title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: Watkins' son, Ron Watkins, told his father about the website after learning of it from an Al Jazeera America documentary about Brennan. The elder Watkins contacted Brennan to offer a partnership, under the condition that Brennan come to the Philippines to work for him. Brennan trusted Watkins because he knew he operated 2channel, though at the time he was unaware of the claim that Watkins had stolen the site from its founder. Brennan agreed to work for Jim Watkins, and in 2014 moved to Manila in the Philippines to join him. Watkins, via N.T. Technology, began offering domain name services and hardware to host 8chan in 2014 into 2015, and Brennan continued to be responsible for the site's software development and community management. In 2014, Watkins became the official owner and operator of 8chan. Brennan remained the site administrator until 2016, at which time he relinquished the role. "Wired" magazine reported he left the position due to stress; others have attributed his departure to Brennan growing disgusted with the site and its contents, and asking to be reassigned to work elsewhere. Brennan stopped working on and posting at 8chan, continuing instead to work for Watkins on the 2channel project. Ron Watkins took up the site administrator role following Brennan's resignation. In 2018, Brennan cut ties with the Watkins family, alleging that Jim Watkins had shown up at his home and berated him for asking to take time off. Brennan has since become an outspoken critic of 8chan and of Watkins, and has actively battled to try to keep the site offline.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: In 2019, the perpetrators of the March Christchurch mosque shootings, the April Poway synagogue shooting, and the August El Paso shooting all used 8chan to disseminate their respective manifestos. The site was removed from the clearnet shortly after the August shooting due to suspensions of service from multiple providers, and did not return until November 2019. In August 2019, the United States House Committee on Homeland Security called Watkins to testify about 8chan's efforts to address "the proliferation of extremist content, including white supremacist content". The next month, Watkins traveled to Washington, D.C. for congressional questioning. The Philippines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and National Police (PNP) also launched investigations into Watkins and 8chan in August 2019 in relation to the shootings. , the NBI's investigation was closed and their findings were turned over to the PNP; the PNP's investigation was still open but had not resulted in charges against Watkins.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: Watkins has attempted to earn money through 8chan, although the website has never been profitable. Posters on the website can pay, using a cryptocurrency created by Ron Watkins, to have their posts listed prominently through a program called "King of the Shekel". In a 2019 interview, "The Washington Post" asked if the name was antisemitic; Watkins hung up on them.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: In October 2019, Watkins filed a cyberlibel case against Brennan for tweeting that Watkins was "senile" and that 8chan's moderators were "incompetent". Cyberlibel is a crime in the Philippines that can be punished with time in prison. Brennan has said that Watkins filed the suit to try to intimidate and punish him. On February 26, 2020, a Philippines court issued an arrest warrant for Brennan based on the complaint. Brennan, who has brittle bone disease, has said that because of his medical condition and the notoriously poor conditions in the Bureau of Immigration Bicutan Detention Center, arrest by the Philippine authorities would likely result in his death. Brennan fled the Philippines hours before the warrant was issued, taking a different flight to avoid authorities who were looking for him at the airport. He has been fighting the warrant from the United States. In March 2020, the court suspended the case pending the outcome of an appeal by Brennan to the Philippines Department of Justice.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: QAnon is a discredited far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles running a global child sex-trafficking ring is plotting against former President Donald Trump, who is battling them. The theory has been promulgated by a mysterious person or group of people called "Q", who originally posted on 4chan but later moved to posting on 8chan. Q has said they will never post outside of 8chan.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: Numerous journalists and conspiracy theory researchers believe that Watkins or his son, Ron Watkins, are working with Q, know Q's identity, or are themselves Q. When 8chan was taken off the internet in August 2019 following three mass shootings, Q stopped posting; when it came back online in November, Q reappeared. Some researchers believe that Q's choice to wait for 8chan to come back online rather than posting elsewhere demonstrates that Watkins is behind the Q account. QAnon researcher Marc-Andre Argentino said in March 2020 that based on an analysis of Q's posts, he believes Watkins has been posting as Q since autumn 2019. Also in March 2020, QAnon researcher Mike Rothschild said, "It would be very easy for the Q poster to use another forum or provide a cryptographic key to prove his authenticity on some other site, but instead they wait to post on this rickety version of 8chan. The only reason to keep Q on 8chan is because Watkins is personally connected to him." Fredrick Brennan quoted in "The Atlantic" in June 2020 said, "I definitely, definitely, 100 percent believe that Q either knows Jim or Ron Watkins, or was hired by Jim or Ron Watkins." In an interview on a September 2020 episode of the podcast "Reply All", Brennan explained that he believes the Q account was originally operated by someone else, but that Watkins and his son took control of the persona, most likely around December 2017. PJ Vogt of "Reply All" has said he discussed Brennan's theory with other journalists who write about Q, and that "some of them think it's likely, everyone agrees it's more than plausible". Watkins has denied knowledge of Q's identity, as has his son, Ron Watkins. When Watkins testified before the United States House Committee on Homeland Security in September 2019, he wore a QAnon pin.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: In February 2020, Watkins formed a super PAC called "Disarm the Deep State", which backs political candidates who support the QAnon conspiracy theory. Watkins is listed as the group's treasurer. Benjamin Barr, an attorney who has represented Watkins in the past and who is known for his involvement with the American right-wing activist group Project Veritas, also helped with the super PAC. , the super PAC had raised less than $4,000 and spent less than $700, with none of the spending going towards federal candidates. In November 2020, "Washington Monthly" reported that the "Disarm the Deep State" super PAC had raised just 4,736 dollars, including a 500 dollars loan from Watkins' lawyer.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: Media Matters for America reported in April 2020 that the super PAC was buying advertisements from Watkins to place on the 8chan website, and that it was one of the only groups advertising on the site. A QAnon researcher named Mike Rains said of Watkins and Q, "Watkins always made it seem like there was distance between him and Q, that Q was just this guy posting on his forums, that he let Q post because he's a free speech absolutist. By launching this PAC he is fully admitting that he is working with whoever is posting as Q and he is now part of the grift that is QAnon." In October 2020, Watkins was a featured speaker at Q Con Live!, a conference for QAnon adherents that was held in Scottsdale, Arizona.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: Twitter permanently suspended Watkins' account on January 8, 2021, along with other accounts they found to be "solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content", including that of his son, Ron Watkins, and the accounts of former Trump attorney Sidney Powell and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The account bans happened two days after the United States Capitol attack.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: While Watkins was stationed in South Korea with the army, he met his first wife, Ton Sun Watkins. In 1987 they had their first child, Ronald "Ron" Watkins. The family moved often because of Watkins' military service, spending the longest period in Mukilteo, Washington. Watkins and Ton Sun divorced when their son was a teenager, at which point his son began to live primarily with Ton Sun.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: In October 2001, Watkins traveled to Manila in the Philippines and married his second wife, Liezel, three weeks after arriving. Watkins began moving to the Philippines in 2004, and started living there permanently in 2007. Watkins split his time between a pig farm outside of Manila and a condominium in the city. During the 2010s, Watkins' son Ron moved to Manila to live with him. Ron served as 8chan's site administrator from 2016 until 2020.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: In January 2020, the Investigations Division of the Philippines Bureau of Immigration (BI) designated Watkins an "undesirable alien". This is an administrative, not criminal, determination that a person is a "risk to the public interest", and although it indicates a person is able to be deported, it is up to the commissioner of the bureau whether to pursue deportation. Immigration records obtained by ABC News said that Watkins "is the owner and operator of 8chan, a hate filled forum/website which hosts trolling and serves as go-to resource for violent extremists and white supremacists". According to Watkins' brother-in-law, Watkins sold his pig farm and in August 2020 returned to the United States. According to ABC News, if Watkins did not return to the Philippines by January 31, 2021, to appeal the BI's designation, he would be denied reentry to the country. According to an April 2021 article in "The Independent", Watkins was expected to return to the Philippines to appeal the decision.


