text: Oxford AQA International GCSE exams are conducted in May/June and November. The exams are set by OxfordAQA (Oxford International AQA Examinations), which is a joint venture between AQA which sets GCSE exams in the UK and Oxford University Press (OUP).


title: International General Certificate of Secondary Education

text: Before changes to GCSE first taken in 2017, the IGCSE was often considered to be more similar to the older O-Levels qualification than the current GCSE in England, and for this reason was often argued to be a more rigorous and more difficult examination. Before the early 2010s, most schools offering the IGCSE were private international schools for expatriate children around the world. However in the 2010s, an increasing number of independent schools within the United Kingdom also began offering IGCSEs as an alternative to conventional British GCSEs for international IGCSE subjects, on the supposed basis that it is more challenging than the national curriculum.


text: A comparison between GCSEs and IGCSEs was conducted by the Department of Education in 2019. The study found that it was easier to achieve a grade A in English Language and English Literature in IGCSEs but harder to achieve a grade A in science subjects. Most other subjects were roughly equivalent.


text: The International General Certificate of Secondary Education has the same grading as GCSE. The change from a A*-G grading system to a 9-1 grading system has led to 9-1 grade International General Certificate of Secondary Education being made available. Before, this qualification was graded on an 8-point scale from A* to G with a 9th grade "U" signifying "Ungraded". This measure of grading was also found in the UK GCSE. Most IGCSE subjects offer a choice of tiered examinations: Core or Extended papers (in Cambridge), and Foundation or Higher papers (in Edexcel). This is designed to make IGCSE suitable for students with varying levels of ability. In some subjects, IGCSE can be taken with or without coursework.


text: At one time the "A*" grade in the GCSE did not exist but was later added to recognize the very top end of achievement. In the case of Further Mathematics, an extra A* grade was added for students that can "demonstrate sustained performance in higher-level maths skills such as reasoning, proof and problem-solving."


text: The qualification is recognized by institutions in the world. It also allows further vocational education and is often considered the baseline for employment.


text: Its academic worth is comparable to many secondary school curricula worldwide, such as England's GCSE, the North American GED or high school diploma, Hong Kong's HKCEE, Singapore's O-Level, and the Indian CBSE, ICSE and SSC courses. The IGCSE prepares students for further academic study, including progression to A Level and BTEC Level 3 study, Cambridge Pre-U, IB Diploma Programme and other equivalents. It is recognised by academic institutions and employers around the world and is considered by many institutions as equivalent to the standard GCSE.


text: The IGCSE exam is widely used in international schools. Students in Hong Kong can take the Cambridge exam board as well as the Edexcel exam board, either at their school or registering through the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) as individual candidates.


text: The IGCSE exam is predominantly used in international schools, while other schools offer it as an alternative to O Level exams.


text: In 2013 the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) allowed more use of IGCSE subjects in state-funded schools. Ofqual allowed the use of Cambridge IGCSE exams under the name of "Cambridge International Certificates". Initially, 16 Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses received UK government accreditation. Following that, the UK government announced that the 16 accredited Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses could also be funded in state-maintained schools. Subsequently, Cambridge IGCSE German and Spanish were also accredited and funded, taking the total number of accredited and funded Cambridge IGCSEs to 18. For accreditation purposes, the syllabuses are referenced as "Cambridge International Certificates" in the UK, although they are known across the world as Cambridge IGCSEs. The IGCSE is offered by two examination boards in the UK, one being Edexcel, and the other one being AQA.


text: However, from 2017 the government decided to exclude IGCSEs from official performance tables, and consequentially entries from state schools have fallen. So that whilst "international GCSEs no longer meet the condition of funding; however, they do continue to count as equivalent to GCSEs for the purposes of recognising prior attainment."


text: In 2018, 91% of IGCSE UK entries in core subjects were in private schools, and about 75% for all subjects.


text: While the number of North American schools offering the IGCSE remains small, some homeschooling educators are said to be choosing the IGCSE instead of a typical North American high school curriculum. According to many of these educators, the IGCSE curriculum may be more advanced than a typical North American secondary school course by at least one year.


text: For some years in Italy many high schools have joined a Cambridge Schools Network, becoming Cambridge International Schools.


text: Some Italian Universities as well accept both IGCSE and AS & A Level certifications, but a minimum of grade is often required for the admission.


text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, all IGCSE examinations due to take place in May/June 2020 were cancelled, along with GCSE and A-Level exams that year. As of 31 March 2020, the CAIE had decided to guide schools to predict students' grades through evidence like mock examination results.


text: On 30 April 2020, Pearson Edexcel announced that grades for the May/June 2020 exam would be calculated using information from schools. Schools were asked to provide an assessment grade for each student, as well as a ranked order of students within each grade by 29 May 2020.


text: For the June 2021 exam series, CAIE plans for exams to go ahead in countries that are permitted and safe, and countries where exams cannot take place due to government directives will switch to school-assessed grades using evidence like student coursework and mock exam results. There are also adjustments, exemptions, and special considerations available for schools that applies for them.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: Louis Joseph Xavier François (22 October 1781 – 4 June 1789) was Dauphin of France as the second child and first son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. As son of a king of France, he was a "fils de France" ("Child of France"). Louis Joseph died at the age of seven from tuberculosis and was succeeded as Dauphin (and thus heir-apparent) by his four-year-old brother Louis Charles.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: Louis Joseph Xavier François de France was born at the Palace of Versailles on 22 October 1781. He was named after his maternal uncle, Joseph II. The new-born was the long-awaited "Dauphin", his father's heir to the throne of France, as the Salic Law, which excluded women from acceding the throne, applied to his elder sister, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, "Madame Royale". The birth of Louis Joseph ruined the hopes of his uncle, the "comte de Provence", of succeeding his brother Louis XVI.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: His private household was created upon his birth. He was under the care of Victoire de Rohan, the Governess of the Children of France, until she was replaced in 1782 by Yolande de Polastron, "duchesse de Polignac", one of his mother's favourites. His "sous-gouverneur" was the "Maréchal de camp" Antoine Charles Augustin d'Allonville. His wet nurse was Geneviève Poitrine, who was later accused of transmitting tuberculosis to the young Dauphin.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: Louis Joseph was very close to his sister and to his parents, who watched attentively over his education. He was always praised for being a very bright child for his age; however, it soon became apparent that he was of fragile health.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: Around April 1784, when he was three years old, Louis Joseph had a series of high fevers. Out of fear for his health, he was transported to the Château de La Muette where the air was reputed to have healing properties. The time spent at La Muette seemed to have helped Louis Joseph recover, and almost a year later, in March 1785, he returned there and was inoculated against smallpox. However, his health remained fragile.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: In 1786, the fevers returned, but his household regarded them as being of no importance. These fevers, however, were the first signs of tuberculosis. In the same year, Louis Joseph's education was turned over to men, as was customary for the sons of the kings of France. At the ceremony, it was noted that Louis Joseph had trouble walking, which was in fact caused by a curvature of the spine - something which was treated through the use of metal corsets. By January 1788 the fevers grew more frequent and the disease progressed quickly.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: Louis Joseph died at the Château de Meudon on 4 June 1789, at the age of seven and a half, during the Estates General. He was buried on 13 June in a simple ceremony at the Basilica of St Denis. On 10 August 1793, on order of the National Convention during the Reign of Terror, his tomb was desecrated, together with those of the kings and queens of France, members of the royal family, high dignitaries, and abbots.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: At the death of Louis Joseph, the title of "Dauphin" passed to his younger brother Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy (1785–1795), who died during the French Revolution, at the Temple prison.


title: Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France

text: Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in which Harrisburg is located, is named after him. The Pennsylvania legislature, meeting in Philadelphia in 1785, named the newly formed county northwest of Lancaster and north of York to thank France for helping the United States win her independence from the British Empire. Within the county, the borough of Dauphin, so named when it was incorporated in 1845, is thus indirectly also named for him.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Outlaws are an American southern rock band from Tampa, Florida. They are best known for their 1975 hit "There Goes Another Love Song" and extended guitar jam "Green Grass and High Tides" from their 1975 debut album, plus their 1980 cover of the Stan Jones classic "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky".


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Outlaws were formed in Tampa, Florida, United States, in 1967 by guitarists/vocalists Frank Guidry, Hughie Thomasson, Herbie Pino and Hobie O'Brien. Drummer David Dix and bassist Phil Holmberg joined the band as well. Before Guidry joined the band the group was called The Four Letter Words. He had previously been in a band by the same name. By early 1968, O'Brien and Holmberg both left the band to get married and Frank O'Keefe came in on vocals and bass. Later that year, Tommy Angarano joined Outlaws to replace Pino, bringing Hammond organ sounds and his style of vocals to the band. But after he left, Pino was brought back in. In the spring of 1968 the group's first manager, Paul Deutekom, brought them to Epic Studios in New York City to record an album, which was never released after the band and the producer had a falling-out. The group headed back to Tampa then got another deal to go to Criteria Studios in Miami. There they recorded another album with producer Phil Gernhard. But this album was likewise never released and Gernhard vanished soon after. As part of the Gernhard record deal, bassist Ronny Elliott was brought in around this time, forcing Guidry out. Ronny played bass while O'Keefe briefly switched to guitar. But O'Keefe went back to bass after Elliott left in 1969 and Herb Pino, who had mostly been a singer up till this time, began playing more guitar as well. Drummer Monte Yoho also joined that same year to sub for Dix.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: In early 1970, Outlaws were joined by two members of the Dave Graham Group that was also managed by Paul Deutekom (of Ped-Dyn Productions) The Dave Graham Group's Union leader was Monte Yoho, but he was not invited to be part of this line-up. The early 1970 Outlaws line-up was Hughie Thomasson, Frank O'Keefe, Dave Dix, Billy Jones and Dave Graham. Graham was influential in moving the group toward country-rock, especially the music of Poco. They recorded a cover of the Doors' "Five to One" as an audition to a recording deal that never materialized. This lineup ended in the spring of 1970 and the group eventually parted ways with Deutekom. Yoho and Herb Pino returned, but by 1971 the offers for gigs had slowed down and the group went into limbo for a year or so, not sure if they would continue.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: In 1971 Henry Paul, a singer and guitarist who was born and raised in Hurley, New York but spent his later teen years in the Tampa area, returned from a stay in Greenwich Village NYC to form Sienna, which was more of a country rock outfit. He was joined by Monte Yoho and Frank O'Keefe. In 1972, Hughie Thomasson returned from a brief spell in New York where he had been backing folksinger Milton Carroll, joined up with Paul, Yoho and O'Keefe and Sienna became the reborn Outlaws.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Billy Jones, who would sometimes show up to jam with the group on organ in 1971, returned from a stint in Boulder, Colorado in 1973 and switched to guitar, giving birth to the band's first infamous guitar trio later dubbed "the Florida Guitar Army". O'Keefe left the group temporarily in 1973–74. Buzzy Meekins and another bassist named Rick Birkbeck stood in until he was able to return. In 1974, Charlie Brusco signed on as manager for Outlaws. Alan Walden (brother of Capricorn Records founder Phil Walden) was told of the group by Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant and he joined forces with Brusco as co-manager.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: The band was the first act signed to Arista Records under Clive Davis. Davis was in the audience at a show in 1974 where the band was opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd in Columbus, Georgia. On the way to the stage for Lynyrd Skynyrd's set, lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant said to Clive Davis who was with Charlie Brusco "If you don't sign Outlaws, you're the dumbest music person I've ever met—and I know you're not."


