title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In 2018, an older, video game-addicted teenage Groot and the rest of the Guardians respond to a distress signal and end up rescuing Thor, who is floating in space amidst the wreckage of the "Statesman". Thor tells them of Thanos' plan to obtains the Infinity Stones, and the Guardians split up, with Rocket and Groot accompanying Thor to Nidavellir to create a new weapon. They find an abandoned Nidavellir and meet the dwarf king Eitri. The four work together to create Stormbreaker, a powerful axe that also grants Thor the power of the Bifröst. Thor is near death from the strain of creating the weapon, and Groot uses his own arm as a handle to finish the axe and heal Thor. Thor transports himself, Rocket, and Groot to Wakanda on Earth via the Bifröst to help the Avengers and the Wakandan army in the battle against the Outriders. Despite being severely wounded, Thanos is able to activate the Infinity Gauntlet, snap his fingers, and teleports away. Rocket watches helplessly as Groot dissolves into dust alongside half of all living things in the universe. Groot uttered one final "I am Groot," which director James Gunn revealed translated to "...Dad?" as he looked to Rocket for help.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In 2024, after the surviving Avengers travel back in time to obtain past versions of the stones to resurrect those who had been victims of the Bilp, Groot is restored and reunites with Rocket in battling the forces of an alternate 2014 version of Thanos. Later, Groot and the restored members of the Guardians of the Galaxy attend the funeral of Tony Stark, who had sacrificed his life to stop Thanos. Groot and the rest of the Guardians, accompanied by Thor, then return to space.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The Guardians returned to their adventures in space. On Indigarr, the team learns of distress calls as gods were being killed, and they split off from Thor to answer various distress calls across the galaxy.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: In 2025, the Guardians buy Knowhere and Groot, now bulky and bigger, helps rebuild it following the attack it had faced. Later that year, he joins in the Christmas celebrations.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Groot is first introduced as Rocket's partner appearing in the film "Guardians of the Galaxy". He has a limited vocabulary, using only his popular catchphrase "I am Groot", although he later managed to say the phrase "We are Groot" before sacrificing his life for the Guardians of the Galaxy in the battle with Ronan for an infinity stone. Other Groot characteristics include the ability to grow his branches in height, length, and girth (assimilating arms and legs), vining branches, growing flowers and producing a form of luminescent seeds.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: A tree-like humanoid, he is the accomplice of Rocket. Diesel stated that he provided the voice and motion capture for Groot, after originally being in talks to star in a new Marvel film. Diesel also provided Groot's voice for several foreign-language releases of the film. Krystian Godlewski portrayed the character on set, though his acting was not used in the final character CGI. On the character, which Gunn based on his dog, Gunn said, "All the Guardians start out the movie as bastards—except Groot. He's an innocent. He's a hundred percent deadly and a hundred percent sweet. He's caught up in Rocket's life, really." Gunn added that the design and movement of Groot took "the better part of a year" to create. Gunn added, "The ways in which Vin Diesel says, 'I am Groot,' I am astounded. All of the 'I am Groots' that were earlier voices didn't sound very good at all ... Vin came in and in one day, laid down all these 'I am Groot' tracks, and he's a perfectionist. He made me explain to him with ever 'I am Groot,' exactly what he was saying ... It was amazing when we first put that voice in there how much the character changed and how much he influenced the character." Regarding the limited words used by Groot, Diesel said in many ways this was, "... the most challenging thing to ask an actor to do." Diesel found an emotional note in his performance, invoking the death of his friend and "Fast & Furious" co-star Paul Walker, saying, "This was in December [2013], and the first time I came back to dealing with human beings after dealing with death, so playing a character who celebrates life in the way Groot does was very nice." Groot's form and size-changing abilities are seen, with Gunn stating that he has the ability to grow in the film.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The mature Groot appears to be nearly indestructible, as seen when his limbs are chopped off and by his ability to thicken his branches into a protective mass that's impenetrable by bullets. He serves as a friend, shield and protector of Rocket and his fellow Guardian friends.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Following adult Groot's death in the crashing of Ronan's spaceship, Rocket recovered and planted pieces of his branches in a flower pot which grew into his son, Baby Groot, whom Rocket raises and is later seen as teenage Groot. The character began growing from a sapling at the end of the first film, with James Gunn intending for him to be fully grown by the sequel. Gunn eventually decided to keep him as "Baby Groot", which was one of the reasons the film is set only a few months after the first. Gunn described Baby Groot as the son of Groot from the first film, with Diesel explaining that "we're going to see this goofy, adorable, baby Groot [just] kinda learning as he goes." Prop master Russell Bobbitt created a 1:1 scale model of the Baby Groot for filming, to use as a lighting reference and sometimes as a puppet for the actors to interact with. As Groot only communicates with the phrase "I am Groot" in different inflections, Gunn created a "Groot Version" of the script for himself and Diesel, which contains each of Groot's lines in English. Diesel used a higher register of his voice for Baby Groot, which was pitched up by seven to nine semitones depending on the take. He also delivered lines slowly to avoid any time stretching issues. Diesel recorded Groot's voice for sixteen foreign-language releases of the film (up from six in the first film). Sean Gunn provided on-set reference for adolescent Groot in the post-credit sequence.


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Jacob Stolworthy of "The Independent" praised the character, opining that Groot was "one of the best things about the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" film, and his camaraderie with Rocket Raccoon [was] a highlight". However, Stolworthy also criticized the subsequent depiction of the character as a baby as "extremely annoying". Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian", meanwhile, praised the character, likening Groot to "a huge Tolkienian creature".


title: Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Following the premiere of "Guardians of the Galaxy", Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, who voices Rocket, were nominated in the "Best Duo" category at the 2015 MTV Movie Awards. The character has also been the subject of numerous memes on social media. Media outlets expressed excitement at seeing the bigger, bulkier Groot who appeared in "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special".


title: Demian

text: Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth is a Bildungsroman by Hermann Hesse, first published in 1919; a prologue was added in 1960. "Demian" was first published under the pseudonym "Emil Sinclair", the name of the narrator of the story, but Hesse was later revealed to be the author; the tenth edition was the first to bear his name.


title: Demian

text: Emil Sinclair is a young boy raised in a middle class home, amidst what is described as a "Scheinwelt", a play on words meaning "world of light" as well as "world of illusion". Sinclair's entire existence can be summarized as a struggle between two worlds: the show world of illusion (related to the Hindu concept of maya) and the real world, the world of spiritual truth (see Plato's cave and dualism). Accompanied and prompted by his mysterious classmate and friend 'Max Demian', he detaches from and revolts against the superficial ideals of the world of appearances and eventually awakens into a realization of self. The novel's eight chapters are these:


title: Demian

text: Since at least 1914, if not 1909, Hesse had been encountering the newly growing field of psychoanalysis as it moved through the German intellectual circles. During the 1910s, Hesse felt that the psychological difficulties that had tormented him since youth needed to be dealt with through psychotherapy. In 1916–17 he underwent psychoanalytic treatment with Josef Lang, a disciple of Carl Jung. Through his contact with Lang and later, in 1921, from being psychoanalyzed by Jung, Hesse became very interested in Jungian analysis and interpretation. "Demian" is replete with both Jungian archetypes and Jungian symbolism. In addition, psychoanalysis helped Hesse identify psychological problems which he had experienced in his youth, including internal tension caused by a conflict between his own carnal instincts and the strict moralism of his parents. Such themes appear throughout Demian as semi-autobiographical reflections upon Hesse's own exploration of Jungian philosophy.


title: Demian

text: The novel refers to the idea of Gnosticism, particularly the god Abraxas, showing the influence of Carl Jung's psychology. According to Hesse, the novel is a story of Jungian individuation, the process of opening up to one's unconsciousness.


title: Demian

text: In the Jungian interpretation of "Demian", women do not play a vital role but instead are used as feminine symbols. At the beginning, Sinclair looks up to his sisters and mother, and even his house maid. While at school, he sees a beautiful woman whom he calls Beatrice, and towards the end of the novel, when Sinclair is an adolescent man, he discovers Demian's mother, Frau Eva. These women do not have major roles in the story, but Hesse uses them symbolically as facets of the depths of Sinclair's mind.


title: Demian

text: The Gnostic deity Abraxas is used as a symbol throughout the text, idealizing the interdependence of all that is good and evil in the world. Demian argues that Jehovah, the Jewish God, is only one face of God; it rules over all that is wholesome, but there is another half of the world, and an infinite god must encompass both sides of this world. The symbol of Abraxas appears as a bird breaking free from an egg or a globe.


title: Last Knights

text: Last Knights is a 2015 action drama film directed by Kazuaki Kiriya and written by Michael Konyves and Dove Sussman, based loosely on (and Westernizing, for the most part) the Japanese legend of the forty-seven rōnin. The film, a joint production between the UK, Czech Republic and South Korea, stars Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman in the lead roles. It centres on a band of warriors who seek to avenge the loss of their master at the hands of a corrupt minister.


title: Last Knights

text: The film had its limited release on 3 April 2015, by Lionsgate and was released to video on demand on 30 June 2015. The film was dedicated to the memory of actor Dave Legeno, who died in 2014.


title: Last Knights

text: Commander Raiden is surprised when aging nobleman Bartok makes him heir to his kingdom, a vassal to a corrupt empire. When minister Geza Mott beats Bartok for failing to provide an adequate bribe, Bartok retaliates and is put to trial where he denounces the loss of honour in the empire. Raiden is ordered to execute his master Bartok, whose clan is disbanded and estate divided. Geza has his warrior Ito watch Raiden lest he seek revenge.


title: Last Knights

text: A year passes and Geza, still fearful of Raiden, demands half his father-in-law Auguste's troops to protect construction of his newly fortified estate, and is promoted to First Councillor to the Emperor. The Emperor chides Geza for his paranoid behavior over Raiden who is now a drunkard. Raiden has sold his sword for drink, his wife has left him, and he is hated by his men for killing Bartok. Geza relaxes his watch on Raiden.


