title: Porsche 991

text: Unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show on 1 March, the 911 R shares most of its underpinnings with the GT3 RS, but does not include the roll cage, rear wing, and associated bodywork for a weight saving of . The 911 R comes only with a 6-speed manual transmission, and has a top speed of due to a lower drag coefficient as compared to the GT3 RS. It also offers additional options including a lighter flywheel and removal of the air conditioning and audio systems. Production was limited to 991 examples, as a 2016 model.


title: Porsche 991

text: Introduced in late 2012, the 991 Turbo has a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre flat-6 engine generating and of torque. The S version has an upgraded version of the engine generating a maximum power output of and of torque, but the torque is pushed to with overboost function. Both of the versions have all-wheel drive. The Turbo and Turbo S was available exclusively with 7-speed PDK. The Turbo S can reach in 2.9 seconds as claimed by Porsche but has achieved 2.6 seconds by many car magazine tests. New technologies featuring adaptive aerodynamics and rear wheel steering are included as standard.


title: Porsche 991

text: Following an introduction at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, the 991 received a mid-cycle facelift for the 2016 model year. The updated Porsche 911 (at Porsche internally referred to as 991.2 or 991 II) introduced new styling including updated front and rear bumpers, new dual exhaust pipes along with new head and tail lights and options, along with all new, 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six engines across the range. This marked the first time the base 911 models had turbocharged engines.


title: Porsche 991

text: Initially from October 2015, available models were the coupé and cabriolet versions of Carrera and Carrera S. The all-wheel drive versions Carrera 4 and 4S were unveiled in December 2015.


title: Porsche 991

text: In October 2017, Porsche announced the 911 Carrera T (Touring), offering the base Carrera drivetrain but with shorter rear axle ratio, mechanical differential lock, PASM Sport lowered suspension, Sport Chrono package and sports exhaust as standard. Additional features include a reduced sound insulation, light-weight glass side/rear windows, Sport-Tex seats, a shortened shift lever, deletion of the rear seats and communication system (with their re-addition available as a no-cost option), Carrera S wheels, as well as optional rear-wheel steering, PDK transmission and bucket seats.


title: Porsche 991

text: The Targa 4 and 4S were unveiled in December 2015. The Targa 4S includes an upgraded 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine generating a maximum power output of and of torque.


title: Porsche 991

text: In January 2017, five new GTS versions (RWD coupé and cabriolet as well as AWD coupé, cabriolet and Targa) were launched.


title: Porsche 991

text: The 2017 GT3 was unveiled at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, and has a 4.0-litre flat-six engine, aerodynamic upgrades, and an optional 6-speed manual gearbox (absent on the 991.1-phase GT3). The 911 GT3 Touring followed in September 2017, with a manual transmission and without a fixed rear wing.


title: Porsche 991

text: In February 2018, Porsche unveiled the new GT3 RS, available with optional Weissach package with the official unveiling taking place at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.


title: Porsche 991

text: The 911 GT2 RS was officially launched by Porsche at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed along with the introduction of the 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series. It is powered by a 3.8 L twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine generating a maximum power of at 7,000 rpm and of torque, giving the car a power to weight ratio of per horsepower and making it the most powerful 911 ever built. A Weissach package option is available.


title: Porsche 991

text: In late September 2017, the GT2 RS set a 6:47.3 lap time around the Nürburgring, which made it the fastest Porsche road car lap time recorded on the track at the time.


title: Porsche 991

text: In December 2015, Turbo and Turbo S versions were launched. In June 2017, the Turbo S Exclusive Series with powerkit and CFRP body panels was launched, limited to 500 units. Braided carbon-fibre wheels were available as option.


title: Porsche 991

text: At the Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI held in September 2018, Porsche unveiled a limited edition track-only special paying homage to the legendary 935 race car. Based on the GT2 RS, the new 935 is designed to look like the 935/78, better known as the "Moby Dick" and features carbon fibre body work and an elongated "whale tail" rear section giving the car a total length of and width of , making the car larger in terms of dimensions than the donor car. Wheelbase has been increased to . Other changes include a large wide and deep rear wing, LED headlights mounted in the lower air intakes beneath the "flatnose" front body work, "turbine aero" wheels, the carbon-fibre racing steering wheel from the 911 GT3 R, adjustable wing mirrors from the 911 RSR, a full roll-cage in the interior, a racing bucket seat from RECARO with six-point racing harness, a lightweight lithium ion battery, a 115-litre FIA FT3-approved safety fuel cell with fuel cut-off safety valve, a fire extinguisher and an air jack system. With the changes and additions the car weighs in at a total of .


title: Porsche 991

text: The 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six engine as used on the GT2 RS is untouched and generates . Power is sent to the rear wheels via a 7-speed dual clutch transmission with dual mass flywheel. The car retains ABS and Porsche Electronic Stability Management System including a full defeat mode. Unlike most racing cars air conditioning is standard-equipment. A passenger seat as well as a Martini sponsor-livery inspired by the original 935/78 are available as an option.


title: Porsche 991

text: At the 2018 Paris Motor Show held in October on the occasion of the 70th anniversary celebration of the marque, Porsche unveiled the Speedster variant of the 991 generation for the 911, as a concept. Utilising the chassis of the GT3 and the body shell of the Carrera 4 Cabriolet, the Speedster sports a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six engine with a maximum power output of and a red-line of 9,000 rpm coupled with a 6-speed manual transmission, which is claimed to be lighter than the 7-speed manual transmission found on the standard 991 models, and a titanium exhaust system. The car also features the signature "hump" shaped double bubble roof cover along with a shorter windshield frame, side window glass and the analogue roof folding mechanism retaining the "Talbot" wing mirrors and the central fuel cap from the 911 Speedster concept unveiled earlier at the Goodwood Festival of Speed harking back to its use on the 356 Speedster. Other highlights include a leather interior with perforated seats, red tinted daytime running lights, carbon fibre fenders, engine cover and hood and stone guards. Production will begin in the first half of 2019 and be limited to 1,948 units in honour of the year in which the 356 "Number 1" gained its operating license.


title: Porsche 991

text: The final production version of the Speedster was unveiled at the 2019 New York Auto Show in April and dropped the "Talbot" wing mirrors in favour of standard 991 wing mirrors and announced to be available for sale in May 2019. The engine adopted from the GT3 is equipped with individual throttle bodies and a new fuel injection system and develops at 8,400 rpm and at 6,250 rpm. The exhaust system is claimed to be lighter despite the addition of two petrol particle filters. The car is equipped with carbon-ceramic brakes (PCCB) as standard, a Heritage Design Package is available as option.


title: Porsche 991

text: The Speedster was also the final edition of the 991, with only 1,948 units produced. Production of the 991 generation ended on December 20, 2019, and the final 991 model was a 991 Speedster. Porsche made 233,540 991s worldwide.


title: Porsche 991

text: Porsche Design 911 Soundbar Final Edition, a series of 50 speakers that uses the exhaust system of 991 series of 911 GT3, was sold via local Porsche Centre.


title: Porsche 991

text: The Porsche 991 was titled World Performance Car 2012 shortly after famed Porsche designer Ferdinand Alexander Porsche died. The GT3 was awarded the title of World Performance Car Of The Year in 2014.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: The Kessler syndrome (also called the Kessler effect, collisional cascading, or ablation cascade), proposed by NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler in 1978, is a scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) due to space pollution is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade in which each collision generates space debris that increases the likelihood of further collisions. In 2009 Kessler wrote that modeling results had concluded that the debris environment was already unstable, "such that any attempt to achieve a growth-free small debris environment by eliminating sources of past debris will likely fail because fragments from future collisions will be generated faster than atmospheric drag will remove them". One implication is that the distribution of debris in orbit could render space activities and the use of satellites in specific orbital ranges difficult for many generations.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Willy Ley predicted in 1960 that "In time, a number of such accidentally too-lucky shots will accumulate in space and will have to be removed when the era of manned space flight arrives". After the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) began compiling a database (the Space Object Catalog) of all known rocket launches and objects reaching orbit: satellites, protective shields and upper- and lower-stage booster rockets. NASA later published modified versions of the database in two-line element set, and during the early 1980s the CelesTrak bulletin board system re-published them.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: The trackers who fed the database were aware of other objects in orbit, many of which were the result of in-orbit explosions. Some were deliberately caused during the 1960s anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) testing, and others were the result of rocket stages blowing up in orbit as leftover propellant expanded and ruptured their tanks. To improve tracking, NORAD employee John Gabbard kept a separate database. Studying the explosions, Gabbard developed a technique for predicting the orbital paths of their products, and Gabbard diagrams (or plots) are now widely used. These studies were used to improve the modeling of orbital evolution and decay.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: When the NORAD database became publicly available during the 1970s, NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler applied the technique developed for the asteroid-belt study to the database of known objects. In June 1978, Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais co-authored "Collision Frequency of Artificial Satellites: The Creation of a Debris Belt", demonstrating that the process controlling asteroid evolution would cause a similar collision process in LEO in decades rather than billions of years. They concluded that by about 2000, space debris would outpace micrometeoroids as the primary ablative risk to orbiting spacecraft.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: At the time, it was widely thought that drag from the upper atmosphere would de-orbit debris faster than it was created. However, Gabbard was aware that the number and type of objects in space were under-represented in the NORAD data and was familiar with its behavior. In an interview shortly after the publication of the 1978 paper, Gabbard coined the term "Kessler syndrome" to refer to the accumulation of debris; it became widely used after its appearance in a 1982 "Popular Science" article, which won the Aviation-Space Writers Association 1982 National Journalism Award.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: The lack of hard data about space debris prompted a series of studies to better characterize the LEO environment. In October 1979, NASA provided Kessler with funding for further studies. Several approaches were used by these studies.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Optical telescopes and short-wavelength radar were used to measure the number and size of space objects, and these measurements demonstrated that the published population count was at least 50% too low. Before this, it was believed that the NORAD database accounted for the majority of large objects in orbit. Some objects (typically, US military spacecraft) were found to be omitted from the NORAD list, and others were not included because they were considered unimportant. The list could not easily account for objects under in size—in particular, debris from exploding rocket stages and several 1960s anti-satellite tests.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Returned spacecraft were microscopically examined for small impacts, and sections of Skylab and the Apollo Command/Service Module which were recovered were found to be pitted. Each study indicated that the debris flux was higher than expected and debris was the primary source of micrometeoroids and orbital debris collisions in space. LEO already demonstrated the Kessler syndrome.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: In 1978, Kessler found that 42 percent of cataloged debris was the result of 19 events, primarily explosions of spent rocket stages (especially US Delta rockets). He discovered this by first identifying those launches that were described as having a large number of objects associated with a payload, then researching the literature to determine the rockets used in the launch. In 1979, this finding resulted in establishment of the NASA Orbital Debris Program after a briefing to NASA senior management, overturning the previously held belief that most unknown debris was from old ASAT tests, not from US upper stage rocket explosions that could seemingly be easily managed by depleting the unused fuel from the upper stage Delta rocket following the payload injection. Beginning in 1986, when it was discovered that other international agencies were possibly experiencing the same type of problem, NASA expanded its program to include international agencies, the first being the European Space Agency. A number of other Delta components in orbit (Delta was a workhorse of the US space program) had not yet exploded.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: During the 1980s, the US Air Force (USAF) conducted an experimental program to determine what would happen if debris collided with satellites or other debris. The study demonstrated that the process differed from micrometeoroid collisions, with large chunks of debris created which would become collision threats.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: In 1991, Kessler published "Collisional cascading: The limits of population growth in low Earth orbit" with the best data then available. Citing the USAF conclusions about creation of debris, he wrote that although almost all debris objects (such as paint flecks) were lightweight, most of its mass was in debris about or heavier. This mass could destroy a spacecraft on impact, creating more debris in the critical-mass area. According to the National Academy of Sciences:


