title: The Good Dinosaur

text: In an alternate history, the asteroid that would have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago passes safely over Earth. Millions of years later, "Apatosaurus" corn farmers Henry and Ida have three children: Libby, Buck, and Arlo. While his successful siblings are allowed to "make their mark" (a mud-print on the family's corn silo), Arlo's timid nature makes tasks difficult for him. Henry attempts to give Arlo a sense of purpose by putting him in charge of guarding their silo, and helps him set a trap. It captures a feral caveboy, but Arlo cannot bring himself to kill him, and sets him free. Disappointed, Henry takes Arlo to track the caveboy, leading them into a ravine. Henry saves Arlo from a flash flood before being killed by debris.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Without his father, Arlo shoulders more of the workload. He spots the same caveboy inside the silo and blaming him for his father's death, chases him into a river, where both are swept downstream. Arlo is knocked unconscious by a rock, and awakens to find himself miles from home. As he tries to return, his leg is caught by a boulder. The next day, Arlo wakes to find his leg has been freed. The caveboy appears with food, and leads Arlo to a berry tree. The caveboy then fends off a large snake, amazing Arlo, and impressing Forrest Woodbush, a nearby eccentric "Styracosaurus" who wants to keep the boy. He forces Arlo to compete with him to give the boy a name he will respond to, and Arlo wins when he calls the boy "Spot". Arlo and Spot bond as Arlo laments his lost family, and Spot reveals that his own parents are both dead.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Later, when a storm strikes, Arlo runs away in fear and loses the riverbank he has been following home. The next morning, Arlo wakes to find Spot at his side. They are noticed by a band of pterodactyls, who appear to be conducting a rescue operation but turn out to be savagely carnivorous. When the pterodactyls try to eat Spot, Arlo and Spot flee, happening upon a pair of "Tyrannosaurus" named Nash and Ramsey, who drive off the pterodactyls. Nash, Ramsey, and their father Butch have lost their herd of longhorns, so Arlo offers Spot's help in sniffing them out. The group locates the herd, but Butch recognizes the work of cattle rustlers. Arlo and Spot lure the four rustler "Velociraptors" into the open, allowing Butch and his family to attack. After the rustlers have been driven off, Arlo joins the "Tyrannosaurus" in driving the cattle south. Later, he sees the familiar mountain peaks of his homeland in the distance, and leaves with Spot to return home. Along the way, they encounter an adult feral caveman in the distance. Spot is intrigued, but Arlo dissuades him and they continue on. As another storm approaches, the pterodactyls return, attack, and carry Spot away. Arlo falls off a cliff and becomes entangled in vines, where he has a vision of Henry leading him home. Arlo instead resolves to save Spot, making the vision of his father proud before it fades away. Arlo finds and attacks the pterodactyls, who have cornered Spot in the river. Arlo and Spot together plunge the pterodactyls into the water, where they are swept helplessly downstream. When a landslide causes a giant wave, Arlo leaps into the water to rescue Spot, and the two are swept away toward a waterfall. Arlo protects Spot as they go over the falls, and carries him to shore.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: As they near Arlo's home, the two are approached by the caveman and his entire family, who show great interest in Spot. With great reluctance, Arlo pushes Spot to join this new adoptive family, and the two of them share a tearful goodbye. Arlo finally arrives home to his mother and siblings, and makes his mark on the silo between those of his mother and father.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: In 2009, when Bob Peterson came up with the idea about the dinosaurs represent in the present day, Peterson and Peter Sohn started working on the film. The film's first release date of November 27, 2013, was first announced on June 20, 2011. The film was announced as "The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs" at the D23 Expo on August 21, 2011, which revealed the plot, director and co-director, producer, and other small details. On April 24, 2012, Pixar officially revealed the film's title as "The Good Dinosaur".


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: The filmmakers wanted to explore what dinosaurs represent in the present day, and how they are represented in stereotypes. Peterson stated: "It's time to do a movie where you get to know the dinosaur, what it's really like to be a dinosaur and to be with a dinosaur." Peterson said that his inspiration of the film came from the World's Fair childhood visit where he gets impressed by "dinosaur animatronics."


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: On the film's title, Sohn stated, "The title is deceptively simple. It has more meaning than it seems." He additionally explained: "Arlo has a lot of issues when he's born. He's fearful and he's weak and he's disconnected from the family because of these issues and he feels like he's not worthy, and so he finds a way to become worthy."


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: In April 2012, Pixar announced that the film's release date had been shifted from November 27, 2013, to May 30, 2014, with Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Frozen" taking its place. On August 9, 2013, it was announced at the D23 Expo that Lucas Neff, John Lithgow, Frances McDormand, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, and Bill Hader had joined the cast of the film.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: By mid 2013, Peterson was removed from the film due to story problems. Peterson, who could not solve the film's third act, was absent from the D23 Expo where Sohn and producer Denise Ream presented footage from the film. Peterson moved on to another project he developed at Pixar while Ream replaced producer John Walker, who left to work on Disney's own "Tomorrowland". John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Mark Andrews, and Sohn stepped in temporarily to work on various sections of the film. In September 2013, "The Good Dinosaur" was pushed back from May 30, 2014, to November 25, 2015 (the scheduled release date for Pixar's "Finding Dory"). According to Ream, the primary reason for the rescheduling was because "the story was not working, period, full stop, it just was not where it needed to be." In November 2013, due to the delay, Pixar laid off 67 employees of its 1,200-person workforce, following the closure of Pixar Canada a month before, when about 80 employees had been laid off, officially to refocus Pixar's efforts at its main headquarters.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: In August 2014, Lithgow revealed in an interview that the film had been dismantled and "completely reimagined" and that he was expected to rerecord his role in the next month while mentioning that McDormand was still part of the film. In October 2014, Sohn was announced as the new director of the film. In November 2014, it was reported that new elements had been added to the story, such as treating nature as the film's antagonist.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: In June 2015, it was announced that the majority of the cast had been revised. Of the original cast, only McDormand retained her role in the film. It was revealed that Neff had been replaced by Raymond Ochoa, and Lithgow had been replaced by Jeffrey Wright. Arlo's three siblings, to be voiced by Harris, Hader, and Greer had been cut down to a single brother named Buck, voiced by Marcus Scribner, and later, a sister named Libby, voiced by Maleah Padilla. It was also confirmed that the farmer aspect was still part of the film.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: The filmmakers wanted nature to be the antagonist for the main character Arlo. Ream noted "Nature can overcome anything, including a massive dinosaur." In order to achieve the needed realism, the film's team traveled to the American Northwest, spending time in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Juntura, Oregon, and southern Montana. Production designer Harley Jessup stated that the film "has a fantastic variety of landscapes," which ranged "from the Jackson Valley and the Tetons to the amazing geysers and waterfalls in Yellowstone," as the filmmakers "studied the grasslands of Montana and the Red Desert" and used them to incorporate into the film. To use the landscapes that they had experienced, the filmmakers used data from the U.S. Geological Survey, and satellite images from Google Earth. The geographical data provided a foundation that the team then built on. According to supervising technical director Sanjay Bakshi, this gave Sohn "the freedom to shoot in any direction he wanted to make the world feel big and real." In addition, "The Good Dinosaur" features three-dimensional, volumetric clouds. In previous Pixar films, clouds have been "painted" onto the sets. Light and photography director Sharon Calahan described the storm clouds "are almost like a villain in the film", and appeared "in almost every scene." Calahan also noted "These particular clouds can be rendered and we can light them, which we've never been able to properly do before."


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: According to the filmmakers, the environments and landscapes in the film are not photo-realistic, they are just detailed in a way that advanced technology and style decisions allow. In terms of animating Arlo, animators Rob Thompson and Kevin O'Hara went to a zoo and shot video of elephants in motion. A system where Arlo's head goes up and his chest goes down when his hips goes up, was therefore created. To get an idea of the scale of Arlo, a complete full-size model was built out of card and foam core. In total "The Good Dinosaur" took up 300TB of server space, ten times as much space as "Monsters University" (2013).


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Arlo was designed so that the audience could identify with him and be able to see the "boy" inside the dinosaur. Since "The Good Dinosaur" is set in a world in which dinosaurs never became extinct, they were instead able to evolve. Herbivores like Arlo and his family become farmers, and carnivores like the "T. rex" become ranchers. Because they are meant to be reminiscent of cowboys, when the "T. rex" run, their lower bodies mimic a galloping horse, while their upper bodies have the feel of a riding cowboy. To help inspire Butch's physical look and performance, the filmmakers looked at classic film cowboys such as characters portrayed by Clint Eastwood and Jack Palance.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: The film's score was composed by Mychael Danna and his brother, Jeff, replacing Thomas Newman, who was originally attached to score the film when it was set to be directed by Peterson. It marks the first Pixar film to be scored by two composers. Danna was approached by Sohn and Ream due to his score for "Life of Pi", which won an Academy Award. Having a lot of work, he invited his brother as a co-writer. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack on November 20, 2015.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Prior to the film's release on November 19, 2015, "The Good Dinosaur: Dino Crossing", a mobile arcade-style game, was released. The game, later also available on Kindle Fire, was no longer available, according to Common Sense Media; while a figure of Spot and Power Discs of Arlo, Ramsey, Nash, and Butch was also released for "Disney Infinity 3.0".