title: Last Knights

text: Raiden and the Bartok clan soldiers have sacrificed everything for the illusion of complete defeat, while preparing to avenge Bartok's death. Auguste, an old friend of Bartok, has made a pact to help Raiden in return for freeing his daughter from her abusive marriage to Geza. Raiden and his men infiltrate Geza's estate and face Geza's soldiers.


title: Last Knights

text: Raiden kills Ito in a duel; Ito's men surrender to him. Raiden breaks into Geza's bedroom and decapitates him as his men rescue Bartok's daughter. The Emperor's council realises the public view Geza's death as righteous and widely support the Bartok clan. They caution him against the risk of turning the people against the crown. Raiden asks that only he be executed for Geza's death.


title: Last Knights

text: The crown publicly acknowledges the righteousness of the Bartok clan, but reminds the crowd that killing a high council member is the same as an attack on the emperor and Raiden will be executed. Raiden charges Lieutenant Cortez to take control of the Bartok clan. In flashback, he apologises to Naomi. Raiden lowers his head with his eyes closed, and as the executioner draws his sword back, Raiden's eyes suddenly open wide as the screen goes to black.


title: Last Knights

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "As blandly unimaginative as its title, "Last Knights" revisits well-worn sword-and-sandal tropes without adding anything new—or interesting—to the genre." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Last Knights

text: Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said the film "proves as square and blandly manly as an old "Prince Valiant" comic strip."


title: Last Knights

text: Justin Chang of Variety wrote: "Last Knights is a fairly ludicrous mystery and a so-so action movie, but it’s nonetheless been constructed with an earnest attention to detail that shouldn’t be taken for granted."


title: Last Knights

text: Max Nicholson of IGN awarded it a score of 5.8 out of 10, saying ""Last Knights" doesn't quite rise to the challenge, despite good leads in Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman."


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Anastasia "Nastia" Liukin (; ; born October 30, 1989) is a Russian-born American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic All-Around champion, a five-time Olympic medalist, the 2005 and 2007 world champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 world champion on the uneven bars. She is also a four-time all-around U.S. national champion, winning twice as a junior and twice as a senior. With nine World Championships medals, seven of them individual, Liukin is tied with Shannon Miller for the third-highest tally of World Championship medals (among U.S. gymnasts). Liukin also tied Miller's record (later equaled by Simone Biles) as the American gymnast having won the most medals in a single non-boycotted Olympic Games.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin was a key member of the U.S. senior team. She represented the United States at three World Championships and one Olympic Games. In October 2011, Liukin announced that she was returning to gymnastics with the hopes of making a second Olympic team. Liukin did not make the 2012 Olympic team, and retired from the sport in 2012.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin was born on October 30, 1989, in Moscow, Russia SFSR, Soviet Union. She is the only child of two former Soviet champion gymnasts: 1988 Summer Olympics double-gold medalist Valeri Liukin and 1987 world clubs champion in rhythmic gymnastics Anna Kotchneva. Her nickname "Nastia" is a Russian diminutive for Anastasia. The family immigrated to the United States when Nastia was two and a half years old, following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and settled first in New Orleans before moving to Texas. In 1994, Valeri Liukin teamed up with another former Soviet champion athlete, Yevgeny Marchenko, to open the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano, Texas.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin is fluent in English and Russian. She graduated from Spring Creek Academy, located in Plano, Texas, in the spring of 2007. She enrolled as an international business major at Southern Methodist University in January 2008, and took a leave from classes to concentrate on preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games. She returned to campus in spring 2009, but her travel schedule and professional commitments caused her to withdraw before the end of the semester. In January 2013, Liukin attended New York University where she studied sports management and psychology, graduating in May 2016.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin began gymnastics at the age of three because she was "always hanging around in the gym" with her parents, who could not afford a babysitter to look after her while they were working as coaches. Liukin's parents initially did not aspire for their daughter to become a gymnast, knowing the pressure of high-level competition firsthand, but relented when they noticed her aptitude for the sport.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin competed in her first National Championships as a junior in 2002, at the age of 12 and a half. In contrast to her WOGA teammates Carly Patterson and Hollie Vise, who finished first and second, respectively, Liukin fell on the uneven bars that rendered her unable to finish the routine. She continued through the rest of the competition and, despite the incomplete bars set, finished 15th, which landed her one of the final spots on the U.S. National Team. She was chosen to compete with the U.S. team at the 2002 Junior Pan American Championships, where she contributed to the team gold medal and placed second on the uneven bars and balance beam and in the all-around.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: By 2003, Liukin was one of the strongest junior gymnasts in the United States. She won the junior division of the U.S. National Championships, as well as gold medals on three of the four events: uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. She repeated these accomplishments in 2004. Liukin was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2003 Pan Am Games; she took second place in the all-around behind fellow American Chellsie Memmel. She also won the all-around in the junior division of the 2004 Pacific Alliance Championships.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Born in 1989, Liukin was ten months too young to compete as a senior in 2004, and thus was not eligible for a place on the U.S. team for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Her scores in the junior division at the 2004 U.S. National Championships were competitive with those being posted by the seniors.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In 2005, Liukin won her first senior National Championships and, once again, earned gold medals on the bars and beam. At the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne, she finished second in the all-around behind teammate Chellsie Memmel with a score of 37.823.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In event finals, she won the gold on the uneven bars and balance beam and the silver on the floor exercise.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In March 2006, Liukin placed first in the all-around at the American Cup. At the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, Liukin tied with teammate Memmel for first in the all-around, won the uneven bars title and a silver medal on beam, and contributed to the U.S. team's gold-medal performance. She competed at the 2006 U.S. Classic as the defending all-around champion, but falls on the uneven bars and floor resulted in a fourth-place finish. However, she scored well on the balance beam and was the only competitor in the meet, junior or senior, to earn a score over 16.00 on this event.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In late August, at the 2006 U.S. National Championships, Liukin successfully defended her all-around, beam and bars titles, becoming a two-time senior national champion. She was named to the U.S. team for the 2006 World Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, and was expected by many to be a strong contender for the all-around title. However, because of an ankle injury, she was only able to compete on the uneven bars. Her bars routine in team finals scored a 15.7 and helped the U.S. team win the silver medal. Liukin also qualified for the event finals on bars, scoring 16.05 to earn a silver medal behind Britain's Beth Tweddle.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin's ankle injury required surgery, and the recovery period kept her out of both national and international competition for much of the year. In July 2007, although she was still recovering from her injury, she returned to competition as a member of the American team for the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro. She competed only on bars and beam, contributing to the team's gold-medal finish and winning individual silver medals in the uneven bars and balance beam finals.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Despite limited training time on floor and vault in the summer of 2007, Liukin opted to compete all-around at the 2007 U.S. National Championships. She posted the highest score of the entire meet on bars and the second highest score on beam on the second day of competition, winning the senior bars title for the third year in a row and placing second on beam. However, she made several falls and errors on floor and vault, finishing in third place overall, more than five points behind Shawn Johnson, the all-around gold medalist.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Following Nationals, Liukin was named to the American team for the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, where she competed all-around in the team qualifying round and on bars and beam in the finals. Liukin's score for her bars routine in team finals was a 16.375, the highest score of the day and, in the end, the entire World Championships. However, she made an error at the end of her beam routine and scored 15.175. The team recovered from this and other mistakes to finish first overall with 184.400.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin's struggles with the balance beam continued in the all-around final, where she fell. She finished the competition in fifth place. In the event finals, however, Liukin regained her world champion title on the balance beam with a score of 16.025. She also earned a silver on the uneven bars behind Russia's Ksenia Semenova, scoring a 16.300 after taking a step on her dismount.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin's first meet of the 2008 season was the American Cup in New York City, where she defeated 2007 winner Shawn Johnson to regain her title. She posted the highest score of the meet, a 16.600 on the uneven bars. In March, Nastia competed at the Pacific Rim (formerly Pacific Alliance) Championships in San Jose, where she led the American team to a gold medal and won the all-around and balance beam titles. In the team competition, Liukin posted an all-time high score of 16.650 on the uneven bars, but in event finals, she fell on her Gienger release move and took a step on her dismount, earning a 15.225 and taking second place.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: At the 2008 U.S. National Championships in Boston, Liukin fell on the floor on her double front tuck the first day of competition, but had a strong meet on her other events and placed second in the all-around behind Shawn Johnson. She regained her national champion title on the beam and defended her national title on the uneven bars for the fourth consecutive year, scoring a 17.050 in preliminaries and a 17.100 in finals, the highest recorded score for any American gymnast at any event since the advent of the new "Code of Points." In June, Liukin competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Philadelphia, finishing second behind Johnson and earning a spot on the American team for Beijing.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin performed all-around in the qualifying round of competition. She fell on her dismount from the uneven bars, but nevertheless qualified to the all-around final with a score of 62.325. Liukin also qualified to three event finals: beam, uneven bars (in spite of the fall) and floor exercise.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In the team finals, Liukin performed on three events: beam, bars and floor exercise. Her uneven bars score of 16.900 was the highest mark awarded in the entire Olympic competition. Liukin performed second on balance beam, matching her qualifying score of 15.975. On floor exercise, she stepped out of bounds on her first tumbling pass, incurring a 0.1-point penalty, with a final score of 15.200. The American team earned the silver medal, 2.375 points behind China.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: On August 15, Liukin performed clean routines on all four events (sticking her landings on three out of four events) to win the all-around gold medal with a final score of 63.325. Shawn Johnson took the silver medal with a score of 62.725. The win marked the third time that an American woman had won the Olympic all-around title; Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson were the two previous American gold medalists. It was also the fourth time in the history of the Games that two athletes from the same country had taken first and second place in the women's all-around.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In the event finals, Liukin earned a surprising bronze medal on floor exercise with a score of 15.425, behind Shawn Johnson, with 15.500, and Romanian Sandra Izbasa, with 15.650. On uneven bars, Liukin and China's He Kexin both posted final marks of 16.725 and earned identical A- and B-panel scores of 7.70 and 9.025, respectively. However, He Kexin was awarded the gold medal, and Liukin got the silver, after a tie-breaking calculation that took into account individual marks given by judges on the B-panel. In the balance beam final, Liukin scored 16.025 to claim silver behind Shawn Johnson's 16.225. With her fifth Beijing medal, Liukin tied Mary Lou Retton and Shannon Miller for the most gymnastics medals won by an American in a single Olympic Games.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Following her success in Beijing, Liukin was named the USOC Female Athlete of the Month (August) and ultimately USOC Co-Sportswoman of the Year alongside swimmer Natalie Coughlin; the Women's Sports Foundation Individual Sportswoman of the Year; FIG Athlete of the Year and USAG Sportswoman of the Year. In addition, she was ranked third in the Associated Press' 2008 Female Athlete of the Year voting.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin decided that she was not done with gymnastics and made her first post-Olympics competitive appearance at the CoverGirl Classic, where she competed only on balance beam. She placed second behind teammate Ivana Hong. Liukin thought about competing uneven bars and beam at the U.S. Championships, but decided to once again just perform on beam, placing fourth. Liukin was added to the national team and included in the World Championships selection camp. However, she pulled out of Worlds selection consideration because she felt that she was not up to World Championships standards.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: After several months of conditioning, training, revamping routines and showing readiness at summer training camp, Liukin petitioned for a spot at the Visa National Championships. In order for the petition to be granted, she had to show readiness by scoring at least a 14.0 on one apparatus at a qualifying event (the U.S. Secret Classic) on May 26. She did so, scoring a 14.9 on balance beam.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: On beam at the Visa Championships, Liukin scored a 15.1 on night one, followed by a 14.1 on night two to place sixth on the event. On bars, she placed 20th after scoring a 13.150 on night one and 13.650 on night two. Despite this, Liukin was chosen to compete at the Olympic Trials.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin's gymnastics career came to an end after the 2012 Olympic Trials. On the final night of competition, she fell off the bars on her Gienger release, but got back up to finish her routine and landed her first competitive dismount since her comeback. Her bars routine received a 13.950. Her beam routine scored a 14.950, and she did not make the Olympic team. Despite the end of her gymnastics career, Liukin went to London as the athlete representative for the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin was known for her long, expressive lines and flexibility, but she was weak on vault. The most difficult vault she performed was a 1.5 twisting Yurchenko.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: The Nastia Liukin Cup is an annual gymnastics competition held in the United States that is hosted by Liukin. The inaugural edition was contested in 2010. The competition is open to Level 10 gymnasts, who can only qualify to the event at designated invitationals across the country.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: There are both junior and senior fields for the competition, and the competition takes place the Friday prior to the AT&T American Cup, which occurs on the next day, Saturday. The incentive of the competition is to give pre-elite athletes the experience and opportunity to compete on a raised podium surface as well as in a large arena, which is not the norm for average USAG Optional competitions.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Many former competitors at the Cup have gone on to elite competition and even international competition, with 2012 Olympic Champion Gabby Douglas and 2017 World All Around Champion Morgan Hurd having competed in the 2010 and 2014 editions respectively. Ashton Locklear, Mykayla Skinner and Kayla Williams have also participated in the event.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In 2009, Liukin established the Nastia Liukin Fund in conjunction with USA Gymnastics. The fund’s goals include building partnerships with fitness-oriented programs for young people, and supporting clubs who have programs that aid gymnastics athletes who need financial assistance. Since its inception in 2010, all net proceeds from the Nastia Liukin Cup have gone to the fund.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin had cameo roles in the April 2006 Touchstone Pictures film "Stick It", and a 2008 episode of "Gossip Girl". Liukin also guest starred on The CW series "Hellcats".