title: Kessler syndrome

text: A 1 kg object impacting at 10 km/s, for example, is probably capable of catastrophically breaking up a 1,000 kg spacecraft if it strikes a high-density element in the spacecraft. In such a breakup, numerous fragments larger than 1 kg would be created.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Kessler's analysis divided the problem into three parts. With a low-enough density, the addition of debris by impacts is slower than their decay rate and the problem is not significant. Beyond that is a critical density, where additional debris leads to additional collisions. At densities beyond this critical mass production exceeds decay, leading to a cascading chain reaction reducing the orbiting population to small objects (several centimeters in size) and increasing the hazard of space activity. This chain reaction is known as the Kessler syndrome.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Aggressive space activities without adequate safeguards could significantly shorten the time between collisions and produce an intolerable hazard to future spacecraft. Some of the most environmentally dangerous activities in space include large constellations such as those initially proposed by the Strategic Defense Initiative in the mid-1980s, large structures such as those considered in the late-1970s for building solar power stations in Earth orbit, and anti-satellite warfare using systems tested by the USSR, the US, and China over the past 30 years. Such aggressive activities could set up a situation where a single satellite failure could lead to cascading failures of many satellites in a period much shorter than years.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: In 1985, the first anti-satellite (ASAT) missile was used in the destruction of a satellite. The American 1985 ASM-135 ASAT test was carried out, in which the Solwind P78-1 satellite flying at an altitude of 555 kilometres was struck by the 14 kilogram payload at a velocity of 24,000 kilometres per hour (15,000 mph; 6.7 km/s). When NASA learned of U.S. Air Force plans for the Solwind ASAT test, they modeled the effects of the test and determined that debris produced by the collision would still be in orbit late into the 1990s. It would force NASA to enhance debris shielding for its planned space station.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: On 11 January 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite missile test in which one of their FY-1C weather satellites was chosen as the target. The collision occurred at an altitude of 865 kilometres, when the satellite with a mass of 750 kilograms was struck in a head-on-collision by a kinetic payload traveling with a speed of 8 km/s (18,000 mph) in the opposite direction. The resulting debris orbits the Earth with a mean altitude above 850 kilometres, and will likely remain in orbit for decades or centuries.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: The destruction of the Kosmos 1408 satellite by a Russian ASAT missile on November 15, 2021, has created a large debris cloud, with 1500 pieces of debris being tracked and an estimated hundreds of thousands of pieces too small to track. Since the satellite was in a polar orbit, and its debris has spread out between the altitudes of 300 km and 1000 km, it could potentially collide with any LEO satellite, including the International Space Station and the Chinese Space Station (Tiangong).


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Every satellite, space probe, and crewed mission has the potential to produce space debris. The theoretical cascading Kessler syndrome becomes more likely as satellites in orbit increase in number. As of 2014, there were about 2,000 commercial and government satellites orbiting the earth, and more than 4000. It is estimated that there are 600,000 pieces of space junk ranging from , and 23,000 larger than that. On average one satellite is destroyed by collision with space junk each year. there had been four collisions between catalogued objects, including a collision between two satellites in 2009.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Orbital decay is much slower at altitudes where atmospheric drag is insignificant. Slight atmospheric drag, lunar perturbation, and solar wind drag can gradually bring debris down to lower altitudes where fragments finally re-enter, but this process can take millennia at very high altitudes.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: The Kessler syndrome is troublesome because of the domino effect and feedback runaway wherein impacts between objects of sizable mass spall off debris from the force of the collision. The fragments can then hit other objects, producing even more space debris: if a large enough collision or explosion were to occur, such as between a space station and a defunct satellite, or as the result of hostile actions in space, then the resulting debris cascade could make prospects for long-term viability of satellites in particular low Earth orbits extremely low. However, even a catastrophic Kessler scenario at LEO would pose minimal risk for launches continuing past LEO, or satellites travelling at medium Earth orbit (MEO) or geosynchronous orbit (GEO). The catastrophic scenarios predict an increase in the number of collisions per year, as opposed to a physically impassable barrier to space exploration that occurs in higher orbits.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: Designers of a new vehicle or satellite are frequently required by the ITU to demonstrate that it can be safely disposed of at the end of its life, for example by use of a controlled atmospheric reentry system or a boost into a graveyard orbit. For US launches or satellites that will have broadcast to US territories—in order to obtain a license to provide telecommunications services in the United States—the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required all geostationary satellites launched after 18 March 2002 to commit to moving to a graveyard orbit at the end of their operational life. US government regulations similarly require a plan to dispose of satellites after the end of their mission: atmospheric re-entry, movement to a storage orbit, or direct retrieval.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: A proposed energy-efficient means of deorbiting a spacecraft from MEO is to shift it to an orbit in an unstable resonance with the Sun or Moon that speeds up orbital decay.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: One technology proposed to help deal with fragments from in size is the laser broom, a proposed multimegawatt land-based laser that could deorbit debris: the side of the debris hit by the laser would ablate and create a thrust that would change the eccentricity of the remains of the fragment until it would re-enter and be destroyed harmlessly.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: The Envisat satellite is a large, inactive satellite with a mass of that orbits at , an altitude where the debris environment is the greatest—two catalogued objects can be expected to pass within about of Envisat every year—and likely to increase. Don Kessler predicted in 2012 that it could easily become a major debris contributor from a collision during the next 150 years that it will remain in orbit.


title: Kessler syndrome

text: SpaceX's Starlink program raises concern among many experts about significantly worsening the possibility of Kessler Syndrome due to the large number of satellites the program aims to place in LEO, as the program's goal will more than double the satellites currently in LEO. In response to these concerns, SpaceX said that a large part of Starlink satellites are launched at a lower altitude of to achieve lower latency (versus as originally planned), and failed satellites or debris are thus expected to deorbit within five years even without propulsion, due to atmospheric drag.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Joseph Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater. As of 2022, he is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He is a California native and resides in Westfield, Indiana. Chestnut's height is ; his weight is .


