title: Yi Sun-sin

text: When General Kim informed the king of Admiral Yi's refusal, the admiral's enemies at court quickly insisted on his replacement by General Won Gyun, former commander of the Gyeongsang Province Western Fleet & Commander of the Jeolla Province Ground Forces. They advised that Admiral Yi be arrested.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: As a result, in 1597, Yi was relieved of command, placed under arrest, and taken to Seoul in chains to be imprisoned and tortured. Yi was tortured almost to the point of death by using simple torture tactics such as whipping, flogging, burning, the cudgel, or even the classic technique of leg breaking torture. King Seonjo wanted to have Yi killed, but the admiral's supporters at court, chiefly the minister Jeong Tak (정탁; 鄭琢; 1526–1605), convinced the king to spare him due to his past service record. The prime minister, Yu Seong-ryong, who was Yi's childhood friend and his main supporter, remained silent during this deadly hour. Spared the death penalty, Admiral Yi was again demoted to the rank of a common infantry soldier under General Gwon Yul. This penalty was worse than death for Joseon generals at that time, since they lived by honor. However, Yi responded to this humiliation as a most obedient subject, quietly going about his work as if his rank and orders were appropriate. Despite his low rank, many officers treated him with respect, since they knew that the admiral did nothing wrong. Yi would stay under General Gwon Yul's command for a short while until Won Gyun's death at the Battle of Chilchonryang, which would lead to his reinstatement.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: With Yi stripped of influence and negotiations breaking down in 1596, Hideyoshi again ordered an attack on Joseon. The second Japanese invasion landed in the first month of 1597 with a force of 140,000 men transported on 1000 ships. In response, Ming China sent thousands of reinforcements to aid Joseon. With the help of the Ming, the Joseon army was able to halt the Japanese offensive and push it back during the winter of 1597, before the Japanese were able to reach the Joseon capitol of Hanseong.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: On the high seas, Yi's successor Won Gyun failed to respond to reports from his scouts and allowed the Japanese to land critical reinforcements at Sosang Harbor for their land offensive unopposed. Without adequate reconnaissance or planning, Won Gyun decided to attack with the entire naval force of Joseon at his disposal; a fleet consisting of 150 warships operated by 30,000 men that had been carefully assembled and trained by Admiral Yi. Won Gyun left anchor at Yeosu with the fleet and sailed into waters marked by treacherous rocks where the Japanese ambushed the Joseon fleet in the Battle of Chilchonryang on August 28, 1597. Ignorant of the strength and disposition of the enemy, Won was stunned to find a Japanese fleet of 500 to 1000 ships which immediately closed for melee combat, denying the Joseon ships the advantages of superior seamanship and cannon fire. The exhausted Joseon sailors were reduced to fighting boarding actions while heavily outnumbered and slaughtered en masse.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: The Joseon fleet was decimated with only 13 warships surviving under Admiral Bae Seol, who fled before battle was fully engaged to save the warships under his command. After the destruction of the Joseon fleet, Won Gyun and Yi Eok-gi, another Joseon commander, fled to an island with a band of survivors but were killed by waiting Japanese soldiers from the nearby fort. The Battle of Chilchonryang was the only naval victory for the Japanese during the war against Joseon. When King Seonjo and the royal court learned of the catastrophic defeat, they hurriedly pardoned and reinstated Admiral Yi as commander of the greatly reduced Joseon fleet.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Admiral Yi located the 13 warships and rallied the 200 surviving sailors. Together with his flagship, Admiral Yi's entire fleet totaled 13 ships, none of which were turtle ships. In the belief that the Joseon fleet would never be restorable, King Seonjo, sent an edict to Admiral Yi to abandon the warships and take his men to join the ground forces under General Gwon Yul. Admiral Yi responded with a letter written ""...your servant still doth have twelve warships under his command and he is still alive, that the enemy shall never be safe in the West Sea" (the Yellow Sea being the closest body of water to Hanseong)."


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Emboldened after their victory at Chilchonryang, Japanese admirals Kurushima Michifusa, Todo Takatora, Kato Yoshiaki, and Wakisaka Yasuharu sailed out of Busan Harbor with a fleet of over 300 ships, confident in being able to defeat Admiral Yi. Elimination of the Joseon fleet would mean unrestricted movement of supplies and reinforcements from Japan for the offensive drive on land towards Hanseong and beyond.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: After careful study of potential battlefields, in October 1597 Admiral Yi lured the Japanese fleet into the Myeongnyang Strait, by sending a fast warship near the Japanese naval base and luring the Japanese fleet out of anchorage. The Japanese assumed that this was a Joseon scouting ship and that pursuing it would lead to the location of Admiral Yi, giving them an opportunity to destroy the remnants of the Joseon fleet. What they did not know was that they were being lured into a masterfully devised trap.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: There were several reasons why Admiral Yi decided on this location for battle. Myeongnyang Strait had currents, eddies, and whirlpools so powerful that ships could only enter safely a few at a time. The north–south tidal flow reversed every three hours, limiting the time that the Japanese could mount an offensive. The strait was sufficiently narrow that it would prove impossible for the Japanese to flank or envelop the numerically inferior Joseon fleet. The deep shadows of the surrounding hillsides provided the Joseon ships with concealment. On that particular day there was also a heavy mist, dramatically reducing visibility in favor of the Joseon fleet. Therefore, despite being vastly outnumbered, Admiral Yi used the terrain restrictions to neutralize the Japanese navy's staggering numerical advantage.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: The Japanese fleet of approximately 333 ships (133 warships, at least 200 logistical support ships) entered Myeongnyang Strait in groups. The Japanese ships that made it through were met by 13 Joseon warships obscured by the shadows of the surrounding hills, ready with archers and cannons, and the melee-based Japanese found themselves unable to fight effectively and break through the superior Joseon ranged fire. The unpredictable current eventually wreaked havoc on the Japanese; their ships found themselves unable to maneuver and collided with each other when the tide reversed, while also presenting a perfect target for the Joseon naval artillery. Admiral Yi was astonishingly able to rout a force that outnumbered him more than 25 to 1 in ships alone. About 31 of the 333 Japanese ships that entered the Myeongnyang Strait were destroyed or damaged. Joseon losses on the other hand were around ten casualties and no ships lost. Kurushima Michifusa was killed on his flagship by Joseon archers; his body in its ornate armor was fished out of the water, his severed head was put on display to further demoralize the Japanese fleet.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Admiral Yi's miraculous victory at the Battle of Myeongnyang turned the tide of the entire war against the Japanese; their ground forces on the verge of invading Hanseong were cut off from steady flow of supplies and reinforcements, and forced to pull back. Today, the battle is celebrated in Korea as one of Admiral Yi's greatest victories. No other engagement involving such an outnumbered fleet has resulted in such a disproportionate victory, making it one of the greatest achievements in naval warfare.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: On December 15, 1598, a huge Japanese fleet under the command of Shimazu Yoshihiro, was amassed in Sachon Bay, on the east end of Noryang Strait. Shimazu's goal was to break the allied forces' blockade on Konishi Yukinaga, join the two fleets, and sail home to Japan. Admiral Yi, meanwhile, knew exactly where Shimazu was, after receiving reports from scouts and local fishermen.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: At this time, the Joseon fleet consisted of 82 panokseon and three turtle ships, with 8,000 soldiers under Admiral Yi. The Ming fleet consisted of six large war junks, 57 lighter war galleys and two panokseon given to Chen Lin by Admiral Yi, with 5,000 Ming soldiers of the Guangdong squadron and 2,600 Ming marines who fought aboard Joseon ships.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: The battle began at two o'clock in the early morning of December 16, 1598. Like Admiral Yi's previous battles, the Japanese were unable to respond effectively to the Korean's tactics. The tightness of Noryang Strait hindered lateral movement, and Yi's maneuvers prevented the Japanese fleet from boarding their enemies' vessels, their primary naval tactic.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: As the Japanese retreated, Admiral Yi ordered a vigorous pursuit. During this time, a stray arquebus bullet from an enemy ship struck Admiral Yi, near his left armpit. Sensing that the wound was fatal, and fearing a repeat of the Battle of Chilchonryang, the admiral uttered, ""The war is at its height – wear my armor and beat my war drums. Do not announce my death."" He died moments later.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Only two people witnessed his death: Yi Hoe, Yi's eldest son, and Yi Wan, his nephew. Admiral Yi's son and nephew struggled to regain their composure and carried the admiral's body into his cabin before others could notice. For the remainder of the battle, Yi Wan wore his uncle's armor and continued to beat the war drum to encourage the pursuit.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: During the battle, Chen Lin and Yi were friends and allies who helped and rescued each other several times. When Chen Lin called for Admiral Yi to thank him for coming to his aid, he was met by Yi Wan, who announced that his uncle was dead. It is said that Chen himself was so shocked that he fell to the ground three times, beating his chest and crying. News of Admiral Yi's death spread quickly throughout the allied fleet and both Joseon and Ming sailors and fighting men wailed in grief. Chen Lin later reported the news of Yi's death to Wanli Emperor, where he bestowed gifts and eulogies on Chen and Yi. Since then, Yi and Chen were memorialized as national heroes in Korea. Chen's descendants were later welcomed back to Korea to start the Gwangdong Jin clan, because of Chen Lin's contributions in defeating the Japanese and his camaraderie with Yi Sunsin.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Admiral Yi's body was brought back to his hometown in Asan to be buried next to his father, Yi Jeong (in accordance to Korean tradition). Shrines, both official and unofficial, were constructed in his honor all throughout the land."


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Some military historians like Joseph Cummins and George Alexander Ballard place Yi on par with Admiral Horatio Nelson as one of the greatest naval commanders in history.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: It is always difficult for Englishmen to admit that Nelson ever had an equal in his profession, but if any man is entitled to be so regarded, it should be this great naval commander of Asiatic race who never knew defeat and died in the presence of the enemy; of whose movements a track-chart might be compiled from the wrecks of hundreds of Japanese ships lying with their valiant crews at the bottom of the sea, off the coasts of the Korean peninsula... and it seems, in truth, no exaggeration to assert that from first to last he never made a mistake, for his work was so complete under each variety of circumstances as to defy criticism... His whole career might be summarized by saying that, although he had no lessons from history to serve as a guide, he waged war on the sea as it should be waged if it is to produce definite results, and ended by making the supreme sacrifice of a defender of his country. ("The Influence of the Sea on The Political History of Japan", pp. 66–67.)