title: Jim Watkins (businessman)

text: Watkins' interests include yoga and fountain pens. He has recorded videos on YouTube about these subjects. He also uses his YouTube channel to publish videos of himself singing hymns and reading Bible verses.


title: Science fantasy

text: Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientifically logical; while a conventional fantasy story contains mostly supernatural and artistic elements that disregard the scientific laws of the real world. The world of science fantasy, however, is laid out to be scientifically logical and often supplied with hard science–like explanations of any supernatural elements.


title: Science fantasy

text: During the Golden Age of Science Fiction, the fanciful science fantasy stories were seen in sharp contrast to the terse, scientifically plausible material that came to dominate mainstream science fiction typified by the magazine "Astounding Science Fiction". Although at this time, science fantasy stories were often relegated to the status of children's entertainment, their freedom of imagination and romance proved to be an early major influence on the "New Wave" writers of the 1960s, who became exasperated by the limitations of "hard" SF.


title: Science fantasy

text: Distinguishing between pure science fiction and pure fantasy, Rod Serling claimed that the former was "the improbable made possible" while the latter was "the impossible made probable". As a combination of the two, science fantasy gives a scientific veneer of realism to things that simply could not happen in the real world under any circumstances. Where science fiction does not permit the existence of fantastical or supernatural elements, science fantasy explicitly relies upon them to complement the scientific elements.


title: Science fantasy

text: In explaining the intrigue of science fantasy, Carl D. Malmgren provides an intro in regards to C. S. Lewis's speculation on the emotional needs at work in the subgenre: "In the counternatural worlds of science fantasy, the imaginary and the actual, the magical and the prosaic, the mythical and the scientific, meet and interanimate. In so doing, these worlds inspire us with new sensations and experiences, with [quoting C. S. Lewis] 'such beauty, awe, or terror as the actual world does not supply', with the stuff of desires, dreams, and dread."


title: Science fantasy

text: The label first came into wide use after many science fantasy stories were published in the American pulp magazines, such as Robert A. Heinlein's "Magic, Inc.", L. Ron Hubbard's "Slaves of Sleep", and Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp's Harold Shea series. All were relatively rationalistic stories published in John W. Campbell, Jr.'s "Unknown" magazine. These were a deliberate attempt to apply the techniques and attitudes of science fiction to traditional fantasy subjects. "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" published, among other things, all but the last of the "Operation" series, by Poul Anderson.


title: Science fantasy

text: Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore published novels in "Startling Stories", alone and together, which were far more romantic. These were closely related to the work that they and others were doing for outlets like "Weird Tales", such as Moore's Northwest Smith stories.


title: Science fantasy

text: "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" points out that as a genre, science fantasy "has never been clearly defined", and was most commonly used in the period 1950–1966.


title: Science fantasy

text: The "Star Trek" franchise created by Gene Roddenberry is sometimes cited as an example of science fantasy. Writer James F. Broderick describes "Star Trek" as science fantasy because it includes semi-futuristic as well as supernatural/fantasy elements such as The Q. According to the late science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, many purists argue that "Star Trek" is science fantasy rather than science fiction because of its scientifically improbable elements, which he partially agreed with.


title: Science fantasy

text: The "Star Wars" franchise has been debated as science fantasy. In 2015, George Lucas stated that ""Star Wars" isn't a science-fiction film, it's a fantasy film and a space opera".


title: Rough Collie

text: The Rough Collie (also known as the Long-Haired Collie) is a long-coated dog breed of medium to large size that, in its original form, was a type of collie used and bred for herding sheep in Scotland. More recent breeding has focused on the Collie as a show dog, and also companion. The breed specifications call for a distinctive long narrow tapered snout and tipped ("semiprick") ears, so some dogs have their ears taped when young. Rough Collies generally come in shades of sable and white (sometimes mahogany), blue merle, tri-colored, and colour-headed white.


title: Rough Collie

text: Originating in the 19th century, the breed is now well known through the stories of author Albert Payson Terhune about his dog "Lad", and later with Eric Knight's character of "Lassie" and her novels, movies, and television shows.


title: Rough Collie

text: There is a smooth-coated variety known as a Smooth Collie; some breed organisations, including both the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs, consider smooth-coat and rough-coat collies to be variations of the same breed. Rough Collies closely resemble the smaller Shetland Sheepdogs or "Shelties", but the two breeds do not have an exclusive linear relationship.


title: Rough Collie

text: Both Rough and Smooth collies are descended from a localised variety of herding dog originating in Scotland and Wales. The Scottish variety was a large, strong, aggressive dog, bred to herd highland sheep. The Welsh variety was small and nimble, domesticated and friendly, and also herded goats. When the English saw these dogs at the Birmingham market, they interbred them with their own variety of sheepdogs, producing a mixture of short- and long-haired varieties. After the industrial revolution, dog ownership became fashionable, and these early collies were believed to have been crossed with the Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound) to get a more "noble" head (longer muzzle), which is today one of the true characteristics of the Rough Collie. It is not known conclusively if the Borzoi cross made it into the mainstream of the breed.


title: Rough Collie

text: When Queen Victoria acquired a Rough Collie, after seeing one at Balmoral Castle, they were transformed into something of a fashion item. Continued breeding for show purposes drastically changed the appearance of the dogs; in the 1960s, it was a much taller dog than it is today (in the UK; in the US, the size standard has not been revised downward and dogs have remained between 24-26"). Earlier dogs were also more sturdy in build and reportedly capable of covering up to 100 miles in one day. In the UK the Rough Collie is no longer used for serious herding, having been replaced by the Border Collie, though in the United States and a number of European countries, there has been a resurgence in the use of the Collie as a working and performance dog.


title: Rough Collie

text: The Collie Club of America is one of the oldest breed-specific clubs in existence in the United States (founded in 1886). The Collie Club in England dates from 1881.


title: Rough Collie

text: Unfortunately, the Collie's exact origins are shrouded in obscurity. It has been the subject of much research and speculation. The word "Collie" is as obscure as the breed itself. The name has been spelled many different ways: Coll, Colley, Coally and Coaly. Generally, the most accepted origin of the word is "Coll" - the Anglo-Saxon word for "black".


title: Rough Collie

text: In the 18th century, the Rough Collie's natural home was in the highlands of Scotland, where he had been used for centuries as a sheepdog. The dogs were bred with great care in order to assist their masters in the herding and guarding of their flock.


title: Rough Collie

text: In 1879 the first English Rough Collie was imported to this country. It is from England that we find the famous pillars of the breed, from which the American fanciers sought not only their next big winner, but also their foundation stock.


