title: Wooden horse (device)

text: The first variation of the wooden horse is a triangular device with one end of the triangle pointing upward, mounted on a sawhorse-like support. The victim is made to straddle the triangular "horse." Weights or additional restraints were often added to keep the victim from falling off. A punishment similar to this called "riding the rail" was used during the American colonial period and later. The victim was often carried through town in this predicament, often in conjunction with the punishment of tarring and feathering. The crotch could be injured and the victim left unable to walk without pain.


title: Wooden horse (device)

text: The Jesuit Relations say that in 1646, a man "was sentenced to make reparation, by the Civil authority, and to mount the Chevalet," and "a public blasphemer, was put on the Chevalet. He acknowledged his fault, saying that he had well deserved punishment, and came of his own accord to confess, that evening or the next day," and that another man "acted at the fort as such a glutton, that he was put on the Chevalet, on which he was ruptured."


title: Wooden horse (device)

text: The device was used during the American Civil War by Union guards against their Confederate prisoners:


title: Wooden horse (device)

text: The device was also used by Union officers as an entertaining way to discipline troops, and on freedmen and women after the Civil War.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana is a fictional character in the "Mortal Kombat" fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Debuting in "Mortal Kombat II" (1993), she is a royal from the fictional realm of Edenia. Her primary weapon is a pair of steel fans, which she uses for most of her special attacks.


title: Kitana

text: The character is introduced as the daughter of Outworld emperor Shao Kahn until she learns her true father was murdered by Shao Kahn when he conquered Edenia. Kitana subsequently becomes a primary hero in the series, joining forces with the Earthrealm warriors as she fights to ensure her realm's liberation. She is also the love interest of "Mortal Kombat" hero Liu Kang.


title: Kitana

text: One of the franchise's most iconic and popular fighters, Kitana has appeared in various media outside of the games. She has received a positive reception for her appearance, personality, and character development.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana first appears in "Mortal Kombat II" (1993) as a member of the Edenian race in from the fictional dimension, Outworld. While she is thousands of years old, she more closely resembles a young woman. For most of her life, Kitana believed she was the daughter of Shao Kahn and Queen Sindel. She served as the former's personal elite assassin for centuries, working alongside her sister Mileena and her best friend Jade. Eventually, she found out the truth; Shao Kahn murdered her true father King Jerrod, usurped his throne, and claimed Sindel as his wife to rule over Edenia. He placed Kitana under a spell to make her his loyal daughter and assassin, and had his subordinate Shang Tsung create a disfigured clone of her to be a backup heir. That clone, Mileena, would spy on Kitana and kill and replace her if she ever rose against Shao Kahn. Realizing her life had been a lie, Kitana turned against Shao Kahn and began fighting alongside Earthrealm's champions to defeat the evil emperor and free her home realm of his tyranny. At this point, Kitana started developing a romantic interest in Earthrealm champion Liu Kang. She also came to hate Mileena for being a reminder of the lie she lived and her existing only to kill her. According to the semi-canonical spin-off game "" (2005), after Kitana was found to be no longer loyal to Shao Kahn, she was placed into a spell-induced trance and forced to fight the Earthrealm heroes, Mileena, and Jade before being freed by the Shaolin warrior monks Liu Kang and Kung Lao. Eventually, the sisters clash and Kitana slays Mileena.


title: Kitana

text: During the events of "Mortal Kombat 3" (1995), Kitana is put on trial for treason after killing Mileena. Before a verdict and sentence could be reached, however, Kitana escaped (as retconned in "MK3" update releases "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" and "Mortal Kombat Trilogy") and joined the warriors of Earthrealm to free Sindel, who had been resurrected and used by Shao Kahn to invade Earth. After convincing Jade to join her, Kitana located and freed Sindel from Shao Kahn's mind control, leading to his defeat at the hands of Liu Kang. Kitana, Sindel, and Jade then liberated Edenia from Outworld.


title: Kitana

text: However, their jubilation was short-lived, as during the events of "Mortal Kombat Gold" (1999), fallen Elder God Shinnok and his grand vizier Quan Chi escaped imprisonment in the Netherrealm and invaded Edenia. Betrayed by the traitorous Edenian Tanya, Kitana, Sindel, and Jade are taken prisoner, but Kitana manages to escape and rejoin her Earthrealm allies and eventually defeat Shinnok's forces. With Edenia freed once again, Kitana proposes to Liu Kang, offering him the chance to rule Edenia by her side as King and Queen, but he reluctantly rejects her offer; seeing his true duty as being Earth's champion. After Shinnok's defeat, Kitana captures Mileena, but learns that Shao Kahn had survived his defeat in Earthrealm and was reamassing power. Knowing that the Kahn would attempt to reclaim Edenia once he was strong enough, she forged an alliance with Goro, prince of the Outworld race Shokan, against the Kahn's forces.


title: Kitana

text: In " (2002)", Kitana led a preemptive strike against Shao Kahn's forces, only to learn that he had been slain by unknown assassins. Believing her fight was over, she began the journey back to Edenia, but encountered Kung Lao, who warned her that Quan Chi and Shang Tsung had formed an alliance to kill Liu Kang and Shao Kahn before attempting to revive Onaga the Dragon King. Despite Kitana's grief, she rejoined the Earthrealm warriors and led them into battle. During the assault on Shang Tsung's palace, she faced Quan Chi, but is outmatched and killed alongside her allies. Shortly afterward, they were resurrected and magically enslaved by Onaga, who sent Mileena to impersonate Kitana as the princess of Edenia.


title: Kitana

text: In "" (2004), Onaga used Kitana to defeat and imprison Sindel. She was freed by Jade, and together they flee to Outworld to find a way to defeat Onaga and free Kitana from his influence. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, Liu Kang's spirit was able to remain amongst the living due to the bond he shared with Kitana. He found himself a new ally and friend in Ermac, as the two embarked on a mission to save their allies as well, and eventually succeeded. While traveling back to Edenia, Kitana encountered Blaze, who warned her of a coming danger that threatens all the realms and advised her to assemble the forces of light to avert it. Weary of the constant battle, Kitana was disheartened, but Blaze assured her that the wars would soon be over.


title: Kitana

text: Following this warning, Kitana returned in "" (2006), accompanied by Liu Kang's spirit in order to keep him whole until she found a way to reunite him with his body. They later met with Nightwolf, who offered to relieve Kitana of her burden by taking Liu Kang's soul into himself, allowing her to fight against the coming evil. Kitana ultimately perished alongside the rest of her allies during the battle.


title: Kitana

text: In the non-canonical crossover game "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" (2008), Kitana was transported to Metropolis, where she encountered Wonder Woman. As she was suffering from "kombat rage" at the time, Kitana hallucinated Wonder Woman as an assassin sent from Outworld and challenged her. After being defeated, Kitana fled to a different section of Metropolis, where she was found and defeated by Scorpion and brought to Raiden's temple, where she reveals she had a vision of Shao Kahn fusing with a being called Darkseid to become Dark Kahn. Following this, Kitana joined the rest of the combatants in traveling to the fused realms of Outworld and Apokolips and fighting the DC Universe's heroes and villains while Raiden and Superman battled and destroyed Dark Kahn.


title: Kitana

text: In the rebooted timeline of "Mortal Kombat" (2011), which retells the events of the first three "Mortal Kombat" games, she and Jade are sent by Shao Kahn to compete in a Mortal Kombat tournament. Kitana battles Liu Kang in an attempt to ensure that he will not reach the final stages of the first tournament, but is defeated. Expecting to die, she is surprised by his decision to spare her. Later, during the second tournament, Kitana is approached by Raiden, who informs her that her supposed past as Shao Kahn's daughter is a lie. Plagued by doubts, she infiltrated Shang Tsung's flesh pits and discovered the newly created Mileena. Before the Kahn, she accuses Shang Tsung of attempting to replace her, but is shocked to learn that the Emperor himself ordered Mileena's creation. He imprisoned Kitana in the palace, prior to an execution, and commands his "true daughter" to be brought to him. Kitana is soon freed by Liu Kang, and she and Jade escape to Earthrealm to join their new allies against Outworld's forces. They assist in the battle for Earthrealm, but are killed alongside several other warriors by Kitana's corrupted mother, Sindel. In the end, she is shown to be one of the warriors that were resurrected by Quan Chi in the Netherrealm to battle Raiden.


title: Kitana

text: In "Mortal Kombat X" (2015) Kitana returns as one of Quan Chi's revenants. She fought Jax and Cassie Cage in the game's story mode. Following Quan Chi's death and Shinnok's defeat, she and fellow revenant Liu Kang became the Netherrealm's new rulers.


title: Kitana

text: In "Mortal Kombat 11" (2019), Kitana's revenant aligned herself with the keeper of time Kronika after the latter promised her a timeline without Raiden. As a result of Kronika's actions however, a past version of Kitana and Liu Kang were brought to the present. While he traveled to Earthrealm to find out more about what happened, she stayed in Outworld to find Shao Kahn, who had also been brought to the present. To aid the new Outworld emperor Kotal Kahn, Kitana forged alliances with Outworld's disparate factions before leading them into battle against Shao Kahn; personally defeating and maiming him herself. Kotal, who had been crippled during the fight, appointed Kitana the new Kahn of Outworld in recognition of her skills in combat and diplomacy. After Kronika kidnaps Liu Kang, Kitana and her Outworld army aided Earthrealm's allied forces against Kronika's army until Raiden merged with Liu Kang's past self and his revenant to become Fire God Liu Kang. As the rest of her allies fought off Kronika's forces, Kitana joined Liu Kang in breaching Kronika's keep. However, Kronika reverses time for everyone except Liu Kang, who faces her and his allies' revenants alone. In one of the game's endings, Liu Kang defeats Kronika and is able to bring Kitana back to help him forge a new timeline. In the DLC story expansion "Aftermath", Kitana was reunited with Sindel after a time-traveling Shang Tsung and Fujin resurrected her to help in the fight against Kronika. However, she was horrified to learn of her mother's true megalomaniacal nature when she failed to stop her from betraying Earthrealm and Outworld.