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Admiral Togo regarded Admiral Yi as his superior. At a party held in his honor, Togo took exception to a speech comparing him to Lord Nelson and Yi Sun-sin.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: It may be proper to compare me with Nelson, but not with Korea's Yi Sun-sin, for he has no equal. ("The Imjin War", by Samuel Hawley, pg. 490)


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: ...naturally we could not help but remind ourselves of Korea's Yi Sun-sin, the world's first sea commander, whose superlative personality, strategy, invention, commanding ability, intelligence, and courage were all worthy of our admiration. ("The Imjin War", by Samuel Hawley, pg. 490)


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Admiral Tetsutaro Sato of the Imperial Japanese Navy mentioned the Korean admiral in his book published in 1908:


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Throughout history there have been few generals accomplished at the tactics of frontal attack, sudden attack, concentration and dilation. Napoleon, who mastered the art of conquering the part with the whole, can be held to have been such a general, and among admirals, two further tactical geniuses may be named: in the East, Yi Sun-sin of Korea, and in the West, Horatio Nelson of England. Undoubtedly, Yi is a supreme naval commander even on the basis of the limited literature of the Seven-Year War, and despite the fact that his bravery and brilliance are not known to the West, since he had the misfortune to be born in Joseon Dynasty. Anyone who can be compared to Yi should be better than Michiel de Ruyter from Netherlands. Nelson is far behind Yi in terms of personal character and integrity. Yi was the inventor of the covered warship known as the turtle ship. He was a truly great commander and a master of the naval tactics of three hundred years ago. --"A Military History of the Empire" (Japanese: 帝國國防史論), p. 399


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Admiral Yi repeatedly defeated the Japanese invasion force in battle, while preserving the lives of his soldiers and respecting their families. Yi was supported by the people of Joseon not only for his victories, but his kindness and gratitude towards those affected by the hardships of war. They had great faith in Admiral Yi and he was regarded as more than just an admiral.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: By contrast, King Seonjo accomplished nothing. The Joseon Dynasty's king had failed to defend the kingdom and his cowardly flight to Uiju left his reputation in ruins. The Joseon government was plagued by factionalism driven by jealousy; the ministers despised the successful and virtuous admiral, and manipulated King Seonjo to view Admiral Yi as a potential traitor. It is plausible to believe that King Seonjo and his court truly feared Admiral Yi's victories and reputation amongst the people as the foundations for a revolt leading King Seonjo to have him arrested and tortured. Defended by his loyal friend, Prime Minister Yu Seong-ryong, Admiral Yi was spared execution twice. The conspiracies worked against Admiral Yi from gaining the men, materiel, and operational freedom to decisively destroy the Japanese invasion force.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: It should also be noted that according to a recent "Choson Ilbo" article, historians have discovered written government records of the Joseon government's reaction to Admiral Yi's death. The records show that King Seonjo expressed a "blank expression", offering no signs of sadness or shock. Nearly all awards to Admiral Yi and his deeds were awarded posthumously.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Yi's life has been depicted in two motion pictures, both entitled "Seong-ung Yi Sun-sin" ("The Saintly Hero Yi Sun-sin"). The first is a 1962 black-and-white movie, and the second, based upon his war diaries, was made in color in 1971.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: A 2005 Korean film, "Heaven's Soldiers" () directed by Min Joon-ki, portrayed a young Yi Sun-sin fighting the Jurchen tribes, along with local villagers and North and South Korean soldiers who traveled in time, from 2005 to 1572, with Halley's Comet. Unusually, the film presented Yi as a cunning, slightly eccentric young man, rather than a distinguished austere hero, a couple of decades before Imjin war. Some historical events were also distorted: most notably Yi's campaign against the Jurchens, which did not happen in 1572 but a few years later, after his 1576 military examination. The film, financed with a comfortable budget by Korean standards ($7–8 million), was a relative commercial success in 2005. The film's theme clearly uses the figure of Yi, venerated as a hero in both parts of present-day Korea, to plead for Korean reunification.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: From September 4, 2004, to August 28, 2005, a 104-episode drama series was aired on KBS. The show, titled "Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin" (), dealt mostly with the events related to the Japanese invasions of Korea, as well as the life of the admiral. It became a popular drama in China and was re-aired in certain ethnic channels in the United States as well. The drama was criticized for the many artistic licenses taken, such as depicting Yi as weak and lonely in his early life and taking liberties with the events surrounding his death. On the other hand, many people complimented the way the drama portrayed the whole drama with a more human touch. It described the admiral as a true man who had to overcome many dangers and difficulties quite frequently alone, not just a hero among the clouds. This drama was a heated topic at the time since it overlapped with rising tensions in the ongoing Liancourt Rocks dispute; the series further strained relations between South Korea and Japan in the issue's most recent outbreak.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Film director Kim Han-min created a film trilogy about battles led by Yi Sun-sin. The first film, "" (2014) revolves around the events of the Battle of Myeongnyang and it became the most-watched film in South Korean history, attracting 17 million movie-goers. The second film " ("2022")", is based on the Battle of Hansan Island. The upcoming third film "Noryang" depicts the Battle of Noryang.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Although his successes were often ignored by the Korean royal court during his life, after his death various honors were bestowed upon him, including the title of "Chungmugong" (충무공; 忠武公; Duke of Loyalty and Warfare), an enrollment as a "Seonmu Ildeung Gongsin" (선무일등공신; 宣武一等功臣; First-class military order of merit during the reign of Seonjo), and two posthumous offices, "Yeonguijeong" (영의정; 領議政; Prime Minister), and the "Deokpung Buwongun" (덕풍부원군; 德豊府院君; The Prince of the Court from Deokpung). His title of "Samdo Sugun Tongjesa" ( ; 三道水軍統制使), literally meaning "Naval Commander of the Three Provinces", was the title used for the commander of the Korean navy until 1896.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Admiral Yi's posthumous title, "Chungmugong", is used as South Korea's third highest military honor, known as "The Cordon of Chungmu of the Order of Military Merit and Valor". He was posthumously granted the title of "Prince of Deokpung" "Chungmuro" (; 忠武路). In North Korea, the military awards the Order of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin (이순신장군훈장) to flag officers and naval commanders for outstanding leadership.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: Prominent statues of Admiral Yi have been erected in the middle of Sejongno in central Seoul (the Statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin) and at Busan Tower in Busan.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: The city of Chungmu on the southern coast of Korea, now renamed Tongyeong, is named in honor of his posthumous title and the site of his headquarters. Additionally, a street in downtown Seoul is named after him, and the Yi Sun-sin Bridge was built near Yeosu and opened to traffic on May 10, 2012, becoming the longest suspension bridge in Korea.


title: Yi Sun-sin

text: South Korea's KDX-II naval destroyer class, and the first commissioned ship of the class, are named "Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin".