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2007, Chestnut won the 92nd Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest held at New York, New York. Joey defeated six-time defending champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi by consuming a world record 66 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in 12 minutes, after losing to Kobayashi in 2005 and 2006. The following year, he successfully defended his title by winning a five hot dog eat-off after tying Kobayashi in consuming 59 HDB in ten minutes. On July 4, 2009, Chestnut beat Kobayashi again, by consuming a world record 68 HDB and winning his third consecutive title. On July 4, 2010, Chestnut took home his 4th consecutive Mustard Belt eating 54 HDB. The 2010 contest was a runaway victory, as Kobayashi did not compete due to a contract dispute with Major League Eating. On July 4, 2011, he won his fifth-consecutive championship with 62 HDB. 2012 marked his sixth consecutive win, when Chestnut tied his own world record from 2009 by devouring 68 HDB. In 2013, Chestnut captured his seventh straight title, eating a total of 69 HDB, breaking his previous world record. In 2014, Chestnut captured his eighth straight title eating a total of 61 HDB.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Chestnut lost the 2015 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest to Matt Stonie. On July 4, 2016, Chestnut regained the championship belt from Stonie by eating 70 hot dogs, 3.5 hot dogs short of his record-setting qualifying round. A year later on July 4, 2017, he raised the bar again by raising his record to 72 hot dogs; and again the following year to a world record of 74. In 2019, he secured a twelfth title with 71 HDB, but failed to beat his previous record. In 2020, he consumed 75 HDB, a world record for the contest. In 2021, he consumed 76 HDB, breaking his own world record for the contest. In 2022, in a return to the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues, he consumed 63 Nathan's Famous HDB, his 15th championship, despite a ruptured tendon in his leg.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Chestnut, a San Jose State University student, entered the competitive eating scene in 2005 with a break-out performance in the deep-fried asparagus eating championship, in which he beat high-ranked eater Rich LeFevre by eating of asparagus in 11.5 minutes. That same year, during Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, he ate 32 HDB, placing third behind Takeru Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On October 22, 2005, Chestnut set a new world record for downing 32.5 grilled cheese sandwiches in ten minutes at the Arizona State Fair, as part of the GoldenPalace.net World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship circuit.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Chestnut defeated Thomas in the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship and placed second to Kobayashi in a Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship qualifier, eating 56 Krystal Burgers in eight minutes to his 67. He later beat her by eating 91 hamburgers in the finals, finishing second to the 97 hamburgers consumed by Kobayashi.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Chestnut qualified for the 2006 Nathan's Contest by eating 50 HDB. As July 4 approached, there was speculation that 2006 might be the year when Kobayashi would be beaten. It was not to be, however. Although Chestnut turned in a great performance, leading Takeru Kobayashi through most of the contest, the final tally put Chestnut at 52 and Kobayashi at (a new world record). Chestnut lost to Kobayashi in the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He ate 45 bratwurst sausages in ten minutes. Kobayashi ate 58.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: In 2007, Chestnut won the Wing Bowl XV, an annual Philadelphia event at the Wachovia Center. In this competition, he ate 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes, becoming a Wing Bowl champion and record holder.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2007, Chestnut and Kobayashi battled the field in a record-setting hot dog eating battle in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut knocked off Kobayashi 66–63, leading to the latter's first defeat in the contest in six years.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On October 28, 2007, between 2:33 and 2:41, Chestnut ate 103 Krystal burgers in the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was Chestnut's personal best, and is the new world record.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Chestnut set two new world records in 2008. On February 1, he ate 241 wings in 30 minutes at the Wing Bowl XVI in Philadelphia. This record was broken by Takeru Kobayashi at the Wing Bowl XX in 2011 with 337 wings.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On March 2, 2008, he ate 78 matzo balls during Kenny & Ziggy's World Matzoh Ball Eating Championship in Houston, Texas.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On March 24, 2008, Chestnut set a new male record at The Big Texan Steak Ranch restaurant in Amarillo, Texas by eating a meal of ribeye steak, salad, baked potato, shrimp cocktail, and roll in just eight minutes and 52 seconds. Shortly afterwards, on his show on KKLA, previous record holder Frank Pastore congratulated Chestnut. (The overall human record is 4 minutes and 18 seconds, set by Molly Schuyler on April 19, 2015, on her first of three meals.)


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On June 21, 2008, Chestnut lost to Takeru Kobayashi in a Pizza Hut P'Zone competition at Sony Studios in Culver City, California. The competition aired on Spike TV on June 21.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2008, Chestnut tied Takeru Kobayashi in the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Contest after eating 59 HDB in ten minutes. The tie resulted in a 5 HDB eat-off, which Chestnut won by consuming all five HDBs before Kobayashi. The 59 is a new record in the competition based on the reduction from 12 minutes to ten minutes. Chestnut weighed in at .


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 28, 2008, Chestnut lost to Takeru Kobayashi in Chicken Satay eating in the MLE Asia inaugural event. He consumed just over to Kobayashi's almost .


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On August 23, 2008, Chestnut defeated IFOCE's second highest-ranked competitive eater Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti in the second Gyoza Eating Championship in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California. He devoured 231 gyoza, setting a new world record; he beat his previous record of 212, set at the inaugural event in 2006 when he narrowly defeated Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas (210). Thomas did not attend the 2008 event due to budgetary and travel costs.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On October 12, 2008, he consumed 45 slices of pizza, winning the "Famous Famiglia World Pizza Eating Championship", which was held in Times Square in New York. This was beaten by Bertoletti with 47 slices a few weeks later.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On February 21, 2009, Chestnut consumed of macaroni and cheese in seven minutes during halftime at the San Jose Stealth lacrosse game, beating out his contestants and adding another world record to his name.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2009, Chestnut topped his previous record of 59 HDB by consuming 68 HDB in the 2009 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On September 27, 2009, Chestnut lost to Takeru Kobayashi in Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship. He ate 81 hamburgers. Kobayashi ate 93.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On "Man v. Food" in San Jose, California, Chestnut ate Iguana's Burritozilla: a , 17-inch burrito in three minutes, ten seconds.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On May 8, 2010, Chestnut won Shrimp Wontons eating in Singapore. Chestnut ate 380 wontons in eight minutes to set a new world record.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2010, Chestnut secured his fourth straight Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest, by consuming 54 HDB in what he described himself as a disappointing performance.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On September 25, 2010, at the Phantom Gourmet Food Fest in Boston, Massachusetts, Chestnut won the Upper Crust Pizza Eating competition by eating 37 slices in ten minutes. He beat Bob Shoudt by one slice.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2011, Chestnut secured his fifth straight Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest, by consuming 62 HDB. Kobayashi, who could not participate in the contest because of his refusal to sign the required contract, ate 69 HDB at an off-site event with independent judges to establish a new world record.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On March 17, 2012, Chestnut set a new world record by eating 20 corned beef sandwiches in ten minutes at the annual Toojay's Corned Beef Eating Competition in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti finished in second place.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2012, Chestnut successfully defended his title at Nathan's 97th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. He tied his own world record by swallowing 68 HDB in ten minutes, which earned him his 6th "mustard belt" for this competition.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 16, 2012, Chestnut made a guest appearance on the 12th episode of Hell's Kitchen season 10, in which he participated in a wing-eating competition against a few of the contestants. He ended up winning the contest and earned $500.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On August 27, 2012, Chestnut cursed at Hofmann Hot dog and Kobayashi, stating in a Twitter post, "Congrats to @FReeKobio704 for eating a bunch of nasty Hoffman crap dogs. He needed an ego boost after three years of dodging competition."


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On September 2, 2012, Chestnut consumed 191 wings () in 12 minutes to win the 1st place competitive-eating trophy at the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, New York. He defeated the previous five-year champion Sonya Thomas.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On October 13, 2012, Chestnut won the Third Annual Smoke's Poutinerie World Poutine Eating Championships in Toronto, Ontario by consuming 19 boxes () of poutine in ten minutes.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2013, Chestnut successfully defended his title at Nathan's 98th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. He beat his own world record of 68 by consuming 69 HDB in ten minutes, which earned him his 7th "Mustard Belt" for this competition.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 25, 2013, Chestnut ate 179 wings in ten minutes taking the title for the second year in a row at the Hooters World Wing-Eating Championship held in Clearwater, Florida.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On September 22, 2013, Chestnut ate 70 bratwursts to set the world record and take his fourth straight title, at the Hillshire Farm Bratwurst Eating World Championship held at Oktoberfest Zinzinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2014, Chestnut ate more hot dogs and buns than any of his opponents, narrowly defeating competitor Matt Stonie. He successfully ate 61 hot dogs and buns to Stonie's 56, making this his eighth consecutive win. Prior to the event, Chestnut proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Neslie Ricasa.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2015, Chestnut was defeated by Stonie. He successfully ate 60 hot dogs and buns, but Stonie improved since 2014 and consumed 62 hot dogs and buns, ending Chestnut's eight-year run as champion.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: After a Denver Outlaws lacrosse game on May 24, Chestnut set a World Record eating 14.25lbs of Illegal Pete's Burritos in 10 minutes, beating the previous record of 11.81 set in 2007 by Tim "Eater X" Janus.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2016, Chestnut redeemed himself with 70 hot dogs and buns with Stonie behind with 53 hot dogs and buns. On September 4, 2016, he won his third consecutive title at the United States Chicken Wing Eating Championships in Buffalo, New York by eating 188 wings in 12 minutes.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2017, Chestnut defended his title and ate 72 hot dogs and buns. This was his 10th title and once again set a new Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest record. Carmen Cincotti was the closest competitor with 60.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: In 2018, Chestnut competed in "The Amazing Race 30" alongside fellow competitive eater Tim Janus. On July 4, Chestnut won his 11th title at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest with a new record of 74 hot dogs and buns.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2019, Chestnut won his 12th title at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, eating 71 hot dogs and buns.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On October 19, 2019, Chestnut won the 2019 World Poutine Eating Championship in Toronto, Canada, after eating 28 pounds of poutine in 10 minutes and set a new world record.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2020, Chestnut won his 13th title at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, eating a record-breaking 75 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. The event was held indoors, with fewer competitors and without spectators, due to COVID-19.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On August 1, 2020, Chestnut ate of pizza in 32 minutes and 14 seconds in a MrBeast YouTube video in Greenville, North Carolina.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On October 1, 2020, Chestnut guest starred on the animated series "Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?", voicing himself.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2021, Chestnut won his 14th title at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, eating 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, a new record.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On October 10, 2021, Chestnut won The 2021 Destination Outlets World Pumpkin Pie Eating Championship in Jeffersonville, Ohio, consuming 16 lbs 12 oz of Pumpkin Pie in 8 minutes.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: On July 4, 2022, Chestnut captured his 15th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest title by eating 63 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The contest was interrupted by a protestor, whom Chestnut placed in a chokehold.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Chestnut trains by fasting and by stretching his stomach with milk, water and protein supplements. Since the start of his competitive eating career, his competition weight has varied from . After winning his sixth consecutive hot dog eating contest in 2012 by eating 68 hot dogs, he stated, "I will not stop until I reach 70. This sport isn't about eating. It's about drive and dedication, and at the end of the day, hot dog eating challenges both my body and my mind."


title: Joey Chestnut

text: He says he trains for hot dog eating competitions by cooking hot dogs at his house and then eating them in a simulated competition style. He starts with 40 hot dogs and then works his way up until he is in game shape. He compared it to running or lifting weights for other athletes.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: Chestnut was born in Fulton County, Kentucky, and grew up in Vallejo, California. He holds a degree in engineering and construction management from San Jose State University.


