title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" received positive reviews, with praise directed at its narrative, art style, characters, ending and gameplay. Criticisms included a slow start and failure to distinguish itself from its predecessor. The multiplayer mode was supported with downloadable content, and a single-player campaign expansion, "Minerva's Den", released in August 2010. The game sold more than 3 million copies, but did not meet the publisher's sales expectations. While its review average was worse than "BioShock", retrospectives have reevaluated "BioShock 2" as a worthy entry, or even the best of the series. A remastered version was released as part of "" for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" takes place in the city of Rapture, an underwater metropolis hidden from the world. Rapture was founded in the 1940s by billionaire Andrew Ryan to establish a city free from religious influences and government regulation. The city's citizens soon began "splicing"—genetically modifying themselves using ADAM, a substance derived from sea slugs. ADAM was used to create "plasmids" that enable superpowers, such the ability to create lightning or control fire. Class conflict and civil war were exacerbated by the side effects of ADAM abuse. Modified and conditioned children, called "Little Sisters", collected scarce ADAM from corpses and recycled it under the protection of armed and armored "Big Daddies". Rapture descended into civil war and becomes a crumbling dystopia populated by Splicers, the spliced remains of the citizenry. In the aftermath of Ryan's death during the first "BioShock", the dissident collectivist Sofia Lamb and her followers, known as "the Rapture Family", assume control of the city.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" begins on New Year's Eve, 1958. Subject Delta, a Big Daddy, patrols Rapture with his Little Sister Eleanor. Sofia Lamb, Eleanor's mother, separates the pair and forces Delta to kill himself. Delta awakens in 1968, resurrected by a Little Sister under the direction of Eleanor. Delta is informed by Brigid Tenenbaum, the custodian of the rehabilitated Little Sisters, that because he has a physiological bond with Eleanor, he will die unless he finds her. Helped by Tenenbaum's ally Augustus Sinclair, Delta makes his way to Eleanor, who is trapped in Sofia Lamb's stronghold. Lamb plans to use ADAM to transfer the minds and memories of all of Rapture's inhabitants into Eleanor, to create a selfless leader. Traveling through the city, Delta encounters members of Lamb's Rapture Family and can choose whether to kill or spare them.


title: BioShock 2

text: Delta arrives at the containment chamber where Eleanor is held, but Lamb captures him and severs his bond to Eleanor by temporarily stopping Eleanor's heart. Delta begins to weaken as the bond cannot be re-established. Eleanor transforms herself into a Big Sister to free Delta. Together they head for an escape pod Sinclair prepared to escape the city. They find that Lamb has converted Sinclair into a Big Daddy and are forced to kill him. Eleanor and Delta make it to the escape pod, but Delta is mortally wounded by a trap set by Lamb.


title: BioShock 2

text: The ending is influenced by how the player interacted with Little Sisters and the fates of the Rapture Family's members. Eleanor can either save her mother or leave her to drown. Delta succumbs to his wounds; Eleanor either absorbs his ADAM, personality and memories and leaves Rapture with the Little Sisters to better the world at large, or forcibly extracts Delta's ADAM and becomes bent on world domination.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" is a first-person shooter. The player assumes the character of Subject Delta eight years after the events of the "BioShock". The player explores Rapture and fights off Splicers using weapons, environmental hazards, and plasmids. Plasmids grant powers such as telekenesis and must be recharged with "EVE" before further use. The player can equip tonics—passive bonuses varying from increased speed to reduced EVE usage. Several weapons in "BioShock 2" are unique to the Big Daddy, including a powerful drill and a rivet gun. Unlike in "Bioshock", the player can use each weapon in a close-range melee attack, and may simultaneously equip a weapon and a plasmid. If the player is killed, they are revived via "vita-chambers."


title: BioShock 2

text: Players scavenge ammunition and supplies as they explore Rapture, and may purchase items at vending machines scattered throughout the city. Weapons can be loaded with various types of ammunition for greater effectiveness against certain types of foes. They can also be upgraded at certain machines; three cumulative upgrades enable a special weapon effect—for example, the modified rivet gun shoots super-heated projectiles that ignite enemies.


title: BioShock 2

text: Some game mechanics were streamlined from "BioShock", such as hacking into security systems and turrets. This is represented by a lengthy "Pipe Mania–"style minigame in "BioShock", but a shorter timing puzzle in "BioShock 2". The player stops a needle on a colored gauge; stopping on the gauge's green area completes the hack, and hitting small blue areas gives a bonus. If the needle lands on the white or red portions, the hack fails and damages the player or triggers an alarm. The research camera mechanic was also altered, recording video instead of stills. Using it while damaging enemies in creative ways gives players bonuses or new abilities.


title: BioShock 2

text: ADAM is used to upgrade the player's plasmids and tonics. Upgraded plasmids bestow additional abilities for more tactical usage; for example, an upgraded Electro Bolt plasmid inflicts chains of electric damage between enemies, rather than affecting only a single target.


title: BioShock 2

text: As a Big Daddy, the player can defeat other Big Daddies and either adopt their Little Sisters—having them gather ADAM for the player—or harvest the Sisters for their ADAM outright. After adopting a Little Sister, the player escorts her to corpses littered around Rapture and must protect her while she harvests more ADAM. Once the Little Sister has collected enough ADAM, the player can choose to either harvest or save her. Harvesting or saving Little Sisters will provoke attacks from Big Sisters. ADAM can also be collected from slugs when venturing into the open ocean surrounding Rapture.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" features a story-driven multiplayer mode called "Fall of Rapture", in which the player plays one of Rapture's citizens during the 1959–1960 civil war. Plasmid manufacturer Sinclair Solutions asks the citizen to test out their weapons and plasmids as part of a rewards program. The mode shares many of "BioShock" weapons and plasmids, alongside new ones such as a chain gun and the Aero Dash plasmid. Players customize their character and equipped weapons and plasmids from their apartment, which serves as an optional visual representation of the game's menus.


title: BioShock 2

text: Multiplayer features seven different game modes. These include the deathmatch modes "Survival of the Fittest" and "Civil War"; "Capture the Sister", a capture the flag mode in which the objective to capture or defend is a Little Sister; and "Turf War", in which teams compete to control specific areas of a map. Maps are based on locations from "Bioshock". As the player progresses, new weapons, tonics, and plasmids are unlocked, and story-related audio diaries become available in the player's apartment.


title: BioShock 2

text: 2K Boston and Irrational Games's "BioShock" was released to critical acclaim and strong sales. Several ex-"BioShock" developers moved to 2K Marin, formed by Take-Two Interactive in late 2007 and based in the San Francisco Bay Area. 2K Marin began work on "BioShock 2" with a core team of eight in November 2007, with 78 additional personnel at the peak of development. The developers were given three mandates: that the game would ship for PlayStation 3 (the previous game was Xbox 360-exclusive at launch), that it would feature a multiplayer mode, and that it would be delivered within two and a half years. It was developed in five countries across five time zones. 2K Marin was assisted by 2K Australia, 2K China, Arkane Studios, and Digital Extremes, who was responsible for the multiplayer component.


title: BioShock 2

text: Jordan Thomas was in "BioShock"s "design pit" at 2K Boston and made its "Fort Frolic" level. He worked alongside Alyssa Finley, who became executive producer at 2K Marin and subsequently hired him as "BioShock 2"s creative director. Thomas said that the first concern with a sequel was, "where do you go with this? How do you bring people back to an experience and terrify them and shock them in a way that they're not expecting, but also fulfill the many expectations they're projecting onto it?" Early on, Thomas decided on the inclusion of the city of Rapture, which could harbor many previously unseen locations and untold stories. The developers wanted to balance surprising old players with introducing the setting to newcomers. Thomas and environmental artist Hogarth De La Plante agreed that the setting of Rapture was fertile for new ideas and that, as veterans of "Bioshock", they were excited to add never-before-seen parts of the city and continue their art style. "Any idea was out on the table at that point, and I think nobody has played "BioShock" more than the developers that made it, so I feel like in one respect we are a pretty good litmus test for whether it's still an interesting place or not," La Plante recalled. "And if that doesn't bore us and we're the people that played it for thousands upon thousands of hours, then I think we have a pretty good perspective on how interesting that location really is." The developers decided to make the player a Big Daddy to make "BioShock 2" story to be one of an insider, rather than that of a stranger stumbling across Rapture as in "BioShock".


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2"s developers aimed to improve less-positively received aspects of "BioShock". One such element was the hacking minigame; Thomas said that even players who initially enjoyed it eventually found it repetitive. Its replacement, which does not allow pausing, added urgency to the gameplay. Another improvement was the choice to harvest or save Little Sisters; by allowing players to adopt them, Thomas hoped it would help players bond with them and make the choice more thought-provoking. The developers added more unspliced characters and offered players more decisions that impact the game's course, with the goal of a more dynamic story and ending. Each game level was devised by an environmental artist and level designer working collaboratively, rather than being designed and then handed to art teams to be detailed. Level designer Steve Gaynor recalled that close collaboration helped gameplay spaces—and thus the world as a whole—feel functional and real. A major goal was to maintain significant player freedom in gameplay. The team used a modified version of the Unreal Engine 2.5 game engine, which was familiar and quickened development, but outdated (even at the time of the original "BioShock"s development) and presented unique challenges; for example, the user interface had to be built using an unsupported Adobe Flash library.


title: BioShock 2

text: The story changed heavily throughout development. "BioShock 2" was initially intended to be a prequel-sequel hybrid to "BioShock", with playable flashbacks showing Rapture in its prime. Thomas described the flashback implementation negatively: "What Rapture was like in its heyday appeals on paper, but it meant you really couldn't play the game. Players sleepwalked through each scene, which was pretty, but not particularly convincing." There was to be only one Big Sister character, namely Eleanor, intended to be one of the Little Sisters saved at the end of "Bioshock". Unable to acclimatize to life on land, she returns to Rapture, becomes the Big Sister, and kidnaps children from the surface in an effort to resurrect Rapture. In game, the Big Sister would continually hunt the player and could not be defeated; this was changed to give the player a sense of triumph in fighting the Big Sisters. This version of the Big Sister also presented story problems; Thomas recalled that the Big Sister's reveal as Eleanor inadvertently felt like a twist, and she had done so much evil that she was unredeemable.