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy () (named after Indian physicist C. V. Raman) is a spectroscopic technique typically used to determine vibrational modes of molecules, although rotational and other low-frequency modes of systems may also be observed. Raman spectroscopy is commonly used in chemistry to provide a structural fingerprint by which molecules can be identified.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy relies upon inelastic scattering of photons, known as Raman scattering. A source of monochromatic light, usually from a laser in the visible, near infrared, or near ultraviolet range is used, although X-rays can also be used. The laser light interacts with molecular vibrations, phonons or other excitations in the system, resulting in the energy of the laser photons being shifted up or down. The shift in energy gives information about the vibrational modes in the system. Infrared spectroscopy typically yields similar yet complementary information.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Typically, a sample is illuminated with a laser beam. Electromagnetic radiation from the illuminated spot is collected with a lens and sent through a monochromator. Elastic scattered radiation at the wavelength corresponding to the laser line (Rayleigh scattering) is filtered out by either a notch filter, edge pass filter, or a band pass filter, while the rest of the collected light is dispersed onto a detector.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Spontaneous Raman scattering is typically very weak; as a result, for many years the main difficulty in collecting Raman spectra was separating the weak inelastically scattered light from the intense Rayleigh scattered laser light (referred to as "laser rejection"). Historically, Raman spectrometers used holographic gratings and multiple dispersion stages to achieve a high degree of laser rejection. In the past, photomultipliers were the detectors of choice for dispersive Raman setups, which resulted in long acquisition times. However, modern instrumentation almost universally employs notch or edge filters for laser rejection. Dispersive single-stage spectrographs (axial transmissive (AT) or Czerny–Turner (CT) monochromators) paired with CCD detectors are most common although Fourier transform (FT) spectrometers are also common for use with NIR lasers.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: The name "Raman spectroscopy" typically refers to vibrational Raman using laser wavelengths which are not absorbed by the sample. There are many other variations of Raman spectroscopy including surface-enhanced Raman, resonance Raman, tip-enhanced Raman, polarized Raman, stimulated Raman, transmission Raman, spatially-offset Raman, and hyper Raman.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: The magnitude of the Raman effect correlates with polarizability of the electrons in a molecule. It is a form of inelastic light scattering, where a photon excites the sample. This excitation puts the molecule into a virtual energy state for a short time before the photon is emitted. Inelastic scattering means that the energy of the emitted photon is of either lower or higher energy than the incident photon. After the scattering event, the sample is in a different rotational or vibrational state.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: For the total energy of the system to remain constant after the molecule moves to a new rovibronic (rotational-vibrational-electronic) state, the scattered photon shifts to a different energy, and therefore a different frequency. This energy difference is equal to that between the initial and final rovibronic states of the molecule. If the final state is higher in energy than the initial state, the scattered photon will be shifted to a lower frequency (lower energy) so that the total energy remains the same. This shift in frequency is called a Stokes shift, or downshift. If the final state is lower in energy, the scattered photon will be shifted to a higher frequency, which is called an anti-Stokes shift, or upshift.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: For a molecule to exhibit a Raman effect, there must be a change in its electric dipole-electric dipole polarizability with respect to the vibrational coordinate corresponding to the rovibronic state. The intensity of the Raman scattering is proportional to this polarizability change. Therefore, the Raman spectrum (scattering intensity as a function of the frequency shifts) depends on the rovibronic states of the molecule.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: The Raman effect is based on the interaction between the electron cloud of a sample and the external electric field of the monochromatic light, which can create an induced dipole moment within the molecule based on its polarizability. Because the laser light does not excite the molecule there can be no real transition between energy levels. The Raman effect should not be confused with emission (fluorescence or phosphorescence), where a molecule in an excited electronic state emits a photon and returns to the ground electronic state, in many cases to a vibrationally excited state on the ground electronic state potential energy surface. Raman scattering also contrasts with infrared (IR) absorption, where the energy of the absorbed photon matches the difference in energy between the initial and final rovibronic states. The dependence of Raman on the electric dipole-electric dipole polarizability derivative also differs from IR spectroscopy, which depends on the electric dipole moment derivative, the atomic polar tensor (APT). This contrasting feature allows rovibronic transitions that might not be active in IR to be analyzed using Raman spectroscopy, as exemplified by the rule of mutual exclusion in centrosymmetric molecules. Transitions which have large Raman intensities often have weak IR intensities and vice versa. If a bond is strongly polarized, a small change in its length such as that which occurs during a vibration has only a small resultant effect on polarization. Vibrations involving polar bonds (e.g. C-O , N-O , O-H) are therefore, comparatively weak Raman scatterers. Such polarized bonds, however, carry their electrical charges during the vibrational motion, (unless neutralized by symmetry factors), and this results in a larger net dipole moment change during the vibration, producing a strong IR absorption band. Conversely, relatively neutral bonds (e.g. C-C , C-H , C=C) suffer large changes in polarizability during a vibration. However, the dipole moment is not similarly affected such that while vibrations involving predominantly this type of bond are strong Raman scatterers, they are weak in the IR. A third vibrational spectroscopy technique, inelastic incoherent neutron scattering (IINS), can be used to determine the frequencies of vibrations in highly symmetric molecules that may be both IR and Raman inactive. The IINS selection rules, or allowed transitions, differ from those of IR and Raman, so the three techniques are complementary. They all give the same frequency for a given vibrational transition, but the relative intensities provide different information due to the different types of interaction between the molecule and the incoming particles, photons for IR and Raman, and neutrons for IINS.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Although the inelastic scattering of light was predicted by Adolf Smekal in 1923, it was not observed in practice until 1928. The Raman effect was named after one of its discoverers, the Indian scientist C. V. Raman, who observed the effect in organic liquids in 1928 together with K. S. Krishnan, and independently by Grigory Landsberg and Leonid Mandelstam in inorganic crystals. Raman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for this discovery. The first observation of Raman spectra in gases was in 1929 by Franco Rasetti.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Systematic pioneering theory of the Raman effect was developed by Czechoslovak physicist George Placzek between 1930 and 1934. The mercury arc became the principal light source, first with photographic detection and then with spectrophotometric detection.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In the years following its discovery, Raman spectroscopy was used to provide the first catalog of molecular vibrational frequencies. Typically, the sample was held in a long tube and illuminated along its length with a beam of filtered monochromatic light generated by a gas discharge lamp. The photons that were scattered by the sample were collected through an optical flat at the end of the tube. To maximize the sensitivity, the sample was highly concentrated (1 M or more) and relatively large volumes (5 mL or more) were used.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman shifts are typically reported in wavenumbers, which have units of inverse length, as this value is directly related to energy. In order to convert between spectral wavelength and wavenumbers of shift in the Raman spectrum, the following formula can be used:


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: where is the Raman shift expressed in wavenumber, is the excitation wavelength, and is the Raman spectrum wavelength. Most commonly, the unit chosen for expressing wavenumber in Raman spectra is inverse centimeters (cm). Since wavelength is often expressed in units of nanometers (nm), the formula above can scale for this unit conversion explicitly, giving


