title: Tea

text: Tea plants are propagated from seed and cuttings; about 4 to 12 years are needed for a plant to bear seed and about three years before a new plant is ready for harvesting. In addition to a zone 8 climate or warmer, tea plants require at least 127 cm (50 in) of rainfall per year and prefer acidic soils. Many high-quality tea plants are cultivated at elevations of up to above sea level. Though at these heights the plants grow more slowly, they acquire a better flavour.


title: Tea

text: Two principal varieties are used: "Camellia sinensis" var. "sinensis," which is used for most Chinese, Formosan and Japanese teas, and "C. sinensis" var. "assamica," used in Pu-erh and most Indian teas (but not Darjeeling). Within these botanical varieties, many strains and modern clonal varieties are known. Leaf size is the chief criterion for the classification of tea plants, with three primary classifications being: Assam type, characterised by the largest leaves; China type, characterised by the smallest leaves; and Cambodian type, characterised by leaves of intermediate size. The Cambodian-type tea ("C. assamica" subsp. "lasiocaly") was originally considered a type of Assam tea. However, later genetic work showed that it is a hybrid between Chinese small-leaf tea and Assam-type tea. Darjeeling tea also appears to be a hybrid between Chinese small-leaf tea and Assam-type large-leaf tea.


title: Tea

text: A tea plant will grow into a tree of up to if left undisturbed, but cultivated plants are generally pruned to waist height for ease of plucking. Also, the short plants bear more new shoots which provide new and tender leaves and increase the quality of the tea. Only the top of the mature plant are picked. These buds and leaves are called 'flushes'. A plant will grow a new flush every 7 to 15 days during the growing season. Leaves that are slow in development tend to produce better-flavoured teas. Several teas are available from specified flushes; for example, Darjeeling tea is available as first flush (at a premium price), second flush, monsoon and autumn. Assam second flush or "tippy" tea is considered superior to first flush, because of the gold tips that appear on the leaves.


title: Tea

text: Pests that can afflict tea plants include mosquito bugs, genus "Helopeltis", which are true bugs and not to be confused with dipterous insects of family "Culicidae" ('mosquitos'). Mosquito bugs can damage leaves both by sucking plant materials, and by the laying of eggs (oviposition) within the plant. Spraying with synthetic insecticides may be deemed appropriate. Other pests are Lepidopteran leaf feeders and various tea diseases.


title: Tea

text: Tea is mainly grown in Asia and Africa, though it is also grown in South America and around the Black and Caspian Seas. The four biggest tea-producing countries are China, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka, together representing 75% of world tea production. Smaller hubs of production include such places as São Miguel Island, Azores, in Portugal, and Guria, in Georgia. In 2020, global production of tea was 7.0 million tonnes, led by China with 42% and India with 20% of the world total. Kenya, Argentina, and Sri Lanka were secondary producers.


title: Tea

text: Storage conditions and type determine the shelf life of tea; that of black teas is greater than that of green teas. Some, such as flower teas, may last only a month or so. Others, such as pu-erh, improve with age. To remain fresh and prevent mold, tea needs to be stored away from heat, light, air, and moisture. Tea must be kept at room temperature in an air-tight container. Black tea in a bag within a sealed opaque canister may keep for two years. Green tea deteriorates more rapidly, usually in less than a year. Tightly rolled gunpowder tea leaves keep longer than the more open-leafed Chun Mee tea.


title: Tea

text: Storage life for all teas can be extended by using desiccant or oxygen-absorbing packets, vacuum sealing, or refrigeration in air-tight containers (except green tea, where discrete use of refrigeration or freezing is recommended and temperature variation kept to a minimum).


title: Tea

text: Tea is generally divided into categories based on how it is processed. At least six different types are produced:


title: Tea

text: After picking, the leaves of "C. sinensis" soon begin to wilt and oxidize unless immediately dried. An enzymatic oxidation process triggered by the plant's intracellular enzymes causes the leaves to turn progressively darker as their chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released. This darkening is stopped at a predetermined stage by heating, which deactivates the enzymes responsible. In the production of black teas, halting by heating is carried out simultaneously with drying. Without careful moisture and temperature control during manufacture and packaging, growth of undesired molds and bacteria may make tea unfit for consumption.


title: Tea

text: After basic processing, teas may be altered through additional processing steps before being sold and is often consumed with additions to the basic tea leaf and water added during preparation or drinking. Examples of additional processing steps that occur before tea is sold are blending, flavouring, scenting, and decaffeination of teas. Examples of additions added at the point of consumption include milk, sugar and lemon.


title: Tea

text: Tea blending is the combination of different teas together to achieve the final product. Such teas may combine others from the same cultivation area or several different ones. The aim is to obtain consistency, better taste, higher price, or some combination of the three.


title: Tea

text: Flavoured and scented teas add aromas and flavours to the base tea. This can be accomplished through directly adding flavouring agents, such as ginger, cloves, mint leaves, cardamom, bergamot (found in Earl Grey), vanilla, and spearmint. Alternatively, because tea easily retains odours, it can be placed in proximity to an aromatic ingredient to absorb its aroma, as in traditional jasmine tea.


title: Tea

text: The addition of milk to tea in Europe was first mentioned in 1680 by the epistolist Madame de Sévigné. Many teas are traditionally drunk with milk in cultures where dairy products are consumed. These include Indian masala chai and British tea blends. These teas tend to be very hearty varieties of black tea which can be tasted through the milk, such as Assams, or the East Friesian blend. Milk is thought to neutralise remaining tannins and reduce acidity. The Han Chinese do not usually drink milk with tea but the Manchus do, and the elite of the Qing Dynasty of the Chinese Empire continued to do so. Hong Kong-style milk tea is based on British habits. Tibetans and other Himalayan peoples traditionally drink tea with milk or yak butter and salt. In Eastern European countries, Russia and Italy, tea is commonly served with lemon juice. In Poland, tea is traditionally served with a slice of lemon and is sweetened with either sugar or honey; tea with milk is called a "bawarka" ("Bavarian style") in Polish and is also widely popular. In Australia, tea with milk is known as "white tea".


title: Tea

text: The order of steps in preparing a cup of tea is a much-debated topic and can vary widely between cultures or even individuals. Some say it is preferable to add the milk to the cup before the tea, as the high temperature of freshly brewed tea can denature the proteins found in fresh milk, similar to the change in taste of UHT milk, resulting in an inferior-tasting beverage. Others insist it is better to add the milk to the cup after the tea, as black tea is often brewed as close to boiling as possible. The addition of milk chills the beverage during the crucial brewing phase, if brewing in a cup rather than using a pot, meaning the delicate flavour of a good tea cannot be fully appreciated. By adding the milk afterwards, it is easier to dissolve sugar in the tea and also to ensure the desired amount of milk is added, as the colour of the tea can be observed. Historically, the order of steps was taken as an indication of class: only those wealthy enough to afford good-quality porcelain would be confident of its being able to cope with being exposed to boiling water unadulterated with milk. Higher temperature difference means faster heat transfer, so the earlier milk is added, the slower the drink cools. A 2007 study published in the "European Heart Journal" found certain beneficial effects of tea may be lost through the addition of milk.


title: Tea

text: In 1907, American tea merchant Thomas Sullivan began distributing samples of his tea in small bags of silk with a drawstring. Consumers noticed they could simply leave the tea in the bag and reuse it with fresh tea. However, the potential of this distribution and packaging method would not be fully realised until later. During World War II, tea was rationed in the United Kingdom. In 1953, after rationing in the UK ended, Yorkshire-based tea manufacturer Tetley launched the tea bag in the UK, and it was an immediate success.


title: Tea

text: The "pyramid tea bag" (or sachet), introduced by Lipton and PG Tips/Scottish Blend in 1996, attempts to address one of the connoisseurs' arguments against paper tea bags by way of its three-dimensional tetrahedron shape, which allows more room for tea leaves to expand while steeping. However, some types of pyramid tea bags have been criticised as being environmentally unfriendly, since their synthetic material is not as biodegradable as loose tea leaves and paper tea bags.


title: Tea

text: The tea leaves are packaged loosely in a canister, paper bag, or other container such as a tea chest. Some whole teas, such as rolled gunpowder tea leaves, which resist crumbling, are vacuum-packed for freshness in aluminised packaging for storage and retail. The loose tea is individually measured for use, allowing for flexibility and flavour control at the expense of convenience. Strainers, tea balls, tea presses, filtered teapots, and infusion bags prevent loose leaves from floating in the tea and over-brewing. A traditional method uses a three-piece lidded teacup called a gaiwan, the lid of which is tilted to decant the tea into a different cup for consumption.


title: Tea

text: Compressed tea (such as pu-erh) is produced for convenience in transport, storage, and ageing. It can usually be stored longer without spoilage than loose leaf tea. Compressed tea is prepared by loosening leaves from the cake using a small knife, and steeping the extracted pieces in water. During the Tang dynasty, as described by Lu Yu, compressed tea was ground into a powder, combined with hot water, and ladled into bowls, resulting in a "frothy" mixture. In the Song dynasty, the tea powder would instead be whisked with hot water in the bowl. Although no longer practiced in China today, the whisking method of preparing powdered tea was transmitted to Japan by Zen Buddhist monks, and is still used to prepare matcha in the Japanese tea ceremony.


title: Tea

text: Compressed tea was the most popular form of tea in China during the Tang dynasty. By the beginning of the Ming dynasty, it had been displaced by loose-leaf tea. It remains popular, however, in the Himalayan countries and Mongolian steppes. In Mongolia, tea bricks were ubiquitous enough to be used as a form of currency. Among Himalayan peoples, compressed tea is consumed by combining it with yak butter and salt to produce butter tea.