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: "The Good Dinosaur" was theatrically released on November 25, 2015. Before the rescheduling from 2014 to 2015, a "Monsters University" short film titled "Party Central" was set to accompany the film but was instead shown with the theatrical release of Disney's "Muppets Most Wanted". In April 2015, it was announced that a new Pixar short, "Sanjay's Super Team", directed by Sanjay Patel, would be shown in front of "The Good Dinosaur" instead. The film received an exclusive run at the Grand Rex in Paris a week before its U.S. and European premiere.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released "The Good Dinosaur" on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on February 23, 2016. Blu-ray bonus features include "Sanjay's Super Team", audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and the "Hide and Seek" short promotional clip. In 2019, "The Good Dinosaur" was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: In its first week, "The Good Dinosaur" sold 686,656 DVDs and 726,042 Blu-rays as the most sold film on both formats in the United States. That same week, "The Good Dinosaur" topped the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, as well as the dedicated Blu-ray sales chart. Overall, "The Good Dinosaur" sold 1.8 million DVDs and 1.3 million Blu-rays, adding them up to get a total of 3.1 million copies, and made $64.2 million through home media releases.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: "The Good Dinosaur" grossed $123.1 million in the United States and Canada and $209.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $332.2 million against a production budget of $175–200 million, which with added marketing costs of $350 million, caused Walt Disney Studios to lose $85 million unadjusted for inflation, and the film to be considered Pixar's first box-office bomb.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Released alongside "Creed" and "Victor Frankenstein", as well as the wide releases of "Brooklyn", "Spotlight", and "Trumbo", on November 25, 2015, "The Good Dinosaur" made $9.8 million on its first day, including $1.3 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to take second place at the opening weekend with $56 million from 3,749 theaters. Its second weekend saw the box office drop by 60% to $15.5 million, and "The Good Dinosaur" grossed another $10.3 million the following weekend. "The Good Dinosaur" completed its theatrical run in the United States and Canada on April 7, 2016.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Worldwide, "The Good Dinosaur" made $29.8 million in its opening weekend in 39 markets, including 8 significant countries. Unlike the US, where it had the benefit of the Thanksgiving weekend, it did not have the same benefit internationally. Rather, its release date was designed to set it up to run through the December holiday. The top countries were the United Kingdom ($7.8 million), Mexico ($6.7 million), France ($6 million), Argentina ($3.8 million), and Russia ($3.7 million). Of those, it opened at No. 1 in Mexico, Argentina, and Russia. The film's top international markets were the United Kingdom ($22.5 million), France ($18 million), Japan ($14.9 million), Mexico ($13.2 million), and Brazil ($11.8 million).


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" described it as "antic and unexpected as well as homiletic, rife with subversive elements, wacky critters and some of the most beautiful landscapes ever seen in a computer animated film." Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" felt the film "has a few things on its mind, but its tone is overwhelmingly playful, not hectoring." Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" opined that "As Pixar productions go, this one isn't a groundbreaker, but it's heartfelt and endearing, as well as visually splendiferous, and kids will love it for sure." Justin Chang of "Variety" wrote that the film is "clever and cloying by turns, [which is] always seems to be trying to evolve beyond its conventional trappings, and not succeeding as often as Pixar devotees have come to expect". Many of the reviewers praised the sophistication of its nearly photorealistic backgrounds.


title: The Good Dinosaur

text: Christopher Orr of "The Atlantic" felt it to be the studio's first film explicitly targeted towards children, though it is "by no means a bad movie [...] It's a simple story, well-told." Mark Feeney, writing for "The Boston Globe", felt similarly, deeming it a "very middling movie [...] "The Good Dinosaur" generally features a sort of sentimentality and emotional reductiveness that make it seem meant for small children as no previous Pixar movie has." "The Washington Post" Stephanie Merry dubbed it "a nice, conventional story, but it's not Pixar-level imaginative." Richard Roeper, for the "Chicago Sun-Times", felt it "one strange, aggressively gross and dark adventure [...] Inconsistent and weird, "The Good Dinosaur" is second-level Pixar all the way." Michael Rechtshaffen of "The Hollywood Reporter" panned its "disappointingly derivative" screenplay. Mark Kermode of "The Guardian" says "But however much it may delight on a scene-by-scene basis, "The Good Dinosaur" never comes together as a coherent whole, a crucial flaw for a film by Pixar, which has always put story first."


title: Domino Kirke

text: Kirke is of English and Iraqi-Jewish heritage. She was named after Domino Harvey, whom her mother met when Harvey was a young girl. The Kirke family are a junior branch of a family of Nottinghamshire landed gentry, and descend also from the Gibson-Craig baronets. Kirke's maternal grandmother was Israeli.


title: Domino Kirke

text: Domino was trained musically by her father Simon Kirke, the drummer for Free and Bad Company. From the age of nine, she sang in choirs, operas, and plays before moving to New York City, where she attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School to study classical voice and piano.


title: Domino Kirke

text: Her mother, Lorraine, runs the Geminola boutique in SoHo, and her sisters, Lola Kirke and Jemima Kirke, are actresses. Her maternal grandfather was property investor, Jack Dellal.


title: Domino Kirke

text: After being spotted at a Joe's Pub performance at age 17 by producer Andres Levin, Kirke was signed to his label, Fun Machine. Shortly thereafter, she joined forces with Jordan Galland, and formed the band DOMINO, which recorded an EP with Mark Ronson and toured for three years with the likes of Gang of Four and Lily Allen.The band was also featured in Lena Dunham's indie movie "Tiny Furniture". The video for their song "Green Umbrella", directed by Galland, won Best Musical Form at the 2006 Da Vinci Film and Video Festival.


title: Domino Kirke

text: "The Guard" was produced by Domino, Timo Ellis, and Jorge Elbrecht and was recorded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.


title: Domino Kirke

text: In 2014, Kirke began a relationship with actor and musician Penn Badgley. They married in a New York courthouse on 27 February 2017. In February 2020, Kirke and Badgley announced they were expecting their first child together after suffering two miscarriages.


title: Domino Kirke

text: Domino became a doula around 2009 and co-founded a doula business collective, Carriage House Birth. In November 2021, she, along with entrepreneur Joanna Griffiths, released "Life After Birth: Portraits of Love and the Beauty of Parenthood", a book about the experiences of postpartum mothers.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire.


title: Xiongnu

text: After their previous rivals, the Yuezhi, migrated west into Central Asia during the 2nd century BC, the Xiongnu became a dominant power on the steppes of East Asia, centred on the Mongolian Plateau. The Xiongnu were also active in areas now part of Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang. Their relations with adjacent Chinese dynasties to the south-east were complex—alternating between various periods of peace, war, and subjugation. Ultimately, the Xiongnu were defeated by the Han dynasty in a centuries-long conflict, which led to the confederation splitting in two, and forcible resettlement of large numbers of Xiongnu within Han borders. During the Sixteen Kingdoms era, as one of the "Five Barbarians", they founded several dynastic states in northern China, such as the Former Zhao and Hu Xia.


title: Xiongnu

text: Attempts to identify the Xiongnu with later groups of the western Eurasian Steppe were controversial for a period of time, as Scythians and Sarmatians were concurrently to the west, archaeogenetics confirmed that interaction and connection with the Huns. The identity of the ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses, because only a few words, mainly titles and personal names, were preserved in the Chinese sources. The name "Xiongnu" may be cognate with that of the Huns and/or the "Huna", although this is disputed. Other linguistic links—all of them also controversial—proposed by scholars include Iranian, Mongolic, Turkic, Uralic, Yeniseian, or multi-ethnic.


title: Xiongnu

text: The territories associated with the Xiongnu in historical sources were previously occupied by other nomadic cultures such as the Afanasevo culture (3500-2500 BC), based in the northwest of the Altai Mountains, which resulted from the eastward migration of the Yamnaya culture, originally based in the Pontic steppe north of the Caucasus Mountains. Their probable descendants, the Yuezhi, were displaced by the Xiongnu expansion in the 2nd century BC, and had to migrate to Central and Southern Asia. In the southern part of that territory -i.e. the Tarim basin's eastern edge- the Tarim mummies are discovered and dated to circa 2000 BC; recent studies (Li et al., 2010; Zhang et al.; 2021) indicate that the prehistoric inhabitants of the Tarim Basin arose from the admixture between locals of Ancient North Eurasian and Northeast Asians descent.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Pazyryk culture (6th-3rd century BC) immediately preceded the arrival of the Xiongnus. A Scythian culture, it was identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans, such as the Siberian Ice Princess, found in the Siberian permafrost, in the Altay Mountains, Kazakhstan and nearby Mongolia. To the south, the Ordos culture had developed in the Ordos Loop (modern Inner Mongolia, China) during the Bronze and early Iron Age from the 6th to 2nd centuries BC, and is of unknown ethno-linguistic origin, and is thought to represent the easternmost extension of Indo-European-speakers, while others argue for an autochthonus origin.


title: Xiongnu

text: Western Han historian Sima Qian composed an early yet detailed exposition on the Xiongnu in one "liezhuan" (arrayed account) of his "Records of the Grand Historian" ( BC), wherein the Xiongnu were alleged to be descendants of a certain Chunwei, who in turn descended from the "lineage of Lord Xia", a.k.a. Yu the Great. Even so, Sima Qian also drew a distinct line between the settled Huaxia people (Han) to the pastoral nomads (Xiongnu), characterizing them as two polar groups in the sense of a civilization versus an uncivilized society: the Hua–Yi distinction. Sima Qian also mentioned Xiongnu's early appearance north of Wild Goose Gate and Dai commanderies before 265 BCE, just before the Zhao-Xiongnu War; however, sinologist Edwin Pulleyblank (1994) contends that pre-241-BCE references to the Xiongnu are anachronistic substitutions for the Hu people instead. Sometimes the Xiongnu were distinguished from other nomadic peoples; namely, the Hu people; yet on other occasions, Chinese sources often just classified the Xiongnu as a "Hu" people, which was a blanket term for nomadic people. Even Sima Qian is inconsistent in his Historical Records: occasionally, he considered the Donghu to be the Hu proper, yet elsewhere he considered Xiongnu to be also Hu.


title: Xiongnu

text: The pronunciation of 匈奴 as Xiōngnú is the modern Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, from the Mandarin dialect spoken now in Beijing, which came into existence less than 1000 years ago. The Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as *"xiuoŋ-na" or *"qhoŋna". Christopher P. Atwood (2015) reconstructs *"Xoŋai", which he derives from the Ongi River () in Mongolia and suggests that it was originally a dynastic name rather than an ethnic name.


title: Xiongnu

text: Ancient China often came in contact with the Xianyun and the Xirong nomadic peoples. In later Chinese historiography, some groups of these peoples were believed to be the possible progenitors of the Xiongnu people. These nomadic people often had repeated military confrontations with the Shang and especially the Zhou, who often conquered and enslaved the nomads in an expansion drift. During the Warring States period, the armies from the Qin, Zhao and Yan states were encroaching and conquering various nomadic territories that were inhabited by the Xiongnu and other Hu peoples. The Zhao–Xiongnu War is a notable example of these campaigns.


title: Xiongnu

text: Pulleyblank argued that the Xiongnu were part of a Xirong group called Yiqu, who had lived in Shaanbei and had been influenced by China for centuries, before they were driven out by the Qin dynasty. Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu expanded Qin's territory at the expense of the Xiongnu. After the unification of Qin dynasty, Xiongnu was a threat to the northern board of Qin. They were likely to attack the Qin dynasty when they suffered natural disasters.