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Modern Raman spectroscopy nearly always involves the use of lasers as excitation light sources. Because lasers were not available until more than three decades after the discovery of the effect, Raman and Krishnan used a mercury lamp and photographic plates to record spectra. Early spectra took hours or even days to acquire due to weak light sources, poor sensitivity of the detectors and the weak Raman scattering cross-sections of most materials. Various colored filters and chemical solutions were used to select certain wavelength regions for excitation and detection but the photographic spectra were still dominated by a broad center line corresponding to Rayleigh scattering of the excitation source.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Technological advances have made Raman spectroscopy much more sensitive, particularly since the 1980s. The most common modern detectors are now charge-coupled devices (CCDs). Photodiode arrays and photomultiplier tubes were common prior to the adoption of CCDs. The advent of reliable, stable, inexpensive lasers with narrow bandwidths has also had an impact.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy requires a light source such as a laser. The resolution of the spectrum relies on the bandwidth of the laser source used. Generally shorter wavelength lasers give stronger Raman scattering due to the increase in Raman scattering cross-sections, but issues with sample degradation or fluorescence may result.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Continuous wave lasers are most common for normal Raman spectroscopy, but pulsed lasers may also be used. These often have wider bandwidths than their CW counterparts but are very useful for other forms of Raman spectroscopy such as transient, time-resolved and resonance Raman.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman scattered light is typically collected and either dispersed by a spectrograph or used with an interferometer for detection by Fourier Transform (FT) methods. In many cases commercially available FT-IR spectrometers can be modified to become FT-Raman spectrometers.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In most cases, modern Raman spectrometers use array detectors such as CCDs. Various types of CCDs exist which are optimized for different wavelength ranges. Intensified CCDs can be used for very weak signals and/or pulsed lasers.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: It was once common to use monochromators coupled to photomultiplier tubes. In this case the monochromator would need to be moved in order to scan through a spectral range.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: FT–Raman is almost always used with NIR lasers and appropriate detectors must be used depending on the exciting wavelength. Germanium or Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detectors are commonly used.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: It is usually necessary to separate the Raman scattered light from the Rayleigh signal and reflected laser signal in order to collect high quality Raman spectra using a laser rejection filter. Notch or long-pass optical filters are typically used for this purpose. Before the advent of holographic filters it was common to use a triple-grating monochromator in subtractive mode to isolate the desired signal. This may still be used to record very small Raman shifts as holographic filters typically reflect some of the low frequency bands in addition to the unshifted laser light. However, Volume hologram filters are becoming more common which allow shifts as low as 5 cm to be observed.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy is used in chemistry to identify molecules and study chemical bonding and intramolecular bonds. Because vibrational frequencies are specific to a molecule's chemical bonds and symmetry (the fingerprint region of organic molecules is in the wavenumber range 500–1,500 cm), Raman provides a fingerprint to identify molecules. For instance, Raman and IR spectra were used to determine the vibrational frequencies of SiO, SiO, and SiO on the basis of normal coordinate analyses. Raman is also used to study the addition of a substrate to an enzyme.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In solid-state physics, Raman spectroscopy is used to characterize materials, measure temperature, and find the crystallographic orientation of a sample. As with single molecules, a solid material can be identified by characteristic phonon modes. Information on the population of a phonon mode is given by the ratio of the Stokes and anti-Stokes intensity of the spontaneous Raman signal. Raman spectroscopy can also be used to observe other low frequency excitations of a solid, such as plasmons, magnons, and superconducting gap excitations. Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) uses the Raman-shifted backscatter from laser pulses to determine the temperature along optical fibers. The orientation of an anisotropic crystal can be found from the polarization of Raman-scattered light with respect to the crystal and the polarization of the laser light, if the crystal structure’s point group is known.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In nanotechnology, a Raman microscope can be used to analyze nanowires to better understand their structures, and the radial breathing mode of carbon nanotubes is commonly used to evaluate their diameter.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman active fibers, such as aramid and carbon, have vibrational modes that show a shift in Raman frequency with applied stress. Polypropylene fibers exhibit similar shifts.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In solid state chemistry and the bio-pharmaceutical industry, Raman spectroscopy can be used to not only identify active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), but to identify their polymorphic forms, if more than one exist. For example, the drug Cayston (aztreonam), marketed by Gilead Sciences for cystic fibrosis, can be identified and characterized by IR and Raman spectroscopy. Using the correct polymorphic form in bio-pharmaceutical formulations is critical, since different forms have different physical properties, like solubility and melting point.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy has a wide variety of applications in biology and medicine. It has helped confirm the existence of low-frequency phonons in proteins and DNA, promoting studies of low-frequency collective motion in proteins and DNA and their biological functions. Raman reporter molecules with olefin or alkyne moieties are being developed for tissue imaging with SERS-labeled antibodies. Raman spectroscopy has also been used as a noninvasive technique for real-time, in situ biochemical characterization of wounds. Multivariate analysis of Raman spectra has enabled development of a quantitative measure for wound healing progress. Spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS), which is less sensitive to surface layers than conventional Raman, can be used to discover counterfeit drugs without opening their packaging, and to non-invasively study biological tissue. A huge reason why Raman spectroscopy is so useful in biological applications is because its results often do not face interference from water molecules, due to the fact that they have permanent dipole moments, and as a result, the Raman scattering cannot be picked up on. This is a large advantage, specifically in biological applications. Raman spectroscopy also has a wide usage for studying biominerals. Lastly, Raman gas analyzers have many practical applications, including real-time monitoring of anesthetic and respiratory gas mixtures during surgery.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy has been used in several research projects as a means to detect explosives from a safe distance using laser beams.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman Spectroscopy is being further developed so it could be used in the clinical setting. Raman4Clinic is a European organization that is working on incorporating Raman Spectroscopy techniques in the medical field. They are currently working on different projects, one of them being monitoring cancer using bodily fluids such as urine and blood samples which are easily accessible. This technique would be less stressful on the patients than constantly having to take biopsies which are not always risk free.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy is an efficient and non-destructive way to investigate works of art and cultural heritage artifacts, in part because it is a non-invasive process which can be applied "in situ". It can be used to analyze the corrosion products on the surfaces of artifacts (statues, pottery, etc.), which can lend insight into the corrosive environments experienced by the artifacts. The resulting spectra can also be compared to the spectra of surfaces that are cleaned or intentionally corroded, which can aid in determining the authenticity of valuable historical artifacts.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: It is capable of identifying individual pigments in paintings and their degradation products, which can provide insight into the working method of an artist in addition to aiding in authentication of paintings. It also gives information about the original state of the painting in cases where the pigments have degraded with age. Beyond the identification of pigments, extensive Raman microspectroscopic imaging has been shown to provide access to a plethora of trace compounds in Early Medieval Egyptian blue, which enable to reconstruct the individual "biography" of a colourant, including information on the type and provenance of the raw materials, synthesis and application of the pigment, and the ageing of the paint layer.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In addition to paintings and artifacts, Raman spectroscopy can be used to investigate the chemical composition of historical documents (such as the Book of Kells), which can provide insight about the social and economic conditions when they were created. It also offers a noninvasive way to determine the best method of preservation or conservation of such cultural heritage artifacts, by providing insight into the causes behind deterioration.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: The IRUG (Infrared and Raman Users Group) Spectral Database is a rigorously peer-reviewed online database of IR and Raman reference spectra for cultural heritage materials such as works of art, architecture, and archaeological artifacts. The database is open for the general public to peruse, and includes interactive spectra for over a hundred different types of pigments and paints.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman spectroscopy offers several advantages for microscopic analysis. Since it is a light scattering technique, specimens do not need to be fixed or sectioned. Raman spectra can be collected from a very small volume (< 1 µm in diameter, < 10 µm in depth); these spectra allow the identification of species present in that volume. Water does not generally interfere with Raman spectral analysis. Thus, Raman spectroscopy is suitable for the microscopic examination of minerals, materials such as polymers and ceramics, cells, proteins and forensic trace evidence. A Raman microscope begins with a standard optical microscope, and adds an excitation laser, a monochromator or polychromator, and a sensitive detector (such as a charge-coupled device (CCD), or photomultiplier tube (PMT)). FT-Raman has also been used with microscopes, typically in combination with near-infrared (NIR) laser excitation. Ultraviolet microscopes and UV enhanced optics must be used when a UV laser source is used for Raman microspectroscopy.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In "direct imaging" (also termed "global imaging" or "wide-field illumination"), the whole field of view is examined for light scattering integrated over a small range of wavenumbers (Raman shifts). For instance, a wavenumber characteristic for cholesterol could be used to record the distribution of cholesterol within a cell culture. This technique is being used for the characterization of large-scale devices, mapping of different compounds and dynamics study. It has already been used for the characterization of graphene layers, J-aggregated dyes inside carbon nanotubes and multiple other 2D materials such as MoS and WSe. Since the excitation beam is dispersed over the whole field of view, those measurements can be done without damaging the sample.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: The most common approach is "hyperspectral imaging" or "chemical imaging", in which thousands of Raman spectra are acquired from all over the field of view by, for example, raster scanning of a focused laser beam through a sample. The data can be used to generate images showing the location and amount of different components. Having the full spectroscopic information available in every measurement spot has the advantage that several components can be mapped at the same time, including chemically similar and even polymorphic forms, which cannot be distinguished by detecting only one single wavenumber. Furthermore, material properties such as stress and strain, crystal orientation, crystallinity and incorporation of foreign ions into crystal lattices (e.g., doping, solid solution series) can be determined from hyperspectral maps. Taking the cell culture example, a hyperspectral image could show the distribution of cholesterol, as well as proteins, nucleic acids, and fatty acids. Sophisticated signal- and image-processing techniques can be used to ignore the presence of water, culture media, buffers, and other interferences.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Because a Raman microscope is a diffraction-limited system, its spatial resolution depends on the wavelength of light, the numerical aperture of the focusing element, and — in the case of confocal microscopy — on the diameter of the confocal aperture. When operated in the visible to near-infrared range, a Raman microscope can achieve lateral resolutions of approx. 1 µm down to 250 nm, depending on the wavelength and type of objective lens (e.g., air "vs." water or oil immersion lenses). The depth resolution (if not limited by the optical penetration depth of the sample) can range from 1–6 µm with the smallest confocal pinhole aperture to 10s of micrometers when operated without a confocal pinhole. Depending on the sample, the high laser power density due to microscopic focussing can have the benefit of enhanced photobleaching of molecules emitting interfering fluorescence. However, the laser wavelength and laser power have to be carefully selected for each type of sample to avoid its degradation.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Applications of Raman imaging range from materials sciences to biological studies. For each type of sample, the measurement parameters have to be individually optimized. For that reason, modern Raman microscopes are often equipped with several lasers offering different wavelengths, a set of objective lenses, and neutral density filters for tuning of the laser power reaching the sample. Selection of the laser wavelength mainly depends on optical properties of the sample and on the aim of the investigation. For example, Raman microscopy of biological and medical specimens is often performed using red to near-infrared excitation (e.g., 785 nm, or 1,064 nm wavelength). Due to typically low absorbances of biological samples in this spectral range, the risk of damaging the specimen as well as autofluorescence emission are reduced, and high penetration depths into tissues can be achieved. However, the intensity of Raman scattering at long wavelengths is low (owing to the ω dependence of Raman scattering intensity), leading to long acquisition times. On the other hand, resonance Raman imaging of single-cell algae at 532 nm (green) can specifically probe the carotenoid distribution within a cell by a using low laser power of ~5 µW and only 100 ms acquisition time.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman scattering, specifically tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, produces high resolution hyperspectral images of single molecules, atoms, and DNA.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman scattering is polarization sensitive and can provide detailed information on symmetry of Raman active modes. While conventional Raman spectroscopy identifies chemical composition, polarization effects on Raman spectra can reveal information on the orientation of molecules in single crystals and anisotropic materials, e.g. strained plastic sheets, as well as the symmetry of vibrational modes.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Polarization–dependent Raman spectroscopy uses (plane) polarized laser excitation from a polarizer. The Raman scattered light collected is passed through a second polarizer (called the analyzer) before entering the detector. The analyzer is oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the polarization of the laser. Spectra acquired with the analyzer set at both perpendicular and parallel to the excitation plane can be used to calculate the depolarization ratio. Typically a polarization scrambler is placed between the analyzer and detector also. It is convenient in polarized Raman spectroscopy to describe the propagation and polarization directions using Porto's notation, described by and named after Brazilian physicist Sergio Pereira da Silva Porto.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: For isotropic solutions, the Raman scattering from each mode either retains the polarization of the laser or becomes partly or fully depolarized. If the vibrational mode involved in the Raman scattering process is totally symmetric then the polarization of the Raman scattering will be the same as that of the incoming laser beam. In the case that the vibrational mode is not totally symmetric then the polarization will be lost (scrambled) partially or totally, which is referred to as depolarization. Hence polarized Raman spectroscopy can provide detailed information as to the symmetry labels of vibrational modes.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: In the solid state, polarized Raman spectroscopy can be useful in the study of oriented samples such as single crystals. The polarizability of a vibrational mode is not equal along and across the bond. Therefore the intensity of the Raman scattering will be different when the laser's polarization is along and orthogonal to a particular bond axis. This effect can provide information on the orientation of molecules with a single crystal or material. The spectral information arising from this analysis is often used to understand macro-molecular orientation in crystal lattices, liquid crystals or polymer samples.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: The polarization technique is useful in understanding the connections between molecular symmetry, Raman activity, and peaks in the corresponding Raman spectra. Polarized light in one direction only gives access to some Raman–active modes, but rotating the polarization gives access to other modes. Each mode is separated according to its symmetry.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: The symmetry of a vibrational mode is deduced from the depolarization ratio ρ, which is the ratio of the Raman scattering with polarization orthogonal to the incident laser and the Raman scattering with the same polarization as the incident laser: formula_3 Here formula_4 is the intensity of Raman scattering when the analyzer is rotated 90 degrees with respect to the incident light's polarization axis, and formula_5 the intensity of Raman scattering when the analyzer is aligned with the polarization of the incident laser. When polarized light interacts with a molecule, it distorts the molecule which induces an equal and opposite effect in the plane-wave, causing it to be rotated by the difference between the orientation of the molecule and the angle of polarization of the light wave. If formula_6, then the vibrations at that frequency are "depolarized"; meaning they are not totally symmetric.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: At least 25 variations of Raman spectroscopy have been developed. The usual purpose is to enhance the sensitivity (e.g., surface-enhanced Raman), to improve the spatial resolution (Raman microscopy), or to acquire very specific information (resonance Raman).


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Terms such as "spontaneous Raman spectroscopy" or "normal Raman spectroscopy" summarize Raman spectroscopy techniques based on Raman scattering by using normal far-field optics as described above. Variants of normal Raman spectroscopy exist with respect to excitation-detection geometries, combination with other techniques, use of special (polarizing) optics and specific choice of excitation wavelengths for resonance enhancement.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Enhancement of Raman scattering is achieved by local electric-field enhancement by optical near-field effects (e.g. localized surface plasmons).