title: Nastia Liukin

text: On February 24, 2015, Liukin was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on the 20th season of "Dancing with the Stars". She was partnered with professional dancer and five-time champion Derek Hough. They made it to week 9 (the semi-finals), but were then eliminated on May 12, 2015, despite consistent high scores.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin serves as an analyst for NBC Sports Group during their coverage of gymnastics events. She was also a special correspondent for NBC during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. During the Sochi broadcast, she presented daily features for "The Olympic Zone", a 30-minute daily show for NBC affiliates, covering all aspects of the Games.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin later returned to Dancing with the Stars during season 27 to be a trio partner to Mary Lou Retton and Sasha Farber.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: In 2017, Liukin launched her own line of gymnastics equipment, including mats, bars and balance beams in her signature pink, produced by American Athletic, Inc.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin's corporate sponsors include Visa, AT&T, GK Elite Sportswear and Longines. She appeared in an Adidas commercial with Nadia Comăneci that ran during the 2004 Olympics and a 2008 commercial for Visa Inc. She signed an endorsement deal on March 15, 2010, and appeared in commercials for Subway. After the Beijing Olympics, she was signed to be one of four American Olympians featured on Wheaties cereal boxes.


title: Nastia Liukin

text: Liukin was a Longines Sports Ambassador of Elegance in 2006 and, along with her teammates Shawn Johnson and Alicia Sacramone, was one of the first female athletes ever to be signed as CoverGirl spokesmodels. She also collaborated with Vanilla Star Jeans to create a junior girls' clothing line and has modeled for Max Azria. In June 2010, she launched a line of girls' wear called Supergirl by Nastia for department store chain JC Penney.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Mr. Brooks is a 2007 American psychological thriller film directed by Bruce A. Evans starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, and William Hurt. It was released on June 1, 2007. The film follows the eponymous character, a celebrated Portland businessman and serial killer (Costner) who is forced to take on a protégé (Cook) after being blackmailed, and has to contend with his bloodthirsty alter ego (Hurt) who convinces him to indulge his "habit". His life grows even more complicated when a driven police officer (Moore) reopens the investigation into his murders. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $48.1 million against a $20 million budget.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Earl Brooks, a respected businessman in Portland, Oregon, leads a secret life as a serial killer. Despite his effort to curb his "killing addiction," Brooks succumbs to his id, Marshall, and kills a young couple in their bedroom. As part of his psychopathology, Brooks leaves each victim's bloody thumbprint on a lampshade, an act that spawned the nickname the "Thumbprint Killer". He follows a meticulous modus operandi, including fastidious preparation, cleansing the crime scene, posing the bodies, and even locking doors before departing. Brooks realizes later that the bedroom curtains were open during the murder, the window facing an apartment building.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Brooks' daughter, Jane, unexpectedly arrives home and asks for a job at his company, having dropped out of college. Later, Brooks learns that Jane is pregnant. Soon after, the Brooks are visited by Palo Alto detectives investigating a murder in Jane's former campus dorm. Brooks realizes that Jane committed the murder. He briefly considers allowing her to be caught to "save her" from becoming like him. He changes his mind and commits a similar murder in Palo Alto to provide Jane with an alibi.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: A man calling himself "Mister Smith" approaches Brooks. Having a direct view at the murdered couple's bedroom, Smith took pictures of Brooks' crime. He demands to accompany Brooks during a murder. Brooks reluctantly agrees, warning Smith that killing can become addictive.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Detective Tracy Atwood interviews Smith and several other residents living across from the latest crime scene. Brooks learns Atwood is undergoing a difficult divorce from her husband, Jesse Vialo. He decides that Vialo and his lawyer/lover, Sheila, will be Smith's first victims. At the scene of the Vialo murder, Smith wets his pants.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Leaving the scene, Smith holds Brooks at gunpoint in panic. Brooks admits to being suicidal, having found his urges irrepressible. At a cemetery, Brooks tells Smith to kill him and dispose of his body in an open grave, sparing his family the shame of his crimes. Smith pulls the trigger. However, Brooks had previously tampered with the gun on the off-chance that he changes his mind. Brooks, deciding he wants to live and see his grandchild, kills Smith and hides his body in the open grave.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: With the photos already destroyed, there is no evidence tying Brooks to the crimes. With Smith's urine the only DNA evidence tied to the Thumbprint Killer, the investigation is off Brooks' trail.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Brooks anonymously calls Detective Atwood, whom he has come to admire. The brief conversation makes Atwood suspect Smith is not the Thumbprint Killer. That night, Brooks has a nightmare in which Jane murders him.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: "Mr. Brooks" opened in 2,453 theaters and grossed $10,017,067, with an average of $4,083 per theater and ranking #4 at the North American box office. The film ultimately grossed $28,549,298 domestically and $19,572,602 internationally for a total of $48,121,900 worldwide, above its $20 million budget.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Mr. Brooks received mixed reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the film has a score of 55% based on 161 reviews with an average rating of 5.70/10. The critical consensus states "The set-up is intriguing, but "Mr. Brooks" overstuffs itself with twists and sub-plots, becoming more preposterous as it goes along." Costner and Hurt were both praised for their performances. The film also has a score of 45 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 34 critics indicating "mixed or average reviews". "Rolling Stone" wrote that "the cop on the case, [is] played by Demi Moore with a striking directness that deserved better than being saddled with an absurd back story as an heiress with a fortune-hunting husband." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: On the director's commentary, Bruce Evans said that the film was to be the first of a trilogy, but as with any franchise it depended on the film's profits. Despite its commercial success, there are no plans to make further films. Speaking in April 2009, Panabaker said, "Everybody wanted to make a trilogy. I saw Kevin [Costner] last summer and we still would love to. The idea of my character and Kevin's character, it'd be so much fun. I think you got to see how manipulative they both are with each other. I would have loved to have done three."