title: Tea

text: "Instant tea", similar to freeze-dried instant coffee and an alternative to brewed tea, can be consumed either hot or cold. Instant tea was developed in the 1930s, with Nestlé introducing the first commercial product in 1946, while Redi-Tea debuted instant iced tea in 1953. Additives such as chai, vanilla, honey or fruit, are popular, as is powdered milk.


title: Tea

text: During the Second World War British and Canadian soldiers were issued an instant tea known as "compo" in their composite ration packs. These blocks of instant tea, powdered milk, and sugar were not always well received. As Royal Canadian Artillery Gunner, George C Blackburn observed:


title: Tea

text: Canned tea is sold prepared and ready to drink. It was introduced in 1981 in Japan. The first bottled tea was introduced by an Indonesian tea company, PT. Sinar Sosro in 1969 with the brand name Teh Botol Sosro (or Sosro bottled tea). In 1983, Swiss-based Bischofszell Food Ltd. was the first company to bottle iced tea on an industrial scale.


title: Tea

text: Tea is the second most consumed beverage on Earth, after water. In many cultures it is consumed at elevated social events, such as the tea party. Tea ceremonies have arisen in different cultures, such as the Chinese and Japanese traditions, each of which employs certain techniques and ritualised protocol of brewing and serving tea for enjoyment in a refined setting. One form of Chinese tea ceremony is the Gongfu tea ceremony, which typically uses small Yixing clay teapots and oolong tea.


title: Tea

text: In the United Kingdom, 63% of people drink tea daily. It is customary for a host to offer tea to guests soon after their arrival. Tea is consumed both at home and outside the home, often in cafés or tea rooms. Afternoon tea with cakes on fine porcelain is a cultural stereotype. In southwest England, many cafés serve a cream tea, consisting of scones, clotted cream, and jam alongside a pot of tea. In some parts of Britain and India, 'tea' may also refer to the evening meal.


title: Tea

text: Ireland, as of 2016, was the second-biggest per capita consumer of tea in the world. Local blends are the most popular in Ireland, including Irish breakfast tea, using Rwandan, Kenyan and Assam teas. The annual national average of tea consumption in Ireland is 2.7 kg to 4 kg per person. Tea in Ireland is usually taken with milk or sugar and brewed longer for a stronger taste.


title: Tea

text: Turkish tea is an important part of that country's cuisine and is the most commonly consumed hot drink, despite the country's long history of coffee consumption. In 2004, Turkey produced 205,500 tonnes of tea (6.4% of the world's total tea production), which made it one of the largest tea markets in the world, with 120,000 tons being consumed in Turkey and the rest being exported. In 2010, Turkey had the highest per capita consumption in the world at 2.7 kg. As of 2013, the per-capita consumption of Turkish tea exceeds 10 cups per day and 13.8 kg per year. Tea is grown mostly in Rize Province on the Black Sea coast.


title: Tea

text: Russia has a long, rich tea history dating to 1638 when tea was introduced to Tsar Michael. Social gatherings were considered incomplete without tea, which was traditionally brewed in a samovar.


title: Tea

text: In Pakistan, both black and green teas are popular and are known locally as "sabz chai" and "kahwah", respectively. The popular green tea is often served after every meal in the Pashtun belt of Balochistan and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In central and southern Punjab and the metropolitan Sindh region of Pakistan, tea with milk and sugar (sometimes with pistachios, cardamom, etc.), commonly referred to as "chai", is widely consumed. It is the most common beverage of households in the region. In the northern Pakistani regions of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan, a salty, buttered Tibetan-style tea is consumed.


title: Tea

text: Indian tea culture is strong; the drink is the most popular hot beverage in the country. It is consumed daily in almost all houses, offered to guests, consumed in high amounts in domestic and official surroundings, and is made with the addition of milk with or without spices, and usually sweetened. It is sometimes served with biscuits to be dipped in the tea and eaten before consuming the tea. More often than not, it is drunk in "doses" of small cups (referred to as "cutting" chai if sold at street tea vendors) rather than one large cup.


title: Tea

text: Iranians have one of the highest per-capita rates of tea consumption in the world and a "Châikhâne"(Tea House) is a common sight on Iranian streets. Due to the suitable climate, tea is usually cultivated in large areas of northern Iran along the shores of the Caspian Sea.


title: Tea

text: In Burma (Myanmar), tea is consumed not only as hot drinks, but also as sweet tea and green tea known locally as "laphet-yay" and "laphet-yay-gyan", respectively. Pickled tea leaves, known locally as "lahpet", are also a national delicacy. Pickled tea is usually eaten with roasted sesame seeds, crispy fried beans, roasted peanuts and fried garlic chips.


title: Tea

text: In Mali, gunpowder tea is served in series of three, starting with the highest oxidisation or strongest, unsweetened tea, locally referred to as "strong like death", followed by a second serving, where the same tea leaves are boiled again with some sugar added ("pleasant as life"), and a third one, where the same tea leaves are boiled for the third time with yet more sugar added ("sweet as love"). Green tea is the central ingredient of a distinctly Malian custom, the "Grin", an informal social gathering that cuts across social and economic lines, starting in front of family compound gates in the afternoons and extending late into the night, and is widely popular in Bamako and other large urban areas.


title: Tea

text: In the United States, 80% of tea is consumed as iced tea. Sweet tea is native to the southeastern U.S. and is iconic in its cuisine.


title: Tea

text: Tea is the most popular manufactured drink consumed in the world, equaling all others – including coffee, soft drinks, and alcohol – combined. Most tea consumed outside East Asia is produced on large plantations in the hilly regions of India and Sri Lanka and is destined to be sold to large businesses. Opposite this large-scale industrial production are many small "gardens," sometimes minuscule plantations, that produce highly sought-after teas prized by gourmets. These teas are both rare and expensive and can be compared to some of the most expensive wines in this respect.


title: Tea

text: India is the world's largest tea-drinking nation, although the per capita consumption of tea remains a modest per person every year. Turkey, with of tea consumed per person per year, is the world's greatest per capita consumer.


title: Tea

text: Tea production in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda has been reported to make use of child labor according to the U.S. Department of Labor's "List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor." Workers who pick and pack tea on plantations in developing countries can face harsh working conditions and may earn below the living wage.


title: Tea

text: Several bodies independently certify the production of tea, such as Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, UTZ Certified, and Organic. From 2008 to 2016, sustainability standards-certified tea production experienced a compound annual growth rate of about 35%, accounting for at least 19% of overall tea production. In 2016, at least 1.15 million tonnes of sustainably certified tea was produced, valued at US$2 billion.


title: Tea

text: Rainforest Alliance certified tea is sold by Unilever brands Lipton and PG Tips in Western Europe, Australia and the U.S. Fairtrade certified tea is sold by a large number of suppliers around the world. UTZ Certified tea is sold by Pickwick tea.


title: Tea

text: Production of organic tea has risen since its introduction in 1990 at Rembeng, Kondoli Tea Estate, Assam. tons of organic tea were sold in 1999.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Mortal Kombat is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a video game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, but when that idea fell through, a science fantasy-themed fighting game was created instead. Still, the developers paid homage to him with Johnny Cage (one of the main characters in the franchise), a fictional film star whose personal style resembles Van Damme's. The original "Mortal Kombat" was the first fighting game to introduce a secret fighter, reached if the player fulfilled a set of requirements.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The original game spawned many sequels with several action-adventure games. It also has a comic book series and a card game. Movie producer Larry Kasanoff licensed the rights to the game in the early 1990s and produced the first movie of the franchise. Kasanoff also produced the second movie, animated TV series, live-action TV series movies, the first one million platinum-selling album, and a live-action tour. "Mortal Kombat" has become the best-selling fighting game franchise worldwide and one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The series has a reputation for high levels of graphic violence, including, most notably, its fatalities, which are finishing moves that kill the defeated opponents instead of knocking them out. Controversies surrounding "Mortal Kombat", in part, led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) video game rating system. Early games in this series were also noted for their realistic digitized sprites and an extensive use of palette swapping to create new characters. Following Midway's bankruptcy, the "MK" development team was acquired by Warner Bros. Entertainment and reestablished as NetherRealm Studios.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The original three games and their updates, "Mortal Kombat" (1992), "Mortal Kombat II" (1993), "Mortal Kombat 3" (1995), "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" (1995), and "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" (1996), were 2D fighting games. The arcade cabinet versions of the first two used a joystick and five buttons: high punch, low punch, high kick, low kick, and block; "Mortal Kombat 3" and its updates added a sixth "run" button. Characters in the early "Mortal Kombat" games play virtually identically to one another, with the only major differences being their special moves. Through the 1990s, the developer and publisher Midway Games kept their single-styled fighting moves with four attack buttons for a different array of punches, kicks and blocks. ""


title: Mortal Kombat

text: was the first Mortal Kombat game in which the characters could move in three dimensions, and "Mortal Kombat 4" was the first to use 3D computer graphics. From "Deadly Alliance" to "", characters had three fighting styles per character: two unarmed styles, and one weapon style. While most of the styles used in the series are based on real martial arts, some are entirely fictitious. Goro's fighting styles, for example, are designed to take advantage of the fact that he has four arms. For "Armageddon", fighting styles were reduced to a maximum of two per character (generally one hand-to-hand combat style and one weapon style) due to the sheer number of playable characters. "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" dropped multiple fighting styles for most characters in favor of giving each character a wider variety of special moves 2011's "Mortal Kombat" returned to a single 2D fighting plane, although characters are rendered in 3D; unlike previous "MK" games, each of the controller's four attack buttons corresponds to one of the character's limbs, the buttons thus becoming front punch, back punch, front kick and back kick ("front" indicates the limb that is closer to the opponent, and "back" indicates the limb that is farther away from the opponent). This concept takes heavy inspiration from "Tekken".