title: Kitana

text: In 2009, Kitana's origins were revealed by her creator, John Tobias, who disclosed that she started out as an unplayable herald-type character called "Kitsune" during the early development of the original "Mortal Kombat" game in 1991; his inspiration at the time was the character of Princess Mariko from Jordan Mechner's 1984 video game "Karateka". In Tobias' design sketch, Kitsune wielded a single ornamental fan and "was going to fit into the story as Shang Lao's [early Shang Tsung] princess daughter—the spoil of victory for winning the tournament" who would betray her father after she fell for Liu Kang. Shang instead became a minion of Shao Kahn when the story was expanded for "Mortal Kombat II", for which Kitsune was renamed "Kitana" and made Kahn's stepdaughter keeping up with the princess character idea. According to Tobias, her original name was rejected for being Japanese and thus not compatible with "Shang and Shao who were both Chinese in origin" (before the games "ultimately became a hodgepodge of nonsensical Asian mythological hooha anyway"), and the name Kitana was created as "a combo of Kitsune & Katana" that would sound "generically Asian enough." During the reworking of Kitsune, Tobias drew her brandishing sais, and when he presented the sketches to co-creator and producer Ed Boon, he suggested that the character could earn a duplicate through palette swapping, and thus Tobias conceived a twin, Mileena, that would inherit the sais while Kitana would instead brandish bladed fans.


title: Kitana

text: Boon said Kitana's iconic "Kiss of Death" (or "Kiss of Doom") Fatality was inspired by the demise of the villain Mr. Big (Dr. Kananga) in the 1973 James Bond film "Live and Let Die", adding that it was his favorite finishing move of "MKII" and one of the best examples of their attempt to combine violent and humorous elements in the game. Her "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" / "Trilogy" Animality transformation animal is a small killer rabbit in a homage to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", and a cutscene of her non-canonical ending in the "Mortal Kombat 2011", in which she forms an alliance with Jade and Mileena, is a reference to "Charlie's Angels". Besides the "Kiss of Death", Kitana's other most commonly recurring Fatality is an execution through decapitation with a bladed fan, which has been featured in almost all of her game appearances (except of "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance" and "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe") and is expanded in "Mortal Kombat 2011" where she cuts off the defeated opponents' arms before beheading them. During the early 1990s, there has been a popular yet completely false rumor regarding the supposed Nudality (or Sexuality), a unique finishing move to use either by or against Kitana and Mileena.


title: Kitana

text: Boon described Kitana and Mileena as the female equivalents of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, the series' two most iconic male characters with a fierce rivalry of their own. Speaking in 2009, Boon said Kitana had become of the most recognizable "Mortal Kombat" characters, alongside Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and the series' official protagonist Liu Kang. Prior to the release of "Mortal Kombat X", the game's lead designer John Edwards said Kitana had remained his favorite character.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana was originally portrayed by karate and taekwondo practitioner Katalin Zamiar. She was hired for the role after Boon and Tobias, who have been members of her fitness center, were contacted by her brother, a "Mortal Kombat" fan who proposed that she would take a role in the sequel. Zamiar said she was introduced to them through Johnny Cage's actor, Daniel Pesina, "when they decided they wanted to cast a female martial artist for the ninja roles." She trained in kung fu for the first time in preparation for the role. Though Kitana returned for "UMK3", Zamiar did not reprise the role due to legal issues with Midway Games and was replaced by Becky Gable. Karen Strassman, who voiced Kitana in the 2011 reboot, reprised the role for the story mode of "Mortal Kombat X", with Grey DeLisle performing in-gameplay voice work for the character.


title: Kitana

text: Up until "Mortal Kombat Gold", Kitana, Mileena and Jade all wore a common costume design in each game, differing from each other through palette swapping (purple for Mileena and green for Jade) to create their digitized sprite graphics. Katalin Zamiar's outfit used for all three female ninja characters of "MKII" was Kitana's blue. It was a tailor-made, swimsuit-based simple costume that, however, presented some challenges for the crew during filming. For "UMK3", Becky Gable was videotaped in a more revealing outfit, which this time was red to stand out from the blue screen more. Both of these "classics" returned as optional costumes in "MK2011". Kitana first appeared unmasked in her 3D graphics model in "Gold". In "Deception", Kitana appears in the endings for Sindel and Ermac, resembling an unmasked and blue-clad version of Mileena from this game. Kitana's main costume in "MKX", notably less skimpy than usual, was created to be different than it has been in the previous games. Her alternative costume in "MKX" is more in the style of her previous outfits.


title: Kitana

text: Besides Mileena and Jade in "Mortal Kombat II" and Khameleon in "Mortal Kombat Trilogy", another character, Tanya, who was introduced in "Mortal Kombat 4", also began as a recolored version of Kitana with altered moves. Another character derived from Kitana is the crimson code-colored female ninja Skarlet, who was first rumored to be an Ermac-style glitch character and debuted as a playable in "MK2011". The moveset of Sonya Blade in "Mortal Kombat 3" is very similar to Kitana's in "MKII".


title: Kitana

text: Kitana's official measurements in "Deadly Alliance" are 128 lb. weight and 5'9" height. Her weapon of choice is a pair of razor-edged steel fans, inspired by Japanese war fans and originally being fully metal. Kitana's fans during the production of "MKII" were not actually steel but made of a reflective paper material, and were Zamiar's own training fans. Following her "MKII" debut, Kitana was repeatedly removed from further sequels due to various circumstances, only to always return in a port or an update, as it was the case with "UMK3"/"Trilogy" after her absence in "MK3", "Gold" after her absence in "MK4", and "" after her absence in "Deception". In "Gold", Kitana uses a throwing weapon, the "Flying Blade", which is similar to Tanya's sharp boomerang due to the two characters' linked development history in the original version of "MK4". In "MKX", Kitana can use either her own weapons or those of Jade from previous games: a telescoping staff, and a glaive throwing blade that is guidable in midflight.


title: Kitana

text: Most of Kitana's traditional special moves utilize her twin fan weapons, used as a melee weapon, as a thrown projectile, and to lift her enemies in the air. In later games, Kitana received some special moves that have been typically associated with Mileena, such as a ground-roll attack in "vs. DC Universe" and teleportation-based moves since "Shaolin Monks". Like all playable characters in "Mortal Kombat X", Kitana has three different style variations to choose from in this game, including her "Mournful" variation using Jade's special attacks such as "Shadow Kick" and weapons. Her other "MKX" styles are the aggressive, fast and acrobatic Assassin, and the defensively-oriented Royal Storm, which expands on her fan-lifting abilities.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana was chosen as the best "Mortal Kombat II" fighter by the editors of "Sega Power" and "Super Play" for being "good all around" and due to her quick attacks and perceived similarities to Chun-Li. "Amiga Power" too called her "a really good character to pick" and Cinema Blend stated Kitana "could absolutely dominate" the game. However, "GamePro's" strategy guide ranked Kitana as only the seventh best of the 12 fighters in "MKII" (citing her devastating combos, powerful "Fan Throw" move, and good sweep and reach hindered by slow release of the fan-based special moves and limited attack patterns); it was her clone Mileena who landed on the top of their chart. According to a retrospective by "Complex", Kitana "had the most powerful projectile attack, and along with Mileena, the fastest throws and sweeps." "Kitana's big combos in the corner" were among Ed Boon's own personal favourite things in the game: "When I saw people do Kitana's combos I knew there was something special, because people were taking the game to a new direction." "EGM" described Kitana as "a force to be reckoned with" and predicted she would "make a big impact as her Fan Wave leaves foes open to combos." In the Game Gear version of "MKII", however, Kitana's fan lifts the opponent too low and too far away for an easy combo.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana's combo abilities were severely downgraded for "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" (and, by extension, "Mortal Kombat Trilogy"), for which she received no new special moves unlike most of the other characters. According to "Nintendo Power", "with such a small repertoire, Princess Kitana will be sorely challenged by experienced warriors," even as her fan toss is faster than many other projectile attacks. "Sega Saturn Magazine" opined that "Kitana's lack of enhancements doesn't make her as exciting to play as some of the other characters, though her excellent juggle combos still work - and they can do loads of damage," According to "Total 64", "her moves are a little unfriendly and her combos are a touch difficult." "EGM Strategy Guide" for "UMK3" stated: "She had deadly corner traps with damage in up to 90 percent [in "MKII"]. Now, her fan-raise combos have been severely crippled to almost not being worth it." Nevertheless, "X360" called the CPU Kitana "the worst possible character to come up against" in the single-player Tower mode of "UMK3", as she is "fast, impossible to sweep, and capable of rendering any opponent incapable with a waft of her fan." According to "Dreamcast Magazine", "Mortal Kombat Gold"'s returning "old favourites like Sub-Zero, Kitana and Baraka" too had by then "dated moves and fatalities." Her combos improved in the later games, and according to BradyGames' official guide for "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance", "Kitana stays at the top of the heap as far as kombatants go. In any stance, she can pump out over 30% with relative ease, making her one of the deadliest in the hands of a beginner or a master." Kitana was later found to be capable of infinite-loop corner combos in her "Mournful" variation in "Mortal Kombat X".


title: Kitana

text: In "Mortal Kombat:" "Shaolin Monks", Kitana is fought as a boss character twice in the game's main story mode and is one of unlockable player characters for the versus mode. Prima Games' guide to "Shaolin Monks" states she is "quick enough for moderate damage, and has some of the most potent special moves in the game," but her limitation is she needs to be fighting at close range to make use of it. Regarding "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon", however, Prima declared Kitana "a tough character to win with" and "like many of the other low tier character types, she's lacking in almost every aspect" (even as she "is a little better on defense than she is on offense"). She was rated overall only 4/10 for this game. Their official guide for "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe", on the other hand, called her "one of the more dangerous characters in the game due to her speed and extremely effective move-set." Prima's official guide for 2011's "Mortal Kombat" deemed Kitana a capable fighter who once again "is at her deadliest in the corner" and is also especially good if played against Baraka and Cyber Sub-Zero. Prima observed Kitana in "MK2011" as her "cheapest" (unduly overpowered) incarnation so far, stating "Kitana is not only one of the most damaging characters in the game, but in addition to the Fan Lift and Square Wave Punch, she can combo her Air Fan almost any time an opponent is airborne." According to Prima's guide to "MKX", "Kitana is one of the more unique characters in the game" due to her inheriting many of Jade's special moves, and she "is a zoning character at heart, but she can play offensively or defensively" depending on a variation chosen. The guide recommended the "Mournful" variant for former Jade players, and the "Assassin" variant, which "tries to take the generally defensive style Kitana has in "MKX" and add some offensive firepower to it," for veteran Kitana players.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana appears in Malibu Comics's 1994-1995 "Mortal Kombat" comic book series. She first appears during the 1994 three-issue miniseries "Goro: Prince of Pain", joining Mileena, Baraka and Reptile in searching for Goro in Outworld. During the "Battlewave" miniseries, she attempts to rebel against Kahn with the assistance of Kung Lao, Baraka and Sub-Zero. Kitana's enemies besides Mileena include Scorpion, who offers to take her as his new wife. She is the subject of a one-shot issue titled "Kitana and Mileena: Sister Act", in which her royal background from the games is intact, only she is already an adult when Shao Kahn kills Jerrod and seizes the realm, before putting her under a spell that makes her forget her past life and instead believe she is Kahn's daughter. Unlike in the game series' continuity, in the comic series Kitana has no interactions with neither Liu Kang nor Jade; instead, she has a closer relation with Kung Lao (Shang Tsung even attempts to exploit this while taking Kitana's form). In the official comics, Kitana has a small part in Midway's "Mortal Kombat 4" prologue comic book published in 1997 and released with the PC version of the game, in which she arranges peace between the warring Shokan and Centaurian races, and appears in the 2008 tie-in comic "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe: Beginnings", illustrated John Tobias and published by DC Comics in 2008.