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Raman signal enhancements are achieved through non-linear optical effects, typically realized by mixing two or more wavelengths emitted by spatially and temporally synchronized pulsed lasers.


title: Raman spectroscopy

text: Morphologically Directed Raman Spectroscopy (MDRS) combines automated particle imaging and Raman microspectroscopy into a singular integrated platform in order to provide particle size, shape, and chemical identification. Automated particle imaging determines the particle size and shape distributions of components within a blended sample from images of individual particles. The information gathered from automated particle imaging is then utilized to direct the Raman spectroscopic analysis. The Raman spectroscopic analytical process is performed on a randomly-selected subset of the particles, allowing chemical identification of the sample’s multiple components. Tens of thousands of particles can be imaged in a matter of minutes using the MDRS method, making the process ideal for forensic analysis and investigating counterfeit pharmaceuticals and subsequent adjudications.


title: Savannah Bananas

text: The Savannah Bananas are an exhibition baseball team based in Savannah, Georgia. The team was founded in 2016 and has played at Grayson Stadium since its inaugural season. Until 2022, the Bananas competed in the Coastal Plain League's (CPL) West division, where they won three Petitt Cup championships (2016, 2021, and 2022). The team has sold out every game since the first season in Savannah and every city on the Banana Ball World Tour. The team has been featured by ESPN, "The Wall Street Journal", and "Sports Illustrated" because of its on-field hijinks and viral videos. The Bananas were named the league's organization of the year in both 2016 and 2017.


title: Savannah Bananas

text: Following the departure of the South Atlantic League's Savannah Sand Gnats for Columbia, South Carolina, on September 22, 2015, the Coastal Plain League announced Savannah as its newest team to begin play for 2016. On February 25, following a name-the-team contest, the Bananas name, logo and colors were officially revealed by the team.


title: Savannah Bananas

text: The 2016 Bananas ended their inaugural season as the first seed in the CPL West Division, earning home-field advantage for the first two games of the playoffs. In game one, the Bananas beat the Asheboro Copperheads, 3–2, with the first walk-off in franchise history. The Bananas then defeated the Forest City Owls, 2–0, to win the CPL West Division championship and advance to the Petitt Cup Championship. Game one of the championship was played at Grayson Stadium, where the Bananas defeated the Peninsula Pilots, 8–4. The team traveled to Hampton, Virginia, where the Pilots' 4–3 win in game two forced an all-or-nothing game three. The Bananas took home the Petitt Cup after a 9–7 win in game three.


title: Savannah Bananas

text: Following the 2022 summer league season, the Bananas announced they were folding their collegiate amateur team and only playing "Banana Ball". An ESPN+ miniseries about the team, called "Bananaland", was released in August 2022.


title: Savannah Bananas

text: The Bananas have implemented a number of deviations from standard baseball rules, in use since June 2020 at home exhibition games. Branded as "Banana Ball", these include:


title: Savannah Bananas

text: The Bananas recorded over 80,000 total fans at 25 home games in 2016. The team also ranked second in average attendance (3,659 fans per game) among 160 collegiate summer teams across the country.


title: Savannah Bananas

text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the team reduced capacity to 30% to ensure safe distances between fans. They later reopened to full capacity after the 2021 season started.


title: Meg Foster

text: Margaret Foster is an American film and television actress. Some of her many roles were in the 1979 TV miniseries version of "The Scarlet Letter", and the films "Ticket to Heaven", "The Osterman Weekend", and "They Live".


title: Meg Foster

text: Foster was born in Reading, Pennsylvania to David and Nancy (née Adamson) Foster on 10th May 1948, and grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut with four siblings: sisters Gray, Jan, and Nina, and brother Ian. She studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York.


title: Meg Foster

text: In 1968, Foster acted in a Cornell Summer Theater production of "John Brown's Body". Later in 1968, she was in the off-Broadway production of "The Empire Builders".


title: Meg Foster

text: When Loretta Swit was unable to reprise her television-film role of Detective Christine Cagney when the film was adapted into the "Cagney & Lacey" TV series, Foster took on the role for the short (six episodes) first season, before she was replaced by Sharon Gless. Entertainment columnist Dick Kleiner wrote in August 1982 about Foster's being dropped from the show: "It isn't a pretty story, no matter who you talk to. Meg was so hurt and distraught that she still isn't talking. But she told friends that she felt as though she had been hit by a truck." Kleiner's story implied that Foster's dismissal from the show had cost her other opportunities. "Until that news spread," he wrote, "she was an in-demand actress."


title: Meg Foster

text: Foster worked throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. She guest-starred in numerous TV shows including two episodes of "Hawaii Five-O" (1973 and 1976), "The Six Million Dollar Man" season two episode "Straight on 'til Morning" (1974), "Three for the Road" (1975), and the "" season four episode "" (1996).


title: Meg Foster

text: Other TV shows include "Bonanza", "The Twilight Zone", "The F.B.I.", "Here Come the Brides", "Storefront Lawyers", "Barnaby Jones", "Murder, She Wrote", "Miami Vice", "Mannix", "The Cosby Show", "Quantum Leap", "ER". She also portrayed Hera in "" and "". .


title: Meg Foster

text: She also appeared in films throughout the 1980s, beginning with a role as a woman who worked in the games in a traveling carnival in "Carny", starring Jodie Foster (no relation), Gary Busey and Robbie Robertson; the villainous Evil-Lyn in the big-screen version of "Masters of the Universe"; and Holly in the John Carpenter film "They Live", with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.


title: Meg Foster

text: She was nominated for a 1982 Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress for the film "Ticket to Heaven". Since the 1990s, Foster has acted mainly in stage productions, including "King Lear" and "Barabbas".


title: Meg Foster

text: Foster's striking pale-blue eyes were dubbed "the eyes of 1979" by "Mademoiselle" magazine. In a newspaper interview that year, she said in her opinion, her eyes were not "so distinctive". However, some film and television producers had Foster wear contact lenses to lessen what they considered her eyes' "distractive" effect.


title: Star Wars Battlefront II (2017 video game)

text: Star Wars Battlefront II is an action shooter video game based on the "Star Wars" franchise. It is the fourth main installment of the "" series, and a sequel to the 2015 reboot of the series. It was developed by DICE, in collaboration with Criterion Games and Motive Studios, and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide on November 17, 2017, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The game features both single-player and multiplayer modes, and overall includes more content than its predecessor. The single-player campaign of the game is set between the films "Return of the Jedi" and "", and follows an original character, Iden Versio, the commander of an Imperial special ops strike force dubbed Inferno Squad, who defects to the New Republic after becoming disillusioned with the Galactic Empire's tactics. Most of the story takes place during the final year of the Galactic Civil War, before the Empire's definitive defeat at the Battle of Jakku.


text: Upon release, "Battlefront II" received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the multiplayer, gameplay, balancing, visuals, and variety, but criticism for its single-player modes, campaign, microtransactions, and progression system. The game was also subject to widespread criticism regarding the status of its loot boxes, which could give players substantial gameplay advantages if purchased with real money. A response from EA's community team on Reddit on the topic became the single most down-voted comment in the site's history, amassing over 600,000 downvotes. In response, EA decided to remove microtransactions from the game.


text: Since its release, the game received numerous content additions through free title updates in an attempt to repair its reputation after launch, which brought in a large number of new players. These updates ended on April 29, 2020, after Electronic Arts concluded that the game had reached its desired number of players and had substantially improved since the initial release. A "Celebration Edition" of the game, which includes all in-game cosmetic options, was released on December 5, 2019.


text: "Star Wars Battlefront II" is a third- and first-person shooter, where players can partake in either ground battles, assuming the role of soldiers, or space battles, where players pilot starfighters. The game features both single-player and multiplayer game modes, and three distinct eras from the "Star Wars" saga: the Clone Wars, with battles taking place between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems; the Galactic Civil War, where battles between the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire take place; and the war between the Resistance and the First Order. Each faction has its own type of soldiers (e.g. clone troopers for the Republic, battle droids for the CIS, and stormtroopers for the Empire and the First Order) and starfighters. While the soldiers differ only in appearance and control identically, the starfighters feature unique abilities, offering a more varied gameplay style.


text: Battles take place across a variety of maps, and every era has its own exclusive maps. At launch, the game featured a total of 15 locations from the "Star Wars" universe, including Kamino, Kashyyyk, Naboo, Mos Eisley, Yavin IV, Hoth, Cloud City, Endor, the Death Star II, Jakku, Takodana, and Starkiller Base, as well as some space-exclusive locations, namely Ryloth, Fondor, and the Unknown Regions. Since then, eight more maps have been added: Crait, Jabba's Palace, Kessel, Geonosis, Felucia, Ajan Kloss, Scarif, and another space-only location, D'Qar. Some of the ground locations are also limited to certain game modes, of which there are several.


text: The gameplay in "Battlefront II" is class-based. All factions have the same four soldier classes—Assault, Heavy, Officer, and Specialist—and three starfighter classes—Fighter, Interceptor, and Bomber (although the Resistance and the First Order do not feature the Bomber class). The ground battles feature additional Reinforcement classes, which are unlocked by trading in 'battle points', earned from defeating enemies and completing map-specific objectives. All factions have three soldier Reinforcements—the Enforcer, Aerial, and Infiltrator—and two vehicle Reinforcements—the Speeder and Armor. The Republic, CIS, Rebels, Empire, and First Order have an additional Reinforcement class—the Artillery—which is featured only in specific maps for the "Galactic Assault" mode (e.g. the MTT for the Separatists, which is available only on Naboo and Kashyyyk).


text: All classes can be leveled up with the exception of Artillery. After reaching a new level, the player is awarded a Skill Point that can be used to unlock or upgrade a Star Card. Star Cards are the main form of progression in "Battlefront II", and can be equipped on a certain class to increase one of their stats, such as health regeneration or damage output, or to replace one of their abilities with a new one. Up to three Star Cards can be equipped at the same time for each class. Players can also customize their soldier classes by purchasing new appearances or unlocking new weapons via milestones. Although the game features limited weapon customization, each weapon is unique and offers a different playstyle. Furthermore, players can unlock weapon attachments, which alter a weapon's stats, such as its range or fire rate. The Reinforcement classes can also be leveled up and customized, but their weapons and abilities cannot be changed.