title: BioShock 2

text: With a limited development window, Digital Extremes pushed back on some of the more expansive ideas for the multiplayer, including a persistent massively multiplayer format, in favor of a more standard, match-based player-versus-player offering. Initially, multiplayer gameplay rules evolved throughout a match's duration and had no team-based component, but players found the rule changing confusing and features like character customization to be more enjoyable when playing with a team. The developers limited the amount of weapons and plasmids players could simultaneously use to match the faster pace of tight multiplayer environments.


title: BioShock 2

text: Character modeler Brendan George recalled their need to be careful when adapting concept art to avoid animation issues and the uncanny valley. Concept artist Colin Fix said that character costumes would need regular adjustment as teams researched era-appropriate influences; "[the artists] had an earlier version of [a character] with a swanky Hawaiian shirt that was in the time period, but felt out of place in Rapture. It felt really modern even though it wasn't."


title: BioShock 2

text: Fix described the Splicers as the distorted forms of originally-idealized J. C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell figures. Starting with the recognizably human silhouettes of the Splicers established in "BioShock", the artists further varied the characters' forms. Early concepts had Splicers with translucent, bioluminescent skin covered in parasites or air sacs. Finding these "human blobs" did not instill sadness in the player, the artists returned to more conventional forms. Digital Extremes developed more than 26 character concepts for the multiplayer mode, eventually narrowed down to a few archetypes representing a cross-section of the Rapture population.


title: BioShock 2

text: According to animation supervisor Jeff Weir, the Big Sister was Jordan Thomas's first talking point with animators upon their arrival at 2K Marin. The character challenged the team to convey her backstory and personality through design cues rather than plot exposition. "[We thought] of her as graceful and yet awkward at the same time, and that's really the hard challenge that we had with her." Motion capture sessions inspired the alternately awkward and fluid motion of the character. While taking significant influence from the Big Daddies' design, the Big Sister was designed to look unique. Soft design elements influenced by the story—such as Little Sisters that ride around in the Big Sister's cage and draw on her armor—were added to complement the harsh metal of the rest of the character.


title: BioShock 2

text: Michael Kamper served as "BioShock 2"s audio lead; he joined 2K Marin after the closure of Electronic Arts Chicago. Kamper called it "intimidating" to follow up on the sound design from "BioShock" as everyone involved was a big fan of the game. While Kamper collaborated with the leads for other facets of the game, he was given wide latitude to develop its sonic style. Kamper, in turn, let his team use whatever audio software they desired, not wanting to limit their creativity.


title: BioShock 2

text: The setting of "BioShock 2" ten years after the first game established the sonic atmosphere. "I really wanted the ambience to sell the fact that Rapture was constantly falling apart around the player", Kamper recalled. Creaking and groaning sounds accentuated the setting's disrepair. To convey the Splicers' mounting insanity, Kamper and the audio team added non-diegetic sounds (audio not coming from the game environment) that become more frequent near the end. The Big Sister's sounds are derived from birds, hyenas, and Kamper's wife doing impressions of a dolphin. The team added elements immersing the player in their role, ranging from heavy footsteps to impacts and water drips on the player's armor. Audio programmer Guy Somberg created a background sound system that allowed layering sounds depending on the player's location, creating organic and random ambient soundscapes. Multiplayer sounds were handled by Digital Extremes, who, along with Kamper's team had to make sure their sounds cohered not only with each other's work, but with the sounds of "BioShock".


title: BioShock 2

text: Garry Schyman reprised his role as "BioShock 2"s composer. He wrote that scoring the followup to a hit game was a challenge, and "Bioshock" soundtrack's praise set a high bar. He retained some elements and motifs from the first game—solo violin, and mid-20th century compositional techniques—while branching off in new directions. Despite facing high expectations, Schyman noted having played "BioShock" and using an established style made composition easier. As an improvement from "Bioshock", more audio cues for each level's combat sequences were added.


title: BioShock 2

text: Once the game's ambience was established, Schyman responded to specific requests from the audio director for individual pieces. Kamper said that "[Schyman] really, really did a wonderful job" molding the music to fit Thomas' intended mood and tones. The results, such as the level music for "Pauper's Drop", were markedly different from the original "Bioshock". Kamper sent Schyman video footage and rough drafts of tracks for feedback on their congruity. Kamper split some of Schyman's tracks to use as leitmotifs; the opening track, for a scene with Eleanor and Delta together, was later divided, using the cello for Delta and the violin for Eleanor. The score was recorded by a 60-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at Capitol Studios.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" makes extensive use of licensed music from the time period. "Similar to the first game, we tried really hard to instill a sense of thematic cogency with our picks that the message that is coming through the licensed tracks," Thomas said, adding that blues and religious music were important to "Bioshock 2" themes, and that, while the first game had used more commercial pop music, they wanted a more eclectic mix. Music from "BioShock" was used in the multiplayer portion of "BioShock 2" to help connect it back to the time period of the first game.


title: BioShock 2

text: In contrast to the first "BioShock"s focus on libertarianism and Ayn Rand's philosophies, "BioShock 2" focuses on collectivist ideals. Lamb's philosophy of altruism recalls that of Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill. "Her motto is 'Make the world your family', meaning force your mind into becoming loyal to the world in a way usually reserved for your child, and that's intellectually daunting," said Thomas. Unlike the first game's questions of free will and destiny, Thomas said that the player character is "almost the ultimate individual" whom Lamb goads to fulfill her goals. Professor Ryan Lizardi draws parallels between "BioShock 2"s themes of community versus the individual, the extremes of Ryan and Lamb's philosophies, and the issues of McCarthyism and the hippie movement that occurred in the mid-20th century: ""BioShock 2" specifically asks players to question all sides of debates when extreme stances are taken." "BioShock 2" also deals with cults of personality, technocracy, moral absolutism, fatherhood, class war, equalitarianism, parenthood, childhood, and family.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" was revealed through a teaser trailer hidden in the PlayStation 3 version of "BioShock" in October 2008. The teaser was subtitled "Sea Of Dreams", a name that was ultimately dropped. Its release was preceded by an alternate reality game, "There's Something in the Sea". Over the course of a year, players were directed to a website that detailed the story of a father, Mark Metzler, searching for his abducted daughter and ultimately discovering Rapture. Players writing to "Metzler" received cryptic audio recordings, and artifacts purporting to be from Rapture washed up on beaches around the world.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" was released on PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 on February 9, 2010. A special edition, limited to a single production run, contains the game along with three posters featuring fictional advertisements from Rapture that reveal hidden messages under a black light, the orchestral score on CD, the orchestral score from "BioShock" on vinyl, and a hardbound, 164-page art book. It is packaged in a case with special art on the slipcase and box cover. A smaller limited edition, "BioShock 2 Rapture Edition", was announced on December 2, 2009. Its contains the game and a smaller, 96-page art book. The Rapture Edition was also limited to a single production run. The launch was preceded by midnight events across the world, including a gala in San Francisco attended by developers.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" was later bundled with "BioShock" as "BioShock: Ultimate Rapture Edition". A remastered version was released as part of "" for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in September 2016, as well as a standalone update for existing Windows owners. The standalone remastered version as well as "The Collection" was released for the Nintendo Switch on May 29, 2020.


title: BioShock 2

text: In its first week of release, "BioShock 2" was the best-selling Xbox 360 game in the UK and North America. In the U.S., NPD recorded it as the top selling game of February, with 562,900 units sold on the Xbox 360 and 190,500 on the PlayStation 3. Gamasutra stated a possible reason for the Xbox 360's greater sales was the original "BioShock"s 14-month exclusivity on that platform. "Bioshock 2" held the first and second positions on the Steam release charts. In its first month, "BioShock 2" was number 1 in sales for the Xbox 360 and number 12 for the PlayStation 3. By March 2010, "BioShock 2" sold 3 million copies across all platforms, close to the original "BioShock" 4 million lifetime sales at the time. Take-Two Interactive's chief financial officer noted sales slowed faster than expected; prior to release, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said he expected 5 million copies sold.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" was supported post-launch with patches and downloadable content (DLC). The first DLC, the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, was released March 11, 2010. It added new player characters, cosmetics, and a multiplayer level increase. The Rapture Metro Pack was released May 11, adding new achievements and six new maps. Released alongside the Rapture Metro Pack were new characters and a new game mode, "Kill 'Em' Kindly". The Protector Trials Pack added a single-player challenge mode in which the player defends Little Sisters against swarms of enemies in various challenge rooms. The content contains six maps based on locations from the main game with three levels of difficulty, seven achievements, and new unlockable concept art and videos. This downloadable content was released on consoles in August 2010 and on the PC in March 2011.


title: BioShock 2

text: The final "BioShock 2" DLC, released August 31, 2010, was "", a single-player campaign completely separate in plot from the main campaign. The player assumes the role of Subject Sigma—another Alpha Series Big Daddy—as he travels through Minerva's Den, home to Rapture's central computer. The campaign adds three new levels and develops the lore of Rapture's inner workings. The add-on features new weapons, a new plasmid, and new enemy types. The DLC was released for PC on May 31, 2011.


title: BioShock 2

text: The PC version was patched in October 2013 to replace the shuttered Games for Windows – Live Marketplace with Steamworks support for matchmaking. "Minerva's Den" was released for free for players who owned "BioShock 2" before the patch.