title: Xiongnu

text: The first known Xiongnu leader was Touman, who reigned between 220-209 BC. In 215 BC, Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang sent General Meng Tian on a military campaign against the Xiongnu. Meng Tian defeated the Xiongnu and expelled them from the Ordos loop, forcing Touman and the Xiongnu to flee north into the Mongolian Plateau. In 210 BC, Meng Tian died, and in 209 BC, Touman's son Modu became the Xiongnu Chanyu.


title: Xiongnu

text: In order to protect the Xiongnu from the threat of the Qin dynasty, Modu Chanyu united the Xiongnu into a powerful confederation. This transformed the Xiongnu into a more formidable polity, able to form larger armies and exercise improved strategic coordination. Two years later, in 207 BC, the Qin dynasty fell, and after a period of internal conflict, it was replaced by the Western Han dynasty in 202 BC. This period of Chinese instability was a time of prosperity for the Xiongnu, who adopted many Han agriculture techniques such as slaves for heavy labor and lived in Han-style homes.


title: Xiongnu

text: After forging internal unity, Modu Chanyu expanded the Xiongnu empire in all directions. To the north he conquered a number of nomadic peoples, including the Dingling of southern Siberia. He crushed the power of the Donghu people of eastern Mongolia and Manchuria as well as the Yuezhi in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu, where his son, Jizhu, made a skull cup out of the Yuezhi king. Modu also retook the original homeland of Xiongnu on the Yellow River, which had previously been taken by the Qin general Meng Tian. Under Modu's leadership, the Xiongnu became so strong that they began to threaten the Han dynasty.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 200 BC, Modu besieged the Chinese Han Dynasty emperor Gaozu (Gao-Di) with his 320,000-strong army at Peteng Fortress in Baideng (present-day Datong, Shanxi) almost causing Emperor Gaozu, the first Han emperor, to lose his throne in 200 BC. Gaozu (Gao-Di) after agreed to all Modu's terms, such as ceding the northern provinces to the Xiongnu and paying annual taxes, he was allowed to leave the siege. Although Gaozu was able to return to his capital Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), Modu occasionally threatened the Han's northern frontier and finally in 198 BC, a peace treaty was finally settled.


title: Xiongnu

text: Xiongnu in their expansion drove their western neighbour Yuezhi from the Hexi Corridor in year 176 BC, killing the Yuezhi king and asserting their presence in the Western Regions.


title: Xiongnu

text: By the time of Modu's death in 174 BC, the Xiongnu were recognized as the most prominent of the nomads bordering the Chinese Han empire


title: Xiongnu

text: According to the "Book of Han", later quoted in Duan Chengshi's ninth-century "Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang":


title: Xiongnu

text: The ruler of the Xiongnu was called the Chanyu. Under him were the Tuqi Kings. The Tuqi King of the Left was normally the heir presumptive. Next lower in the hierarchy came more officials in pairs of left and right: the "guli", the army commanders, the great governors, the "danghu" and the "gudu". Beneath them came the commanders of detachments of one thousand, of one hundred, and of ten men. This nation of nomads, a people on the march, was organized like an army.


title: Xiongnu

text: After Modu, later leaders formed a dualistic system of political organisation with the left and right branches of the Xiongnu divided on a regional basis. The "chanyu" or "shanyu", a ruler equivalent to the Emperor of China, exercised direct authority over the central territory. Longcheng (龍城) became the annual meeting place and served as the Xiongnu capital. The ruins of Longcheng were found south of Ulziit District, Arkhangai Province in 2017.


title: Xiongnu

text: North of Shanxi with the Tuqi King of the Left was holding the area north of Beijing and the Tuqi King of the Right was holding the Ordos Loop area as far as Gansu.


title: Xiongnu

text: In the winter of 200 BC, following a Xiongnu siege of Taiyuan, Emperor Gaozu of Han personally led a military campaign against Modu Chanyu. At the Battle of Baideng, he was ambushed, reputedly by Xiongnu cavalry. The emperor was cut off from supplies and reinforcements for seven days, only narrowly escaping capture.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Han dynasty sent random unrelated commoner women falsely labeled as "princesses" and members of the Han imperial family multiple times when they were practicing Heqin marriage alliances with the Xiongnu in order to avoid sending the emperor's daughters. The Han sent these "princesses" to marry Xiongnu leaders in their efforts to stop the border raids. Along with arranged marriages, the Han sent gifts to bribe the Xiongnu to stop attacking. After the defeat at Pingcheng in 200 BC, the Han emperor abandoned a military solution to the Xiongnu threat. Instead, in 198 BC, the courtier was dispatched for negotiations. The peace settlement eventually reached between the parties included a Han princess given in marriage to the "chanyu" (called "heqin") (); periodic gifts to the Xiongnu of silk, distilled beverages and rice; equal status between the states; and a boundary wall as mutual border.


title: Xiongnu

text: This first treaty set the pattern for relations between the Han and the Xiongnu for sixty years. Up to 135 BC, the treaty was renewed nine times, each time with an increase in the "gifts" to the Xiongnu Empire. In 192 BC, Modun even asked for the hand of Emperor Gaozu of Han widow Empress Lü Zhi. His son and successor, the energetic Jiyu, known as the Laoshang Chanyu, continued his father's expansionist policies. Laoshang succeeded in negotiating with Emperor Wen terms for the maintenance of a large scale government sponsored market system.


title: Xiongnu

text: While the Xiongnu benefited handsomely, from the Chinese perspective marriage treaties were costly, very humiliating and ineffective. Laoshang Chanyu showed that he did not take the peace treaty seriously. On one occasion his scouts penetrated to a point near Chang'an. In 166 BC he personally led 140,000 cavalry to invade Anding, reaching as far as the imperial retreat at Yong. In 158 BC, his successor sent 30,000 cavalry to attack Shangdang and another 30,000 to Yunzhong.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Xiongnu also practiced marriage alliances with Han dynasty officers and officials who defected to their side by marrying off sisters and daughters of the Chanyu (the Xiongnu ruler) to Han Chinese who joined the Xiongnu and Xiongnu in Han service. The daughter of the Laoshang Chanyu (and older sister of Junchen Chanyu and Yizhixie Chanyu) was married to the Xiongnu General Zhao Xin, the Marquis of Xi who was serving the Han dynasty. The daughter of Qiedihou Chanyu was married to the Han Chinese General Li Ling after he surrendered and defected. Another Han Chinese General who defected to the Xiongnu was Li Guangli, general in the War of the Heavenly Horses, who also married a daughter of the Hulugu Chanyu. The Han Chinese diplomat Su Wu married a Xiongnu woman given by Li Ling when he was arrested and taken captive. Han Chinese explorer Zhang Qian married a Xiongnu woman and had a child with her when he was taken captive by the Xiongnu.


title: Xiongnu

text: When the Eastern Jin dynasty ended, the Xianbei Northern Wei received the Han Chinese Jin prince Sima Chuzhi 司馬楚之 as a refugee. A Northern Wei Xianbei Princess married Sima Chuzhi, giving birth to Sima Jinlong 司馬金龍. Northern Liang Xiongnu King Juqu Mujian's daughter married Sima Jinlong.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Yenisei Kyrgyz khagans of the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate claimed descent from the Chinese general Li Ling, grandson of the famous Han dynasty general Li Guang. Li Ling was captured by the Xiongnu and defected in the first century BCE. And since the Tang royal Li family also claimed descent from Li Guang, the Kirghiz Khagan was therefore recognized as a member of the Tang Imperial family. This relationship soothed the relationship when Kyrgyz khagan Are (阿熱) invaded Uyghur Khaganate and put Qasar Qaghan to the sword. The news brought to Chang'an by Kyrgyz ambassador Zhuwu Hesu (註吾合素).


title: Xiongnu

text: The Han dynasty made preparations for war when the Han Emperor Wu dispatched the Han Chinese explorer Zhang Qian to explore the mysterious kingdoms to the west and to form an alliance with the Yuezhi people in order to combat the Xiongnu. During this time Zhang married a Xiongnu wife, who bore him a son, and gained the trust of the Xiongnu leader. While Zhang Qian did not succeed in this mission, his reports of the west provided even greater incentive to counter the Xiongnu hold on westward routes out of the Han Empire, and the Han prepared to mount a large scale attack using the Northern Silk Road to move men and material.


title: Xiongnu

text: While the Han dynasty was making preparations for a military confrontation since the reign of Emperor Wen, the break did not come until 133 BC, following an abortive trap to ambush the "chanyu" at Mayi. By that point the empire was consolidated politically, militarily and economically, and was led by an adventurous pro-war faction at court. In that year, Emperor Wu reversed the decision he had made the year before to renew the peace treaty.


title: Xiongnu

text: Full-scale war broke out in autumn 129 BC, when 40,000 Han cavalry made a surprise attack on the Xiongnu at the border markets. In 127 BC, the Han general Wei Qing retook the Ordos. In 121 BC, the Xiongnu suffered another setback when Huo Qubing led a force of light cavalry westward out of Longxi and within six days fought his way through five Xiongnu kingdoms. The Xiongnu Hunye king was forced to surrender with 40,000 men. In 119 BC both Huo and Wei, each leading 50,000 cavalrymen and 100,000 footsoldiers (in order to keep up with the mobility of the Xiongnu, many of the non-cavalry Han soldiers were mobile infantrymen who traveled on horseback but fought on foot), and advancing along different routes, forced the chanyu and his Xiongnu court to flee north of the Gobi Desert. Major logistical difficulties limited the duration and long-term continuation of these campaigns. According to the analysis of Yan You (嚴尤), the difficulties were twofold. Firstly there was the problem of supplying food across long distances. Secondly, the weather in the northern Xiongnu lands was difficult for Han soldiers, who could never carry enough fuel. According to official reports, the Xiongnu lost 80,000 to 90,000 men, and out of the 140,000 horses the Han forces had brought into the desert, fewer than 30,000 returned to the Han Empire.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 104 and 102 BC, the Han fought and won the War of the Heavenly Horses against the Kingdom of Dayuan. As a result, the Han gained many Ferghana horses which further aided them in their battle against the Xiongnu. As a result of these battles, the Han Empire controlled the strategic region from the Ordos and Gansu corridor to Lop Nor. They succeeded in separating the Xiongnu from the Qiang peoples to the south, and also gained direct access to the Western Regions. Because of strong Han control over the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu became unstable and were no longer a threat to the Han Empire.