text: Aside from the basic soldier and Reinforcement classes, players can take on the role of several heroes or villains based on iconic "Star Wars" characters. Unlike in 2015's "Battlefront", heroes are an actual class rather than a bonus and can be leveled up and receive new appearances. In multiplayer, heroes are only available in the "Galactic Assault" and "Supremacy" modes, and, similarly to Reinforcements, are unlocked by trading in 'battle points'. In the former mode, players can select any hero from the roster offered by the game, while in the latter, only era-specific heroes are available. Both sides can have a maximum of two heroes on the battlefield at the same time. There are also several hero-centered game modes, like "Heroes vs. Villains" and "Hero Showdown", where heroes are the only class available to use, and, as such, do not cost any battle points.


text: At launch, the hero roster consisted of Luke Skywalker (Matthew Mercer), Leia Organa (Misty Lee), Han Solo (John Armstrong), Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), Yoda (Tom Kane), and Rey (Daisy Ridley), while the villain roster included Darth Vader (Matt Sloan), Emperor Palpatine (Sam Witwer), Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), Bossk (Dee Bradley Baker), Iden Versio (Janina Gavankar), Darth Maul (Sam Witwer), and Kylo Ren (Matthew Wood/Roger Craig Smith). Since then, Finn (John Boyega), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), General Grievous (Matthew Wood), Count Dooku (Corey Burton), BB-8, and BB-9E have also been added. The game also features several hero and villain starfighters, namely Boba Fett's "Slave I", Darth Maul's "Scimitar", Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1, Han Solo and Chewbacca's "Millennium Falcon", Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer, Luke Skywalker's T-65B X-Wing, Poe Dameron's T-70 X-Wing, Rey and Chewbacca's "Millennium Falcon", Yoda's Actis-class Light Interceptor, Iden Versio's TIE/in Fighter, Tallie Lintra's RZ-2 A-Wing, and Lando Calrissian and L3-37's "Millennium Falcon".


text: "Star Wars Battlefront II"'s single-player campaign has players explore various locations across the "Star Wars" galaxy, including familiar planets featured in the films, such as Endor, Naboo, Takodana, Bespin, and Jakku, as well as Fondor, Pillio, and Vardos, all three of which are new to the franchise. The events of the campaign begin around the time of "Return of the Jedi"'s climax, and depict the final year of the Galactic Civil War, which ended with the Battle of Jakku that marked the Galactic Empire's defeat. The final level takes place 29 years after the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War, around the time of "". The "Resurrection" DLC expands upon the game's ending, featuring three additional levels that take place during "The Force Awakens".


text: The campaign's protagonist and main playable character is Iden Versio (voiced by Janina Gavankar), the commander of Inferno Squad, a group of elite Imperial soldiers. Inferno Squad also includes Del Meeko (T. J. Ramini) and Gideon Hask (Paul Blackthorne), and is supervised by Iden's strict father, Admiral Garrick Versio (Anthony Skordi). In certain levels of the game, players take control of iconic "Star Wars" characters from the films instead of Iden, such as Luke Skywalker (Matthew Mercer), Leia Organa (Misty Lee), Han Solo (John Armstrong), Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), and Kylo Ren (Matthew Wood). Supporting characters include Rebel soldier and Inferno Squad member Shriv Suurgav (Dan Donohue), Imperial Protectorate Gleb, former smuggler and pirate-turned-tavern keeper Maz Kanata (Grey Griffin), Imperial defector Ralsius Paldora (Oliver Vaquer), and Iden and Del's daughter Zay (Brittany Volcy).


text: Iden Versio is captured by the Rebel Alliance and interrogated for the codes to unlock an Imperial transmission aboard a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser. She activates her droid, Dio, which sneaks to her cell and frees her; Iden had allowed herself to be captured in order to erase the Imperial transmission, which would reveal the Emperor's plan to ambush the Rebels at Endor. She successfully erases it, then escapes the ship by launching herself into space, whereupon she is intercepted by the "Corvus", Inferno Squad's flagship. Aboard the "Corvus", Iden confirms the mission's success to fellow squad members Del Meeko and Gideon Hask.


text: Later on Endor, Inferno Squad secures the perimeter around the shield generator protecting the Death Star II, which was destroyed by a Rebel squad, and watches with shock and horror as the Death Star II explodes moments later. Vice Admiral Sloane orders a full retreat, and Inferno Squad escapes the moon aboard TIE fighters before it is overrun by Rebel forces. After destroying a squadron of Rebel starfighters around the Death Star II's ruins, Inferno Squad arrives on Admiral Garrick Versio's Star Destroyer, the "Eviscerator", where he informs Iden of the Emperor's death. A messenger droid then displays a hologram of the late Emperor issuing his last command: to initiate Operation: Cinder. Admiral Versio sends Iden and Hask to an Imperial shipyard over Fondor to protect Moff Raythe's Star Destroyer, the "Dauntless", which hosts experimental satellites vital to the success of Operation: Cinder. The "Dauntless" comes under attack from a Rebel Star Cruiser, but Iden and Hask manage to board it and destroy its ion cannons, before freeing the Star Destroyer, allowing it to open fire on the Cruiser and destroy it.


text: Meanwhile, Del arrives on Pillio to destroy one of the Emperor's hidden bases. He encounters Luke Skywalker, who helps him fend off the local wildlife and gain access to the base, discovering it contains the Emperor's spoils of conquest, one of which Luke claims for himself. The pair part amicably, as Del begins to question the Empire's goals and motives. Later, Inferno Squad is sent to Iden's homeworld, the Imperial-controlled planet Vardos, to retrieve Protectorate Gleb, just as Operation: Cinder is about to begin. After witnessing the satellites for Operation: Cinder slowly destroying Vardos with storms, Iden and Del, disillusioned by the Empire's actions, abort their mission to try to evacuate civilians, causing Hask to betray them. The pair return to the "Corvus" and make their escape, now traitors to the Empire. Seeking out the Rebel Alliance, they meet General Lando Calrissian, who gives them the choice of helping stop Operation: Cinder, or escaping to start new lives. Choosing to help, they aid Leia Organa in protecting Naboo, destroying the satellites for Operation: Cinder, and reactivating the planet's defenses. After Naboo is liberated, Inferno Squad joins the New Republic.


text: Months later, Inferno Squad – Iden, Del, and Shriv Suurgav – is sent to Takodana to find General Han Solo, who has gone missing during his mission to extract critical data from an Imperial defector that can help liberate Kashyyyk. After Solo and the defector make their way past a squad of stormtroopers and back to the "Millennium Falcon", Inferno Squad arrives to help them flee the planet. The recovered data reveals that Admiral Versio is commanding Imperial operations on both Bespin and Sullust. On Bespin, Iden and Del attempt to capture the Admiral, but are led into a trap by Hask. The pair escape, destroying a Star Destroyer fueling station in the process. On Sullust, Lando and Shriv investigate a hidden Imperial weapons cache and find a weapons factory instead, which they destroy.


text: With both operations crippled, the Imperial fleet makes a last stand at Jakku. During the battle, Iden shoots down Hask and boards the "Eviscerator", intending to rescue her father. Admiral Versio decides to go down with his ship, feeling obligated to die with the Empire he fought to protect, and urges Iden to escape and live a new life, commending her for seeing the Empire's weaknesses. Iden takes an escape pod and reunites with Del and Shriv. Iden and Del embrace and kiss, as the battle marks the end of the Galactic Empire.


text: Three decades later, Del is captured on Pillio by Protectorate Gleb, who hands him over to Kylo Ren and the First Order. Ren uses the Force to interrogate Del about the location of the map leading to Luke Skywalker, before leaving him to Hask, who expresses disgust at Del choosing to father a daughter with Iden instead of becoming a soldier and kills him. Hask then tells Gleb that the New Republic cannot find out about "Project Resurrection" and orders her to leave the "Corvus" on Pillio as bait to lure Iden out of hiding.


text: Shriv Suurgav, now an agent for the Resistance, discovers the abandoned "Corvus" and informs Iden and her daughter Zay, revealing that Del had been helping the Resistance investigate rumors of mass disappearances that may be connected to Project Resurrection. They head to Athulla, where Del was last seen, and are ambushed by a Jinata Security fleet, which they destroy. The survivors admit that they had been kidnapping children on the behalf of the First Order and that Project Resurrection had been moved to Vardos.


text: On Vardos, Iden and Shriv investigate, leaving Zay on the "Corvus", and are captured by Hask, who reveals that he killed Gleb and Del and that the First Order has used Starkiller Base to destroy the Hosnian system, effectively wiping out the New Republic. He then orders his Star Destroyer, the "Retribution", to destroy the "Corvus", though Zay survives by taking an escape pod. Iden and Shriv escape after the Jinata Security, angry at the First Order for betraying them, attack Hask's men, and make their way to Zay. Deciding to help the Resistance, the trio use stolen TIE fighters to board the "Retribution", whereupon they search the ship for information on Project Resurrection, eventually discovering that it involves the First Order kidnapping children and indoctrinating them to become stormtroopers. They also learn that First Order has built up a massive fleet large enough to retake the galaxy, and steal the plans of a First Order Dreadnought.


text: While Shriv goes to look for a ship to escape with, Iden and Zay destroy the "Retribution"'s hyperspace generators, causing it to pull out of hyperspace near Starkiller Base, just as the Resistance destroys it. Hask ambushes them and shoots Iden before she throws him to his death. Iden then succumbs to her injury, not before ordering Zay to escape with the Dreadnought plans and without her. Zay reunites with Shriv and the pair escape the "Retribution", before linking up with the Resistance. They transmit the plans to Leia Organa, who orders them to head to the Outer Rim to gather more allies.


text: It was confirmed during EA Play 2017 that "Star Wars: Battlefront II" will not feature a Season Pass. Instead, all downloadable content was released via free title updates, split into multiple "seasons".


text: Since April 29, 2020, after EA concluded that the game had reached its desired number of players and had substantially improved since its initial release, the game no longer receives support for new content updates.


text: The first season, based on the 2017 film "", was released on December 5, 2017, ten days before the release of the film. It added content based on the film, including a space map over D'Qar, a new "Galactic Assault" map on the planet Crait, Finn and Captain Phasma as heroes for the Resistance and First Order, respectively, and Tallie Lintra's RZ-2 A-Wing as a new hero ship. "The Last Jedi" season also included a continuation of the single-player campaign, titled "Battlefront II: Resurrection", which was made available on December 13.