title: BioShock 2

text: "BioShock 2" received positive reviews, although not as warm as that of its predecessor. Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the game a weighted average critic score of 88/100 across all platforms. Reviewers noted "BioShock 2" fundamental similarity to its predecessor, but disagreed on whether the similarity was a problem. GamesRadar's Charlie Barratt wrote that it broke new ground while honoring the original's successes. "PC World"s Will Herring considered "Bioshock 2" to have surpassed the original. In contrast, critics such as "The A.V. Club"s John Teti, "The New York Times" Seth Schiesel, and "GameSpy"s Anthony Gallegos, felt that it failed by hewing so closely to the original, or else failed to meaningfully expand it.


title: BioShock 2

text: Critics often highlighted the gameplay changes as improvements. Gallegos found that dual-wielding plasmids and weapons made combat less clumsy; reviewers for "GamePro" and "Computer and Video Games" highlighted the new enemies as particularly well executed. "Edge" appreciated the gameplay improvements, but felt that rough edges from "BioShock" remained, such as annoying, unengaging Splicer fights, and unsatisfying weapon handling. Likewise, "Team Xbox" considered scavenging for supplies to be tedious and called for various quality-of-life improvements. "1UP.com"s Justin Haywald and others were frustrated by the repeated Little Sister protection sequences.


title: BioShock 2

text: The campaign was generally well received, though not as warmly as "BioShock"s. "Computer and Video Games"s Andy Robinson wrote that the game drew from the best of the original "BioShock"s levels by interspersing narrative in a satisfactory fashion. Criticism included a slow start to the story and excessive similarity with the original—Haywald wrote that the plasmid progression, and even the player character's feel, was too close to "BioShock". "It's hard to feel like you haven't done it all before," he said, adding that the story seemingly existed to serve game mechanics, rather than the other way around. "Entertainment Weekly"s Adam B. Vary felt that the refinements to the morality systems were "BioShock 2" biggest improvement; ""BioShock 2" is peppered with live-or-die moral quandaries that affect the game throughout."


title: BioShock 2

text: The multiplayer mode had a mixed reception. It was favored by Haywald and "GamePro"s Will Herring, who opined that it worked better than it should have on paper. Gallegos and Chad Sapieha of "The Globe and Mail" found the mode unnecessary; they predicted that few would specifically buy the game for multiplayer, or play more than a few games before returning to another shooter, while "GameSpot"s Lark Anderson insisted the multiplayer mode would greatly add to the game's longevity. "Destructoid"s reviewer considered the mode to be undifferentiated from other shooters, and based on luck rather than strategy.


title: BioShock 2

text: Retrospectives have reconsidered "BioShock 2" in its series and among video games as a whole. "Game Developer" and "Kotaku" considered "BioShock 2" the forerunner of the walking simulator genre of story-focused games. "Eurogamer" wrote that, whereas "BioShock" was a story about a city, "BioShock 2" was a story about the people within that city—its focus on character offering more emotional moments and making it the "human heart" of the series. Critics who appreciated the game's improved gameplay and focus on emotional beats considered it an under-appreciated sequel. "GamesRadar" and "Vice" went further and called it the best game of the series.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2008.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley became a Protestant evangelical minister in 1946 and remained one for the rest of his life. In 1951 he co-founded the Reformed fundamentalist Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster and was its leader until 2008. Paisley became known for his fiery sermons and regularly preached anti-Catholicism, anti-ecumenism and against homosexuality. He gained a large group of followers who were referred to as Paisleyites.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley became involved in Ulster unionist/loyalist politics in the late 1950s. In the mid-late 1960s, he led and instigated loyalist opposition to the Catholic civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. This contributed to the outbreak of the Troubles in the late 1960s, a conflict that would engulf Northern Ireland for the next 30 years. In 1970 he became Member of Parliament for North Antrim and the following year he founded the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which he would lead for almost 40 years. In 1979 he became a Member of the European Parliament.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Throughout the Troubles, Paisley was seen as a firebrand and the face of hardline unionism. He opposed all attempts to resolve the conflict through power-sharing between unionists and Irish nationalists/republicans, and all attempts to involve the Republic of Ireland in Northern affairs. His efforts helped bring down the Sunningdale Agreement of 1974. He also opposed the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, with less success. His attempts to create a paramilitary movement culminated in Ulster Resistance. Paisley and his party also opposed the Northern Ireland peace process and Good Friday Agreement of 1998.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 2005, Paisley's DUP became the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, displacing the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), which had dominated unionist politics since 1905 and had been an instrumental party in the Good Friday Agreement. In 2007, following the St Andrews Agreement, the DUP finally agreed to share power with republican party Sinn Féin. Paisley and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness became First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively in May 2007. He stepped down as First Minister and DUP leader in mid-2008, and left politics in 2011. Paisley was made a life peer in 2010 as Baron Bannside.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was born in Armagh, County Armagh, and brought up in the town of Ballymena, County Antrim, where his father James Kyle Paisley was an Independent Baptist pastor who had previously served in the Ulster Volunteers under Edward Carson. His mother was Scottish.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley married Eileen Cassells on 13 October 1956. They had five children, daughters Sharon, Rhonda and Cherith and twin sons, Kyle and Ian. Three of their children followed their father into politics or religion: Kyle is a Free Presbyterian minister; Ian is a DUP MP; and Rhonda, a retired DUP councillor. He had a brother, Harold, who is also an evangelical fundamentalist.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley saw himself primarily as an Ulsterman. However, despite his hostility towards Irish republicanism and the Republic of Ireland, he also saw himself as an Irishman and said that "you cannot be an Ulsterman without being an Irishman".


title: Ian Paisley

text: When he was a teenager, Paisley decided to follow his father and become a Christian minister. He delivered his first sermon aged 16 in a mission hall in County Tyrone. In the late 1940s he undertook theological training at the Barry School of Evangelism (now called the Wales Evangelical School of Theology), and later, for a year, at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Hall in Belfast.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 1951, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) was forbidden by church authorities to hold a meeting in their own church hall at which Paisley was to be the speaker. In response, the leaders of that congregation left the PCI and began a new denomination, the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, with Paisley, who was just 25 years old at the time. Paisley soon became the leader (or moderator) of the Free Presbyterian Church and was re-elected every year, for the next 57 years.


title: Ian Paisley

text: The Free Presbyterian Church is a fundamentalist, evangelical church, requiring strict separation from "any church which has departed from the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God." At the time of the 1991 census, the church had about 12,000 members, less than 1 per cent of the Northern Ireland population.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley promoted a highly conservative form of Biblical literalism and anti-Catholicism, which he described as "Bible Protestantism". The website of Paisley's public relations arm, the "European Institute of Protestant Studies", describes the institute's purpose as to "expound the Bible, expose the Papacy, and to promote, defend and maintain Bible Protestantism in Europe and further afield." Paisley's website describes a number of doctrinal areas in which he believes that the "Roman church" (which he termed 'Popery') has deviated from the Bible and thus from true Christianity. Over the years, Paisley would write numerous books and pamphlets on his religious and political views, including a commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Paisley set up his own newspaper in February 1966, the "Protestant Telegraph", as a mechanism for further spreading his message.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In the 1960s, Paisley developed a relationship with the fundamentalist Bob Jones University located in Greenville, South Carolina. In 1966, he received an honorary doctorate of divinity from the institution and subsequently served on its board of trustees. This relationship would later lead to the establishment of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America in 1977. His honorary doctorate, along with his political obstinacy, led to Paisley's nickname of "Dr. No".


title: Ian Paisley

text: When Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother met Pope John XXIII in 1958, Paisley condemned them for "committing spiritual fornication and adultery with the Antichrist". When Pope John died in June 1963, Paisley announced to a crowd of followers that "this Romish man of sin is now in Hell!". He organised protests against the lowering of flags on public buildings to mark the Pope's death.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 1988, having given advance warning of his intentions, Paisley interrupted a speech being delivered by Pope John Paul II in the European Parliament. Paisley shouted "I denounce you as the Antichrist!" and held up a poster reading ""Pope John Paul II ANTICHRIST"". Other MEPs jeered Paisley, threw papers at him and snatched his poster, but he produced another and continued shouting. He was admonished by Parliamentary President Lord Plumb, who formally excluded him. He was then forcibly removed from the chamber. Paisley claims he was injured by other MEPs—including Otto von Habsburg—who struck him and threw objects at him.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley believed the European Union is a part of a conspiracy to create a Roman Catholic superstate controlled by the Vatican. He claimed in an article that the seat no. 666 in the European Parliament is reserved for the Antichrist.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley continued to denounce the Catholic Church and the Pope after the incident. In a television interview for "The Unquiet Man", a 2001 documentary on Paisley's life, he expressed his pride at being "the only person to have the courage to denounce the Pope". However, after the death of Pope John Paul in 2005, Paisley expressed sympathy for Catholics, saying "We can understand how Roman Catholics feel at the death of the Pope and we would want in no way to interfere with their expression of sorrow and grief at this time."


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley and his followers also protested against what they saw as instances of blasphemy in popular culture, including the stage productions "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "", as well as being strongly anti-abortion.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley preached against homosexuality, supported laws criminalising it and picketed various gay rights events. He denounced it as "a crime against God and man and its practice is a terrible step to the total demoralisation of any country". Save Ulster from Sodomy was a campaign launched by Paisley in 1977, in opposition to the Northern Ireland Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, established in 1974. Paisley's campaign sought to prevent the extension to Northern Ireland of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which had decriminalised homosexual acts between males over 21 years of age in England and Wales. Paisley's campaign failed when legislation was passed in 1982 as a result of the previous year's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of "Dudgeon v United Kingdom".