title: Xiongnu

text: Ban Chao, Protector General (都護; "Duhu") of the Han dynasty, embarked with an army of 70,000 soldiers in a campaign against the Xiongnu remnants who were harassing the trade route now known as the Silk Road. His successful military campaign saw the subjugation of one Xiongnu tribe after another. Ban Chao also sent an envoy named Gan Ying to Daqin (Rome). Ban Chao was created the Marquess of Dingyuan (定遠侯, i.e., "the Marquess who stabilized faraway places") for his services to the Han Empire and returned to the capital Luoyang at the age of 70 years and died there in the year 102. Following his death, the power of the Xiongnu in the Western Regions increased again, and the emperors of subsequent dynasties did not reach as far west until the Tang dynasty.


title: Xiongnu

text: When a Chanyu died, power could pass to his younger brother if his son was not of age. This system, which can be compared to Gaelic tanistry, normally kept an adult male on the throne, but could cause trouble in later generations when there were several lineages that might claim the throne. When the 12th Chanyu died in 60 BC, power was taken by Woyanqudi, a grandson of the 12th Chanyu's cousin. Being something of a usurper, he tried to put his own men in power, which only increased the number of his enemies. The 12th Chanyu's son fled east and, in 58 BC, revolted. Few would support Woyanqudi and he was driven to suicide, leaving the rebel son, Huhanye, as the 14th Chanyu. The Woyanqudi faction then set up his brother, Tuqi, as Chanyu (58 BC). In 57 BC three more men declared themselves Chanyu. Two dropped their claims in favor of the third who was defeated by Tuqi in that year and surrendered to Huhanye the following year. In 56 BC Tuqi was defeated by Huhanye and committed suicide, but two more claimants appeared: Runzhen and Huhanye's elder brother Zhizhi Chanyu. Runzhen was killed by Zhizhi in 54 BC, leaving only Zhizhi and Huhanye. Zhizhi grew in power, and, in 53 BC, Huhanye moved south and submitted to the Chinese. Huhanye used Chinese support to weaken Zhizhi, who gradually moved west. In 49 BC, a brother to Tuqi set himself up as Chanyu and was killed by Zhizhi. In 36 BC, Zhizhi was killed by a Chinese army while trying to establish a new kingdom in the far west near Lake Balkhash.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 53 BC Huhanye (呼韓邪) decided to enter into tributary relations with Han China. The original terms insisted on by the Han court were that, first, the "Chanyu" or his representatives should come to the capital to pay homage; secondly, the "Chanyu" should send a hostage prince; and thirdly, the "Chanyu" should present tribute to the Han emperor. The political status of the Xiongnu in the Chinese world order was reduced from that of a "brotherly state" to that of an "outer vassal" (外臣). During this period, however, the Xiongnu maintained political sovereignty and full territorial integrity. The Great Wall of China continued to serve as the line of demarcation between Han and Xiongnu.


title: Xiongnu

text: Huhanye sent his son, the "wise king of the right" Shuloujutang, to the Han court as hostage. In 51 BC he personally visited Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor on the Lunar New Year. In the same year, another envoy Qijushan (稽居狦) was received at the Ganquan Palace in the north-west of modern Shanxi. On the financial side, Huhanye was amply rewarded in large quantities of gold, cash, clothes, silk, horses and grain for his participation. Huhanye made two further homage trips, in 49 BC and 33 BC; with each one the imperial gifts were increased. On the last trip, Huhanye took the opportunity to ask to be allowed to become an imperial son-in-law. As a sign of the decline in the political status of the Xiongnu, Emperor Yuan refused, giving him instead five ladies-in-waiting. One of them was Wang Zhaojun, famed in Chinese folklore as one of the Four Beauties.


title: Xiongnu

text: When Zhizhi learned of his brother's submission, he also sent a son to the Han court as hostage in 53 BC. Then twice, in 51 BC and 50 BC, he sent envoys to the Han court with tribute. But having failed to pay homage personally, he was never admitted to the tributary system. In 36 BC, a junior officer named Chen Tang, with the help of Gan Yanshou, protector-general of the Western Regions, assembled an expeditionary force that defeated him at the Battle of Zhizhi and sent his head as a trophy to Chang'an.


title: Xiongnu

text: Tributary relations were discontinued during the reign of Huduershi (18 AD–48), corresponding to the political upheavals of the Xin Dynasty. The Xiongnu took the opportunity to regain control of the western regions, as well as neighboring peoples such as the Wuhuan. In 24 AD, Hudershi even talked about reversing the tributary system.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Xiongnu's new power was met with a policy of appeasement by Emperor Guangwu. At the height of his power, Huduershi even compared himself to his illustrious ancestor, Modu. Due to growing regionalism among the Xiongnu, however, Huduershi was never able to establish unquestioned authority. In contravention of a principle of fraternal succession established by Huhanye, Huduershi designated his son Punu as heir-apparent. However, as the eldest son of the preceding "chanyu", Bi (Pi)—the Rizhu King of the Right—had a more legitimate claim. Consequently, Bi refused to attend the annual meeting at the "chanyu"s court. Nevertheless, in 46 AD, Punu ascended the throne.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 48 AD, a confederation of eight Xiongnu tribes in Bi's power base in the south, with a military force totalling 40,000 to 50,000 men, seceded from Punu's kingdom and acclaimed Bi as "chanyu". This kingdom became known as the Southern Xiongnu.


title: Xiongnu

text: The rump kingdom under Punu, around the Orkhon (modern north central Mongolia) became known as the Northern Xiongnu. Punu, who became known as the Northern "Chanyu", began to put military pressure on the Southern Xiongnu.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 49 AD, Tsi Yung, a Han governor of Liaodong, allied with the Wuhuan and Xianbei, attacked the Northern Xiongnu. The Northern Xiongnu suffered two major defeats: one at the hands of the Xianbei in 85 AD, and by the Han during the Battle of Ikh Bayan, in 89 AD. The northern "chanyu" fled to the north-west with his subjects.


title: Xiongnu

text: According to the fifth-century "Book of Wei", the remnants of Northern Chanyu's tribe settled as Yueban (悅般), near Kucha and subjugated the Wusun; while the rest fled across the Altai mountains towards Kangju in Transoxania. It states that this group later became the Hephthalites.


title: Xiongnu

text: Coincidentally, the Southern Xiongnu were plagued by natural disasters and misfortunes—in addition to the threat posed by Punu. Consequently, in 50 AD, the Southern Xiongnu submitted to tributary relations with Han China. The system of tribute was considerably tightened by the Han, to keep the Southern Xiongnu under control. The "chanyu" was ordered to establish his court in the Meiji district of Xihe Commandery and the Southern Xiongnu were resettled in eight frontier commanderies. At the same time, large numbers of Chinese were also resettled in these commanderies, in mixed Han-Xiongnu settlements. Economically, the Southern Xiongnu became reliant on trade with the Han.


title: Xiongnu

text: Tensions were evident between Han settlers and practitioners of the nomadic way of life. Thus, in 94, Anguo Chanyu joined forces with newly subjugated Xiongnu from the north and started a large scale rebellion against the Han.


title: Xiongnu

text: During the late 2nd century AD, the southern Xiongnu were drawn into the rebellions then plaguing the Han court. In 188, the "chanyu" was murdered by some of his own subjects for agreeing to send troops to help the Han suppress a rebellion in Hebei—many of the Xiongnu feared that it would set a precedent for unending military service to the Han court. The murdered "chanyu's" son Yufuluo, entitled Chizhisizhu (), succeeded him, but was then overthrown by the same rebellious faction in 189. He travelled to Luoyang (the Han capital) to seek aid from the Han court, but at this time the Han court was in disorder from the clash between Grand General He Jin and the eunuchs, and the intervention of the warlord Dong Zhuo. The "chanyu" had no choice but to settle down with his followers in Pingyang, a city in Shanxi. In 195, he died and was succeeded as "chanyu" by his brother Huchuquan Chanyu.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 215–216 AD, the warlord-statesman Cao Cao detained Huchuquan Chanyu in the city of Ye, and divided his followers in Shanxi into five divisions: left, right, south, north and centre. This was aimed at preventing the exiled Xiongnu in Shanxi from engaging in rebellion, and also allowed Cao Cao to use the Xiongnu as auxiliaries in his cavalry.


title: Xiongnu

text: Later the Xiongnu aristocracy in Shanxi changed their surname from Luanti to Liu for prestige reasons, claiming that they were related to the Han imperial clan through the old intermarriage policy. After Huchuquan, the Southern Xiongnu were partitioned into five local tribes. Each local chief was under the "surveillance of a chinese resident", while the shanyu was in "semicaptivity at the imperial court."


title: Xiongnu

text: The Southern Xiongnu that settled in northern China during the Eastern Han dynasty retained their tribal affiliation and political organization and played an active role in Chinese politics. During the Sixteen Kingdoms (304–439 CE), Southern Xiongnu leaders founded or ruled several kingdoms, including Liu Yuan's Han Zhao Kingdom (also known as Former Zhao), Helian Bobo's Xia and Juqu Mengxun's Northern Liang


title: Xiongnu

text: Fang Xuanling's Book of Jin lists nineteen Xiongnu tribes: Tuge (屠各), Xianzhi (鮮支), Koutou (寇頭), Wutan (烏譚), Chile (赤勒), Hanzhi (捍蛭), Heilang (黑狼), Chisha (赤沙), Yugang (鬱鞞), Weisuo (萎莎), Tutong (禿童), Bomie (勃蔑), Qiangqu (羌渠), Helai (賀賴), Zhongqin (鐘跂), Dalou (大樓), Yongqu (雍屈), Zhenshu (真樹) and Lijie (力羯).


title: Xiongnu

text: In 304, Liu Yuan became Chanyu of the Five Hordes. In 308, declared himself emperor and founded the Han Zhao Dynasty. In 311, his son and successor Liu Cong captured Luoyang, and with it the Emperor Huai of Jin China.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 316, the Emperor Min of Jin China was captured in Chang'an. Both emperors were humiliated as cupbearers in Linfen before being executed in 313 and 318.


title: Xiongnu

text: North China came under Xiongnu rule while the remnants of the Jin dynasty survived in the south at Jiankang.