text: On May 3, 2018, EA Star Wars announced on Twitter stating that the second season of content would be based on the film "". The first part of the season was released on May 16 and added a new game mode called "Hero Showdown", starfighters to the Arcade, and a returning map from 2015's "Star Wars Battlefront", Jabba's Palace, along with skins for Leia Organa and Lando Calrissian based on their disguises in "Return of the Jedi". The second part was released on June 12 and added a new map set in the mines of the planet Kessel and a new variation of the "Millennium Falcon" (based on its appearance in "Solo") as a hero ship, along with reintroducing the game mode "Extraction", initially available only on the two new maps added with this season. New skins were also released for Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca, based on their appearances in "Solo".


text: In February 2018, the game's design director, Dennis Brännvall, teased that content based on the Clone Wars era, primarily the animated series "", will be released at some point in the future. At EA Play 2018 it was revealed that said content will be released in the fall of the same year, and will include a new "Galactic Assault" map set on Geonosis, new clone trooper skins, and Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, General Grievous and Count Dooku as new playable heroes, with the actors who voiced them in "The Clone Wars" recording new voice lines for them. On October 30, Grievous was added as a new villain for the Separatists, along with an alternative skin. On November 28, the Geonosis map and Obi-Wan Kenobi were added to the game, along with new reinforcement classes, 212th Attack Battalion clone skins, and new skins for Grievous and Obi-Wan.


text: An update released on January 23, 2019, added Count Dooku to the game and made the Geonosis map available for other game modes. On February 27, Anakin Skywalker was added, along with new skins for him, Dooku, and clone troopers, voice lines for all heroes, and a rework of emotes. On March 26, the widely anticipated "Capital Supremacy" mode was released, along with the Infiltrator class and a major gameplay overhaul. On April 24, a new Kashyyyk map for "Capital Supremacy" was added, alongside some challenges and a new skin for Leia Organa, in celebration for Star Wars Day. On May 22, a new Kamino map for "Capital Supremacy" was added. On June 21, a new Naboo map for "Capital Supremacy" was added, alongside new skins for Anakin Skywalker and clone troopers, the Droideka as a new variation of the Enforcer class for the Separatists, and the TX-130 assault tank as a new variation of the Armor class for the Republic.


text: An update released on August 28, 2019, added new skins for battle droids, the maps from "Capital Supremacy" to the "Heroes vs. Villains" mode, and new Star Cards to replace the "Health on Kill" ones, with "Health on Kill" now becoming a passive ability for all heroes. On September 25, a new Felucia map for "Capital Supremacy" was added, along with Clone Commandos as a new variation of the Enforcer class for the Republic, a new skin for Luke Skywalker, and two game modes: an offline mode called "Instant Action", and a PvE game mode called "Co-Op", both of which included all "Capital Supremacy" maps released thus far. Furthermore, the Daily Crates and the "Extraction" mode were removed (the latter being merged with "Strike"). On October 23, the "Ewok Hunt" and "Co-Op" modes received major overhauls, and a Felucia map for "Heroes vs. Villains" was added, alongside new skins for the Jet Trooper, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo.


text: On December 5, 2019, a "Celebration Edition" of the game was released, including all cosmetic options released thus far; it can be bought both separately or as an upgrade to the original version. Along with the "Celebration Edition" came an update, originally meant for late November, which added new skins for the Infiltrator and Enforcer classes and a gameplay overhaul. On December 17, an update was released that added content based on the film , including a new Ajan Kloss map, "Co-Op" to the sequel trilogy era, new skins for Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren, and new Reinforcement classes for the sequel trilogy era (the Ovissian Gunner as the Enforcer and the Caphex Spy as the Infiltrator for the Resistance, and the Sith Trooper as the Infiltrator and the Jet Trooper as the Aerial for the First Order). On February 3, 2020, an update originally meant for late January added BB-8 and BB-9E as new heroes for the Resistance and First Order, respectively, "Capital Supremacy" and "Instant Action" to the sequel trilogy era, and several gameplay changes.


text: On February 26, 2020, a major update added content based on the original "Star Wars" trilogy, including the "Co-Op" mode, four new weapons (three of them returning from 2015's "Star Wars: Battlefront"), and the Infiltrator class, along with new skins for this era's pre-existing Reinforcement classes. It also added a new Geonosis map to "Heroes vs. Villains", and the maps from the prequel era "Capital Supremacy" to "Co-Op", along with several changes to the gameplay. The next update, initially meant for late March, was delayed twice: once for "mid-April", and the second time for late April. The update was released on April 29, and added content based on the film "Rogue One", including a Scarif map and new skins for both Rebel soldiers and Imperial stormtroopers. It also added a new offline game mode called "Instant Action Missions" (which was merged with the original "Instant Action"), "Capital Supremacy" to the original trilogy era, and new skins for Rey, Kylo Ren, Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Maul, and made Palpatine and Chewbacca available as heroes for the sequel trilogy era, and Yoda and Darth Maul for the original trilogy era.


text: On May 10, 2016, the development of "Star Wars Battlefront II" was announced, led by DICE, with Motive Studios being responsible for the single player campaign and Criterion Games responsible for the starfighters gameplay and mechanics. The sequel to 2015's rebooted "Star Wars Battlefront" features content from the sequel trilogy of films. Creative director Bernd Diemer has stated that the company has replaced the Season Pass system of paid expansion of content, because that system was determined to have "fragmented" the player community of the 2015 predecessor game. The new expansion system is designed to allow all players "to play longer". Executive producer Matthew Webster announced on April 15, 2017, at "Star Wars" Celebration that the worldwide release of the game would be November 17, 2017. The "Battlefront II" beta test period started on October 4, 2017, for players who pre-ordered the game. It was expanded to an open beta on October 6, and ran until October 11. A 10-hour trial version was made available to EA Access and Origin Access subscribers on November 9, 2017.


text: A tie-in novel, "", was released on July 25, 2017. Written by Christie Golden, it serves as a direct prelude to the game and follows the exploits of the Galactic Empire's titular squad as it seeks to eliminate what was left of Saw Gerrera's rebel cell after the events of the 2016 film "Rogue One". On November 10, 2017, Electronic Arts announced the first in a series of free downloadable content for the game, featuring the planets D'Qar and Crait and the playable hero characters Finn and Captain Phasma. This content is a direct tie-in to December's "".


text: "Star Wars Battlefront II" received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Metacritic user reviews for the PlayStation 4 version reached a low rating of 0.8/10, labeled as "overwhelming dislike", due to the controversies (see below) and review bombing.


text: In his 4/5 star review for GamesRadar+, Andy Hartup praised the multiplayer but criticized the single-player modes, saying the game has a "very strong multiplayer offering tarnished by overly complicated character progression, and a lavish, beautiful story campaign lacking in substance or subtlety." Game Revolution felt the campaign started strong but weakened as it progressed, praising the multiplayer gameplay while criticizing the microtransactions, loot box progression system, and locking of heroes.


text: For "EGM"s review, Nick Plessas praised the multiplayer combat, balancing, and variety, but criticized the game's sustained focus on loot crates. Andrew Reiner of "Game Informer" gave the game 6.5/10, writing "Answering the call for more content, "Star Wars Battlefront II" offers a full campaign and more than enough multiplayer material, but the entire experience is brought down by microtransactions." IGN's Tom Marks also gave the game 6.5/10, saying ""Star Wars Battlefront 2" has great feeling blasters, but its progression system makes firing them an unsatisfying grind."


text: The game was nominated for "Best Shooter", "Best Graphics" and "Best Multiplayer" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards, and was a runner-up for "Most Disappointing Game" in Giant Bomb's 2017 Game of the Year Awards. In "Game Informer"s Reader's Choice Best of 2017 Awards, fewer readers voted for the game for "Best Co-Op Multiplayer". The website also awarded the game for "Best Graphics", "Best Audio" and "Biggest Disappointment" in their 2017 Shooter of the Year Awards. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of "Zero Punctuation" ranked the game at No. 1 on his list of the Five Blandest Games of 2017.


text: In 2019, two years after the game's release, IGN published a new review of the game, after 2 years worth of updates. In the new review, David Jagneaux gave the game 8.8/10 (compared to the original review's 6.5/10), saying "After over two years of updates and changes, EA and DICE have redeemed this gorgeous shooter and turned it into one of the best multiplayer adaptations of the Star Wars universe to date." Jagneaux noted that the significant improvements were to the multiplayer portion of the game and that the single-player story remained "overly safe, short, and disappointing".


text: In the U.S., "Star Wars Battlefront II" was the second best-selling title in November, behind "". Within its first week on sale in Japan, the PlayStation 4 version sold 38,769 copies, placing it at number four on the all format sales chart. By December 2017, the game had sold 9 million copies worldwide. In January 2018, EA announced that the game missed their sales target as they had hoped to sell 10 million copies in that time, and blamed the loot crate controversy.


text: During pre-release beta trials, the game's publisher EA was criticized by gamers and the gaming press for introducing a loot box monetization scheme that gave players substantial gameplay advantages through items purchased in-game with real money. Responding to the controversy, developers had adjusted the number of in-game items a player receives through playing the game. However, after the game went into pre-release a number of players and journalists who received the pre-release copy of the game reported various controversial gameplay features, such as rewards being unrelated to the player's performance in the game. The poorly-weighed reward system combined with a weak inactivity detection allowed many players to use rubber bands to tightly tie their game controllers for automatically farming points during multiplayer battles, ruining the experience of other active online players.


text: On November 12, 2017, a Reddit user complained that although they spent to purchase the Deluxe Edition of the game, Darth Vader remained inaccessible for play and the use of this character required a large amount of in-game credits. Players estimated that it would take 40 hours of "grinding" to accumulate enough credits to unlock a single hero. In response to the community's backlash, EA's Community Team defended the controversial changes by saying their intent to make users earn credits to unlock heroes was to give users "a sense of pride and accomplishment" after unlocking a hero. This led to many Reddit users becoming frustrated at the response, which generated 667,821 down-votes, making it the most down-voted comment in the site's history. In 2019, the comment was inducted into the Guinness World Records. In response to the community's outrage, EA lowered the cost of credits to unlock heroes by 75%. However, the credits rewarded for completing the campaign were also reduced.