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat: Deception" and "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon" feature "Konquest", a free-roaming action-adventure mode that significantly expanded on the single-player experience. Both games also include distinct minigame modes such as "Chess Kombat", an action-strategy game similar to "". Two other bonus minigames, "Puzzle Kombat" inspired by "Puzzle Fighter" and "Motor Kombat" inspired by "Mario Kart", feature super deformed versions of "Mortal Kombat" characters. The games also contain various unlockable content and hidden "cheats".


title: Mortal Kombat

text: One of the most notable features of the "Mortal Kombat" series is its brutal and gruesome finishing moves, known as "Fatalities".


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The basic Fatalities are finishing moves that allow the victorious characters to end a match by murdering their defeated, defenseless opponent. Usually Fatalities are exclusive to each character, the exception being "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon", which instead features Kreate-A-Fatality, a feature that allows players to perform their own Fatalities by conducting a series of violent moves chosen from a pool that is common to all characters.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Other finishing moves in the various "Mortal Kombat" games include Animalities (introduced in "Mortal Kombat 3"), in which the victor turns into an animal to violently finish off the opponent; Brutality (introduced in "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3") which consists of bashing the opponent into pieces with a long combo of hits; and Stage Fatalities/Death Traps (introduced in the original "Mortal Kombat" Pit Stage where the victor can uppercut their opponent off of the platform into a bed of spikes below, later made more difficult in "Mortal Kombat II" by requiring a character-specific button sequence) utilizing parts of certain stages to execute a lethal finishing move (such as a pool of acid). "Mortal Kombat: Deception" added the Hara-Kiri, a move that allows the loser to perform a suicidal finishing move, giving way to a potential race between both players to see if the winner can finish off their opponent before they can kill themselves.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: There are also two non-violent finishing moves in the series, which were introduced in "Mortal Kombat II" as a satire to the outrage the first game caused due to its violent content. Friendship moves, which result in a display of friendship towards the enemy instead of slaughter, and Babalities, which turn the opponent into a baby.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The series takes place in a fictional universe consisting of eighteen surviving realms which, according to in-game backstories, were created by an ancient, eternal, and ethereal pantheon of preternatural divine beings, known as the Elder Gods. The "Mortal Kombat: Deception" manual described six of the realms as: "Earthrealm, home to such legendary heroes as Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, and Jax Briggs, and also under the protection of the Thunder God Raiden; Netherrealm, the fiery depths of which are inhospitable to all but the most vile, a realm of demons and shadowy warriors such as Quan Chi and Noob Saibot; Outworld, a realm of constant strife which Emperor Shao Kahn claims as his own; Seido, the Realm of Order, whose inhabitants prize structure and order above all else; the Realm of Chaos, whose inhabitants do not abide by any rules whatsoever, and where constant turmoil and change are worshiped; and Edenia, which is known for its beauty, artistic expression, and the longevity of its inhabitants." The Elder Gods decreed that the denizens of one realm could only conquer another realm by defeating the defending realm's greatest warriors in ten consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The first "Mortal Kombat" game takes place in Earthrealm (Earth) where seven different warriors with their own reasons for entering the tournament with the prize being the continued freedom of their realm under threat of a takeover by Outworld. Among the established warriors were Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade. With the help of the thunder god Raiden, the Earthrealm warriors were victorious, and Liu Kang became the new champion of Mortal Kombat. In "Mortal Kombat II", unable to deal with his minion Shang Tsung's failure, Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn lures the Earthrealm warriors to Outworld, where Liu Kang eventually defeats Shao Kahn. By the time of "Mortal Kombat 3", Shao Kahn merged Edenia with his empire and revived its former queen Sindel in Earthrealm, combining it with Outworld as well. He attempts to invade Earthrealm, but is ultimately defeated by Liu Kang once more. After the Kahn's defeat, Edenia was freed from his grasp and returned to a peaceful realm, ruled by Princess Kitana. The following game, "Mortal Kombat 4", features the fallen elder god Shinnok attempting to conquer the realms and kill Raiden. However, he is also defeated by Liu Kang.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In "", the evil sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung join forces to conquer the realms. By "", after several fights, the sorcerers emerge victorious; having killed most of Earthrealm's warriors until Raiden steps forth to oppose them. The Dragon King Onaga, who had been freed by the warrior Reptile at the end of "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance", had deceived Shujinko into searching for six pieces of Kamidogu, the source of Onaga's power. Onaga confronted the alliance of Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi to obtain Quan Chi's amulet, the final piece of his power. Only a few warriors remained to combat the Dragon King and his forces. Shujinko eventually triumphed over Onaga and removed his threat from the realms.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In "", the titular catastrophe begins. Centuries before the first "Mortal Kombat", Queen Delia foretold the realms would be destroyed because the power of all of the realms' warriors would rise to such greatness that it would overwhelm and destabilize the realms, triggering a destructive chain of events. King Argus had his sons, Taven and Daegon put into incubation and so one day they can be awakened to save the realms from Armageddon by defeating a firespawn known as Blaze. In the end however, Shao Kahn is the one who defeats Blaze, causing Armageddon.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The crossover "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" does not share continuity with the other games. After the simultaneous defeats of both Shao Kahn and the alien warlord Darkseid in the DC Universe causes both villains to fuse into the entity "Dark Kahn", both the "Mortal Kombat" and DC Universes begin to merge. This brings the warriors and heroes into conflicts after suffering bouts of uncontrollable rage. The heroes and villains of both universes repeatedly battle each other, believing each other to be responsible for the catastrophe, until only Raiden and Superman remain. The two confront Dark Kahn and team up to defeat their common foe. After Dark Kahn's defeat, the two realms defuse, with Shao Kahn and Darkseid trapped in each other's universes to face eternal imprisonment.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In the 2011 "Mortal Kombat" reboot, the battle of "Armageddon" culminated in only two survivors: Shao Kahn and Raiden. On the verge of death by the former's hand, the latter sent visions to his past self in a last-ditch attempt to prevent this outcome. Upon receiving the visions, the past Raiden attempts to alter the timeline to avert "Armageddon" amidst the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament. While he succeeds in preventing Shao Kahn's victory with help from the Elder Gods, he is forced to kill Liu Kang in self-defense and loses most of his allies to Queen Sindel; leaving Earthrealm vulnerable to Shinnok and Quan Chi's machinations.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat X" sees Shinnok and Quan Chi enacting their plan, leading an army of undead revenants of those that were killed in Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm. A team of warriors led by Raiden, Johnny Cage, Kenshi Takahashi, and Sonya Blade oppose them, and in the ensuing battle, Shinnok is imprisoned within his amulet and various warriors are resurrected and freed from his control, though Quan Chi escapes. Twenty-five years later, the sorcerer resurfaces alongside the insectoid D'Vorah to facilitate Shinnok's return. A vengeful Scorpion kills Quan Chi, but fails to stop him from freeing Shinnok. To combat him, Cassie Cage leads a team composed of the next generation of Earthrealm's heroes in defeating him. With Shinnok and Quan Chi defeated, Liu Kang and Kitana's revenants assume control of the Netherrealm while Raiden taps into Shinnok's amulet.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat 11" and its expansion, Aftermath, sees the architect of time and Shinnok's Mother, Kronika, working to restart the timeline following her son's defeat and Raiden's tampering with her work. In doing so, she brings past versions of the realm's heroes to the present, aligning herself with some while the rest work to defeat her. After nearly killing Liu Kang a second time, Raiden discovers Kronika has manipulated them into fighting across multiple timelines as she fears their combined power. Despite her interference and attacks by her minions, Raiden gives Liu Kang his power, turning him into a god of fire and thunder so he can defeat Kronika. In the Aftermath expansion, it is revealed that Liu Kang inadvertently destroyed Kronika's crown, the item needed to restart the timeline. Her defeat also revives Shang Tsung, who was absent in the base game due to his imprisonment by Kronika. To recover the crown, Liu Kang sends Shang Tsung other Earthrealm heroes back in time to obtain it before Kronika, though Shang Tsung manipulates events so that he comes into possession of the crown. At the end, the player can choose to start a new timeline with either Shang Tsung or Liu Kang.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Through its iterations, the series has featured scores of player characters, some of them becoming mainstays, such as Baraka, Cassie Cage, Cyrax, Ermac, Fujin, Goro, Jade, Jax, Johnny Cage, Kabal, Kano, Kenshi, Kintaro, Kitana, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Mileena, Motaro, Nightwolf, Noob Saibot, Quan Chi, Raiden, Rain, Reptile, Scorpion, Sektor, Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, Sheeva, Shinnok, Sindel, Skarlet, Smoke, Sonya Blade, Stryker, Sub-Zero and Tanya. Among them are Earth's humans and cyborgs, good and evil deities, and denizens of Outworld and other realms.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Furthermore, starting with "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe", which featured several DC Universe heroes and villains, all subsequent games have included guest characters such as Freddy Krueger from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise, Kratos from the "God of War" franchise (exclusively for Play Station 3), Jason Voorhees from the "Friday the 13th" franchise, the Alien from the "Alien" franchise, Leatherface from the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise, the Predator from the "Predator" franchise, the Terminator from the "Terminator" franchise, RoboCop from the "RoboCop" franchise, Spawn from Image Comics, John Rambo from the "Rambo" franchise and the Joker from DC Comics, who was previously in "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe".