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Outlaws' earliest well known songs were "There Goes Another Love Song" and "Green Grass and High Tides", both from their 1975 debut album "Outlaws". Their 1980 cover of "" from the album "Ghost Riders" was their biggest single chart success, reaching No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: While the Outlaws are generally considered to be a part of the Southern rock genre, there are distinct differences in their approach and their influences. Their primary similarity to other Southern rock bands is the dual lead guitar interplay, a defining characteristic of many Southern rock bands. However, the Outlaws' mix of country and rock elements displays the vocal harmony influences of groups like Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, Eagles, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and Poco. Their use of three and four part harmonies set them apart from their contemporaries who usually relied on a single lead vocalist.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Hughie Thomasson's signature guitar playing style and voice were defining characteristics of the band's sound. Thomasson's guitar sound was underpinned by the use of the Fender Stratocaster (and sometimes a Telecaster) played in a quasi-country style mixed with fluid, quick blues runs. Hughie was nicknamed "The Flame" for his flaming fast guitar work. He is a member of the Fender Hall of Fame.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: The other lead guitarist, Billy Jones, played mainly a Gibson Les Paul and switched between a clean and distorted sound. A good example of this can be heard on "Green Grass and High Tides" on the right stereo channel. Hughie Thomasson's distinctive Stratocaster sound can be heard on the left channel. Thomasson opens the first solo at the intro and plays the first half of the two succeeding longer solos all on the right channel. There are many video examples of his Green Grass solos on the internet.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: The records released by the band between 1975 and 1980 are considered the best representation of the band's style. During this period, The Outlaws performed as a support act for non-Southern rock acts of the time, such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Queen, Black Sabbath, Rush, Blue Öyster Cult, Ted Nugent, Peter Frampton, Foghat and Van Halen. This contrast of styles was more common at that time than the packaged "genre" tours seen so often these days. The willingness of promoters to mix styles led to the Outlaws gaining a large following in the United States.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: The Outlaws' style is highly characterized in their first three albums, "The Outlaws" (1975), "Lady in Waiting" (1976), and "Hurry Sundown" (1977). These are considered the best work of the band with all of the "classic era" band members, except for O'Keefe, who was replaced by the left-handed bass player Harvey Dalton Arnold on "Hurry Sundown" (see below for a complete roster of Outlaws members). Henry Paul left after their third album in 1977, and eventually formed the Henry Paul Band, which would release four albums from 1979-82. With the band beginning to falter in the early 80s, Billy Jones left the band in 1981. Henry Paul returned in 1983.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: The albums released after 1980 are largely viewed by critics as a gradual move away from the original sound that gained them success in the 1970s.The reworking of the Western-styled "Ghost Riders" in 1980 was the band's last taste of big league success, although the band released two more records, "Los Hombres Malo" in 1982 and "Soldiers of Fortune" in 1986. As the 1980s came to a close, Thomasson became the final original member of the act. Albums such as "Diablo Canyon", released in 1994, were released on smaller independent record labels. The band by now was mostly confined to smaller club dates. This situation led to Thomasson accepting a guitar position in the legendary and more popular Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1996. This essentially sidelined the Outlaws for a decade, as Thomasson's voice and guitar style were just too integral a part of the Outlaws' sound for the other members to work without it successfully. In 2000, the "Diablo Canyon"-lineup released the album "So Low", to mixed response from fans. Many cited it as being more of a solo output from Thomasson. After this release, the band again vanished from the musical environment.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Henry Paul went on to form the country band BlackHawk, which had a lot of Country chart success in the 1990s.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: The other two members from the band's heyday, guitarist Billy Jones and bassist Frank O'Keefe both died in February 1995. Jones committed suicide at age 45, and a few weeks later O'Keefe died of a drug overdose at age 44.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: In April 2005, four of the six classic band members; Hughie Thomasson, Henry Paul, Monte Yoho, and David Dix reunited as The Outlaws. In addition to them, the band included former guitarist Chris Anderson, and new members, bassist Randy Threet, and keyboardist Dave Robbins. All three of whom had been with Paul's country group BlackHawk. Paul and Robbins left to resume their careers in BlackHawk in early 2006, but the remaining band soldiered on. They were part of the Charlie Daniels Volunteer Jam tour in the summer of 2007. Outlaws put on their last show with Hughie only a day before his untimely death, at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Nevada.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Band leader Hughie Thomasson died on September 9, 2007, of a heart attack in Brooksville, Florida. No release date has been announced for the studio album, "Once an Outlaw", which was finished before Thomasson's death. The Thomasson family was going to release an album in early 2010, but it was cancelled. However, the album has been illegally leaked onto the internet.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: A cover version of their trademark epic 10-minute track "Green Grass and High Tides" is featured as the finale in the set list for guitar and bass in the video game "Rock Band" and features two complicated solos.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: In December 2007, 2008 Outlaws tour dates were released. At the same time, it was revealed that the band will continue despite Thomasson's death. Henry Paul became the new lead singer, frontman and bandleader. In January 2008, the Outlaws lineup would be revealed to include Henry Paul (guitars/vocals), Monte Yoho (drums), Chris Anderson (guitars/vocals), and Randy Threet (bass), along with newer additions Billy Crain (guitars), Jon Coleman (keyboards), and Brett Cartwright (bass). Cartwright left the band shortly thereafter. This would be the first lineup in Outlaws' history without Hughie Thomasson on guitar and vocals, as from the band's formation to his death, he was the only constant member, garnering him the nicknames "Mr. Outlaw" and "The Lone Outlaw".


title: Outlaws (band)

text: According to the band's web site, the Outlaws announced their intention to continue to tour throughout the summer and fall of 2009 with this lineup and planned to participate in the Simple Man Cruise with Lynyrd Skynyrd in January 2010.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: In May 2010, the Outlaws were featured, along with the Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet, Blackberry Smoke, and the Chris Hicks Band, on stage at Long Island Southern Jam 2010 in Babylon, N.Y. at Overlook Beach. The all-day concert featured a unique jam fest for all the bands.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: For the 2010 tour, Dave Robbins returned on keyboards and Henry Paul was involved in a lawsuit brought about by Hughie Thomasson's widow, Mary, which alleged trademark violations. It was also stated on the website that the band would change its name to 'Henry Paul Band' if they were to lose the case, but to continue touring with the same setlists. In April 2011 the case was ruled upon in favor of Henry Paul, Monte Yoho and the co-defendants. They continue to touring and recording under the name Outlaws.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: On July 30, 2012, it was announced on the band's website that "their first new album in 12 years" will be released on September 25, 2012, titled "It's About Pride". It was also accompanied by a separately released DVD documentary about the making of the new album, called "Hidin' Out In Tennessee". Led by Henry Paul, the album was critically acclaimed. A few years before the album, Paul recruited an old friend from the Henry Paul Band, lead guitarist Billy Crain to join the band. Paul and Crain collaborated on writing many of the songs for "It's About Pride". The final track was a cover of the Henry Paul Band song "So Long" from its 1979 debut album, "Grey Ghost".


title: Outlaws (band)

text: In 2013, Billy Crain left the band group due to health issues and Steve Grisham, who performed on the 1986 album "Soldiers of Fortune", rejoined as guitarist.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: In 2018, Dale Oliver (guitar), former touring guitarist with country band BlackHawk, replaced Chris Anderson. Paul and Yoho asked Anderson to leave due to several disagreements.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Later in 2018, Monte Yoho took a break due to his health problems. At the time, drummer Jaran Sorenson joined the band. Yoho returned in 2019 and Sorenson also continued in the band. Outlaws have two drummers again, until Yoho retired in 2021, since which Henry Paul is the only original member. The band continue touring with Sorenson. Sorenson left the band in February 2022 and Michael Grando replaced him. In September 2022 Mike Bailey replaced Grando.