title: Rough Collie

text: By the turn of the century, the American Rough Collie was in a state of continued development. The breed continued to thrive in England. American show prizes were dominated by the British imports. As a result of the imports, the breed made rapid progress between 1900 to 1920. These dogs built the foundations upon which the present day Rough Collie is based and paved the way for the emergence of the great American kennels of the 1920s and 1930s


title: Rough Collie

text: All have white coat areas, in the collar, parts of the leg, and usually the tail tip. Some may have white blazes on their faces. Note that the American Kennel Club accepts "colour-headed white", where the dog is predominantly white with coloured markings of sable, tricolor, or blue merle on the head and sometimes body patches. The downy undercoat is covered by a long, dense, coarse outer coat with a notable ruff around the neck, feathers about the legs, a petticoat on the abdomen, and a frill on the hindquarters.One of the characteristic features of the Rough Collie is its head. This is light in relation to the rest of the body, and resembles a blunted wedge tapering smoothly from ears to black nose, with a distinct stop and parallel head planes. The muzzle is well rounded, and never square. There is considerable variation in the color of the head, however. The eyes are medium-sized and almond shaped. The ears are supposed to be "semi-prick", or "tipped", with the upper third folded over. Ears which do not "tip" properly, however, are common, and many collies have their ears "taped" as puppies (using medical adhesive or paper tape) to encourage them to lie properly – no cutting or surgery is involved.


title: Rough Collie

text: Rough Collies have a more blunt, gradually tapering, face than the smaller, but otherwise very similar Shetland Sheepdog, which is partly descended from the Rough Collie. The planes of the muzzle and the top of the skull should be parallel in collies, with a slight but distinct stop. (In shelties, the planes are not parallel.) The ears of a Rough Collie are similar to a Shetland Sheepdog's, but larger. Furthermore, once seen, the contrast between the Rough Collie head and that of a Border Collie is immediately apparent, the latter having a considerably shorter muzzle and a more distinct stop between muzzle and forehead. The ruff is also distinctive in distinguishing the two breeds.


title: Rough Collie

text: The size and weight varies among breed standards; male collies can stand 55.8 to 66 cm (22 to 26 in) at the shoulder; the female averages 5 cm (2 in) shorter. The males are usually in the weight range (50–70 lbs), and the females are usually 5 to 10 lbs less. Collies in the US are sometimes reported to be over one hundred pounds, but a large collie typically weighs no more than 70 pounds. US and UK standards may differ. The UK standard calls for dogs to be significantly smaller than those under the American Kennel Club.


title: Rough Collie

text: Rough collies should show no nervousness or aggression, and are generally great with children and other animals. However, they must be well socialised to prevent shyness. They are medium to large sized dogs, and they generally need a house instead of being in a small apartment. Like many herding dogs, collies can be fairly vocal, and some are easily trained not to bark. The amount of herding instinct varies, with some dogs being quite drivey and others calmer.


title: Rough Collie

text: Rough Collies are very loyal and may be one-family dogs (although most make exceptions for children), but are very rarely aggressive or protective beyond barking and providing a visual deterrent. They are typically excellent with kids. They are eager to learn and respond best to a gentle hand.


title: Rough Collie

text: The rough collie's long coat has made the breed successful on northern Midwest farms as an able herder and guardian of the farm during the winter. The dog needs to be gradually acclimated to the cold and a suitable insulated outdoor shelter must be provided for the dog along with ample quality food and a source of unfrozen water. The rough collie also relishes playing in the snow with children during the winter months. They guard the farm while the owner is away and are naturally protective of small children.


title: Rough Collie

text: While Rough Collies are generally resilient and healthy, there are some health problems that can affect the breed.


title: Rough Collie

text: Collie eye anomaly (CEA), a genetic disease which causes improper development of the eye and possible blindness, is a common ailment in the breed. More rarely, Rough Collies can be affected by progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), another genetic disease in which bilateral degeneration of the retina results in progressive vision loss culminating in blindness. Through genetic testing and careful screening program it would be theoretically possible to eradicate both of these problems in purebred lines, however, certainly in the UK, the Kennel Club does not require these tests to be done either for registration or showing. CEA is so prevalent that elimination of affected dogs except through very slow and careful breeding decisions to avoid shrinking the gene pool more than absolutely necessary. Rough Collie puppies should be screened at an early age (6–8 weeks) by a certified veterinary ophthalmologist to check for CEA. PRA has a later onset and can be detected by DNA test, but is much less widespread (in the US) than CEA. (In the UK, PRA is more common.) Note, the UK Kennel Club "Accredited Breeder Scheme" requires eye tests and "recommends" the genetic test for this class of members.


title: Rough Collie

text: Canine cyclic neutropenia is a cyclic blood disorder that is usually fatal to affected puppies. The disease is also referred to as "gray collie syndrome", due to affected puppies having a pale gray, pinkish/gray or beige colouring, none of which are normal Rough Collie colours. Puppies that survive through adulthood are plagued with immune disorders throughout their lives and rarely live more than three years. DNA testing can help detect carriers of the recessive gene that causes the disease.


title: Rough Collie

text: Hip dysplasia: As with most of the larger breeds, hip dysplasia is a potential concern for Rough Collies. Although this disease appears to be "multigene", careful selection by many breeders is reducing this problem. The UK Kennel Club "Accredited Breeder Scheme" requires hip-scores this class of members, however, a very small proportion of UK registered puppies are bred under this scheme. Hip dysplasia is rare in collies compared to their closest relatives and other breeds of the same size.Rough Collies may carry a mutant Mdr1 gene that results in a sensitivity to Ivermectin and related drugs. A screening test is used to determine if alternative medications are required. Overdoses from the proscribed medications can result in neurological impairment or even death, but preventative doses are usually safe. This faulty gene is present in several breeds, but is well known among collies.


title: Rough Collie

text: In addition to these problems, all of which can be tested for, there are a number of problems which are thought to be genetic but for which no screening test exists. These include epilepsy, bloat, a tendency towards allergies, and thyroid disorders (primarily hypothyroidism.). Because no DNA tests exist for these disorders (and all can have causes other than genetic origins), breeders can only do their best to avoid producing them by removing affected dogs from the gene pool.


title: Rough Collie

text: The double-layered coat needs to be brushed frequently and thoroughly to keep it in a show condition. Pet dogs need less maintenance but still a significant amount to keep the dog healthy. The profuse coat picks up grass seeds and burrs, and many dogs tend to mat to some degree, particularly behind the ears, around the collar (if a collar is left on the dog), and in the pants. Spaying and neutering can alter coat texture, making it softer and more prone to matting.


title: Rough Collie

text: In the 18th century, the Collie's natural home was in the highlands of Scotland, where it had been used for centuries as a sheepdog. The dogs were bred with great care in order to assist their masters in the herding and guarding of their flock.


title: Rough Collie

text: Collies are capable of being keen herders while remaining sensible, flexible family companions, whether as working dogs on a ranch or farm or helping out a suburban owner who keeps a few sheep, goats, or ducks as a hobby. Participation in herding helps preserve the special heritage of the Collie and opens up new opportunities for owner and dog. The qualities that make a good herding dog – trainability, adaptability, loyalty, soundness of body and character, agility, grace – are important in many areas, and contribute so much toward making the dog an outstanding companion as well.


