Director of a company called "LA DIS". From June 2006 to August 2008, he was Director for the investment company "Comfort-Invest". From September 2008 to September 2009, Shmyhal was General Director of a company called "ROSANINVEST LLC".


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: Shmyhal worked in multiple leading political roles in Ukraine's Lviv Oblast from 2009 until December 2013. Firstly, as the Head of the Department of Economics at the Lviv Oblast Administration between 2009 and 2011. It is there were he met and worked with Oleh Nemchinov who would, in 2020, become Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Shmyhal Government. Shmyhal then became the Head of the Department of Economics and Industrial Policy for the whole of 2012. In 2013, he was Head of the Department of Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Industry.


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: From May 2014 to December 2014, Shmyhal worked as Deputy Head of the Lviv Oblast regional office of the Ministry of Revenues and Duties.


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: From 2018 to 2019, Shmyhal served as Director of the Burshtyn TES which is the largest electricity producer in Ivano-Frankivsk, and is part of Rinat Akhmetov's holdings.


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: From 1 August 2019 until his ministerial appointment, Shmyhal was the Governor of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: In 2021, 46-year-old Denys Shmyhal entered the TOP-100 most influential Ukrainians according to the weekly magazine "Focus". The Prime Minister was given the 7th place in the rating. Shmyhal's success is explained by the support of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the initiatives of the presidential office.


title: Denys Shmyhal

text: Shmyhal is married to Kateryna Shmyhal. They have two daughters. Kateryna is a former co-owner of the Lviv “Kamyanetsky Bakery” and a local NextBike bike rental. She sold her shares in these companies in 2019.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: The "Mario" franchise is a video game series by Nintendo. While Nintendo is usually the developer and publisher of games in the franchise, various series are developed by third-party companies, such as Hudson Soft and Intelligent Systems. Games in the "Mario" franchise primarily revolve around the protagonist Mario and often involve the trope of Bowser as the antagonist kidnapping Princess Peach, with Mario then rescuing her. Many characters have goals or plot arcs that vary from series to series; for example, the "Luigi's Mansion" games focus on Luigi ridding a haunted building of ghosts, while Wario stars in games that center around his greed and desire for money and treasure.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: Character roots begin with "Donkey Kong" where Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pauline originate. Designed by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto; they were built off the base of characters from Popeye. Unable to obtain licensing rights for the characters, Miyamoto made later changes to their appearances and personalities, such as making them more lighthearted in tone. Due to the critical and commercial success of "Donkey Kong" when it was released in July 1981, Mario reappeared in "Mario Bros." and "Super Mario Bros." in 1983 and 1985, respectively. "Mario Bros." introduced Mario's fraternal twin Luigi, and "Super Mario Bros." introduced Toad alongside numerous enemies, with Bowser and Princess Peach replacing Donkey Kong and Pauline.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: Throughout each series of games, numerous characters have been introduced, and have since become recurring. Some have starred in their own games while others tend to appear in supporting roles. Other main and supporting antagonists appear as a hindrance to the main character. The games all typically share common enemies.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Charles Martinet) is the mascot of the "Mario" franchise and Nintendo as a whole. He originally appeared in 1981's "Donkey Kong" as "Jumpman", designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. While Mario was initially a carpenter, he later took the role of a plumber. Since 1992, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet. In most of his appearances, Mario rescues a damsel in distress (typically Princess Peach) from an antagonist (typically Bowser). Mario's younger brother is Luigi, and his greedy rival is Wario. Yoshi serves as Mario's steed in several games, including "Super Mario World". Since his introduction, Mario has used several different abilities, most notably his jump, which can be used in both defense and