title: Xiongnu

text: In 318, after suppressing a coup by a powerful minister in the Xiongnu-Han court, in which the emperor and a large proportion of the aristocracy were massacred, the Xiongnu prince Liu Yao moved the Xiongnu-Han capital from Pingyang to Chang'an and renamed the dynasty as Zhao. Liu Yuan had declared the empire's name Han to create a linkage with Han Dynasty—to which he claimed he was a descendant, through a princess, but Liu Yao felt that it was time to end the linkage with Han and explicitly restore the linkage to the great Xiongnu chanyu Maodun, and therefore decided to change the name of the state. (However, this was not a break from Liu Yuan, as he continued to honor Liu Yuan and Liu Cong posthumously; it is hence known to historians collectively as Han Zhao.)


title: Xiongnu

text: However, the eastern part of north China came under the control of a rebel Xiongnu-Han general of Jie ancestry named Shi Le. Liu Yao and Shi Le fought a long war until 329, when Liu Yao was captured in battle and executed. Chang'an fell to Shi Le soon after, and the Xiongnu dynasty was wiped out. North China was ruled by Shi Le's Later Zhao dynasty for the next 20 years.


title: Xiongnu

text: The northern Tiefu branch of the Xiongnu gained control of what is modern-day Inner Mongolia in the 10 years between the conquest of the Xianbei-ruled state of Dai by the Former Qin dynasty in 376, and its restoration in 386 as the Northern Wei dynasty. After 386, the Tiefu were gradually destroyed by or surrendered to the Tuoba, with the submitting Tiefu becoming known as the Dugu. Liu Bobo, a surviving prince of the Tiefu fled to the Ordos Loop, where he founded a state called the Hu Xia dynasty (thus named because of the Xiongnu's supposed ancestry from the Xia dynasty) and changed his surname to Helian (赫連). The Hu Xia dynasty was conquered by the Northern Wei in 428–31, and the Xiongnu thenceforth effectively ceased to play a major role in Chinese history, assimilating into the Xianbei and Han ethnicities.


title: Xiongnu

text: Tongwancheng (meaning "Unite All Nations") was the capital of the Hu Xia, whose rulers claimed descent from Modu Chanyu.


title: Xiongnu

text: The ruined city was discovered in 1996 and the State Council designated it as a cultural relic under top state protection. The repair of the Yong'an Platform, where Helian Bobo, emperor of the Da Xia regime, reviewed parading troops, has been finished and restoration on the 31-meter-tall turret follows.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Juqu clan was of Lushuihu origin, a branch of the Xiongnu. Their leader Juqu Mengxun took over the Northern Liang dynasty by overthrowing the former puppet ruler Duan Ye. By 439, the Juqu power was destroyed by the Northern Wei dynasty. Their remnants were then settled in the city of Gaochang before being destroyed by the Rouran.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Xiongnu confederation was unusually long-lived for a steppe empire. The purpose of raiding the Central Plain was not simply for goods, but to force the Central Plain polity to pay regular tribute. The power of the Xiongnu ruler was based on his control of Han tribute which he used to reward his supporters. The Han and Xiongnu empires rose at the same time because the Xiongnu state depended on Han tribute. A major Xiongnu weakness was the custom of lateral succession. If a dead ruler's son was not old enough to take command, power passed to the late ruler's brother. This worked in the first generation but could lead to civil war in the second generation. The first time this happened, in 60 BC, the weaker party adopted what Barfield calls the 'inner frontier strategy.' They moved south and submitted to the dominant Central Plain regime and then used the resources obtained from their overlord to defeat the Northern Xiongnu and re-establish the empire. The second time this happened, about 47 AD, the strategy failed. The southern ruler was unable to defeat the northern ruler and the Xiongnu remained divided.


title: Xiongnu

text: The Chinese name for the Xiongnu was a pejorative term in itself, as the characters (匈奴) have the meaning of "fierce slave". (The Chinese characters are pronounced as "Xiōngnú" in modern Mandarin Chinese.)


title: Xiongnu

text: Sinologist Axel Schuessler reconstructs the pronunciations of 匈奴 as *"hoŋ-nâ" in Late Old Chinese (c. 318 BCE) and as *"hɨoŋ-nɑ" Eastern Han Chinese. Citing other Chinese transcriptions wherein the velar nasal "ŋ", after a short vowel, seemingly played the role of a general nasal - sometimes equivalent to "n" & "m" -, Schuessler proposes that 匈奴 Xiongnu < *"hɨoŋ-nɑ" < *"hoŋ-nâ" might be a Chinese rendition, Han or even pre-Han, of foreign *"Hŏna" or *"Hŭna", which Schuessler compares to Huns and Sanskrit "Hūṇā".


title: Xiongnu

text: The Xiongnu-Hun hypothesis was originally proposed by the 18th-century French historian Joseph de Guignes, who noticed that ancient Chinese scholars had referred to members of tribes which were associated with the Xiongnu by names which were similar to the name "Hun", albeit with varying Chinese characters. Étienne de la Vaissière has shown that, in the Sogdian script used in the so-called "Sogdian Ancient Letters", both the Xiongnu and the Huns were referred to as the γwn ("xwn"), which indicates that the two names were synonymous. Although the theory that the Xiongnu were the precursors of the Huns as they were later known in Europe is now accepted by many scholars, it has yet to become a consensus view. The identification with the Huns may either be incorrect or it may be an oversimplification (as would appear to be the case with a proto-Mongol people, the Rouran, who have sometimes been linked to the Avars of Central Europe).


title: Xiongnu

text: There is a general consensus among scholars that the Xiongnu elite were originally Iranian. Harold Walter Bailey proposed an Iranian origin of the Xiongnu, recognizing all of the earliest Xiongnu names of the 2nd century BC as being of the Iranian type. Central Asian scholar Christopher I. Beckwith notes that the Xiongnu name could be a cognate of Scythian, Saka and Sogdia, corresponding to a name for Northern Iranians. According to Beckwith the Xiongnu could have contained a leading Iranian component when they started out, but more likely they had earlier been subjects of an Iranian people and learned the Iranian nomadic model from them.


title: Xiongnu

text: In the 1994 UNESCO-published "History of Civilizations of Central Asia", its editor János Harmatta claims that the royal tribes and kings of the Xiongnu bore Iranian names, that all Xiongnu words noted by the Chinese can be explained from a Scythian language, and that it is therefore clear that the majority of Xiongnu tribes spoke an Eastern Iranian language.


title: Xiongnu

text: According to a study by Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong, published in 2020 in the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences by Cambridge University Press, "The predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic". However, important cultural, technological and genetic contributions of Iranian-speakers to the Xiongnu culture were also mentioned. All sampled Xiongnu genomes contain varying degrees of Iranian ancestry, amounting to between 5 and 25% across Xiongnu genomes.


title: Xiongnu

text: Lajos Ligeti was the first to suggest that the Xiongnu spoke a Yeniseian language. In the early 1960s Edwin Pulleyblank was the first to expand upon this idea with credible evidence. The Yeniseian theory proposes that the Jie, a western Xiongnu people, spoke a Yeniseian language. Hyun Jin Kim notes that the 7th AD Chinese conpendium, "Jin Shu", contains a transliterated song of Jie origin, which appears to be Yeniseian. This song has led researchers Pulleyblank and Vovin to argue for a Yeniseian Jie dominant minority, that ruled over the other Xiongnu ethnicities, like Iranian and Turkic people. Kim has stated that the dominant Xiongnu language was likely Turkic or Yeniseian, but has cautioned that the Xiongnu were definitely a multi-ethnic society.


title: Xiongnu

text: Pulleybank and D. N. Keightley asserted that the Xiongnu titles "were originally Siberian words but were later borrowed by the Turkic and Mongolic peoples". Titles such as tarqan, tegin and kaghan were also inherited from the Xiongnu language and are possibly of Yeniseian origin. For example, the Xiongnu word for "heaven" is theorized to come from Proto-Yeniseian "tɨŋVr".


title: Xiongnu

text: Vocabulary from Xiongnu inscriptions sometimes appears to have Yeniseian cognates, such as Xiongnu kʷala 'son' and Ket qalek 'younger son', Xiongnu sakdak 'boot' appears to be similar to Ket sagdi 'boot' and Xiongnu gʷawa "prince" and Ket gij "prince" or Xiongnu dar "north" and Yugh tɨr "north". Pulleyblank also argued that because Xiongnu words appear to have clusters with r and l, in the beginning of the word it is unlikely to be of Turkic origin, and instead believed that most vocabulary we have mostly resemble Yeniseian languages.


title: Xiongnu

text: Alexander Vovin also wrote, that some names of horses in the Xiongnu language appear to be Turkic words with Yeniseian prefixes.


title: Xiongnu

text: An analysis by Savalyev and Jeong has cast doubt on the Yeniseian theory. The Xiongnu were characterized by a genetic affinity to Iranian speakers, which is lacking in modern-day Yeniseian speakers such as Kets, who are more genetically similar to Samoyedic speakers than to Xiongnu individuals and other Iron Age Siberians.


title: Xiongnu

text: According to a study by Alexander Savelyev and Choongwon Jeong, published in 2020 in the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences by Cambridge University Press, "The predominant part of the Xiongnu population is likely to have spoken Turkic". However, genetic studies found a mixture of haplogroups from western and eastern Eurasian origins that suggested a large genetic diversity within, and possibly multiple origins of Xiongnu elites. The Turkic-related component may be brought by eastern Eurasian genetic substratum.


title: Xiongnu

text: Other proponents of a Turkic language theory include E.H. Parker, Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, Julius Klaproth, Gustaf John Ramstedt, Annemarie von Gabain, and Charles Hucker. André Wink states that the Xiongnu probably spoke an early form of Turkic; even if Xiongnu were not "Turks" nor Turkic-speaking, they were in close contact with Turkic-speakers very early on. Craig Benjamin sees the Xiongnu as either proto-Turks or proto-Mongols who possibly spoke a language related to the Dingling.


title: Xiongnu

text: However, Chinese sources also ascribe Xiongnu origins to the Para-Mongolic-speaking Kumo Xi and Khitans.


title: Xiongnu

text: Mongolian and other scholars have suggested that the Xiongnu spoke a language related to the Mongolic languages. Mongolian archaeologists proposed that the Slab Grave Culture people were the ancestors of the Xiongnu, and some scholars have suggested that the Xiongnu may have been the ancestors of the Mongols. Nikita Bichurin considered Xiongnu and Xianbei to be two subgroups (or dynasties) of but one same ethnicity.