title: Outlaws (band)

text: Steve Grisham retired in June 2021, after which he was replaced by Jeff Aulich. Dale Oliver fell ill in the fall of 2021 and took a break from touring. Guitarist Jimmy Dormire is currently touring with Outlaws.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: James Arthur Harris (May 28, 1950August 9, 2020), better known by his ring name Kamala, was an American professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Ugandan Giant", Kamala portrayed a fearsome and simpleminded Ugandan. He wrestled barefoot, clad only in a loincloth, his face painted with war paint and two stars and a moon painted on his torso. During his ring entrance, he sported an African mask and wielded a spear and shield. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) over the course of numerous runs in the company between 1984 and 1993.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Harris was born on May 28, 1950, in Senatobia, Mississippi, to Jessie Harris and Betsy Mosely. He grew up in Coldwater, Mississippi, where his family owned a furniture store. He had four sisters. When he was around four, his father was shot dead during a dice game, leaving the family impoverished. As a youth, Harris worked as a sharecropper to help support his family.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Harris left high school in the ninth grade and became a habitual burglar. In 1967, local police suggested he leave town. As Harris put it, "Back then if you didn't leave like they said, you would be found dead somewhere." He relocated to Florida, where he drove trucks and picked fruit. At age 25, he moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he met wrestler Bobo Brazil. Harris then began training as a wrestler, under Brazil's friend, "Tiny" Tim Hampton. He moved to Arkansas to continue training and escape the snow in Michigan.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Harris debuted in 1978 under the ring name "Sugar Bear" Harris. He spent most of his early career in the Southern United States, also using the ring names "Ugly Bear" Harris and "Big" Jim Harris. His first manager was Percy Pringle. He won his first championship in NWA Tri-State in 1979, teaming with Oki Shikina to win the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship. In 1980, Harris joined Southeastern Championship Wrestling as "Bad News" Harris, winning the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship in 1980. In 1981, Harris travelled to Europe for seasoning. Following a stint in Germany, he traveled to the United Kingdom, where he wrestled for Joint Promotions as "The Mississippi Mauler", a character with some similarities to his future Kamala character. In June 1981, he competed in a tournament for the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing to Wayne Bridges in the final in Wembley Arena in London.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Harris returned to Senatobia in the United States in 1982 after sustaining a broken ankle. While visiting his friend The Dream Machine at the Mid-South Coliseum in nearby Memphis, Tennessee to borrow ring attire, Harris met Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), promoter Jerry Lawler, who offered him a job. Harris, Lawler and Jerry Jarrett developed a new character for Harris, "Kimala" (later adjusted to "Kamala"), drawing upon ideas for a character originally developed for Harris by The Great Mephisto. The character was a vicious Ugandan headhunter with face and body paint copied from a Frank Frazetta painting. His backstory was that he was a former bodyguard of deposed President of Uganda Idi Amin who had been discovered by J. J. Dillon during an excursion to Africa. A promotional vignette aired on WMC-TV featuring a spear-wielding Kamala seemingly emerging from a steamy African jungle; the vignette was actually filmed on Jarrett's farm in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with the steam effect created using dry ice. To establish Kamala as a monstrous character, Jarrett instructed him to wrestle in a brawling style with chops and biting. To preserve kayfabe, Harris wore robes and refused to speak English while in public in Memphis. Kamala made his debut in the CWA in May 1982 with Dillon as his manager, losing to Lawler by disqualification in a match that sold out the Mid-South Coliseum. In June, he defeated Lawler for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, which he held until August that year. Toward the end of the year, he feuded with the imposter "Kamala II"


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: In late-1982, Kamala began wrestling for Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. He was managed by Skandor Akbar and Friday (originally portrayed by Buddy Wayne, then by Frank Dalton), forming part of Akbar's villainous Devastation, Inc. stable. In April 1983, he wrestled André the Giant in a highly promoted bout at the Louisiana Superdome. During 1983, he faced The Junkyard Dog in a series of "battle of the monsters" matches.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: In March 1983, Kamala debuted in the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. In October of that year, he challenged Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing by disqualification. In the same month, he began a lengthy feud with the Von Erich family, repeatedly facing brothers David, Kerry, and Kevin. In May 1984, he faced The Great Kabuki at the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, a tribute to David, who had died suddenly in February. Kamala continued to appear regularly with WCCW until late-1985.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: At the insistence of André the Giant, Kamala debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in July 1984. He was managed by Freddie Blassie and a masked "handler" in safari clothing known as "Friday" (played first by Frank Dalton then by Steve Lombardi). In a memorable segment on the television program "Tuesday Night Titans", Kamala seemingly devoured a live chicken (with a cutaway shot of feathers flying out of his mouth shown to create the illusion). After defeating a series of opponents including B. Brian Blair, Salvatore Bellomo, and Chief Jay Strongbow, in August 1984 Kamala challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, wrestling him to a double count-out. In October 1984, he began a series of matches against André the Giant, among them a steel cage match which he lost after André twice sat on his chest. Kamala's final appearance was in a battle royal in November 1984.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: After leaving the WWF in late-1984, Kamala went on to appear with multiple promotions throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout 1985, Kamala wrestled for the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association (AWA). He was established as a "monster" by winning a series of handicap matches. He feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, whom he defeated in a "Ugandan Death Match" in April 1985 but lost to in a "Boot Camp" steel cage match in June. At the SuperClash supercard in September 1985, Kamala lost to Jerry Blackwell in a bodyslam challenge.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Toward the end of the year, Kamala repeatedly challenged Rick Martel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win the championship. In July 1985, Kamala wrestled for Jim Crockett Promotions at The Great American Bash, unsuccessfully challenging Magnum T. A. for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. In November 1985, Kamala made his first tour of Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling. Wrestling as "Giant Kamala", he formed a tag team with fellow "gaijin" King Cobra. He made a second tour in February 1986 as "Kimala". In early-1986, Kamala had a short-run in the Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based International Wrestling promotion, where he was managed by Eddie Creatchman.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Kamala returned to the WWF in July 1986, now managed by The Wizard and the masked "handler" Kim Chee (usually portrayed by Steve Lombardi). From November 1986 to February 1987, Kamala faced Hulk Hogan in a series of matches for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, marking the pinnacle of his career. The run of matches included two bouts in Madison Square Garden that aired on "WWF on MSG Network".


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: In February 1987, Kamala formed a tag team with the "Wild Samoan" Sika. In the same month, he began a feud with Jake Roberts, during which Roberts repeatedly exploited Kamala's purported fear of snakes. In April 1987, The Wizard sold Kamala's managerial contract to Mr. Fuji. Harris abruptly left the WWF once more in September 1987 over frustrations about his pay.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: After leaving WWF, Kamala returned to World Class Championship Wrestling where he feuded with Kevin Von Erich, Kerry Von Erich and Michael Hayes before the promotion shut down in 1989, and he returned to All Japan with Abdullah the Butcher. From 1990 to 1991 he worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico. He lost to Mil Máscaras in a cage match on March 17, 1991. Then he returned to Japan, working for All Japan, W*ING and Super World of Sports into 1992. He then debuted for the Memphis-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in 1990, feuding with Jerry Lawler, and winning the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship four times. He left the company in 1992.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Kamala returned to the WWF on May 9, 1992 with Kim Chee and Harvey Wippleman acting as his managers. In June 1992, he unsuccessfully challenged Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Throughout mid-1992, he wrestled primarily in house shows, with his regular opponents including The Undertaker, Bret Hart, The Texas Tornado, and The Ultimate Warrior. Kamala lost to The Undertaker by disqualification at SummerSlam in August 1992. Kamala later claimed that he was paid $13,000 for the bout while The Undertaker was paid $500,000. Professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer questioned this claim, saying: "I'm not saying he's lying, but that's hard to believe [...] for there to be that big of a disparity wouldn't make any sense." In November 1992, Kamala lost to The Undertaker at Survivor Series in the first ever televised casket match. In January 1993, Kim Chee and Wippleman began mistreating Kamala, leading him to break away from them and align himself with Reverend Slick.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Slick set out to "humanize" Kamala, leading to a series of skits in which he introduced him to activities such as ten-pin bowling. Kamala feuded with Kim Chee throughout early 1993. In March 1993, he began a series of matches with Bam Bam Bigelow. The two were scheduled to face one another at WrestleMania IX, but the match was cancelled. In May 1993, Kamala lost a King of the Ring tournament qualifying match via countout to Mr. Hughes on an episode of "WWF Wrestling Challenge". He went on to compete primarily at house shows until being released by the WWF that July. In December 1993, Kamala was announced as a participant in the 1994 Royal Rumble Match. During the bout the announcers noted that Virgil, as an alternate participant, had replaced him.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: After leaving the WWF once more, Harris stepped back from professional wrestling. He began working as a truck driver using two semi-trailer trucks he had purchased following his series of matches with Hulk Hogan. He only wrestled in independent shows and part-time for USWA. In December 1993, he wrestled in India where he won the vacated IAW Tag Team Titles with Dusty Wolfe defeating Leo Burke and the Mongolian Mauler.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: At Hulk Hogan's suggestion, Kamala joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1995. He was introduced as part of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable, whose goal was to end Hogan's career. In his first WCW pay-per-view appearance, he defeated "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan at Bash at the Beach. He lost a singles match to Hogan at Clash of the Champions XXXI. He was part of the "Dungeon of Doom" team at Fall Brawl, which lost to Hogan's team, "The Hulkamaniacs".


