title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: In the past, it was also the home ground of two North American Soccer League clubs, the Los Angeles Wolves in 1968 and the Los Angeles Aztecs in 1978 and 1979. From 1996 through 2002, the stadium was the home ground of Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy. The stadium will once again play host to the Galaxy on February 25, 2023 in a one-off game with city rivals LAFC to kick off the MLS season.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The Rose Bowl is one of two stadiums to have hosted the FIFA World Cup finals for both men and women. The Rose Bowl hosted the men's final in 1994 and the women's final in 1999. (The only other stadium with this honor is the Råsunda Stadium near Stockholm, Sweden, which hosted the men's final in 1958 and the women's final in 1995.) Both Rose Bowl finals were scoreless after double extra time and decided on penalty shootouts; Brazil beating Italy in the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final 3–2, and the United States beating China in the 1999 women's final 5–4.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The Rose Bowl also hosted group stage matches of the Copa América Centenario in 2016. It also hosted several matches including the final of the 1984 Olympics men's soccer tournament. On July 27, 2016, the Rose Bowl hosted a 2016 International Champions Cup match between Chelsea and Liverpool. Chelsea won the match 1–0. The Rose Bowl also hosted a 2018 International Champions Cup match between F.C. Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur where Barcelona won 5–3 in penalty kicks after a 2–2 draw. It has also regularly featured CONCACAF Gold Cup matches including two finals.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The Rose Bowl was a candidate to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but FIFA selected SoFi Stadium instead. The Rose Bowl will be a venue during the 2028 Summer Olympics.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The Rose Bowl has hosted the Pasadena "Americafest" Independence Day celebration annually since 1927. The annual fireworks show is considered one of the top fireworks shows in the nation. Another local event is the Rose Bowl Flea Market held the second Sunday of each month, on the stadium parking lots. Hosted by promoter R.G. Canning, it claims to be the largest Flea market on the West Coast. The stadium hosts the annual "Turkey Tussle" homecoming football game between John Muir High School and Pasadena High School, in late October. The Rose Bowl hosted its annual graduation ceremonies for Blair High School, John Muir High School and Pasadena High School until 1984, before staging it at the individual schools until 1998. Currently all three high schools along with John Marshall Fundamental Secondary School hold their graduation ceremonies at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in early June until 2019. On June 4, 2021, the Pasadena Unified School District used the Rose Bowl to hold their high school graduation ceremonies for all four high schools, along with Rose City High School and Center for Independent Studies.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The stadium hosted the 2007 Drum Corps International World Championships August 7 through August 11, 2007. The Rose Bowl was the final stadium to host the championship before DCI moved their corporate offices to Indianapolis with the championships being held at Lucas Oil Stadium until at least 2028. This was the first (and only) time the DCI championships had ever been held west of Denver, Colorado in the 45-year history of DCI.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: It hosted auditions for the top American television show, "American Idol", on August 8, 2006. The stadium has also been used as part of the music video shoot for the song "The Last Song", the second single released by the American rock band The All-American Rejects, which features the band performing the song in the middle of the stadium to an empty crowd.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The stadium's Court of Champions was the site of a "Roadblock" from seventeenth season of the CBS reality TV show "The Amazing Race" where teams had to help decorate three sections of the theme float for the 2011 New Year's Day Rose Parade.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: In November 1997, the International Churches of Christ (Los Angeles) gathered at the Rose Bowl for their Worship Service, with an attendance of 17,000.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The Brookside Golf Course hosted the Los Angeles Open on the PGA Tour in 1968, won by Billy Casper in late January.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The Rose Bowl was used for high school graduation ceremonies for the Alhambra Unified School District's Alhambra High School, Mark Keppel High School and San Gabriel High School on May 27, 2021, La Cañada Unified School District's La Cañada High School on June 3, 2021, and Glendale Unified School District's Glendale High School and Herbert Hoover High School on June 10, 2021, and Crescenta Valley High School on June 11, 2021, instead of holding at their respective campuses due to the COVID-19 restrictions.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: The Rose Bowl and adjacent golf course are managed by the Rose Bowl Operating Company, a non-profit organization whose board is selected by council members of the City of Pasadena. UCLA and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses also have one member on the company board. In 2007 it was reported that Rose Bowl stadium itself runs on a yearly operational loss. While it generated funds with the annual lease with UCLA ($1.5 million), the Tournament of Roses ($900,000), and a regularly hosted flea market ($900,000), it makes up the loss by relying on funds generated by the adjacent city-owned golf course ($2 million). The stadium at the time was unable to finance many of the capital improvements it needed to be considered a modern facility, including new seats, wider aisles, additional exits, a wider concourse, a renovated press box, a state-of-the-art video scoreboard, new field lighting, ribbon boards, extra suites and a club. The estimated cost for such improvements ranges from $250 million and $300 million. The stadium had long-term leases with its two major tenants, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses (2019) and UCLA (2023). In 2006, the Rose Bowl and the City of Pasadena launched a $16.3 million capital improvement program that benefited both UCLA and the Tournament of Roses. New locker rooms for both UCLA and visiting teams, as well as a new media interview area were constructed. The USC Athletic department attempted to negotiate with the Rose Bowl to play games there in 2007, out of concerns that the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission would not negotiate, in a decade-long rent impasse between the commission and the university.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: In April 2009, The Rose Bowl Operating Company unveiled a Rose Bowl Strategic Plan, which addressed the objectives to improve public safety; enhance fan experience; maintain national historic landmark status; develop revenue sources to fund long-term improvements; and enhance facility operations. On October 11, 2010, the Pasadena City Council approved a $152 million financing plan for the major renovation of the stadium. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the first of three phases of the project were held on January 25, 2011. The newly constructed video board was used for the June 25, 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final. The costs increased as the project went on, and by December 2012 were estimated at $194 Million and the project to be completed by 2015. The Rose Bowl and UCLA leases were extended to 2043 and 2044 respectively. The renovations were completed in 2016.


title: Rose Bowl (stadium)

text: In 2019, the Rose Bowl reported a profit of $335,000 However, golf course usage has declined year after year, and UCLA football attendance has waned. The stadium had reported $211.8 million in outstanding debt at the beginning of 2020. The Rose Bowl is limited by law to 15 events per year with more than 20,000 in attendance. But it can host an unlimited number of small events, such as weddings, for which it made $1.5 million in 2019.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would become a wealthy city, with approximately 50 millionaires inhabiting the area by 1888. The concentration of wealth contributed to the city's prominent, elaborate Victorian architecture.


title: Helena, Montana

text: At the 2020 census Helena's population was 32,091, making it the fifth least populous state capital in the United States and the sixth most populous city in Montana. It is the principal city of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Lewis and Clark and Jefferson counties; its population is 83,058 according to the 2020 Census.


title: Helena, Montana

text: The local daily newspaper is the "Independent Record". The city is served by Helena Regional Airport (HLN).


title: Helena, Montana

text: The Helena area was long inhabited by various indigenous peoples. Evidence from the McHaffie and Indian Creek sites on opposite sides of the Elkhorn Mountains southeast of the Helena Valley show that people of the Folsom culture lived in the area more than 10,000 years ago. Before the introduction of the horse 300 years ago, and since, other native peoples, including the Salish and the Blackfeet, visited the area seasonally on their nomadic rounds.


title: Helena, Montana

text: By the early 1800s, people of European descent from the United States and British Canada began arriving to work the streams of the Missouri River watershed looking for fur-bearing animals such as the beaver, undoubtedly bringing them through the area now known as the Helena Valley.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Gold strikes in Idaho Territory in the early 1860s attracted many migrants who initiated major gold rushes at Grasshopper Creek (Bannack) and Alder Gulch (Virginia City) in 1862 and 1863 respectively. So many people came that the federal government created a new territory called Montana in May 1864. The miners prospected far and wide for new placer gold discoveries. On July 14, 1864, the discovery of gold by a prospecting party known as the "Four Georgians" in a gulch off the Prickly Pear Creek led to the founding of a mining camp along a small creek in the area they called "Last Chance Gulch".


title: Helena, Montana

text: By fall, the population had grown to over 200, and some thought the name "Last Chance" too crass. On October 30, 1864, a group of at least seven self-appointed men met to name the town, authorize the layout of the streets, and elect commissioners. The first suggestion was "Tomah," a word the committee thought had connections to the local Indian people. Other nominations included Pumpkinville and Squashtown (as the meeting was held the day before Halloween). Other suggestions were to name the community after various Minnesota towns, such as Winona and Rochester, as a number of settlers had come from Minnesota. Finally, a Scotsman, John Summerville, proposed "Helena", which he pronounced , in honor of Helena Township, Scott County, Minnesota. This immediately caused an uproar from the former Confederates in the room, who insisted upon the pronunciation , after Helena, Arkansas, a town on the Mississippi River. While the name "Helena" won, the pronunciation varied until approximately 1882 when the pronunciation became dominant. Later tales of the naming of Helena claimed the name came from the island of St. Helena, where Napoleon was exiled, or was that of a miner's sweetheart.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena was surveyed by Captain John Wood in 1865 for the first time. The original streets of Helena followed the paths of miners, thus making the city blocks of Early Helena various sizes and shapes.