title: Xiongnu

text: According to the "Book of Song", the Rourans, whom Book of Wei identified as offspring of Proto-Mongolic Donghu people, possessed the alternative name(s) 大檀 "Dàtán" "Tatar" and/or 檀檀 "Tántán" "Tartar" and according to Book of Liang, "they also constituted a separate branch of the Xiongnu". Old Book of Tang mentioned twenty Shiwei tribes, whom other Chinese sources (Book of Sui, New Book of Tang) associated with the Khitans, another people who in turn descended from the Xianbei and were also associated with the Xiongnu. While the Xianbei, Khitans, and Shiwei are generally believed to be predominantly Mongolic- and Para-Mongolic-speaking, yet Xianbei were stated to descend from the Donghu, whom Sima Qian distinguished from the Xiongnu. (notwithstanding Sima Qian's inconsistency). Additionally, Chinese chroniclers routinely ascribed Xiongnu origins to various nomadic groups: for examples, Xiongnu ancestry was ascribed to Para-Mongolic-speaking Kumo Xi as well as Turkic-speaking Göktürks and Tiele;


title: Xiongnu

text: Genghis Khan refers to the time of Modu Chanyu as "the remote times of our Chanyu" in his letter to Daoist Qiu Chuji. Sun and moon symbol of Xiongnu that discovered by archaeologists is similar to Mongolian Soyombo symbol.


title: Xiongnu

text: Since the early 19th century, a number of Western scholars have proposed a connection between various language families or subfamilies and the language or languages of the Xiongnu. Albert Terrien de Lacouperie considered them to be multi-component groups. Many scholars believe the Xiongnu confederation was a mixture of different ethno-linguistic groups, and that their main language (as represented in the Chinese sources) and its relationships have not yet been satisfactorily determined. Kim rejects "old racial theories or even ethnic affiliations" in favour of the "historical reality of these extensive, multiethnic, polyglot steppe empires".


title: Xiongnu

text: Chinese sources link the Tiele people and Ashina to the Xiongnu, not all Turkic peoples. According to the "Book of Zhou" and the "History of the Northern Dynasties", the Ashina clan was a component of the Xiongnu confederation, but this connection is disputed, and according to the "Book of Sui" and the "Tongdian", they were "mixed nomads" () from Pingliang. The Ashina and Tiele may have been separate ethnic groups who mixed with the Xiongnu. Indeed, Chinese sources link many nomadic peoples ("hu"; see "Wu Hu") on their northern borders to the Xiongnu, just as Greco-Roman historiographers called Avars and Huns "Scythians". The Greek cognate of "Tourkia" () was used by the Byzantine emperor and scholar Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in his book "De Administrando Imperio", though in his use, "Turks" always referred to Magyars. Such archaizing was a common literary "topos", and implied similar geographic origins and nomadic lifestyle but not direct filiation.


title: Xiongnu

text: Some Uyghurs claimed descent from the Xiongnu (according to Chinese history "Weishu", the founder of the Uyghur Khaganate was descended from a Xiongnu ruler), but many contemporary scholars do not consider the modern Uyghurs to be of direct linear descent from the old Uyghur Khaganate because modern Uyghur language and Old Uyghur languages are different. Rather, they consider them to be descendants of a number of people, one of them the ancient Uyghurs.


title: Xiongnu

text: In various kinds of ancient inscriptions on monuments of Munmu of Silla, it is recorded that King Munmu had Xiongnu ancestry. According to several historians, it is possible that there were tribes of Koreanic origin. There are also some Korean researchers that point out that the grave goods of Silla and of the eastern Xiongnu are alike.


title: Xiongnu

text: Turkologist Gerhard Doerfer has denied any possibility of a relationship between the Xiongnu language and any other known language, even any connection with Turkic or Mongolian.


title: Xiongnu

text: The original geographic location of the Xiongnu is disputed among steppe archaeologists. Since the 1960s, the geographic origin of the Xiongnu has attempted to be traced through an analysis of Early Iron Age burial constructions. No region has been proven to have mortuary practices that clearly match those of the Xiongnu.


title: Xiongnu

text: In the 1920s, Pyotr Kozlov's oversaw the excavation of royal tombs at the Noin-Ula burial site in northern Mongolia, dated to around the first century CE. Other Xiongnu sites have been unearthed in Inner Mongolia, such as the Ordos culture. Sinologist Otto Maenchen-Helfen has said that depictions of the Xiongnu of Transbaikalia and the Ordos show commonly show individuals with West Eurasian features. Iaroslav Lebedynsky said that West Eurasian depictions in the Ordos region should be attributed to a "Scythian affinity".


title: Xiongnu

text: Portraits found in the Noin-Ula excavations demonstrate other cultural evidences and influences, showing that Chinese and Xiongnu art have influenced each other mutually. Some of these embroidered portraits in the Noin-Ula kurgans also depict the Xiongnu with long braided hair with wide ribbons, which is seen to be identical with the Ashina clan hair-style. Well-preserved bodies in Xiongnu and pre-Xiongnu tombs in the Mongolian Republic and southern Siberia show both East Asian and West Eurasian features.


title: Xiongnu

text: Analysis of cranial remains from some sites attributed to the Xiongnu have revealed that they had dolichocephalic skulls with East Asian craniometrical features, setting them apart from neighboring populations in present-day Mongolia. Russian and Chinese anthropological and craniofacial studies show that the Xiongnu were physically very heterogenous, with six different population clusters showing different degrees of West Eurasian and East Asian physical traits.


title: Xiongnu

text: Presently, there exist four fully excavated and well documented cemeteries: Ivolga, Dyrestui, Burkhan Tolgoi, and Daodunzi. Additionally thousands of tombs have been recorded in Transbaikalia and Mongolia.


title: Xiongnu

text: The archaeologists have chosen to, for the most part, refrain from positing anything about Han-Xiongnu relations based on the material excavated. However, they were willing to mention the following: "There is no clear indication of the ethnicity of this tomb occupant, but in a similar brick-chambered tomb of the late Eastern Han period at the same cemetery, archaeologists discovered a bronze seal with the official title that the Han government bestowed upon the leader of the Xiongnu. The excavators suggested that these brick chamber tombs all belong to the Xiongnu (Qinghai 1993)."Classifications of these burial sites make distinction between two prevailing type of burials: "(1) monumental ramped terrace tombs which are often flanked by smaller "satellite" burials and (2) 'circular' or 'ring' burials." Some scholars consider this a division between "elite" graves and "commoner" graves. Other scholars, find this division too simplistic and not evocative of a true distinction because it shows "ignorance of the nature of the mortuary investments and typically luxuriant burial assemblages [and does not account for] the discovery of other lesser interments that do not qualify as either of these types."


title: Xiongnu

text: A 2003 study found that 89% of Xiongnu maternal lineages are of East Asian origin, while 11% were of West Eurasian origin. However, a 2016 study found that 37.5% of Xiongnu maternal lineages were West Eurasian, in a central Mongolian sample.


title: Xiongnu

text: According to Rogers & Kaestle (2022), these studies make clear that the Xiongnu population is extremely similar to the preceding Slab Grave population, which had a similar frequency of Eastern and Western maternal haplogroups, supporting a hypothesis of continuity from the Slab Grave period to the Xiongnu. They wrote that the bulk of the genetics research indicates that roughly 27% of Xiongnu maternal haplogroups were of West Eurasian origin, while the rest were East Asian.


title: Xiongnu

text: Some examples of maternal haplogroups observed in Xiongnu specimens include D4b2b4, N9a2a, G3a3, D4a6 and D4b2b2b. and U2e1.


title: Xiongnu

text: According to Rogers & Kaestle (2022), roughly 47% of Xiongnu paternal haplogroups were of West Eurasian origin, while the rest were of East Asian origin. They observed that this contrasts strongly with the preceding Slab Grave period, which was dominated by East Asian patrilineages. They suggest that this may reflect an aggressive expansion of people with West Eurasian paternal haplogroups, or perhaps the practice of marriage alliances favoring people with Western patrilines.


title: Xiongnu

text: Some examples of paternal haplogroups in Xiongnu specimens include Q1b, C3, R1, R1b, O3a and O3a3b2, R1a1a1b2a-Z94, R1a1a1b2a2-Z2124, Q1a and N1a.


title: Xiongnu

text: A study published in the "American Journal of Physical Anthropology" in October 2006 detected significant genetic continuity between the examined individuals at Egyin Gol and modern Mongolians.


title: Xiongnu

text: A genetic study published in "Nature" in May 2018 examined the remains of five Xiongnu. The study concluded that Xiongnu confederation was genetically heterogeneous, and Xiongnu individuals belonging to two distinct groups, one being of East Asian origin and the other presenting considerable admixture levels with West Eurasian (possibly from Central Saka) sources. The examined Xiongnu with mixed East Asian and West Eurasian origin have had a larger amount of East Asian ancestry than neighboring Sakas, Wusun and Kangju. The evidence suggested that the Huns emerged through westward migrations of East Asian nomads (especially Xiongnu tribal members) and subsequent admixture between them and Sakas, which is characterized by increased levels of East Asian paternal ancestry in Central Asia.


title: Xiongnu

text: A study published in November 2020 examined 60 early and late Xiongnu individuals from across of Mongolia. By admixture they formed three distinct clusters, "early/Xiongnu_west" related to Scythians, "early/Xiongnu_rest" with more Northeastern Asian ancestry and "late/Xiongnu" with high heterogenity having Sarmatian and Han Chinese gene pool influence. Their uniparental haplogroup assignments also showed heterogenetic influence on their ethnogenesis as well as their connection with Huns.


title: Xiongnu

text: Within the Xiongnu culture more variety is visible from site to site than from "era" to "era," in terms of the Chinese chronology, yet all form a whole that is distinct from that of the Han and other peoples of the non-Chinese north. In some instances, the iconography cannot be used as the main cultural identifier, because art depicting animal predation is common among the steppe peoples. An example of animal predation associated with Xiongnu culture is that of a tiger carrying dead prey. A similar motif appears in work from Maoqinggou, a site which is presumed to have been under Xiongnu political control but is still clearly non-Xiongnu. In the Maoqinggou example, the prey is replaced with an extension of the tiger's foot. The work also depicts a cruder level of execution; Maoqinggou work was executed in a rounder, less detailed style. In its broadest sense, Xiongnu iconography of animal predation includes examples such as the gold headdress from Aluchaideng and gold earrings with a turquoise and jade inlay discovered in Xigouban, Inner Mongolia.