title: Joey Chestnut

text: He proposed to his longtime girlfriend Neslie Ricasa just before defending his title in the 2014 Nathan's competition. The couple split up in early 2015, prior to their scheduled wedding date. Chestnut currently resides in Westfield, Indiana.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Patrik Schick (born 24 January 1996) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Bayer Leverkusen and the Czech Republic national team.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Born in Prague, Schick began his career with local club Sparta Prague, rising through their youth ranks, before making his senior debut as a teenager. In 2016, at the age of 20, he earned a move to Sampdoria in Italy after an impressive spell with Bohemians 1905. After an impressive debut season in Italy, he moved to Roma in 2017 for a reported club-record fee. In 2019, Schick moved to Germany to join RB Leipzig on a season-long loan before moving to Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen on a permanent basis in September 2020.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Formerly an international at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels, Schick made his debut for the Czech Republic in May 2016 at the age of 20. He has made over 30 caps for his country and helped the national team reach the quarter-finals of the European Championship in 2020, where he won both the Goal of the Tournament and the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament.


title: Patrik Schick

text: The Prague-born player was spotted by Sparta Prague when he was 11 years old. He made his top-flight debut for Sparta on 3 May 2014 in a 3–1 away loss at Teplice. Sparta would win the domestic double that campaign but four appearances over two campaigns meant Schick crossed town to join Bohemians 1905 on loan for the 2015–16 season. He scored 8 goals in 27 outings for Bohemians during a relegation battle. Schick returned to Sparta and was expected to feature prominently for the club during the 2016–17 season, but David Lafata was preferred and when Sparta offered Schick a new contract, his agent turned it down.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Schick signed for Sampdoria in June 2016 for a reported fee of €4 million. In his first season in Italy, he appeared in 32 league matches and scored 11 goals for Sampdoria. He started 14 times and was able to find the back of the net once every 137 minutes.


title: Patrik Schick

text: In May 2017, he refused to extend his contract, expecting a transfer to another club. In June 2017, Juventus triggered the release clause of a reported €30 million on Schick's contract. Schick failed two separate medicals and Juventus backed out of the deal on 18 July.


title: Patrik Schick

text: On 29 August 2017 Schick joined Roma on a temporary deal for a loan fee of €5 million with a conditional obligation to buy the player once certain sporting objectives had been achieved, rising to €40 million, a club record fee. Upon signing, Roma sporting director Monchi described Schick as "one of the brightest prospects in international football." Schick spent most of his spell at Roma playing out on the right wing or left up front by himself and he scored only 8 times in 58 games.


title: Patrik Schick

text: On 2 September 2019, RB Leipzig announced the signing of Schick on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy him permanently. His first goal for Leipzig came in a 3–2 defeat of SC Paderborn on 11 November 2019. This started a run of three goals in four league appearances including coming off the bench to complete the comeback and secure a 3–3 draw with Borussia Dortmund. Alongside Timo Werner, Schick rekindled his form with 10 goals in 28 games for Leipzig as the club finished in third place in the Bundesliga and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.


title: Patrik Schick

text: On 8 September 2020, Schick joined Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year deal for a reported fee of €26.5 million plus bonuses. Schick scored his first goal in a UEFA competition on 26 November 2020, coming in a 4–1 win over Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the group stage of the Europa League.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Schick was the preferred centre-forward for much of the 2020–21 campaign at the BayArena and finished with 9 strikes across 29 league games.


title: Patrik Schick

text: On 4 December 2021, Schick scored four goals, all in the second half, in a 7–1 win over Greuther Fürth. Schick continued his good form in Leverkusen's next two league games, scoring a brace in each match against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hoffenheim respectively. He ended the 2021–22 Bundesliga season as second top scorer with 24 goals in 27 matches, then extended his contract with the club until 2027.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Schick was called up to the Czech Republic senior side for the first time at their pre-UEFA Euro 2016 training camp. He earned his first cap for the nation in their tournament warm-up game against Malta on 27 May 2016. Schick scored his first goal for the national team in the same match, rounding out the scoring in a 6–0 win.


title: Patrik Schick

text: On 25 May 2021, Schick was included in the Czech Republic's final 26-man squad for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. In the first group stage match against Scotland on 14 June at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Schick scored both goals as the Czech Republic won 2–0. The second strike from the halfway line was the longest-recorded goal at the Euros since 1980 at . The goal was later voted as the "goal of the tournament", and was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award. He became the first Czech player since Tomáš Rosický at the 2006 FIFA World Cup to score a brace at a major tournament and the first since Milan Baroš in 2004 to do so at the European Championships.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Against Croatia on 18 June, Schick scored from a penalty to help his side earn a 1–1 draw. On 27 June, he scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the Czech Republic's shock win over the Netherlands in the round of 16. On 3 July, he scored in a 2–1 defeat against Denmark in the quarter-finals, to equal Milan Baroš' record of five goals for the Czech Republic in a European Championship tournament. Alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, he was the UEFA Euro 2020 joint top scorer with 5 goals, with the higher of number of goals scored from an open play.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Although Schick mostly plays in a central role as a main striker, due to his eye for goal, heading accuracy, and striking ability with his left foot; he is also capable of playing as a second striker or as a right winger. He can utilise his physique to hold up the ball with his back to goal, but is also a quick, elegant, and agile player, who possesses good technique and dribbling skills, as well as good link-up play, which enables him to play the ball first time, participate in the build-up of attacking plays and provide assists.


title: Patrik Schick

text: Schick has an older sister, Kristýna Schicková (born 31 July 1994), who is a model and a social media influencer. In his teenage years, Schick considered a career as a male model but focused on competitive football instead. In July 2020, he married his long-time partner Hana Běhounková (born 1996), with whom he has a daughter, Victoria, born in October 2020, and a son, Nico, born in October 2021.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The characters of the "God of War" video game franchise belong to a fictional universe based on Greek mythology and Norse mythology. As such, the series features a range of traditional figures, including those from Greek mythology, such as the Olympian Gods, Titans, and Greek heroes, and those from Norse mythology, including the Æsir and Vanir gods and other beings. A number of original characters have also been created to supplement storylines.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The overall story arc focuses on the series' primary playable single-player character, the protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior haunted by visions of himself accidentally killing his wife and child. The character finally avenges his family by killing his former master and manipulator, Ares, the God of War. Although Kratos becomes the new God of War, he is still plagued by nightmares and is eventually betrayed by Zeus, the King of the Olympian Gods—revealed by the goddess Athena to be Kratos' father. The constant machinations of the gods and Titans and their misuse of Kratos eventually drive him to destroy Mount Olympus. Many years following the destruction of Olympus, Kratos ends up in Midgard fathering a son named Atreus (known to prophecy as Loki) with the Jötunn warrior Faye. Their journey to keep a promise to the boy's late mother ends with Kratos and Atreus becoming enemies to the Norse gods, and ultimately set about the events of Ragnarök, a catastrophic event that the Allfather Odin was desperate to prevent, but ultimately ends with Odin's death and the destruction of Asgard.


title: Characters of God of War

text: "God of War" (2005), created by Sony's Santa Monica Studio, was the inaugural game in the series, the main part of which continued with "God of War II" (2007), "God of War III" (2010), and series prequel "" (2013); and side games "" (2007), "" (2008), and "" (2010). These seven games comprised the Greek era of the series. The Norse era began with the sequel to "God of War III", which is also titled "God of War" (2018) and concluded with "Ragnarök" (2022). The "God of War" mythos expanded into literature, with a novelization of the original "God of War" published in 2010, and a six-issue comic series that introduced new characters and plot developments that was published from 2010–11. A novelization of "God of War II" was published in 2013. A prequel graphic novel titled "" (2012–13) was released in the lead up to "Ascension"s release and is the backstory of the player's multiplayer character. To go along with the 2018 game, a text-based game, "", was released in February 2018, followed by a novelization in August, and then a two-volume comic series that began publication in November, serving as a prequel to the 2018 game.


title: Characters of God of War

text: "God of War" has become a highly lucrative franchise on account of the commercial and critical success of the series. Products include action figures, artwork, clothing, Slurpee cups, sweepstakes, and special edition video game consoles. The character of Kratos received positive comments from reviewers, and was described as a "sympathetic antihero" by GameSpy. Game Guru claimed "Practically anyone, even if they hadn't played any of the "God of War" games, would know about Kratos." Several reviewers have praised the portrayal of other characters: "PALGN" claimed that the original "God of War"s voice acting is "up there with the best", while IGN have complimented most of the games in the series, saying of "God of War II" that the characters were "timeless" and the voice acting was "great".


title: Characters of God of War

text: During the creation of "God of War", the game's director David Jaffe attempted to create a version of Kratos that looked brutal but had a different appearance from what is considered to be the traditional Greek hero. The character's traditional armor was removed to show the character's individualism, and details such as hair and other "flowing things" were removed. Jaffe said of his final version of the character, that while "[Kratos] may not totally feel at home in Ancient Greece from a costume standpoint, I think he achieves the greater purpose which is to give players a character who they can play who really does just let them go nuts and unleash the nasty fantasies that they have in their head."


title: Characters of God of War

text: When designing Ares, Charlie Wen was advised that the character should be 90% elemental and 5–10% human, then began sketching. He said that the rest of the team liked the designs, but were uncertain about execution. The transition towards Ares' human form was slow, and Wen said of the final design, "he's still a huge guy, but he's got all this armor on that allows him to do all these things." Like most of the Olympian gods in "God of War" (2005), Zeus first appeared as a floating translucent head, and was modeled on the typical representation of the god in Greek mythology. Cory Barlog (Game Director of "God of War II") said that for "God of War II", they wanted to maintain Zeus' appearance from literature, but also to add their own interpretation to the character. Zeus' human appearance was originally designed by Charlie Wen for "God of War II". This design was also used in "God of War III", with updated graphics and the addition of an arm piece during the final fight. Andy Park was responsible for designing Zeus' spirit form for the final fight. Park produced several sketches, and imagined Zeus as a "massive tornado creature with lightning searing throughout the form." Park said that the ultimate goal was that "we are looking at Zeus, but it is him transformed into a big cloud of smoke."