title: Helena, Montana

text: In 1870, Henry D. Washburn, having been appointed Surveyor General of Montana in 1869, organized the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in Helena to explore the regions that would become Yellowstone National Park. Mount Washburn, within the park, is named for him. Members of the expedition included Helena residents:


title: Helena, Montana

text: By 1888 about 50 millionaires lived in Helena, more per capita than in any city in the world. They had made their fortunes from gold. It is estimated about $3.6 billion in today's money was extracted from Helena during this period of time. The Last Chance Placer is one of the most famous placer deposits in the western United States. Most of the production occurred before 1868. Much of the placer is now under Helena's streets and buildings.


title: Helena, Montana

text: This large concentration of wealth was the basis of developing fine residences and ambitious architecture in the city; its Victorian neighborhoods reflect the gold years. The numerous miners also attracted the development of a thriving red light district. Among the well-known local madams was Josephine "Chicago Joe" Airey, who built a thriving business empire between 1874 and 1893, becoming one of Helena's largest and most influential landowners. Helena's brothels were a successful part of the local business community well into the 20th century, ending with the 1973 death of Helena's last madam, "Big Dorothy" Baker.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena's official symbol is a drawing of "The Guardian of the Gulch", a wooden fire watch tower built in 1886. It still stands on Tower Hill overlooking the downtown district. The tower, built in 1874, replaced a series of observation buildings, the original being built in response to a series of devastating fires that swept through the early mining camp. On August 2, 2016, an arson attack severely damaged the tower and it was deemed structurally unstable. The tower is to be demolished but will be rebuilt using the same methods as in its original construction.


title: Helena, Montana

text: In 1889, railroad magnate Charles Arthur Broadwater opened his Hotel Broadwater and Natatorium west of Helena. The Natatorium was home to the world's first indoor swimming pool. Damaged in the 1935 Helena earthquake, it closed in 1941. The property's many buildings were demolished in 1976. Today, the Broadwater Fitness Center stands just west of the Hotel & Natatorium's original location, complete with an outdoor pool heated by natural spring water running underneath it.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena has been the capital of Montana Territory since 1875 and the state of Montana since 1889. Referendums were held in 1892 and 1894 to determine the state's capital; the result was to keep the capitol in Helena. In 1902, the Montana State Capitol was completed. Until the 1900 census, Helena was the most populous city in the state. That year it was surpassed by Butte (with a population of 30,470), where mining industry was developing.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Among the settlers the city's prosperity attracted were Blacks fleeing racism in the South. Many found work in the mines or on the railroads and established a middle class that supported Black-owned businesses, Black churches, Black newspapers and a Black literary society. A Black police officer patrolled the town's wealthiest (white) neighborhood. But in the later 1900s new discriminatory laws, such as a ban on mixed marriages and the establishment of many sundown towns, along with the attendant racist attitudes that led to them drove many Blacks out not just Helena but the state, to the point that the city's Black population today is a small fraction of what it was in the early 20th century.


title: Helena, Montana

text: In 1916, the United Daughters of the Confederacy commissioned the construction of the Confederate Memorial Fountain in Hill Park. It was the only Confederate memorial in the Northwestern United States. The fountain was removed on August 18, 2017, after the Helena City Commission deemed it a threat to public safety following a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.


title: Helena, Montana

text: The Cathedral of Saint Helena and the Helena Civic Center are two of Helena's many significant historic buildings.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Many working Helenans (approx. 18%) work for agencies of the state government. When in Helena, most people visit the local walking mall. It was completed in the early 1980s after Urban Renewal and the Model Cities Program in the early 1970s had removed many historic buildings from the downtown district. During the next decade, a three-block shopping district was renovated that followed the original Last Chance Gulch. A small artificial stream runs along most of the walking mall to represent the underground springs that originally flowed above ground in parts of the Gulch.


title: Helena, Montana

text: The Archie Bray Foundation, an internationally renowned ceramics center founded in 1952, is just northwest of Helena, near Spring Meadow Lake.


title: Helena, Montana

text: A significant train wreck occurred on February 2, 1989, in which a 48-car runaway freight train slammed into a parked train near Carroll College, setting off an explosion that blasted out windows up to three miles away, causing most of the city to lose power and forcing some residents to evacuate in subzero weather.


title: Helena, Montana

text: With the mountains, Helena has much outdoor recreation, including hunting and fishing. Great Divide Ski Area is northwest of town near the ghost town of Marysville. Helena is also known for its mountain biking. It was officially designated as an International Mountain Bicycling Association bronze level Ride Center on October 23, 2013.


title: Helena, Montana

text: In 2017, Helena voters elected as mayor former Liberian refugee Wilmot Collins, who was widely reported to be Helena's first black mayor. The "Independent Record" reported contested research indicating that in the early 1870s one E. T. Johnson, listed in the city directory as a black barber from Washington D.C., had been elected mayor, before Helena became an incorporated town.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Surrounding features include the Continental Divide, Mount Helena City Park, Spring Meadow Lake State Park, Lake Helena, Helena National Forest, the Big Belt Mountains, the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area, Bob Marshall Wilderness, Scapegoat Wilderness, the Missouri River, Canyon Ferry Lake, Holter Lake, Hauser Lake, and the Elkhorn Mountains.


title: Helena, Montana

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena has a semi-arid climate (Köppen "BSk"), with long, cold and moderately snowy winters, hot and dry summers, and short springs and autumns in between. Snowfall has been observed in every month but July, but is usually absent from May to September, and normally accumulates in only light amounts. Winters have periods of moderation, partly due to warming influence from chinooks. Precipitation mostly falls in the spring and is generally sparse, averaging only annually. The hottest temperature recorded in Helena was on August 24, 1969 and July 15, 2002, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 31, 1893, January 25, 1957 and February 2, 1996.


title: Helena, Montana

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 28,190 people, 12,780 households, and 6,691 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 13,457 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.3% White, 0.4% African American, 2.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.8% of the population.


title: Helena, Montana

text: There were 12,780 households, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.2% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.6% were non-families. 39.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.77.


title: Helena, Montana

text: The median age in the city was 40.3 years. 20.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.3% were from 25 to 44; 29.5% were from 45 to 64; and 15.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.


title: Helena, Montana

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 25,780 people, 11,541 households, and 6,474 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,840.7 people per square mile (710.5/km). There were 12,133 housing units at an average density of 866.3 per square mile (334.4/km). The ethnic makeup of the city is 94.8% White, 0.2% African American, 2.1% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 1.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Helena, Montana

text: There were 11,541 households, out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.9% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.83.


title: Helena, Montana

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.4% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 26.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.


title: Helena, Montana

text: The median income for a household in the city was $34,416, and the median income for a family was $50,018. Males had a median income of $34,357 versus $25,821 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,020. About 9.3% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena has a long record of economic stability with its history as being the state capital and being founded in an area rich in silver and lead deposits. However, this situation has resulted in a slow growing economy. Its status as capital makes it a major hub of activity at the county, state, and federal level. According to the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, the capital's median household income is $50,889, and its unemployment rate stood at 3.8% in 2013, about 1.2% lower than the rest of the state. Education is a major employer, with two high schools and accompanying elementary and middle schools for K–12 students as well as Helena College. Major private employers within the city of Helena include Carroll College and the medical community.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena's economy is also bolstered by Fort William Henry Harrison, the training facility for the Montana National Guard, located just outside the city. Fort Harrison is also home to , where many Helena-area residents work.


title: Helena, Montana

text: Helena's Designated Market Area is 205th in size, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, and is the fifth smallest media market in the nation.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The second season of the American streaming television series "Daredevil", which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows Matt Murdock / Daredevil, a blind lawyer-by-day who fights crime at night, crossing paths with the deadly Frank Castle / Punisher along with the return of an old girlfriend—Elektra Natchios. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez serving as showrunners, and series creator Drew Goddard acting as consultant.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Charlie Cox stars as Murdock, while Jon Bernthal and Élodie Yung are introduced as Castle and Natchios, respectively. Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent D'Onofrio also return from the first season, with Stephen Rider joining them. The season was ordered in April 2015 after the successful release of the first, with Petrie and Ramirez replacing the season one showrunner Steven S. DeKnight. Production on the season began in July 2015 and continued through December, with the season focusing on the nature of heroism through comparison of Murdock to Castle and Natchios, and showing how the latter two affect Murdock's life.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The first two episodes of the season premiered in Paris on March 7, 2016, with the full season of 13 episodes released on Netflix on March 18. Critics praised the introduction of Castle and Natchios, as well as Bernthal's performance in particular, the season's action, and storylines. However, many missed the presence of Vondie Curtis-Hall's Ben Urich from season one, and D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk during the first half of season two. The series was renewed for a third season in July 2016.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: When asked about the future of the series following the first season, showrunner Steven S. DeKnight said that "Daredevil" "is one part of the bigger plan—"Jessica Jones", "Luke Cage", "Iron Fist", and then "The Defenders". How that all fits together, and whether or not there will be a second season of this show—or if it will fold into the others—are questions nobody really has answers to yet." In November 2014, DeKnight said that there "probably will be more" seasons of "Daredevil" following the first. In January 2015, Netflix COO Ted Sarandos stated the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well [they] are addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" to determine if additional seasons would be appropriate.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: On April 21, 2015, Marvel and Netflix announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, with Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez replacing DeKnight as showrunners as well as acting as executive producers; both served as writers in the first season and worked closely with DeKnight and series creator Drew Goddard. The season introduces the Punisher, whom DeKnight and the writers had wanted to introduce in a post-credits scene during the first-season finale but were unable due to the way that Netflix begins the next episode during the credits of the current one. DeKnight felt that this "was the right decision. I think there's a better, more organic way to introduce him to the world." Ramirez referred to the second season internally as "Daredevil vs. the Punisher". In September 2015, Goddard explained that he was still involved with the season as an executive producer, consulting with Petrie and Ramirez when asked to. The season consists of 13-hour-long episodes.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Ramirez talked about how the second season would be different from the first, saying that the writers had spent the first season wondering "if there was a place for dark and gritty content in superheroes" and because of the positive fan reaction to that ("we got a loud answer of 'yes'"), approached the second season with the mindset, "you wanted grounded and wanted dark, here's Elektra and Punisher. You asked for it." Petrie, talking about the potential use of flashbacks in the season, said that sometimes it is best to "peel back the layer of the onion through flashback, or two people in a room talking can have all the power in the world. That's something we get to pick and choose."