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: On January 24, 1996, Kamala returned to the USWA for the final time where he teamed with Brian Christopher and PG-13 to defeat Tracey Smothers, Doug Gilbert, Jesse James Armstrong, and Robert Gibson in an Iron Man match.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Kamala participated in the "Gimmick Battle Royal" at WrestleMania X-Seven and was eliminated by Sgt. Slaughter.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Kamala lost to his nemesis Jerry Lawler at International Wrestling Cartel On July 20, 2002. From 2003 to 2004 he made appearances for Memphis Wrestling.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: On July 26, 2004, Kamala made a surprise return to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), participating in a Raw Diva Search segment on "RAW", in which the female contestants were instructed to try to seduce him.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Kamala faced Randy Orton on the August 11, 2005 edition of "SmackDown!" (accompanied by Kim Chee) but the match was interrupted by a message from The Undertaker to Orton, and ended in a no contest. Kamala appeared at the 2005 Taboo Tuesday event, as one of the choices for Eugene's tag team partner. He lost the fan vote to Jimmy Snuka, but came to the ring after the match to deliver a big splash to Tyson Tomko. On June 25, 2006, at Vengeance, he accompanied Eugene to the ring (along with Doink the Clown and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan) to take on Umaga. Umaga quickly won, then attacked all three. But before Kamala and Umaga could fight, Umaga's manager, Armando Estrada, intervened. Umaga defeated Kamala in a match the following night on "Raw" in his last appearance for the promotion.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: On September 30, 2006, Kamala wrestled to a non-finish with Bryan Danielson, in a match for the ROH World Championship at a National Wrestling Alliance event in Bridgeport, Connecticut.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: In 2007, Kamala defeated Lanny Poffo at Great North Wrestling event Wrestling Supershow at the Ottawa SuperEX in Ottawa, Canada. Kamala appeared at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Slammiversary pay-per-view in June 2008, as a guest at Jay Lethal and SoCal Val's storyline wedding. His last match was on August 15, 2010 at Juggalo Championship Wrestling with the Weedman defeating The Haters (Pauly and Vito Thomaselli).


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Writing about his character, in March 2021 411Mania's Ryan Byerns called the character "problematic" since it promoted "all sorts of negative stereotypes of Africans and Black people more generally", while praised Harris performance since "you believed he was what he was portraying, and, more importantly, you believed that he was dangerous".


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Harris was married twice: his first marriage, to Clara Freeman, ended in divorce, while his second, to Emmer Jean Bradley, lasted until his death. Harris fathered five daughters and a son. Harris lived with his niece Ashley in Senatobia, Mississippi, until moving to Oxford, Mississippi.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: In July 1993, Harris was called away from a WWF tour after a show in Oakland, California, when his youngest sister and her stepdaughter were shot dead. The killer attempted suicide, but only severely disfigured himself. After his WWF release that August, Harris pushed for the man's arrest and conviction. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and died in 2013. Harris went on to help raise his surviving niece.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Beginning in 1993, Harris wrote, performed, and produced his own music. He wrote over 100 songs. Some discuss his frustration with the working conditions he experienced in the wrestling industry, most notably the low pay. He released his debut album, "The Best of Kamala Vol 1", through his official website. The album features a ballad dedicated to the memory of Stanley "Tookie" Williams.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: In 2015, Harris completed his autobiography along with one of his wrestling managers, Kenny Casanova, to help him offset medical costs. "Kamala Speaks" was funded on Kickstarter and self-published in December 2014. It tells his life story, of his wrestling career, and the loss of both of his legs to diabetes.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: On November 7, 2011, Harris had his left leg amputated below the knee due to complications of high blood pressure and diabetes, a condition he had since 1992, which forced him to retire because he did not accept dialysis treatment. In April 2012, his right leg was also amputated below the knee and a campaign was launched seeking donations to cover his financial needs. Harris told "Bleacher Report" in 2014 that he relied on a disability check, sold handmade wooden chairs, and had recently written a book about his life.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: In July 2016, Harris was named as part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE. The lawsuit was dismissed by District of Connecticut judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018. Mike Johnson of "PW Insider" wrote that his involvement in the lawsuit likely prevented WWE from inducting him into their Hall of Fame.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: On November 19, 2017, Harris underwent life-saving emergency surgery to clear fluid from around his heart and lungs at a hospital in Oxford, Mississippi. He was then on life support due to complications. The next day, his stepdaughter said he showed signs of improvement, but remained on life support. On November 22, it was reported that he was able to breathe on his own yet was unable to talk and remained under intensive care.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: On August 5, 2020, Harris tested positive for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississippi and was hospitalized. He likely contracted it from one of his numerous weekly visits to the dialysis center, his wife said. Due to COVID-19, he started to experience complications from his diabetes. He went into cardiac arrest on August 9, 2020, before dying later that afternoon, at the age of 70.


title: Kamala (wrestler)

text: Shortly after his death, a GoFundMe page was started to help Harris's family pay for his funeral expenses. The fundraiser ended up surpassing its original goal of $25,000, raising a total of $32,664. Impact Wrestling executive Scott D'Amore donated $2,500 to the cause and fellow wrestler Chris Jericho made a $5,000 donation. This was not the first time that Jericho had donated to a cause involving Harris - in April 2019, a GoFundMe was started by B. Brian Blair, former WWF wrestler and president of the Cauliflower Alley Club, to raise money to prevent Harris from losing his home due to unpaid taxes. Jericho donated $5,000 to this fundraiser as well, pushing the amount raised substantially past the stated goal of $12,750.


title: Worms, Germany

text: Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants .


title: Worms, Germany

text: A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It was the capital of the Kingdom of the Burgundians in the early fifth century, hence is the scene of the medieval legends referring to this period, notably the first part of the "Nibelungenlied".


title: Worms, Germany

text: Worms has been a Roman Catholic bishopric since at least 614, and was an important palatinate of Charlemagne. Worms Cathedral is one of the imperial cathedrals and among the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in Germany. Worms prospered in the High Middle Ages as an imperial free city. Among more than a hundred imperial diets held at Worms, the Diet of 1521 (commonly known as "the" Diet of Worms) ended with the Edict of Worms, in which Martin Luther was declared a heretic. Worms is also one of the historical ShUM-cities as a cultural center of Jewish life in Europe during the Middle Ages. Its Jewish sites (along with those in Speyer and Mainz) were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.


title: Worms, Germany

text: Today, the city is an industrial centre and is famed as the origin of "Liebfraumilch" wine. Its other industries include chemicals, metal goods, and fodder.


title: Worms, Germany

text: Worms is located on the west bank of the River Rhine between the cities of Ludwigshafen and Mainz. On the northern edge of the city, the Pfrimm flows into the Rhine, and on the southern edge, the Eisbach flows into the Rhine.


title: Worms, Germany

text: The climate in the Rhine Valley is temperate in winter and enjoyable in summer. Rainfall is below average for the surrounding areas. Winter snow accumulation is low and often melts quickly.


title: Worms, Germany

text: Worms was in ancient times a Celtic city named "Borbetomagus", perhaps meaning "water meadow". Later it was conquered by the Germanic Vangiones. In 14 BC, Romans under the command of Drusus captured and fortified the city, and from that time onwards, a small troop of infantry and cavalry was garrisoned there. The Romans renamed the city as "Augusta Vangionum", after the then-emperor and the local tribe. The name does not seem to have taken hold, however, and from "Borbetomagus" developed the German "Worms" and Latin "Wormatia"; as late as the modern period, the city name was written as "Wormbs". The garrison grew into a small town with a regular Roman street plan, a forum, and temples for the main gods Jupiter, Juno, Minerva (whose temple was the site of the later cathedral), and Mars.


title: Worms, Germany

text: Roman inscriptions, altars, and votive offerings can be seen in the archaeological museum, along with one of Europe's largest collections of Roman glass. Local potters worked in the town's south quarter. Fragments of "amphorae" contain traces of olive oil from Hispania Baetica, doubtless transported by sea and then up the Rhine by ship.


title: Worms, Germany

text: During the disorders of 411–413 AD, Roman usurper Jovinus established himself in Borbetomagus as a puppet-emperor with the help of King Gunther of the Burgundians, who had settled in the area between the Rhine and Moselle some years before. The city became the capital of the Burgundian kingdom under Gunther (also known as Gundicar). Few remains of this early Burgundian kingdom survive, because in 436, it was all but destroyed by a combined army of Romans (led by Aëtius) and Huns (led by Attila); a belt clasp found at Worms-Abenheim is a museum treasure. Provoked by Burgundian raids against Roman settlements, the combined Romano-Hunnic army destroyed the Burgundian army at the Battle of Worms (436), killing King Gunther. About 20,000 are said to have been killed. The Romans led the survivors southwards to the Roman district of Sapaudia (modern-day Savoy). The story of this war later inspired the "Nibelungenlied". The city appears on the Peutinger Map, dated to the fourth century.


title: Worms, Germany

text: The bishopric of Worms existed by at least 614. In the Frankish Empire, the city was the location of an important palace of Charlemagne. The bishops administered the city and its territory. The most famous of the early medieval bishops was Burchard of Worms. In 868, an important synod was held in Worms. Around 900, the circuit wall was rebuilt according to the wall-building ordinance of Bishop .


title: Worms, Germany

text: Worms prospered in the High Middle Ages. Having received far-reaching privileges from King Henry IV as early as 1074, the city became an imperial free city. The bishops resided at Ladenburg and only had jurisdiction over Worms Cathedral itself. In 1122, the Concordat of Worms was signed; the 1495 imperial diet met here and made an attempt at reforming the disintegrating Imperial Circle Estates by the Imperial Reform. Most important, among more than 100 imperial diets held at Worms, that of 1521 (commonly known as "the" Diet of Worms) ended with the Edict of Worms, in which Martin Luther was declared a heretic after refusing to recant his religious beliefs. Worms was also the birthplace of the first Bibles of the Reformation, both Martin Luther's German Bible and William Tyndale's first complete English New Testament by 1526.