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat" started development in 1991 with only four people: Ed Boon (programming), John Tobias (art and story), John Vogel (graphics), and Dan Forden (sound design). According to "Mortal Kombat" actors Richard Divizio and Daniel Pesina, the first game actually began as a ninja-themed project by John Tobias (a young new employee of Midway Games at the time) and them as well as Carlos Pesina, however their pitch to Tobias' boss Ed Boon was rejected by the entire management of Midway. Midway was then abortively approached to create a video game adaptation of the then-upcoming 1992 film "Universal Soldier", starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Tobias imagined a fighting game featuring a digitized version of Van Damme. Intending to make a game "a lot more hard edge, a little bit more serious, a little bit more like "Enter the Dragon" or "Bloodsport"" than contemporary cartoonish fighting games, Tobias and Boon decided to continue their project even after the deal to use the "Bloodsport" license fell through. The first of "Mortal Kombat" characters, Johnny Cage (Daniel Pesina), became "a spoof on the whole Van Damme situation." Divizio credits himself with convincing Tobias to go back to the original idea and trying again.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: It was the success of Capcom's "" that finally convinced Midway Games to let the team produce their own arcade fighting game (the genre chosen by Tobias for his game as to let him use as large digitized sprites as possible), but there was not much influence by "Street Fighter II" on the actual project. According to Tobias, who cited 1984's "Karate Champ" as an actual inspiration, they even intentionally worked on making a game different than Capcom's title in every way. Besides the digitized characters that differentiated it from its contemporaries' hand-drawn ones, one stark difference was in the very high amount of blood and violence. Capcom's senior director of communications later compared "Street Fighter" and "Mortal Kombat" by asking if the interviewer preferred the "precision and depth" of "Street Fighter" or the "gore and comedy" of "Mortal Kombat" and also stated that the "Street Fighter" and "Mortal Kombat" rivalry was considered similar to the Coke and Pepsi rivalry in the 1990s.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: John Tobias said that his inspirations for the game's story and characters came from Chinese mythology and some of the stories and rumored events about the Shaolin monks. Regarding the film "Big Trouble in Little China", Tobias wrote that although this movie "kind of Americanized my obsession for supernatural kung fu films from China, it was not my biggest influence. My biggest influences came from Tsui Hark films -- "Zu Warriors" & "The Swordsman". We had to get them from bootleggers in Chicago's Chinatown." In 1995, he said about their general process of designing characters for the series: "First we figure out the type, like she or he and will she/he be big or small. Then we'll get the theme of the characters, like ninja or robot. Then we'll design the costume, and while doing that we create the storyline and how s/he fits into the universe. Then we'll find an actor that kinda resembles our character." Tobias' writing and artistic input on the series ended around 2000 following the release of "Mortal Kombat 4". In 2012, he said: "I knew exactly what I was going to do with a future story. A few years ago, I [wrote] a sort of sequel to the first "MK" film and an advancement to the game's mythological roots."


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The title "Mortal Kombat" was the idea of pinball designer Steve Ritchie, following difficulties trademarking the original title of "Mortal Combat". Since then, the series often intentionally misspells various words with the letter "K" in place of "C" for the hard C sound. According to Boon, during the "MK" games' development they usually spell such words correctly, only making the substitution when one of the developers suggests it.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The characters of the original "Mortal Kombat" and its initial sequels were created using digitized sprites mostly based on filmed actors, as opposed to hand-drawn graphics. "Mortal Kombat" games were known for their extensive use of palette swapping, which was used for the ninja characters. In fact, many of the most popular characters have originated as simple palette swaps. In the first game, the male ninja fighters were essentially the same character; only the colors of their attire, fighting stance, and special techniques mark a difference. Later games added further ninjas based on the same model, as well as several female ninja color swap characters initially also using just one base model. All of them gradually became very different characters in the following installments of the series. Eventually, "Mortal Kombat 4" brought the series into 3D, replacing the digitized fighters of previous games with polygon models animated using motion capture technology.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat" included secret characters, secret games, and other Easter eggs. Popular characters Reptile and Jade were originally introduced as hidden enemies, becoming playable after returning in subsequent games. There is also a hidden game of "Pong" in "Mortal Kombat II", and "Mortal Kombat 3" includes a hidden game of "Galaga". Many extras in the series have only been accessible through very challenging, demanding, and sometimes coincidental requirements. The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis versions contain a unique finisher, named "Fergality". The Sega CD version also contained an additional code (known as the "Dad's Code"), which changed the names of the fighters to that of characters from the classic BBC comedy series "Dad's Army".


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Some Easter eggs originated from in-jokes between members of the development team. One example is "Toasty", which found its way into the game in the form of a small image of sound designer Dan Forden, who would appear in the corner of the screen during gameplay (after performing an uppercut) and yell the phrase "Toasty!", originating from him saying "you're toast". This egg was also the key to unlocking the hidden character Smoke when it happened in the Portal stage in "Mortal Kombat II". In "Mortal Kombat 4", Forden would say "Toasty! 3D!" after Scorpion did his burn Fatality, a reference to the fact that it is the first 3D game of the series. "Toasty!" is also found in "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks", appearing randomly after the character pulls off a chain of hits, though the picture of Forden was removed for that title, but brought back for the 2011 "Mortal Kombat" game. Yet another private joke was the hidden character Noob Saibot, who has appeared in various versions of the game starting with "Mortal Kombat II". The character's name derived from two of the series' creators' surnames, Ed Boon and John Tobias, spelled backwards. In addition, a counter for ERMACS on the game's audits screen (ERMACS being short for "error macros"), was interpreted by some players as a reference to a hidden character in the original "Mortal Kombat". The development team decided to turn the rumor into reality, introducing Ermac in "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" as an unlockable secret character. The character Mokap, introduced in "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance," is a tribute to Carlos Pesina, who played Raiden in "MK" and "MKII" and has served as a motion capture actor for subsequent titles in the series.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The original "Mortal Kombat" game was released by Midway in arcades during October 1992, and has since been ported to several console and home computer systems, with early ports released by Acclaim Entertainment. The sequel, "Mortal Kombat II", was released for arcades in 1993, featuring an increased roster and improved graphics and gameplay, then ported to the numerous home systems in 1993–1995, released again by Acclaim. "Mortal Kombat 3" followed in 1995 in both arcade and home versions. "MK3" received two updates which expanded the number of characters and other features from the game: "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3", released that same year in arcades, and "Mortal Kombat Trilogy", released for home consoles the following year. The following game, "Mortal Kombat 4", was released in 1997, and marked the jump of the series to 3D rendered graphics instead of the digitized 2D graphics used in previous games. "Mortal Kombat 4" was ported to the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows. Its updated version titled "Mortal Kombat Gold" was released exclusively for the Dreamcast in 1999.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: At this point that the series started being targeted at consoles only, with "Mortal Kombat 4" being the last game in the series to be released for the arcades. Also the series' naming scheme changed to favor the use of sub-titles instead of numbered installments, beginning with "" in 2002. "Deadly Alliance" was released initially for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. "Deadly Alliance" was also the first "Mortal Kombat" game to feature fully 3D gameplay, where up to "Mortal Kombat 4" the gameplay had stayed in a 2D plane; this trend would continue for the following two games.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The next sequel was 2004's "", released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. Its port for the PlayStation Portable, "Mortal Kombat: Unchained", was released in 2006. "" was published in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and in 2007 for the Wii.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe", a crossover fighting game between the "Mortal Kombat" franchise and DC Comics, was released in 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: A ninth game in the series, a reboot titled simply "Mortal Kombat", was developed by the former Midway Games, now known as NetherRealm Studios. It was first released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011, and was ported to the PlayStation Vita in 2012 and to the Microsoft Windows in 2013. Downloadable content became a feature of games in the series at this time. Its first sequel, "Mortal Kombat X", was released in 2015 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows, and marked a return to numbered sequels. This was paired with the first "Mortal Kombat" game for tablet and smarophone computers, "Mortal Kombat Mobile". A follow-up, "Mortal Kombat 11", was released in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Besides the fighting games, there are three action-adventure titles that work as spin-offs from the "Mortal Kombat" storyline. "" was released in 1997 for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64; its story is focused on the first incarnation character of Sub-Zero and is focused in the timeline before the first "Mortal Kombat" game. The next action game was "", released in 2000 for the PlayStation, starring Major Jackson Briggs in his mission to destroy the Black Dragon. Both games were critically panned (although the reception of "Mythologies" was more mediocre). "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks", developed by Midway Studios Los Angeles, was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, starring Liu Kang and Kung Lao and telling an alternate version of the events between the first and second "Mortal Kombat" games. A similar game entitled "Mortal Kombat: Fire & Ice", which was to star Scorpion and again Sub-Zero, was canceled when the developers of "Shaolin Monks" "couldn't do it in time and under budget". On October 18, 2022, "" was announced; it's a role-playing game scheduled for a 2023 release for Android and iOS. NetherRealm said it will be a cinematic experience and also it will be loyal to its core visceral nature.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: An animated prequel to 1995's "Mortal Kombat" film, titled "", was released direct-to-video in the same year as the live-action film. In 2020, a standalone animated film, "", was released on digital and direct-to-video. Its sequel, entitled "," was released in August 2021. A third film, "" was released on October 11, 2022.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat" was adapted into two major motion pictures, "Mortal Kombat" (1995) and "" (1997), both released by New Line Cinema. The first film was released on August 18, 1995, grossing $23 million on its first weekend. Despite mixed reviews from critics, "Mortal Kombat" became a financial success, eventually grossing approximately $70 million in the U.S. and over $122 million worldwide; the film also gained a cult following amongst fans of the video game series with :Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson, Talisa Soto and Christopher Lambert starring, and its success launched the Hollywood career of its director, Paul W. S. Anderson. However, this momentum did not carry over into the movie's sequel, "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation", which was directed by John R. Leonetti with Shou and Soto as the only two returning from the first film. The film received a poor reception by critics and fans alike, grossing only $36 million in the U.S. and $51 million worldwide, which was disappointing compared to the first film's worldwide intake of $122 million.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In 2010, director Kevin Tancharoen released an eight-minute "Mortal Kombat" short film, titled "", made as a proof of concept for Tancharoen's pitch of a reboot movie franchise to Warner Bros. Pictures. Tancharoen later confirmed that the unofficial short featured the writing of Oren Uziel, who at the time was rumored to be writing the screenplay for a third "Mortal Kombat" movie. In September 2011, New Line and Warner Bros. announced that Tancharoen had signed on to direct a new feature-length film from a screenplay written by Uziel, with the intention of aiming for an R rating. Shooting was expected to begin in March 2012 with a budget of well under $100 million (projected at between $40–50 million) and a release date of 2013, but was ultimately delayed due to budget constraints. Tancharoen quit the production in October 2013.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The "reboot" was released on April 23, 2021 produced by James Wan, directed by Simon McQuoid with a script written by Greg Russo and David Callaham. A sequel is in development with McQuoid returning as director and Jeremy Slater set to write the screenplay.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: A number of "Mortal Kombat" comic books were based on the video game series, including the official "Mortal Kombat" and "Mortal Kombat II" comic, books created by Tobias and advertised in the attract modes on early versions of the first two games. In 1994, Malibu Comics launched a licensed "Mortal Kombat" comic book series, spawning two six-issue series ("Blood and Thunder" and "Battlewave"), along with several miniseries and one-shot special issues dedicated to specific characters, until its publication ended in August 1995. Two more comics were also made as tie-ins for "Mortal Kombat 4" and "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe", and a new miniseries titled "Blood Ties" was published prior to the release of "Mortal Kombat X" in 2015.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Jeff Rovin penned a novelization of the first "Mortal Kombat" game, which was published in 1995 in order to coincide with the release of the movie, though the novel did not follow the movie plot. Novelizations of both "Mortal Kombat" movies were written by Martin Delrio and Jerome Preisler. Two paperback novels by C. Dean Andersson entitled "Mortal Kombat: Reptile's World" and "Shango's Thunder" were written but never published due to the publishing company not securing the rights from Midway.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "", a techno album based on the first game, was created for Virgin America by Lords of Acid members Praga Khan and Oliver Adams as The Immortals in 1994. Its iconic theme "Techno Syndrome", incorporating the "Mortal Kombat!" yell first shown in the "Mortal Kombat" commercial for home systems, was first released in 1993 as a single and was also used as a theme music for the "Mortal Kombat" film series. Each movie had their own soundtracks (including the hit and award-winning compilation album "Mortal Kombat: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"), as had the second video game ("Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack"). The 2011 video game saw the release of "", a new soundtrack album featuring electronic music by various artists.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In 1998, "" was released. It lasted only one season. In 2010, Warner Premiere ordered a web series inspired by the "Rebirth" short, titled "" and also directed by Kevin Tancharoen. The series' first season was released for free on YouTube starting in April 2011, promoted by Machinima.com, and the second season arrived in 2013.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In 2014, Blue Ribbon Content have been developing a live-action series that was to tie in with "Mortal Kombat X" for a planned 2016 release, titled "Mortal Kombat: Generations". The series, however, was not released.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: A stage show titled "" was launched at the end of 1995, expanded to 1996, and featured "Mortal Kombat" characters in a theatrical display on stage.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Brady Games produced the collectible card game "Mortal Kombat Kard Game" in 1996. Score Entertainment's 2005 collectible card game "Epic Battles" also used some of the "Mortal Kombat" characters.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The "Mortal Kombat: Federation of Martial Arts" was Threshold Entertainment's answer to the restrictions of the franchise involving the Midway Game "Mortal Kombat". The challenge was to create a game that successfully promoted the video game without competing against it. The answer we developed was to use a stock market investing game model attached to an active online community to generate interest. The community discussion built every week leading to a big fight that would play out in installments over the weekend. This allowed players to essentially bet on their favorites by purchasing more stock prior to a fight and then hoping that their stock would go up in battle if their player won.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat" has been one of the most successful fighting game franchises in video game history, previously only trailing Bandai Namco's "Tekken" and Capcom's "Street Fighter" and "Nintendo" "Super Smash Bros." As of 2021, it has surpassed "Tekken", "Street Fighter", and "Super Smash Bros." in worldwide lifetime franchise sales. It generated more than $4 billion by the late 1990s and $5 billion in total revenue by 2000. A particularly successful game was "Mortal Kombat II", which had unprecedented opening week sales figures never seen before in the video game industry, for the first time beating the box office numbers of summer hit films. The "Mortal Kombat" games, however, have not been localized in Japan after the Super Famicom release of "Mortal Kombat II", due to content guidelines against depictions of blood, gore and dismemberment (Tobias blaming their "very americanized" character design).