title: Kitana

text: Despite being a major character in the video games' storyline, Princess Kitana was only a supporting character in both "Mortal Kombat" live-action films. In the movies, Kitana was portrayed by Talisa Soto (who was one of the only two actors, along with Robin Shou, to play the same character in both films), who was unmasked and wore less revealing, all-black costumes; namely, a corset top, leggings, knee-high boots and opera-length gauntlets (and occasionally, a full-length sequined gown). In the 1995 first film, Kitana is introduced as a companion of Shang Tsung, who is aware that she is a dangerous adversary due to her being the rightful heir of Outworld and may attempt to ally herself with the Earth fighters, and he therefore sends Reptile to spy on Kitana. She eventually joins Liu Kang and the Earthrealm warriors to help them defeat the sorcerer. According to producer Lauri Apelian, "with Talisa and Bridgette [Wilson], we had two characters that were well rounded. I didn't want the women to be cardboard characters. They needed to have a strength and an independence and an intellect that went well beyond their beauty and being sexy." In the 1995 novelization of the first "Mortal Kombat" film by Martin Delrio, based in part on the early scripts by Kevin Droney, Shang Tsung informs Goro that Kitana "alone keeps alive the memory" of the Outworld throne before Kahn's conquest and "uses her age and her position as a shield to cover her rebellion." Kitana spends most of the 1997 sequel "" in Kahn's captivity after being captured by Scorpion, before she faces Sindel during the final battle. Kitana was supposed to appear in the third film as well.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana's steel folding fans (redesigned into several individual blades instead of solid all-metal) appear once as her weapon in the films, though she fights with them closed. While "Annihilation" teases a romantic relationship between Kitana and Liu Kang, her background in both films consists only of her being the rightful heir to the Outworld throne. They do kiss at the end of "Annihilation", and their kiss was actually supposed to be included in the first film too but the director Paul W. S. Anderson did not like it. The actress Talisa Soto-Bratt, who said she "loved" the character for Kitana's "incredible strength" and for the challenge this role posed for her, said that was while first preparing for her role she was "educated" about it by her nieces and nephews. She then underwent five weeks of martial arts training in tai chi chuan and wing chun, while her further role in "Annihilation" required her to learn Brazilian stick fighting for the use of fans.


title: Kitana

text: Princess Kitana is a main character in the 1996 television animated series "", a loose adaptation of "Mortal Kombat 3" influenced by the film, where she is voiced by Cree Summer. In the series, Kitana in brown-haired and almost always unmasked, wearing a black costume mixing her outfits in "Mortal Kombat II" and "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3". Like in the first film, no reference is made to any past loyalty to Kahn. Sean Catherine Derek's Writer Guide document for the show, as well as the official character guide, describe Kitana as an "exotic", "gorgeous and outrageously sexy" woman, who is "extremely mysterious" as she "often speaks in mystical riddles." The guides also note "a strong bond and major heat" between her and Liu Kang, and that "though she is incredibly feminine, Kitana is a fierce warrior." In the episode "Skin Deep", Rain is introduced as her former love interest turned enemy, though neither have ever shared any relationship in the series canon other than their Edenian heritage. In the episode "Swords of Ilkan", Kitana defeats her former ally named Zara, an original character. The episode "Abandoned" features a ninja girl named Ruby, a friend of Kitana (a reworking of Jade). The final episode "Overthrown" involves Kitana leading an unsuccessful rebellion against Shao Kahn's Outworld rule.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana is a recurring character in the 1998 live-action television series "", played by Audie England in two episodes ("Vengeance" and "Shadow of a Doubt") and once by Dara Tomanovich ("The Essence"), with Christine Rodriguez serving as their stunt double. In this series, she is fully aware of her Edenian past and the deaths of her parents at Kahn's hands, clandestinely working with Kung Lao to prevent the Emperor from conquering realms while at the same time feigning her allegiance to him. Her outfit and weapon are resembling these she has in the films, but she uses her native Edenian fighting style which she had mastered already before Shao Kahn's invasion and which was supplemented with various moves that she learnt from prisoners of her stepfather. The "Konquest" version of Mileena is neither her clone nor a sister but just someone who impersonates her to seduce and assassinate Kung Lao, and Rain appears as Kitana's former best friend. In the series finale, which ended in a cliffhanger due to the show's abrupt cancellation after two seasons, Kitana appears to die after she is reluctantly ordered by Shao Kahn to be killed for plotting against him. She is promptly attacked by Shadow Priests and one of them uses Kitana's own fan against her.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana was featured in a two-part episode in the 2011 prequel live-action webisode series "". Kitana was played by martial artist and stuntwoman Samantha Win (credited as Sam Tjhia) in her acting debut. Jo, a self-professed Kitana fan since her childhood, said that while preparing for the role she had done research "to get on the same page" with fans to see how they perceive Kitana. She said that the hardest part for her was "to understand the sibling rivalry and betrayal that Kitana faced in her past, and how it deeply affected the character she is now." Kitana's origin is told in part-live and part-animated episode "Kitana & Mileena", which is an altered adaptation of their backstory from the original game series' canon. In a notable difference, her mother Sindel uses a ritual so her soul fuses with Kitana's in hopes to avoid Shao Kahn's corruption before committing suicide. Kitana appears both masked (only in the animated scenes) and unmasked, and bests Mileena in a fierce sparring match. When the young sisters are sent by Shao Kahn to assassinate the man who is really King Jerrod, Kitana's biological father who is killed by Mileena, Kitana eventually learns the truth after her past and decides to turn against Shao Kahn in the upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament. Kitana returned for the second season of "Legacy" in 2013, still played by Sam Jo but in a new costume. In the second season, Kitana comes to rescue of Johnny Cage by fighting and defeating Mileena, whom she decapitates.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana was among several characters featured in the 1995 stage show "", where she was played by Lexi Alexander (credited as Lexi Mirai) and Jennifer DeCosta. Kitana, played by Dana Hee, was also featured in Threshold Entertainment's abortive web show "Mortal Kombat: Federation of Martial Arts" in 2000–2001, where she fought against Johnny Cage and Scorpion before the show was canceled.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana appears in "", voiced by Grey DeLisle. She appears in the film dueling with Liu Kang during the Mortal Kombat tournament. DeLisle reprised her role in the sequel "".


title: Kitana

text: Model Rachelle Glover dressed as Kitana, along with others dressed as Sonya and Mileena, was featured in her a 2011 live-action trailer "Kitana Kasting" and an official photo session; all three of them later attended "" for a "MK" game tournament. Glover also portrayed Kitana in 2012's "Play Anywhere", a live-action trailer for the PlayStation Vita version of "Mortal Kombat", first in two teaser trailers and then in the full version with both of them mixed together. Also to promote "MK2011", UFC's Octagon Girl Brittney Palmer dressed up in a blue costume and played as Kitana in the game in a "Playboy" vlog. AJ Lee dressed up as Kitana on a WWE Raw Halloween Divas Battle Royale. Velvet Sky dressed up as Kitana for Impact Wrestling's Halloween photoshoot along with Gail Kim as Mileena.


title: Kitana

text: A figurine of Kitana came in the "MKII" set with the Argentinian magazine "Top Kids" in 1995. An action figure of Kitana was released in the UK by Toy Island as part of their 1996 "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" series. Another action figure of Kitana, this time in her "MKX" "Royal Storm" variation, was released by Mezco Toyz in 2015 and a Funko Pop! figure was released in 2017 followed by a more realistic Funko action figure, both also of the "Royal Storm". A 1/6-scale limited-edition statue of Kitana from "MK2011" was released by Syco Collectibles in the Enchanted Warriors series in 2012. A 1/4 scale statue by Pop Culture Shock Collectibles was released in 2013, including an unmasked limited edition. A 1/3 scale statue of Kitana from "MKX" was released by Pop Culture Shock in 2018. Besides figures, some of them unreleased, there have been also a number of other Kitana-themed merchandise items.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana appeared in two issues of the humor magazine "Cracked" (in which she was renamed "Princess Kittykat") and in Grant Ginder's 2009 novel "This Is How It Starts". The video-game versions of wrestlers The Bella Twins in the 2015 game "WWE Immortals" were dressed in costumes inspired by Mileena and Kitana. Musician Princess Nokia (Destiny Nicole Frasqueri), who named Kitana as her favourite female game character, made a 2017 song titled "Kitana".