title: Rough Collie

text: Throughout the country there are local herding clubs that provide clinics, work days, trials and tests. Several organizations provide herding title programs in which Collies regularly participate. A Herding Instinct Test introduces Collies and their handlers to herding at the basic level. It is designed to show whether or not a Collie, who may have never had any exposure to livestock, still has the natural instinct to perform the function for which the breed was initially created. It is a non-competitive introduction to carefully selected and easily handled livestock under favorably controlled conditions.


title: Rough Collie

text: Rough Collies can compete in dog agility trials, obedience, conformation, flyball, tracking, and herding events. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Rough Collies exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials. The breed has also been known to work as search and rescue dogs, therapy dogs and guide dogs for the blind.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: "Lone Wolf and Cub" chronicles the story of Ogami Ittō, the "shōgun"s executioner who uses a dōtanuki battle sword. Disgraced by false accusations from the Yagyū clan, he is forced to take the path of the assassin. Along with his three-year-old son, Daigorō, they seek revenge on the Yagyū clan and are known as "Lone Wolf and Cub".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Ogami Ittō, formidable warrior and a master of the "suiō-ryū" swordsmanship, serves as the "Kogi Kaishakunin" (the Shōgun's executioner), a position of high power in the Tokugawa shogunate during the 1700s. Along with the oniwaban and the assassins, Ogami Ittō is responsible for enforcing the will of the "shōgun" over the "daimyōs" (lesser domain lords). For those samurai and lords ordered to commit "seppuku", the "Kogi Kaishakunin" assists their deaths by decapitating them to relieve the agony of disembowelment; in this role, he is entitled and empowered to wear the crest of the shogunate, in effect acting in place of the "shōgun".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: After Ogami Ittō's wife Azami gives birth to their son, Daigorō, Ogami Ittō returns to find her and all of their household brutally murdered, with only the newborn Daigorō surviving. The supposed culprits are three former retainers of an abolished clan, avenging the execution of their lord by Ogami Ittō. However, the entire matter was planned by Ura-Yagyū "(Shadow Yagyu)" Yagyū Retsudō, leader of the Ura-Yagyū clan, in order to seize Ogami's post as part of a masterplan to control the three key positions of power: the spy system, the official assassins and the Shogunate Decapitator. During the initial incursion, an "ihai" (funeral tablet) with the "shōgun"s crest on it was placed inside the Ogami family shrine, signifying a supposed wish for the shogun's death. When the tablet is "discovered" during the murder investigation, its presence condemns Ittō as a traitor and thus he is forced to forfeit his post and is sentenced, along with Daigorō, to commit "seppuku".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The one-year-old Daigorō is given a choice by his father: a ball or a sword. If Daigorō chose the ball, his father would kill him to send Daigorō to be with his mother; however, the child crawls toward the sword and reaches for its hilt; this assigns him the path of a "rōnin". Refusing to kill themselves and fighting free from their house imprisonment, father and son begin wandering the country as "demons"—the assassin-for-hire team that becomes known as "Lone Wolf and Cub", vowing to destroy the Yagyū clan to avenge Azami's death and Ittō's disgrace.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: On "meifumadō" ("The Road to Hell"), the cursed journey for vengeance, Ogami Ittō and Daigorō experience numerous adventures. They encounter (and slay) all of Yagyū Retsudō's children (both legitimate and illegitimate) along with the entire Kurokuwa ninja clan, eventually facing Retsudō himself. When Retsudō and the Yagyū clan are unable to kill Ittō, the shogunate officially proclaims him and Daigorō outlaws with a price on their heads, authorizing all clans to try and arrest/kill them and permitting anyone to go after them for the bounty. The last duel between Ogami Ittō and Yagyū Retsudō runs 178 pages—one of the longest single fight-scenes ever published in comics.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Toward the end of their journey, Ogami Ittō's "dōtanuki" sword is surreptitiously tampered with and damaged by a supposed sword-polisher who is really an elite "Grass" "ninja" of the Yagyū clan. When Ittō is finally attacked by the last of the ("kusa") Grass ninja, the sword breaks and Ittō receives wounds that are ultimately fatal. Deadlocked in mid-battle with Retsudō, Ittō's spirit leaves his body after years of fatigue and bloodshed, unable to destroy his longtime enemy and ending his path of "meifumadō".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The story finishes with Daigorō taking up Retsudō's broken spear and charging in fury. Retsudō opens his arms, disregarding all defense, and allows Daigorō to drive the spear into his body. Embracing Daigorō with tears, Retsudō names him "grandson of my heart", closing the cycle of vengeance and hatred between the clans and concluding the epic.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Many of the stories are written in a non-chronological order, revealing different parts of the narrative at different times. For example, Ogami's betrayal is not revealed until the end of the first volume, after many stories have already passed.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In crafting a weakness for his protagonist (in order to make the story interesting), writer Kazuo Koike was inspired by the legendary Sigurd, who is made invulnerable by bathing a dragon's blood—except for where a leaf shields part of his back and retains his mortality. The character of Daigorō was created to satisfy this need.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Koike stated in an interview that he crafted the comic to be based upon the characters themselves and that the "essential tension between [Ittō's] imperative to meet these challenges while keeping his son with him on the journey" drove the story. According to Koike, "Having two characters as foils of each other is what sets things in motion" and that "If you have a strong character, the storyline will develop naturally, on its own."