offense, such as by jumping onto an enemy's head as an attack. Mario also makesuse of power-ups throughout his appearances, such as the Super Mushroom (which allows him to grow larger and survive an additional hit), the Super Star (which grants him temporary invincibility), and the Fire Flower (which allows him to throw fireballs). Several power-ups also grant Mario the ability to fly, such as the Super Leaf from "Super Mario Bros. 3". According to "Guiness World Records", Mario is the second most recognizable video game character, only behind Pac-Man. Mario has seen numerous cultural appearances, such as during the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics, where Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe appeared dressed as the character.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Charles Martinet) is the younger brother of Mario, who Luigi feels a sense of envy and reverence towards. In the 1983 game "Mario Bros.", Luigi was introduced as the second player character, with many similarities to Mario. While he was initially identical to Mario, he began developing differences in "" (1986), which gave him a higher and further jump at the expense of responsiveness and precision. In the North American version of "Super Mario Bros. 2" (1988), Luigi was given a taller and thinner appearance than Mario, which played a key role in shaping his modern appearance. Luigi's first starring role was in 1993's "Mario Is Missing!", though he played only minor roles in subsequent games until 2001 with "Luigi's Mansion", where he plays the role of a frightened, unsure, and goofy protagonist attempting to save his brother. The Year of Luigi was celebrated in 2013, which saw many "Luigi" games released to commemorate the character's 30th anniversary.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Samantha Kelly), is the princess of the "Mario" franchise's Mushroom Kingdom. In the main series games, she typically plays the role of a damsel in distress who needs to be rescued by Mario. When playable, she typically has the ability to float in the air, and is physically taller than Mario. Her first playable appearance in a main series "Mario" game was 1988's "Super Mario Bros. 2", while her second was 2013's "Super Mario 3D World". Peach played a starring role in "Super Princess Peach" (2005), where she aims to rescue Mario, Luigi, and Toad, aided by a parasol named Perry and several abilities based on her emotions–or "vibes". She makes frequent appearances in spin-off "Mario" games, such as the "Mario Kart" series and the "Mario" sports games. In the 2017 game "Super Mario Odyssey", after being captured by and forced to marry Bowser, and subsequently rescued by Mario, she rejects both of them and instead takes a trip around the world.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Deanna Mustard) is the princess of Sarasaland, the setting of "Super Mario Land" (1989). Since then, she has primarily appeared as a playable character in spin-off "Mario" games, especially "Mario" sports games. "Super Mario Run" (2016) marks Daisy's playable debut in a main series game, where she is able to perform a double jump. She acts more tomboyish than Princess Peach, exemplified by her appearances in the "Mario" sports games. Some consider her and Luigi to be a couple, despite Daisy typically being rescued by Mario.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Laura Faye Smith) is a princess character introduced in 2007's "Super Mario Galaxy". As a child who fled into space after grieving her mother's death, she becomes the adoptive mother of the Lumas — mysterious and friendly star-like creatures that inhabit space in the "Mario" franchise. She resides in the Cosmet Observatory, a starship used to traverse the "Mario" universe. In later appearances, she typically takes the role of a supporting character, and primarily appears in spin-off titles such as the "Mario" sports games, "Mario Kart" series, and "Super Smash Bros." series. In "Super Mario 3D World" (2013), she is a playable character, and is unlocked through gameplay.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Samantha Kelly) is an anthropomorphic mushroom-like character. The character first appeared in "Super Mario Bros." (1985), though his first starring role was in "Wario's Woods" (1994), in which the player is able to control Toad to solve puzzles. Toad made his playable debut in a main series "Mario" game in 1988 with "Super Mario Bros. 2", and frequently acts as a non-playable character in "Mario" role-playing games. The character is also a member of the eponymous Toad species, which includes characters such as Captain Toad, Toadette, and Toadsworth. Keegan-Michael Key voices Toad in "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (2023).