title: Kitana

text: Since the early 1990s, the character has been a widely popular subject of cosplay both in the United States and abroad, particularly among models and entertainers. For instance, Filipina presenter and 2010 "FHM" "Premiere Vixen" winner Karen Bordador dressed up as Kitana for a 2011 photo session, bodybuilder Tanya Jordan won the Ms. Fitness Southern California 2010 competition by pole dancing in a Kitana costume, film maker Jen Soska dressed as Kitana to fight her sister Sylvia's Mileena at Fantastic Fest 2011, and dancers from the Miami Northwestern Senior High School dressed in Kitana for a controversial dance routine in 2017. In the world of martial arts, professional wrestler AJ Lee (April Jeanette Mendez) dressed as Kitana for the Divas Battle Royal contest in the Halloween 2011 special edition of "Monday Night Raw", during which she jokingly attempted to perform a "Fan Lift" on her opponent, and mixed-martial artist Roxanne Modafferi dressed as Kitana for Ultimate Fighting Championship's Friday's Invicta FC 14 official weigh-in in 2015. Other personalities who costumed themselves as the character have included "Maxim" model Aja Dang at ComicCon 2012, model Jenn Sterger in 2013, professional wrestler Velvet Sky (Jamie Lynn Szantyr) in 2014, singer Demi Lovato in 2017, and singer and actress Teyana Taylor in 2018. In the 2014 sixth season of "RuPaul's Drag Race", contestant Adore Delano wore a costume of Kitana who she said was her favorite "Mortal Kombat" character.


title: Kitana

text: "Kitana" has become an occasional neologistic misspelling of the word "katana." Though the name itself has no distinct meaning and did not exist before being made-up by Tobias for "MKII" in 1993, it is now a given name being in use in the United States and elsewhere. "Kitana Jade" has been the alias of American adult model Cherie Roberts since 1999, Kitana Baker is the adopted name of an American model born Christi Josenhans, and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez is a name taken by an American transgender actress. It is also the name of the main character in Derek Landy's 2012 novel "".


title: Kitana

text: Critical reception of Kitana has been mostly very positive, often with emphasis placed on her good looks and sometimes on her relatively complicated personality. She has become commonly regarded to be one of the most recognizable characters of the "Mortal Kombat" franchise. "Mortal Kombat II" was described by "CU Amiga" as "Kitana & Co" and by "GamePro" as "Kitana and crew" and "Total 64" called Kitana the "babe" of "Mortal Kombat Trilogy", saying that her gameplay problems "all can be forgiven when we look at those legs." Criticizing characters of the game "War Gods", made by the same team as "Mortal Kombat", "Computer and Video Games" used Kitana as an example of a contrasting "awesome" character. According to Tom's Hardware in 2007, "Kitana is arguably the best known and most popular woman in the "Mortal Kombat" series." She placed fourth on the 2005 list of top "old school" "Mortal Kombat" characters by Game Revolution's Anthony Severino, ranked as the fifth top character in the series by Robert Workman of GamePlayBook in 2010, and was voted the ninth top Mortal Kombat fighter by the staff of UGO in 2012. Fans voted Kitana the series' twelfth-greatest character in a 2013 fan-voted poll by Dorkly that rated the entire "Mortal Kombat" roster. Mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey named Kitana as her favourite "Mortal Kombat" character. Actresses Natalie Martinez and Megan Fox both said that their dream role would be to play Kitana in a movie.


title: Kitana

text: At the time of her introduction, "Times Union" described Kitana as "the sexy and vicious fighter" and "a killer babe who melds a mix of seduction and violence." According to "Amiga Format" in 1994, while it might be "incredibly sad for adult males to fancy in game female characters," one should be "prepared to fall in love" with Kitana. The "Austin American-Statesman" described Kitana and Mileena as "far nastier than that martial-artless aerobics instructor from the first game." According to Joey Esposito of MTV, "it's obvious that "Mortal Kombat II" added in some more, let’s say, sexually suggestive characters in Mileena and Kitana." One of the many false rumors surrounding the game at the time concerned a supposed "Nudality" (or "Sexuality") finishing move that would be performed by Kitana stripping naked. Years later, in 2004, "Vibe's" Stud Houston admitted he had a crush on Kitana, describing her as "sexy as hell," and MTV Multiplayer's Kendra Beltran chose Kitana as the number one female character on her 2013 list of "video game crushes you had as a kid". The relationship between the "smoking hot" Kitana and Liu Kang was ranked as the fourth best video game couple by the staff of IGN in 2006. Rob Wright of Tom's Games included this "enduring and powerful character" on his 2007 list of the 50 greatest female characters in video game history for being a "powerful princess that's lived more than 10,000 years and still hasn't lost her hotness," "X360" featured her on the list of "an alternative top ten females in gaming" in 2009, and James Hawkins of Joystick Division ranked her as the fifth top "badass lady" in video games in 2010. VideoGamer.com's Wesley Yin-Poole included Princess Kitana on his 2010 list of top ten "video game crushes" as rivaling Princess Peach for number one video game monarch and winning out "in sheer sex appeal." Danny Gallagher of MTV's Guy Code ranked Kitana as the fourth "best babe in video games" of 2011, stating that she not only has "a great pair of long legs" but also "the deepest emotional core of any of the "Mortal Kombat" characters." GameRevolution included Kitana in their list of ten best female characters in 2016.


title: Kitana

text: Kitana has quickly become one of the "Mortal Kombat" series' sex symbols, in a display of what one author described as manifestation of "pseudo-Japanese Orientalist fetishes." She has been featured in many lists of all gaming's most attractive female characters by various foreign publications, including as one of the 20 "muses" of video games by Brazilian magazine "SuperGamePower" in 2001, and one of the 21 "sexy ladies of computer games" by Poland's "Fakt" in 2009. In 2008, GameDaily ranked her as the 28th top "hottest game babe", noting her as "the most worthy of the "Mortal Kombat II" babes," while UGO similarly ranked her as the 28th top "videogame hottie", and GamesRadar featured her on the list of top 20 supposedly overlooked "game babes". In 2009, "Complex" featured her as one of top ten "hottest video game girls", calling her "the sexiest cougar ever." In 2011, Anurag Ghosh and Bill Fulks at Bright Hub named "the gorgeous Kitana" as the sexiest "Mortal Kombat" character, while GameFront's Ross Lincoln ranked her bust in the new game as the 30th-finest in gaming history. In 2012, Kitana was declared the second-sexiest character in video games by Fernando DaQuino of TecMundo, who noted her being "well far from a princess stereotype," and included among the 20 "hottest women" in video game history by MSN Malaysia. UGO ranked her as the "38th-hottest fictional woman" of the year, commenting that the "Mortal Kombat" series "has always boasted some hotties, but the new game brought back Kitana in a big way." Kitana was rated as the seventh-sexiest "video game girl" by Nixie Pixel of Revision3, and João Vitor de Oliveira from Brazilian edition of "Official Xbox Magazine" placed her fifth on his list of sexiest women in fighting games. In 2013, Kitana was also ranked as the fifth-sexiest female video game character of all time by AMOG's Albert Costill, who referred to her as "not only one of the most recognizable characters from "Mortal Kombat"," but "also one of the coolest, and definitely sexiest," as well as the second-sexiest female video game character by Scarlet Clearwater of Soletron. Kitana was ranked as the 56th-best-looking game woman by Brazilian site GameHall's Portal PlayGame in 2014, with a comment that since her first appearance she "has stirred imagination of "MK" players and gained fans around the world." In 2015, Indonesian television station Liputan 6 ranked her as the eighth-sexiest Oriental woman character in video games.


title: Kitana

text: She has drawn comparisons to the series' first female character, Sonya Blade. Kitana tied for eighth with Sonya in "Complex's" 2010 list of the "hottest women in video games." In 2010, during development of the "Mortal Kombat" reboot, "God of War" series director David Jaffe explicitly wrote how his character Kratos would have "a FUCKALITY" with "Sonya AND " if he joined the series (Jaffe later explained that he does not advocate rape, as it was interpreted by some, and that his comment was to suggest that Kratos would "get a threesome" as a reward). In 2012, Kitana was ranked as the second-top "hottest" female video game character by Kristie Bertucci of "Gadget Review", who called her "way hotter" than Sonya. That same year, JoBlo.com placed Kitana ninth on their list of the ten "hottest video game characters," likewise stating that Sonya "had nothing on her" and calling her a "videogame babe for the ages," while UGO suggested that Kitana and her mother Sindel should be on every "hot females in videogames" list. Kitana and Mileena were included among the "old-school hotties that still got it" by Travis Hubert of Cheat Code Central in 2014, who stated that "these two have become synonymous with the sex appeal of the "Mortal Kombat" series [and] even surpassed the popularity of Sonya Blade, who was the original "MK" hottie." Placing her 19th in their 2015 ranking of the series' 73 playable characters, Den of Geek opined "Kitana became one of the breakout stars of the series, easily having more meat on her character than Sonya ever did."


title: Kitana

text: Kitana has also often shared the media spotlight with Mileena and Jade; GameFront's Phil Owen considered them all "basically the same character." At the time of the release of "MKII", "The Miami Herald" called Kitana and Mileena ("leggy ladies who wear masks") to be "an interesting step toward political correctness" as "a far cry from Little Miss Muffet". Brazilian magazine "Ação Games" placed her and Mileena at the eight spot on their list of "Top Girls" in 1997. In a retrospective article from 2011, IGN's Richard George listed "the hot chicks" as one of the reasons why "Mortal Kombat II" "is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the series." Alongside Mileena and Jade, Kitana was included on the list of the "hottest chicks of 2011" by Univision. The three of them all shared a spot on the 2014 list of top ten "hottest" female villains in gaming by Cheat Code Central's Travis Huber. In 2009, "GamePro"s Aaron Koehn ranked Mileena and Kitana as the 11th-best pair of palette-swapped video game characters, writing that "both prefer wearing clothing that shows off their inflated mammary glands, and both have used the usually endearing gesture of kissing as a fatality." The two were featured in GamesRadar's 2006 list of top seven "girls kissing girls", and "Kitana's and Mileena's deadly kisses" were chosen as the favourite Fatalities by "Retro Gamer" Paul Drury in 2007. Lauren Alessandra of GamingUnion.net wrote that Kitana "easily fits in" the number six spot on her 2011 list of top video game heroines, stating that "her and her 'clone' sister for that matter quickly became poster girls for the series." In 2012, UGO similarly described "the busty ninja sisters Kitana and Mileena" as the front characters of the "Mortal Kombat" franchise. Kitana was voted at second place in the "Mortal Kombat" category of "Miss of Video Games 2012" by Polish magazine "PSX Extreme", where she ultimately lost to Jade. In 2014, Zoomin.TV ranked Kitana second among their 2015 "top five sexiest "Mortal Kombat" girls" which also included Jade as well as Skarlet. "Playboy" included Mileena, Kitana, and Jade together among "the hottest video game breasts of all time".