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: On including the Punisher specifically in the season, where he is introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Goddard felt television was the best fit for the character, as the writers are "able to do things on the small screen that fit that character better than if we had to water him down for the movies." Goddard stated that the season's approach to the characters and their actions would be to do what makes sense for the characters rather than "pushing the boundary" or looking to shock the audience, though he noted that this could still go in a more "adult...darker, dirtier" way due to the freedom of Netflix and the presence of characters such as the Punisher. Petrie stated that the writers hoped to "stir the pot" and "get people to think" with the inclusion of the Punisher and his lethal methods, adding, "Taking lethal justice into your own hands in America in 2015 is tricky shit. We have not shied away from the rich complicated reality of Now. If you've got a gun and you're not the police you're going to incite strong feelings." Ramirez added that Castle was not referred to as "Punisher" in the writer's room, similarly to Wilson Fisk not being called "Kingpin" for season one, as it allowed the writers to think "about [Castle] as a man with a vendetta, who made an oath to his dead family. The more specific it got, the less it became about issues outside of Hell's Kitchen or other things." In the series, the moniker of "The Punisher" is given to Castle by the media due to his aggressive actions.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: For the timing of introducing the new characters, the showrunners decided to introduce the Punisher immediately and hold back on Elektra briefly, with Ramirez explaining that "one of the pitfalls when we have this many great characters to play with is wanting to throw them at the wall", but it was important to take the time to introduce the new characters properly to the audience, particularly to the people who weren't already familiar with them. Elaborating on the aim to keep the story focused on Murdock, Petrie revealed that the writers would often come up with "amazing stuff" for the season, but then realize that they had forgotten about Murdock and had to "completely turn it over and look at how this affects Matt and filter it through that prism." Ramirez added,It could easily become The Punisher story or the Elektra story that Matt cameos in, and not vice versa. So, we built it like a Matt story, in terms of what we wanted to put him through, where we wanted to get him, by the end of the season, and what we wanted to have him learn about himself, and we used an Elektra and Frank story throughout, to get him there... we talked about when we watch shows in 13 episode stretches, how do we watch them? What is an exciting structure that we would like to think about here? Do we divide it right down the middle? Do we do a three-act structure?...If you were to sit and watch 13 episodes, you would absolutely feel a structure, much like in the comics. That's what we did this season.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Charlie Cox explained that with Wilson Fisk imprisoned following the first season, season two picks up with "the crime rate [having] plummeted. Things have returned to normal, if not better than normal", which is when Punisher is introduced, who makes Matt Murdock "question everything. Matt has to reevaluate and what he does". Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel Television, said that "if season one was really about Matt's decision to become a hero, then season two really became about what is it to be a hero." By introducing the Punisher and Elektra, the writers were able to "push and pull" on Murdock, contrasting their three ideologies—the Punisher seeing "justice in a very black-and-white kind of way", and Elektra living "more in the gray". On Elektra in particular, Loeb said that she has a very clear, self-motivated agenda, and she challenges Murdock's own agenda and "quest for justice. Who are you doing this for? Why are you doing this? What's the end goal that you're trying to achieve?" More backstory and story arcs had been created for the characters Nobu and Gao, but this was not used, which Nobu actor Peter Shinkoda attributes to Loeb not caring about Asian people.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent D'Onofrio return from the first season as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Karen Page, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Claire Temple, and Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, respectively. In June 2015, Jon Bernthal was cast as Frank Castle / Punisher, and Élodie Yung was cast as Elektra a month later. In September, Stephen Rider joined the cast as Blake Tower.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Also returning from season one are Royce Johnson as Brett Mahoney, Susan Varon as Josie, Geoffrey Cantor as Mitchell Ellison, Scott Glenn as Stick, Peter Shinkoda as Nobu Yoshioka, Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett, Matt Gerald as Melvin Potter, Peter McRobbie as Father Paul Lantom, Amy Rutberg as Marci Stahl, Kevin Nagle as Roscoe Sweeney, Wai Ching Ho as Gao, and Suzanne H. Smart as Shirley Benson. Ron Nakahara, John Pirkis, and Marilyn Torres have recurring roles as Hirochi, Stan Gibson, and Louisa Delgado, respectively, while Michelle Hurd and Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their "Jessica Jones" roles of Samantha Reyes and Jeri Hogarth.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Joshua Shaw designed costumes for characters in the season. Petrie stated that more layers were added to the series' atmosphere to keep the season dark but provide more clarity to the viewer, an issue that occurred in the first season. Petrie also talked about the costumes for characters such as Elektra, noting that they had to not only look at the comics and "what looks cool", but also "what would you really fight in? What would protect you?...will people be wearing kick ass costumes in this show? At some point, everybody does. We promise. But, that said, we want to make them feel as organic and grounded as possible.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Lorraine Calvert joined the series as costume designer for the season. On adapting Elektra's costume for the season, which in the comics usually consists of impractically "strappy" red cloth, Calvert decided to make it utilitarian and appealing, while still being faithful to the comics. Originally starting out opposite of the eventual sleek design for both her fighting and daytime attire, Calvert said, "Ideas were tossed around about how she was possibly bohemian, [because] she was a free spirit who traveled all over the world with as much money as she possibly could." This eventually led to the final, sleeker design, because Elektra "really needs a very simple, elegant line because too much cloth is overwhelming." The costume consisted of "black moto pants, a one-piece zippered body suit, a sleeveless vest, and red cloth to provide the highlights and the hood covering Elektra's face." The shade of the red used for Elektra throughout the season was chosen so it would not clash with the red in Daredevil's costume, as well as to match the darker tone of the series.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Daredevil's costume was also upgraded in the season, with Calvert calling it "a much more fluid suit and much more tactical in a way." The costume department "streamlined" the suit to make it simpler, using less material on the gauntlets and boots. Cox described it as a "delicate area" that required some "tweaks" after the brief use of it at the end of the first season. He noted that the changes are weaved into the storyline of the season, including the need for a new, redesigned mask, and a lower-half of the suit that is closer to the original cargo pants that the character wore earlier in the previous season. These baggier pants gave Cox and his stunt double much more maneuverability.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Production on the season began in July 2015 in East Harlem, with the working title "Ringside", and a nine-day-per-episode schedule. Filming locations included the Metro Theater; Roosevelt Island; Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Long Island City; SoHo for exterior shots of Murdock's apartment; Newtown Creek; the Forest Park Carousel; Bayside, Queens for Castle's old home; Green-Wood Cemetery and Catacombs; East Village; the Bronx County Courthouse; Tribeca; Hell's Kitchen; the Brooklyn Navy Yard; Fort Totten and tunnels inside Bayley Seton Hospital for when Murdock confronts the Hand; and Calvary Cemetery. Filming ended in December 2015.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Martin Ahlgren joined the series as director of photography for the season, deciding to "go in a slightly different direction" than the first season, but retaining "the yellowish street light color that gave season one a very distinct style". Ahlgren filmed season two in 4K resolution on RED Dragon cameras, and tried to use in-shot lighting such as lamps and car headlights, as well as "4×4 Light Blankets—flexible sheets of LED that was small enough to fit into tight locations and light enough that it could be taped to a wall, yet outputs a very nice soft light that can be adjusted from daylight to tungsten color". Ahlgren highlighted the car chase at the beginning of "Guilty as Sin" as a challenge, noting the many ninjas chasing the car, and the one that "jumps up on the car and travels on the roof for a block", with all the stunts filmed on location. An Ultimate Arm, "a motorized crane mounted on a Porsche Cayenne", was used for the sequence, a break from the series' usual handheld and steadicam operations. The chase was shot over two nights in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with the interior of the car then filmed on a green screen stage, a rarity for the series, "to give the actors a better environment to act in".