title: Xiongnu

text: Xiongnu art is harder to distinguish from Saka or Scythian art. There is a similarity present in stylistic execution, but Xiongnu art and Saka art often differ in terms of iconography. Saka art does not appear to have included predation scenes, especially with dead prey, or same-animal combat. Additionally, Saka art included elements not common to Xiongnu iconography, such as winged, horned horses. The two cultures also used two different kinds of bird heads. Xiongnu depictions of birds tend to have a medium-sized eye and beak, and they are also depicted with ears, while Saka birds have a pronounced eye and beak, and no ears. Some scholars claim these differences are indicative of cultural differences. Scholar Sophia-Karin Psarras suggests that Xiongnu images of animal predation, specifically tiger-and-prey, are spiritual, representative of death and rebirth, and that same-animal combat is representative of the acquisition or maintenance of power.


title: Xiongnu

text: The rock art of the Yin and Helan Mountains is dated from the 9th millennium BC to the 19th century AD. It consists mainly of engraved signs (petroglyphs) and only minimally of painted images. The "Records of the Grand Historian" (vol. ) state that when the Xiongnu noted down something or transmitted a message, they made cuts on a piece of wood; they also mention a "Hu script".


title: Xiongnu

text: Chinese sources indicate that the Xiongnu did not have an ideographic form of writing like Chinese, but in the 2nd century BC, a renegade Chinese dignitary Yue "taught the Shanyu to write official letters to the Chinese court on a wooden tablet 31 cm long, and to use a seal and large-sized folder." The same sources tell that when the Xiongnu noted down something or transmitted a message, they made cuts on a piece of wood ('ke-mu'), and they also mention a "Hu script". At Noin-Ula and other Xiongnu burial sites in Mongolia and the region north of Lake Baikal, among the objects discovered during excavations conducted between 1924 and 1925 were over 20 carved characters. Most of these characters are either identical or very similar to letters of the Old Turkic alphabet of the Early Middle Ages found on the Eurasian steppes. From this, some specialists conclude that the Xiongnu used a script similar to the ancient "Eurasian runiform", and that this alphabet was a basis for later Turkic writing.


title: Xiongnu

text: According to the Book of Han, "the Xiongnu called Heaven (天) 'Chēnglí,' (撐犁) a Chinese transcription of Tengri. The Xiongnu were a nomadic people. From their lifestyle of herding flocks and their horse-trade with China, it can be concluded that their diet consist mainly of mutton, horse meat and wild geese that were shot down.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Aqua Teen Hunger Force (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ATHF or Aqua Teen, is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It is about the surreal adventures and antics of three anthropomorphic fast food items: Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad, who live together as roommates and frequently interact with their human next-door neighbor, Carl Brutananadilewski.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: It was created as a spin-off series of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast". The show had its first broadcast as a stealth airing in the early hours of December 30, 2000, around a year later, it debuted as an official Adult Swim series. Every episode was directed and written by Willis and Maiellaro, who also provided several voices. Seasons 8–11 were each given a different alternative title, accompanied by different theme music, as a running joke. The series concluded on August 30, 2015, after 139 episodes throughout 11 seasons.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters", a film adaptation of the series, was released in theaters on April 13, 2007, the first adaptation of an Adult Swim series into a feature-length film. A sequel, "" was released on November 8, 2022. A spin-off series of shorts, "Aquadonk Side Pieces", was announced the same week, and ran on the network's official YouTube channel from April 18 to April 28, 2022. The series airs in broadcast syndication outside the United States and has been released on various DVD sets and other forms of home media, including video on demand streaming. It was the longest-running Adult Swim series until it was surpassed by "Robot Chicken" in 2019.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The series centers on the surreal adventures and antics of three anthropomorphic fast food items: Master Shake, a selfish, self-contradictory, pathologically lying milkshake; Frylock, an intelligent, usually logical, well-meaning box of French fries; and Meatwad, a shapeshifting, childlike, somewhat simple-minded ball of ground meat. They live together like relatives and rarely get along with their human neighbor Carl Brutananadilewski, a middle-aged, balding, boorish, sex-crazed sports fanatic. The protagonists also interact with various villains or other individuals in each episode; these interactions are often restricted to one episode with minor characters rarely reappearing in the following episodes. Some episodes feature the protagonists interacting with celebrities, historical figures, or professional athletes.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The Mooninites are two aliens from the Moon who frequently appear, serving as primary antagonists and wreaking havoc through a series of illegal or destructive actions. The Mooninites appear more than most characters outside the main cast. Other recurring characters have made several appearances, including Oglethorpe and Emory, MC Pee Pants, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, and Dr. Wongburger. Episodes often end with the non-canonical deaths or injuries of major characters, or destruction to their property, only to be restored without explanation in the following episode.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In the show's first seven seasons, the protagonists live in a suburban neighborhood in South New Jersey. During the eighth season, the location was changed to Seattle, Washington. The Seattle neighborhood appears identical to the protagonists' neighborhood from the first seven seasons, but each episode begins with the caption "Seattle" on the bottom of the screen. As of the ninth season, the same neighborhood is in the fictional location of Seattle, New Jersey.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The three main characters—Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad—were originally created for an episode of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" called "Baffler Meal", where they were the corporate mascots for the fictional fast-food chain "Burger Trench". The original versions of the trio were prototypes that resembled the future characters, but both Master Shake and Frylock differed in appearance, personality, and voice from their ultimate design. The original name "Teen Hunger Force" refers to the squad's mission to conquer hunger in teens.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: "Baffler Meal" went through a number of drafts but was not animated or produced until after the series became popular. Instead, the "Space Ghost" episode was initially rewritten as "Kentucky Nightmare", while the trio, along with Carl Brutananadilewski, debuted in "Rabbot", the pilot episode of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". A full season consisting of 16 episodes, including "Rabbot", was put into production shortly thereafter. The series was one of Adult Swim's most popular shows.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In early episodes, the trio was identified by Master Shake as the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which solved crimes for money. After a few episodes, this premise and the characters' use of the name were dropped. The premise was a trick that had been added to appease Cartoon Network executives, who "didn't want to air a show about food just going around and doing random things". In the show, Frylock says they stopped fighting crime because "that wasn't making us a whole lot of money".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Every episode of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" was written and directed by series creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro and produced by Williams Street. Much of the dialogue was supplemented with ad-libs and improvisation by the voice talent. The show was fully scripted but ad-libs are included in the final recordings and the shows are animated to include this improvisation. Many of the crew and cast members formerly worked on "Space Ghost Coast to Coast".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In 2011, for the eighth season, the series' title was changed to "Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1"; Maiellaro later explained that he and Willis were getting bored with the former title and wanted to "come up with a new fresh open and a whole new show, just to try it out". Despite the title change there were virtually no changes to the show's characters or tone. In 2012 Maiellaro announced that each subsequent season would have a different series title, making it a running gag. Willis later said the alternate titles were just an unsuccessful stunt to generate buzz.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Each season that is branded under an alternate title features a different opening sequence and theme music written by different artists. On most television listings and digital download sites, the alternatively titled episodes are formally listed under their alternative titles, not as episodes of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". On most legal digital downloading sites that feature the series, the first 7 seasons are presented as "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" while the alternatively titled seasons are listed separately and treated as if they were each a completely different, one-season series.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The main cast of the series consists of Dana Snyder as Master Shake, Carey Means as Frylock, and series co-creator Dave Willis as both Meatwad and Carl, as well as Ignignokt. In addition to the main cast series co-creator Matt Maiellaro voices Err and Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future. Members of the main cast and Maiellaro also voice several minor and one-time characters in addition to their primary roles. All three main characters appear in almost every episode. They are all absent from the season five episode "Sirens" and the season ten episode "Spacecadeuce". In the season five episode "Robots Everywhere", Frylock and Master Shake only make brief unseen speaking cameos, while Meatwad is completely absent.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Voiceover artist George Lowe has made several appearances throughout the series. Lowe previously starred as Space Ghost in "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" and the original incarnation of "Cartoon Planet", from which several cast and crew members moved on to work for "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". Lowe made his first appearance in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" in the season one episode "Mail Order Bride" and went on to make several other cameos. He had a prominent appearance as himself in the season four episode "Antenna", and reprised his role as Space Ghost for a quick appearance in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters". Lowe was later considered a member of the main cast in 2011 during "Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1"; he announced the title of each episode and continued to make cameos. Lowe later made another prominent appearance in the "Aqua Something You Know Whatever" episode "Rocket Horse and Jet Chicken".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Series animator C. Martin Croker, known for his interpretation of Zorak in various shows and specials, provided the voices of both Dr. Weird and Steve during the cold openings for the first two seasons and "Allen Part One". Croker also voiced several birds in the season seven episode "Eggball". Andy Merrill has portrayed Oglethorpe alongside Mike Schatz as Emory in several episodes. Merrill is also well known for his interpretation of Brak in several shows and specials and provided the voice of Merle in "Escape from Leprechaupolis" and "The Last One". MC Chris, who has a history of voicing characters on Adult Swim programs, has provided the voice of MC Pee Pants in several episodes. Chris also provided the voice of eight-year-old Carl in "Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future" and returned for a musical role in the season seven episode "One Hundred" after a long absence. Tommy Blacha joined the recurring cast with the introduction of his character Wongburger in the season four episode "Dickesode". With the exception of Tommy Blacha, the entire recurring cast reprised their roles in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Various comedians, athletes, and other celebrities have made guest appearances, usually credited under pseudonyms.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Rapper Schoolly D performed the "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" theme song used in the first seven seasons. An extended remix version of the theme was used in the 2007 film adaptation and in the soundtrack for the 2011 video game "". After a multi-year absence, Schoolly D returned for the season seven episode "Rabbot Redux", performing a different theme song used exclusively in that episode. The special intro to "Rabbot Redux" featured the exact animation used in the regular intro. Each subsequent season featured a different theme song by a different artist with a different animated intro. The eighth season was written and performed by Josh Homme and Alain Johannes. Schoolly D returned for the season nine intro for "Aqua Something You Know Whatever", writing and performing it with Mariachi El Bronx. The season 10 theme song was composed by Flying Lotus, an artist whose work has been featured in several bumps for Adult Swim. Every episode features an opening sequence, with the rare exceptions of the season two episode "The Last One", the season nine episode "The Granite Family", and the season ten episode "Spacecadeuce".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: During the first two seasons, episodes cold-opened with a glimpse into the laboratory of Dr. Weird. He and his assistant Steve use the first several seconds of the show to create monsters, disasters, and various things. In earlier episodes of the first season, the monsters or creations usually form the basis of the plot, but as the crime-fighting element of the program disappeared, the Dr. Weird segment became a non sequitur opening gag.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In the third season, the Dr. Weird openings were replaced with segments from the pilot episode of "Spacecataz", an unaired spin-off created by Willis and Maiellaro. Six episodes were planned for production, but Adult Swim felt there was little that could be made into five more episodes since all the characters were destroyed at the end of the pilot, despite the parent series being predominantly not canonical. These segments featured the Mooninites and Plutonians trading insults, gestures, and practical jokes. The full "Spacecataz" pilot is available as a special feature on the Volume Four DVD box set. The Mooninites appear to outsmart the Plutonians for much of the series including tagging the Plutonians' ship and reversing a prank that involved 50 million large pizzas.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Cold openings were eliminated starting with the fourth-season premiere, "Dirtfoot". A one-off cold opening featuring Dr. Weird and Steve was used once again in the season eight premiere "Allen Part One".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In 2015, it was announced that Adult Swim had cancelled "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". The cancellation went against the wishes of Willis and Maiellaro, who first learned about it from the animation studio, Awesome Inc., halfway through the production of the 11th season. Willis said that Adult Swim president Mike Lazzo made the decision to end the series because "he was ready to move on from it". The double-length episode "The Last One Forever and Ever (For Real This Time) (We Fucking Mean It)" was falsely promoted as the series finale and aired on August 23, 2015. The actual series finale, "The Greatest Story Ever Told", was quietly released early online on August 26 before airing four days later, with virtually no advertisement. At the time of its conclusion, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" was Adult Swim's longest-running original series.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: During an interview about the series' cancellation, Maiellaro said there are no plans to revive "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", but that it could return someday. In 2017, Adult Swim was asked why they don't make more episodes, to which they responded "we might" during a bump.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In April 2022, Adult Swim began uploading "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" shorts under the name "Aquadonk Side Pieces" to their YouTube channel. These shorts are often less than five minutes and center around the villains in the show, with all original voice actors reprising their roles.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: A feature film based on the show, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters", was released on April 13, 2007. The movie follows the origins of the Aqua Teens, which includes an exercise machine, Neil Peart of the band Rush, a watermelon slice named Walter Melon, and an appearance by a heavy metal band Mastodon in the opening sequence. The film also introduces a fourth Aqua Teen, a chicken nugget named Chicken Bittle (voiced by Bruce Campbell). The Plutonians and the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, recurring characters, both make appearances in the movie, as well as the Mooninites, Dr. Weird and MC Pee Pants (this being his last appearance in the series).