title: Kitana

text: Kitana was listed among the 25 "hottest (and deadliest) ninja assassin chicks" in all media by UGO in 2011 for having "brains and brawn, not to mention a wardrobe full of sparse clothing." "Complex" editors pitted the "as deadly as she is beautiful" Kitana against Taki from the "Soulcalibur" series for the 2011 "battle of the beauties" in the category "female ninjas", which resulted in a draw between the two, and ranked Kitana as the tenth-top female killer from video games in 2012, noting that "she is still holding down her spot on the hot female assassins list" nearly two decades after her debut. Gelo Gonzales of "FHM" listed Kitana as one of the nine "sexiest ninja babes in games" in 2012, comparing her to Eula Valdez. Márcio Pacheco Alexsandro of GameHall placed Kitana and Mileena at second spot of his 2014 list of top ten female ninja characters in games. In 2017, GameRant ranked her as the fifth best ninja character of "Mortal Komba"t, stating she should be just "written off as 'Mileena Lite'" and calling her fans the perhaps most iconic weapon in the series.


title: Kitana

text: There have been controversies and mixed or negative critical reception of the character. In 1994, she was one of the fighting game characters cited by Guy Aoki of "AsianWeek" as allegedly perpetuating existing stereotypes of Asians as martial arts experts. In the video game violence controversy themed book "Interacting With Video", Patricia Marks Greenfield and Rodney R. Cocking used the "two Asian twin sisters, Kitana and Mileena" as an example of "highly eroticized Dragon Lady" stereotyping in video games. When Marsha Kinder accused "Mortal Kombat II" of misogyny in its handling of female characters, she alleged that "some of the most violent possibilities are against women," whose own "fatality moves are highly eroticised." Patrick Sunnen's book "Making Sense of Video Games" judged their portrayal as "formidable female opponents" to be potentially progressive, yet arguably made just to increase "the sexist potential of the individual fights", and described Kitana's Fatality of decapitation with a "deceptively feminine razor-sharp fan" to be castration-like. Chad Hunter of "Complex" chose Jade and Kitana to represent the "women who fight" stereotype in his 2012 list of the fifteen most stereotypical characters in video games, for being "half-naked skanks who can fight, hurl lasers and perform aerobatic attacks while wearing thongs, high-heeled boots and keeping their giant breasts under scarves," claiming that this has caused "female gamers [to] slide away from this series." In a satire article ""Mortal Kombat II" warriors: Where are they now?" by VentureBeat's Jason Lomberg, Kitana "joined the National Organization for Women and started an online campaign to recognize and combat the rampant sexual harassment in organized death tournaments. Mai Shiranui, Cammy, Morrigan, and Mileena all stepped forward to share their stories."


title: Kitana

text: Kitana's finishing moves have been critically received variably but mostly positively, especially in regards to her famous signature "Kiss of Death". Featuring her in their "Girls of Gaming" special in 2003, "play" cited this Fatality as the aspect of Kitana that she is famous for. Her death kiss was ranked as the eighth-best of all "Mortal Kombat" Fatalities by both UGO in 2007 and IGN in 2010. In 2011, GameFront's Ben Richardson ranked it as the second best finishing move in the series for being "just icing on the cake" for "MKI"'s combination of gore and dark comedy, echoing Ed Boon's opinion. as the 18th top "Mortal Kombat" finishing move by Kevin Wong of "Complex" that same year, and as the eighth-best Fatality by Robert Workman of Prima Games in 2014, as well as included among the deadliest kisses in all of science fiction and fantasy by Gordon Jackson from io9 in 2015. Javy Gwaltney of "Paste Magazine" put Kitana's kiss from "MKII" third on his 2015 list of "the 15 most memorable Fatalities in "Mortal Kombat"", which also included Kitana cutting an opponent into pieces in "MKX", commenting it is "of little surprise that Princess Kitana is a long-time "Mortal Kombat" fan favorite" as her finishing moves "are consistently fantastic." However, Kitana's kiss was also included on the list of the series' seven worst Fatalities by Dan Ryckert of "Game Informer" in 2010, and C.J. Smillie of Game Rant ranked it as the series' eighth-worst Fatality in 2011, criticizing it for not innovating enough over the years and stating that this "unoriginality...really hurts Kitana's standing in the series." In another article, Smillie ranked Kitana's new "Splitting Headache" Fatality from "MK2011" placed as the eighth best finishing move in this game. Back in 1996, her rabbit Animality was also singled out as especially "weak and poorly conceived" in "GamePro"'s review of "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3".


title: Kitana

text: In various articles, often being tongue-in-cheek, Soren Bowie of Mania.com listed Kitana as one of ten "psychotic video game chicks with too much baggage," GameDaily featured her as one of ten "babes who shouldn't meet your mom," GamesRadar's Alan Bradley included her among "gaming's most twisted royalty" for having "a thing for bloody decapitations via razor fan and for boys 9,000 years her junior," and Jim Sterling of Destructoid expressed his discomfort at Kitana's design in "MK Vs. DCU", implying her bulging crotch made her look like a transvestite. Leah Jackson from MTV's The Feed instead paired her with Kung Lao instead of Liu Kang, as he "would offer great balance to Princess Kitana's often hectic lifestyle" of "always going off getting killed, resurrected, put under spells, or whatever new kind of hell is cooked up for her." The character's outfits were parodied in Grey Carter's "Critical Miss" comic strip at "The Escapist", where Kitana is forced to wear skimpy costumes and high heels by her stepfather.


title: Kitana

text: "GamePro"'s AJ Glasser called Kitana her favorite female "Mortal Kombat" character, but nevertheless criticized the character's pre-reboot repertoire of special moves. Ben Kendrick of Game Rant included Kitana in his 2011 list of ten "most awesome" "Mortal Kombat" characters in the "honorable mentions" section, but added that "apart from possessing one of the cooler weapons" in the game, she "lacks the entertaining/alluring oddity" of Mileena. GameFront's Richardson opined that, Kitana's "most amusing" kiss-killing aside, she has "not [been] a very compelling character." Some were much more dismissive of the character altogether. For instance, "Game Informer" listed her among the palette swapped ninja characters not wanted by them in the future "Mortal Kombat" games in 2010, and Kotaku's Mike Fahey wrote that "the whole alien ninja woman thing" was not "quite my cup of tea." Reacting to one fan request to not "waste a character slot" on Kitana in "MKX", Ed Boon himself commented: "How can hate on Kitana?"


title: Kitana

text: The alternative versions of the character in other media have been variably received. At the time of the release, some film critics such as Laura Evenson of "San Francisco Chronicle" or Eric D. Snider noted Talisa Soto's attractiveness in the role of Kitana but found her character otherwise uninteresting as compared to Robin Shou's Liu Kang. Michael Saunders of "The Boston Globe" opined "Soto never seems to do much more other than look exotic in the role," which Ben Steelman of "Star-News" described as "basically Princess Leia in black leotards," and Malcolm Johnson of the "Hartford Courant" described Kitana in "Annihilation" as wearing "a knockout black leather costume [that] gives her the look of the world's sweetest dominatrix." albeit Destructoid's Sterling included Kitana among the first film's "more sensible makeovers" comparing them to how "X-Men" comics characters were redesigned for the film adaptations. Dimas Sanfiorenzo of "Complex" ranked the animated Kitana in "Defenders of the Realm" as 18th on the list of "hottest cartoon women of all time" in 2011, while the feature film version of Kitana was ranked fourth on the list of "hottest women in video game movies" by Peter Rubin of "Complex", with a likeness score of 70%. The "Legacy" episode "Kitana & Mileena" was nominated by the Writers Guild of America Award in the category "Outstanding Achievement in Writing Derivative New Media".


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania (; born 26 March 1949) is the eldest daughter of King Michael I and Queen Anne of Romania. She assumed her father's duties in March 2016, upon his retirement, and has claimed the headship of the House of Romania since his death on 5 December 2017. She also heads the Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Until 2011, Margareta also used the style of a princess of Hohenzollern. Margareta has four sisters and no brothers or children. Her heir-presumptive is her next sister, Princess Elena of Romania. According to the defunct royal constitutions of 1923 and 1938, women were barred from wearing the crown, and Margareta and her sisters would not be in the line of succession to the throne.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: On 30 December 2007, King Michael designated Margareta as heir presumptive to the defunct throne by an act that is not recognized by the Romanian government and lacks legal validity without approval by Romania's Parliament. On the same occasion, Michael also requested that, should the Romanian Parliament consider restoring the monarchy, the Salic law of succession not be reinstated, allowing female succession. According to the new statute of the Romanian Royal House as declared by Michael, no illegitimate descendants or collateral lines may claim dynastic privileges, titles or rank and any such are excluded from the Royal House of Romania and from the line of succession to the throne.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Margareta was born on 26 March 1949 at Clinique de Montchoisi in Lausanne, Switzerland, as the first of King Michael I and Queen Anne's five daughters. She was baptised in the Romanian Orthodox Church; her godfather was Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Her godmother was her maternal grandmother Princess Margaret of Denmark who was also her namesake. She was followed by four sisters: Princess Elena (born 1950), Princess Irina (born 1953), Princess Sophie (born 1957) and Princess Maria (born 1964).