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: On the season's fight sequences and choreography, Bernthal said, "The fights are all character-driven and the fights tell a story." Cox added that "there is absolutely an attempt to make sure every punch or kick that is thrown is like a line of dialogue; there is motive behind it, there is reason behind it, it means something." Cox's stunt double, Chris Brewster, explained how the series' fight choreography has evolved, with the first season having shown Murdock just starting out as a vigilante—"he fought with all heart and soul, but wasn't a polished fighter...he was more raw and gritty"—while the second season sees the character having learned from previous mistakes—"his style is more defined and thought out now, but he will always fight with the Daredevil flair". As for the fighting styles of Punisher and Elektra, Brewster said that because of the Punisher's military background he uses a lot of weapons, and his "hand to hand style is more of a close quarter combat nature", while Elektra was trained by Stick and the Hand, so she has similar movement to Daredevil who was also trained by Stick. "However," Brewster continued, "The Hand are trained assassins who are all about stealth takeouts and quick kills. Her style shows elements of" that as well. The season uses multiple different martial art styles, including kali, Chinese kung fu, wing chun, kenjutsu, and boxing.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The one-take fight in "New York's Finest" in which Daredevil fights gang members down a staircase was described by Cox as "kind of like an homage" to the first season's well received one-take hallway fight scene, and "almost like that scene on crack". Silvera noted that it is a metaphorical "descent into Hell" rather than a "test of will" like the first season's scene. The stunt team had three days to prepare the fight, and the final sequence was filmed in a day and a half. Unlike the first season's scene, which was shot on a set and used a camera mounted on a ceiling track, the stairwell sequence was filmed on location, and required the camera to be passed around multiple people to get the final shot. The season includes another homage to the hallway scene in "Seven Minutes in Heaven", where the Punisher has his own hallway fight. Silvera noted that this "full-blown", murdering Punisher was "a strong contrast to Daredevil". For all the season's fights, the stunt team filmed a previsualization version using stunt doubles, with the actors, such as Cox, then shown this in sections on the day of filming, and allowed to make adjustments where necessary. Though the actors completed the majority of the fights, doubles were used for flips and major stunts.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: By September 2015, John Paesano had begun composing music for the season. He felt that the season's new showrunners "were true to what we were trying to do in season one. There were just elements in season two that we had to acknowledge" such as the Punisher and Elektra. He jokingly said that "it's not like we all of the sudden went into John Williams territory, you know? It's definitely still dark, still gritty ... but it definitely jumps up a couple levels." When approaching the characters of Punisher and Elektra, with whom Paesano was familiar from the comics and previous adaptations, he "took all those preconceived notions I had with a grain of salt" and waited to see what the season's interpretation of the characters would be. Paesano worked closely with the series' sound design team, spotting episodes with them to coordinate where "we were going to hit what" and "maintain that definable aspect of New York" and its sound. A soundtrack album for the season was released digitally by Hollywood Records on July 15, 2016.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: On references to the larger MCU, Ramirez said "those little Easter eggs that come along the way are fun", but there were times when the writers did not take opportunities to reference the rest of the universe because they felt like distractions from the series' narrative and characters. Petrie stated that the writers wanted to "keep it in Hell's Kitchen" and focus on issues such as "the air conditioner doesn't work at Nelson and Murdock. That's really what we're interested in." He explained that the real life New York City "has a larger than life presence" with celebrities that live there—"If you see Derek Jeter walking down the street, that's great, but then you turn the corner and you get into an argument with the guy who overcharged you for a pretzel. We want our guys to be real New Yorkers."


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The season features the motorcycle gang Dogs of Hell, who were first introduced through their Nevada chapter in the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." episode "Yes Men", and Roxxon Energy Corporation, a company featured throughout the MCU. It also mentions the vigilantes Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, the death of Oscar Clemons, and the law firm Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz, which are all references to the first season of "Jessica Jones". When Claire Temple first appears in the season, she has "a cut in her eyebrow", which Cox was told would be explained in "Luke Cage", saying, "the timeline had been thought through and worked out so that whatever's going on in "Luke Cage" ... somehow at some point during that show, the next day she's in the hospital talking to me."


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Footage from the season was shown at New York Comic Con in October 2015, and at Comic Con Experience that December. On February 15, 2016, the first part of the season trailer was released focusing on the Punisher, while the second part focusing on Elektra was released 10 days later, on February 25. Scott Mendelson of "Forbes" felt the first part is "clearly going for a vibe similar to that first full-length "Dark Knight" teaser back in December of 2007, with Castle being framed as a natural byproduct of/reaction to Daredevil's own vigilantism". He also appreciated that it appeared Castle would be presented as a villain, as the previous film adaptions of the character always had Castle "still a hero at the end." Mendelson's one drawback to the trailer was when Castle starts "monologue-ing" in the last third, feeling Bernthal "casts such an imposing and grim shadow as a near-silent angel of death that the [haunting and mythological] mood is almost broken". Joanna Robinson at "Vanity Fair" felt that the premise of the trailer, with Daredevil facing the Punisher, is "right in line with the big superhero trend this spring", comparing it to "" and "", which feature Captain America fighting Iron Man and Batman fighting Superman, respectively. Robinson wondered if, like those films, the season also has a separate, "bigger bad waiting in the wings to unite our vigilantes" that the trailer is hiding.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: On March 7, 2016, the first two episodes of the season premiered in Paris, with a premiere in New York City on March 10. Also in early March, billboards were erected in Toronto featuring character posters for Daredevil, Punisher and Elektra. The series' Twitter account encouraged users to vote for which character was their favorite, with the other two receiving blood and bruises added to their billboards.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The second season of "Daredevil" was released on March 18, 2016 on the streaming service Netflix worldwide, in Ultra HD 4K. Preparing for the release, Netflix created eight different images to use as cover art for the season on its site. The images were randomly distributed among select subscribers, with Netflix tracking to see which one was the best-performing to eventually use for all subscribers. Netflix also debuted a countdown timer to a percentage of its users worldwide, allowing them to see how long it was until the season would debut. The season was enhanced to be available in high dynamic range after its initial release by post-production vendor Deluxe.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The season, along with the additional "Daredevil" seasons and the other Marvel Netflix series, was removed from Netflix on March 1, 2022, due to Netflix's license for the series ending and Disney regaining the rights. The season became available on Disney+ in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 16, ahead of its debut in Disney+'s other markets by the end of 2022.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The season was released on DVD in Region 2 and Blu-ray in Region B on May 15, 2017, in Region 4 on June 14, 2017, and in Region 1 and Region A on August 22, 2017.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series, Symphony Technology Group compiled data for the season based on people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, the second season of "Daredevil" had 5.94% of viewers age 18-49 watching in an average minute in the first 32 days following its release. Symphony also estimated that 3.2 million viewers age 18-49 were watching an episode of "Daredevil" second season over the average minute in its first weekend of release. The marketing analytics firm Jumpshot determined the season was the most viewed Netflix season in the first 30 days after it premiered. Jumpshot, which "analyzes click-stream data from an online panel of more than 100 million consumers", looked at the viewing behavior and activity of the company's U.S. members, factoring in the relative number of U.S. Netflix viewers who watched at least one episode of the season.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 81% approval rating with an average rating of 6.90/10 based on 57 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bolstered by some impressive action, "Daredevil" keeps its footing in season two, even if its new adversaries can't quite fill the void left by Wilson Fisk." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Reviewing the first seven episodes, Brian Lowry of "Variety" said, the season begins "on an uneven note", comparing some of the early moments to the works of Sam Peckinpah, "complete with slow-motion bullets and blood sprays. Stick with it, though, and the show blossoms, featuring a few terrific action sequences while introducing into this grim world seminal characters the Punisher and Elektra." Kevin Fitzpatrick of Screen Crush felt the first seven episodes of the season seemed "to have learned the best of both" from season one and "Jessica Jones", "placing its most compelling imagery front and center straightaway, but still taking time to pick apart the characters beneath them, rather than shout platitudes about saving the city." He also praised the castings of Bernthal and Yung as Punisher and Elektra, respectively, and enjoyed "the improved spotlight" for Foggy and Karen, given the reduction of Dawson saying, "So many superhero series struggle to draw its supporting characters as compellingly as the action, and "Daredevil"s particular blend of set piece and legal thriller feels inescapably original." However, Fitzpatrick did note the series lacked the presence Vondie Curtis-Hall brought as Ben Urich in the first season. He concluded that the season's progression "feels much cleaner" than the first's, "moving almost in acts more than back and forth victories...Even the aim feels that much more cohesive, to start in a place of Matt, Foggy and Karen all confident in their new roles, but wrestling with the consequence of their choice to always help the helpless." Merrill Barr of "Forbes" said, ""Daredevil" season two is very much the same excellent show "Daredevil" season one was...but in the places it isn't, it's also very much improved". Barr praised Bernthal as the Punisher, and noted the reduction in the amount of "thick blacks" in the cinematography that the first season was criticized for.


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Collider's Chris Cabin also praised the first seven episodes of the season, giving it four stars, and saying that the series "finds overwhelmingly sincere and effective traces of humanity in a genre that has been hard-pressed to feel overtly pre-conceived in its political, societal, and philosophical ideas." He said "Daredevil", like "Jessica Jones", "feels like a show that is constantly evolving, and consistently searching for challenges." Cabin also felt that "the show's use of sound and image to infer or suggest as much as any line of dialogue...continues to set this series apart from its half-measured kin." He added that the season "goes to great lengths to make the stakes of" the moral and ethical issues, as seen by pitting Daredevil's methods against the Punisher, "intensely involving and thrilling," while also praising the action sequences of the season and the "streamlined focus on character in the writing", claiming that "none of the [MCU] films have even an iota of the seductive intimacy and heart of this show." Dennis Perkins writing for "The A.V. Club" awarded the season a "B+", missing D'Onofrio's "towering menace as Wilson Fisk", but feeling that Bernthal and Yung "make Castle and Elektra an effective season-long two-pronged assault on Matt Murdock's heroic identity, which gives "Daredevil"s supporting characters a clearer purpose as well." IGN reviewer Matt Fowler, after reviewing all the episodes of season two individually, gave the season a 9.3 out of 10, saying that it "excelled at both action and story while giving us a more complex and layered season than the first...Gone was a notable 'main villain', but instead we were given fantastic performances by not only the main cast but by newcomers Jon Bernthal and Elodie Yung."