title: Worms, Germany

text: The Free Imperial City of Worms, known in medieval Hebrew by the name "Varmayza" or "Vermaysa" (ורמיזא, ורמישא), was a centre of medieval Ashkenazic Judaism. The Jewish community was established there in the late 10th century, and Worms's first synagogue was erected in 1034. In 1096, 800 Jews were murdered by crusaders and the local mob. The Jewish Cemetery in Worms, dating from the 11th century, is believed to be the oldest surviving "in situ" cemetery in Europe. The Rashi Synagogue, which dates from 1175 and was carefully reconstructed after its desecration on "Kristallnacht", is the oldest in Germany. Prominent students, rabbis, and scholars of Worms include Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi) who studied with R. Yizhak Halevi, Meir of Rothenburg (Maharam), Elazar Rokeach, Maharil, and Yair Bacharach. At the rabbinical synod held at Worms at the turn of the 11th century, Rabbi Gershom ben Judah (Rabbeinu Gershom) explicitly prohibited polygamy for the first time. For hundreds of years, until "Kristallnacht" in 1938, the Jewish Quarter of Worms was a centre of Jewish life. Worms today has only a very small Jewish population, and a recognizable Jewish community as such no longer exists. After renovations in the 1970s and 1980s, though, many of the buildings of the quarter can be seen in a close-to-original state, preserved as an outdoor museum.


title: Worms, Germany

text: In 1689 during the Nine Years' War, Worms (like the nearby towns and cities of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Oppenheim, Speyer, and Bingen) was sacked by troops of King Louis XIV of France, though the French only held the city for a few weeks. In 1743, the Treaty of Worms was signed, forming a political alliance between Great Britain, Austria, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1792, the city was occupied by troops of the French First Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Bishopric of Worms was secularized in 1801, with the city being annexed into the First French Empire. In 1815, Worms passed to the Grand Duchy of Hesse in accordance with the Congress of Vienna, and the city was subsequently administered within Rhenish Hesse.


title: Worms, Germany

text: After the Battle of the Bulge in early 1945, Allied armies advanced into the Rhineland in preparation for a massive assault into the heart of the Reich. Worms was a German strongpoint on the west bank of the Rhine, and the forces there resisted the Allied advance tenaciously. Worms was, thus, heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Army Air Forces in two attacks on February 21 and March 18, 1945, respectively. A postwar survey estimated that 39% of the town's developed area was destroyed. The RAF attack on Feb. 21 was aimed at the main railway station on the edge of the inner city, and at chemical plants southwest of the inner city, but also destroyed large areas of the city centre. Carried out by 334 bombers, the attack in a few minutes rained 1,100 tons of bombs on the inner city, and Worms Cathedral was among the buildings set on fire. The Americans did not enter the city until the Rhine crossings began after the seizure of the Remagen Bridge.


title: Worms, Germany

text: In the attacks, 239 inhabitants were killed in the first and 141 in the second; 35,000 (60% of the population of 58,000) were made homeless. In all, 6,490 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed. After the war, the inner city was rebuilt, mostly in modern style. Postwar Worms became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate; the borough Rosengarten, on the east bank of the Rhine, was lost to Hesse.


title: Worms, Germany

text: Worms today fiercely vies with the cities Trier and Cologne for the title of "Oldest City in Germany". A multimedia "Nibelungenmuseum" was opened in 2001, and a yearly festival in front of the "Dom", the Worms Cathedral, attempts to recapture the atmosphere of the pre-Christian period.


title: Worms, Germany

text: In 2010, the Worms synagogue was firebombed. Eight corners of the building were set ablaze, and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a window, but with no injuries. Kurt Beck, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate, condemned the attack and vowed to mobilize all necessary resources to find the perpetrators, saying, "We will not tolerate such an attack on a synagogue".


title: Game Shakers

text: Game Shakers is an American comedy television series created by Dan Schneider that premiered on Nickelodeon on September 12, 2015. The series ran for three seasons, with its final episode airing on June 8, 2019. It stars Cree Cicchino, Madisyn Shipman, Benjamin "Lil' P-Nut" Flores, Jr., Thomas Kuc, and Kel Mitchell.


title: Game Shakers

text: The series revolves around two seventh graders, Babe and Kenzie, living in Brooklyn, New York, who create a video game app called "Sky Whale" for their school science project. When the game proves to be wildly successful, they form a gaming company called "Game Shakers", and hire their friend, Hudson. They later partner with rapper Double G, who becomes their investor as part of a compromise for their illegal use of his song, "Drop Dat What", in their game. Double G's son, Triple G, then becomes a video game consultant for the company, making him the fourth Game Shaker.


title: Game Shakers

text: When ordered to series in early 2015, it was planned that the first season would consist of 26 episodes. The cast of the series was announced on July 7, 2015. On July 25, 2015, the network announced some special guest stars, including Matt Bennett, Yvette Nicole Brown, GloZell, Jared "ProJared" Knabenbauer, and Smosh Games host David "Lasercorn" Moss. On March 2, 2016, Nickelodeon announced that the series had been renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on Nickelodeon on September 17, 2016. Nickelodeon renewed "Game Shakers" for a third season on November 16, 2016. The third season premiered on Nickelodeon on February 10, 2018. On March 26, 2018, Nickelodeon announced that "Game Shakers" had been canceled and would end after its third season.


title: Game Shakers

text: The series premiered on YTV in Canada on October 6, 2015, and debuted on Nickelodeon channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland on November 2, 2015, and in Australia and New Zealand on February 8, 2016.


title: Game Shakers

text: Over the course of the series, a number of games designed by the characters have been shown on "Game Shakers". These games have been released online and through the Nick app. Several of the games share titles with episodes of the series (e.g. "Sky Whale", "Dirty Blob", "Tiny Pickles", "Nasty Goats", and "Llama Llama Spit Spit"). The following is the list of games that have been released:


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: Roger David (Punjabi: راجر ڈیوڈ), better known by his stage name Bohemia is a Pakistani-American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer.


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: Bohemia was born in Karachi, Sindh and received his education in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At the age of 13, he moved to the United States with his family. Bohemia is married to Sunny David.


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: In early 2000, he moved to join his cousin in Oakland who was working at a West Oakland recording studio and introduced him to a young hip-hop producer called Sha One (Seth Agress). Discovering that they both shared a deep interest in music, they made plans to form their own record label, which they subsequently called "The Outfit Entertainment". After Sha heard Bohemia reciting something he had written in Punjabi he asked him to rap it over one of his beats. Over the next few months, he wrote a library of lyrics. This would become the arsenal for his debut album "Vich Pardesan De (In The Foreign Land)" – an autobiographical story of his life as a Desi youngster adopting to the streets of America, which he and Sha One produced together. Their first single "Sha Te Ra" was released as a music video, but the song itself was not included on "Vich Pardesan De".


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: The following album, "Pesa Nasha Pyar" [Money, Intoxication, Love] became the first full-length Punjabi rap album released by a major label. It was recorded and produced by Sha One and Bohemia in their downtown Oakland studio. After nearly two years of perfecting their sound and style, a seamless fusion of Bohemia's Punjabi vocals, and Sha One's English hooks, the album was finally released. He subsequently signed a multi-record deal with music label Universal Music Group. In 2006, "Pesa Nasha Pyar" was on the Top 10 downloads of Maxim, and No. 3 on Planet M chart India. His first album Vich Pardesan De get nominated in BBC UK top ten albums. "Da Rap Star", his third album, received four nominations at the UK Asian Music Awards and PTC Punjabi music awards. It also remained at No. 1 on Planet M chart for several weeks.


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: He performed the title track for Warner Bros film "Chandni Chowk To China", appearing in the film with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. A few months later he did the title track for another Akshay Kumar film, "8 x 10 Tasveer". In 2011, he gave a song as a present to Akshay Kumar for his first Hollywood production "Breakaway".


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: In May 2012, Sony Music India signed Bohemia. As part of the association, Sony Music managed his music albums, launches and shows under its


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: In September 2012 he released his fourth album "Thousand Thoughts". In 2013, it won Best Non-Resident Punjabi Album award at PTC Punjabi Music Awards. At the Coke Studio Sessions, he was the first rap artist, appearing in their fifth season where he performed three songs. Bohemia has also recorded a collaboration with Sonu Kakkar and Jamaican American artist Sean Kingston.


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: In 2015, Bohemia launched his own music label Kali Denali Music. Bohemia appeared in "XXL" magazine in New York.


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: On July 26, 2018, first single "Sandesa" from his EP "Skull & Bones: Volume 2" was released, which turned out to be a remixed version of one of his unreleased singles. On November 27, 2018, Bohemia released first original single "Koi Farak Nahi" for his EP "". In an interview Bohemia said that he is coming back with his brand new album "Skull and Bones Volume 2" which later got released as an EP. All the songs in it were got released as singles instead of a single unit album.


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: At the end of 2018, Bohemia went on a tour in India, where he performed in Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai, and Rajasthan. He also appeared on an Episode on No.1 Yaarian With Raftaar and Salim Merchant.


title: Bohemia (rapper)

text: On March 6, 2022, Bohemia announced his upcoming fifth studio album named as "I Am I.C.O.N" with the track list too.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Mortal Kombat II is a 1993 arcade fighting game originally produced by Midway for the arcades in 1993. It was later ported to multiple home systems, including MS-DOS, Amiga, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, 32X, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and PlayStation only in Japan, mostly in licensed versions developed by Probe Entertainment and Sculptured Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment (currently distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment).