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 1949, Paisley formed a Northern Irish branch of the National Union of Protestants, the group being led in the UK by his uncle, W. St Clair Taylor. Paisley's first political involvement came at the 1950 general election when he campaigned on behalf of the successful Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) candidate in Belfast West, the Church of Ireland minister James Godfrey MacManaway. Independent Unionist MP Norman Porter came to lead the National Union of Protestants, while Paisley became treasurer, but Paisley left after Porter refused to join the Free Presbyterian Church.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley first hit headlines in 1956 when Maura Lyons, a 15-year-old Belfast Catholic doubting her faith, sought his help and was smuggled illegally to Scotland by members of his Free Presbyterian Church. Paisley publicly played a tape of her religious conversion but refused to help with the search for her, saying he would rather go to prison than return her to her Catholic family. Lyons eventually returned both to her family and Catholicism.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 1956, Paisley was one of the founders of Ulster Protestant Action (UPA). Its initial purpose was to organise the defence of Protestant areas against anticipated Irish Republican Army (IRA) activity. It carried out vigilante patrols, made street barricades, and drew up lists of IRA suspects in both Belfast and rural areas. The UPA was to later become the Protestant Unionist Party in 1966. UPA factory and workplace branches were formed, including one by Paisley in Belfast's Ravenhill area under his direct control. The concern of the UPA increasingly came to focus on the defence of 'Bible Protestantism' and Protestant interests where jobs and housing were concerned. The UPA also campaigned against the allocation of public housing to Catholics.


title: Ian Paisley

text: As Paisley came to dominate UPA, he received his first convictions for public order offences. In June 1959, Paisley addressed a UPA rally in the mainly-Protestant Shankill district of Belfast. During the speech, he shouted out the addresses of some Catholic-owned homes and businesses in the area. These homes and businesses were then attacked by the crowd; windows were smashed, shops were looted and "Taigs out" painted on the doors.


title: Ian Paisley

text: During the 1964 UK general election campaign, an Irish republican candidate displayed an Irish tricolour from the window of his office in a republican area of Belfast. Paisley threatened that if the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) did not remove the tricolour he would lead a march to the office and take it down himself. The Flags and Emblems Act banned the public display of any symbol, with the exception of the Union Flag, that could cause a breach of the peace. In response, armed officers arrived at the building, smashed their way inside and seized the flag. This led to severe rioting between republicans and the RUC. Thirty people, including at least 18 officers, had to be hospitalised.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 1964, a peaceful civil rights campaign began in Northern Ireland. The civil rights movement sought to end discrimination against Catholics and those of Catholic background by the Protestant and unionist government of Northern Ireland. Paisley instigated and led loyalist opposition to the civil rights movement over the next few years. He also led opposition against Terence O'Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Although O'Neill was also unionist, Paisley and his followers saw him as being too 'soft' on the civil rights movement and opposed his policies of reform and reconciliation.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In April 1966, Paisley and his associate Noel Doherty founded the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC) and its paramilitary wing, the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). At the time, Irish republicans were marking the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Although the IRA was inactive, loyalists such as Paisley warned that it was about to be revived and launch another campaign against Northern Ireland. At the same time, a loyalist paramilitary group calling itself the "Ulster Volunteer Force" (UVF) emerged in the Shankill area of Belfast, led by Gusty Spence. Many of its members were also members of the UCDC and UPV, including UCDC secretary and UPV leader Noel Doherty. Paisley publicly thanked the UVF for taking part in a march on 7 April. Paisley forced the Stormont government to mobilise B-Specials for the entire month of April with the hope of outlawing public commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Paisley failed in this objective but did succeed in pressuring the government to ban trains from the Republic transporting people to Northern Ireland for the ceremonies. In May and June, the UVF petrol bombed a number of Catholic homes, schools and businesses. It also shot dead two Catholic civilians as they walked home. These are sometimes seen as the first deaths of the Troubles. Following the killings, the UVF was outlawed and Paisley denied any knowledge of its activities. One of those convicted for the killings said after his arrest "I am terribly sorry I ever heard of that man Paisley or decided to follow him".


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley would later establish two other paramilitary groups: Third Force in 1981 and Ulster Resistance in 1986.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 6 June 1966, Paisley led a march to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church against what he claimed to be its "Romeward trend". The authorities allowed the marchers to go through the Catholic Cromac Square neighbourhood carrying placards with anti-Catholic slogans. Catholic youths attacked the march and clashed with the RUC. Many were injured and cars and businesses were wrecked. Following the riots, Paisley was charged with unlawful assembly and sentenced to three months in prison. The "Belfast Telegraph" declared that Paisley's organisations "represent a defiance of lawful authority no less serious in essence than that of the IRA". On 22 July 1966, Paisleyites clashed with the RUC outside Crumlin Road Prison, where Paisley was being held. The next day, Protestant mobs several thousand strong "rampaged through the city, smashing windows and trying to damage businesses owned by Catholics". In response, the authorities banned all meetings and marches in Belfast for three months.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 30 November 1968, hours before a civil rights march in Armagh, Paisley and Ronald Bunting arrived in the town in a convoy of cars. Men armed with nail-studded cudgels emerged from the cars and took over the town centre to prevent the march. The RUC halted the civil rights march, sparking outrage from activists. On 25 March 1969, Paisley and Bunting were jailed for organising the illegal counter-demonstration. On 6 May, they were released during a general amnesty for people convicted of political offences.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In March–April 1969, the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV) bombed water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland, leaving much of Belfast without power and water. Paisley and the UPV blamed the bombings on the dormant IRA and elements of the civil rights movement. Paisley's "Protestant Telegraph" called them "the first act of sabotage perpetrated by the IRA since the murderous campaign of 1956", warning that it was "an ominous indication of what lies ahead for Ulster". Many people believed these claims of IRA responsibility. The loyalists also hoped that the bombings would weaken confidence in Prime Minister Terence O'Neill. Unionist support for O'Neill waned, and on 28 April he resigned as Prime Minister. Paisley's approach led him, in turn, to oppose O'Neill's successors as Prime Minister, Major James Chichester-Clark (later Lord Moyola) and Brian Faulkner.


title: Ian Paisley

text: The civil rights campaign, and attacks on it by loyalists and police, culminated in the August 1969 riots. The 1969 Northern Ireland riots, Divis Street were the worst in Belfast since the 1930s. Catholic Irish nationalists clashed with the police and with loyalists, who invaded Catholic neighbourhoods and burned scores of homes and businesses. This led to the deployment of British troops and is seen by many as the beginning of the Troubles. Journalists Patrick Bishop and Eamonn Mallie said of the rioting in Belfast: "Both communities were in the grip of a mounting paranoia about the other's intentions. Catholics were convinced that they were about to become victims of a Protestant pogrom; Protestants that they were on the eve of an IRA insurrection". After the riots, Paisley is reported to have said:Catholic homes caught fire because they were loaded with petrol bombs; Catholic churches were attacked and burned because they were arsenals and priests handed out sub-machine guns to parishioners.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 16 April 1970, in a by-election to the Northern Ireland Parliament, Paisley, standing on behalf of the Protestant Unionist Party, won the Bannside seat formerly held by Prime Minister Terence O'Neill. Another PUP candidate, William Beattie, won the South Antrim seat. In the 1970 UK general election, Paisley won the North Antrim seat. These elections were "further evidence of the break-up of the unionist block and the unease among a large section of Protestants about the reform measures introduced under Chichester-Clark".


title: Ian Paisley

text: From the 1960s, one of his main rivals was civil rights leader and co-founder of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), John Hume. British Government papers, released in 2002, show that in 1971 Paisley attempted to reach a compromise with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The attempt was made via then British Cabinet Secretary, Sir Burke Trend. The papers show that Paisley had indicated he could "reach an accommodation with leaders of the Catholic minority, which would provide the basis of a new government in Stormont." It appears that the move was rejected once it became clear to the SDLP that it would have created a very one-sided alliance. Speaking about the deal in 2002 Paisley said:


title: Ian Paisley

text: The Sunningdale Agreement of December 1973 set up a new government for Northern Ireland in which unionists and nationalists would share power. It also proposed the creation of a Council of Ireland, which would facilitate co-ordination and co-operation between the governments of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Paisley and other hardline unionists opposed the Agreement. Specifically, they opposed sharing political power with nationalists and saw the Council of Ireland as a step towards a united Ireland.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley, along with anti-Agreement Ulster Unionist Party leader Harry West and Ulster Vanguard leader William Craig, formed the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) to oppose the Agreement. Its slogan was "Dublin is just a Sunningdale away". Loyalists formed the Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) to mobilise loyalist workers against the Agreement, while the loyalist paramilitary groups (UDA, UVF etc.) formed the Ulster Army Council (UAC) to co-ordinate their response.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Addressing an anti-Agreement rally in January 1974, Paisley declared:Mr Faulkner says it's 'hands across the border' to Dublin. I say if they don't behave themselves in the South, it will be "shots" across the border!


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 15 May 1974, the UWC called a general strike aimed at bringing down the Agreement and the new government. A co-ordinating committee was set up to help organise the strike. It included Paisley and the other UUUC leaders, the leaders of the UWC, and the heads of the loyalist paramilitary groups. Its chairman was Glenn Barr, a high-ranking member of Ulster Vanguard and the UDA. In its first meeting, Barr arrived late and found Paisley sitting at the head of the table. Barr told him "you might be chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party but I'm chairman of the co-ordinating committee, so move over". Paisley moved from the head of the table but carried the chair away with him and the two argued over the chair itself, with Paisley eventually allowed to keep it as he claimed to need a chair with arms due to back pain.


title: Ian Paisley

text: The strike lasted fourteen days and brought Northern Ireland to a standstill. Loyalist paramilitaries helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads and intimidating workers. On 17 May, the third day of the strike, loyalists detonated four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, in the Republic of Ireland. The bombs killed 33 civilians and injured 300, making it the deadliest attack of the Troubles, and the deadliest terrorist attack in the Republic's history. In an interview nine months before his death, Paisley said he was "shocked" by the bombings, but claimed that the Republic's government provoked the attack. The strike led to the downfall of the Agreement on 28 May.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 1977 the United Unionist Action Council (UUAC) was formed out of the UUUC. The council was chaired by Joseph Burns and included Paisley, Ernest Baird (leader of the United Ulster Unionist Movement), members of the Ulster Workers' Council, and leaders of loyalist paramilitaries including the UDA, Orange Volunteers and Down Orange Welfare. The UUAC also established its own loyalist vigilante group called the Ulster Service Corps (USC).