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Jack Shepherd of "The Independent" was slightly more critical of the early episodes of the season, saying the ideological battle between Murdock and Castle "is the crux of these first few episodes and also highlights the main problem with "Daredevil"" pointing out that "there is no real bad guy here" and there "is only so many times you can watch an episode end with Daredevil and Punisher beating each other up before you start thinking there is a glitch in the Matrix." He also agreed with Fitzpatick regarding Curtis-Hall's presence as Ben Urich not being filled in the season. Despite this, Shepherd added that the season began to pick up by the fourth episode, with the introduction of Elektra, capping with episodes six and seven, which he called "by far the season's best, laying the foundation for an exciting story ahead", while also praising Cox, Henson, Woll, Bernthal and Yung for their performances. Daniel Fienberg, reviewing the first seven episodes for "The Hollywood Reporter", expressed similar sentiments as Shepherd, feeling the episodes missed what Vincent D'Onofrio brought as Wilson Fisk in the first season, or at least "the through-line threat that he presented...Fortunately, the [Punisher and Elektra] are vividly realized and the action is still visceral and brutal and maybe the big picture will emerge in the season's second half. Because of the portrayals of those two characters, he felt "that there's a challenge to remain wholly invested in plotlines that don't involve them". Despite being "right on the edge of desensitization" regarding the fight scenes, Fienberg still praised them, highlighting the different styles Elektra and the Punisher used "vary[ing] the dynamic enough".


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: "Entertainment Weekly"s Jeff Jensen award the season a "C", calling it "a straight-up disappointment." Calling the early episodes with Daredevil's face-off with the Punisher "skimpy and sluggish from the get-go", Jensen also added that they were "a flatline of inert drama, with long scenes of windy exposition or dull skulking interrupted by the occasional well-staged if ridiculously gory fight sequence." Jensen added that "hope for improvement" came with the introduction of Elektra, and that the sixth episode should be a template for the rest of the season, which ultimately, he felt was "stiff and silly." Daniel D'Addario for "Time" was also disappointed with the season, saying, "it's hard not to feel that one is being taken for a long, and not particularly enjoyable, ride... "Daredevil" just wants to dole out fun doses of extreme gore on the path to an endpoint on a business plan. Any viewer committed to story is left searching in the dark." Vulture's Abraham Riesman joined the criticism, calling the seven episodes reviewed "a dour parade of one cliché after another, recycling themes, images, and rhetoric that audiences have seen countless times before." Though he wouldn't call it "", he felt that with all the other superhero content released in the same year, "it feels woefully unnecessary." However, he did praise Bernthal's performance, saying it was "another excitingly sympathetic antagonist" after D'Onofrio's "standout performance" as Fisk in the first season, but was "nowhere near as fun". In contrast to the first season of "Jessica Jones", which Riseman called Marvel's "first attempt to depict sex in any kind of realistic way", he called the second season of "Daredevil" "astoundingly un-sexy."


title: Daredevil (season 2)

text: Got Your 6, which "champions positive portrayals of military veterans in Hollywood", deemed "Semper Fidelis" to be "6 Certified" for "responsibly and accurately portray[ing] veterans via the character of Frank Castle, The Punisher, who insists that his legal representation not perpetuate veteran stereotypes of PTSD in order to defend his actions". "Daredevil" was included on Hidden Remote's Best TV Series of 2016 list, ranking 4th. Comic Book Resources named "Seven Minutes in Heaven" and "Penny and Dime" as the 12th and 2nd best episodes in 2016 among comic book-related television series, respectively.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to play. The term "real-time strategy" was coined by Brett Sperry to market "Dune II" in the early 1990s.


title: Real-time strategy

text: In a real-time strategy game, each participant positions structures and maneuvers multiple units under their indirect control to secure areas of the map and/or destroy their opponents' assets. In a typical RTS game, it is possible to create additional units and structures, generally limited by a requirement to expend accumulated resources. These resources are in turn garnered by controlling special points on the map and/or possessing certain types of units and structures devoted to this purpose. More specifically, the typical game in the RTS genre features resource-gathering, base-building, in-game technological development, and indirect control of units.


title: Real-time strategy

text: The tasks a player must perform to win an RTS game can be very demanding, and complex user interfaces have evolved for them. Some features have been borrowed from desktop environments; for example, the technique of "clicking and dragging" to create a box that selects all units under a given area. Though some video game genres share conceptual and gameplay similarities with the RTS template, recognized genres are generally not subsumed as RTS games. For instance, city-building games, construction and management simulations, and games of real-time tactics are generally not considered real-time strategy per se. This would only apply to anything considered a god game, where the player assumes a god-like role of creation.


title: Real-time strategy

text: The genre recognized today as "real-time strategy" emerged from an extended period of evolution and refinement. Games sometimes perceived as ancestors of the real-time strategy genre were never marketed or designed as such. As a result, designating "early real-time strategy" titles is problematic because such games are being held up to modern standards. The genre initially evolved separately in the United Kingdom, Japan, and North America, afterward gradually merging into a unified worldwide tradition.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Tim Barry in May 1981 described in "InfoWorld" a multiplayer, real-time strategy space game that ran ("and probably still is") on an IBM System/370 Model 168 at a large San Francisco Bay area company. He stated that it had "far better support than many of the application programs used in the business", with a published manual and regular schedule. Comparing its complexity to "Dallas", Barry recalled that "when the game was restored at 5 P.M., a lot of regular work stopped".


title: Real-time strategy

text: Ars Technica traces the genre's roots back to "Utopia" (1981), citing it as the "birth of a genre", with a "real-time element" that was "virtually unheard of", thus making it "arguably the earliest ancestor of the real-time strategy genre". According to Ars Technica, "Utopia" was a turn-based strategy game with hybrid elements that ran "in real-time but events happened on a regular turn-based cycle." According to Brett Weiss, "Utopia" is often cited as "the first real-time strategy game." According to Matt Barton and Bill Loguidice, "Utopia" "helped set the template" for the genre, but has "more in common with "SimCity" than it does with "Dune II" and later RTS games." Allgame listed "War of Nerves" as the oldest "2D Real-Time Strategy". Barton also cites "Cytron Masters" (1982), saying it was "one of the first (if not "the" first) real-time strategy games [sic]." On the other hand, Scott Sharkey of 1UP argues that, while "Cytron Masters" "attempted real time strategy", it was "much more tactical than strategic" due to "the inability to construct units or manage resources". "BYTE" in December 1982 published as an Apple II type-in program "Cosmic Conquest". The winner of the magazine's annual Game Contest, the author described it as a "single-player game of real-time action and strategic decision making". The magazine described it as "a real-time space strategy game". The game has elements of resource management and wargaming.


title: Real-time strategy

text: In the United Kingdom, the earliest real-time strategy games are "Stonkers" by John Gibson, published in 1983 by Imagine Software for the ZX Spectrum, and "Nether Earth" for ZX Spectrum in 1987. In North America, the oldest game retrospectively classified as real-time strategy by several sources is "The Ancient Art of War" (1984), designed by Dave and Barry Murry of Evryware, followed by "The Ancient Art of War at Sea" in 1987.


title: Real-time strategy

text: In Japan, the earliest is "Bokosuka Wars" (1983), an early strategy RPG (or "simulation RPG"); the game revolves around the player leading an army across a battlefield against enemy forces in real-time while recruiting/spawning soldiers along the way, for which it is considered by Ray Barnholt of 1UP.com to be an early prototype real-time strategy game. Another early title with real-time strategy elements is Sega's "Gain Ground" (1988), a strategy-action game that involved directing a set of troops across various enemy-filled levels. TechnoSoft's "Herzog" (1988) is regarded as a precursor to the real-time strategy genre, being the predecessor to "Herzog Zwei" and somewhat similar in nature, though primitive in comparison.


title: Real-time strategy

text: IGN cites "Herzog Zwei", released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis home console in 1989 as "arguably the first RTS game ever", and it is often cited as "the first real-time strategy game" according to "Ars Technica". It combines traditional strategy gameplay with fully real-time, fast-paced, arcade-style action gameplay, featuring a split-screen two-player mode where both players are in action simultaneously and there are no pauses while decisions are taken, forcing players to think quickly while on the move. In "Herzog Zwei", though the player only controls one unit, the manner of control foreshadowed the point-and-click mechanic of later games. Scott Sharkey of 1UP argues that it introduced much of the genre conventions, including unit construction and resource management, with the control and destruction of bases being an important aspect of the game, as were the economic/production aspects of those bases. "Herzog Zwei" is credited by 1UP as a landmark that defined the genre and as "the progenitor of all modern real-time strategy games." Chuck Sperry cited "Herzog Zwei" as an influence on "Dune II".