title: Mr. Brooks

text: Speaking with Jason Jenkins at "Bloody Disgusting" in 2020, Evans further elaborated on what the follow-ups might have entailed. "'Someone would have kidnapped his family, having no idea who they were dealing with,' Evans notes, pointing out that the kidnappers would not only be contending with the murderous Brooks, but his burgeoning psychopath of a daughter as well." Mr Evans noted that Brooks' id Marshall would have returned, and have been "killed" by Brooks at some point in the second film, eventually being resurrected and returning “angrier and more perverse”. Furthermore, Mr Evans revealed that the third film, which would have found Brooks and Jane at odds with one another, would have ended with Brooks killing both himself and his daughter, having realized that there is no hope for either of them.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: The film was released on October 23, 2007, on both high-definition Blu-ray Disc and standard-definition DVD.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: The film score for "Mr. Brooks" was composed by Ramin Djawadi. The soundtrack album was released on May 22, 2007.


title: Mr. Brooks

text: The film's soundtrack features Ramin Djawadi's score and the song "Vicious Traditions" by The Veils. Ramin Djawadi was nominated for the World Soundtrack Award in category Discovery of the Year in 2007. English metalcore band Asking Alexandria wrote a song based on the film entitled "Hey There Mr. Brooks" for their 2009 debut album "Stand Up And Scream".


title: Shankar Nag

text: Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as "Karate King." He directed and acted in the teleserial, "Malgudi Days", based on novelist R. K. Narayan's short stories.


title: Shankar Nag

text: Nag received the inaugural IFFI Best Actor Award (Male): Silver Peacock Award" at the 7th International Film Festival of India for his work in the film "Ondanondu Kaladalli". He co-wrote "22 June 1897", a National award-winning Marathi film. He is the younger brother of actor Anant Nag. Vincent Canby, the chief film critic of "The New York Times" had opined that Shankar's performance in "Ondanondu Kaladalli" had the force and humor of the younger Toshiro Mifune.


title: Shankar Nag

text: Shankar Nagarkatte was born on 9 November 1954 in Honnavar, then a part of North Canara (now Uttara Kannada), in Bombay State (now in Karnataka). His parents were Anandi and Sadanand Nagarkatte. Born into a Konkani-speaking Brahmin family, his family settled in Shirali, a village near Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada of Karnataka State. He had an elder sister, Shyamala, and an elder brother, actor Anant Nag. After completing formal education, Nag moved to Bombay. There, he was attracted to Marathi theatre and immersed himself in theatrical activities. Incidentally, he met his future wife, Arundhathi during a drama rehearsal.


title: Shankar Nag

text: Nag then shifted base to Karnataka. His elder brother Anant had already established himself as an actor and urged Nag to act in films. In 1978 Nag made his debut in the role of a mercenary in Girish Karnad's epic film "Ondanondu Kaladalli," where he played a mercenary who earns a position in a rival army to get even with his brother, whom he considers his enemy.


title: Shankar Nag

text: Following the modest success of "Ondanondu Kaladalli" and the critical accolades he won, Nag appeared in other films. "Seetharamu", "Auto Raja" and Preethi Madu Thamashe Nodu" were amongst his early movies. He eventually became known for his action films, and while he had never undergone any martial arts training, he earned the nickname "Karate King"."


title: Shankar Nag

text: He also made his directorial debut with "Minchina Ota", one of the earliest heist movie in Kannada cinema. This won him seven state awards, including that for best film. "Janma Janmada Anubandha" and "Geetha" followed. There was no looking back after that.


title: Shankar Nag

text: Some of his most popular commercial movies as an actor include "Nyaya Ellide", "Nyaya Gedditu","Gedda Maga", "Sangliyana" and "S. P. Sangliyana Part 2" and "C.B.I. Shankar". He formed a popular pair with top actress "Bhavya" who acted with him in 11 films.


title: Shankar Nag

text: His directorial ventures include "Accident", which won many state and national awards, "Ondu Muttina Kathe", which was loosely based on John Steinbeck's novel "The Pearl"), "Nodi Swamy Navirodu Hige", "Lalach" and "Hosa Theerpu", which was a remake of "Dushman".


title: Shankar Nag

text: In 1987, Nag directed the Doordarshan series "Malgudi Days", which was based on a collection of short stories by R.K. Narayan. The series featured Vishnuvardhan and Anant Nag, with music by was composed by L. Vaidyanathan. The series was shot in Agumbe, Shimoga district, Karnataka. Nag went to direct another teleserial, "Swami", in the same year. "Malgudi Days" has been rated as one of the finest serials ever to be made in the history of Indian television.


title: Shankar Nag

text: Nag retained an interest in theatre. His brother Anant Nag and he founded Sanket, an amateur theatre group, which still produces plays. His first directorial effort in Kannada theatre was "Anju Mallige" by Girish Karnad. He continued with productions like "Barrister", "Sandhya Chhaya". He was later joined by T. N. Narasimhan, who wrote and co-directed "Nodi Swamy Navirodu Hige" which had, apart from himself, his wife Arundhati Nag and Ramesh Bhat in the cast.


title: Shankar Nag

text: Shankar Nag, was multi-faceted person, involved in various aspects of Karnataka's Infrastructure. He is credited with pioneering efforts in initiating


title: Shankar Nag

text: Nag died in a car collision at Anagodu village on the outskirts of Davanagere town on 30 September 1990 during the pre-production work for his film "Jokumaraswamy". His last film as an actor, "Sundarakanda", was released a few days after his death. For "Sundarakanda", Nag's voice was dubbed by Murali. "Nigooda Rahasya", one of his last films also had his brother, Anant Nag, complete the voice dubbing.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: O is a water-themed stage production by Cirque du Soleil, a Canadian circus and entertainment company. The show has been in permanent residence at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, since October 1998. "O", whose name is pronounced the same way as "eau", the French word for "water", takes place around and above a pool of water. It features water acts such as synchronized swimming as well as aerial and ground acts. The "O" theatre, which is designed to resemble a 14th-century European opera house, has 1,800 seats, thus allowing the performance to be watched by 3,600 people a night since the performance usually plays twice in a given day, also designed to meet the special demands of the show.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: "O" was inspired by the "infinity and elegance of water's pure form," which pays tribute to the beauty of the theatre. A group of 150 stage technicians assist in the production of the show, the cast of which is 85 performers: international acrobats, synchronized swimmers, and divers. Some of them are former Olympic athletes.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: Since late October 2010, Cirque du Soleil has offered backstage tours of the "O" theatre. The experience allows visitors to see the backstage wings, training rooms, costume workshop, break area, underwater lighting area, and go up to a catwalk into the sound and lighting booths. Not every experience


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: will be the same as the tour is conducted around a "regular day", so performers may or may not be training, rehearsing, or even working out.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: The show has a cast of 85 acrobats, synchronized swimmers and divers performing in and above a 1.5 million-gallon pool. When maintenance needs to be performed, the pool is drained in about 12 hours to the Bellagio Lake, causing the lake's water level to rise . The pool is kept at and has an underwater speaker system and regulators that allow performers to breathe underwater. Every member of the cast is scuba-certified.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: The underwater stage lift was produced by Handling Specialty. In order for the platform stage to rise and fall in the water without a wake, the rubber surface of the stage is perforated.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: Cold air vents under each seat help control the theatre temperature for the audience. The goal is to maintain two temperature zones in the theatre: the stage is kept at a higher temperature of , while the audience area is kept at a lower temperature of . A mesh false ceiling allows warm moist air to escape out of the top of the theatre.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: To minimize damage to the musical instruments, the musicians play from glass enclosures in the theatre. Some of the musical instruments used in the show are more than 100 years old. The unique string instrument heard in the soundtrack of "O" is an "erhu", a traditional Chinese bowed string instrument.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: To maintain a fresh look on the performers, some performers have multiple sets of costumes so they may reappear dry despite having been in the water. Some of the costumes only have a lifespan of approximately 20 shows due to the bromide and chlorine in the water.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: Costumes for "O" drew inspiration from many sources: "commedia dell'arte", the Baroque, India, the "Arabian Nights", as well as Venetian courtly fashions. The costumes' silhouettes are defined by the design and are accentuated by the transparency of the selected materials and fabrics. Many costumes' base design are leotards which are then expounded upon: this includes the Zebras and Flayed Ones, among others. The Flayed Ones' leotards, for example, originally had hand-painted muscles on them, as digital screen-printing was inaccessible at the time of creation. Another special attribute critical to costumes in "O" is their treatment to help withstand the water and chemicals in it. To achieve this feat, roughly 40% of the costumes have been applied with a specific type of silicon sizing. In addition, the materials chosen are more durable and had to be able to both mould to the performer's body and dry quickly. Over the years the best fabric found for the costumes has been nylon mesh, which performs well either wet or dry.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: The music of "O" was composed by Benoit Jutras and features a mix of classical Western and world instrumentation, including Chinese violin ("erhu"), bagpipes, African guitar and harp ("kora"), Colombian guitar, cello, ancient woodwinds and a wide variety of percussion instruments. During the show, the score is performed by a live band situated behind glass walls above and to the side of the stage. The glass protects the musicians' equipment from moisture damage.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: "O"s music was recorded at the Bellagio and released on November 24, 1998. () The album was re-released on September 6, 2005. () The songs are listed below with their corresponding act in parentheses.


title: O (Cirque du Soleil)

text: In 2007, Cirque du Soleil released the film "Flow (A Tribute to the Artists of "O")". The documentary was filmed in the "O" theatre and by the Colorado River. The film shows certain artists performing out around the river as well as on stage and provides information on the necessary technical equipment used to produce the performance. Bonus features of "Flow" include: performance clips, Russian swing act, technical information and film below the surface of the "O" pool, and information about the creation of "O" itself.


title: 2022 deaths in the United States

text: The following notable deaths in the United States occurred in 2022. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order as set out in .


title: 2022 deaths in the United States

text: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth and subsequent nationality (if applicable), what subject was noted for, year of birth (if known), and reference.