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 3 May 1977, the UUAC organised a general strike. It was seen by the public as "Paisley's strike", due to his prominent role in it. The main aims of the strike were to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland under a system of simple majority (i.e. unionist) rule and to force the British Government to introduce tougher security measures against the IRA. As in 1974, loyalist paramilitaries tried to enforce the strike by blocking roads, intimidating workers and attacking businesses that refused to co-operate. However, unlike in 1974, many workers refused to join the strike and the security forces were better prepared. The Ulster Service Corps set up roadblocks and carried out patrols in rural areas. Some members carried guns, although these were generally legally-held firearms. During a speech in the House of Commons, Paisley claimed to have taken part in some of these patrols and encouraged his supporters to join the group. On 10 May, Protestant bus driver Harry Bradshaw was shot dead by loyalists for working during the strike, and UDR soldier John Geddis was killed when loyalists bombed a petrol station that had stayed open. That same day, Paisley, Baird and other members of the UUAC were arrested at a roadblock outside Ballymena. Paisley was charged with obstruction of the highway and then released.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 13 May, the strike was called off. The strike was widely seen as a failure, but Paisley—who had said he would quit politics if it failed—declared it a success and continued his career. The RUC later reported that three people had been killed by loyalists during the strike, 41 RUC officers had been injured, there had been thousands of reports of intimidation, and 115 people had been charged with offences.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley opposed the European Economic Community (EEC) but stood for election to the European Parliament to give a platform to his views and those of his supporters. In June 1979, in the first election to the European Parliament, Paisley won one of the three Northern Ireland seats. He topped the poll, with 29.8% of the first preference votes. On 17 July, Paisley interrupted the opening proceedings of the European Parliament to protest that the Union Jack outside the building was flying upside down. Louise Weiss, who presided over the Parliament, dealt with the interruption swiftly and later said of it that she was used to dealing with "recalcitrant youngsters". On 18 July, Paisley tried to interrupt Jack Lynch—then Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) and President of the European Council—as he was making a speech in the Parliament. Paisley was shouted down by other MEPs.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley easily retained his seat in every European election until he stood down in 2004, receiving the highest popular vote of any British MEP (although as Northern Ireland uses a different electoral system from Great Britain for European elections, the figures are not strictly comparable).


title: Ian Paisley

text: During 1981, Paisley attempted to create a Protestant loyalist volunteer militia—called the (Ulster) Third Force—which would work alongside the police and army to fight the IRA. At the time, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was holding talks with Taoiseach Charles Haughey, and the Irish republican hunger strike was underway.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On the night of 6 February 1981, Paisley summoned journalists to a hillside in County Antrim, where he had gathered 500 men. The men were photographed in military formation, waving what purported to be firearms certificates in the air. Paisley declared: "This is a small token of the men who are placed to devastate any attempt by Margaret Thatcher and Charles Haughey to destroy the Union". He added: "I will take full responsibility for anything these men do. We will stop at nothing."


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley helped organise further night-time rallies on 1 April, where large groups of men brandished more pieces of paper. They were held on hillsides near Gortin, Armagh and Newry. At Gortin, the police were attacked and two police vehicles overturned. On 16 November, Paisley addressed a large Third Force rally in Enniskillen, where hundreds of men marched in a show of strength. Paisley organised a loyalist 'Day of Action' on 23 November, to pressure the British government to take a harder line against the IRA. Rallies were held in Protestant areas of Northern Ireland and a number of businesses shut. The DUP and UUP held separate rallies at Belfast City Hall. That night, Paisley addressed a Third Force rally in Newtownards, where thousands of masked and uniformed men marched before him. He declared:My men are ready to be recruited under the crown to destroy the vermin of the IRA. But if they refuse to recruit them, then we will have no other decision to make but to destroy the IRA ourselves!


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 3 December, Paisley claimed that the Third Force had 15,000–20,000 members. James Prior, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, replied that private armies would not be tolerated.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In December 1981, the State Department of the United States revoked Paisley's visa, citing his "divisive rhetoric" and forcing him to cancel plans for a two-week speaking and fundraising tour in the US. He insisted the cancellation was part of a "conspiracy between the Thatcher Government and the U.S.A. Government to sell out Ulster".


title: Ian Paisley

text: The Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed by the British and Irish governments on 15 November 1985, following months of talks between the two governments. The Agreement confirmed that there would be no change in the status of Northern Ireland without the consent of a majority of its citizens, and set out conditions for the creation of a power-sharing government for Northern Ireland. It also gave the Irish government an advisory role on political, legal and security matters in Northern Ireland.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Led by Paisley and UUP leader James Molyneaux, unionists mounted a major protest campaign against the Agreement, dubbed "Ulster Says No". Both unionist parties resigned their seats in the British House of Commons, suspended district council meetings, and supported a campaign of mass civil disobedience. There were strikes and mass protest rallies. On 23 November 1985, more than 100,000 people attended a rally at Belfast City Hall. The rally was addressed by Paisley and Molyneaux. In his address, Paisley famously stated:


title: Ian Paisley

text: Where do the terrorists operate from? From the Irish Republic! Where do the terrorists return to for sanctuary? To the Irish Republic! And yet Mrs Thatcher tells us that that Republic must have some say in our Province. We say Never! Never! Never! Never!


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 23 June 1986, Paisley and 21 other unionist politicians occupied the Stormont Parliament Building in protest at the Agreement, while 200 supporters protested outside and clashed with police. Paisley and the others were forcibly removed by police the next day. He shouted at police officers: "Don't come crying to me if your homes are attacked. You will reap what you sow!" During the campaign against the Agreement, loyalist militants attacked the homes of over 500 police officers, forcing 150 families to move. That evening, he addressed an Ulster Clubs rally in Larne and warned:If the British government force us down the road to a united Ireland we will fight to the death! [...] This could come to hand-to-hand fighting in every street in Northern Ireland. We are on the verge of civil war [...] We are asking people to be ready for the worst and I will lead them. On 10 July, Paisley and deputy DUP leader Peter Robinson led 4,000 loyalists in an early morning protest in which they 'took over' and 'occupied' the town of Hillsborough in protest against the Agreement. Hillsborough Castle is where the Agreement had been signed. One month later, Robinson led a loyalist invasion of the village of Clontibret in the Republic of Ireland. Robinson was arrested and charged for his part in the incident. Paisley and many loyalist supporters travelled south to support him during his court appearance in Dundalk. Their singing of loyalist songs outside the courthouse led to rioting, causing Paisley and Robinson to lodge a formal complaint with the Foreign Office about what they said was inadequate protection.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 10 November 1986, a large private rally was held in the Ulster Hall. At the rally, Paisley and DUP members Peter Robinson and Ivan Foster announced the formation of the Ulster Resistance Movement (URM). This was a loyalist paramilitary organisation whose purpose was to "take direct action as and when required" to bring down the Agreement and defeat republicanism. Paisley, who stood on the platform in a red beret, said "there are many like myself who'd like to see the Agreement brought down by democratic means, but wouldn't we all be fools if we weren't prepared". Other recruitment rallies were held in towns across Northern Ireland and the movement was organised into nine 'battalions'. The following year, the URM helped smuggle a large shipment of weapons into Northern Ireland, which were shared out between the URM, UVF and UDA. Most, but not all, of the weaponry, was seized by police in 1988. In 1989, URM members attempted to trade Shorts' missile blueprints for weapons from the apartheid South African regime. Following these revelations, the DUP said that it had cut its links with the URM in 1987.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 9 December 1986, Paisley was once again ejected from the European Parliament for continually interrupting a speech by Margaret Thatcher.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley was involved in the Drumcree dispute during the late 1980s and 1990s. He supported the right of the Orange Order, a Protestant unionist fraternal organisation, to march through the Catholic part of Portadown. The Catholic residents sought to ban the yearly march from their area, seeing it as sectarian, triumphalist and supremacist. Paisley was a former member of the Orange Order and belonged to a similar Protestant brotherhood: the Apprentice Boys. He also addressed the yearly gathering of the Independent Orange Order.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 30 March 1986, a loyalist march was banned from the Catholic district. At midnight, 3,000 loyalists gathered in the town centre. Led by Paisley, they forced their way past police and marched through the Catholic district. Residents claimed that some of the marchers were carrying guns and that police did little to stop the loyalists attacking their homes. This led to severe rioting between residents and the police.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In July 1995, residents succeeded in stopping the Orange march from entering their area. Thousands of Orangemen and loyalists engaged in a standoff with the police and army at Drumcree Church. Paisley addressed a rally at Drumcree, telling a crowd of thousands:We will die if necessary rather than surrender! If we don't win this battle all is lost. It is a matter of life and death; it is a matter of Ulster or the Irish Republic; it is a matter of freedom or slavery!


title: Ian Paisley

text: Afterwards, Paisley gathered a throng of Orangemen and tried to push through the police lines, but was arrested. Loyalists threw missiles at the police and tried to break through the blockade; police responded with plastic bullets. In support of the Orangeman, loyalists blocked roads across Northern Ireland, and there were attacks on Catholics and the police. The march was eventually allowed to continue through the Catholic area. As the march ended, Paisley and David Trimble held hands in the air in what appeared to be a gesture of triumph, causing considerable ill-feeling among the Catholic residents.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley's DUP was initially involved in the negotiations under former United States Senator George J. Mitchell that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, but the party withdrew in protest when Sinn Féin was allowed to participate after the Provisional IRA's 1994 ceasefire. Instead, Paisley travelled to Cameroon with the documentary filmmaker Jon Ronson, filming an episode of the television series "Witness" called "Dr Paisley, I Presume". Paisley and his party opposed the Agreement in the referendum that followed its signing, which saw it approved by over 70% of the voters in Northern Ireland and by over 90% of voters in the Republic of Ireland.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Although Paisley often stressed his loyalty to the Crown, he accused Queen Elizabeth of being Tony Blair's "parrot" when she voiced approval of the Agreement.


title: Ian Paisley

text: The DUP fought the resulting election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, to which Paisley was elected while keeping his seats in the Westminster and European parliaments. The DUP took two seats in the multi-party power-sharing executive (Paisley, like the leaders of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Sinn Féin chose not to become a minister) but those DUP members serving as ministers (Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds) refused to attend meetings of the Executive Committee (cabinet) in protest at Sinn Féin's participation.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley assumed the chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly created by the Belfast Agreement. The Minister for Agriculture, the SDLP's Bríd Rodgers, remarked that she and Paisley had a "workmanlike" relationship.


title: Ian Paisley

text: At the age of 78, Paisley retired from his European Parliament seat at the 2004 elections and was succeeded by Jim Allister. In September 2004, he agreed to meet Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in his political capacity as leader of the DUP. At an early meeting with Ahern at the Irish embassy in London, he requested breakfast and asked for boiled eggs; when Ahern asked him why he had wanted boiled eggs, he quipped "it would be hard for you to poison them". Following rumours and a marked change in his appearance, it was confirmed in July 2004 that Paisley had been undergoing tests for an undisclosed illness, and in 2005 Ian Paisley Jr. confirmed that his father had been gravely ill. Paisley himself later said that he had "walked in death's shadow."