title: Real-time strategy

text: Notable as well are early games like "Mega Lo Mania" by Sensible Software (1991) and "Supremacy" (also called "Overlord" – 1990). Although these two lacked direct control of military units, they both offered considerable control of resource management and economic systems. In addition, "Mega Lo Mania" has advanced technology trees that determine offensive and defensive prowess. Another early (1988) game, "Carrier Command" by Realtime Games, involved real-time responses to events in the game, requiring management of resources and control of vehicles. The early game "Sim Ant" by Maxis (1991) had resource gathering, and controlling an attacking army by having them follow a lead unit. However, it was with the release of "Dune II" from Westwood Studios (1992) that real-time strategy became recognized as a distinct genre of video games.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Although real-time strategy games have an extensive history, some titles have served to define the popular perception of the genre and expectations of real-time strategy titles more than others, in particular the games released between 1992 and 1998 by Westwood Studios and Blizzard Entertainment.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Drawing influence from "Herzog Zwei", "Populous", "Eye of the Beholder", and the Macintosh user interface, Westwood's "Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty" (1992) featured all the core concepts and mechanics of modern real-time strategy games that are still used today, such as using the mouse to move units, and gathering resources, and as such served as the prototype for later real-time strategy games. According to its co-designer and lead programmer, Joe Bostic, a "benefit over "Herzog Zwei" is that we had the advantage of a mouse and keyboard. This greatly facilitated precise player control, which enabled the player to give orders to individual units. The mouse, and the direct control it allowed, was critical in making the RTS genre possible.”


title: Real-time strategy

text: The success of "Dune II" encouraged several games which became influential in their own right." " (1994) achieved great prominence upon its release, owing in part to its use of a fantasy setting and also to its depiction of a wide variety of buildings (such as farms) which approximated a full fictitious society, not just a military force. "Command & Conquer" (1995), as well as "" (1996), became the most popular early RTS games. These two games contended with "" after its release in late 1995.


title: Real-time strategy

text: "Total Annihilation", released by Cavedog Entertainment in 1997, introduced 3D units and terrain and focused on huge battles that emphasized macromanagement over micromanagement. It featured a streamlined interface that would influence many RTS games in later years. "Age of Empires", released by Ensemble Studios in 1997 tried to put a game in a slower pace, combining elements of "Civilization" with the real-time strategy concept by introducing ages of technologies. In 1998, Blizzard released the game "StarCraft", which became an international phenomenon and is still played in large professional leagues to this day. Collectively, all of these games defined the genre, providing the "de facto" benchmark against which new real-time strategy games are measured.


title: Real-time strategy

text: The real-time strategy genre has been relatively stable since 1995. Additions to the genre's concept in newer games tend to emphasize more of the basic RTS elements (higher unit caps, more unit types, larger maps, etc.). Rather than innovations to the game concept, new games generally focus on refining aspects of successful predecessors. Cavedog's "Total Annihilation" from 1997 introduced the first 3D units and terrain in real-time strategy games. The "Age of Empires" focus on historical setting and age advancement was refined further by its sequel, "Age of Empires II: Age of Kings", and by Stainless Steel Studios' "Empire Earth" in 2001. GSC Game World's "Cossacks" series brought population caps into the tens of thousands.


title: Real-time strategy

text: "Dungeon Keeper" (1997), "" (1998), "Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds" (1998), "Warzone 2100" (1999), "Machines" (1999), "Homeworld" (1999), and "Dark Reign 2" (2000) were among the first completely 3D real-time strategy titles. "Homeworld" featured a 3D environment in space, therefore allowing movement in every direction, a feature which its semi-sequel, "Homeworld Cataclysm" (2000) continued to build upon adding features such as waypoints. "Homeworld 2", released in 2003, streamlined movement in the 360° 3D environment. Furthermore, "Machines", which was also released in 1999 and featured a nearly 100% 3D environment, attempted to combine the RTS genre with a first-person shooter (FPS) genre although it was not a particularly successful title. These games were followed by a short period of interest in experimental strategy games such as "Allegiance" (2000). "Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds" was notable for being one of the few completely non-linear RTS games ever.


title: Real-time strategy

text: It is only in approximately 2002 that 3D real-time strategy became the standard, with both "Warcraft III" (2002) and Ensemble Studio's "Age of Mythology" (2002) being built on a full 3D game engine. "" introduced classic wargame elements, such as supply lines to the genre. "Battle Realms" (2001) was another full 3D game, but had limited camera views.


title: Real-time strategy

text: The move from 2D to 3D has been criticized in some cases. Issues with controlling the camera and placement of objects have been cited as problems.


title: Real-time strategy

text: A few games have experimented with diversifying map design, which continues to be largely two-dimensional even in 3D engines. "Earth 2150" (2000) allowed units to tunnel underground, effectively creating a dual-layer map; three-layer (orbit-surface-underground) maps were introduced in "Metal Fatigue". In addition, units could even be transported to entirely separate maps, with each map having its own window in the user interface. "" (2001) offered a simpler model: the main map contains locations that expand into their own maps. In these examples, however, the gameplay was essentially identical regardless of the map layer in question. "" (2005) emphasized its dual-layer maps by placing one of the game's two main resources in each map, making exploration and control of both maps fundamentally valuable.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Relatively few genres have emerged from or in competition with real-time strategy games, although real-time tactics (RTT), a superficially similar genre, emerged around 1995. In 1998, Activision attempted to combine the real-time strategy and first-person shooter genres in "Battlezone" (1998), while in 2002 Rage Games Limited attempted this with the "Hostile Waters" games. Later variants have included "Natural Selection" (2002), a game modification based on the Half-Life engine, and the free software "Tremulous"/"Unvanquished". "" (2003) combined the RPG and RTS elements in an online game.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Some games, borrowing from the real-time tactics (RTT) template, have moved toward an increased focus on tactics while downplaying traditional resource management, in which designated units collect the resources used for producing further units or buildings. Titles like "" (2004), "" (2006), and "Company of Heroes" (2006) replace the traditional resource gathering model with a strategic control-point system, in which control over strategic points yields construction/reinforcement points. "Ground Control" (2000) was the first such game to replace individual units with "squads".


title: Real-time strategy

text: Others are moving away from the traditional real-time strategy game model with the addition of other genre elements. One example is "Sins of a Solar Empire" (2008), released by Ironclad Games, which mixes elements of grand-scale stellar empire building games like "Master of Orion" with real-time strategy elements. Another example is indie game "Achron" (2011), which incorporates time travel as a game mechanic, allowing a player to send units forward or backward in time.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA) have originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy games, however this fusion of real-time strategy, role-playing, and action games has lost many traditional RTS elements. These type of games moved away from constructing additional structures, base management, army building, and controlling additional units. Map and the main structures for each team are still present, and destroying enemy main structure will secure victory as the ultimate victory condition. Unlike in RTS, a player has control over the only one single powerful unit, called "hero" or "champion", who advances in level, learns new abilities, and grows in power over the course of a match. Players can find various friendly and enemy units on the map at any given time assisting each team, however, these units are computer-controlled and players usually don't have direct control over their movement and creation; instead, they march forward along set paths. "Defense of the Ancients" ("DotA"), a "" mod from 2003, and its standalone sequel "Dota 2" (2013), as well as "League of Legends" (2009), and "Heroes of the Storm" (2015), are the typical representatives of the new strategy subgenre. Former game journalist Luke Smith called "DotA" "the ultimate RTS".


title: Real-time strategy

text: In a typical real-time strategy game, the screen is divided into a map area displaying the game world and terrain, units, and buildings, and an interface overlay containing command and production controls and often a "radar" or "minimap" overview of the entire map. The player is usually given an isometric perspective of the world, or a free-roaming camera from an aerial viewpoint for modern 3D games. Players mainly scroll the screen and issue commands with the mouse, and may also use keyboard shortcuts.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Gameplay generally consists of the player being positioned somewhere in the map with a few units or a building that is capable of building other units/buildings. Often, but not always, the player must build specific structures to unlock more advanced units in the tech tree. Often, but not always, RTS games require the player to build an army (ranging from small squads of no more than 2 units, to literally hundreds of units) and using them to either defend themselves from a virtual form of Human wave attack or to eliminate enemies who possess bases with unit production capacities of their own. Occasionally, RTS games will have a preset number of units for the player to control and do not allow building of additional ones.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Resource gathering is commonly the main focus of the RTS games, but other titles of the genre place higher gameplay significance to how units are used in combat ("" for example, awards credits for territory captured rather than gathered resources), the extreme example of which are games of the real-time tactical genre. Some titles impose a ceiling on the number simultaneous troops, which becomes a key gameplay consideration, a significant example being "StarCraft", while other titles have no such unit cap.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Micromanagement deals with a player's constant need to manage and maintain individual units and resources on a fine scale. On the other hand, macromanagement refers to a player's management of economic expansion and large-scale strategic maneuvering, allowing the player time to think and consider possible solutions. Micromanagement involves the use of combat tactics involved in the present, whereas macromanagement considers the greater scale of the game in an attempt to predict the future.


title: Real-time strategy

text: A debate has emerged between fans of real-time strategy (RTS) and turn-based strategy (TBS) (and related genres) based on the merits of the real-time and turn-based systems. Because of their generally faster-paced nature (and in some cases a smaller learning curve), real-time strategy games have surpassed the popularity of turn-based strategy computer games. In the past, a common criticism was to regard real-time strategy games as "cheap imitations" of turn-based strategy games, arguing that real-time strategy games had a tendency to devolve into "click-fests" in which the player who was faster with the mouse generally won, because they could give orders to their units at a faster rate.