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Less than a year after the comic's debut, Tomisaburo Wakayama came to Koike to propose starring in the films, to which he immediately agreed.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: According to Koike, he knew from the beginning that being killers themselves, both Ogami and Retsudō must die at the end, while Daigorō should survive. Both the producers of the 1970s television series and magazine publisher opposed this, so he had to end his story in his way "without their permission".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: When "Lone Wolf and Cub" was first released in Japan in 1970, it became wildly popular for its powerful, epic samurai story and its stark and gruesome depiction of violence during Tokugawa era Japan. As of 2014, the manga had sold 8.3 million copies in Japan, and 11.8 million worldwide.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: "Lone Wolf and Cub" is one of the most highly regarded manga due to its epic scope, detailed historical accuracy, masterful artwork and nostalgic recollection of the bushido ethos. The story spans 28 volumes of manga, with over 300 pages each (totaling over 8,700 pages in all). Many of the panels of the series are depictions of nature, historical locations in Japan, and traditional activities. A couple of years into the series, a story depicts the fate of Yamada Asaemon, the main character of "Samurai Executioner", also created by Koike and Kojima. One reviewer notes that Asaemon looks different in this appearance, apparently due to Ogami Ittō having been designed so similarly to the original Asaemon.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: "Lone Wolf and Cub" was initially released in North America in a translated English edition by First Comics in 1987. The monthly series of comic-book-sized issues featured covers by Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, Matt Wagner, Mike Ploog, and Ray Lago. Sales were initially strong but fell sharply as the company went into a general decline. First Comics shut down in 1991 without completing the series, publishing less than a third of the total series over 45 issues.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Starting in September 2000, Dark Horse Comics began to release an English translation of the full series in 28 smaller-sized trade paperback volumes with longer page-counts (from 260 to over 300 pages), similar to the volumes published in Japan. Dark Horse completed the presentation of the entire series, fully translated, with the publication of the 28th volume in December 2002. Dark Horse reused all of Miller's covers from the First Comics edition, as well as several done by Sienkiewicz, and commissioned Wagner, Guy Davis, and Vince Locke to produce new covers for several volumes of the collections. In October 2012, Dark Horse completed the release of all 28 volumes in digital format, as part of their "Dark Horse Digital" online service.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Starting in May 2013, Dark Horse began publishing their translated editions of "Lone Wolf and Cub" in value-priced Omnibus editions.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In 2002, a "reimagined" version of the story, "Lone Wolf 2100", was created by writer Mike Kennedy and artist Francisco Ruiz Velasco with Koike's indirect involvement. The story was a post-apocalyptic take on the tale with several differences, such as a female cub and a worldwide setting: Daisy Ogami, daughter of a renowned scientist, and Itto, her father's cybernetic bodyguard and Daisy's subsequent protector, attempt to escape from the Cygnat Owari Corporation's schemes.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Dark Horse announced at the 2006 New York Comic Con that they had licensed "Shin Lone Wolf & Cub", Kazuo Koike and Hideki Mori's follow-up to "Lone Wolf and Cub", starring Ogami Itto's son Daigoro, the famous child in the baby cart. In this new series, which picks up immediately after the climactic battle of the original series, the bodies of Ogami Itto and Yagyu Retsudo are left lying on the beach with Daigoro left alone standing over his father's body (since no one, for political reasons, dares to bury either body or take charge of Daigoro). A bearded samurai, Tōgō Shigetada of the Satsuma clan and master of the "Jigen-ryū" style of swordsmanship (based on the actual historical personage Tōgō Shigetaka, creator of "Jigen-ryū"), wanders onto the battlefield and assists Daigoro with the cremation/funeral of Ogami Itto and Yagyu Retsudo. Tōgō, who is on a training journey and also carries a "dotanuki" sword similar to Ogami's (and crafted by the same swordsmith), then assumes guardianship of Daigoro, including retrieving the baby cart and teaching/training Daigoro in "Jigen-ryū".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The two soon become enmeshed in a plot by the Shogunate conceived by the ruthless Matsudaira Nobutsuna and spearheaded by his chief henchman Mamiya Rinzō (also based on an actual historical character) to topple the Satsuma clan and assume control of that fiefdom's great wealth, using Tōgō as an unwitting pawn. When Tōgō discovers that he has been tricked and used, he and Daigoro embark on the road of "meifumado" in a quest to kill the Shogun (which would force Matsudaira out into the open). However, Rinzō, who is not only a master of disguise but also Matsudaira's natural son, may have an even more devious plan of his own, including subverting the Shogun's own ninja and using opium to ensnare and enslave the Shogun himself. This series also introduces non-Japanese characters into the plotlines. Dark Horse began publishing the follow-up series, under the title "New Lone Wolf and Cub", in June 2014; as of December 2016, all eleven volumes have been released.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: A total of six "Lone Wolf and Cub" films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ogami Ittō and Tomikawa Akihiro as Daigoro were produced based on the manga. They are also known as the "Sword of Vengeance" series, based on the English-language title of the first film, and later as the "Baby Cart" series, because young Daigoro travels in a baby carriage pushed by his father.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The first three films, directed by Kenji Misumi, were released in 1972 and produced by Shintaro Katsu, Wakayama's brother and the star of the 26-part "Zatoichi" film series. The next three films were produced by Wakayama himself and directed by Buichi Saitō, Kenji Misumi and Yoshiyuki Kuroda, released in 1972, 1973, and 1974, respectively. Wakayama quit making the films after the popular television series began to air.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: "Shogun Assassin" (1980) was an English language compilation for the American audience, edited mainly from the second film, with 11 minutes of footage from the first. Also, the third film, "" was re-released on DVD in the US under the name "".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In 1992 the story was again adapted for film, "" also known as "Handful of Sand" or "A Child's Hand Reaches Up" ("", literally "In That Little Hand"), directed by Akira Inoue and starring Masakazu Tamura as Ogami Itto.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In addition to the six original films (and "Shogun Assassin" in 1980), various television movies have aired in connection with the television series as pilots, compilations or originals. These include several starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya (see section "Television series"), in 1989 a TV movie called "Lone Wolf With Child: An Assassin on the Road to Hell" better known as "Baby Cart In Purgatory" where Hideki Takahashi plays Ogami Ittō and Tomisaburo Wakayama co-stars as Retsudo Yagyu.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In March 2012, Justin Lin was announced as the director on an American version of "Lone Wolf and Cub". In June 2016, it was announced that producer Steven Paul had acquired the rights.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The first, "Lone Wolf and Cub" ("Kozure Ōkami"), was produced in a typical jidaigeki format and broadcast for three seasons from 1973 to 1976, each episode 45 minutes long. Season one originally aired 27 episodes, but the original 2nd episode "Gomune Oyuki (Oyuki of the Gomune)" was subsequently deleted from all rebroadcasts in Japan and VHS and DVD releases. Seasons two and three ran for 26 episodes each. Kinnosuke Yorozuya played Ogami Ittō, and later reprised the role in a 1984 TV movie; Daigoro was played by Katzutaka Nishikawa in the first two seasons and by Takumi Satô in the final season.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The series was co-produced by Union Motion Picture Co, Ltd. () and Studio Ship (), a company formed by manga author Kazuo Koike, and originally aired on Nippon TV in Japan. It was subsequently broadcast in the United States as "The Fugitive Samurai" in the original Japanese with English subtitles, and released for the Toronto, Canada market by CFMT-TV (now OMNI 1) in the original Japanese with English subtitles as "The Iron Samurai". It has also been aired in Germany dubbed in German, in Italy dubbed in Italian; around 1980, a Portuguese dub was aired in Brazil as "O Samurai Fugitivo (The Fugitive Samurai)" on TVS, actually SBT, and in Spanish, as "El Samurai Fugitivo" on the American Spanish TV station Univision.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The first season was released on DVD in Japan on December 20, 2006, apparently without subtitles. Twelve of the first 13 episodes were released on DVD in Germany as "Kozure Okami", with audio in Japanese and German. In the US, Media Blasters released the first season on DVD on April 29, 2008, under its Tokyo Shock Label, containing the original Japanese with English subtitles. All of these releases excluded the deleted from distribution 2nd episode "Gomune Oyuki". It is unclear as to why this episode is no longer made available.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The latest television series, also titled "Lone Wolf and Cub" ("Kozure Ōkami"), aired from 2002 to 2004 in Japan with Kin'ya Kitaōji in the role of Ogami Ittō and Tsubasa Kobayashi as Daigoro. This series is not available on DVD.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In 1987, video game manufacturer Nichibutsu released a beat 'em up based on the series named "Samurai Assassin". Players guide Ogami Itto through an army of assassins while carrying his infant son on his back. A baby cart powerup enables Ookami to mow down enemies with blasts of fire. The game was only released in arcades.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In the PlayStation 2 video game Final Fantasy X by Square Enix, there is an aeon named Yojimbo, a being the summoner Yuna can summon to battle, along with his dog Daigoro. He must be paid the game's form of money to use attacks varying in strength and weapon. With his design resembling that of Ancient Japanese designs, his worker-employer relationship with Yuna, the aesthetic with his weaponry and mannerisms, and the name of his dog, many elements from Ittō were used to design this summon.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: In 1989, Mayfair Games published "Lone Wolf and Cub Game", a board game designed by Matthew Costello based on the franchise. GM Magazine reviewed the game, highlighting the illustrations, well-written encounters, and sturdy components; however, the reviewer found that the basic rules and limited options made for a dull experience on repeat plays.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: By 1990, many libraries understood the rise of graphic novels as a medium. Many were advised to purchase copies of various graphic novels to keep up public demand, listing many popular publications. One of the most prominent graphic novels listed was "Lone Wolf and Cub," focusing on the Japanese elements in the storytelling. They would continue to add the volumes of the graphic novel well into 2003.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: "Lone Wolf and Cub" has influenced American comics, most notably Frank Miller in his "Sin City" and "Ronin" series.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The Hong Kong film "The New Legend of Shaolin", released in 1994, also featured a father and son protagonist. The beginning of the story is similar to "Lone Wolf and Cub", showing Hung Hei-kwun giving a choice to his toddler son between a sword and a toy.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Novelist Max Allan Collins acknowledged the influence of "Lone Wolf and Cub" on his graphic novel "Road to Perdition". In an interview to the BBC, Collins declared that ""Road to Perdition" is 'an unabashed homage' to "Lone Wolf and Cub"".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Darren Aronofsky attempted to get an official Hollywood version off the ground, but could not secure the rights.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: "Wolf and Cub" is an episode from the first season of the TV series "Person of Interest"; the title is assumed to be inspired by "Lone Wolf and Cub". Themes of vengeance and being a rōnin are interspersed throughout the episode.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Episode 20 of the fifth season of the television series "Bob's Burgers", "Hawk & Chick", is a parody inspired by "Lone Wolf and Cub". A follow-up episode, "The Hawkening: Look Who's Hawking Now!" from the show's tenth season, features a missing scene that parallels the suppressed episode of the 1973 "Lone Wolf and Cub" TV series.