title: Indiana University

text: Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.


title: Indiana University

text: In addition to its core campuses, Indiana University maintains five regional campuses throughout Indiana:


title: Indiana University

text: The School of Medicine and the School of Social Work have degree programs running across multiple IU campuses. Kelley School of Business, the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, the O'Neil School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and the School of Education have degree programs at both the Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington) and Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campuses. The School of Nursing has degree programs at the IUB, IUPUI, and IU Fort Wayne campuses. The Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health has degree programs at the IUPUI and IU Fort Wayne campuses.


title: Indiana University

text: According to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), the value of the endowment of the Indiana University and affiliated foundations in 2016 is over $1.986 billion. The annual budget across all campuses totals over $3 Billion.


title: Indiana University

text: The Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation (IURTC) is a not-for-profit agency that assists IU faculty and researchers in realizing the commercial potential of their discoveries. Since 1997, university clients have been responsible for more than 1,800 inventions, nearly 500 patents, and 38 start-up companies.


title: Sepoy

text: Sepoy () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire.


title: Sepoy

text: In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its other European counterparts employed locally recruited soldiers within India, mainly consisting of infantry designated as "sepoys". The largest sepoy force, trained along European lines, served the British East India Company


title: Sepoy

text: The term "sepoy" continues in use in the modern Indian, Pakistan and Nepalese armies, where it denotes the rank of private.


title: Sepoy

text: The term "sepoy" is derived from the Persian word () meaning the traditional "infantry soldier" in the Mughal Empire.


title: Sepoy

text: The sepoys of the Mughal Empire were infantrymen usually armed with a musket and a talwar, although they sometimes operated artillery pieces and even rockets. They wore the colours of the "Great Moghul" and sometimes used war elephants for transport.


title: Sepoy

text: The French East India Company was the first to employ locally recruited sepoys during the Carnatic Wars. Soon other European powers did the same, to protect their interests.


title: Sepoy

text: In its most common application, "sepoy" was the term used in the British Indian Army and, earlier, in the army of the British East India Company, for an infantry private. A cavalry trooper was a .


title: Sepoy

text: The term "sepoy" came into common use in the forces of the British East India Company in the eighteenth century, where it was one of a number of names, such as "peons", "gentoos", "mestees" and "topasses", used for various categories of native soldier. Initially it referred to Hindu or Muslim soldiers without regular uniforms or discipline. It later generically referred to all native soldiers in the service of the European powers in India. Close to ninety-six percent of the British East India Company's army of 300,000 men were native to India and these sepoys played a crucial role in securing the subcontinent for the company.


title: Sepoy

text: The earliest sepoys used matchlock muskets and operated bulky and inefficient cannons to a limited extent during the reigns of Babur Akbar when archery and fighting from horseback was more common. By the time of Aurangzeb the Mughal armies had advanced significantly and utilized a wider range of weapons to win battles.


title: Sepoy

text: During the Carnatic Wars and Anglo-Mysore Wars the sepoys of the Mughal Empire employed more advanced types of musket, as well as blunderbuss and rocket weapons.


title: Sepoy

text: The earliest sepoys were armed with daggers, talwars and matchlocks. By the mid to late 17th century they began to utilize more upgraded forms of muskets and even rockets. These sepoys also operated and mounted artillery pieces and sharpshooter upon war elephants which were also used for transport, hauling artillery and in combat.


title: Sepoy

text: By the 18th century individual Nawabs employed their own sepoy units as did the European merchant companies established in parts of India.


title: Sepoy

text: Sepoys became more visible when they gained European arms and fought for various fragmented polities of the Mughal Empire during the Carnatic Wars and the Bengal War. After which the importance of the local sepoy diminished and were replaced by the "European hired Sepoy".


title: Sepoy

text: The East India Company initially recruited sepoys from the local communities in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies. The emphasis here favored tall and soldierly recruits, broadly defined as being "of a proper caste and of sufficient size". In the Bengal Army however, recruitment was only amongst high caste Brahmin and Rajput communities, mainly from the present day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar regions. Recruitment was undertaken locally by battalions or regiments often from the same community, village and even family. The commanding officer of a battalion became a form of substitute for the village chief or "gaon bura". He was the "mai-baap" or the "father and mother" of the sepoys making up the "paltan" (from "platoon"). There were many family and community ties amongst the troops and numerous instances where family members enlisted in the same battalion or regiment. The "izzat" ("honour") of the unit was represented by the regimental colours; the new sepoy having to swear an oath in front of them on enlistment. These colours were stored in honour in the quarter guard and frequently paraded before the men. They formed a rallying point in battle. The oath of fealty by the sepoy was given to the East India Company and included a pledge of faithfulness to the salt that one has eaten.


title: Sepoy

text: The salary of the sepoys employed by the East India Company, while not substantially greater than that paid by the rulers of Indian states, was usually paid regularly. Advances could be given and family allotments from pay due were permitted when the troops served abroad. There was a commissariat and regular rations were provided. Weapons, clothing and ammunition were provided centrally, in contrast to the soldiers of local kings whose pay was often in arrears. In addition local rulers usually expected their sepoys to arm themselves and to sustain themselves through plunder.


title: Sepoy

text: This combination of factors led to the development of a sense of shared honour and ethos amongst the well drilled and disciplined Indian soldiery who formed the key to the success of European feats of arms in India and abroad.


title: Sepoy

text: Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the surviving East India Company regiments were merged into a new Indian Army under the direct control of the British Crown. The designation of "sepoy" was retained for Indian soldiers below the rank of lance naik, except in cavalry where the equivalent ranks were "sowar" or "trooper".


title: Sepoy

text: Following the formation of the French East India Company (') in 1719, companies of Indian sepoys () were raised to augment the French regulars and Swiss mercenary troops available. By 1720 the sepoys in French service numbered about 10,000. Although much reduced in numbers after their decisive defeat in India at the Battle of Wandewash in 1760, France continued to maintain a Military Corps of Indian Sepoys (') in Pondicherry until it was disbanded and replaced by a locally recruited gendarmerie in 1898.


title: Sepoy

text: The 19th century diplomat Sir Justin Sheil commented about the British East India Company copying the French Indian army in raising an army of Indians:


title: Sepoy

text: Sepoys were also recruited in Portuguese India. The term ' (sepoy) was also applied by the Portuguese to African soldiers in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea, plus African rural police officers. ' from Angola provided part of the garrison of Goa during the final years of Portuguese rule of that Indian territory.


title: Sepoy

text: The title of "sepoy" is still retained in the modern Nepalese Army, Indian Army and Pakistan Army. In each of these it designates the rank of private.


title: Sepoy

text: The same Persian word reached English via another route in the forms of and '. ', the Basque version of the word, is used by leftist Basque nationalists as an insult for members of the Basque Police, implying that they are not a national police of the Basque region due to their connection with the Spanish government.


title: Sepoy

text: In Hispanic American countries, especially in Argentina, the word " has historically been used as a pejorative colloquial expression referring to individuals considered as serving foreign interests, as opposed to serving their own country.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Charles Goodnight (March 5, 1836 – December 12, 1929), also known as Charlie Goodnight, was an American rancher in the American West. In 1955, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Goodnight was born in Macoupin County, Illinois, northeast of St. Louis, the fourth child of Charles Goodnight and the former Charlotte Collier. Goodnight's father's grave is located in a pasture south of Bunker Hill, Illinois. Goodnight was descended from immigrant pioneer Hans Michael Gutknecht, from Mannheim, Germany, making him a distant relative of Harry S Truman.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Goodnight moved to Texas in 1846 with his mother and stepfather, Hiram Daugherty. In 1856, he became a cowboy and served with the local militia, fighting against Comanche raiders. A year later, in 1857, Goodnight joined the Texas Rangers. Goodnight is also known for raising and leading a posse against the Comanche in 1860 that located the Indian camp where Cynthia Ann Parker was living with her husband, Peta Nocona, then guiding Texas Rangers to the camp, leading to Cynthia Ann's recapture. He later made a treaty with her son, Quanah Parker. His father owned a ranch that expanded to .


title: Charles Goodnight

text: At the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined the Confederate States Army. Most of his time was spent as part of a frontier regiment guarding against raids by Indians.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Goodnight described what it took to become a scout, "First, he must be born a natural woodsman and have the faculty of never needing a compass except in snow storms or darkness."