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: It is the second main installment in the "Mortal Kombat" franchise and a sequel to 1992's "Mortal Kombat", improving the gameplay and expanding the mythos of the original "Mortal Kombat", notably introducing more varied finishing moves (including several Fatalities per character and new finishers, such as Babality and Friendship) and several iconic characters, such as Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao, Noob Saibot, and the series' recurring villain, Shao Kahn. The game's plot continues from the first game, featuring the next Mortal Kombat tournament set in the otherdimensional realm of Outworld, with the Outworld and Earthrealm representatives fighting each other on their way to challenge the evil emperor Shao Kahn.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The game was an unprecedented commercial success and was acclaimed by most critics, receiving many annual awards and having been featured in various top lists in the years and decades to come, and also caused a major video game controversy due to the series' continuous depiction of graphic violence. Its legacy includes spawning a spin-off game "" and having the greatest influence on the 2011 soft reboot game "Mortal Kombat", as well as inspiring numerous video game clones. Non-canonical additions to the series, "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" and "" also took place during "Mortal Kombat II".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The game, along with the original "Mortal Kombat", is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The gameplay system of "Mortal Kombat II" is an improved version of that from the original "Mortal Kombat". There are several changes in standard moves: a crouching punch was added, low and high kicks have greater differentiation (be they crouching or standing up), roundhouse kicks are made more powerful (knocking an opponent across the screen, like the game's uppercut), and it is easier to perform combos due to reduced recovery times for attacks. Returning characters also gained new special moves, including some to be used in mid-air, and the game plays almost twice as fast as the original.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: As with its predecessor, matches are divided into rounds, and the first player to win two rounds by fully depleting their opponent's life bar is the winner; at this point, the losing character will become dazed and the winner is given the opportunity of using a finishing move. "Mortal Kombat II" lacks the "Test Your Might" bonus games and point system from the first game, in favor of a consecutive win tally where wins are represented by icons.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The game marked the introduction of multiple Fatalities (special moves allowing the victorious character to execute their opponent at the end of a match) as well as additional, non-lethal finishing moves to the franchise: Babalities (turning the opponent into a crying baby), Friendships (a non-malicious interaction, such as dancing or giving a gift to the defeated opponent) and additional stage-specific Fatalities (the victor uppercutting their opponent into an abyss below, spikes in the ceiling, or a pool of acid in the background). Finishing moves cannot be performed either by or against the boss or secret characters.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Following his failure to defeat Liu Kang in the previous Mortal Kombat tournament, the evil Shang Tsung begs his master Shao Kahn, supreme ruler of Outworld and the surrounding kingdoms, to spare his life. He tells Shao Kahn that if they hold the next Mortal Kombat Tournament in Outworld, the Earthrealm warriors must travel away from home to attend. Kahn agrees to this plan, and restores Shang Tsung's youth and martial arts prowess. He then extends the invitation to the thunder god and Earthrealm's protector, Raiden, who gathers his warriors and takes them into Outworld. The new tournament is much more dangerous, as Shao Kahn has the home field advantage.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: According to the "Mortal Kombat" series' canon, Liu Kang won this tournament as well, defeating Shao Kahn and his bodyguard Kintaro. The game's story mode can be also finished using any other playable character, resulting in different non-canonical endings for each of them.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The game also features three hidden opponents for unlockable fights: Jade (played by Katalin Zamiar), a female ninja clad in green; Noob Saibot (played by Daniel Pesina), a dark silhouetted ninja who is a "lost warrior" from the first "MK" game; and Smoke (played by Daniel Pesina), a male ninja clothed in gray. Sonya and Kano are the only playable characters from the first "Mortal Kombat" who were not implemented as fighters, as they only appear in the background of the Kahn's Arena stage, chained and on display as his prisoners.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: According to the project's lead programmer Ed Boon, "Mortal Kombat II" was "intended to look different than the original "MK"" and "had everything we wanted to put into "MK" but did not have time for". In 2012, Boon placed creating the game among his best "Mortal Kombat" memories, recalling: "When we did "Mortal Kombat II", we got new equipment and all that stuff, but it was funny because when we started working on "Mortal Kombat II", the mania, the hysteria of the home versions of "Mortal Kombat I" was literally all around us. We were so busy working on the next one, going from seven characters to 12 and two Fatalities per character and all these other things that that consumed every second." Both the theme and art style of "MKII" were slightly darker than those of its predecessor, although a more vibrant color palette was employed and the new game had a much richer color depth than the previous game. A new feature was the use of multiple layers of parallax scrolling in the arcade version. The game was made to be less serious with the addition of humorous alternative finishing moves. Some of the considered Fatalities were rejected as too extreme at the time.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Care was taken during the programming process to give the game a "good feel", with Boon simulating elements such as gravity into the video game design. The game's lead designer and artist John Tobias noted that the previous game's reliance on juggling the opponent in the air with successive hits was an accident, and had been tightened in "Mortal Kombat II". Boon said that the reason to not completely remove it in favor of a different system of chaining attacks together was to set the game apart from the competing titles such as "Street Fighter" and allow for players to devise their own combinations of attacks. A double jump ability was implemented but later removed. At one point, a bonus stage was planned to feature "a bunch of ninjas jumping all over the place and you would swing at them, just like you're in the middle of a fight in a kung fu movie". All of the music was composed, performed, recorded and mixed by Dan Forden, the "Mortal Kombat" series' sound designer and composer, using the Williams DCS sound system.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Like the first game, Acclaim handled the home conversions. "San Francisco Chronicle" claimed in 1994 that Acclaim had spent on developing, manufacturing and marketing the game.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: To create the character animations for the game, actors were placed in front of a gray background and performed the motions, which were recorded on videotape (using a broadcast-quality, $20,000 Sony camera instead of the standard Hi8 camera used for the original "Mortal Kombat"). The video capture footage was then processed into a computer, and the background was removed from selected frames to create sprites. Towards the end of the game's development, they opted to instead use a blue screen technique and processed the footage directly into the computer for a similar, simpler process. The actors were lightly sprayed with water to give them a sweaty, glistening appearance, while post-editing was done on the sprites afterward to highlight flesh tones and improve the visibility of muscles, which Tobias felt set the series apart from similar games using digitized graphics. Animations of Shang Tsung morphing into other characters were created by Midway's John Vogel using a computer, while hand-drawn animations were used for other parts of the game, such as the Fatalities. For animating Goro and Kintaro, clay sculptures were created by Tobias' friend Curt Chiarelli and then turned into 12-inch latex miniatures that were used for stop motion filming. Because of technical restrictions, the actors' costumes had to be simple and no acrobatic moves such as backflips could have been recorded; the most difficult moves to perform were some of the jumping kicks.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Several characters (namely Jade, Kitana, Mileena, Noob Saibot, Reptile, Scorpion, Smoke, and Sub-Zero) were created using the first game's palette swap technique on just two base models. The game was noted for its "strong


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: female presence", as it was featuring more than one woman character as it was common in the genre at the time. Due to memory limitations and the development team's desire to introduce more new characters, two fighters from the original "Mortal Kombat", Sonya Blade and Kano, whom Boon cited as the least-picked characters in the game, were excluded, substituted by two palette swaps, Mileena and Reptile. In place of Sonya, two new playable female characters, Kitana and Mileena, were introduced so the game might better compete against Capcom's "" featuring Chun-Li. Another planned female fighter, based on the real-life kickboxer Kathy Long whom Tobias admired, was omitted due to time constraints. A male bonus character played by Kyu Hwang was also cut from the game.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The first version of "MKII", revision 1.4, "was effectively a public beta test", featuring few Fatalities and many software bugs; it also lacked the endings for the characters. It took three subsequent revisions to have the moves and finishing moves finalized and all the bugs corrected, also adding additional content, as development had still been in progress for all that time. The final version was revision 3.1, released in January 1994.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: In conjunction with the release of the arcade game in 1993, an official comic book, "Mortal Kombat II Collector's Edition", written and illustrated by Tobias, was released through mail order, describing the backstory of the game in greater detail. Acclaim Entertainment stated that it "had started "Mortal Kombat II" with a $10 million global marketing campaign" for the home versions. A part of this sum was used to film and air the live-action TV commercial created by David Anderson and Bob Keen. The video featured Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile (with a notably more reptilian appearance), Kitana, Baraka and Shao Kahn, who were played by the same actors as in the game. The game's promotional campaign's tagline was "Nothing ... Nothing can prepare you." In 2008, Eurogamer called "Mortal Kombat II" "a marketing triumph".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Malibu Comics published a series of "Mortal Kombat" comic books featuring the characters from both "MKII" and the original game. "Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack", an album featuring music from "Mortal Kombat II" and "Mortal Kombat", composed by Dan Forden, could originally only be purchased by ordering it through a limited CD offer, which was posted on the arcade version of the game's attract mode. Other merchandise for the game included a periodical official fanzine "Mortal Kombat II Kollector's Magazine" published by Midway and Sendai, a series of collectible stickers for an album by Panini Group, two different series of action figures (released in Argentina in 1995 and in the US in 1999, respectively), and collectible card game "Mortal Kombat Kard Game" that was marketed as ""Mortal Kombat II" trading cards".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Since 1994, multiple official ports and emulated versions of "Mortal Kombat II" have been released for a wide variety of home systems, including the 8-bit (Game Boy, Master System and Game Gear), 16-bit (Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Sega Genesis / Mega Drive) and 32-bit (32X, PlayStation and Saturn) consoles, Amiga and MS-DOS computers, and the PlayStation Network (PSN). The Game Boy, Game Gear, SNES, and Genesis versions were released simultaneously on September 13, 1994, dubbed "Mortal Tuesday" by Acclaim's marketing. The PlayStation version was released only in Japan, retitled ; this subtitle was also used for the Japanese release of the Sega 32X port.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The game was also featured in several compilation releases, including "Midway Arcade Treasures 2" for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox,