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: The "Star Wars" streaming series "The Mandalorian" has a premise influenced by "Lone Wolf and Cub", with the titular character guarding an alien child from various threats. The "Mandalorian" spin-off series "The Book of Boba Fett" includes a scene modeled on Daigorō's choice between ball and sword as depicted in "Sword of Vengeance".


title: Lone Wolf and Cub

text: Indian comic-book writer Suhas Sundar acknowledged that he drew some inspiration from "Lone Wolf and Cub" to create his "Odayan" comic book series.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: Since the 1970s, China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has had ambitions to develop and operate aircraft carriers, and since 1985 has acquired four retired aircraft carriers for study; namely, the British-built Australian and the ex-Soviet carriers , and . The "Varyag" later underwent an extensive refit to be converted into the "Liaoning", China's first operational aircraft carrier, which also served as a basis for China's subsequent design iterations.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: , the PLAN has two combat-ready aircraft carriers, the and , with the third, , being fitted out. Wang Yunfei, a retired PLA Navy officer and other naval experts projected that China may possess five or six aircraft carriers by the 2030s.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: Since the 1970s, the PLAN has expressed interest in operating an aircraft carrier as part of its blue water aspirations.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: To prepare the commanders needed for the future aircraft carriers, the Central Military Commission approved the program of training jet fighter pilots to be future captains in May 1987, and the Guangzhou Naval Academy was selected as the site.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: China acquired the Royal Australian Navy's decommissioned aircraft carrier in February 1985, when it was sold to the China United Shipbuilding Company to be towed to China and broken up for scrap. Prior to the ship's departure for China, the RAN stripped "Melbourne" of all electronic equipment and weapons, and welded her rudders into a fixed position so that she could not be reactivated. However, her steam catapult, arresting equipment and mirror landing system were not removed. At this time, few western experts expected that the Chinese government would attempt to develop aircraft carriers in the future. "Melbourne" finally arrived in China on 13 June.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The ship was not scrapped immediately; instead she was studied by Chinese naval architects and engineers. It is unclear whether the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) orchestrated the acquisition of "Melbourne" or simply took advantage of the situation; Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, a staff member at the National Defence College, has stated that the Navy was unaware of the purchase until "Melbourne" first arrived at Guangzhou. "Melbourne" was the largest warship any of the Chinese experts had seen, and they were surprised by the amount of equipment which was still in place. The PLAN subsequently arranged for the ship's flight deck and all the equipment associated with flying operations to be removed so that they could be studied in depth. Reports have circulated that either a replica of the flight deck, or the deck itself, was used for clandestine training of People's Liberation Army Navy pilots in carrier flight operations.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: Chinese engineers reverse-engineered a land-based replica of the steam catapult and landing system from that of , and a J-8IIG was used to conduct take-off and landing trials on the land-based flight deck in April 1987, which was not finally confirmed officially until 27 years later in April 2014 by CCTV-13. Both the take-off and landing were conducted on the same day, and the test pilot was PLANAF pilot Li Guoqiang. The experience gained would be later applied to the development of the Shenyang J-15.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: It has also been claimed that the Royal Australian Navy received and "politely rejected" a request from the PLAN for blueprints of the ship's steam catapult. The carrier was not dismantled for many years; according to some rumours she was not completely broken up until 2002.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: China also negotiated with Spain in an effort purchase the blueprints for proposed conventional take off/landing ships from "Empresa Nacional Bazán", specifically 23,000-ton SAC-200 and 25,000-ton SAC-220 designs. Negotiations started between 1995 and 1996 but did not result in any purchase. However, the Spanish firm was paid several million US dollars in consulting fees, indicating the probable transfer of some design concepts.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: China acquired the former Soviet s in 1995 and in 2000. "Minsk", along with its sister ship , were initially sold to South Korea in 1995 to be scrapped, but due to objections from environmentalists, "Minsk" was resold to China in 1998 to be broken up there instead. "Kiev", likewise, was sold to China in 2000 by Russia with a contractual requirement for it to be scrapped. However, neither ship was dismantled and both were instead converted into tourist attractions, with "Minsk" turned into a theme park and "Kiev" a luxury hotel.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: In 1997, China attempted to purchase the retired French aircraft carrier , but negotiations between China and France failed.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The 67,500 ton ex-Soviet aircraft carrier "Varyag" (), which was only 68% completed and floating in Ukraine, was purchased through a private Macau tourist venture in 1998. Following her troublesome tow to Dalian shipyard, the carrier underwent a long refit. "Varyag" had been stripped of any military equipment as well as her propulsion systems prior to being put up for sale. In 2007 there were news reports that she was being fitted-out to enter service.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: In 2011, People's Liberation Army Chief of the General Staff Chen Bingde confirmed that China was constructing at least one aircraft carrier. On 10 August 2011, it was announced that the refurbishment of "Varyag" was complete, and that it was undergoing sea trials.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: On 14 December 2011, DigitalGlobe, an American Satellite imaging company, announced that while scouring through pictures taken 8 December, it had discovered the retrofitted "Varyag" undergoing trials, DigitalGlobe further stated that their images captured the ship in the Yellow Sea where it operated for 5 days.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: In September 2012, it was announced that this carrier would be named "Liaoning", after Liaoning Province of China. In September 2012, China's first aircraft carrier, "Liaoning", was commissioned. On 23 September 2012, "Liaoning" was handed over to the People's Liberation Army Navy, but was not yet in active service.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: Four years later, in November 2016, it was reported that "Liaoning" was combat ready. China has confirmed that it is constructing a second carrier that will be built entirely with indigenous Chinese designs. Similar to "Liaoning", China's second carrier will also use a ski jump for takeoff.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: In mid-2007, Chinese domestic sources revealed that China had purchased a total of four sets of aircraft carrier landing systems from Russia and this was confirmed by Russian manufacturers. However, experts disagreed on the usage of these systems: while some have claimed that it is a clear evidence of the construction of an aircraft carrier, others claim these systems are used to train pilots for a future ship. Reports initially claimed that up to two carriers based on the "Varyag" would be started by 2015.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: According to the Nippon News Network (NNN), research and development on the planned carriers is being carried out at a military research facility in Wuhan. NNN states that the actual carriers will be constructed at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. "Kanwa Intelligence Review" reports that the second carrier to be constructed will likely be assigned to Qingdao.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: According to a February 2011 report in "The Daily Telegraph", the Chinese military has constructed a concrete aircraft carrier flight deck to use for training carrier pilots and carrier operations personnel. The deck was constructed on top of a government building near Wuhan (Wuhan Technical College of Communication campus next to Huangjiahu). On 7 June 2011, People's Liberation Army Chief of the General Staff Chen Bingde confirmed that China was constructing its own aircraft carrier. He stated he would provide no further details until it was complete.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: On 30 July 2011, a senior researcher of the Academy of Military Sciences said China needed at least three aircraft carriers. "If we consider our neighbours, India will have three aircraft carriers by 2014 and Japan will have three carriers by 2014, so I think the number (for China) should not be less than three so we can defend our rights and our maritime interests effectively." General Luo Yuan. In July 2011, a Chinese official announced that two aircraft carriers were being built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. On 21 May 2012, Taiwan's intelligence chief Tsai Teh-sheng told the Legislative Yuan that the PLA Navy plans to build two carriers, scheduled to start construction in 2013 and 2015 and launch in 2020 and 2022 respectively. The price of the two vessels is estimated to be worth US$9 Billion dollars. On 24 April 2013, Chinese Rear Admiral Song Xue confirmed that China will build more carriers and these will be larger and will carry more fighter-planes than "Liaoning".