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley again retained his North Antrim seat in the 2005 UK general election. In 2005, he was made a Privy Counsellor, an appointment traditionally bestowed upon leaders of political parties in the British Parliament. In the October 2006 St Andrews Agreement, Paisley and the DUP agreed to new elections, and support for a new executive including Sinn Féin subject to Sinn Féin acceptance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary. This reversed half a century of opposition to Sinn Féin, such as his comments four months previously on 12 July in Portrush, following Orange Order parades, when he said, "<nowiki>[Sinn Fein]</nowiki> are not fit to be in partnership with decent people. They are not fit to be in the government of Northern Ireland and it will be over our dead bodies if they ever get there." Sinn Féin subsequently endorsed the PSNI, and in the subsequent election Paisley and the DUP received an increased share of the vote and increased their assembly seats from 30 to 36. On Monday 26 March 2007, the date of the British Government deadline for devolution or dissolution, Paisley led a DUP delegation to a meeting with a Sinn Féin delegation led by Gerry Adams, which agreed on a DUP proposal that the executive would be established on 8 May.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 8 May 2007 power was devolved, the Assembly met, and Paisley and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Speaking at Stormont to an invited international audience he said, "Today at long last we are starting upon the road—I emphasise starting—which I believe will take us to lasting peace in our province." Paisley and McGuinness subsequently established a good working relationship and were dubbed the "Chuckle Brothers" by the Northern Irish media. In September 2007, he confirmed that he would contest North Antrim at the 2010 general election as well as serving the full four years as First Minister, stating "I might as well make hay while the sun shines."


title: Ian Paisley

text: In 2007, Paisley was named as "Opposition Parliamentarian of the Year" in The House Magazine Parliamentary Awards and by "The Spectator" as "Marathon Man of the Year." Following his January 2008 retirement as leader of the Free Presbyterian Church and pressure from party insiders, on 4 March 2008, Paisley announced that he would stand down as DUP leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland in May 2008. On 17 April, Peter Robinson was elected unopposed as leader of the DUP and succeeded Paisley as First Minister at a special sitting of the assembly on 5 June 2008. On 2 March 2010, it was announced that Paisley would step down as a Member of Parliament at that year's general election. His son Ian Paisley Jr. was elected to succeed him in the seat at the general election on 6 May 2010.


title: Ian Paisley

text: On 18 June 2010, Paisley was created a life peer as "Baron Bannside, of North Antrim in the County of Antrim", and he was introduced in the House of Lords on 5 July 2010. Bannside was the Northern Ireland Parliament constituency Paisley had won in 1970; he opted not to take the title of "Lord Paisley" as his wife was already in the House as Baroness Paisley and he said that it would have implied she was "sitting not in her own right but as my wife".


title: Ian Paisley

text: In November 2011, Paisley announced to his congregation, which he had led for over 60 years, that he would retire as minister. He delivered his final sermon to a packed attendance at the Martyrs' Memorial Hall on 18 December 2011, and finally retired from his religious ministry at the age of 85, on 27 January 2012.


title: Ian Paisley

text: In February 2012, Paisley was admitted to hospital with heart problems. Jim Flanagan, editor of the "Ballymena Guardian", who spoke to close family friends, said that Paisley had been able to communicate "to some degree" with family members. A year before, he had had a pacemaker fitted due to cardiac arrhythmia, during his time in the House of Lords. In late December 2013, Paisley was once again taken to hospital for "necessary tests". Ian Paisley Jr. emphasised that they were routine.


title: Ian Paisley

text: Paisley died in Belfast on 12 September 2014, aged 88. His body was buried at Ballygowan, in County Down on 15 September following a private funeral, and a public memorial for 830 invited guests was held in the Ulster Hall on 19 October 2014. A "New York Times" obituary reported that late in life Paisley had moderated and softened his stances against Roman Catholics but that "the legacies of fighting and religious hatreds remained."


title: Pangram

text: A pangram or holoalphabetic sentence is a sentence using every letter of a given alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and keyboarding.


title: Pangram

text: The best-known English pangram is "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". It has been used since at least the late 19th century,was used by Western Union to test Telex/TWX data communication equipment for accuracy and reliability, and is now used by a number of computer programs to display computer fonts.


title: Pangram

text: Short pangrams in English are more difficult to devise and tend to use uncommon words and unnatural sentences. Longer pangrams afford more opportunity for humor, cleverness, or thoughtfulness.


title: Pangram

text: The following are examples of pangrams that are shorter than "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" (which has 33 letters) and use standard written English without abbreviations or proper nouns:


title: Pangram

text: A perfect pangram contains every letter of the alphabet only once and can be considered an anagram of the alphabet. The only perfect pangrams of the English alphabet that are known use abbreviations or other non-dictionary words, such as "Mr Jock, TV quiz PhD, bags few lynx", or use words so obscure that the phrase is hard to understand, such as "Cwm fjord bank glyphs vext quiz", in which "" is a loan word from the Welsh language meaning a steep-sided glaciated valley, and "vext" is an uncommon way to spell "vexed".


title: Pangram

text: Other writing systems may present more options: The Iroha is a well-known perfect pangram of the Japanese syllabary, while the Hanacaraka is a perfect pangram for the Javanese script and is used to order it to this day.


title: Pangram

text: Whereas the English language uses all 26 letters of the Latin alphabet in native and naturalized words, many other languages using the same alphabet do not. Pangram writers in these languages are forced to choose between only using those letters found in native words or incorporating exotic loanwords into their pangrams. Some words, such as the Gaelic-derived "whisk(e)y", which has been borrowed by many languages and uses the letters "k", "w" and "y", are a frequent fixture of many foreign pangrams.


title: Pangram

text: Non-Latin alphabetic or phonetic scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic, and others can also have pangrams. In some writing systems, exactly what counts as a distinct symbol can be debated. For example, many languages have accents or other diacritics, but one might count "é" and "e" as the same for pangrams. A similar problem arises for older English orthography that includes the long s ("ſ").


title: Pangram

text: Logographic scripts, or writing systems such as Chinese that do not use an alphabet but are composed principally of logograms, cannot produce pangrams in a literal sense (or at least, not pangrams of reasonable size). The total number of signs is large and imprecisely defined, so producing a text with every possible sign is practically impossible. However, various analogies to pangrams are feasible, including traditional pangrams in a romanization.


title: Pangram

text: In Japanese, although typical orthography uses kanji (logograms), pangrams can be made using every kana, or syllabic character. The Iroha is a classic example of a perfect pangram in non-Latin script.


title: Pangram

text: In Chinese, the Thousand Character Classic is a 1000-character poem in which each character is used exactly once; however, it does not include all Chinese characters. The single character (permanence) incorporates all the basic strokes used to write Chinese characters, using each stroke exactly once, as described in the Eight Principles of Yong.


title: Pangram

text: Among abugida scripts, an example of a perfect pangram is the "Hanacaraka (hana caraka; data sawala; padha jayanya; maga bathanga)" of the Javanese script, which is used to write the Javanese language in Indonesia.


title: Pangram

text: A self-enumerating pangram is a pangrammatic autogram, or a sentence that inventories its own letters, each of which occurs at least once. The first example was produced by Rudy Kousbroek, a Dutch journalist and essayist, who publicly challenged Lee Sallows, a British recreational mathematician resident in the Netherlands, to produce an English translation of his Dutch pangram. In the sequel, Sallows built an electronic "pangram machine", that performed a systematic search among millions of candidate solutions. The machine was successful in identifying the following 'magic' translation:


title: Pangram

text: Chris Patuzzo was able to reduce the problem of finding a self-enumerating pangram to the boolean satisfiability problem. He did this by using a made-to-order hardware description language as a stepping stone and then applied the Tseytin transformation to the resulting chip.


title: Pangram

text: The pangram "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", and the search for a shorter pangram, are the cornerstone of the plot of the novel "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn. The search successfully comes to an end when the phrase "Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs" is discovered.


title: Pangram

text: The scientific paper "Cneoridium dumosum" (Nuttall) Hooker F. Collected March 26, 1960, at an Elevation of about 1450 Meters on Cerro Quemazón, 15 Miles South of Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, México, Apparently for a Southeastward Range Extension of Some 140 Miles has a pangrammatic title, seemingly by pure chance. As of January 2022, its English Wikipedia article is the only English Wikipedia article to have a pangrammatic title without having been constructed as a pangram.


title: Pangram

text: Since 2014, the New York Times has published a daily word game called Spelling Bee. Daily gameplay consists of seven letter "alphabet" to be used in constructing English language words. Every iteration of the game is developed with at least one English language pangram word, meaning a word that uses all seven letters in that days' game alphabet (the word may include repeated letters).