title: Mortal Kombat

text: "Mortal Kombat" games have sold more than 6 million units by 1994 and 26 million by 2007, and the figure has exceeded 30 million by 2012. As of 2021, the franchise had sold about 73 million units.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The 2008 edition of "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" awarded the "Mortal Kombat" series with seven world records, including "most successful fighting game series". The franchise holds ten world records in the 2011 "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition", including the "largest promotional campaign for a fighting video game" ("Mortal Kombat 3"), "highest grossing film based on a beat ‘em up video game" ("Mortal Kombat" 1996), and "most successful video game spin-off soundtrack album" ("Mortal Kombat: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack").


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Numerous publications described it as one of the most important and also most violent series in the history of video games; in 2011, the staff of GameSpy wrote "its place in fighting game history is undeniable". In 2009, GameTrailers ranked "Mortal Kombat" as the ninth top fighting game franchise as well as the seventh bloodiest series of all time. In 2012, "Complex" ranked "Mortal Kombat" as 37th best video game franchise overall, commenting on its "legendary status in video game history". "Mortal Kombat" as a series was also ranked as the goriest video game ever by CraveOnline in 2009 and by G4tv.com in 2011; including it on their list of the goriest games, Cheat Code Central commented that ""Mortal Kombat" had enough gore to simultaneously offend a nation and change gaming forever."


title: Mortal Kombat

text: According to IGN, during the 1990s "waves of imitators began to flood the market, filling arcades with a sea of blood from games like "Time Killers", "Survival Arts", and "Guardians of the Hood". "Mortal Kombat" had ushered in an era of exploitation games, both on consoles and in arcades, all engaging in a battle to see who can cram the most blood and guts onto a low-res screen." Notable "Mortal Kombat" clones, featuring violent finishing moves and/or digitized sprites, included "Bio F.R.E.A.K.S.", "BloodStorm", "Cardinal Syn", "Catfight", "Eternal Champions", "Kasumi Ninja", "Killer Instinct", "", "Primal Rage", "", "Tattoo Assassins", "Thrill Kill", "Ultra Vortek", "Way of the Warrior", and Midway's own "War Gods". John Tobias commented: "Some of the copycat products back then kind of came and went because, on the surface level, the violence will attract some attention, but if there's not much to the product behind it, you're not going to last very long."


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In a 2009 poll by "GamePro", 21% of voters chose "Mortal Kombat" as their favorite fighting game series, ranking it third after "Street Fighter" and "Tekken". In 2012, Capcom's "Street Fighter" producer Yoshinori Ono said he is getting a lot of requests for "Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat" and understands why people want it, "but it's easier said than done. Having Chun Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu's head bouncing off the floor...it doesn't necessarily match." In 2014, martial artist Frankie Edgar opined "Mortal Kombat" has been far superior to "Street Fighter".


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The series and its characters are also referenced in the various other works of popular culture, such as in the title of Powerglove's debut album "Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man" and the "Workaholics" episode "Model Kombat". According to "Complex" in 2012, "Years ago, "MK" became a phenomenon far outside gaming circles alone. Its name has become recognizable enough to be name dropped on sitcoms ("Malcolm in the Middle" and "Married... with Children"), found in movies (Christian Slater plays "MK4" in "Very Bad Things"), and used as part of cultural studies (see Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins' book "From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games")." It was also featured in the film "Doom Generation". The name "Mortal Kombat" was even given to a dangerous illegal recreational drug that was introduced and caused multiple fatalities in early 2014.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In 2012, Tobias said: "If you look at any other pop culture phenomenon—like if you look at the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", for instance—it became popular at the time right around when "Mortal Kombat" became popular, and it had its highs and lows, and here they are once again talking about a major motion picture. That's because of its place in pop culture. It's always there for someone to pick up, polish off, blow the dust off of it, and re-release it. And "Mortal Kombat" will always be that way. It'll be around 50 years from now."


title: Mortal Kombat

text: Fighting games have been a popular genre among tournaments since the late 90s. "Mortal Kombat" has its place in some of the world's biggest fighting game tournaments including Evo and Combo Breaker, as well as many local and online tournaments around the world. Since the 2011 "Mortal Kombat" game was released, the game has been one of the most popular games at these events. Between 2014 and 2017, the game was mostly absent from the tournament scene, due to NetherRealm Studios being focused on their "Injustice" series as their top priority; "Mortal Kombat" games returned to Combo Breaker in 2018.


title: Mortal Kombat

text: The series was subject of a major video game controversy and several court cases, largely related to its extremely violent content, especially in relation to the original game which paved a way for the introduction of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) game rating system in 1994 as well as the Australian Classification Board. Various games in the series, as well as advertisements for them, have been censored or banned in a number of countries. According to SuperData Research CEO Joost van Dreunen, "Because of the obvious rift between gamers on the one hand and adult society on the other, "Mortal Kombat" set the tone for what constituted gamer culture."