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: "" for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox as a hidden and unlockable Easter egg, "" for the PlayStation Portable, and "Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection" for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Another compilation release, for the Nintendo DS, was canceled. Arcade1Up released a home arcade cabinet compilation that included the game, as well as the original "Mortal Kombat" and "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: "Mortal Kombat II" proved to be an enormous commercial success and even a cultural phenomenon. WMS Industries, owner of Midway at the time, reported its 1993 sales in the quarter ending December 31 rose to $101 million from $86 million and said much of its revenue gain was related to the sale of the arcade version of "MKII". It went on to become America's highest-grossing arcade game of 1994 according to the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA). By 1996, the number of arcade machines sold approached 25,000 units; at that time, arcade games that sold 5,000 units were considered strong titles (Midway printed special T-shirts to celebrate 300 machines being manufactured in one day) and an arcade cabinet cost $3,000–4,000. The arcade version went on to sell 27,000 units, and grossed . "MKII" was considered an arcade game of the year, taking over from the original "Mortal Kombat".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: On the day of the release of the game's first four versions for cartridge-based console systems (Sega's Genesis and Game Gear and Nintendo's SNES and Game Boy), dubbed "Mortal Friday" (September 9, 1994), an unprecedented number of more than 2.5 million copies were shipped to be distributed, with the best opening-week sales in video game history at that point. Acclaim's analysts expected that the number of copies sold would reach at least 2.5 million within the first few weeks of release (at an average retail price of $60) and the sales to top $150 million by the end of the year.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: In the first week of its console release, the game made sales to $50 million, which Acclaim Entertainment said was "The largest introduction of a video game in history". Distribution of over 2.5 million copies around 15,000 stores required 65 trucks and 11 jumbo jets. First-week sales of over $50 million in the United States surpassed the opening box office results of that season's Hollywood film blockbusters, such as "Forrest Gump", "True Lies", "The Mask" and "The Lion King". Approximately units were shipped to stores within a month. "Mortal Kombat II" became the world's best-selling video game (until it was eclipsed by "Donkey Kong Country", released in November 1994). In the United States, it was the top-selling Genesis, SNES and Game Gear game in September 1994, and the top Game Gear game the following month. The Genesis version went on to sell 1.78 million copies in the United States, along with an additional 1.51 million American copies of the game for the SNES. In the United Kingdom, it was the top-selling game in September 1994, including for the Mega Drive, SNES, Master System, Game Gear and Game Boy; it remained the top-selling game for the Master System, Game Gear and Game Boy in October, and for the Game Gear in November.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: By 2002, estimated gross sales of "Mortal Kombat II" home video games exceeded $400 million. Re-released in 2007, the PSN version has continued to occupy the service's top ten monthly sales chart nearly three years later in February 2010.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The initial critical reception of "Mortal Kombat II" was overwhelmingly positive, with "Sega Visions" describing the way in which the sequel was directed as "sheer brilliance", and "Nintendo Power" calling it "the hottest fighter ever". Tony Brusgul of "The Daily Gazette" opined the "incredible" hype surrounding the game was "well deserved", describing it as "a perfect blend of great graphics, action and violence". In his review of the arcade release, Rik Skews of "Computer + Video Games" ("C+VG") wrote: "the only true rival to "Street [F]ighter II"" returned "in a sequel that bites off the head of the original."


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Regarding the Genesis version, Mark Patterson of "C+VG" wrote that "Probe has done an incredible job with this conversion. Everything is here, and I mean everything." Sushi-X of "Electronic Gaming Monthly" ("EGM") called the Genesis version "a great translation considering its limitations", commenting that its graphics and sounds are not as good as those of the SNES version. A reviewer for "The Detroit News" was "very disappointed" with the Genesis port and recommended the SNES version instead.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The four reviewers of "EGM" hailed the SNES version as a "near-perfect" translation of the arcade game. A reviewer for "The Baltimore Sun" called the SNES version "the best game I've ever played - a true translation", and Patterson noted it was the bloodiest game Nintendo has yet allowed to be released. "C+VG" declared it "the most perfect coin-op conversion ever". "Next Generation" stated about SNES version that "with full creative license, Acclaim has produced possibly the best arcade conversion ever."


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Regarding the portable console ports, Patterson stated that "no Game Boy owner should go without this" and called the Game Gear version "still the best handheld beat-'em up" on the market though lacking much canonical content. "EGM" reviewers concurred that the Game Gear version "has eye-popping graphics, and great control - so much so that you won't believe this is a portable", but were less enthusiastic about the Game Boy version. Though they commented that it is better than most fighting games for the system, two of their four reviewers said that it was not worth getting with the game available on much more powerful platforms.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Critical reception of the Amiga version was also mostly very favorable, including Ed Lawrence of "CU Amiga" declaring that "every person who own an Amiga has to own "Mortal Kombat 2". In terms of revitalising the Amiga market, this is far more important than any Commodore buy-out could ever be." In a rare dissenting opinion, Jonathan Nash of "Amiga Power" dismissed "Mortal Kombat II" as "a clearly nonsensical title", recommending to "buy "Shadow Fighter" instead". The later PC version was also well-received, with "Next Generation" stating that "if you like fighting games, this is the best that's available."


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: About the 32X version, IGN's Levi Buchanan stated that "if you do not have a SNES, this is the home version of "MKII" to get." In contrast, "GamePro" remarked that the 32X version offered too little improvement over the Genesis version, even failing to correct the control shortcomings, and was technically poor given the 32X's capabilities. In a review of the 32X version of the game, "Next Generation" opined that ""MKII" is a great game, but it's a serious case of 'been there, done that!'" Brazilian magazine "Ação Games" gave the 32X version 5 out of 5 on all six categories.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Reviewing the CD-ROM based Saturn port, "EGM" commented that the graphics are identical to the arcade version but that there are missing sound effects and "unbearable" slowdown when first performing a special move. They rated it the best home version of the game to date but said that with "Mortal Kombat II" having considerably aged by this point, any port needed to be near arcade perfect to stand out. "Next Generation" said that the Saturn version was arcade perfect, but that the "Mortal Kombat" series as a whole was grossly overrated and lacked any gameplay innovations to make it stand out from other fighting games. They summarized that "if you are a fan of the game (and you know who you are), then the Saturn version is everything you can hope for - an arcade-perfect translation - and yet, there is nothing outside of a flashy presentation and a little gore to recommend this game over a million others just like it." Scary Larry of "GamePro" agreed that the Saturn port "duplicates the arcade version perfectly", but argued that the slowdown and load times make the game frustrating to play. He concluded that the conversion would make a decent holdover until "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" was released for Saturn, but fails to measure up to "Mortal Kombat 3" on the PlayStation. "Sega Saturn Magazine" was extremely disappointed with the final version of the Saturn port, calling it "much worse than any of the versions seen on the cartridge format", as opposed to the vastly superior pre-release version they had reviewed five months earlier.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: "Mortal Kombat II" received numerous annual awards from gaming publications. "Game Players" gave it the titles of "Best Genesis Fighting Game", "Best SNES Fighting Game" and "Best Overall SNES Game" of 1994. The staff of "Nintendo Power" ranked "MKII" as the second (SNES) and fifth (Game Boy) "Top Game" of 1994, while the magazine's readers voted it to receive the 1995's Nintendo Power Awards for "Best Tournament Fighter (all Nintendo platforms)" and "Best Play Control (Game Boy)", with the game having been nominated by the staff also in the categories "Worst Villain" (positively, an equivalent of "Best Hero") and "Best Overall (all Nintendo platforms)". "VideoGames" named "MKII" as the "Best Fighting Game" of 1994, also awarding it second place in the categories "Best Super NES Game" and "Best Arcade-to-Home Translation". Other awards included "The Best of the Show (Super NES)" for the SCES '94 from "GamePro" and "Bloodiest Game of 1994" from "EGM". In 2017, Gamesradar listed the game 29th on its "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: As in the case of the first "Mortal Kombat" game, the content of "Mortal Kombat II" became the subject of a great deal of controversy regarding violent video games. Nancian Cherry of "Toledo Blade" wrote that both games had "an army of critics too: people upset by the bone-crunching, blood-spurting, limb-ripping violence depicted on the small screen". According to IGN, ""Mortal Kombat II" wore its notoriety as a badge of honor, boasting about it in promotional materials, and even parodying it in-game." The game was banned in Germany, where "MKII" was put in the index by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (BPjM) and all versions of the game except for the Game Boy version were subjected to being confiscated from the nation's market for violating the German Penal Code by showing excessive violence and cruel acts against representations of human beings. Due to regional censorship, the game was also released with green-colored blood and black-and-white fatality sequences in Japan; it was at that time a unique occurrence of a western game being censored in Japan, not the reverse. Years later, Boon recalled: "I've always had the position that the rating system was a good idea and should be put in place. Once "Mortal Kombat II" came out, there was a rating system in place. We were an M-rated game, and everybody knew the content that was in there, so it became almost a non-issue." Tobias agreed, saying that they "were content with the M for mature on our packaging".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: There were also some other controversies. In 1994, Guy Aoki, president of Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), criticized the game for allegedly perpetuating existing stereotypes of Asians as martial arts experts with the game's portrayal of several of its characters. Allyne Mills, a publicist at Acclaim, responded to this by stating: "This is a fantasy game, with all different characters. This is a martial arts game which comes from Asia. The game was not created to foster stereotypes." Critical studies professor Marsha Kinder accused the game of "a misogynist aspect to the combat", alleging that "in "MKII", some of the most violent possibilities are against women. Also, their fatality moves are highly eroticised."


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Members of "Mortal Kombat II" cast (Daniel Pesina, Philip Ahn, and Katalin Zamiar, as well as Sonya's actress Elizabeth Malecki), seeking additional royalties for the game's home ports, sued Midway, Williams, Nintendo of America, Sega of America and Acclaim Entertainment for misuse of their likenesses in an unauthorized way in two different cases in 1996 and 1997, losing both of them. After that, Pesina (who sought $10 million for his role in both games, after being paid several thousand) agreed to participate in the "BloodStorm" advertisement photo shoot attacking "Mortal Kombat". He later recalled, "I don't think [the ad] actually upset people at Midway. I think it more upset some of the hardcore "Mortal Kombat" fans."


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: According to IGN's Leif Johnson, 1994 "was the year of games like "Doom" and "Mortal Kombat II"". Over the following years, multiple publications acclaimed "Mortal Kombat II" as one of the best video games ever. It was ranked as the 97th top game of all time by the staff of "Game Informer" in 2001, as the 38th most important video game of all time by the staff of "GamePro" in 2007, and as the 32nd best video game of all time by "The Boston Phoenix" in 2010. Featuring it in their 2003 video game hall of fame series, the staff of GameSpot wrote: ""Mortal Kombat II" was so much better, as a sequel, than it had to be that it absolutely deserves a place in the pantheon of all-time classics."