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: Street Dancer 3D is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by Remo D'Souza and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Lizelle D'Souza under the banners of T-Series and R.D. Entertainment. The film stars Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Prabhu Deva along with Nora Fatehi. The music was composed by Sachin–Jigar, Tanishk Bagchi, Badshah, Guru Randhawa, Gurinder Seagal and Harsh Upadhyay, and released under the banner of T-Series.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: Based in London, "Street Dancer 3D" explores the conflict between an Indian dance team and a rival Pakistani dance team, whose members try to prove themselves as better until they take part in Ground Zero, one of the biggest dance competitions, for different wills; under various circumstances and harsh memories, they come together to win the competition.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: Originally planned as a sequel to Disney's "ABCD 2" (2015), the film was taken off the title due to Disney's exit from Indian film production, and was instead renamed to its current title after Bhushan Kumar took over as producer. Filming commenced in February 2019 in Punjab, later moved to London and was wrapped up in July 2019. The film was theatrically released in India on 24 January 2020 to mixed reviews.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: Sahej Singh Narula (Varun Dhawan) becomes the leader of Street Dancer, a London-based Indian hip-hop group, after his brother Inder, the former leader, injures his knee in a dance competition called Ground Zero. Two years after Inder’s injury, Sahej purchases a dance studio, the source of funding for which is hidden. Street Dancer is challenged by the Rule Breakers, a rival Pakistani hip-hop group led by Inayat Naazi (Shraddha Kapoor). Inayat hides her hip-hop lifestyle from her conservative Muslim family. Street Dancer loses to the Rule Breakers because of their overused style. The rival teams watch an India vs Pakistan cricket match at a restaurant owned by Ram Prasad (Prabhu Deva). Rising tensions result in a food fight. Sahej asks his girlfriend Mia to coach Street Dancer, as she is a dancer for the Royals, a British dance team that is reigning champion of the Ground Zero competition. Street Dancer and the Rule Breakers watch the India vs Pakistan finals match at Ram’s restaurant. Tensions escalate into a dance battle, which the improved Street Dancer wins.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: After the dance battle, Inayat discovers that Ram feeds leftover food from his restaurant to homeless illegal immigrants. Ram shows Inayat how the homeless of different backgrounds fight together to survive while the privileged dance teams fight against each other over nationality, wasting food in the process. It is revealed that while attending a cousin’s wedding in India, Sahej was pressured to illegally bring a group of dhol players to England, the tipping point being the dhol players’ shady agent Chhabra paying Sahej 4 million rupees, which Sahej used to buy Street Dancer’s studio. Inayat wants the Rule Breakers to win Ground Zero for the 100,000 pound grand prize to pay for the homeless immigrants to get back to their home countries. Sahej wants to win Ground Zero for Inder. Ram states that if Street Dancer and the Rule Breakers were to team up, they would be unstoppable, but the teams refuse. After a dance battle at a club, Sahej and three members of Street Dancer, Sushi, D and Poddy are recruited into the Royals. At Ram’s restaurant, an increasingly arrogant Sahej boasts to the Rule Breakers that he is unbeatable as a Royal. To this, Ram reveals that he is a master of dance and is coaching the Rule Breakers.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: After the first round of Ground Zero, Sahej runs into Amrinder, one of the dhol players he helped bring to England. Amrinder reveals his group was conned by Chhabra and are now struggling as homeless illegal immigrants, unable to return to India. He begs Sahej for help, but Sahej denies responsibility and ditches him. After the Royals’ semi final battle, the team encounters the homeless dhol players on the street and disrespects them. Sahej finally accepts the consequences of his actions and sees how Inayat’s efforts can help the dhol players he wronged. When the Rule Breakers come close to elimination, Sahej succumbs to his guilt and rebels against the Royals. Street Dancer joins the Rule Breakers to advance to the finals against the Royals. Inayat’s conservative family discovers that she is a dancer and forbids her from the competition. However, Sahej convinces them that although Inayat’s hip-hop lifestyle is incompatible with her religious customs, the good she brings to the world through her dancing is godserving and morally righteous. Her father allows her to dance in the finals, and the two teams compete under the name Street Dancer. During Street Dancer's performance, a member of the Royals disconnects their music. Street Dancer must almost forfeit to the Royals, however, the dhol players perform live music. However, Marc finds out that one of his team members took out the music and he asks his teammate to put the music back. Street Dancer wins the competition, earning the respect of the Royals. Using the prize money, they send homeless illegal immigrants, including the dhol players, back home, while Sahej and Inayat begin a relationship.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The first schedule of the film was shot in Punjab with Dhawan, Bajwa and Khurana. Later, the second schedule took place in London with the rest of the team including Kapoor and Fatehi. Katrina Kaif was original choice for lead role, but she opted out, and much later, Kapoor joined the cast. During the May schedule of shooting, she suffered a muscle spasm. The film was wrapped up on 26 July 2019.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: A first look poster of Dhawan in the film was unveiled on 27 May, with the release date. In the poster, it was shown that film to be released on 24 January 2020.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The film's music was composed by Sachin–Jigar, Tanishk Bagchi, Badshah, Guru Randhawa, Gurinder Seagal and Harsh Upadhyay while lyrics written by Kumaar, Priya Saraiya, Guru Randhawa, Badshah, Jigar Saraiya, Tanishk Bagchi, Vayu, IP Singh, Bhargav Purohit, Kunaal Vermaa, Garry Sandhu, Shabbir Ahmed, Sameer Anjaan, Millind Gaba and Asli Gold.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The song "Muqabla" from the film "Kadhalan", which was dubbed in Hindi as Humse Hai Muqabla, was originally composed by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Vaali in Tamil and P.K. Mishra in Hindi and sung by Mano and Swarnalatha, and then was recreated by Tanishk Bagchi. A version of the song was initially used to promote "".


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The third song "Illegal Weapon 2.0" is a remake of the Punjabi single "Illegal Weapon" featuring Jasmine Sandlas and Garry Sandhu, which was recreated by Bagchi.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The fifth song "Lagdi Lahore Di" is a remake of Guru Randhawa's most viewed song "Lahore", recreated by Randhawa himself in collaboration with Sachin–Jigar.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The sixth song "Hindustani" is a remake of the song "Suno Gaur Se Duniya Walo" originally composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, lyrics by Sameer Anjaan and sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Udit Narayan, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Domnique, and recreated by Harsh Upadhyay.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The seventh song "Bezubaan Kab Se" is a remake of the song "Bezubaan" from "", which was held by UTV Music. After the purchase of the rights, lyrics of the remake were written by Jigar Saraiya, one-half of composer duo Sachin–Jigar, who also composed the original, which had lyrics by Mayur Puri.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The eleventh song "Sip Sip 2.0", a promotional song, is a remake of the Punjabi single "Sip Sip", which was recreated by Bagchi.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: The final song, "Mile Sur", is a rehash of the popular song of the same name promoting national integration in India and broadcast regularly on National Feast Days, and originally composed by Ashok Patki with Piyush Pandey writing the original Hindi lyrics. Composed by Sachin–Jigar, the rehash version had lyrics written by Saraiya in collaboration with Vayu and IP Singh.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: "Street Dancer 3D" earned 10.26 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected 13.21 crore. On the third day, the film collected 17.76 crore, taking total opening weekend collection to 41.23 crore.


title: Street Dancer 3D

text: , with a gross of 86.29 crore in India and 15.71 crore overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of 102 crore.


title: Luna Vachon

text: Gertrude Elizabeth Vachon ( ; January 12, 1962 – August 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler, better known as Luna Vachon. Over the course of her 22-year career, she wrestled for promotions such as the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), Extreme Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, and World Championship Wrestling. She was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.


title: Luna Vachon

text: As a child, Gertrude Vachon wanted to continue her family's wrestling legacy. Attending wrestling events she used to play in the ring, which often resulted in training with various World Wide Wrestling Federation stars. Her family objected to her entering the wrestling business and tried to dissuade her, as they considered a wrestler's life at that time too harsh for a female. André the Giant, with whom she was close and who took her on a trip to Paris in 1974, also tried to dissuade her. Around the age sixteen, she began training under her aunt Vivian and then The Fabulous Moolah.


title: Luna Vachon

text: Gertrude started her professional career wrestling for Moolah's all-women's promotion. She then moved to Florida and, competing under the ring name Angelle Vachon, became a member of a four-woman wrestling troupe led by Mad Maxine. While in Florida, she shared residence with wrestlers Scott Levy (later known as Raven), and Denny Brown.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In 1985, she debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling, as a young, soft-spoken reporter named Trudy Herd, who was giving Kendall Windham an award. A melee ensued and she was slapped twice by Kevin Sullivan. The angle had her driven mad by Sullivan's treatment and she ended up joining Sullivan's Army of Darkness stable under the new ring name, Luna Vachon. As part of her gimmick, she shaved one half of her head, which was the first step to her trademark Mohawk hairstyle, covered her face in bodypaint, and continuously sneered. Looking back, Vachon expressed her uneasiness about some elements of this angle.