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In a 2010 interview, staff members of Radical Axis stated that a sequel entitled "Death Fighter" was in production, and mentioned the possibility that the film might be made in 3-D. When asked if the film was designed for a theatrical release, a Radical Axis staff member responded yes, but stated: "We're not sure if we have a distributor yet", though this was then followed by the statement that "Adult Swim will never make another movie ever again".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: By 2014, the script for "Death Fighter" had been completed and approved; however, Willis indirectly stated that the project was scrapped, soon after announcing the show's cancellation. He later mentioned on Reddit that it would cost $3.4 million to produce, and expressed interest in doing a Kickstarter to fund it. A new film was confirmed to be in production in May 2021, no other details have been confirmed other than it will be a direct-to-video film.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: On May 12, 2021, Adult Swim confirmed the production of three new original films, including a new "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" film to make exclusive debuts on HBO Max following a physical/VOD release.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: On May 18, 2022, it was revealed the film would be titled "Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Plantasm". It was changed to "". The film was released on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD and digital on November 8, 2022.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The pilot episode "Rabbot" originally aired on Cartoon Network on December 30, 2000, as part of a special preview of upcoming Adult Swim shows. Other shows in the preview block included "Sealab 2021", "The Brak Show", and "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law". "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" later made its official debut on September 9, 2001, on Adult Swim, where the series has since aired exclusively, in the United States. The final episode "The Greatest Story Ever Told" made its television debut on August 30, 2015, after having been quietly released online four days earlier.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In Canada, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" previously aired on Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4's Adult Digital Distraction block. The series currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In Australia, it began airing on SBS2 starting April 2013, but ceased airing, and returned in July 2016 as part of a version of Adult Swim on 9Go!, with the series airing from the beginning.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Several pieces of merchandise have been made for the series, including T-shirts, caps, wristbands, patches, and buttons featuring characters in the series. Master Shake and Carl Halloween costumes for adults are also available. There is also a series of collectible action figures and plush toys available along with car decals. Several pieces of custom merchandise were available on the Adult Swim Shop before the site quietly shut down in March 2012. "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack", the soundtrack to the film, was released in stores on April 10, 2007. On November 3, 2009, a Christmas album sung by characters from the show was released entitled "Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas" was released in stores.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In September 2010, Adult Swim Shop introduced a full scale, functioning hot air balloon in the likeness of Meatwad at a cost of $70,000. The purchase includes a piloted, one-hour ride anywhere in the continental United States, and the buyer got to keep it although a pilot's license would be required to actually fly it. The balloon was the most expensive item on Adult Swim Shop, surpassing the "Metalocalypse" "Dethklok Fountain" fountain, which was released early in 2010 for $40,000. The hot air balloon is no longer available.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The first eight seasons have been released and distributed on DVD in volumes by Warner Home Video. Each set was also released in Region 2 and by Madman Entertainment in Region 4. The movie was released on a DVD set titled "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters for DVD", with the season four episode "Deleted Scenes" included as a special feature on August 17, 2007. The season five episode "Robots Everywhere" was also released as a special feature on the "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am" video game on November 5, 2007, months prior to its official television debut on January 20, 2008. The entire series with the exception of the episodes "Boston" and "Shake Like Me" and the film "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters" were released in a 20-disc DVD collection on September 20, 2022 as "Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Baffler Meal Complete Collection". It was the first time the three final seasons have been released on DVD. The episode "Shake Like Me" is not included on the DVD due to its use of blackface, similar to its removal from rerun rotations and HBO Max. A second movie will be released on 4K Bluray titled "" on November 20, 2022.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: With the exception of the season four episode "Deleted Scenes", episodes of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" are also available on iTunes, the Xbox Live Marketplace, and Amazon Video, with seasons five and up available in HD on iTunes and the Xbox Live Marketplace, and with seasons six up on Amazon Video. The movie is also available in HD and SD on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The season five episode "Boston" has never been released in any form of home media.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The series has been made available for on-demand streaming on Hulu Plus, as part of a deal made with Hulu and Turner Broadcasting. Every episode from all seasons is available for streaming. at Hulu. As of May 27, 2020, the series is also available on HBO Max, with the exception of the episodes "Boston" and "Shake Like Me".


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: There have also been video games created based on the series. "Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Destruct-O-Thon", a mobile game based on the series, was published and released by Macrospace games in 2004. In 2005 Oberon Games released "Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Studio Shakedown" for PC. "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am", a golfing/kart racing/fighting game, was developed by Creat Studios and published by Midway Games, and released for the PlayStation 2 on November 5, 2007. An online Flash game based on the series entitled "The Worst Game Ever" was released, but was eventually taken down. A game entitled "Carl's Freaking Strip Poker" was also available on Adult Swim Games, but was eventually taken down.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: In January 2009, IGN listed the series as the 39th best in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows. The series was nominated for Teen Choice Awards in 2007 and 2008. In 2011 Willis and Maiellaro received Annie Award nominations for writing in the season eight episode, "The Creditor". In 2019, IGN placed "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" 25th on their list of Top 25 Animated series for adults.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: James Rolfe, best known for creating the "Angry Video Game Nerd", has cited the show as an influence on "Nerd" as well as shaping his sense of humour. YouTuber Jason Gastrow, better known as Videogamedunkey, has also cited the show as a comedic influence.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: The series received national attention in 2007 because of a publicity stunt that became known as the Boston bomb scare. On January 31, 2007, as part of a national guerrilla marketing campaign for the series, Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens installed Lite-Brite-like LED displays depicting the Mooninites in eleven different cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. In Boston, the authorities considered the LEDs suspicious, prompting the closure of major roads and waterways for investigation. Turner Broadcasting System later admitted to placing the LEDs and apologized for the misunderstanding.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: Berdovsky and Stevens faced charges for "placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct"; in spite of the uproar, the two mocked the media and critics in interviews. All criminal charges were dropped in exchange for Berdovsky and Stevens apologizing during their court date and accepting a plea bargain that consisted of community service at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center. Turner Broadcasting paid the Boston Police Department $1 million to cover the investigation's cost and an additional $1 million for good will. This was designed to settle criminal and civil claims, while the general manager of Cartoon Network stepped down because of the incident. Of the eleven cities in which the displays were placed, only Boston saw them as a matter of concern. The installations had been up for weeks before the panic.


title: Aqua Teen Hunger Force

text: An "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" episode from season five, "Boston", was produced as the series creators' response to the bomb scare, but Adult Swim pulled it to avoid further controversy. The episode has never aired or been formally released to the public legally in any format, though it was illegally leaked online in January 2015.


title: Hearst Castle

text: Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada (Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his architect Julia Morgan, the castle was built between 1919 and 1947. Today, Hearst Castle is a museum open to the public as a California State Park and registered as a National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark.


title: Hearst Castle

text: George Hearst, William Randolph Hearst's father, had purchased the original estate in 1865 and Camp Hill, the site for the future Hearst Castle, was used for family camping vacations during Hearst's youth. In 1919 Hearst inherited some $11,000,000 () and estates including the land at San Simeon. He used his fortune to further develop his media empire of newspapers, magazines and radio stations, the profits from which supported a lifetime of building and collecting. Within a few months of Phoebe Hearst's death, he had commissioned Morgan to build "something a little more comfortable up on the hill", the genesis of the present castle. Morgan was an architectural pioneer; "America's first truly independent female architect", she was the first woman to study architecture at the School of Beaux-Arts in Paris, the first to have her own architectural practice in California and the first female winner of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. She worked in close collaboration with Hearst for over twenty years, and the castle at San Simeon is her best-known creation.