title: Mortal Kombat

text: In Germany, every "Mortal Kombat" game was banned for ten years from its release until 2015. "Mortal Kombat" (2011) is also banned in South Korea, and was banned in Australia until February 2013. "MK11" is banned in Indonesia, Japan, China and Ukraine.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated in multiple counties. The boroughs of Queens and the Bronx are also Queens County and Bronx County. The other three counties are named differently from their boroughs: Manhattan is New York County, Brooklyn is Kings County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: All five boroughs came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (including The Bronx), Kings County, part of Queens County, and Richmond County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter. All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were eliminated.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: New York City was originally confined to Manhattan Island and the smaller surrounding islands that formed New York County. As the city grew northward, it began annexing areas on the mainland, absorbing territory from Westchester County into New York County in 1874 (West Bronx) and 1895 (East Bronx). During the 1898 consolidation, this territory was organized as the Borough of the Bronx, though still part of New York County. In 1914, Bronx County was split off from New York County so that each borough was then coterminous with a county.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: When the western part of Queens County was consolidated with New York City in 1898, that area became the Borough of Queens. In 1899, the remaining eastern section of Queens County was split off to form Nassau County on Long Island, thereafter making the borough and county of Queens coextensive with each other.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: The term "borough" was adopted in 1898 to describe a form of governmental administration for each of the five fundamental constituent parts of the newly consolidated city. Under the 1898 City Charter adopted by the New York State Legislature, a borough is a municipal corporation that is created when a county is merged with populated areas within it. The limited powers of the boroughs are inferior to the authority of the government of New York City, contrasting significantly with the powers of boroughs as that term is used in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, where a borough is an independent level of government, as well as with borough forms used in other states and in Greater London.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: New York City is often referred to collectively as the five boroughs, which can unambiguously refer to the city proper as a whole, avoiding confusion with any particular borough or with the Greater New York metropolitan area. The term is also used by politicians to counter a frequent focus on Manhattan and thereby to place all five boroughs on equal footing. In the same vein, the term "outer boroughs" refers to all of the boroughs excluding Manhattan, even though the geographic center of the city is along the Brooklyn–Queens border.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: All five boroughs were created in 1898 during consolidation, when the city's current boundaries were established.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: The Bronx originally included parts of New York County outside of Manhattan that had previously been ceded by neighboring Westchester County in two stages; in 1874 (southern Yonkers, and the towns of Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Morrisania) and then following a referendum in 1894 (towns of Westchester, Williamsbridge, and the southern portion of Eastchester). Ultimately in 1914, the present-day separate Bronx County became the last county to be created in the State of New York.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: The borough of Queens consists of what formerly was only the western part of a then-larger Queens County. In 1899, the three eastern towns of Queens County that had not joined the city the year before—the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay—formally seceded from Queens County to form the new Nassau County.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: The borough of Staten Island, concurrent with Richmond County, was officially the borough of Richmond until the name was changed in 1975 to reflect its common appellation, while leaving the name of the county unchanged.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: There are throughout the five boroughs of New York City, many with a definable history and character to call their own.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: Since 1914, each of New York City's five boroughs has been coextensive with a county of New York State – unlike most U.S. cities, which lie within a single county or extend partially into another county, constitute a county in themselves, or are completely separate and independent of any county.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: Each borough is represented by a borough president. Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island each have a Borough Hall with limited administrative functions. The Manhattan Borough President's office is situated in the Manhattan Municipal Building. The Bronx Borough President's office used to be in its own Bronx Borough Hall but has been in the Bronx County Courthouse for decades. Since the abolition of the Board of Estimate in 1990 (due to a 1989 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court), the borough presidents have minimal executive powers, and there is no legislative function within a borough. Executive functions in New York City are the responsibility of the Mayor of New York City, while legislative functions reside with the New York City Council. The borough presidents primarily act as spokesmen, advocates, and ceremonial leaders for their boroughs, have budgets from which they can allocate relatively modest sums of money to community organizations and projects, and appoint the members of the 59 largely advisory community boards in the city's various neighborhoods. The Brooklyn and Queens borough presidents also appoint trustees to the local public library systems in those boroughs.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: Being coextensive with an individual county, each borough also elects a district attorney, as does every other county of New York State. While the district attorneys of Manhattan and Brooklyn are popularly referred to as "Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr.", or "Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth P. Thompson" by the media, they are technically and legally the district attorneys of New York County and Kings County, respectively. The same goes for Staten Island. There is no such distinction made for the district attorneys of the other two counties, Queens and the Bronx, since these boroughs share the respective counties' names. Because the five district attorneys are, technically speaking, state officials (since the counties are considered to be arms of the state government), rather than officials of the city government, they are not subject to the term limitations that govern other New York City officials such as the mayor, the New York City Public Advocate, members of the city council, or the borough presidents. Some civil court judges also are elected on a borough-wide basis, although they generally are eligible to serve throughout the city.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: In some document collections the boroughs used to be designated with a one-letter abbreviation: K for Brooklyn; M for Manhattan; Q for Queens; R for Staten Island, Richmond county; X for the Bronx.


title: Boroughs of New York City

text: The term "sixth borough" is used to describe any of a number of places that have been metaphorically called a part of New York City because of their geographic location, demographics (they include large numbers of former New Yorkers), special affiliation, or cosmopolitan character. They have included adjacent cities and counties in the New York metropolitan area as well as in other states, U.S. territories, and foreign countries. In 2011, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to the city's waterfront and waterways as a composite sixth borough during presentations of planned rehabilitation projects along the city's shoreline, including Governor's Island in the Upper New York Bay. The Hudson Waterfront in the U.S. state of New Jersey lies opposite Manhattan on the Hudson River, and during the Dutch colonial era, was under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam and known as Bergen. Jersey City and Hoboken in Hudson County, New Jersey, are sometimes referred to as the sixth borough, given their proximity and connections by rapid transit PATH trains. Fort Lee, New Jersey, in Bergen County, opposite Upper Manhattan and connected by the George Washington Bridge, has also been called the sixth borough.


title: After We Fell

text: After We Fell is a 2021 American romantic drama film directed by Castille Landon, from a screenplay by Sharon Soboil. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Anna Todd, it serves as a sequel to "After We Collided", and is the third installment overall in the "After" film series. Starring Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, reprising their roles as Tessa Young and Hardin Scott, respectively; the plot includes Tessa's preparations for a job in Seattle, the arrival of Tessa's father and revelations about Hardin's family, all of which threaten the couple's relationship. Louise Lombard, Rob Estes, Arielle Kebbel, Chance Perdomo, Frances Turner, Kiana Madeira, Carter Jenkins and Mira Sorvino appear in supporting roles.


title: After We Fell

text: Principal photography took place in Sofia, Bulgaria in late 2020 and was shot back-to-back with its sequel, "After Ever Happy". Due to scheduling conflicts and travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, several characters were recast. The film was theatrically released in multiple European countries on September 1, 2021 and in the United States on September 30 by Vertical Entertainment and Fathom Events. Like its predecessors, it received negative reviews, with criticism for its screenplay and acting. "After Ever Happy", is scheduled to be released in 2022; while a fifth movie titled "After Everything" is currently in post-production, as well as a prequel and an additional sequel centered around the children of the series' main characters are also in development.


title: After We Fell

text: In a flashback, Carol Young kicks her husband Richard out of their house over his alcoholism, despite Tessa's pleas for him to stay. In the present, Tessa and her boyfriend Hardin Scott bring a now-homeless Richard to their apartment. Tessa wants to let her father stay so she can build a relationship with him, while Hardin distrusts Richard, even offering him money to leave. Richard declines the money, explaining that he only wants to make amends. Tessa and Landon, Hardin's step-brother, discuss Tessa's move to Seattle to be closer to her employer Vance Publishing. Hardin arrives and argues with Tessa over the move; he hoped to move with Tessa to London after graduation. After a phone call with his mother Trish, who asks Hardin to attend her upcoming wedding and talks about her close relationship with Vance's owner Christian Vance, Hardin accompanies Richard to a bar, where they get into a fight with a bystander over lewd comments about Tessa. The next day, Richard decides to leave the apartment, while Hardin and Tessa fight again about her move to Seattle. Kimberley, Vance's fiancée, offers to let Tessa and Hardin stay with the couple in Seattle, after which Hardin apologizes to Tessa.


title: After We Fell

text: Tessa and Hardin accompany Hardin's dad, Ken, his step-mom, Karen, and Landon to the family's lake house for a weekend vacation. Hardin sheds some of his previous hostilities towards his family, growing closer to them. While the family is out for dinner, Hardin encounters a old friend, Lillian, who he introduces to Tessa. Tessa grows jealous of the attention Lillian receives from Hardin and begins to flirt with their waiter Robert. After having sex in a hot tub, Hardin asks Tessa if she ever had emotional feelings towards her coworker, Trevor. Tessa admits she briefly did, causing Hardin to storm away. When Hardin tells Tessa that he is with Lillian, Tessa goes to the restaurant from before and flirts with Robert, who gives her his phone number. Hardin and Lillian arrive, and Lillian explains that she's gay and thus has no romantic or sexual interest in Hardin. When Hardin finds Robert's phone number in Tessa's belongings the next day, the two leave the lake house early.


title: After We Fell

text: After her move to Seattle, Tessa and Hardin do not speak for several days; Hardin finds Tessa's journal, wherein she describes all the pain caused by her relationship with Hardin. Eventually, the two reconcile, and Hardin takes up boxing as a way of resolving his anger issues. Vance and Kimberly tell Tessa that they are expecting a child. When Hardin has a nightmare of Tessa being unfaithful to him, he surprises Tessa in Seattle, admits to reading her journal, and apologizes for causing her pain. After spending some time together in Seattle, Hardin returns home, where he finds Richard in his apartment, brutally beaten. Richard explains that he had been attacked by men to whom he owed money; Hardin offers Richard a watch to pay off the debt. When Tessa visits her gynecologist to start birth control, she is informed that, because of an issue with her cervix, she may never conceive. Hardin tells Tessa he plans on moving to Seattle in two months.