title: Real-time strategy

text: The common retort is that success involves not just fast clicking, but also the ability to make sound decisions under time pressure. The "clickfest" argument is also often voiced alongside a "button babysitting" criticism, which pointed out that a great deal of game time is spent either waiting and watching for the next time a production button could be clicked, or rapidly alternating between different units and buildings, clicking their respective button.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Some titles attempt to merge the two systems: for example, the role-playing game "Fallout" uses turn-based combat and real-time gameplay, while the real-time strategy games "Homeworld", "Rise of Nations", and the games of the "Total War" and "Hegemony" series allow the player to pause the game and issue orders. Additionally, the "Total War" series has a combination of a turn-based strategy map with a real-time battle map. Another example of a game combining both turn-based game and real-time-strategy is "" which allows players, in a 'War of the Ring' game, to play a turn-based strategy game, but also battle each other in real time.


title: Real-time strategy

text: A second criticism of the RTS genre is the importance of skill over strategy in real-time strategy games. The manual dexterity and ability to multitask and divide one's attention is often considered the most important aspect to succeeding at the RTS genre. According to Troy Dunniway, former Westwood developer who has also worked on "", "A player controls hundreds of units, dozens of buildings and many different events that are all happening simultaneously. There is only one player, and he can only pay attention to one thing at a time. Expert players can quickly flip between many different tasks, while casual gamers have more problems with this."


title: Real-time strategy

text: Real-time strategy games have been criticized for an overabundance of tactical considerations when compared to the amount of strategic gameplay found in such games. According to Chris Taylor, lead designer of "Supreme Commander", he said, "[My first attempt at visualizing RTSs in a fresh and interesting new way] was my realizing that although we call this genre 'Real-Time Strategy,' it should have been called 'Real-Time Tactics' with a dash of strategy thrown in." (Taylor then posits his own game as having surpassed this mold by including additional elements of broader strategic scope.)


title: Real-time strategy

text: In general terms, military strategy refers to the use of a broad arsenal of weapons including diplomatic, informational, military, and economic resources, whereas military tactics is more concerned with short-term goals such as winning an individual battle. In the context of strategy video games, however, the difference is often reduced to the more limited criteria of either a presence or absence of base building and unit production.


title: Real-time strategy

text: In an article for Gamasutra, Nathan Toronto criticizes real-time strategy games for too often having only one valid means of victory — attrition — comparing them unfavorably to real-time tactics games. Players' awareness that the only way for them to win or lose is militarily makes them unlikely to respond to gestures of diplomacy. The result is that the winner of a real-time strategy game is too often the best tactician rather than the best strategist. Troy Goodfellow counters this by saying that the problem is not that real-time strategy games are lacking in strategy (he says attrition is a form of strategy), rather it is that they too often have the "same" strategy: produce faster than you consume. He also states that building and managing armies is the conventional definition of real-time strategy, and that it is unfair to make comparisons with other genres.


title: Real-time strategy

text: In an article for GameSpy, Mark Walker criticizes real-time strategy games for their "lack" of combat tactics, suggesting real-time tactics games as a more suitable substitute. He also says that developers need to begin looking outside the genre for new ideas in order for strategy games to continue to be successful in the future.


title: Real-time strategy

text: This criticism has ushered into a couple of hybrid designs that try to resolve the issues. The games of the "Total War" series have a combination of a (turn-based) strategy map with a (real-time) battle map, allowing the player to concentrate on one or the other. The games of the "Hegemony" series also combine a strategy map and a battle map (in full real-time) and the player can at any point in time seamlessly zoom in and out in between both.


title: Real-time strategy

text: A third common criticism is that real-time gameplay often degenerates into "rushes" where the players try to gain the advantage and subsequently defeat the opponent as quickly in the game as possible, preferably before the opposition is capable of successfully reacting. For example, the original "Command & Conquer" gave birth to the now-common "tank rush" tactic, where the game outcome is often decided very early on by one player gaining an initial advantage in resources and producing large amounts of a relatively powerful but still quite cheap unit—which is thrown at the opposition before they have had time to establish defenses or production. Although this strategy has been criticized for encouraging overwhelming force over strategy and tactics, defenders of the strategy argue that they're simply taking advantage of the strategies utilized, and some argue that it is a realistic representation of warfare. One of the most infamous versions of a rush is the "Zergling rush" from the real-time strategy game "StarCraft", where the Zerg player would morph one of their starting workers (or the first one produced) into a spawning pool immediately and use all of their resources to produce Zerglings, attacking once they have enough to overwhelm any early defense; in fact, the term "zerging" has become synonymous with rushing.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Some games have since introduced designs that do not easily lend themselves to rushes. For example the Hegemony series made supply and (seasonal) resource management an integral part of its gameplay, thus limiting rapid expansion.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Despite "Herzog Zwei", a console game, laying the foundations for the real-time strategy genre, RTS games never gained popularity on consoles like they did on the PC platform. Real-time strategy games made for video game consoles have been consistently criticized due to their control schemes, as the PC's keyboard and mouse are considered to be superior to a console's gamepad for the genre. Thus, RTS games for home consoles have been met with mixed success. Scott Sharkey of 1UP notes that "Herzog Zwei" had already "offered a nearly perfect solution to the problem by giving the player direct control of a single powerful unit and near autonomy for everything else," and is surprised "that more console RTS games aren't designed with this kind of interface in mind from the ground up, rather than imitating" PC control schemes "that just doesn't work very well with a controller". Some handheld consoles like "Napoleon" on the GBA uses a similar solution.


title: Real-time strategy

text: However, several console titles in the genre received positive reception. The "Pikmin" series, which began in 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube, is beloved by players and became a million-seller. Similarly, "Halo Wars", which was released in 2009 for the Xbox 360, generated generally positive reviews, achieved an 82% critic average on aggregate web sites, and sold over 1 million copies.


title: Real-time strategy

text: According to IGN, the gameplay lacks the traditional RTS concepts of limited resources and resource gathering and lacks multiple buildings.


title: Real-time strategy

text: "Total Annihilation" (1997) was the first real-time strategy game to utilize true 3D units, terrain, and physics in both rendering and in gameplay. For instance, the missiles in "Total Annihilation" travel in real time in simulated 3D space, and they can miss their target by passing over or under it. Similarly, missile-armed units in "Earth 2150" are at a serious disadvantage when the opponent is on high ground because the missiles often hit the cliffside, even in the case when the attacker is a missile-armed helicopter. "Homeworld", "Warzone 2100 and Machines" (all released in 1999) advanced the use of fully 3D environments in real-time strategy titles. In the case of "Homeworld", the game is set in space, offering a uniquely exploitable 3D environment in which all units can move vertically in addition to the horizontal plane. However, the near-industry-wide switch to full 3D was very gradual and most real-time strategy titles, including the first sequels to "Command & Conquer", initially used isometric 3D graphics made by pre-rendered 3D tiles. Only in later years did these games begin to use true 3D graphics and gameplay, making it possible to rotate the view of the battlefield in real-time. "Spring" is a good example of the transformation from semi-3D to full-3D game simulations. It is an "open-source" project which aims to give a "Total Annihilation" game-play experience in three dimensions. The most ambitious use of full 3D graphics was realized in "Supreme Commander", where all projectiles, units and terrain were simulated in real time, taking full advantage of the UI's zoom feature, which allowed cartographic style navigation of the 3D environment. This led to a number of unique gameplay elements, which were mostly obscured by the lack of computing power available in 2007, at the release date.


title: Real-time strategy

text: Japanese game developers Nippon Ichi and Vanillaware worked together on "Grim Grimoire", a PlayStation 2 title released in 2007, which features hand-drawn animated 2D graphics.


title: Real-time strategy

text: From 2010, real-time strategy games more commonly incorporated physics engines, such as Havok, in order to increase realism experienced in gameplay. A modern real-time strategy game that uses a physics engine is Ensemble Studios' "Age of Empires III", released on October 18, 2005, which used the Havok Game Dynamics SDK to power its real-time physics. "Company of Heroes" is another real-time strategy game that uses realistically modeled physics as a part of gameplay, including fully destructible environments.


title: Real-time strategy

text: RTS World tournaments have been held for both "StarCraft" and "Warcraft III" since their 1998 and 2002 releases. The games have been so successful that some players have earned over $200,000 at the "Warcraft III World Championships". In addition, hundreds of "StarCraft II" tournaments are held yearly, as it is becoming an increasingly popular branch of e-sports. Notable tournaments include MLG, GSL, and Dreamhack. RTS tournaments are especially popular in South Korea.


title: Jasmin Savoy Brown

text: Jasmin Savoy Brown (born March 21, 1994) is an American actress. She has appeared in the HBO mystery drama series "The Leftovers" (2015–2017), the ABC legal drama series "For the People" (2018–2019), and the Showtime psychological drama series "Yellowjackets" (2021–present).


title: Jasmin Savoy Brown

text: Brown also acted in "Sound of Violence" (2021) and "Scream" (2022). She provided the voice and motion capture for Phin Mason / Tinkerer in the video game "" (2020).