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Many publications also listed "Mortal Kombat II" among the best video games of its genre or era. It was ranked as the third best fighting game by the staff of "GamePro" and the ninth best fighting game of all time by Rich Knight of Cinema Blend in 2008, as the third top fighting game of all time by Marissa Meli of UGO and the second best 2D fighting game ever made by Robert Workman of GamePlayBook in 2010, and as the third best fighting game of all time by Peter Rubin of "Complex" in 2011. It was also ranked as the 53rd best game on any Nintendo platform by the staff of "Nintendo Power" in 1997, featured among the 100 best games of the 20th century by Jakub Kralka of Benchmark in 2009, and ranked as the tenth best 16-bit game ever by McKinley Noble of "PC World" that same year.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The game also received accolades for its various conversions. "Mortal Kombat II" was included among the ten best arcade games by Wirtualna Polska, and ranked as the fifth top arcade game by the staff of GameTrailers in 2009, as the 31st top arcade game of all time by the staff of GameSpy in 2011, and as the sixth best arcade game of the 1990s by "Complex" in 2013. Regarding the 16-bit console versions, "MKII" was ranked as the fourth best ever Genesis game by "Complex" and as the 19th best Genesis game by GamesRadar, as well as the 12th best ever SNES game by Rich Knight of "Complex" and as the 25th top game for the SNES by Richard George of IGN; in 1995, SNES magazine "Super Play" also ranked it as the best sequel on the platform. In Poland, where the Amiga was the most popular gaming platform of the early 1990s, "MKII" was ranked as the ninth best ever Amiga game by Michał Wierzbicki of "CHIP" and as the 22nd best Amiga game by "PSX Extreme" editor-in-chief Przemysław Ścierski. In 1995, Total! Listed the game 4th on its "Top 100 SNES Games". In 1996, GamesMaster rated the game 35th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: GamesRadar called it "the point when the series became great". In 2007, GamesRadar included four elements of this game - Dan Forden's "Toasty!" effect during an uppercut (also ranked as the 11th funniest moment in video games by Rich Knight of "Complex" in 2012), Friendship and Babality finishing moves, and the ceiling spikes Stage Fatality - among the ten greatest things about "Mortal Kombat". Reviewing the PlayStation 3 release in 2007, IGN's Jeff Haynes stated that ""Mortal Kombat II" still manages to stand up almost 15 years later as one of the best arcade fighters around." As late as 2009, many fans still considered "MKII" to be the best title in the series. According to a 2011 article by Mike Harradence of PlayStation Universe, the "bigger, bolder and bloodier" game remains "a firm fan favourite among "MK" aficionados". That year, IGN's Richard George wrote that ""Mortal Kombat II" is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the series" and called it "still one of the most fun 16-bit fighters to play". In 2013, Rich Knight and Hanuman Welch of "Complex" wrote that ""Mortal Kombat II" took everything we loved about the original and magnified it by about a million. ... We still love this game." That same year, Knight and Gus Turner from the same magazine also ranked it as the sixth best 2D fighting game of all time, stating: "Truth be told, the latest "MK" has nothing on this one. Nothing. A step up from the original in every way, "MK II" was, and still is, a solid, violent game that's an essential title to grab for any serious fan of fighting games." In 2014, Kevin Wong of "Complex" wrote: "Today, we remember "Mortal Kombat II" for its anarchic spirit—the game was endlessly intriguing and weird, and it had an uneasy atmosphere—anything could happen at any given moment. Critics derided "Mortal Kombat" as meaningless shock value, but its sequel proved those naysayers wrong. "Mortal Kombat II" was a Flawless Victory—irreverent, hilarious, and horrific in equal measures."


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: While many games have been subject to urban legends about secret features and unlockable content, these kinds of myths were particularly rampant among the dedicated fan community of "Mortal Kombat" in connection with "Mortal Kombat II". According to GameSpy, "the [arcade gaming] community was abuzz about myriad secrets both true and false." The game's creators did little to dispel those rumors that included supposed "Nudality" or "Sexuality" finishing moves for Kitana and Mileena, Shang Tsung's ability to transform into Kano and Goro, a chance to fight Sonya after defeating Jade in a specific way, and "Hornbuckle" being featured as an additional secret character.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Some of them were eventually implemented in subsequent "MK" games. Among these rumors to be adapted later were the Animalities (used in "Mortal Kombat 3" and its updates) and an ability to throw an opponent into the mouth of a tree in the Living Forest stage (first used in "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks"). Rumored characters included a red female ninja character (actually just a glitch that reportedly turned Kitana's outfit from blue to red), who was dubbed "Scarlet" by fans and was officially introduced as Skarlet in 2011's "Mortal Kombat", and the male ninja Ermac that originated from a misinterpreted indicator in the original game's audits menu, and was teased in "MKII" before finally becoming playable in "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3". A nameless, flaming palette swap of Liu Kang seen in the background of the Pit II stage, initially dubbed "Torch" by fans, officially debuted in "" as a secret character Blaze that later became the final boss of "".


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: Although the 1995 film "Mortal Kombat" was primarily based on the first game, it featured elements of "MKII", such as the characters of Kitana and Shao Kahn, and the setting of Outworld.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The plot and characters of the game served as the basis for the 2005 spin-off game "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks", a beat 'em up title which follows Liu Kang and Kung Lao as they fight their way through Outworld to defeat Shao Kahn. Some of the plot of "Shaolin Monks", such as the death of Jade, is not compatible with the general "Mortal Kombat" game series.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: The events of "Mortal Kombat II", along with the first "Mortal Kombat" and "Mortal Kombat 3" (including its expansions), were later retold in the 2011 fighting game "Mortal Kombat", which was as an effective reboot of the series. In it, Raiden uses time travel to revisit the tournaments from the original games in the series in order to change the future in the aftermath of Armageddon. The ladder/arcade mode of this game can follow the same order of bosses as in "MKII" (with Shang Tsung, Kintaro and Shao Kahn as the final three opponents, although Goro will often be the ninth opponent instead of Kintaro) and its controls and Fatality system are most reminiscent of "MKII". Classic costumes from "MKII" were also brought back as alternate outfits for female ninja characters, with some of these costumes exclusive to the PlayStation Vita version.


title: Mortal Kombat II

text: "Mortal Kombat II" was to be one of the three games remade in HD in the cancelled fighting game "Mortal Kombat HD Arcade Kollection". However, only a simple compilation game titled "Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection" was released instead.


title: Criollo people

text: In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. In different Latin American countries the word has come to have different meanings, sometimes referring to the local-born majority.


title: Criollo people

text: Historically, they have been misportrayed as a social class in the hierarchy of the overseas colonies established by Spain beginning in the 16th century, especially in Hispanic America. They were locally-born people–almost always of Spanish ancestry, but also sometimes of other European ethnic backgrounds. Criollos supposedly sought their own identity through the indigenous past, of their own symbols, and the exaltation of everything related to the American one. Their identity was strengthened as a result of the Bourbon reforms of 1700, which changed the Spanish Empire's policies toward its colonies and led to tensions between "criollos" and "peninsulares". The growth of local "criollo" political and economic strength in the separate colonies, coupled with their global geographic distribution, led them to each evolve separate (both from each other and Spain) organic national identities and viewpoints. During the Spanish American Wars of Independence, criollos like Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín became the main supporters of independence from Spanish rule in their respective countries.


title: Criollo people

text: In Spanish-speaking countries, the use of "criollo" to mean a person of Spanish or European ancestry is obsolete, except in reference to the colonial period. The word is used today in some countries as an adjective defining something local or very typical of a particular Latin American country.


title: Criollo people

text: The word "criollo" and its Portuguese cognate "crioulo" are believed by some scholars, including the eminent Mexican anthropologist Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, to derive from the Spanish/Portuguese verb "criar", meaning "to breed" or "to raise"; however, no evidence supports this derivation in early Spanish literature discussing the origin of the word. Originally, the term was meant to distinguish the members of any foreign ethnic group who were born and "raised" locally, from those born in the group's homeland, as well as from persons of mixed ethnic ancestry. In Spanish colonies, an "español criollo" was an ethnic Spaniard who had been born in the colonies, as opposed to an "español peninsular" born in Spain.


title: Criollo people

text: Spaniards born in the Spanish Philippines are called "insulares". Whites born in colonial Brazil, with both parents born in the Iberian Peninsula, were known as "mazombos".


title: Criollo people

text: The English word "creole" was a loan from French "créole", which in turn is believed to come from Spanish "criollo" or Portuguese "crioulo".


title: Criollo people

text: Europeans began arriving in Latin America during the Spanish conquest; and while during the colonial period most European immigration was Spanish. In the 19th and 20th centuries millions of European and European-derived populations from North and South America did immigrate to the region. According to church and censal registers for Acatzingo in 1792, during colonial times, 73% of Spanish men married with Spanish women. Ideological narratives have often portrayed criollos as a "pure Spanish" people, mostly men, who were all part of a small powerful elite. However, Spaniards were often the most numerous ethnic group in the colonial cities, and there were menial workers and people in poverty who were of Spanish origin throughout all of Latin America.


title: Criollo people

text: The "criollos" allowed a syncretism in their culture and gastronomy, and they, in general, felt more identified with the territory where they were born than with the Iberian peninsula. Evidence is their authorship of works demonstrating an attachment to and pride in the natives and their history. They sometimes criticized the crimes of the "conquistadores", often denouncing and defending natives from abuse. In the colony's last two centuries "criollos" rebelled in response to the harsh suppression of Indigenous uprisings. They allowed the natives and the mestizos (indigenous/European mixed) to be schooled in the universities and art schools, and many natives and mestizos were actually notable painters and architects, mostly in the Andes, but also in Mexico.