title: Characters of God of War

text: Hades first appeared in "God of War" (2005); the original design portrayed Hades as a fiery, demonic face with horns. Statues in the game adhered to this design. Hades' character design was changed in "God of War II", with the character now appearing in a more human-like form with spikes protruding from his body and wielding a pair of chained claws, similar to Kratos' chained blades. The new design featured a helmet that appeared to cover a fiery face, which in "God of War III", it is eventually revealed to be very grotesque but more human-like than the original design from "God of War". Hermes was originally designed for "God of War II" by Andy Park and did appear in the final cut scene of the game. For "God of War III", Park updated the design and painting of the character. Park said he "wanted to create a character that was sly, cunning, and a bit comical in both appearance and personality" and he imagined he would be "much like a dancer."


title: Characters of God of War

text: The Titan Oceanus was sketched by Erik San Juan and was originally intended to appear in "God of War II" in a completely watery form with no feet. This concept, however, was cut during development. Oceanus appeared in "God of War III", with a similar appearance to the other Titans and with an emphasis on lightning instead of the original watery design. Oceanus's original watery design was the basis of the design for Poseidon's avatar sea construct for "God of War III".


title: Characters of God of War

text: The character Daedalus was designed by Izzy Medrano, who said that he imagined Daedalus as a brilliant architect gone mad, and that Daedalus, similar to Kratos, was a pawn of the gods. The character was originally intended to have long white hair, but was eventually rendered bald, "as long hair is a difficult thing to manage." Icarus was conceived as an "old disgusting man" and portrayed as an evil, although slightly comedic, character.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Medrano also designed Pandora, who he said is vital in reintroducing the player to the human side of Kratos. Medrano also said that they knew Pandora had to be young and reminiscent of Kratos' daughter, Calliope, and that "[Pandora] had to be pretty without being sexy and spunky without being saucy." Medrano said the character's final attire was a "Greek Punk" fashion style.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The first version of the Gorgon, Medusa, was to have five feet, but due to perceived animation difficulties, the final version had one tail. Other Gorgons in the game adhered to this design. The goddess Artemis was considered for inclusion in "God of War: Ascension" as a playable female character, offering alternative combat options. Game Director Todd Papy said she would have been depicted as half-human and half-feline, with the head and torso of a woman and the legs of a lioness. However, she was ultimately cut from the game and thus only appears in the original "God of War" as a translucent head.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Kratos is a power-hungry Spartan who, to save his life, was eventually forced to serve the Olympian god Ares. During one murderous rampage, Kratos accidentally killed his wife and child. Kratos renounced Ares, became a tormented soul (including imprisonment by the Furies), and served the gods for ten years in hopes of becoming free of the nightmares. He eventually killed Ares and became the God of War, but was betrayed by his father, Zeus. A series of attempts to free himself from the influence of the gods and Titans followed, culminating in a final confrontation with Zeus, ending in the god's death and the reign of the Olympian Gods. In the aftermath, Athena appeared and Kratos sacrificed himself to prevent her from becoming the supreme goddess of the world. Many years later, surviving his fatal sacrifice, Kratos now lives in the world of the Norse gods in Midgard where he now has a son named Atreus. Following the death of his second wife Faye, he and Atreus journey to the highest peak of the nine realms to fulfill her promise and spread her ashes there. Along their journey, Kratos eventually reveals that he is a god to Atreus, and after defeating Baldur and in turn becoming an enemy of the Norse gods, he finally reveals his troubled past to his son and that they should learn from past mistakes.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The character was originally voiced by Terrence C. Carson; his final portrayal of the character was in 2013's "Ascension". Christopher Judge replaced TC Carson in 2018's "God of War". Antony Del Rio voiced the character as a child in "Ghost of Sparta" (2010).


title: Characters of God of War

text: Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom and Kratos' mentor and ally throughout the Greek era in the series, and is revealed to be his older sister. In "Chains of Olympus", Athena initially tasked Kratos to find Helios as in the absence of light, the god Morpheus had caused many of the gods to fall into a deep slumber. In "God of War" (2005), she gave Kratos the mission of killing Ares, as Zeus had forbidden divine involvement, and was instrumental in allowing Kratos to become the new God of War. Although she begged Kratos to stop his second quest for the Ambrosia of Asclepius in the comic series (2010–11) and lied to him about his brother Deimos in "Ghost of Sparta", Athena was still sympathetic towards Kratos even after he renounced the gods and was betrayed by Zeus in "God of War II". Athena died trying to protect Zeus from Kratos, and was resurrected and elevated to a new level of understanding in "God of War III". With ulterior motives, Athena became Kratos' ally once more and guided him to the Flame of Olympus surrounding Pandora's Box, which allowed Kratos to kill Zeus and end the reign of Mount Olympus, once Kratos defeated and killed nearly all the gods, Athena appeared to him and told him he has the power of hope, and demanded that he should give her the power so she could rule humanity as its sole goddess, though Kratos foils this attempt by stabbing himself to release it instead to the whole world, leaving Athena enraged and disappointed at him, leaving the latter to seemingly die. Her spirit later returns to Kratos in "God of War" (2018) to haunt and taunt him about his past that he had kept secret from his son Atreus. As he was retrieving his old weapons, the Blades of Chaos, she said he was nothing more than a monster, to which Kratos replied that he was not her monster anymore.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The character was voiced by Carole Ruggier in 2005's "God of War", 2007's "God of War II", and 2018's "God of War". Erin Torpey voiced the character in "Chains of Olympus" (2008), "God of War III" (2010), and "Ghost of Sparta" (2010).


title: Characters of God of War

text: Gaia was the mother of the Titans and embodiment of Earth. At the request of Zeus' mother Rhea, Gaia raised and protected the young Zeus to prevent Cronos from devouring him, as he had devoured his other children. When Zeus grew to manhood, he betrayed Gaia, freed his siblings, and Gaia was banished with her fellow Titans at the conclusion of the Great War. In "God of War II", she saved Kratos from the Underworld after a disastrous encounter with Zeus, and directed the Spartan to find the Sisters of Fate in order to take revenge on Zeus. A successful Kratos plucked Gaia and the Titans from the moment in time before their defeat in the Great War to launch an abortive attack on Olympus. In "God of War III", Gaia was wounded in the assault on Olympus and abandoned Kratos, stating he was a pawn of the Titans so that they could have their revenge. Kratos eventually found and crippled Gaia, but she returned and interrupted the final battle between the Spartan and Zeus. The pair entered Gaia's neck wound, and with the Blade of Olympus, Kratos destroyed her heart, killing the Titan.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The character was voiced by Linda Hunt in "God of War II", and Susan Blakeslee in "God of War III". Gaia was also the narrator during cut scenes in "God of War", again voiced by Hunt.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Zeus was the King of the Olympian Gods. Zeus and Ares believed the destruction of Olympus would come at the hands of Kratos' brother Deimos, so they had Deimos imprisoned and tortured by Thanatos. Many years later, in "God of War" (2005), Zeus aided Kratos against Ares by bestowing him with the magic, "Zeus' Fury", and as the mysterious gravedigger. In "God of War: Ghost of Sparta", Zeus realizes Kratos was the prophesied Marked Warrior, not Deimos. In "God of War II", it is revealed that Zeus had become infected with fear. He tricked Kratos into draining his godly powers into the Blade of Olympus, stating it was required to deal with the new threat actually created by Zeus. Kratos, stripped of his power, was mortally wounded while human, and killed by Zeus. With the help of the Titan Gaia, Kratos used the power of the Sisters of Fate to return to the moment Zeus betrayed him and defeated Zeus after extensive combat. Zeus was saved by Athena, who sacrificed herself to preserve Olympus. Before dying, Athena revealed that Kratos is Zeus' son, and that Zeus feared a perpetuation of the son-killing-father cycle, as Zeus imprisoned his father Cronos. This was confirmed in "God of War III" when Kratos discovered that Zeus was infected with fear when Kratos first opened Pandora's Box and used its power to kill Ares. After a lengthy battle and an enlightening encounter with Pandora in his psyche, Kratos finally overcame and killed Zeus. Later in "God of War" (2018), Zeus appears as a haunting vision to Kratos while in Helheim.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The character was originally voiced by Paul Eiding in 2005's "God of War". Corey Burton, who had previously voiced Zeus in the animated Disney show based on the film "Hercules", took over the role in "God of War II". He continued it in "God of War III", in the multiplayer mode of "Ascension", where Zeus appears as one of the four gods that players can pledge their allegiance to, and in 2018's "God of War". Fred Tatasciore provided Zeus's voice in "Ghost of Sparta"s after-game "Combat Arena" mode.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Zeus, as he appears in "God of War III", is a downloadable playable character in "PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale" (2012); he became available on March 19, 2013.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Atreus ( ) is the young son that Kratos bore with the giant named Faye and has the ability to telepathically hear the thoughts of other beings. His mother taught him archery and how to read runes. His first adventure into the wilderness in "A Call from the Wilds" brought him to an encounter with some draugr, and he had to be saved by his father Kratos, after which, the two battled a revenant. Following Faye's death of an unknown cause in "God of War" (2018), Atreus journeys with his father Kratos to fulfill his promise to spread her ashes at the highest peak of the nine realms. Atreus did not know about Kratos' past or that he was a god. After Atreus falls ill due to a mental contradiction of a god thinking himself mortal, Kratos goes to Helheim to retrieve an item to heal him. After Atreus is cured, Kratos reveals that he is a god, but says nothing about his past. Knowing he is a god and thinking he can do anything, Atreus becomes arrogant and murders Modi, despite Kratos ordering not to. The two eventually make amends and team up to face Baldur. After Baldur's defeat, Kratos reveals his past and tells Atreus that they should learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. The two then go to Jötunheim to complete their journey. There, they learn that Faye was a giant, making Atreus part-giant, part-god, and part-mortal due to Kratos being a demigod formerly before becoming a god after killing Ares. It was also revealed that his mother had originally named him Loki, but Kratos chose Atreus, a name of an honorable Spartan comrade of his. The two then spread her ashes at Jötunheim's peak before going home. Atreus then has a vision that years later, at the end of Fimbulwinter, Thor will come for them.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Mímir is a former adviser to Odin and claims to be the smartest man alive. Formerly known as the fairy Puck, Mímir migrated from the Celtic world to the Norse world to serve Odin. He became Odin's advisor, enabling his ambitions, until Mímir's peaceful intentions misaligned with Odin's desire for control, resulting in the former's imprisonment for over a hundred years. When Kratos and Atreus encounter him, believing they had reached their goal, Mímir reveals that their goal is actually in Jötunheim and that he can help them get there. He asks Kratos to behead him and have his head reanimated by the Witch of the Woods, revealed by Mímir to be the goddess Freya. After that is done, Mímir then joins Kratos and Atreus on their journey while clipped to Kratos' belt and provides information about the world and the gods through his tales. He returns in "Ragnarök", continuing to serve as their counsel, but now regarded as an honorary family member.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Freya is Vanir Goddess of Love and former Queen of the Valkyries. She was previously in an abusive marriage to Odin, who mockingly gave her the nickname Frigg, and is the mother of Baldur and the twin sister of Freyr. Odin banished her to Midgard for her betrayal as she tried to leave him for his abuse and his countless acts of cruelty against the Jötnar. He also stripped her of her Valkyrie wings and cast a spell on her that prevented her from causing harm to any being and prevented her from leaving Midgard. She first encounters Kratos and Atreus in 2018's "God of War" as a supporting ally after Atreus had shot her friend, the boar Hildisvíni, for "target practice". The two then aid Freya in healing Hildisvíni. She then aided Kratos and Atreus on their journey under the alias, the Witch of the Woods. After her identity was revealed by Mímir, Kratos distrusted her because of his distrust of gods in general. While in Helheim, they learn that she is the mother of Baldur and of the spell she cast on him. She was willing to die for Baldur, even if it meant that Baldur was the one who killed her. After the spell was broken by Atreus, Freya joined the battle between Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir against Baldur by resurrecting the giant Thamur, however Freya is downed by the Jörmungandr and Baldur is defeated. Kratos gave him a chance to retreat, but Baldur instead tried to kill Freya, so Kratos killed Baldur to end the patricide cycle. A grieving Freya then vowed revenge on Kratos for killing her son and taunted him for not revealing his past to Atreus.