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Samantha Kelly) is a pink Toad girl character who first appeared in the 2003 video game "" as a playable driver. Toadette is depicted with two long round pigtails braids and a dress to distinguish herself from Toad. Since "Super Mario Odyssey", Toadette is a member of the Toad Brigade and has the role of an archivist. Depending on the game, she is either a supporting character or a protagonist, playable in most of the "Mario" spin-off games. In "New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe", gameplay allows Toadette to transform into Peachette, a form that highly resembles Princess Peach, with her power-up called the Super Crown. As Peachette, she can use Peach's floating jump to hover, and can perform a double jump.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Samantha Kelly) is an explorer, and the leader of the Toad Brigade who first appears in "Super Mario Galaxy." He makes several appearances within the "Mario" series, like in "Super Mario Galaxy 2" or "Super Mario Odyssey", and as a "treasure tracker". He makes several cameos within "Super Smash Bros." and made his "Mario Kart" debut in "Mario Kart Tour" as a playable racer. He is the main protagonist in the subset of levels in "Super Mario 3D World" called "Captain Toad's Adventures", and in the game "".


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (, once Romanized as Yossy; voiced by Kazumi Totaka) is a green anthropomorphic dinosaur character. He is depicted with a long tongue that can be used to eat enemies, and can turn the enemies he eats into eggs that can be thrown. Yoshi is a rideable character for the heroes or a playable character in most of the "Mario" spin-offs, including his own series.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: Birdo, also known as Birdette, and known in Japan as , (voiced by Kazumi Totaka) is depicted as a pink, anthropomorphic creature who wears a red bow on her head, and has a round mouth that can fire eggs as projectiles. Birdo first appeared in "Super Mario Bros. 2" as a recurring boss character. Since then, she has been a recurring playable character in various franchise spin-offs. Birdo has been referred to as a "man who thinks of himself as female" in earlier depictions, such as in the Japanese manual for the early prototype game "Doki Doki Panic", and was considered female in later games. It is heavily speculated that Birdo is transgender; she was considered to be one of the first ever transgender video game characters.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Kate Higgins) debuted in "Donkey Kong" (1981), and is further featured in "Donkey Kong" (1994) for Game Boy, and the "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" series. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, is the earliest example of a female with a speaking role in a video game, and is cited as a famous example of a damsel in distress in fiction. She is the mayor of New Donk City in "Super Mario Odyssey".


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Takashi Nagasako) is a male gorilla that stars in the "Donkey Kong" franchise. He the leader of the Kong Family, a group of various primates.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (Diddy) (voiced by Katsumi Suzuki) is an anthropomorphic monkey character who is Donkey Kong's nephew, sidekick, and best friend, appearing in the "Donkey Kong" and "Mario" franchises. He is the main protagonist of "Diddy Kong Racing" and its DS remake. He is depicted as a cheerful and kind character. Created by Rare, the name Diddy is a British term meaning "little".


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: is an older Kong. His first appearance was in 1981's "Donkey Kong", where, as the game's antagonist, he kidnapped Pauline, though he was stopped by Mario.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: is portrayed as Yoshi's helper dog. He debuted in "" and continued through the "Yoshi" series such as in "Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World". In the games, he can do things that Yoshi cannot, such as sniff out hidden items, cross over dangerous terrain, and jump over walls to give Yoshi a boost out of his wall jumps.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Kazumi Totaka), more commonly known as Professor E. Gadd, is a scientist and inventor. He primarily appears in the "Luigi's Mansion" series, in which he invented several objects, such as Luigi's Poltergust 3000 and Gooigi from "Luigi's Mansion 3". He is referenced in "Super Mario Sunshine" as the inventor of Mario's F.L.U.D.D., a device that allows him to spray water. The character has also made cameo appearances in series such as "Mario Party" and "Mario & Luigi".


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Scott Burns) is an elderly Toad character who is Princess Peach's steward. He is depicted showing concern for the princess' safety and acts as a prime caretaker for the Toads. He debuted in "Super Mario Sunshine" for GameCube, in which he goes on vacation with Mario, Peach and the other Toads. In "", he is revealed to have cared for the princess since she was a baby.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: The Lumas are depicted as friendly star-like creatures. They first appear in "Super Mario Galaxy", where they have the ability to transform into various game objects, explorable planetoids, and entire levels. Lumas come in a variety of colors, though are most commonly yellow. One particular Luma, also referred to as Baby Luma, or Young Master Luma, is a major character in the "Super Mario Galaxy" games, granting Mario or Luigi the power to Star Spin.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: or King Koopa (voiced by Kenneth W. James) is the king of the turtle-like Koopa race, a selfish troublemaker who wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. He is depicted as Mario's nemesis, and is the final boss of most "Mario" games. He is playable in all "Mario" spin-off games.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: in Japan; voiced by Caety Sagoian), or sometimes simply Jr. or Junior, is the son of Bowser, who first appeared in the 2002 game "Super Mario Sunshine". He is often depicted as the secondary antagonist throughout the "Mario" series. In the games, Bowser Jr. looks up to his dad, and shares his ambition to defeat Mario, and take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser Jr. is playable in most of the spin-off "Mario" games, and in "Super Smash Bros." He is the main protagonist of "" (2018) included in the remake of "".


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (; voiced by Charles Martinet) is an obese yet muscular, hot-tempered, and greedy man. He is depicted as Mario's yellow-and-purple clad arch-rival. He initially debuted as an antagonist, but over the years has become an anti-hero, even being playable in a few titles. Wario is the protagonist of the "Wario" series and is playable in most of the "Mario" spin-off games where he is shown to be Waluigi's partner. His name is portmanteau of "warui", the Japanese word for "bad", and "Mario". Wario's favorite food is garlic, often used in gameplay to restore health when he gets defeated.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (; voiced by Charles Martinet) is a tall, thin, and mischievous man who was introduced in "Mario Tennis" as Wario's partner. He is Luigi's black-and-purple clad arch-rival. Waluigi is often an antagonist who teams up with Wario to accomplish their schemes. He is playable in most of the "Mario" spin-off games, and makes several cameos within the "Super Smash Bros." series. Like with Wario, his name is a portmanteau of "warui" and "Luigi".