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Margareta spent her childhood at family homes in Lausanne and at Ayot House, St Lawrence, in Hertfordshire, England. During holidays she and her sisters spent time with their grandparents; paternally with Helen, Queen Mother, at "Villa Sparta" in Italy and maternally, with Princess Margaret and her husband Prince René of Bourbon-Parma in Copenhagen. She and her sisters were told "fascinating tales of a homeland they couldn't visit" by their father. She also spent time with relatives in Greece, Italy, Denmark, Luxembourg and Spain.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Margareta met Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom for the first time in the summer of 1952 at Balmoral Castle, when she was three years old. In her childhood, she spent holidays with Prince Charles and his sister, Princess Anne, who were close to Margareta, as well as Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (her cousin), and the Greek, Danish and Luxembourg royal families.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1964, along with five other princesses, Margareta was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark to King Constantine II of Greece.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1956, Margareta lived with Queen Helen for six months at her villa in Florence, attending kindergarten until returning to Switzerland, where she attended a primary school, with Princess Sophie, from age six to nine.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1960, she was sent to a boarding school in Old Basing, Hampshire, where she stayed until she was 13; she found it difficult to be away from home but was glad that she became more mature, noting that her English improved later.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Her favourite subjects were: art, riding and natural sciences (she learned how to grow plants) and also piano lessons.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1964, she began secondary education at a French school in Switzerland, where she studied philosophy.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: "I did my baccalaureate in Switzerland, got my driving licence the next day and I left very fast. I really didn't enjoy the baccalaureate, I didn't enjoy school, I didn't enjoy Switzerland" Margareta said in an interview in 2007.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: After her Swiss-French baccalaureate, rather than heading straight for Paris and studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, her preferred destination, she was persuaded to return to Florence to spend a year with her Romanian grandmother, whom she described as "my spiritual guide, my mentor, guiding star. She taught me a lot about life, opened my eyes to all that is beautiful and good in the world". Her dreams of art school were soon replaced by a determination to go to university.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Margareta studied sociology, political science and public international law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, graduating in 1974. Known there as "Margareta de Roumanie", for the first few weeks she felt a depressing "sense of foreignness" but later became active in campus politics, becoming a member of the students' representative council.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: During an interview from 2011, she confessed that her first desire was studying philosophy: "I really enjoyed philosophy, but I realized I had to be a bit more practical. Then, in the 1970s, sociology was fashionable, so I chose it alongside the international law I wanted for the United Nations, and the political sciences because they could relate to international relations and give the opportunity to know systems. This combination of studies was very interesting. Maybe now, if I had to resume, I would do something more practical."


title: Margareta of Romania

text: While at the university during her twenties, Margareta was involved in a five-year romantic relationship with Gordon Brown, who would serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010; in 2007, she was interviewed by an editor of "The Daily Telegraph": "It was a very solid and romantic story; I never stopped loving him, but one day it didn't seem right any more, it was politics, politics, politics, and I needed nurturing," she said.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: After her graduation in 1974, she worked in a number of British universities for a few years, specialising in medical sociology and public health policy. Later she participated in an international research program coordinated by the World Health Organization that focused on developing health policy recommendations and preventive pilot projects.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1979, she then worked for the agencies of the United Nations: The World Health Organization and The United Nations Population Fund, where she joined Social projects in public health, based in Africa and Latin America where she came into contact with suffering and deficiencies of the disadvantaged which was the kick start of her experience of the beginning of a road in humanitarian service, which she has still followed since then.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1983, she moved to Rome and joined the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations where, as a member of the World Food Day project team, she worked for three years on the public awareness campaign concerning agricultural programs, nutrition, and poverty alleviation. She belonged to the International Fund for Agricultural Development team until 1986.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1986, she joined the International Fund for Agricultural Development where she handled relations with nongovernmental organizations and assisted in raising funds for IFAD programs.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Problems started to arise in Romania and in the summer of 1989 Margareta resigned from her job. Concluding that something fundamental was needed in Eastern Europe, she moved to Geneva to work with the Romanian Crown Council and the royal family, whose members began preparing themselves for what was to come.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In mid 1989, civil and governmental unrest started arising in the Eastern Bloc as the loosening of control of Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union had triggered most of the impact for the former states which started a Revolutionary wave leading to the Revolutions of 1989.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In early December 1989, there was civil unrest by the anti-government protesters and on 16 December the 12-day Romanian Revolution started; on the commands of President Nicolae Ceaușescu a mass genocide was led by members of the military who unanimously switched on the 22nd from supporting him to backing the protesting population. On 25 December, President Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Deputy Prime Minister Elena Ceaușescu were deposed, captured and executed by orders from a Drumhead military tribunal; 42 years of the Socialist Republic of Romania had ended. The revolution was the first overthrow of the ruling governmental system since King Michael's Coup which he successfully staged in 1944 by arresting members of the military government which supported Nazi Germany.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: During the Revolution, all members of the Royal Family took a part to console the situation outside of Romania.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: While she was visiting one orphanage, a child in a filthy cot died in front of her. It spurred her to establish the "Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation" in 1990. The foundation has raised more than five million euros, through which it contributes to the development of Romanian civil society.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: A 25th anniversary celebration of Margareta's return to Romania was held at the Romanian Athenaeum, followed by a dinner at the CEC Palace with Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta and Senate President Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu; around 200 other prominent guests participated in the festivities. Margareta also hosted a March 2015 gala at the dynasty's historical family seat, Peleș Castle, in honour of the Romanian Rugby Union, attended by Klaus Johannis, the first incumbent Romanian president to pay an official visit to the former royal family.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: On 15 May 2015, the General Assembly of the Romanian Red Cross elected Margareta as President of the Romanian Red Cross. The Red Cross was instituted as a Romanian branch of the International Red Cross in 1876, under the reign of her great-great grand uncle King Carol I of Romania.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In her acceptance statement, she expressed her gratitude to the Romanian Red Cross representatives, who re-established a long and valuable tradition of partnership between the oldest organization in the country and the Romanian Crown.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Although at Margareta's birth she was not expected to inherit the defunct Romanian throne and the headship of the Romanian royal family, the birth of four younger sisters and no brother meant that without a change in the royal family's succession laws, male members of the House of Hohenzollern would succeed her father as pretenders to the Romanian throne, in accordance with the Salic law enshrined in both the defunct royal Romanian Constitution of 1923 and the defunct Statute of the Romanian royal house, dated 1884.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1997 King Michael designated Margareta as successor to "all prerogatives and rights" of his, indicating his desire for a gender-blind succession to the throne; although there was much consideration of altering the line of succession, no actions were taken until 30 December 2007, when King Michael I issued the statutes for the Royal House, called "The Fundamental Rules of the Royal House of Romania".


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Following the announcement of "The Fundamental Rules", King Michael asked the Romanian Government that, should it consider restoring the monarchy, it should also abolish the Salic law of succession.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Margareta does not use the title of Queen and prefers instead to be known as "Custodian of the Romanian Crown", a title that Michael I offered her.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Paul-Philippe Hohenzollern (son of King Michael's illegitimate half-brother, Carol Lambrino) denounced King Michael's actions of creating "The Fundamental Rules" and severing ties with the House of Hohenzollern. Paul also claims to be head of the Romanian royal family, unlike his father.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Although Margareta has no official role within the politics of Romania to maintain ties with other countries, she has fostered diplomatic relationships with numerous foreign dignitaries in her capacity as a head of the House of Romania. During these visits she is often accompanied by her husband Prince Radu, who is a special Romanian government representative for Integration, Co-operation and Sustainable Development.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In 1994, Margareta met Radu Duda, a Romanian citizen and part-time actor, through the work of the Princess Margareta Foundation. He was working as an art therapist in orphanages when he was introduced to her during her tour of the foundation's programs. On 24 July 1996, she married Duda in a civil wedding at Versoix.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Radu Duda was accorded the style "Radu, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen" on 1 January 1999, and was subsequently styled ""HRH" Radu, Prince of Romania", being referred to by King Michael on 30 December 2007, as future "Prince Consort of Romania". In Margareta's company and, more often alone, he has represented the former royal family publicly on various occasions. They live in the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: BAE Systems, one of the donors to the Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation, and its representatives have been involved in a corruption scandal involving purchase by the Romanian government of two decommissioned UK Royal Navy frigates refurbished by BAE, for which an alleged £7 million bribe was paid, some of which, it has also been alleged, ended up in the pockets of the Hohenzollern royal family to which Margareta belongs. The "Gardianul" newspaper, noting that both Margareta and her husband, as Special Representative of the Government, had met a number of times with the BAE Systems representatives before and after the signing of the governmental contract, inquired whether the royal family was involved in any lobbying on behalf of the company. In an official communiqué sent to the newspaper, Prince Radu denied any such lobbying activities, stating that as patron of the British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce of which BAE Systems is a member, he met with its representatives as well as those of other British companies.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: The main pro-monarchist party PNŢCD, currently extra-parliamentary, is ambiguous in its support for Margareta. In 2002, it rejected any role for her or her husband in a restored monarchy, while in 2003 the Cluj branch of PNŢCD officially invited her to be its electoral candidate to the Senate of the Republic in upcoming elections.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: Prior to his death, King Michael had not given up the hope for the restoration of the throne: "We are trying to make people understand what Romanian monarchy was and what it can still do."


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In a July 2013 survey about a potential restoration of monarchy in Romania, 19% of respondents gave Margareta as their favorite, while 29.9% supported her father. 48.1% said they did not know or did not answer.


title: Margareta of Romania

text: In December 2017, on the backdrop of the increased capital of trust in the Royal House of Romania, re-emerging with the death of King Michael, the executive chairman of the ruling Social Democratic Party Nicolae Bădălau said that one could organize a referendum on the transition to the monarchical ruling form, arguing that "it is not a bad thing, considering that the countries that have the monarchs are developed countries", being a project of the future. At the same time, the leader of the coalition party and the president of the Senate of Romania, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, reinforced this idea, claiming that he is a convinced monarchist and "constitutional monarchy has the advantage of placing the monarch over political games, case: the president, instead of being an arbitrator, prefers to be a player. "


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? is a 2009 book by British philosopher Mark Fisher. It explores Fisher's concept of "capitalist realism", which he describes as "the widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it."


title: Capitalist Realism

text: The book investigates what Fisher describes as the widespread effects of neoliberal ideology on popular culture, work, education, and mental health in contemporary society. "Capitalist Realism" was an unexpected success and has influenced a range of writers.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: The subtitle refers to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's pro-market slogan "There is no alternative".