text: On the day before release, EA disabled microtransactions entirely, citing players' concerns that they gave buyers unfair advantages. They stated their intent to reintroduce them at a later date after unspecified changes had been made. The uproar from social media and poor press reception on its microtransactions had a negative impact on EA's share price which dropped by 2.5% on the launch day of the game. Analysts in Wall Street also lowered their expectations of the game's financial prospects. A Wall Street analyst writing for CNBC noted how video games are still the cheapest entertainment medium per hour of use, and even with the added microtransactions, playing "Battlefront II" was still notably cheaper than paying to see the theatrical release of a film. By the end of November 2017, EA had lost $3 billion in stock value since the launch of the game. On March 16, 2018, developer DICE announced an overhaul for the progression and economic system. Loot crates will only contain credits, one of the in-game currencies, and cosmetic items while crystals, the other in-game currency, can be bought solely for the purpose of purchasing cosmetic items for characters in the game. Progression for player abilities, or "Star Cards", is now linear as players must play a certain class or hero in order to unlock a "Skill Point" for that trooper or hero, which can then be used to purchase a new card or upgrade one the player already owns. The first part of this update was released on March 21, which included permanently unlocking all heroes and vehicles for players regardless of progression, while the second part was released in April.


text: On November 15, two days before its release, the Belgian gambling regulator announced that it was investigating the game, alongside "Overwatch", to determine whether loot boxes constituted unlicensed gambling. In response to the investigation, EA claimed that "Battlefront II"s loot boxes do not constitute gambling. The Belgian Gaming Commission ultimately declared loot boxes to be illegal under gambling laws but found that "Battlefront II" was not in violation as EA had temporarily removed micro-transactions from the game. After the investigation reported its conclusion, the Minister of Justice of Belgium Koen Geens expressed that if they prove loot boxes violate gambling laws he would start working on banning loot boxes in any future video games sold in the entire European Union.


text: Reacting to the conclusion of the Belgian gambling regulator's investigation, the head of the Dutch Gambling commission announced the start of their own investigation of "Battlefront II" and the issue in general, and asked parents "to keep an eye at the games their children play". Chris Lee, a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, called "Star Wars: Battlefront II" "an online casino designed to trap little kids" and announced his intention to ban such practices in the state of Hawaii. Another representative compared playing "Battlefront II" to smoking cigarettes, saying: "We didn't allow Joe Camel to encourage your kids to smoke cigarettes, and we shouldn't allow Star Wars to encourage your kids to gamble." Singapore's National Council on Problem Gambling are monitoring the situation following the uproar on the game, as loot boxes do not fall under the Remote Gambling Act. Authorities in Australia are also investigating the situation. The Parliament of the United Kingdom investigated the concerns around loot boxes and whether they constitute gambling, and were later told by EA that lootboxes are "quite ethical and fun" and that they are the equivalent of Kinder Eggs. The UK Parliament later said that loot boxes do constitute gambling and should be regulated as such.


title: Big Eyes

text: Big Eyes is a 2014 American biographical drama film directed by Tim Burton, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. It is about the relationship between American artist Margaret Keane and her second husband, Walter Keane, who, in the 1950s and 1960s, took credit for Margaret's phenomenally popular paintings of people with big eyes.


title: Big Eyes

text: The film had its world premiere in New York City on December 15, 2014, and was released in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company on December 25, 2014. It was met with generally favorable reviews, with particular praise given to the performances of Adams and Waltz and performed moderately well at the box office, grossing $29 million worldwide against the budget of $10 million. Adams won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and received a nomination for the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Waltz was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, and Lana Del Rey received a Golden Globe nomination for the film's title song, "Big Eyes".


title: Big Eyes

text: In the 1950s, Margaret Ulbrich leaves her then husband and takes her young daughter Jane to North Beach, San Francisco, where she gets a job painting illustrations at a furniture factory. While doing portraits at an outdoor art show, she meets Walter Keane, who sells paintings of Parisian street scenes, but makes his money in real estate. Soon they become close friends. Margaret is distraught when her husband asks for custody as part of divorce settlement. Walter proposes, and they marry and honeymoon in Hawaii. She retains custody of Jane.


title: Big Eyes

text: Unable to get his or Margaret's paintings into a fine art gallery, Walter convinces the owner of a popular jazz club, Enrico Banducci, to rent him some wall space to exhibit their work. He is frustrated when the designated space is in the back by the bathrooms. He fights with Banducci and puts the man's head through one of Margaret's canvases. This becomes a front-page story in a local newspaper, which packs the club with people curious to see the art that made grown men fight. Dick Nolan, a celebrity gossip columnist, wants to know more about the artwork, but proceeds to ask about Margaret's paintings of young girls with big eyes. Walter goes along with the misunderstanding, failing to clarify that they are Margaret's creation. Afterward, he shows Margaret how much money he made selling her work and suggests they team up, with her staying at home painting and him taking credit and handling publicity and sales.


title: Big Eyes

text: Walter opens his own gallery selling Margaret's art, and eventually hits on the idea of making cheap reproductions of Margaret's works, which sell in huge numbers. The family moves into a mansion. Walter spends his time hobnobbing with celebrities while Margaret is stuck at home, feeling increasingly isolated. He even makes Margaret lie to Jane about who is doing the paintings.


title: Big Eyes

text: One day, she finds a crate full of paintings of Parisian street scenes, all signed "S. CENIC". She realizes she has never actually seen Walter paint, and discovers he has been painting over the name of the original artist and claiming these paintings as his own. When confronted, he says he always wanted to be an artist, but never had the talent.


title: Big Eyes

text: Disillusioned, Margaret indicates she is losing her interest in continuing the ruse, so Walter threatens to have her killed. Later, he tells her of his plan to get a painting displayed at the upcoming New York World's Fair and demands Margaret paint her "masterpiece". Jane sneaks into the studio when Margaret is working on the huge painting, "Tomorrow Forever", and says she already knew Margaret was really the artist.


title: Big Eyes

text: At a party, Walter becomes angry after reading John Canaday's scathing review of "Tomorrow Forever", which led to the painting to not be exhibited at the Fair, and confronts the critic. At home, he drunkenly blames Margaret for the failure. He throws lit matches at her and Jane who escape and lock themselves in the studio. As he proceeds to throw lit matches and nearly set the house on fire, they run away from home.


title: Big Eyes

text: One year later, Margaret and Jane have settled in Honolulu, Hawaii. Walter says he will only give Margaret a divorce if she signs over the rights to every painting and produce 100 more. Initially Margaret agrees, but her growing interest in the Jehovah's Witnesses convinces her of the importance of honesty. She finally signs a batch of paintings with her own name. Later, on a Hawaiian radio show, she reveals she is the real artist behind the "big eyes" paintings, which makes national news. Nolan publishes Walter's claims that Margaret is delusional. On Jane's suggestion, Margaret sues both Walter and Nolan's newspaper for slander and libel.


title: Big Eyes

text: At the trial, the judge immediately dismisses the libel suit against the newspaper, and Walter is left to defend himself against slander. He botches his defence, even mimicking in court what he has gathered from watching Perry Mason episodes on TV. When he proceeds to cross-examine himself as a witness, the judge is fed up and directs both Margaret and Walter to create a painting in court to prove who is the real artist. Whereas Margaret paints steadily, Walter stalls before claiming his arm hurts too much to hold a paintbrush. Margaret wins the lawsuit, and a fan asks her to sign a copy of Walter's coffee table book.


title: Big Eyes

text: The film ends with text that states Walter continued to insist he was the true artist until his death, though he never painted again, and that Walter died in poverty. Margaret eventually moved back to San Francisco, where she opened a new gallery, and still paints every day.


title: Big Eyes

text: Writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski negotiated with Margaret Keane over her life rights and wrote "Big Eyes" as a spec script. In October 2007, it was announced that development was moving forward with Alexander and Karaszewski directing their script, and nightclub operator Andrew Meieran fully financing, through his Bureau of Moving Pictures banner, the under-$20 million budget. Kate Hudson and Thomas Haden Church were set to star, and filming was to begin in June 2008, before being pushed back for reasons related to a new Screen Actors Guild contract.


title: Big Eyes

text: In September 2010, it was announced that Tim Burton had become involved with the film as a producer. Principal photography was scheduled to start in April 2012, with Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds attached to star. By 2013, Burton had taken over directing and "Big Eyes" was set up at The Weinstein Company, with Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz starring. Filming began in July 2013.


title: Big Eyes

text: "Big Eyes" is Burton's first film since "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) to be edited by someone other than Chris Lebenzon, who was busy with "Maleficent" the same year.


title: Big Eyes

text: It was reported in November 2014 that singer Lana Del Rey would contribute with two original songs to the soundtrack, and the songs "Big Eyes" and "I Can Fly", which Lana Del Rey wrote and performed, were leaked in December 2014. The soundtrack album and both songs were officially released on December 23, 2014.


title: Big Eyes

text: The film earned $3 million during its opening weekend and grossed $14.5 million in North America, and $14.8 million internationally, for a worldwide total gross of $29.3 million.


title: Big Eyes

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "Big Eyes" holds an approval rating of 72%, based on 190 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10; the site's consensus reads: "Well-acted, thought-provoking, and a refreshing change of pace for Tim Burton, "Big Eyes" works both as a biopic and as a timelessly relevant piece of social commentary". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Big Eyes

text: "The Philadelphia Inquirer"s Steven Rea awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising Adams' and Waltz's performances and the film's themes. Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" criticized the film's uneven tone and pacing, but admitted it was a "heartfelt tribute to the yearning that drives even the most marginalized artist to self expression no matter what the hell anyone thinks."