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The Type 002, or Shandong, is China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier. Construction began in November 2013 and the ship was launched on 26 April 2017. After being fitted out, China's first homemade aircraft carrier underwent nine sea trials over the course of 18 months, starting from May 2018. The ship was formally commissioned into service on 19 December 2019 as the "Shandong", with pennant number "17".


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The 002 is a conventionally powered ski jump carrier with a displacement of around 70,000 tonnes. The ship is derived from the "Liaoning". It uses conventional steam turbines with diesel generators as propulsion. The "Shandong" is a significant improvement over the Soviet-built "Liaoning". For example, the "Shandong" carrier's ski-jump has an angle of 12.0°, an angle ideal for launching the Shenyang J-15 fighter, instead of the 14.0° on the "Liaoning". Together with the enlarged hangar, the island (which has been made smaller by 10%), and extended on sponsons in the aft-starboard quarter, space has been freed up allowing for up to eight more aircraft and helicopters to be carried. The island includes a second glazed deck which permits the bridge and flight control areas to be separate, creating greater operational efficiency. It also features a faceted upper area of four active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs) for the S-band Type 346 radar.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The third aircraft carrier, known as Fujian, is an entirely different design than "Liaoning" and "Shandong". It is the largest of China's current fleet. The Type 003 will have a displacement of around 85,000 to 100,000 tonnes and be slightly smaller in size than the US Navy's Ford Class ships.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: In 2015, media reports stated that both an electromagnetic catapult and a steam-powered catapult were constructed at the Huangdicun naval base for testing; this is thought to indicate that the Type 003 class as well as future PLAN carriers could possibly be CATOBAR carriers.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The construction of the first Type 003 class aircraft carrier started in February 2017. Satellite observation at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai only shows one carrier of this type under construction.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: It was reported in early 2021 that the first ship would be launched in the same year, with construction already started on a second ship in this class. On 10 November 2021, Bloomberg reported that "China is three to six months away from launching its third aircraft carrier", citing a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. On June 17, 2022, the Type 003, now named Fujian was officially completed and launched.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The Type 004 is planned to be larger than the Type 003, and also feature nuclear propulsion, which could power weapons like lasers and railguns. It is claimed that construction started in December 2017 at Jiangnan Shipyard.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: China initially intended to acquire Russian Sukhoi Su-33 carrier-based aircraft to be operated from its aircraft carriers. However, China later developed the Shenyang J-15 as a derivative of the Su-33, featuring Chinese technology and avionics from the J-11B program. On 25 November 2012, it was announced that at least two Shenyang J-15s had successfully landed on "Liaoning". The pilot credited with having achieved the first landing was Dai Mingmeng. According to Chinese media reports, the J-15 cannot take off from "Liaoning" with a full fuel and munition load, being unable to get off the carrier's ski jump-ramp if the payload exceeds . In a follow up review by Rick Joe of the Diplomat in 2021, he argued that the source of this Chinese media was unreliable and proved that the J-15 was able to take off with MTOW when the speed of the carrier was taken into calculation.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The Shenyang FC-31 is an in-development medium-sized fifth-generation stealth fighter that may in future be adopted for carrier use. The "South China Morning Post" reported on 6 July 2018 that China is developing an upgraded variant of the FC-31 as an alternate carrier operational jet.


title: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

text: The Xi'an KJ-600 is an in-development high-straight wing AEW&C aircraft suspected to be fitted with an AESA-type radome system, and current non-flying mock-up model has a striking external resemblance to the aftward-folding Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, a carrier-based AEW&C aircraft serving the United States Navy. The design is likely to be a case of form following function, as the cancelled Soviet Yak-44 shared the same layout. Rick Joe, who writes extensively on Chinese aviation and naval developments for "The Diplomat"', commented that "fixed-wing carrier-borne AEW&C are a vital and essential part to any navy that seeks to field a robust and capable carrier airwing, and their ability to enhance a carrier group's offensive and defensive capabilities and overall situational awareness and network-centric warfare is unmatched by any other platform type that will exist in the near future." Analysts H. I. Sutton believed the KJ-600 will be a massive boost to the Chinese Navy, and "once it enters service on the carriers, it will greatly enhance the aerial and maritime situational awareness, and the offensive and defensive capabilities of the carrier group", and that "Chinese aerospace and military industry has certainly shown its ability to develop quite modern and capable AEW&C systems for other air, naval and ground applications".