title: Characters of God of War

text: She returns in "Ragnarök" as an antagonist, seeking vengeance against Kratos for Baldur's death and attacking him and Atreus throughout Fimbulwinter. After retrieving her Valkyrie wings again and coming to blows with the two, she decides to spare Kratos so she can use him to remove the spell binding her to Midgard. Kratos manages to make her empathize with him in their pain of losing children and offers forgiveness, and Freya decides to ally with Kratos again after agreeing Odin is their real enemy. After being freed of the spell and reuniting with Freyr, she ultimately joins the group in attacking Asgard in Ragnarök, finally killing Odin and freeing the realms from his control. She later joins Kratos and Mimír in bringing peace to the realms and reclaims her role as queen after defeating Gná.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Odin was the ruler of Asgard, the All-father of the Nine Realms, and the father of Týr, Thor, Heimdall, and Baldur. An unseen character but perpetrator of the events in 2018's "God of War", he is referenced several times and is portrayed to be a cruel, tyrannical and manipulative god who is obsessed with preventing his death at Ragnarök. It was told that he had his own son Týr killed as he thought Týr was going to aid the giants and overthrow him. His ravens, called the Eyes of Odin, are scattered across the realms. Odin was mentioned to have imprisoned Mímir in a tree and tortured him daily, banished his wife Freya from Asgard for betraying him, and instructed Baldur to target Kratos in order to get to Faye.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Odin appears in "Ragnarök" as the game's main antagonist. After failing to broker peace with Kratos, he then proposes to Atreus for an apprenticeship under his wing before departing. Odin attempted to spy on Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir's activities by posing as Týr, with his guise being a trapped man in Svartalfheim who had become a traumatized and delusional coward. After a fight with his father, Atreus accepts Odin's offer in Asgard, hoping to help Odin find a way to prevent Ragnarök. Odin shows him around Asgard and introduces him to his family before sharing that he needs his help to make a mask to see a rift between realms to know the secrets to the future and the afterlife. Atreus' interactions with Odin's family reveals the effects of the All-father's neglect towards his own kin in pursuit of his own selfish agenda. Eventually, Brok blows his cover as Týr and he kills the dwarf before fleeing, which ironically pushes Kratos' group to instead initiate Ragnarök instead of preventing it. Odin's true nature is revealed to his followers and family during Ragnarök by his use of Midgardian refugees as human shields, which leads to Sif and Thrúd defecting and Odin killing Thor after his son has a change of heart. After a lengthy battle against Kratos, Atreus, Mímir, and Freya during which Atreus destroys the mask, Odin is defeated and his soul was absorbed in a stone by Atreus. The stone is later destroyed by Sindri as revenge for his brother's death, freeing the Nine Realms from Odin's grasp at last.


title: Characters of God of War

text: The Valkyries are female warriors and servants of Odin who are responsible for taking warriors to Valhalla upon their death in the mortal realm. Due to Freya's betrayal, Odin cursed the nine Valkyries to remain in a physical form, an unnatural state for a Valkyrie, which drove them to insanity due to a prolonged period in that form. Kratos and Atreus discover the Valkyries across the realms in Odin's hidden chambers. Upon killing their physical form, their spirits are freed from Odin's curse and return to Valhalla.


title: Characters of God of War

text: "God of War" received praise for its voice acting. Chris Sell of "PALGN" stated that the voice acting is "up there with the best" in comparison to other games, and that the cut scenes are "superbly voiced, but it's the narrator of the story that is the most professionally convincing throughout." Eric Blattberg of PlayStation Universe stated that the voice acting is a great feature of the game, that narrator Linda Hunt's "authentic voice really helps set the attitude during the unbelievable [full motion video]'s", and that Kratos "acts and sounds like a badass." Kristan Reed of Eurogamer wrote, "Even the straight-laced voice work is handled with an expertise so sadly lacking in most other videogames." Raymond M. Padilla of GameSpy, wrote that some of the voice acting and music tracks are overstated; one of his few dislikes in the game. Matt Leone of 1UP wrote that "There's a mixture of in-game characters that speak to you and extremely nice CG sequences that show moments such as flashbacks, and it all blends together surprisingly well."


title: Characters of God of War

text: "God of War II" received similar praise for its voice acting. Chris Roper of IGN said the characters were timeless and the voice acting was great. Kristan Reed said that the voice acting was "top notch." Alex Navarro of GameSpot wrote that "The voice acting is ... all-around excellent, though it's not quite as enjoyable as it was in the last game", and that "Kratos is as gruff and over the top as ever." He praised the supporting voice performances, such as Linda Hunt as Gaia and the narrator, Corey Burton as Zeus, and Harry Hamlin as Perseus, as "top-notch work." However, Navarro said that a few of the performances felt "a bit labored or overwrought. In particular, Michael Clarke Duncan as Atlas feels more wooden than imposing. The voice is right, but his performance is oddly subdued." With these exceptions, Navarro said that "this is another enjoyable voice cast." GameSpy described Kratos as a "sympathetic antihero" and Game Guru claimed "Practically anyone, even if they hadn't played any of the "God of War" games, would know about Kratos."


title: Characters of God of War

text: "God of War III" received mixed reviews; Chris Roper of IGN stated that the voice acting "could be better", and that some of the characters are the "biggest culprits" to "creating an uneven feeling in the visual presentation" and that they "don't feature the same level of lighting quality or perhaps texture work as others." Roper also said that a few look "fantastic ... but many are clearly not on the same level as Kratos, and some are even only passable as 'good'."


title: Characters of God of War

text: Chris Roper of IGN said that the voice acting on "Chains of Olympus" was nice. For "God of War: Ghost of Sparta", Nicole Tanner of IGN wrote that it "[c]ontinues the tradition of great voice acting" that "we've come to expect from a "God of War" installment." Joe Juba of "Game Informer" said that the voice work was solid.


title: Characters of God of War

text: Two series of action figures based on "God of War II" have been produced by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA). The first set included two versions of Kratos; one wielding the Blades of Athena and the second wearing the Golden Fleece and holding a gorgon's head. The second set included a twelve-inch figure that plays six game quotes. A second two-figure set was also released, with Kratos wearing the God of War armor. DC Unlimited produced a line of action figures based on "God of War III", which included the characters Kratos, Zeus, Hades and Hercules. Between February 1, 2010 and March 31, 2010, 7-Eleven sold a limited edition Slurpee drink called "Kratos Fury", available in four exclusive "God of War III" cups, which featured codes that could be used to access "God of War III" and Slurpee-themed downloadable content on the Slurpee website. Kratos' visage has appeared on the PlayStation Portable "Chains of Olympus" exclusive bundle pack, and on the PlayStation 3 "God of War III" sweepstakes prize video game consoles like PS4 and Xbox. Other products include artwork, clothing, and sweepstakes.


title: Victor Mature

text: Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include "One Million B.C." (1940), "My Darling Clementine" (1946), "Kiss of Death" (1947), "Samson and Delilah" (1949), and "The Robe" (1953). He also appeared in many musicals opposite such stars as Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His father, Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, was a cutler and knife sharpener from Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol (now Trentino in Italy, but at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His mother, Clara P. (Ackley), was Kentucky-born and of Swiss heritage. An older brother, Marcellus Paul Mature, died of osteomyelitis in 1918 at age 11. His only sister, Isabelle, born and died in 1906. Victor attended St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, the Kentucky Military Institute, and the Spencerian Business School. He briefly sold candy and operated a restaurant before moving to California.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature studied and acted at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. For three years, he lived in a tent in the back yard of Mrs Willigan, the mother of a fellow student, Catherine Lewis. He was spotted by Charles R. Rogers, an agent for Hal Roach, while acting in a production of "To Quito and Back". Rogers called him "a rival to Clark Gable, Robert Taylor and Errol Flynn." Mature signed a seven-year contract with Roach in September 1939.