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Following the war, he became involved in the herding of feral Texas Longhorn cattle northward from West Texas to railroads. This "making the gather" was a near-statewide round-up of cattle that had roamed free during the four long years of war. In 1866, Oliver Loving and he drove their first herd of cattle along what would become known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail. Gathering their herd near the headwaters of the Brazos River, they headed southwest, crossed the Pecos River at Horsehead Crossing and then followed the river north into New Mexico to Ft. Sumner where they sold their herd to the Army. Such a circuitous route was necessary to avoid the Comanche stronghold in the Staked Plains (the sizeable area roughly centered around present day Lubbock, Texas). Later in the partnership with Loving, as they extended the trail northward they pastured cattle at such sites as Capulin Mountain in northeastern New Mexico. Goodnight invented the chuckwagon, which was first used on the initial cattle drive. Upon arriving in New Mexico, they formed a partnership with New Mexico cattleman John Chisum for future contracts to supply the United States Army with cattle. After Loving's death, Goodnight and Chisum extended the trail from New Mexico to Colorado, and eventually to Wyoming. The Goodnight-Loving Trail extended from Belknap, Texas, to Fort Sumner, New Mexico.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Goodnight and Loving were close friends. Goodnight sat by Loving's bed during the two weeks the latter took to die, and reportedly kept a photograph of Loving in his pocket long after his death, and later put a photograph on his desk.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: To take advantage of available grass, timber, water, and game, Goodnight founded in 1876 what was to become the first Texas Panhandle ranch, the JA Ranch, in the Palo Duro Canyon.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: In addition to raising cattle 1876, the Goodnights preserved a herd of native plains bison that year, which is said to survive to this day in Caprock Canyons State Park. The herd in Caprock Canyons was actually donated by JA Ranch and no documentation demonstrates that this was the herd preserved by the Goodnights. Bison of this herd were introduced into the Yellowstone National Park in 1902 and into the larger zoos and ranches throughout the nation. He also crossbred the bison with domestic cattle, which he called cattalo.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: On July 26, 1870, Goodnight married Mary Ann "Molly" Dyer, a teacher from Weatherford, west of Fort Worth. Goodnight developed a practical sidesaddle for Molly.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: After Molly died in April 1926, Goodnight became ill himself. He was nursed back to health by a distant paternal cousin, 26-year-old nurse and telegraph operator from Butte, Montana, named Corinne Goodnight, with whom Charles had been corresponding because of their shared surname. On March 5, 1927, his 91st birthday, Goodnight married Corinne, who was young enough to be his great-granddaughter and who soon miscarried their unborn child. Her name was hence Corinne Goodnight Goodnight. He joined her Two by Twos church and was baptized a few months before his death in his winter home in Phoenix, Arizona. Evetts Haley had described Goodnight as "deeply religious and reverential by nature." He is buried next to his first wife, Mary Ann, in the Goodnight Cemetery near Amarillo.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: The Charles and Mary Ann (Molly) Goodnight Ranch House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Goodnight home is located one-quarter mile (400 m) south of U.S. Highway 287 about east of Amarillo. The home was renovated by the Armstrong County Museum from 2006 to 2012. The structure was painted to resemble its appearance in 1887. The interior was restored based on research into the original paint and wallpapers used. In 2005, Amarillo businessman Brent Caviness and a partner donated the home and . Mary Ann Goodnight taught children in the bunkhouse. The cowboys slept there at night, and she moved their things aside for school during the day, Goodin said.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Goodnight is presented as a good and decent man. J. Frank Dobie, who knew Goodnight, is quoted in "Charles Goodnight: Father of the Texas Panhandle" as having said: "I have met a lot of good men, several fine gentlemen, hordes of cunning climbers, plenty of loud-braying asses and plenty of dumb oxen, but I haven't lived long enough or traveled far enough to meet more than two or three men I'd call great. This is a word I will not bandy around. To me, Charles Goodnight was great-natured."


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Other views have been expressed. In Time-Life's 1973 publication "The Cowboys", the author states (p. 62): "Goodnight was no better than the rest. Once when his wife expressed shock at some vigilante hangings ('I understand', she exclaimed, 'they hanged them to a telegraph pole!') Charlie replied quietly, 'Well, I don't think it hurt the telegraph pole.' What she didn't know was that the victims had actually been strung up with Goodnight's full approval." The men hanged were caught in the act of murder and cattle rustling.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: The western novelist Matt Braun's novel "Texas Empire" is based on the life of Goodnight and fictionalizes the founding of the JA Ranch. "The Goodnight Trail" is the name of a novel by Ralph Compton. Similarly, Mari Sandoz's "Old Jules Country" in the part "Some dedicated men" relates the difficulties of Goodnight's cattle drives to Colorado. In James A. Michener's novel, "Centennial", the Skimmerhorn Trail is based on the actual Goodnight-Loving Trail. In addition, his name is mentioned in the novel; the character R. J. Poteet appears to have been based on Goodnight.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: All four of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove series novels include brief appearances by Goodnight. His appearance in the prequel "Dead Man's Walk" is historically inaccurate. The story takes place during the Santa Fe Expedition of 1841, when Goodnight would have been only five years old. Further, "Lonesome Dove" is a fictionalized account of Goodnight and Loving's third cattle drive. Woodrow F. Call represents Goodnight, Augustus McCrae is Oliver Loving. Though the characters have personalities rather different from their real-life counterparts, the novel borrows heavily from actual events, in particular Loving's ambush by Indians and Goodnight's attentive care as Loving died from an arrow-induced infection. Call returns McCrae's body to Texas, just as Goodnight returned Loving for burial in Weatherford. The marker that Call carves for Deets is based on an epitaph Charles Goodnight created for Bose Ikard, an ex-slave who worked alongside Goodnight most of his life. He also plays his largest role in the final volume, "Streets of Laredo". He is played in the miniseries "Dead Man's Walk" by Chris Penn, in "Comanche Moon" by Jeremy Ratchford, and in "Streets of Laredo" by James Gammon.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: The song "The Goodnight-Loving Trail" by Utah Phillips describes a chuckwagon cook on a cattle drive.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: The West Texas songwriter Andy Wilkinson wrote "Charlie Goodnight: His Life in Poetry and Song". The CD was produced by Lloyd Maines of Lubbock.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Albertan Ian Tyson of Alberta, Canada, wrote a song "Charles Goodnight's Grave", about leaving bandannas near the Goodnight grave.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Singer Guy Clark's song about Texas, "Red River", includes the line "Here's to Charlie Goodnight, and Mr. Loving too, and here's to Coronado, the Comanche and the Blues, and here's to the bootleggers, and the oilfield crews, and here's to one and all of us Red River fools."


title: Charles Goodnight

text: The actor Jack Mather played Goodnight in the episode "Old Blue" of the syndicated television anthology series, "Death Valley Days", hosted by Stanley Andrews. The episode focuses on Goodnight's lead steer, Old Blue, who is stolen and thereafter adopted as a family pet.


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Goodnight's name was mentioned in the episode "The Brother-in-Law" of the television series "The Rifleman" (initially aired in October 1958 as episode five of the show's first season).


title: Charles Goodnight

text: Actor/producer Taylor Sheridan played Goodnight in Season 1, Episode 7 (“Lightning Yellow Hair”) and Episode 8 (“The Weep of Surrender”) of the television show 1883.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler (Alison Blaire) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually associated with the X-Men. She first appeared in "Uncanny X-Men" #130 (February 1980).


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: A mutant with the ability to convert sound vibrations into light and energy beams, Dazzler was developed as a cross-promotional, multi-media creation between Casablanca Records and Marvel Comics until the tie-ins were dropped in 1980. The character was created by a committee of Marvel staff, principally writer/editor Tom DeFalco and illustrator John Romita Jr.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Despite the fact that Dazzler was commissioned as a disco singer, the character shifted to other musical genres, including rock and adult contemporary. She starred in a self-titled series in the early 1980s which lasted forty-two issues, a Marvel Graphic Novel titled "Dazzler: The Movie", a four-issue limited series co-starring The Beast titled "Beauty and the Beast", and later joined the cast of the X-Men. She was briefly a member of the spin-off group Excalibur but has since re-joined the X-Men.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes, being labelled as an LGBT icon.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: "Dazzler" was commissioned by Casablanca Records in 1978 as an animated special to be a multi-media cross-promotion with the character known as "The Disco Queen". Marvel Comics would develop a singing superhero, while Casablanca would produce a singer. Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter wrote a treatment for the animated special, which quickly turned into a live-action feature-length film project that would be produced by Filmworks. Shooter put together a small committee at Marvel to figure out the character's nature, background and personality. Writer Tom DeFalco was the lead writer behind her creation, while artist John Romita Jr. designed her. The character soon changed its name from The Disco Queen to Dazzler, thanks to a suggestion from writer Roger Stern. Due to financial concerns, Casablanca Records left the project, but the film was still in the works.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Romita, Jr. intended for the character to resemble model, actress, and singer Grace Jones, but representatives from Filmworks – wanting to promote model and actress Bo Derek – insisted on design changes to reflect Derek's features. The film project was ultimately canceled after Filmworks refused to let Bo Derek's husband, John Derek, direct the movie.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler guest starred in Marvel titles, such as "The Uncanny X-Men", "The Amazing Spider-Man", and "Fantastic Four" before getting her own comic series. She also guest-starred in "The Avengers", and the Marvel crossover, "Contest of Champions".


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: John Romita, Jr. left "Dazzler" in issue #3, and was replaced by Frank Springer, who penciled most of the "Dazzler" series. DeFalco stayed on as chief writer through issue #6, and helped successive writer Danny Fingeroth with several of the following issues. Fingeroth and Springer remained the "Dazzler" stable team through issue #27.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: With issue #25, "Dazzler" became a bi-monthly publication. Springer changed Dazzler from a singer in New York to an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. To promote this new direction, Marvel had artist Bill Sienkiewicz create painted artwork pieces for issues #27 through #35. Springer left "Dazzler" with issue #32, but returned briefly for issue #35 and the "Dazzler: The Movie" graphic novel.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Archie Goodwin and Paul Chadwick were assigned to "Dazzler" with issue #38, but the series was canceled in 1985. After that, she was considered as a possible "X-Factor" founding member, but the decision to resurrect Jean Grey put that idea aside.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: The character then went on to a notable run as an X-Men member, before disappearing for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, barring occasional cameos. With the launch of "New Excalibur", she returned to monthly publication for the first time as a prominent cast member in over fifteen years. When Marvel canceled "New Excalibur", Dazzler was brought back as a supporting character in "Uncanny X-Men" written by Matt Fraction. In February 2010, Marvel published a one-shot "Dazzler" special by writer Jim McCann and artist Kalman Andrasofszky. The 2012 series "X-Treme X-Men" features Dazzler as the leader of a dimension-hopping X-Men team. Dazzler appeared in the 2012 volume of "The Uncanny X-Men" as an agent of superspy outfit S.H.I.E.L.D.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Beginning in May 2015, Dazzler appears as one of the main characters in "A-Force", an all-female Avengers launched by G. Willow Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, and Jorge Molina during Marvel's "Secret Wars" storyline.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Alison Blaire was born in Gardendale, New York to Carter Blaire and Katherine Blaire. Her mutant powers first manifest when she is in junior high school. An aspiring singer, she volunteers to perform at her school dance when her light-generating abilities first appear. Everyone at the dance assumes it is a technologically generated special effect, an assumption commonly made before she reveals herself to be a mutant later in her life.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Using the stage name "Dazzler", Alison sets out to make a name for herself in the music industry, using her light powers and dancing ability to enhance her performances. It is at one of her shows that Alison first meets the X-Men while they are attacked by the forces of the Hellfire Club. Angry at the interruption of her show, Alison lashes out in anger at the Hellfire intruders, unintentionally making one member catatonic. Alison subsequently aids the X-Men in finding Kitty Pryde. She has always assumed that life as a disco queen would be exciting but finds the fight with the X-Men's enemies going a bit too far. Thus she turns down their offer to join the team.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler hides her status as a mutant from all but those closest to her. After acquainting herself with the various Marvel Comics superheroes, Alison finds herself continually using her abilities to fight both ordinary criminals and rogue superhumans—often at the expense of her career ambitions. On one occasion, she meets Spider-Man, teaming up against the Lightmaster. She later battles the Enchantress, is overwhelmed by Doctor Doom, the Absorbing Man and then fights off Nightmare. She briefly allies with the Blue Shield, and aids the X-Men and Spider-Woman against the misguided Caliban. On another occasion, she battles and defeats the Hulk, and establishes a long-standing feud with the then-mentally unstable Rogue. She also has a romantic affair with Warren Worthington III.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In the course of her inadvertent adventures, she even encounters the planet-devouring Galactus, who initially thinks she is of little notice and generally ignores her. Nevertheless, Galactus temporarily endows her with cosmic energy so she can retrieve the herald Terrax. In addition to being offered membership into the X-Men, Alison is also asked to audition for a place in the Avengers. She declines while facing Fabian Stankowicz (who is ultimately easily defeated by the Wasp), saying that the superhero "trip wasn't for [her]".