title: After We Fell

text: Hardin eventually agrees to attend his mother's wedding in London, taking Tessa along and showing her his hometown. The night before the wedding, Hardin catches Trish and Vance having sex, causing an altercation between the three. Trish and her fiancé get married the next day. Tessa sits with Kimberley, where Kimberley admits she knows of Vance's infidelity, but that she loves him and can't stay angry with him. Hardin discusses the previous night's events with Vance at a local bar. Kimberly tells Tessa, and Vance tells Hardin, that Vance is Hardin's real father. The news shocks Tessa and infuriates Hardin, who storms out of the bar. Tessa finds Hardin and the two embrace passionately in the street.


title: After We Fell

text: Filming for "After We Fell" and its sequel "After Ever Happy" began in Sofia, Bulgaria, in September 2020. It was later announced that the characters of Kimberley, Christian Vance, Carol Young, Landon Gibson and Karen Scott were recast because the original actors not being able to travel to Bulgaria due to the COVID-19 pandemic or that they were already committed to other projects.


title: After We Fell

text: Castille Landon directed the film using a script written by Sharon Soboil. The film was produced by Jennifer Gibgot, Brian Pitt, Wattpad's Aron Levitz, Benjamin Dherbecourt, CalMaple's Mark Canton, and Courtney Solomon.


title: After We Fell

text: "After We Fell" was released in multiple European countries on September 1, 2021. The film performed well in Germany, Russia, Spain, the Netherlands, and Poland, grossing $9.2 million on its opening weekend at the worldwide box office. It debuted atop the Belgian box office and achieved 50% of the total box office that the prior film, "After We Collided", received in its opening weekend.


title: After We Fell

text: The film was released on September 30, 2021, in the United States. In select regions, it was released directly to Netflix on October 21, 2021 and arrived on Netflix US on January 17, 2022. In United Kingdom, Italy and France, it was released directly to Amazon Prime on October 22, 2021.


title: After We Fell

text: The film has grossed $2.2 million in the United States and Canada and $19.4 million in international territories, for a worldwide total of $21.6 million.


title: After We Fell

text: In Canada, the film earned $428,300 during its three-day opening weekend across 230 theaters, grossing $215,600 on its opening day. The film earned $9.2 million across 31 international territories during its three-day opening weekend, in which it opened at number one in Belgium and in second place in Germany, Spain, Russia, The Netherlands, Austria and Mexico.


title: After We Fell

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 0% approval rating based on 11 reviews with average of 2.91/10.


title: After We Fell

text: Caroline Siede of "The A.V. Club" rated the film a 'D', describing it as a "filler episode" of the franchise, saying "the problem is that most of "After We Fell" is too boring to even lend itself to mockery". Cath Clarke of "The Guardian" panned the film, giving it 1 star out of 5, criticizing the acting as "daytime-soap standard. Jade Budowski of "Decider" urged viewers to skip the film, describing it as "a yawn-inducing continuation of After We Collided, picking up exactly where it left off and schlepping along at a pace so slow and uneventful I kept checking how many minutes were left". She criticized the film's plot and runtime, saying it "feels like an eternity, dragging its way through lackluster sex scenes set to B-list pop songs and very little actual conflict". Writing for "ScreenRant", Molly Freeman expressed that while the film may please fans of "After", "it doesn't provide the same level of entertainment as the previous movies" and described the plot as "where stuff happens, but it all feels meaningless - so much so that even the melodrama loses its fun". David Pardillos of "Cinemanía" gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying it is "reduced to the now classic series of outbursts of anger by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin" and "to the squared sex scenes arranged throughout its montage". Sabela Pillado of "La Voz de Galicia" was also critical, calling it a "hormonal mess with overtones of a chic soap opera" and likened it to an "unfinished chapter that you can only continue if you have seen (and will continue to watch) the other films". Sandra Hall of "The Sydney Morning Herald" awarded the film 2 stars out of 5, noting that ""After We Fell" is unlikely to interest fans of the popular Netflix series "Sex Education", and its unfiltered treatment of the black comic aspects of teenage sexuality.


title: After We Fell

text: In October 2020, it was announced that "After We Fell" and "After Ever Happy" were greenlit to go into back-to-back production, with Castille Landon directing both films. "After Ever Happy" was released in September 2022. Filming began December 28, 2020 and concluded on February 16, 2022. The film was released on September 7, 2022.


title: After We Fell

text: On August 24, 2022, it was announced that another sequel, titled "After Everything", had finished filming. Langford and Fiennes Tiffin will reprise their roles. It will be the fifth movie in the "After" film series. It will also be the only film that will not be based on a book in the series.


title: Anya Chalotra

text: Anya Chalotra is a British actress primarily known for her role as Yennefer of Vengerberg in the Netflix original series "The Witcher". She is also known for appearing in "Wanderlust".


title: Anya Chalotra

text: Chalotra was born in Wolverhampton, England, to an Indian father and English mother. She grew up in the village of Lower Penn, in South Staffordshire, where she lived with her parents and two siblings, an elder sister Reeya and a younger brother Arun. Chalotra completed her schooling at the St Dominic's Grammar School in Brewood and later completed the one-year foundation course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before training for three years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.


title: Anya Chalotra

text: Chalotra has starred in several stage productions, including "Much Ado About Nothing" until 15 October 2017 and "The Village" until 6 October 2018.


title: Anya Chalotra

text: Chalotra currently stars in a main role as Yennefer of Vengerberg in the Netflix fantasy drama "The Witcher". She has featured in both seasons released to date; the first season premiered on 20 December 2019, with the second following on December 17, 2021.


title: Anya Chalotra

text: On 15 July 2020, it was announced that Chalotra would be headlining the voice cast of a sci-fi animation series NEW-GEN.


title: Anya Chalotra

text: On 30 September 2020, Chalotra starred in a television short film special called "No Masks" that aired on Sky Arts. The special is based on real-life testimonies of key frontline workers in East London during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Anya Chalotra

text: First released on 26 December 2020, Chalotra voiced Sabrina in BBC Sounds sci-fi podcast "The Cipher".