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: The are seven siblings who first appeared as boss characters in the 1988 game "Super Mario Bros. 3". Their individual names are Ludwig, Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, Wendy, Morton, and Larry. They were originally depicted as the children of the series antagonist Bowser, and later referred to as his minions. They have since appeared in subsequent "Super Mario" games, spin-off "Mario" games, and the "Super Smash Bros." series.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (; voiced by Atsushi Masaki) is a member of the fictional Magikoopa species who is Bowser's childhood caretaker, and then one of his high-ranking minions. Kamek is the main antagonist of the "Yoshi" series. In his various game appearances, his magic includes self-duplication, teleportation, shooting magical blasts, and changing the size of other creatures. He is often distinguished from other Magikoopas by the broom he rides on. In Japan, his species is also named Kamek, but outside Japan they are called Magikoopas. This will sometimes lead to a literal translation, as in "Super Princess Peach" where a boss is described as "A Kamek made huge by magic". Some Japanese sources such as the guide for "Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island" call him "Fang" to distinguish him from regular Magikoopas.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Toru Asakawa) is the king of the Boos, and is the main antagonist of the "Luigi's Mansion" series. He plays minor roles, occasionally playable, in various other "Mario" games, including the "Mario Kart" and "Mario Party" series. King Boo's first major debuted role was as the final boss of "Luigi's Mansion", where he disguised himself as Bowser. He is depicted as much larger than the average Boos that appear in games after "Luigi's Mansion". He dons a crown with a large ruby, and has glowing, sunken eyes in the "Luigi's Mansion" franchise. A similar character named Big Boo is an enemy in "Super Mario World," and a boss in "Super Mario 64 DS". Additionally, a different character also named King Boo, known as Boss Boo in Japan, appears as a boss in "Super Mario Sunshine".


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: , known as in Japan, (voiced by Toru Minegishi) is a large, powerful Piranha Plant character. Whereas normal Piranha Plants are usually depicted growing from pipes, Petey's leaves and roots are foot-like and arm-like appendages, allowing the character to use objects such as tennis rackets and golf clubs when playable in the various "Mario" sports games. He has also been shown to be able to use his leaves to fly around in the air. He first appeared as the primary boss of Bianco Hills in the game "Super Mario Sunshine". Similar Piranha Plant boss characters later appear in "Super Mario Galaxy" and its sequel.


title: Characters in the Mario franchise

text: (voiced by Nami Funashima), known in Japan as Gerakobits, is a recurring antagonist in the "Mario & Luigi" series. The character is considered to be "insane," and speaks in a "schizophasic" manner. He served as the secondary antagonist of , and the main antagonist of .


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: Kim Min-jae (Hangul: 김민재) also known as Real.be, is a South Korean actor and rapper. He starred in television series "Second 20s" (2015), "My First Time" (2015), "Dr. Romantic" (2016), "" (2016), "Tempted" (2018), "" (2019), "Dr. Romantic 2" (2020), "Do You Like Brahms?" (2020), "Dali and Cocky Prince" (2021), and "Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist" (2022). He was also a contestant in the rap competition "Show Me the Money 4" in 2015.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: Kim studied composition and piano-playing at a music academy in middle school. Kim then auditioned for CJ E&M and became a first generation trainee of the company for four years from his first year of high school, at Seoul Performing Arts High School (SOPA).


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: Kim was featured in music stages of CJ E&M artists as a rapper since 2014 and was one of the first generation of trainees from CJ E&M.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: Kim debuted as an actor in 2014 in a joint South Korean-Vietnamese drama "Forever Young". He also had a cameo role in the tvN drama "I Need Romance 3" (2014) as an idol singer preparing for debut.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: While he was preparing for his debut as an idol singer, he was cast in Mnet's drama "Perseverance Goo Hae-ra" in 2015 after going through several auditions.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: Kim then made a cameo appearance in KBS2's drama "The Producers" as one of "2 Days & 1 Night – Season 5" cast members. In June the same year, Kim joined the rap competition "Show Me the Money 4" as a contestant.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: Kim was then cast in supporting roles in the dramas "Second 20s" (2015) and "My First Time" (2015). Kim also featured in the singles "Our Feeling" for the OST of "My First Time" with Park So-dam and Lee Yi-kyung, and "Star" for the OST of "Second 20s" with Mamamoo's Solar.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: On November 21, 2015, Kim, alongside Kim Sae-ron, started hosting MBC's music program "Show! Music Core". They left the show in September 2016.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: In 2016, Kim featured in MBC's family drama "My Little Baby". Kim then featured in the medical drama "Dr. Romantic" and received a New Star award for his role at the SBS Drama Awards. He also made a special appearance in tvN's hit fantasy drama "" (2016), which garnered him increased recognition.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: The same year, Kim was cast in the film "Love+Sling" which marked his big screen debut. He was also cast in "Feng Shui", the third installment of the "divining art trilogy" by Han Jae-rim.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: In 2019, Kim starred in the youth historical drama "" which marked his first leading role. In June, Kim signed up with a new agency YamYam Entertainment.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: The same year he starred in SBS drama "Do You Like Brahms?", playing Park Joon-young, a world-renowned pianist for which he received Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama and Best Couple Award with Park Eun-bin at 2020 SBS Drama Awards.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: In 2021, Kim participated in composing the lyrics of "I'm Jealous" on his label mate Punch's second mini album FULL BLOOM. Later that year, Kim starred in the drama "Dali and Cocky Prince", which premiered in September on KBS2. He played the role of Jin Moo-hak, rich young man who has little education and no background but knows to make money for which he received Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries at 2021 KBS Drama Awards.