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler moves to Los Angeles in a vain attempt to help her half-sister Lois London, who has the mutant power to kill anyone with a touch, but has little to no control over the ability. While in Los Angeles, Alison attempts careers in fitness training, dancing, modeling, and acting. Influenced both by her lover Roman Nekoboh, and her desire to abate the growing anti-mutant sentiment, Alison publicly declares her mutant identity. The revelation backfires, destroying her reputation and career and inflaming anti-mutant sentiment, which sends Alison into a depressive state. Forced again into hiding, she spends some time as a keyboard player and back-up vocalist in rock singer and fellow mutant Lila Cheney's band. While on tour, the band's plane crashes, which leads to Dazzler, Lila, and a bandmate being successfully rescued by Cannonball and Joshua. Lila has been knocked out so Dazzler uses the music Joshua plays at the scene to blast a hole through the wreckage. Alison is later possessed by the psychic mutant Malice; after an encounter with the X-Men coming to warn her about the Marauders, Dazzler is freed from possession and becomes a member of the team.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: During her tenure with the X-Men, Dazzler receives training, attains greater control over her powers, and develops a romance with the extra-dimensional Longshot. She is also forced to work alongside the now-reformed Rogue. This causes considerable tension between them at first, due to Alison's difficulty in getting over Rogue's attempts to kill her in the past, as well as Rogue's own strong feelings for Longshot. Over time, Alison eventually believes Rogue is genuinely remorseful and forgives her teammate. Dazzler struggles with her career ambitions and personal insecurities, and eventually she and her teammates in the X-Men enter the mystical Siege Perilous. Discovered in an amnesiac state washed up on a beach by her former bodyguard Guido, she is nursed back to health by Guido and Lila, though their efforts prove unsuccessful in helping restore her memory. Her memory is eventually restored when she is found by Longshot. Devastated by the loss of her career, Alison ventures to Longshot's native "Mojoworld", and remains there to help fight in the ongoing rebellion against the tyrant Mojo along with Lila.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler eventually returns to Earth without Longshot after an unfortunate series of events, including an apparent miscarriage and war. She helps Jean Grey in the fight against a repowered Magneto backed by an army of Genoshans. She and Jean lead a small band of mutants to back up the original X-Men that are in Genosha already. Dazzler faces down Magneto, who turns her powers against her and apparently incinerates her. As Magneto arrogantly boasts about this triumph, Dazzler reveals herself to be alive and well. She and Jean had concocted a plan for Alison to generate a hard-light hologram of herself to distract Magneto, then gravely wounded by Wolverine. After the conclusion of this incident, the X-Men offer Alison support for her personal problems, but she declines.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Characters in the Marvel Universe who are counted among her fans are Juggernaut, teammate Colossus, the Hulk, Northstar, the Rhino, Molly Hayes, Kitty Pryde, Moon Knight, Captain Marvel, and Pixie.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler later re-establishes her musical career, marketing her original, signature disco image as part of the Techno/Trance genre. Alison moves her career abroad to England and joins with X-Men allies such as the Juggernaut and Captain Britain. She is reunited with Longshot in the "" miniseries, although Longshot is suffering from amnesia and does not remember her. However, during the course of the miniseries he regains his feelings for her and some of his memories. Longshot leaves the Exiles to reestablish a relationship with Dazzler but the couple splits ways due in part to Dazzler's frustration with other women's attraction to Longshot, but mainly because of the realization that Longshot is no longer the man she loved because of his amnesia.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Alison Blaire rejoins the X-Men in San Francisco after leaving Longshot, due to the fact that their relationship was just not the same after Longshot's loss of memory. Pixie is seen leaving a club with a friend where Alison has recently performed. Dazzler has established a career as a musician, finally landing a big break and completely revitalizing her music career. Dazzler has also been shown to take part in the "X-Men: Secret Invasion" mini-series, which is part of Marvel Comics' 2008 crossover "Secret Invasion". Returning home with Northstar and Pixie, after taking her out to get drunk, despite her being underage, Dazzler and the team are unprepared for a brutal attack on the mansion by the Sisterhood. In retaliation, Dazzler later accompanies Emma Frost, Storm and Karma for the revenge-attack on the Sisterhood in San Francisco where she engages a mind controlled Psylocke, in her own body, in battle. While Psylocke gains the upper hand, Dazzler points out that Storm blew out all the windows when they entered. This was so she could absorb all the sound from the city outside, which she turned into a beam of light that burns the right side of Psylocke's face off. After the Sisterhood retreats, Dazzler is happily reunited with Psylocke regaining control of her Japanese body.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler, along with Gambit, Anole, Northstar, Cannonball, Pixie and Trance travel to Limbo to rescue Magik. Things go wrong when the ground starts to tremble and an army of monstrous demons attack the team. Dazzler calls upon Gambit for help during the attack, but Gambit sinks into the darkness, claiming "Remy's not home right now" leading the X-Men to be overwhelmed by the demons. Dazzler ends up alone and is rescued by Northstar just as she is about to lose her fight against the demons. Northstar and Dazzler encounter Gambit shortly after, unfortunately Gambit has reverted to the Death persona, seemingly attacking Northstar who easily evades Gambit's cards. Northstar avoids the attack, realizing the cards were meant for Dazzler and she is transformed into a state much like Gambit's Death persona. Northstar was infected soon after. Dazzler, infected by Gambit (now completely consumed by the concept of survival of the fittest), joins to infect the other X-Men in Limbo as well. Dazzler and Northstar were soon freed thanks to Magik's Soulsword.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: During the Schism between Cyclops and Wolverine, Dazzler chooses to remain in San Francisco with Cyclops's side. Dazzler is then asked to lead a "Street Team" of X-Men, to which she agrees. Although never seen, she was paired with Boom Boom and Lifeguard.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler is later summoned to Utopia to help Cyclops and Danger with a Ghost Box. When the Ghost Box is opened, several alternate reality X-Men are seen fighting an evil version of Professor X. When Dazzler tries to help them, she gets sucked through a portal and is whisked away from Earth-616, narrowly avoiding the events of "Avengers vs. X-Men". She becomes team leader after Emmeline Frost opts to stay on a world where mutants are gods. Dazzler was later reunited with her "New Excalibur" teammate Sage when she tries to rescue a kid version of Nightcrawler. Dazzler's leadership skills and abilities impress both Cyclops and Wolverine, the latter of whom offers her a position at Wolverine's school believing she would be an invaluable resource to the students. Reluctant to accept the invitation after having spent a year traversing and saving the multiverse (concluding with the "X-Termination" crossover storyline), as well as witnessing the death of some of her friends, Dazzler opts instead to make a decision at a later time; Wolverine advises the offer still stands and to contact when she figures things out.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In "The End of X-Factor" storyline, the conclusion of the X-Factor team with whom Dazzler had not previously had contact, Shatterstar and Rictor encounter a past-version of Dazzler while time-traveling through Mojoworld. At this point in her life, Dazzler and Longshot are still married and active in the revolt against Mojo. Rictor discovers Dazzler just as she is about to give birth to the child that had been believed to result in a miscarriage. The surviving infant was revealed to be Shatterstar, resolving nearly two decades of speculation that Shatterstar actually was the biological child of Dazzler and Longshot. Exhausted from her ordeal, Dazzler passes out, and Shatterstar reveals the necessity of wiping both her and Longshot's memories of the event, presumably to be replaced with memory of the miscarriage that Dazzler had referenced in the past, and taking his infant self a century into Mojoworld's future, to be raised as a warrior away from his birth parents.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: In an attempt to better understand the mutant community and Cyclops's talk of mutant revolution, Maria Hill personally asks Dazzler to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a proposition Alison accepts. After her first encounter with Cyclops's X-Men team, Dazzler is poisoned and replaced by the shapeshifter Mystique. Dazzler is rescued by Magneto and she was told how she was kidnapped and put in a coma-like state so that Mystique could use her to generate Mutant Growth Hormone; afterwards she joins Cyclops's Uncanny X-Men team with a new darker Goth appearance.