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel movements, weight loss, and fatigue. Most colorectal cancers are due to old age and lifestyle factors, with only a small number of cases due to underlying genetic disorders. Risk factors include diet, obesity, smoking, and lack of physical activity. Dietary factors that increase the risk include red meat, processed meat, and alcohol. Another risk factor is inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Some of the inherited genetic disorders that can cause colorectal cancer include familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer; however, these represent less than 5% of cases. It typically starts as a benign tumor, often in the form of a polyp, which over time becomes cancerous.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Colorectal cancer may be diagnosed by obtaining a sample of the colon during a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. This is then followed by medical imaging to determine whether the disease has spread. Screening is effective for preventing and decreasing deaths from colorectal cancer. Screening, by one of a number of methods, is recommended starting from the age of 50 to 75. During colonoscopy, small polyps may be removed if found. If a large polyp or tumor is found, a biopsy may be performed to check if it is cancerous. Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs decrease the risk of pain during polyp excision. Their general use is not recommended for this purpose, however, due to side effects.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Treatments used for colorectal cancer may include some combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Cancers that are confined within the wall of the colon may be curable with surgery, while cancer that has spread widely is usually not curable, with management being directed towards improving quality of life and symptoms. The five-year survival rate in the United States was around 65% in 2014. The individual likelihood of survival depends on how advanced the cancer is, whether or not all the cancer can be removed with surgery, and the person's overall health. Globally, colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer, making up about 10% of all cases. In 2018, there were 1.09 million new cases and 551,000 deaths from the disease. It is more common in developed countries, where more than 65% of cases are found. It is less common in women than men.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: The signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer depend on the location of the tumor in the bowel, and whether it has spread elsewhere in the body (metastasis). The classic warning signs include: worsening constipation, blood in the stool, decrease in stool caliber (thickness), loss of appetite, loss of weight, and nausea or vomiting in someone over 50 years old. Around 50% of individuals with colorectal cancer do not report any symptoms.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Rectal bleeding or anemia are high-risk symptoms in people over the age of 50. Weight loss and changes in a person's bowel habit are typically only concerning if they are associated with rectal bleeding.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: 75–95% of colorectal cancer cases occur in people with little or no genetic risk. Risk factors include older age, male sex, high intake of fat, sugar, alcohol, red meat, processed meats, obesity, smoking, and a lack of physical exercise. Approximately 10% of cases are linked to insufficient activity. The risk from alcohol appears to increase at greater than one drink per day. Drinking 5 glasses of water a day is linked to a decrease in the risk of colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyps. "Streptococcus gallolyticus" is associated with colorectal cancer. Some strains of "Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus" complex are consumed by millions of people daily and thus may be safe. 25 to 80% of people with "Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus" bacteremia have concomitant colorectal tumors. Seroprevalence of "Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus" is considered as a candidate practical marker for the early prediction of an underlying bowel lesion at high risk population. It has been suggested that the presence of antibodies to "Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus" antigens or the antigens themselves in the bloodstream may act as markers for the carcinogenesis in the colon.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Pathogenic "Escherichia coli" may increase the risk of colorectal cancer by producing the genotoxic metabolite, colibactin.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: People with inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease) are at increased risk of colon cancer. The risk increases the longer a person has the disease, and the worse the severity of inflammation. In these high risk groups, both prevention with aspirin and regular colonoscopies are recommended. Endoscopic surveillance in this high-risk population may reduce the development of colorectal cancer through early diagnosis and may also reduce the chances of dying from colon cancer. People with inflammatory bowel disease account for less than 2% of colon cancer cases yearly. In those with Crohn's disease, 2% get colorectal cancer after 10 years, 8% after 20 years, and 18% after 30 years. In people who have ulcerative colitis, approximately 16% develop either a cancer precursor or cancer of the colon over 30 years.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Those with a family history in two or more first-degree relatives (such as a parent or sibling) have a two to threefold greater risk of disease, and this group accounts for about 20% of all cases. A number of genetic syndromes are also associated with higher rates of colorectal cancer. The most common of these is hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC, or Lynch syndrome) which is present in about 3% of people with colorectal cancer. Other syndromes that are strongly associated with colorectal cancer include Gardner syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). For people with these syndromes, cancer almost always occurs and makes up 1% of the cancer cases. A total proctocolectomy may be recommended for people with FAP as a preventive measure due to the high risk of malignancy. Colectomy, removal of the colon, may not suffice as a preventive measure because of the high risk of rectal cancer if the rectum remains. The most common polyposis syndrome affecting the colon is serrated polyposis syndrome, which is associated with a 25-40% risk of CRC.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Most deaths due to colon cancer are associated with metastatic disease. A gene that appears to contribute to the potential for metastatic disease, metastasis associated in colon cancer 1 ("MACC1"), has been isolated. It is a transcriptional factor that influences the expression of hepatocyte growth factor. This gene is associated with the proliferation, invasion, and scattering of colon cancer cells in cell culture, and tumor growth and metastasis in mice. MACC1 may be a potential target for cancer intervention, but this possibility needs to be confirmed with clinical studies.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Epigenetic factors, such as abnormal DNA methylation of tumor suppressor promoters, play a role in the development of colorectal cancer.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Ashkenazi Jews have a 6% higher risk rate of getting adenomas and then colon cancer due to mutations in the APC gene being more common.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Colorectal cancer is a disease originating from the epithelial cells lining the colon or rectum of the gastrointestinal tract, most frequently as a result of mutations in the Wnt signaling pathway that increase signaling activity. The mutations can be inherited or acquired, and most probably occur in the intestinal crypt stem cell. The most commonly mutated gene in all colorectal cancer is the "APC" gene, which produces the APC protein. The APC protein prevents the accumulation of β-catenin protein. Without APC, β-catenin accumulates to high levels and translocates (moves) into the nucleus, binds to DNA, and activates the transcription of proto-oncogenes. These genes are normally important for stem cell renewal and differentiation, but when inappropriately expressed at high levels, they can cause cancer. While APC is mutated in most colon cancers, some cancers have increased β-catenin because of mutations in β-catenin (CTNNB1) that block its own breakdown, or have mutations in other genes with function similar to APC such as AXIN1, AXIN2, TCF7L2, or NKD1.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Beyond the defects in the Wnt signaling pathway, other mutations must occur for the cell to become cancerous. The p53 protein, produced by the "TP53" gene, normally monitors cell division and induces their programmed death if they have Wnt pathway defects. Eventually, a cell line acquires a mutation in the "TP53" gene and transforms the tissue from a benign epithelial tumor into an invasive epithelial cell cancer. Sometimes the gene encoding p53 is not mutated, but another protective protein named BAX is mutated instead.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Other proteins responsible for programmed cell death that are commonly deactivated in colorectal cancers are TGF-β and DCC (Deleted in Colorectal Cancer). TGF-β has a deactivating mutation in at least half of colorectal cancers. Sometimes TGF-β is not deactivated, but a downstream protein named SMAD is deactivated. DCC commonly has a deleted segment of a chromosome in colorectal cancer.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Approximately 70% of all human genes are expressed in colorectal cancer, with just over 1% of having increased expression in colorectal cancer compared to other forms of cancer. Some genes are oncogenes: they are overexpressed in colorectal cancer. For example, genes encoding the proteins KRAS, RAF, and PI3K, which normally stimulate the cell to divide in response to growth factors, can acquire mutations that result in over-activation of cell proliferation. The chronological order of mutations is sometimes important. If a previous APC mutation occurred, a primary KRAS mutation often progresses to cancer rather than a self-limiting hyperplastic or borderline lesion. PTEN, a tumor suppressor, normally inhibits PI3K, but can sometimes become mutated and deactivated.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Comprehensive, genome-scale analysis has revealed that colorectal carcinomas can be categorized into hypermutated and non-hypermutated tumor types. In addition to the oncogenic and inactivating mutations described for the genes above, non-hypermutated samples also contain mutated CTNNB1, FAM123B, SOX9, ATM, and ARID1A. Progressing through a distinct set of genetic events, hypermutated tumors display mutated forms of ACVR2A, TGFBR2, MSH3, MSH6, SLC9A9, TCF7L2, and BRAF. The common theme among these genes, across both tumor types, is their involvement in Wnt and TGF-β signaling pathways, which results in increased activity of MYC, a central player in colorectal cancer.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Mismatch repair (MMR) deficient tumours are characterized by a relatively high amount of poly-nucleotide tandem repeats. This is caused by a deficiency in MMR proteins – which are typically caused by epigenetic silencing and or inherited mutations ("e.g.", Lynch syndrome). 15 to 18 percent of colorectal cancer tumours have MMR deficiencies, with 3 percent developing due to Lynch syndrome. The role of the mismatch repair system is to protect the integrity of the genetic material within cells ("i.e.", error detecting and correcting). Consequently, a deficiency in MMR proteins may lead to an inability to detect and repair genetic damage, allowing for further cancer-causing mutations to occur and colorectal cancer to progress.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: The polyp to cancer progression sequence is the classical model of colorectal cancer pathogenesis. The polyp to cancer sequence describes the phases of transition from benign tumours into colorectal cancer over many years. Central to the polyp to CRC sequence are gene mutations, epigenetic alterations, and local inflammatory changes. The polyp to CRC sequence can be used as an underlying framework to illustrate how specific molecular changes lead to various cancer subtypes.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: The term "field cancerization" was first used in 1953 to describe an area or "field" of epithelium that has been preconditioned (by what were largely unknown processes at the time) to predispose it towards development of cancer. Since then, the terms "field cancerization", "field carcinogenesis", "field defect", and "field effect" have been used to describe pre-malignant or pre-neoplastic tissue in which new cancers are likely to arise.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: However, as pointed out by Rubin, "The vast majority of studies in cancer research has been done on well-defined tumors "in vivo", or on discrete neoplastic foci "in vitro". Yet there is evidence that more than 80% of the somatic mutations found in mutator phenotype human colorectal tumors occur before the onset of terminal clonal expansion." Similarly, Vogelstein et al. pointed out that more than half of somatic mutations identified in tumors occurred in a pre-neoplastic phase (in a field defect), during growth of apparently normal cells. Likewise, epigenetic alterations present in tumors may have occurred in pre-neoplastic field defects.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: An expanded view of field effect has been termed "etiologic field effect", which encompasses not only molecular and pathologic changes in pre-neoplastic cells but also influences of exogenous environmental factors and molecular changes in the local microenvironment on neoplastic evolution from tumor initiation to death.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Epigenetic alterations are much more frequent in colon cancer than genetic (mutational) alterations. As described by Vogelstein et al., an average cancer of the colon has only 1 or 2 oncogene mutations and 1 to 5 tumor suppressor mutations (together designated "driver mutations"), with about 60 further "passenger" mutations. The oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are well studied and are described above under Pathogenesis.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: In addition to epigenetic alteration of expression of miRNAs, other common types of epigenetic alterations in cancers that change gene expression levels include direct hypermethylation or hypomethylation of CpG islands of protein-encoding genes and alterations in histones and chromosomal architecture that influence gene expression. As an example, 147 hypermethylations and 27 hypomethylations of protein coding genes were frequently associated with colorectal cancers. Of the hypermethylated genes, 10 were hypermethylated in 100% of colon cancers, and many others were hypermethylated in more than 50% of colon cancers. In addition, 11 hypermethylations and 96 hypomethylations of miRNAs were also associated with colorectal cancers. Abnormal (aberrant) methylation occurs as a normal consequence of normal aging and the risk of colorectal cancer increases as a person gets older. The source and trigger of this age-related methylation is unknown. Approximately half of the genes that show age-related methylation changes are the same genes that have been identified to be involved in the development of colorectal cancer. These findings may suggest a reason for age being associated with the increased risk of developing colorectal cancer.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Epigenetic reductions of DNA repair enzyme expression may likely lead to the genomic and epigenomic instability characteristic of cancer. As summarized in the articles Carcinogenesis and Neoplasm, for sporadic cancers in general, a deficiency in DNA repair is occasionally due to a mutation in a DNA repair gene, but is much more frequently due to epigenetic alterations that reduce or silence expression of DNA repair genes.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Epigenetic alterations involved in the development of colorectal cancer may affect a person's response to chemotherapy.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) classification of colorectal cancer was first introduced in 2015. CMS classification so far has been considered the most robust classification system available for CRC that has a clear biological interpretability and the basis for future clinical stratification and subtype-based targeted interventions.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: A novel Epigenome-based Classification (EpiC) of colorectal cancer was proposed in 2021 introducing 4 enhancer subtypes in people with CRC. Chromatin states using 6 histone marks are characterized to identify EpiC subtypes. A combinatorial therapeutic approach based on the previously introduced consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs) and EpiCs could significantly enhance current treatment strategies.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Colorectal cancer diagnosis is performed by sampling of areas of the colon suspicious for possible tumor development, typically during colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, depending on the location of the lesion. It is confirmed by microscopical examination of a tissue sample.


title: Colorectal cancer

text: Presence of metastases is determined by a CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis. Other potential imaging tests such as PET and MRI may be used in certain cases. The latter is often used for rectal lesions to determine its local stage and to facilitate preoperative planning.