title: Victor Mature

text: Roach cast Mature in a small role in "The Housekeeper's Daughter" (1939), for which one reviewer called him "a handsome Tarzan type". Roach then gave Mature his first leading role, as a fur-clad caveman in "One Million B.C." (1940). The film was highly publicized and it raised Mature's profile; Hedda Hopper called him "a sort of miniature Johnny Weissmuller". Roach next put him in a swashbuckler set during the War of 1812, "Captain Caution" (1940).


title: Victor Mature

text: As Hal Roach only made a handful of movies every year, he loaned out Mature's services to RKO, who used him as a leading man in the Anna Neagle–Herbert Wilcox musical, "No, No, Nanette". The studio people were so pleased with his performance, they bought an option to take over half of Mature's contract with Hal Roach, enabling them to draw on his services for two films a year over three years. Wilcox wanted to reunite Mature with Neagle in "Sunny". Roach announced Mature would support Victor McLaglen in "Broadway Limited", but Mature was not cast in the final film.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature was worried about the direction of his career at this stage, claiming, "nobody was going to believe I could do anything except grunt and groan." So he went to New York City to try the theatre. He signed to appear in a play with the Group Theatre, "Retreat to Pleasure" by Irwin Shaw. Shortly afterwards it was announced he would appear instead in the musical "Lady in the Dark" with a book by Moss Hart and songs from Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill; Mature played Randy Curtis, a film star boyfriend of the show's protagonist, magazine editor Liza Elliott (Gertrude Lawrence). Mature later described his role:


title: Victor Mature

text: First, this secretary came out saying 'What a beautiful hunk of man!' Then Danny Kaye topped that with a long, long introductory number. Finally, I made my entrance. John Barrymore told me I was the only person who could have followed up all that.


title: Victor Mature

text: The musical debuted on Broadway in January 1941 and was a smash hit, making a star of Danny Kaye and Macdonald Carey, and causing fresh appreciation for Mature's talents. His performance was well received, Brooks Atkinson of "The New York Times" calling him "unobjectionably handsome and affable". The description of Randy Curtis in the musical – "Beautiful Hunk of Man" – would be frequently used to describe Mature throughout his career. Mature missed some of the run due to an emergency appendectomy, but played the role until June.


title: Victor Mature

text: When Mature left "Lady in the Dark", he announced that 20th Century Fox had bought out half of Mature's contract with Hal Roach. His first film under the contract was to be "Bowery Nightingale" with Alice Faye. He was going to follow this with "The Shanghai Gesture" for Arnold Pressburger and Josef von Sternberg at United Artists.


title: Victor Mature

text: "Bowery Nightingale" was not made, so Fox instead assigned Mature to appear in a thriller with Faye, "I Wake Up Screaming" (which had a working title of "Hot Spot"); Faye ended up being replaced with Betty Grable. Filming of "The Shanghai Gesture" was postponed to enable Mature to finish "Screaming", which was a popular success. "The Shanghai Gesture" also proved popular.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature was announced for a Fox musical, "Highway to Hell", which ended up being postponed; instead, he replaced John Payne in a Betty Grable musical, "Song of the Islands" (Mature was replaced in turn on "Highway" by Cesar Romero).


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature was paid $450 a week under his contract with Roach for "Shanghai Gesture", but Roach received $3750 a week for Mature's services. Roach received $22,000 for Mature in "Song of the Islands", but Mature was paid $4,000. He asked for a pay increase of $1,250 a week.


title: Victor Mature

text: RKO wanted Mature for "Passage to Bordeaux" and Josef Von Sternberg wanted him for "Lady Paname". Instead, Mature made another musical for Fox, supporting Rita Hayworth in "My Gal Sal" (a role originally meant for Don Ameche).


title: Victor Mature

text: In November 1941, Fox bought out the four years remaining on Mature's contract with Hal Roach for $80,000. (This included loan out provisions to RKO.) Roach had not wanted to sell, but he was in financial difficulties and his backers insisted. Mature would be paid $1,500 a week. He had also had six commitments with RKO. "The studio [Fox] will have to make a success of me," said Mature.


title: Victor Mature

text: "I wasn't pampered the way a Tyrone Power was," Mature recalled later of his time at Fox. "Zanuck would say, 'If you're not careful, I'll give you Mature for your next picture'."


title: Victor Mature

text: Fox talked of reuniting Hayworth and Mature in a Russian set war film "Ski Patrol". Instead, Mature was lent to RKO for a musical with Lucille Ball, "Seven Days' Leave". This was followed by "Footlight Serenade" with Grable and Payne. All these films were very popular at the box office.


title: Victor Mature

text: In July 1942, Mature attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy, but was rejected for color blindness. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard after taking a different eye test the same day. He was assigned to , which was part of the Greenland Patrol. This meant that when Paramount filmed "Lady in the Dark", Mature was unable to reprise his stage role. After 14 months aboard "Storis", Mature was promoted to the rating of chief boatswain's mate.


title: Victor Mature

text: In 1944, he did a series of War Bond tours and acted in morale shows. He assisted Coast Guard recruiting efforts by being a featured player in the musical revue "Tars and Spars", which opened in Miami, Florida, in April 1944 and toured the United States for the next year. In May 1945, Mature was reassigned to the Coast Guard manned troop transport , which was involved in transferring troops to the Pacific Theater. Mature was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard in November 1945 and he resumed his acting career.


title: Victor Mature

text: Fox assigned Mature to "Three Little Girls in Blue". He was pulled off that film to play Philip Marlowe in an adaptation of "The High Window". In December 1945 he signed a new two-year contract with Fox. However Mature ended up withdrawing from that film and instead was cast by John Ford in "My Darling Clementine", playing Doc Holliday opposite Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp, considered to be one of his finest performances. The film was produced by 20th Century Fox, whose head of production Darryl F. Zanuck was delighted that Ford wanted to use Mature, telling the director:


title: Victor Mature

text: Zanuck promised Mature he would keep him away from musicals and stuck to that, casting him in the period thriller "Moss Rose"; Mature received a $50,000 bonus after shooting completed. His next film was the film noir, "Kiss of Death", which had been developed specifically as a vehicle for him. The movie, shot mostly on location in New York, was not a particularly big hit, but was popular, earned Mature some of his best reviews and turned Richard Widmark into a star.


title: Victor Mature

text: Still at Fox, Mature made his second Western, "Fury at Furnace Creek", replacing John Payne. That film co-starred Coleen Gray, who had been in "Kiss of Death" and Fox announced plans to team them for a third time in a remake of "Seventh Heaven". However, the film was not made. Instead, he co-starred with Richard Conte in a thriller directed by Robert Siodmak, "Cry of the City". Mature's performance in the film as a world-weary cop was widely praised; one reviewer noted that he "turns in an excellent performance, arguably the best of his career".


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature still had an obligation to make a movie at RKO which dated from before the war. He was announced for "Battleground" and "Mr Whiskers" before eventually being cast in a serious drama about football, "Interference", which became "Easy Living", with Lucille Ball.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature's career received a massive lift when he was borrowed by Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount to play the lead in the $3.5 million biblical spectacular "Samson and Delilah". De Mille described the role of Samson as “a combination Tarzan, Robin Hood, and Superman.” Mature was reluctant to take the role at first out of fear of risking his new postwar reputation as a serious actor, but he changed his mind.


title: Victor Mature

text: During filming, Mature was frightened by a number of the animals and mechanical props used in the production, including the lions, the wind machine, the swords and even the water. This infuriated the director, DeMille, who bellowed through his megaphone at the assembled cast and crew: “I have met a few men in my time. Some have been afraid of heights, some have been afraid of water, some have been afraid of fire, some have been afraid of closed spaces. Some have even been afraid of open spaces – or themselves. But in all my 35 years of picture-making experience, Mr. Mature, I have not until now met a man who was 100 percent yellow.”


title: Victor Mature

text: While "Samson" was in postproduction, Paramount used Mature in another film, co-starring with Betty Hutton in "Red, Hot and Blue", his first musical in a number of years. It was not particularly popular, and "Easy Living" was a flop, but "Samson and Delilah" earned over $12 million during its original run, making it the most popular movie of the 1940s, and responsible for ushering in a cycle of spectacles set in the Ancient World.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature returned to Fox and was put in a popular musical with Betty Grable, "Wabash Avenue". It was directed by Henry Koster who recalled Mature was "nice to work with, amusing. He very much looked out for his money always."


title: Victor Mature

text: In late 1949, Mature was meant to fulfill another commitment at RKO, "Alias Mike Fury" (the new title for "Mr Whiskers"). Mature refused to make the movie and was put on suspension by Fox. The script was rewritten and Mature ended up making the film, which was retitled "Gambling House".


title: Victor Mature

text: Back at Fox, he supported Ann Sheridan in a comedy, "Stella". In 1949, he was directed by Jacques Tourneur in "Easy Living".


title: Victor Mature

text: In September 1950, he was making a film in Montana about fire fighters, "Wild Winds", for Fox with John Lund. Mature injured himself in a motorcycle accident . After Lund was stung by a wasp and the location was snowed in, it was decided to abandon the film. (It was later filmed with new stars as "Red Skies of Montana".)