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: During the "Secret Wars" storyline, A-Force, the defenders of the matriarchal Battleworld nation of Arcadia, responds to a megalodon attack while on routine patrol. During the attack, America Chavez throws the shark across the Shield, the wall that separates their borders, thus breaking the laws of Emperor Doom and is subsequently arrested by Doom's enforcers, the Thor Corps. Despite appeals from She-Hulk, the baroness of Arcadia, Chavez is sentenced to spend the rest of her life on the wall. In response, She-Hulk tasks the Sub-Mariners - Namor, Namorita, and Namora - to find the source of the megalodon attack. Meanwhile, Nico, lamenting the loss of Chavez, comes across a mysterious figure that fell out of the sky. The Sub-Mariners discover a strange portal in the ocean's depths but it implodes as they draw near. Later, at the behest of Loki, Minoru introduces her new friend to She-Hulk. When Medusa accuses the stranger, a sentient pocket universe, of creating the portal, a sentinel falls from another portal and attacks the team. During the fight, the newcomer saves Dazzler and convinces She-Hulk that she is not the cause. After destroying the sentinel, She-Hulk decides to travel through the still open portal and investigate the source herself. She-Hulk arrives in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan and after a brief encounter with more sentinels, she is chased back to Arcadia by the Thor Corps. The Thor Corps follow in pursuit, but Medusa manages to repel them back into the portal and is killed in the process. When the Thor Corps return, She-Hulk alerts the citizens of Arcadia that there is a traitor in their midst that is spreading discontent and vows to bring them to justice as she and other A-Forcers go into hiding inside the newcomer. The newcomer smuggles A-Force outside the city. There, She-Hulk realizes that the portals' energy is of Asgardian origin and they deduce that the traitor is Loki. With A-Force outlawed, Loki is set to be crowned the new baroness of Arcadia but is preemptively attacked by A-Force. After Loki is defeated, she releases a final blast of energy that breaches the Shield thus allowing the zombie horde on the other side to enter. As the horde approaches, She-Hulk rallies A-Force, the Thor Corps and other heroes in defense of Arcadia. During the fight, the zombies begin to overwhelm the city but the newcomer – now named Singularity – absorbs the entire horde, sacrificing herself in the process. In the aftermath of the battle, the Thor Corps arrests Loki as A-Force begins reconstruction of Arcadia. Meanwhile, She-Hulk comforts Minoru, who is still mourning the loss of her friends, telling her that she believes Singularity lives on.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: After the "Secret Wars" storyline, while participating in a roller derby in Miami, Dazzler is approached by Singularity, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Nico Minoru and Medusa to help them defeat Antimatter, since they required a powerful light source to defeat their foe. When Antimatter appeared it became apparent that even with Dazzler's help they couldn't defeat him so Singularity teleported everyone to Alpha Flight Low-Orbit Space Station where Dr. Tempest Bell theorized that killing Antimatter would also kill Singularity due to their connection via a quantum entanglement. A-Force attempted to negotiate with Antimatter but he explained he sought to understand humanity by disassembling their molecules and finding a use for them. This led to a fight in which Dazzler was critically injured and died on the operating table. Dazzler woke up following the failed operation to realize it seemed like she was unable to die. Dazzler rejoined the fight against Antimatter in time to take Singularity into a pocket dimension to protect her from dying when Antimatter was destroyed. Singularity sensed something else had broken through into their universe and as they set off Nico gave herself and Dazzler a magic makeover. Teleporting to Astoria, Oregon they found the dimension-hoppers were Dazzler Thor - an alternate version of Dazzler from Battleworld - and her opponent, a gigantic dragon who is actually a reality warping woman called Countess. The Countess vanished following her defeat and A-Force took Dazzler Thor to get "ale" and Nico convinces Dazzler to talk to Dazzler Thor. Dazzler revealed to her alternate self that she had accidentally come into contact with Terrigen Mist and contracted M-Pox which sterilizes and kills mutants. Dazzler Thor was the first person she told and even then Dazzler didn't know what it meant since it seemed her powers now included being unable to die. Dazzler woke up alongside the rest of A-Force and Dazzler Thor in a jail cell without any powers. Nico appeared under the mind control of the Countess who'd changed into the form of a woman and commanded Nico to strip A-Force of their powers. Dazzler Thor tries to call her hammer - Light Bringer - but Nico makes her unworthy with a spell. Without her god-like powers, Dazzler Thor also began falling victim to M-Pox. When A-Force annoyed the Countess, Nico was made to send She-Hulk into a murderous rage, but they used this to break the wall and escape. After surviving a spell Nico was forced to make that was meant to drown them, A-Force attacked the Countess during which Dazzler created a hologram of Nico so Medusa could sneak her away from the Countess' influence. Dazzler Thor used a hologram to get close to the Countess. But the Countess attacked and injured her, but Dazzler picked up Light Bringer to defend her. Once the fight was over, Dazzler Thor succumbed to the M-Pox virus and died in a flash of light. Dazzler revealed to the rest of A-Force she also had the lethal disease and left behind Light Bringer in respect for her fallen alternate self.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: During the "Civil War II" storyline, Dazzler went with Captain Marvel to fight Thanos, who the Inhuman Ulysses had predicted would appear. Although Thanos was defeated, She-Hulk was seriously injured. Shortly afterwards, Ulysses predicted that Nico would murder an innocent woman named Alice. Captain Marvel wanted to arrest Nico before this could happen. Dazzler disagreed with Captain Marvel, saying that although she agreed with Tony Stark's view that they shouldn't arresting people for crimes that they might commit she only stood by Carol because she was her friend. When Nico arrives Captain Marvel tries to explain about the vision before Dazzler warns Nico that she's going to get arrested. Nico escapes and Captain Marvel blames Dazzler, who tells her if they could really predict they future they should have known it would happen. Dazzler and Singularity opposed Captain Marvel and Medusa's decision to hunt down and capture Nico. Dazzler and Singularity follow Marvel and Medusa to Arizona, Colorado where Nico is hiding with Elsa Bloodstone and find it overrun by an infection turning people into a swarm of giant bugs. After a brief confrontation when the rest of A-Force find Nico they split into two teams: one to find Alice and the other to protect the civilians. Dazzler, Singularity and Medusa protect civilians despite their disagreement. While searching for Alice in an abandoned mine, Danvers, Minoru and Bloodstone are attacked by a giant bug. The bug incapacitates Danvers and Bloodstone before telepathically communicating to Minoru that she is Alice and has been inadvertently infecting the townspeople after her transformation. Alice tells Minoru that killing her is the only way to save the people. When Minoru refuses, an infected Bloodstone threatens to kill Danvers. Medusa, Singularity, and an infected Dazzler are overrun by bugs and regroup with the others just as Bloodstone infects Danvers. After Dazzler infects Medusa, Minoru casts a spell to transform Alice back into a human but it does not cure the rest of the populace. Alice explains that she must be killed and Minoru reluctantly casts a death spell on Alice which transforms the infected back into humans. Alice then remerges in her final form and tells A-Force that she is no longer a threat as she now has greater control of her powers.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: During the Inhumans vs X-Men storyline, Dazzler assisted Emma Frost in the beginning of her plot to defeat the Inhumans. She disguised herself as an Inhuman performer shortly before ambushing Black Bolt in his own Quiet Room.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler is seen as one of the many mutants who have taken up residence on the newly established island nation of Krakoa.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler is a mutant with the ability to transduce sonic vibrations which reach her body into various types of light. This ability seems to operate over a great range of frequencies, including the audible spectrum, and a great variation of sound pressure levels regardless of the complexity, dissonance, or randomness of the sound. Sounds as different as a car crash and a symphonic passage both produce convertible incoming acoustic vibrations.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler prefers utilizing the sound of music, particularly that which is rhythmically sustained. Not only is music more pleasant to her ears, but the steady beat of contemporary music provides a more constant source of sound to convert. The precise means by which this conversion process works is as yet unknown. Dazzler has been shown to create a "null space" of sound in a certain radius of her person, as a result of "pulling" the sound in her area to her person, to either protect a crowd of people or to supercharge her power reserves.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Left undirected, Dazzler's light will radiate from her body in all directions, producing regular flashes of white light. By conscious control over the light she produces, she can control its direction, frequency (color), amplitude (intensity), and duration.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: Dazzler's mutant ability can produce numerous other effects. She can create simple patterns out of rays of light or combinations of patterns which produce trance-like effects in her targets. She can create a pulse of light on the order of several thousand watts of power, which temporarily blinds people with its brilliance. She can create a chaotic cascade of sparkling lights and colors that severely upsets other people's equilibrium, or a pulsating strobe-light effect. She can also radiate light in gentle, soothing patterns to calm a person's mood. Dazzler can generate a coherent beam of light, approximating a laser beam. Dazzler can generate a shield from laser energy that can deflect projectiles or energy beams.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: With effort, she can create holograms of human beings and other three-dimensional beings and objects. With similar effort she can also turn herself temporarily invisible and inaudible. She can also use light energy to generate some form of propulsion for flight or at least rapid ascent.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: She generally directs lasers from a single finger when she requires precision. She most often uses her hands for directing her light effects, but she could also use other parts of her body. Since studying with the X-Men, she has become adept at directing her blinding strobe light blast from her eyes.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: The most powerful manifestation of her laser abilities is a concentrated stream of solid photons she usually fires from her index finger but can emit from her entire body. The beam is extremely powerful and as a consequence uses a great deal of her energy reserves. She has also demonstrated the ability to stretch the electromagnetic spectrum to produce devastating microwave energy. She has since learned how to produce these blasts without draining herself, while still providing them with considerable power.


title: Dazzler (Marvel Comics)

text: When Galactus enlisted her to retrieve his wayward herald Terrax from the heart of a black hole he had her exposed to unimaginable sounds, including the explosion of an entire galaxy, to boost her to sufficient levels.