title: Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996)

text: In 2022, Kim played the titular Yoo Se-poong in the tvN historical medical drama "Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist".


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the United States from the age of 11 and became an activist while attending the Bronx High School of Science. He was a key leader in the development of the Black Power movement, first while leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), then as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and last as a leader of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP).


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: Ture was one of the original SNCC freedom riders of 1961 under Diane Nash's leadership. He became a major voting rights activist in Mississippi and Alabama after being mentored by Ella Baker and Bob Moses. Like most young people in the SNCC, he became disillusioned with the two-party system after the 1964 Democratic National Convention failed to recognize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party as official delegates from the state. Carmichael eventually decided to develop independent all-black political organizations, such as the Lowndes County Freedom Organization and, for a time, the national Black Panther Party. Inspired by Malcolm X's example, he articulated a philosophy of Black Power, and popularized it both by provocative speeches and more sober writings. Ture became one of the most popular and controversial Black leaders of the late 1960s. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, secretly identified Ture as the man most likely to succeed Malcolm X as America's "black messiah". The FBI targeted him for counterintelligence activity through its COINTELPRO program, so Ture moved to Africa in 1968. He reestablished himself in Ghana, and then Guinea by 1969. There, he adopted the name Kwame Ture, and began campaigning internationally for revolutionary socialist pan-Africanism. Ture died of prostate cancer in 1998 at the age of 57.


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: Carmichael was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He attended Tranquility School there before moving to Harlem, New York City, in 1952 at age 11, to rejoin his parents. They had immigrated to the United States when he was two, and he was raised by his grandmother and two aunts. He had three sisters.


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: His mother, Mabel R. Carmichael, was a stewardess for a steamship line. His father, Adolphus, was a carpenter who also worked as a taxi driver. The reunited Carmichaels eventually left Harlem to live in Van Nest in the East Bronx, at that time an aging neighborhood primarily of Jewish and Italian immigrants and descendants. According to a 1967 interview Carmichael gave to "Life Magazine", he was the only black member of the Morris Park Dukes, a youth gang involved in alcohol and petty theft. He and his family were members of the Westchester United Methodist Church.


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: Carmichael attended the Bronx High School of Science in New York, being selected through high achievement on its standardized entrance examination. At Bronx Science, he participated in a boycott of a local White Castle restaurant that did not hire blacks. On student recognition Sunday at his church, Carmichael gave an eye-opening student sermon to the almost totally white congregation. Carmichael was acquainted with fellow Bronx Science student Samuel R. Delany during his time there.


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: After graduation in 1960, Carmichael enrolled at Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, D.C. His professors included the poet Sterling Brown, Nathan Hare, and Toni Morrison, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Carmichael and fellow civil rights activist Tom Kahn (a Catholic whose last name has sometimes caused him to be misidentified as Jewish) helped to fund a five-day run of the "Three Penny Opera," by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill:


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: Tom Kahn—very shrewdly—had captured the position of Treasurer of the Liberal Arts Student Council and the infinitely charismatic and popular Carmichael as floor whip was good at lining up the votes. Before they knew what hit them the Student Council had become a patron of the arts, having voted to buy out the remaining performances. It was a classic win/win. Members of the Council got patronage packets of tickets for distribution to friends and constituents.


title: Stokely Carmichael

text: Carmichael's Washington, D.C. apartment on Euclid Street was a gathering place for his activist classmates. He graduated in 1964 with a degree in philosophy. Carmichael was offered a full graduate scholarship to Harvard University but turned it down.