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Widely regarded as Mark Fisher's most influential idea, capitalist realism is an ideological framework for viewing capitalism and its effects on politics, economics, and public thought. The name itself is a play on the term "socialist realism". Fisher wrote extensively on the subject and frequently gave interviews with political bloggers and theorists on the subject, which expanded on his definition of the concept.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: According to Fisher, the quotation "it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism", attributed to both Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek, encompasses the essence of capitalist realism. Capitalist realism is loosely defined as the predominant conception that capitalism is the only viable economic system, and thus there can be no imaginable alternative. Fisher likens capitalist realism to a "pervasive atmosphere" that affects areas of cultural production, political-economic activity, and general thought.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Capitalist realism as I understand it cannot be confined to art or to the quasi-propagandistic way in which advertising functions. It is more like a pervasive atmosphere, conditioning not only the production of culture but also the regulation of work and education, and acting as a kind of invisible barrier constraining thought and action.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Capitalist realism propagates an idea of the post-political, in which the fall of the Soviet Union both solidified capitalism as the only effective political-economic system and removed the question of capitalism's dissolution from any political consideration. This has subverted the arena of political discussion from one in which capitalism is one of many potential means of operating an economy, to one in which political considerations operate solely within the confines of the capitalist system. Similarly, within the frame of capitalist realism, mainstream anti-capitalist movements shifted away from promoting alternative systems and toward mitigating capitalism's worst effects.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Exponents of capitalist realism do not assert that capitalism is a perfect system, but instead that it is the only system that can operate in a means compatible with human nature and economic law. By promoting the idea that innate human desire is only compatible with capitalism, any other system that is not based on the personal accumulation of wealth and capital is seen as counter to human nature and, by extension, impossible to implement.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Fisher argues that the bank bailouts following the 2008 economic crisis were a quintessential example of capitalist realism in action, reasoning that the bailouts occurred largely because the idea of allowing the banking system to fail was unimaginable to both politicians and the general population. Due to the intrinsic value of banks to the capitalist system, Fisher proposes that the influence of capitalist realism meant that such a failure was never considered an option. As a consequence, Fisher observes, the neoliberal system survived and capitalist realism was further validated. Fisher classifies the current state of capitalist realism in the neoliberal system in the following terms:


title: Capitalist Realism

text: The only powerful agents influencing politicians and managers in education are business interests. It's become far too easy to ignore workers and, partly because of this, workers feel increasingly helpless and impotent. The concerted attack on unions by neoliberal interest groups, together with the shift from a Fordist to a post-Fordist organisation of the economy – the move towards casualisation, just-in-time production, globalization – has eroded the power base of unions [and thus the labor force].


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Fisher regards capitalist realism as emerging from a purposeful push by the neoliberal right to transform the attitudes of both the general population and the left towards capitalism and specifically the post-Fordist form of capitalism that prevailed throughout the 1980s. The relative inability of the political left to come up with an alternative economic model in response to the rise of neoliberal capitalism and the concurrent Reaganomics era created a vacuum that facilitated the birth of a capitalist realist system. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which Fisher believes represented the only real example of a working non-capitalist system, further cemented the place of capitalist realism both politically and in the general population, and was hailed as the decisive final victory of capitalism. According to Fisher, in a post-Soviet era, unchecked capitalism was able to reframe history into a capitalist narrative in which neoliberalism was the result of a natural progression of history and even embodied the culmination of human development.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Despite the fact that the emergence of capitalist realism is tied to the birth of neoliberalism, Fisher is clear to state that capitalist realism and neoliberalism are separate entities that simply reinforce each other. According to Fisher, capitalist realism has the potential to live past the demise of neoliberal capitalism, though Fisher posits that the opposite would not be true. Capitalist realism is inherently anti-utopian, as it holds that no matter the flaws or externalities, capitalism is the only possible means of operation. Neoliberalism conversely glorifies capitalism by portraying it as providing the means necessary to pursue and achieve near-utopian socioeconomic conditions. In this way, capitalist realism pacifies opposition to neoliberalism's overly positive projections while neoliberalism counteracts the despair and disillusionment central to capitalist realism with its utopian claims.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: According to Fisher, capitalist realism has so captured public thought that the idea of anti-capitalism no longer acts as the antithesis to capitalism. Instead, anti-capitalism is deployed as a means for reinforcing capitalism. This is done through modern media which aims to provide a safe means of consuming anti-capitalist ideas without actually challenging the system. The lack of coherent alternatives, as presented through the lens of capitalist realism, leads many anti-capitalist movements to cease targeting the end of capitalism, but instead to mitigate its worst effects, often through individual consumption-based activities such as Product Red.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: With regards to public views on capitalism, Fisher coined the term "reflexive impotence" which describes a phenomenon where people recognize the flawed nature of capitalism, but believe there are no means of effecting change. According to Fisher, this inaction leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy as well as a negative toll on their mental health.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: Fisher identifies a widespread popular desire for a public sphere that operates outside of the state and free from the undesired "add-ons of capital". However, he claims that it is the state alone that has been able to maintain public arenas against the capitalist push for mass privatization. Popular neoliberal thought supports the destruction of public spheres in favor of the privatization of public institutions such as education and health based on the assumption that the market best serves public needs. In this vein, Fisher also raises the idea of "business ontology", which is the capitalist ideology in which purposes and objectives are understood exclusively in business terms. He further postulates that in the case of uniformly business-oriented social conditions there is no place for the public and its only chance at survival is by means of extinguishing the business framework in public services, adding that "if businesses can't be run as businesses, why should public services?" Thus, a frequent topic of Fisher's writing is the future of the public sphere in the face of neoliberal business ontology and what it might look like in absence of a centralized state-run industry.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: The "realism" aspect of capitalist realism and its inspiration—socialist realism—is based on Jacques Lacan's distinction between the Real and "realities", such as capitalist realism, which are ideologically based understandings of the world that reject facts that lie outside of their interpretations. Fisher posits that an appeal to the Real which is suppressed by capitalist realism may begin to deconstruct the pervasiveness of the ideology. Fisher points to areas such as climate change, mental health, and bureaucracy that can be highlighted to show the weaknesses and gaps in capitalist realism.


title: Capitalist Realism

text: In the wake of Fisher's work, other critical theorists in academia and the political blogosphere have employed capitalist realism as a theoretical framework.


title: DAF Trucks

text: DAF Trucks is a Dutch truck manufacturing company and a division of Paccar. Its headquarters and main plant are in Eindhoven. Cabs and axle assemblies are produced at its Westerlo plant in Belgium. Some of the truck models sold with the DAF brand are designed and built by Leyland Trucks at its Leyland plant in England.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In 1928, Hubert "Hub" van Doorne founded the company as "Commanditaire Vennootschap Hub van Doorne's Machinefabriek". His co-founder and investor was A. H. Huenges, managing director of a brewery. Van Doorne had repaired Huenges' car several times, and Huenges, pleased with his work, offered to finance him in business. Hub started to work in a small workshop on the grounds of the brewery.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In 1932, the company, by then run by Hub and his brother, Wim van Doorne, changed its name to "Van Doorne's Aanhangwagen Fabriek" (Van Doorne's Trailer Factory), abbreviated to "DAF". Huenges left the company in 1936 and the DAF company was then completely in the hands of the van Doorne brothers.


title: DAF Trucks

text: DAF developed the Trado conversions to convert 4×2 Ford trucks to an off-road 6×4 drive. One of DAF's few armoured vehicles, the M39 Pantserwagen, used developments of this Trado drivetrain. M39 production came too late for World War II – in the invasion of the Netherlands (1940) only three saw combat.


title: DAF Trucks

text: After World War II luxury cars and trucks were very scarce. This meant a big opportunity for DAF. In 1949, the company started making trucks, trailers and buses, changing its name to "Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek" (Van Doorne's Automobile Factory). The first lorry model was the DAF A30.


title: DAF Trucks

text: Through the 1950s, DAF was a major supplier to the re-equipping of the Dutch Army's softskin vehicles, with models such as the DAF YA-126 and DAF YA-328 'Dikke Daf'. These used the all-wheel drive H-drive developed from the Trado conversions.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In late 1954, Hub van Doorne had the idea to use belt driven continuously variable transmissions, like so many belt-driven machines in factories, to drive road vehicles. In 1955, DAF produced its first drafts of a car belt drive system. Over the next few years, the design was developed and refined. In February 1958, DAF demonstrated a small belt-driven four-seater car at the Dutch car show (the AutoRAI).


title: DAF Trucks

text: The public reaction was very positive and 4,000 cars were ordered. In 1959, DAF started selling the world's first car with a continuously variable transmission, the small four seater DAF 600. This was the first of a series of models to be released in subsequent years, including the DAF 33, DAF 44, DAF 55 and DAF 66, all using the innovative Variomatic transmission system.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In 1967, DAF opened a new plant in Born for car production. The 44 was the first model to be produced there.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In 1972, International Harvester of Chicago bought a 33% stake in DAF (with the Dutch government holding 25% and the Van Doorne family holding the remaining 42%), forming a joint venture. This agreement lasted until 1981. DAF sold its passenger car division, along with what is now the Nedcar factory in Born, in 1975 to the Swedish company Volvo Cars, leaving DAF to concentrate on its successful line of trucks.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In 1987, DAF merged with the Leyland Trucks division of Rover Group, and in June 1989 was floated on the Dutch and London Stock Exchanges as DAF NV. The new company traded as Leyland DAF in the United Kingdom, and as DAF elsewhere.


title: DAF Trucks

text: DAF Bus was split off in 1990 to become a part of United Bus. Following difficulties in the British market, After DAF NV was placed in administration in February 1993, the Dutch operations were sold in a management buyout with the business branded DAF Trucks.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In October 1996 Paccar acquired DAF Trucks. DAF Trucks and Leyland Trucks were rejoined in June 1998, when Paccar also acquired Leyland Trucks.


title: DAF Trucks

text: On 9 January 2012, Paccar installed the cornerstone of the new plant in the city of Ponta Grossa, in the state of Paraná, Brazil.


title: DAF Trucks

text: The first passenger car, the DAF 600, was presented to the public in February 1958. It featured unitary steel construction, with a front mounted, air cooled two cylinder boxer engine driving the rear wheels through a centrifugal clutch and the Variomatic CVT transmission. The way this was constructed eliminated the need for a differential, with the drivebelts taking up the difference of speed in turns.


title: DAF Trucks

text: This acted as a limited slip differential. The car had independent suspension all round, with MacPherson struts and a transverse leaf spring at the front, and a coil sprung semi trailing arm design at the rear. The first 600s rolled off the production line in the following year. The next model was the 750, featuring a larger twin.


title: DAF Trucks

text: Later, DAF produced a more luxurious type called the Daffodil, divided into three models assigned the numbers DAF 30, DAF 31 and DAF 32. The designation 32 was changed to 33 upon the 1966 release of the 44, a larger middle class vehicle designed by Giovanni Michelotti.


title: DAF Trucks

text: The 44 featured a completely new design aesthetically as well as mechanically, but was of the same layout as the "A types" (the 600, 750, 30, 31, 32 and 33), with the main difference being its two cylinder engine, and its full swingaxle rear axle design as opposed to the A type semi trailing arms.