title: Luna Vachon

text: During her time in Florida, Luna first wrestled Madusa Miceli, beginning a long-lasting in-ring rivalry. Beginning in Florida, Luna teamed up with The Lock as the "Daughters of Darkness", a part of Sullivan's Army. The duo also provided back-up vocals for the thrash metal band Nasty Savage. In early 1987, Luna and Lock appeared in the Continental Wrestling Association. During the next three years, Luna also traveled to Japan, where her father Butcher Vachon acting as her manager, as well as Puerto Rico. She also wrestled in David McLane's Powerful Women of Wrestling (POWW) and, during POWW's alliance with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), participated in the latter's only pay-per-view event, SuperClash III in December 1988, competing in a Battle royal.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In the early nineties she took over management of The Blackhearts, a masked tag team coming out of Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. The team consisted of Tom Nash — a childhood friend of Luna and her then-husband — and David Heath, her future husband, under the names "Apocalypse" and "Destruction", respectively. Luna worked with them in Joel Goodhart's Tri-State Wrestling, in Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, and finally Giant Baba's All-Japan, where the team split up. Luna also worked at "Wild Women of Wrestling", as a competitor, commentator, and booker.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In 1992, while wrestling in Puerto Rico, she tried to get David Heath a job with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which resulted in the WWF developing an interest in her. They hired her, but not without some complications. No one actually knew exactly where she was; even her father only knew that she was staying in Florida. The WWF actually hired a private investigator to find her. When she was found, she was working as a waitress at a restaurant.


title: Luna Vachon

text: Luna's first WWF appearance was in April 1993 at WrestleMania IX, accompanying Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels in his match against Tatanka, who was accompanied by Michaels' former valet Sensational Sherri. After the match, Luna attacked Sensational Sherri at ringside and later in the first aid area and then was arrested by security, starting a vicious feud between the two.


title: Luna Vachon

text: At the same time Luna and Sherri were at odds, Bam Bam Bigelow had a confrontation with Sherri. This led to him being attacked by Tatanka and the two of them feuding. Soon after, Bam Bam (kayfabe) announced that he had fallen in love and presented Luna as his "main squeeze". He also endearingly called her his "Tick", which fans combined with her name to the chant "Luna-tic". From then, Bam Bam was seen blowing kisses to Luna at the end of matches, and in her honor even included the Moonsault, redubbed "Lunasault", into his repertoire. A mixed tag team match between the two pairs was planned for SummerSlam in 1993, but had to be canceled because Luna (legit) injured her arm and then Sherri left the WWF. Instead, Bigelow and The Headshrinkers fought and lost to Tatanka and The Smokin' Gunns in a six-man tag team match. In the autumn of 1993, Bam Bam and Luna ran afoul of some practical jokes from Doink the Clown, leading to a Survivor Series style match at the 1993 event of the same name pitting Bam Bam, The Headshrinkers, and Bastion Booger against four Doinks (actually Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers in clown makeup). During this time Luna was the cause of dissension between Bam Bam and his part-time tag team partner Bastion Booger, who had also (kayfabe) fallen in love with her. At WrestleMania X, Bam Bam and Luna finally got their revenge on Doink by beating the Clown and his midget side-kick Dink in a mixed tag team match.


title: Luna Vachon

text: When the WWF's women's division was revived, Luna's old rival Madusa, who had entered the WWF under the name Alundra Blayze, won the Women's Championship. Luna set her eyes on the title and had a series of matches with Alundra, all resulting in victories for Blayze. It was during this time the relationship between Luna and Bam Bam first showed cracks after interference in a match backfired. In the summer, Luna sold Bam Bam's contract to Ted DiBiase, who was beginning to build his "Million Dollar Corporation". Luna then picked Japanese wrestler Bull Nakano to win the Women's title from Blayze, which she eventually did. Luna, however, left the WWF shortly after this title match.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In 1994, Luna was the first woman to appear in a WWF video game, when – despite previous objections – she was included in "WWF Raw".


title: Luna Vachon

text: After leaving the WWF, Luna wrestled on the independent circuit. Upon the recommendation of Kevin Sullivan's wife Nancy, she entered Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). She was brought as Tommy Dreamer's new valet in his long running feud with Raven (Scott Levy). Dreamer introduced Luna as "someone out of your past", as Luna had been housemate to Levy in her Florida days and both had simultaneously worked in the WWF. While in ECW, Luna would stand with Tommy, feuding with Raven and his lackeys, which included Stevie Richards, and even her husband The Vampire Warrior (who, in kayfabe, had become jealous of the time she was spending with Dreamer). She had more than a few physical confrontations with Richards, including a steel cage match, which she won.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In the same year, she was rated #306 in the PWI 500 – the second woman to be included in that list after Miss Texas.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In 1996/97, she competed in Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council and American Wrestling Federation, using the name "Angel Baby', and the IWA Mid-South.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In early 1997, Luna had a short run with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), again going after her rival Madusa. Luna interfered in Madusa's matches against WCW Women's Champion Akira Hokuto, preventing a title win by Madusa. Luna and Madusa met each other in a series of matches, including a match at the 1997 Slamboree. Although Luna dominated the matches, Madusa managed to get the pinfall every time.


title: Luna Vachon

text: Later in 1997, Luna returned to the WWF, first as Goldust's manager, helping him to reinvent himself as "The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust". The pair sported a variety of different outfits and roles, including a dominatrix, a slave, a "New Year Baby", and his nurse. Their first feud was against Vader. Luna's first appearance had her wheeling the allegedly paralyzed Goldust to the ring and then blinding Vader with some "medical fluid". Later when Goldust, dressed like a Christmas tree, recited poems in the ring, he was attacked by Santa Claus, who turned out to be Vader. Vader eventually defeated Goldust at the 1998 Royal Rumble. The Goldust/Luna pairing also took to imitating other wrestler's gimmicks, often those of Goldust's opponents. At one point Goldust and Luna impersonated European Champion Triple H and Chyna in a title match against Owen Hart. What Triple H had intended as a joke resulted in Owen beating Goldust and Commissioner Slaughter awarding the title to Hart, considering Goldust to be a legit replacement.


title: Luna Vachon

text: At this time, Goldust also teamed up with Marc Mero, which led to another feud, as Luna and Mero's valet Sable started to fight outside of the ring. The feud culminated in a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania XIV, pitting the two couples against each other. After this, Luna challenged Sable to an Evening Gown match at Unforgiven and scored the victory by stripping her opponent down to her underwear. The animosity between Luna and Sable was not entirely kayfabe. As Sable's popularity increased, she adopted a presumptuous attitude towards other competitors. According to Luna, as the two trained in the preparation for their WrestleMania match, Sable refused to learn how to "take bumps", while Luna was threatened by WWF officials that hurting her opponent in the ring would put her job in jeopardy. Sable also annoyed Luna with bragging about being promised the Women's Championship, a goal that had eluded Vachon. Luna was also hurt after she had carried Sable in their match, as Sable was universally congratulated while Luna was only consoled by Owen Hart. Still, Luna described the match as a highlight in her career.


title: Luna Vachon

text: In August 1998, Luna had apparently patched up her differences with Sable, as the latter, now split from Marc Mero, introduced her as the newest member of the Human Oddities stable. Luna attacked Marc Mero's new valet Jacqueline, the former Miss Texas. Luna scored a pinfall victory in August, but lost a rematch in September. In December, Sable, who had won the reinstated WWF Women's Championship, was attacked by the masked "Spider Lady", who turned out to be Luna. She justified her heel turn and attack towards her partner with the words: "It's about me, it's about what I deserve." In this feud against Sable, Shane McMahon personally supported Luna's efforts to win the championship after taking personal offense to Sable's attitude towards him and booked a Leather Strap match at the Royal Rumble. Leading up to that event, in the storyline, Luna was repeatedly attacked by an obsessed Sable fan. At the Royal Rumble, Sable successfully retained the title thanks to the interference of that fan, who now entered WWF competition as Tori. During the weeks prior to the Royal Rumble, Luna also defeated Gillberg, a WWF parody of World Championship Wrestling's star Goldberg. Luna was due to challenge Sable for another title shot several weeks later at , but the match was canceled due to Luna's suspension for fighting with Sable backstage.


title: Luna Vachon

text: Six months later, Luna returned at SummerSlam, chasing then Women's Champion Ivory backstage after a successful title defense against Tori. This started a feud between the two with Luna even scoring a pinfall victory during an impromptu, non-title match. At Unforgiven, however, she lost to Ivory in a Hardcore Rules match. During that feud, Luna also answered a challenge from then Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett and defeated him via disqualification, thanks to Ivory's interference.


title: Luna Vachon

text: From then on, Luna reassumed her role as manager for her husband, now working for the WWF under the name Gangrel, participating in several mixed tag team matches and helping Gangrel beat his opponents.


title: Luna Vachon

text: At Survivor Series in 1999, she joined forces with her former rivals Ivory, Jacqueline, and Terri Runnels, against Tori, Debra, The Fabulous Moolah, and Mae Young. Luna's team was defeated when Moolah pinned Ivory. At the Royal Rumble in 2000, she participated in the "Swim Suit Contest", though in protest against the whole event she refused to take off her gown. This angle reflected Luna's legit dissatisfaction with the "sexualization" of the WWF's women's division. Vachon then became involved in a brief feud with Jacqueline after the latter had pinned Harvey Wippleman to capture the Women's title. She was the first person to challenge Jacqueline on the February 7 edition of "Raw", but failed following a German Suplex. Gangrel, who accompanied her to ringside, responded by executing his Impaler DDT on the champion. This led to a mixed tag on the following episode of "SmackDown", in which Vachon and Gangrel defeated Moore and her partner Prince Albert. She was later released from the WWF in early 2000 due to another outburst backstage.


title: Luna Vachon

text: After leaving the WWF, Luna continued to manage Gangrel during her independent tours all over the world, as well as wrestling on her own. Venues included the IWA Puerto Rico in 2000, the Australian World Wrestling All-Stars in 2001, the German EWP in 2003, the British ASW in 2006 and WSU in 2007.


title: Luna Vachon

text: Whilst touring the UK with WWA in 2001 she was defeated by her husband Gangrel in a Black Wedding Match.


title: Luna Vachon

text: On June 9, 2007, Luna became the first Great Lakes Championship Wrestling's Ladies champion defeating Traci Brooks. On December 5, 2007, Luna Vachon announced her retirement; her last match took place on December 7 for Great Lakes Championship Wrestling in Milwaukee. She successfully defended her GLCW Ladies Championship against Traci Brooks and then retired as champion.