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature took a number of months off, before returning to filmmaking with "The Las Vegas Story", with Jane Russell at RKO. RKO released – but did not produce – Mature's next film, "Androcles and the Lion", an adaptation of the play by George Bernard Shaw with Mature as a Roman centurion. Like "Las Vegas Story", it was a box-office failure.


title: Victor Mature

text: Far more popular was a musical he made at MGM, "Million Dollar Mermaid" with Esther Williams, a biopic of Annette Kellermann, playing Kellermann's promoter husband. According to Williams's autobiography, she and Mature had a romantic relationship.


title: Victor Mature

text: Back at Fox, Mature was meant to be reteamed with Betty Grable in a musical, "The Farmer Takes a Wife", but the studio instead reassigned him to a comedy with Patricia Neal, "Something for the Birds".


title: Victor Mature

text: Back at RKO, Mature was meant to star in "Split Second", but instead was reteamed with Jean Simmons in the romantic drama "Affair with a Stranger". RKO still wanted him for "Split Second", but instead Fox put him in a Korean war film, "The Glory Brigade".


title: Victor Mature

text: He followed this with a movie at Universal, "The Veils of Bagdad". The release of this was held up until after that of Mature's next film, "The Robe".


title: Victor Mature

text: "The Robe" had been in development in Hollywood for over a decade. In December 1952, Mature signed to play Demetrius in two movies, "The Robe" and a sequel, "Demetrius and the Gladiators". The films were shot consecutively.


title: Victor Mature

text: "The Robe", the first CinemaScope movie to be released (ahead of "How to Marry a Millionaire", which was actually the first film shot in the new process), was an enormous success, one of the most popular movies of all time. "Veils of Bagdad" was not as popular, but "Demetrius and the Gladiators" was another hit.


title: Victor Mature

text: Back at RKO, Mature made "Dangerous Mission" for producer Irwin Allen. He travelled to Holland in September 1953 to support Clark Gable and Lana Turner in a World War Two film made at MGM, "Betrayed", another popular success.


title: Victor Mature

text: Fox put Mature into another ancient history spectacle, "The Egyptian". He was originally meant to co-star with Marlon Brando and Kirk Douglas. Mature renewed his contract with Fox for another year, his 12th at that studio. "The Egyptian" ended up starring Mature with Edmund Purdom and Michael Wilding, plus Bella Darvi; it was a box-office disappointment.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature went over to Universal to play the title role in "Chief Crazy Horse", in exchange for a fee and a percentage of the profits.


title: Victor Mature

text: Fox wanted Mature to support Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward in "Untamed" (1955), but Mature refused, claiming he had worked for two years and wanted a vacation. The studio replaced him with Richard Egan and put him under what they called a "friendly" suspension.


title: Victor Mature

text: In 1954, Mature signed a two-picture deal with Columbia Pictures, giving him script and co-star approval, at $200,000 a film. The first movie he made under this contract was "The Last Frontier" (1955).


title: Victor Mature

text: Before he started making that, however, he was called back to Fox to appear in the heist thriller, "Violent Saturday". This was the last movie he made at Fox.


title: Victor Mature

text: In March 1955, while making "Last Frontier", Mature announced he had also signed a contract with United Artists for them to finance and distribute six films over five years for Mature's own company.


title: Victor Mature

text: In May 1955, Mature signed a two-picture contract with Warwick Productions. Warwick was an English company which had success making films aimed at the international market with American stars; they released their films in the USA through Columbia Pictures. The first of Mature's films for Warwick was to be "Zarak". He ended up making "Safari" beforehand, a tale of the Mau Mau with location filming in Kenya. Both "Safari" and "Zarak" were successful.


title: Victor Mature

text: Sam Goldwyn, Jr, hired him to make "The Sharkfighters", released through United Artists and shot on location in Cuba. He was back with Warwick for "Interpol", reteaming him with his "Zarak" co-star, Anita Ekberg, filmed throughout Europe. In London, he made "The Long Haul", a truck-driving drama with Diana Dors, the second film under his deal with Columbia.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature finally made a movie for his own production company, Romina Productions, in conjunction with United Artists and Batjac Productions: "China Doll", directed by Frank Borzage, with whom Mature co-produced. Mature and Borzage announced they would also make "The Incorrigibles" and "Vaults of Heaven".


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature signed to make two more films with Warwick Productions, "No Time to Die" (Tank Force) and "The Man Inside". He ended up only making the first, a World War Two film with Libyan locations; Jack Palance took his role in "The Man Inside".


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature made another movie for Romina and Batjac, a Western, "Escort West". It was released by United Artists, which also distributed "Timbuktu", a French Foreign Legion adventure tale that Mature made for producer Edward Small and the director Jacques Tourneur.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature was reunited with producer Irwin Allen for "The Big Circus", shot in early 1959. He then made his second film for Warwick under his two-picture contract with them, "The Bandit of Zhobe", following this with an Italian peplum, aka "sword-and-sandal" movie, "Hannibal", with Mature in the title role. It was shot in Italy, as was "The Tartars" with Orson Welles. Mature then retired from acting.


title: Victor Mature

text: In a 1978 interview, Mature said of his decision to retire from acting at age 46: "It wasn't fun anymore. "I was OK financially so I thought what the hell – I'll become a professional loafer."


title: Victor Mature

text: After five years of retirement, he was lured back into acting by the opportunity to parody himself in "After the Fox" (1966), co-written by Neil Simon. Mature played "Tony Powell", an aging American actor who is living off his reputation from his earlier body of work. In a similar vein in 1968, he played a giant, The Big Victor, in "Head", a movie starring The Monkees. Mature enjoyed the script while admitting it made no sense to him, saying "All I know is it makes me laugh."


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature was famously self-deprecatory about his acting skills. Once, after being rejected for membership in a country club because he was an actor, he cracked, "I'm not an actor — and I've got 64 films to prove it!" He was quoted in 1968 on his acting career: "Actually, I am a golfer. That is my real occupation. I never was an actor. Ask anybody, particularly the critics."


title: Victor Mature

text: He came out of retirement again in 1971 to star in "Every Little Crook and Nanny" and again in 1976 along with many other former Hollywood stars in "Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood". His last feature film appearance was a cameo as a millionaire in "Firepower" in 1979, while his final acting role was that of Samson's father Manoah in the TV movie "Samson and Delilah" in 1984. In a 1971 interview, Mature quipped about his decision to retire:


title: Victor Mature

text: I was never that crazy about acting. I had a compulsion to earn money, not to act. So, I worked as an actor until I could afford to retire. I wanted to quit while I could still enjoy life ... I like to loaf. Everyone told me I would go crazy or die if I quit working. Yeah? Well, what a lovely way to die.


title: Victor Mature

text: In 1980, he said he was "pretty proud of about 50% of my motion pictures. "Demetrius and the Gladiators" wasn't bad. "The Robe" and "Samson and Delilah" weren't bad. I made 72 of them and I made close to $18 million. So what the hell." He said in the same interview his favorite actors were Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and especially Burt Reynolds.


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature died of leukemia in 1999 at his Rancho Santa Fe, California, home, at the age of 86. He was buried in the family plot, marked by a replica of the Angel of Grief, at St. Michael's Cemetery in his hometown of Louisville.


title: Victor Mature

text: For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Mature has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6780 Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Victor Mature

text: David Thomson wrote a critical appraisal of Mature in his book "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film":


title: Victor Mature

text: Mature is an uninhibited creature of the naive. Simple, crude, and heady – like ketchup or treacle – he is a diet scorned by the knowing, but obsessive if succumbed to in error. It is too easy to dismiss Mature, for he surpasses badness. He is a strong man in a land of hundred pound weaklings, an incredible concoction of beef steak, husky voice, and brilliantine – a barely concealed sexual advertisement for soiled goods. Remarkably, he is as much himself in the cheerfully meretricious and the pretentiously serious. Such a career has no more pattern than a large ham; it slices consistently forever. The more lurid or distasteful the art the better Mature comes across.


title: Victor Mature

text: In 1985, at the Uptown Lounge in Athens, Georgia, R.E.M. performed under the pseudonym Hornets Attack Victor Mature. "We sent a press release that said it was a combination of Jerry Lee Lewis and Joy Division," explained Peter Buck. "God knows how we got a date, but we did." The name was used after Buck spotted it in a 'Name Your Band' article in "Trouser Press". It told of a Los Angeles band who had taken their name from a newspaper headline describing an incident where furious wasps had ganged up on the actor during a round of golf. The band had since opted for something a little more West Coast, so Buck considered Hornets Attack Victor Mature to be fair game. "I figured anyone who'd pay money to see a band with a name that silly is our kind of person."


title: Crashing (British TV series)

text: Crashing is a British comedy series produced by Big Talk Productions and written and created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Its six episodes aired from 11 January 2016 to 15 February 2016 on Channel 4. It stars Waller-Bridge, Jonathan Bailey, Julie Dray, Louise Ford, Damien Molony, Adrian Scarborough, and Amit Shah.


title: Crashing (British TV series)

text: "Crashing" follows the lives of six twenty-somethings living together as property guardians in a disused hospital, keeping the building safe in exchange for cheaper rent and a strict set of rules. The close personal relationships start to overlap, and the group navigates sexual tension and personal baggage before they are inevitably evicted.


title: Crashing (British TV series)

text: The story began as two plays, written by Waller-Bridge, which were developed for television by the production company Big Talk. Waller-Bridge added that, "The stimulus for them was to find the moment something exciting could have happened between two people but doesn’t because they bottle it at the last minute. I always wanted to write about what happened to these people after this moment.”


title: Crashing (British TV series)

text: The setting of the show was inspired by Middlesex Hospital, an abandoned hospital located in Fitzrovia near the production company's offices. It was eventually filmed at a disused building of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.


title: Crashing (British TV series)

text: "W Magazine" called it Waller-Bridge's "twisted take on "Friends"." "GQ Magazine" described the show's six episodes as: "perfect little whirlwinds of comedy building to one big maelstrom where everyone falls to pieces — some are better off for it, and some are not. No matter where the chips fall, you'll have a good time."


title: Crashing (British TV series)

text: "Crashing" was released on DVD by Simply Media on 3 September 2018.. Since 2016, "Crashing" is available to stream on Netflix.


title: Andrew the Apostle

text: Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; , ), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter and is a son of Jonah. He is referred to in the Orthodox tradition as the First-Called ().


title: Andrew the Apostle

text: According to Orthodox tradition, the apostolic successor to Andrew is the Patriarch of Constantinople.


title: Andrew the Apostle

text: The name "Andrew" (meaning "manly, brave", from ), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews and other Hellenized people since the second or third century B.C. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him.