title: DAF Trucks

text: The 1968 DAF 55 carried a bigger water cooled OHV four cylinder engine derived from the Renault 8 Cleon engine. Its body design was altered from the 44 by a new front which accommodated the longer engine and radiator, bigger taillights, and a more plush interior. The front suspension was changed from a transverse leaf spring to MacPherson struts with torsion springs and an antiroll bar.


title: DAF Trucks

text: The DAF 66 was introduced as a successor to the 55. It featured new, boxy styling of the front, and a new rear axle design. The two drive belts now powered a differential, and the axle was changed from a swingaxle design to a leaf sprung de Dion axle. It was a major improvement over the (tricky) handling of the swing axles of the earlier 33, 44 and 55 models.


title: DAF Trucks

text: Volvo purchased a 33 percent stake in DAF in December 1972, with the intent of taking a larger interest. They increased their holdings to 75% on 1 January 1975, taking over the company and the Nedcar plant. Volvo dropped the 33 and 44 models, and later rebadged the DAF 66 as the Volvo 66, with bigger bumpers and a safety steering wheel.


title: DAF Trucks

text: The DAF 46 was developed with Volvo's assistance, and was basically a 44 with the rear axle of a 66 and a single belt Variomatic (half the 66's transmission). A big weakness of this system is that a failed drive belt would cripple the car. The last DAF design, codenamed P900, initially intended to be the DAF 77, was developed during the transition to Volvo ownership and was ultimately launched as the Volvo 300 series in 1976, firstly as the Volvo 343 three door hatchback with the Variomatic transmission.


title: DAF Trucks

text: After initial slow sales, the range was expanded into the 340/360, with a five-door variant and the availability of manual transmission, and the 340/360 range became a sales success, eventually surpassing 1.3 million units by the time production ceased in 1991. The subsequent Volvo 440/460/480 and the first generation S40/V40 models were also made at the Nedcar plant, until Volvo sold its interest to Mitsubishi Motors in 2001, marking the end of Volvo's involvement with the former DAF plant after almost thirty years. Today, the plant is now owned by VDL Nedcar, and contract manufactures certain Mini models for BMW.


title: DAF Trucks

text: For a small company, DAF made a huge number of prototypes. Also, famous coachbuilders like Giovanni Michelotti and OSI made cars based on DAF mechanicals. For instance, the OSI City Car, which turned into a miniature. There was also Michelotti's "Shellette" beach car, which was later modified to use Fiat 850 underpinnings. The Dutch Royal Family used one of these at their Porto Ercole summer residence.


title: DAF Trucks

text: DAF produced their first truck, the A30, in 1949. This truck was upgraded in the following years. Their first attempt into the international market was a failure, the 2000DO. Their next truck was the 1964 2600, which became a big seller with its well equipped but practical cabin. They also produced a so-called torpedo front tractor.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In the 1970s, a new modular tilting cab called the F218 was introduced on the F1600/F2000 range of vehicles. Three years later, the wider F241, which featured DAF's characteristic three wiper windscreen, was introduced as the DAF 2800. This design lasted until the introduction of the 95 style cab in 1987. There was also a lighter, narrower version called the 'F198 which was introduced in 1972 on the F1200 and F1400, but this short lived model was replaced after only three years. In 1984, DAF truck production was 13,645; this increased to 14,382 in calendar year 1985.


title: DAF Trucks

text: DAF was also one of the first to introduce an intercooled turbocharged diesel engine into their trucks, which in these years became very evident with their 3600. Their largest six cylinder turbodiesel was based on the old Leyland O.680 motor. It was to be DAF's standard large engine long into the nineties.


title: DAF Trucks

text: DAF's 95 series was launched in 1987, and quickly gained the coveted 'Truck of The Year' award. The 95 featured an all new cab developed jointly with ENASA of Spain, a revised version of the 11.6-litre ATI engine, rated at 310, 350, and 380 bhp, and 16 speed ZF Friedrichshafen gearbox. On the Continent Eaton's Twinsplitter gearbox was an option. A full range of axle configurations were offered, to suit every operating requirement.


title: DAF Trucks

text: Much attention was paid to soundproofing; the gearlinkage for example was telescopic, whilst in-cab noise levels on the 95 put many luxury saloons to shame. An update in 1991 saw new power ratings of 329, 364, and 401 Bhp; – a 430 Bhp variant, along with low deck tractor unit models and revised interior trim, were introduced in the spring of 1992.


title: DAF Trucks

text: Two years later, after an intensive study of the ultra long haul market sector, DAF unveiled the 95.500 Super Spacecab at the 1994 RAI show. The 95 series cabin had gained height and length, and sat atop Cummins' 14-litre N14, rated at 507 bhp. ZF's new Aluminium cased 16S221 gearbox was fitted, with optional Intarder. An innovation was the hydraulic gearshift developed with Konsberg of Norway.


title: DAF Trucks

text: Within an overall height of 3.85m, the Super boasted an interior height of 2.25m, a luxury bunk with generous stowage space underneath, and a full range of options included microwave, fridge, and a television/video system. The 95.500 was available as a 4x2 tractor or drawbar rigid, with LHD only, though the Super Spacecab was available on 11.6-litre engined models. The 95.500 is now a very rare truck, which is surprising given the original list price of £87,650.


title: DAF Trucks

text: The basic cab design remains in production to this day, latterly as the 95XF and now the XF105, although both these developments of the original 95 are totally different machines under the skin. Other vehicles in the DAF range have included the inherited from Leyland Trucks Roadrunner (Badged DAF 600, 800, 1000 on the Continent) which evolved into the 45 Series, the cab of which was used on the 18 ton gross 55, also as a military spec 4×4.


title: DAF Trucks

text: An all new medium to heavyweight line up debuted in the end of 1992, the 65, 75 and 85 utilising the same wedge shaped cab. Powered by DAF's , and engines, some novel styling details featured, while the 85 Series' cab sat higher on the chassis to clear the WS engine.


title: DAF Trucks

text: A short lived model was the 1990 to 1993 80 Series, using the T45 Roadtrain cab acquired from the Leyland Trucks takeover, fitted with the ATI driveline. Also offered for a short period was the 3200, basically a remodelled 2800 with the corporate style, three bar grille.


title: DAF Trucks

text: In August 2011, DAF announced it had built up a 19% stake in Tatra, which will use DAF cabs and Paccar engines. DAF dealers will sell Tatra off-road trucks.


title: DAF Trucks

text: DAF cars had the image of being slow. The company tried to change this image with entries in rallies and races, such as their entry in the London–Sydney Marathon.


title: Neil Strauss

text: Neil Darrow Strauss, also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author, journalist and ghostwriter. He is best known for his book "", in which he describes his experiences in the seduction community in an effort to become a "pick-up artist." He is a contributing editor at "Rolling Stone" and also wrote regularly for "The New York Times".


title: Neil Strauss

text: After graduating from high school at the Latin School of Chicago in 1987, Strauss attended Vassar College, then transferred to and subsequently graduated in Psychology from Columbia University in 1991. While in school he began his career writing for "Ear", an avant-garde magazine, and editing his first book, "Radiotext(e)," an anthology of radio-related writings for the postmodern publisher Semiotext(e). He moved on to "The Village Voice", where, prior to becoming a reporter and critic, he took on tasks ranging from copyediting to fact-checking to writing copy.


title: Neil Strauss

text: Strauss was invited by Jon Pareles to become a music critic at "The New York Times" where he wrote the Pop Life column and front-page stories on Wal-Mart's CD-editing policies, music censorship, radio payola, and the lost wax figures of country music stars.


title: Neil Strauss

text: He was then invited by Jann Wenner to become a contributing editor at "Rolling Stone" where he wrote cover stories on Kurt Cobain, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom, the Wu-Tang Clan, Gwen Stefani, Stephen Colbert, and Marilyn Manson.


title: Neil Strauss

text: He won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for his coverage of Kurt Cobain's death for "Rolling Stone" and his profile of Eric Clapton in "The New York Times" Arts & Leisure section. Strauss also contributed to "Esquire", "Maxim", "Spin", "Entertainment Weekly", "Details", and "The Source" in addition to writing liner notes for albums by Nirvana and others. He has also appeared in Beck's music video Sexx Laws which also featured Jack Black, in Thirty Seconds to Mars' video Up in the Air, and he made a brief appearance as a cancer patient in episode 4, season six of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".


title: Neil Strauss

text: After leaving "The New York Times" to ghostwrite Jenna Jameson's memoirs, Strauss joined a sub-culture of pick-up artists known as the seduction community, creating the persona of "Style" in 2001 and pseudonym of "Chris Powles", eventually publishing an article in "The New York Times" about his experiences in 2004. In 2005, he published "" (Regan Books, 2005), a book about his transformation into "Style", a pickup artist under the tutelage of Mystery. In addition to documenting his experiences with pickup artists like Mystery, Steve P, Rasputin (Hypnotica), Ross Jeffries, and numerous others, it also describes his interactions with celebrities including Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, and Courtney Love.


title: Neil Strauss

text: The book made a month-long appearance in "The New York Times" bestsellers list in September–October 2005, and reached the #1 position on Amazon.com immediately after its release in the United States. Strauss appeared on various TV shows, including The View and "ABC Primetime", and he participated in many book signings. It was optioned to be made into a film by Spyglass Entertainment, with Chris Weitz adapting and producing.


title: Neil Strauss

text: After publishing the book, Strauss temporarily retired as a pickup artist and settled with a longtime girlfriend Lisa Leveridge, who played guitar in Courtney Love's band "The Chelsea".


title: Neil Strauss

text: An article in the "Sunday Mirror" suggested that Leveridge broke up with Strauss in February 2006 to date Robbie Williams. Strauss denied the Williams rumor, but confirmed his breakup with Leveridge on his mailing list a few months later.


title: Neil Strauss

text: His follow-up book, the graphic novel "How to Make Money Like a Porn Star", was published on September 26, 2006. The same year, "Shoot", Strauss' short film about becoming a rock star, was released. He co-wrote, directed and performed in "Shoot". Also in 2006, in collaboration with Dave Navarro and "Entourage" writer Cliff Dorfman, he created a one-hour TV drama "The Product" for FX. He also worked with James Gandolfini on a show, "Roadies", for HBO. In 2007, he released a follow-up to "The Game," "Rules of the Game," a two-book boxed set.