title: Jasmin Savoy Brown

text: Brown was born in Alameda, California and raised in Springfield, Oregon. At age four, Brown had her first role in a church musical which sparked her love of performing. Growing up, she participated in numerous musicals and was a member of various musical clubs, choirs and groups, some of which include University of Oregon, Portland Shakespeare Project, Art's Umbrella, Oregon Children's Choir, and Upstart Crow Studios. Following high school, Brown moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue acting.


title: Jasmin Savoy Brown

text: Brown began with minor roles in NBC's "Grimm" and Freeform's "The Fosters". She went on to star in "Camp Harlow" and "Forgotten Hero", and guest star on NBC's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine".


title: Jasmin Savoy Brown

text: In 2015, Brown landed the recurring role of Evangeline "Evie" Murphy in seasons 2 and 3 of HBO's "The Leftovers". Evie is the daughter of Erika and John who goes missing with her friends after an earthquake. Following "The Leftovers", Brown was cast as Nina (Cameron's new girlfriend) on Freeform's "Stitchers".


title: Jasmin Savoy Brown

text: Brown went on to play series regular character Emilia Bassano on the TNT drama series "Will", which told the story of William Shakespeare. Emilia was a musician, poet, and writer, who went on to become the first female professional English poet and was believed to be the "Dark Lady" of Will’s sonnets.


title: Jasmin Savoy Brown

text: In September 2020, Brown was cast as Mindy Meeks-Martin on the fifth "Scream" film, which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The film was released on January 14, 2022.


title: Sultan

text: Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty (i.e., not having dependence on any higher ruler) without claiming the overall caliphate, or to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate. The adjectival form of the word is "sultanic", and the state and territories ruled by a sultan, as well as his office, are referred to as a sultanate ( ").


title: Sultan

text: The term is distinct from king ( "), despite both referring to a sovereign ruler. The use of "sultan" is restricted to Muslim countries, where the title carries religious significance, contrasting the more secular "king", which is used in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries.


title: Sultan

text: Brunei and Oman are the only independent countries which retain the title "sultan" for their monarchs. In recent years, the title has been gradually replaced by "king" by contemporary hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law. A notable example is Morocco, whose monarch changed his title from sultan to king in 1957.


title: Sultan

text: The word derives from the Arabic and Semitic root "salaṭa" "to be hard, strong". The noun "sulṭān" initially designated a kind of moral authority or spiritual power (as opposed to political power), and it is used in this sense several times in the Qur'an.


title: Sultan

text: In the early Muslim world, ultimate power and authority was theoretically held by the caliph, who was considered the leader of the caliphate. The increasing political fragmentation of the Muslim world after the 8th century, however, challenged this consensus. Local governors with administrative authority held the title of "amir" (traditionally translated as "commander" or "prince") and were appointed by the caliph, but in the 9th century some of these became "de facto" independent rulers who founded their own dynasties, such as the Aghlabids and Tulunids. Towards the late 10th century, the term "sultan" begins to be used to denote an individual ruler with practically sovereign authority, although the early evolution of the term is complicated and difficult to establish. The first major figure to clearly grant himself this title was the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud (r. 998–1030 CE) who controlled an empire over present-day Afghanistan and the surrounding region. Soon after, the Great Seljuks adopted this title after defeating the Ghaznavid Empire and taking control of an even larger territory which included Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid caliphs. The early Seljuk leader Tughril Bey was the first leader to adopt the epithet "sultan" on his coinage. While the Seljuks acknowledged the caliphs in Baghdad formally as the universal leader of the Muslim community, their own political power clearly overshadowed the latter. This led to various Muslim scholars – notably Al-Juwayni and Al-Ghazali – attempting to develop theoretical justifications for the political authority of the Seljuk sultans within the framework of the formal supreme authority of the recognized caliphs. In general, the theories maintained that all legitimate authority derived from the caliph, but that it was delegated to sovereign rulers whom the caliph recognized. Al-Ghazali, for example, argued that while the caliph was the guarantor of Islamic law ("shari'a"), coercive power was required to enforce the law in practice and the leader who exercised that power directly was the sultan.


title: Sultan

text: The position of sultan continued to grow in importance during the period of the Crusades, when leaders who held the title of "sultan" (such as Salah ad-Din and the Ayyubid dynasty) led the confrontation against the Crusader states in the Levant. Views about the office of the sultan further developed during the crisis that followed the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, which eliminated the remnants of Abbasid political power. Thenceforth, the surviving descendants of the Abbasid caliphs lived in Cairo under the protection of the Mamluks and were still nominally recognized by the latter. However, from this time on they effectively had no authority and were not universally recognized across the Sunni Muslim world. As protectors of the line of the Abbasid caliphs, the Mamluks recognized themselves as sultans and the Muslim scholar Khalil al-Zahiri argued that only they could hold that title. Nonetheless, in practice, many Muslim rulers of this period were now using the title as well. Mongol rulers (who had since converted to Islam) and other Turkish rulers were among those who did so.


title: Sultan

text: The position of sultan and caliph began to blend together in the 16th century when the Ottoman Empire conquered the Mamluk Empire and became the indisputable leading Sunni Muslim power across most of the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. The 16th-century Ottoman scholar and jurist, Ebüssuûd Mehmet Efendi, recognized the Ottoman sultan (Suleiman the Magnificent at the time) as the caliph and universal leader of all Muslims. This conflation of sultan and caliph became more clearly emphasized in the 19th century during the Ottoman Empire's territorial decline, when Ottoman authorities sought to cast the sultan as the leader of the entire Muslim community in the face of European (Christian) colonial expansion. As part of this narrative, it was claimed that when Sultan Selim I captured Cairo in 1517, the last descendant of the Abbasids in Cairo formally passed on the position of caliph to him. This combination thus elevated the sultan's religious or spiritual authority, in addition to his formal political authority.


title: Sultan

text: During this later period, the title of sultan was still used outside the Ottoman Empire as well, as with the examples of the Somali aristocrats, Malay nobles and the sultans of Morocco (such as the Alaouite dynasty founded in the 17th century). It was, however, not used as a sovereign title by Shi'a Muslim rulers. The Safavid dynasty of Iran, who controlled the largest Shi'a Muslim state of this era, mainly used the Persian title "Shah", a tradition which continued under subsequent dynasties. The term "sultan", by contrast, was mainly given to provincial governors within their realm.


title: Sultan

text: As a feminine form of "sultan", used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah and this title has been used legally for some (not all) Muslim women monarchs and sultan's mothers and chief consorts. However, Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses "sultan" for imperial lady, as Turkish grammar uses the same words for both women and men. However, this styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans. In a similar usage, the wife of a German field marshal might be styled "Frau Feldmarschall" (similarly, in French, constructions of the type "madame la maréchale" were historically used for the wives of office-holders). The female leaders in Muslim history are correctly known as "sultanas". However, the wife of the sultan in the Sultanate of Sulu is styled as the "panguian" while the sultan's chief wife in many sultanates of Indonesia and Malaysia are known as "permaisuri", "Tunku Ampuan", "Raja Perempuan", or "Tengku Ampuan". The queen consort in Brunei especially is known as "Raja Isteri" with the title of "Pengiran Anak" suffixed, should the queen consort also be a royal princess.


title: Sultan

text: Apparently derived from the Arabic "malik", this was the alternative native style of the sultans of the Kilwa Sultanate in Tanganyika (presently the continental part of Tanzania).


title: Sultan

text: "Mfalume" is the title of various native Muslim rulers, generally rendered in Arabic and in western languages as Sultan:


title: Sultan

text: In some parts of the Middle East and North Africa, there still exist regional sultans or people who are descendants of sultans and who are styled as such. See List of current constituent Asian monarchs and List of current constituent African monarchs.


title: Sultan

text: By the beginning of the 16th century, the title sultan was carried by both men and women of the Ottoman dynasty and was replacing other titles by which prominent members of the imperial family had been known (notably "khatun" for women and "bey" for men). This usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative.


title: Sultan

text: Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as "sultan", but Ottomans themselves used "padişah" (emperor) or "hünkar" to refer to their ruler. The emperor's formal title consisted of "sultan" together with "khan" (for example, Sultan Suleiman Khan). In formal address, the sultan's children were also entitled "sultan", with imperial princes (Şehzade) carrying the title before their given name, with imperial princesses carrying it after. Example, Şehzade Sultan Mehmed and Mihrimah Sultan, son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent. Like imperial princesses, living mother and main consort of reigning sultan also carried the title after their given names, for example, Hafsa Sultan, Suleiman's mother and first valide sultan, and Hürrem Sultan, Suleiman's chief consort and first haseki sultan. The evolving usage of this title reflected power shifts among imperial women, especially between Sultanate of Women, as the position of main consort eroded over the course of 17th century, the main consort lost the title "sultan", which replaced by "kadin", a title related to the earlier "khatun". Henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non imperial blood to carry the title "sultan".


title: Sultan

text: In Kazakh Khanate a Sultan was a lord from the ruling dynasty (a direct descendants of Genghis Khan) elected by clans, i.e. a kind of princes. The best of sultans was elected as khan by people at Kurultai. See


title: Sultan

text: In a number of post-caliphal states under Mongol or Turkic rule, there was a feudal type of military hierarchy. These administrations were often decimal (mainly in larger empires), using originally princely titles such as khan, malik, amir as mere rank denominations.


title: Sultan

text: In the Persian empire, the rank of sultan was roughly equivalent to that of a modern-day captain in the West; socially in the fifth-rank class, styled 'Ali Jah.