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: The first season of the American streaming television series "The Punisher", which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, sees Frank Castle uncover a conspiracy while seeking revenge for the death of his family. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Bohemian Risk Productions, with Steve Lightfoot serving as showrunner.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Jon Bernthal stars as Castle, alongside Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ben Barnes, Amber Rose Revah, Daniel Webber, Paul Schulze, Jason R. Moore, Michael Nathanson, Jaime Ray Newman, and Deborah Ann Woll. Development on "The Punisher" as a spin-off from "Daredevil" began by January 2016, and it was ordered to series in April. Lightfoot was announced as executive producer and showrunner, with Bernthal and Woll reprising their roles from "Daredevil". Filming took place in New York City from October 2016 to April 2017. Practical effects were augmented by the visual effects department, including the addition of muzzle flashes and gore to fight scenes. The season explores post-traumatic stress disorder for military veterans, and depicts "all sides" of the United States gun control debate.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: The season premiered in New York City on November 6, 2017, with the full season of thirteen episodes released on November 17 on Netflix, and received mixed to positive reviews, with Bernthal's performance, action sequences and improvements to its source material from the previous films gaining praise, but criticism towards its pacing and amount of violence. A surprise release had been planned for October, but was cancelled following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. A second season was ordered in December 2017.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: By January 2016, ahead of the "Daredevil" season two release, Netflix was in "very early development" on a spin-off series titled "The Punisher", and was looking for a showrunner. The series would be centered on Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, and was described as a stand-alone series apart from those leading up to "The Defenders" crossover event. That April, Netflix officially ordered a full 13 episode season of "The Punisher", confirmed Bernthal's involvement, and named Steve Lightfoot as executive producer and showrunner. Asked whether he would rather have a 10 episode season given the longer 13 episode-seasons have been criticized for other Marvel Netflix series, Lightfoot said that he wanted the season to be a "slow burn show" that was character-driven, and that he felt they had the right amount of story to fill the 13 episodes.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Lightfoot had a loose idea of what the "journey of Season 1" would be when he joined the series, and this was fleshed-out and altered in the writers room throughout work on the season. Executive producer Jeph Loeb said the season would ask the questions "Who is Frank? What is Frank going to do? And who's going to try and stop Frank?" Lightfoot chose not to adapt any specific version of the character from the comics and instead looked to the work that was done in "Daredevil" defining the character. That series' depiction was what got Lightfoot interested in the character, and he wanted it to dictate this series' direction. "The Punisher" begins with a teaser featuring Castle killing the gang members that he believes are responsible for his family's death, which is a conclusion to the character's story in "Daredevil". The series then jumps ahead to the character "stuck in the past and sort of crippled by this grief". The season also depicts some events from before the second season of "Daredevil", which Bernthal described as being "loose with chronology"; this includes an explanation of Castle's time serving in Kandahar, which had been mentioned in "Daredevil" and was something that Lightfoot felt this series should address.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: As a fan of Westerns and 1970s urban thrillers, Lightfoot felt that the series should combine those ideas due to Castle's antihero persona being an archetype of Western films but set in the urban environment of New York City. Lightfoot looked to films from those genres as inspiration for tone and style, ideas, and themes for the series, and also looked to 1970s conspiracy thriller films due to Castle being a fugitive in the series and the general sense of paranoia. The series makes a reference to "Marathon Man" (1976), while Lightfoot described the first episode of the series as a modern "updating" of "Shane" (1953). Lightfoot also took inspiration from the "Bourne" film series and the film "American Sniper" (2014) for the series. Regarding his previous television series "Hannibal", Lightfoot stated that he learned from that series' creator Bryan Fuller to make an antihero like Hannibal Lecter relatable to the audience by finding "something in them that's universal that we can all feel", such as Lector being lonely. Carrying this over to "The Punisher", Lightfoot saw in Castle the idea of "a man whose family was taken from him at a young age" and that a series focused on him should be an exploration of his grief and how he responds to it. Lightfoot felt that even audience members who did not agree with Castle's actions would be able to go on a "journey" with the character if they understood this aspect of him.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Rather than show the "beautiful" scenes of horror that were created for "Hannibal", Lightfoot wanted to follow the lead of the character's fight scenes in "Daredevil" by not shying away from the cost of the actual actions, feeling that showing the brutal reality of Castle's actions would better convey to the audience that "This stuff hurts, and it's not OK" rather than glossing over the violence which he felt would have been worse. He elaborated that he was unsure if the series was the most violent Marvel Netflix series, as he was simply taking the level of violence he saw depicted in "Daredevil" as a baseline for this series, and that it is important to remember that "a lot of what he's doing is wrong. We have to let the audience lose him at times and let him win them back. To just wholeheartedly be behind him wouldn't be right". Despite this, Lightfoot wanted to convey the character's feelings and thoughts to help the audience understand the character, and often used flashbacks or dreams featuring his family since Castle does not talk much and having constant flashbacks also represented how he is unable to stop thinking about them.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Lightfoot described Castle as a metaphor for "the fact that we’ve been sending men to war for 15 years now and then bringing them back and expecting them to just fit back in. Clearly, that isn't what happens." Having not served in the military himself, Lightfoot spent time with the rest of the series' writers reading first-person accounts and memoirs from real-life war veterans, and the series also had consultants from the military, the Special Forces, and the CIA including one military consultant who read every script of the series and gave notes. Noting that a vocal community of United States soldiers and veterans were fans of the Punisher character, Lightfoot and Bernthal ensured that the series was always respectful of the military and law enforcement despite Castle's actions being generally criminal; Lightfoot said it was an "interesting thing to be respectful of the police and at the same time, the character is beyond the law." Feeling that it was not his place to preach about the politics of vigilantism or the United States gun control debate, Lightfoot wanted to create a "body of characters where you feel like all sides and issues were given a voice so the audience can decide", from a veteran who is a "gentle group-therapy leader" to a "gun nut". When creating an original character for the series to serve as the "tough nemesis cop" who is hunting Castle, Lightfoot decided to "mix the paradigm up" by making the character female and his equal. Lightfoot noted that the writer's room, which included both men and women, had "a lot of fun" with this idea. They also wanted the character to be of Middle Eastern descent and be as big of a patriot as Castle and an action hero in her own right. This character became Dinah Madani. Lightfoot did not want the "spiderweb" of supporting characters in the series to be "sidekicks" to Castle, and instead have "their own narrative and their own story that was the most important thing to them".


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: The main cast for the season includes Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as David Lieberman / Micro, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson, Paul Schulze as William Rawlins, Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein, Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman, and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page. Bernthal and Woll both reprise their roles from "Daredevil".


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: In August 2017, Shohreh Aghdashloo was revealed to be portraying Farah Madani, Dinah's mother, in a recurring role for the season. Also recurring in the season are Jordan Mahome as Isaac Lange, Kelli Barrett as Maria Castle, Aidan Pierce Brennan as Frank Castle Jr., Nicolette Pierini as Lisa Castle, Ripley Sobo as Leo Lieberman, Kobi Frumer as Zach Lieberman, and Tony Plana as Rafael Hernandez. Rob Morgan and Royce Johnson reprise their roles from previous Marvel Netflix series as Turk Barrett and Brett Mahoney, respectively. Geoffrey Cantor and Clancy Brown reprise their respective "Daredevil" roles as Mitchell Ellison and Ray Schoonover.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: In addition to several actors portraying war veterans, including Mahome, the series also cast real-life war veterans as extras and supporting cast for scenes such as support group meetings. Mahome, whose father served in the military, found this to be a powerful experience and helpful for his acting in the series.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Stephanie Maslansky, who served as costume designer for the first seasons of "Daredevil", "Jessica Jones", "Luke Cage", and "Iron Fist", had the choice between designing for "The Defenders" or for "The Punisher" due to a scheduling conflict between the two productions, and chose to work on "The Defenders". Instead, Lorraine Calvert designed the costumes for "The Punisher" after introducing the look of the character in the second season of "Daredevil"; her take on the character's "beloved" comic-inspired costume balances the original design, Bernthal's needs as an actor and interpretation of the character, and Lightfoot's intentions for the tone of the series.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Filming began on October 3, 2016 in Brooklyn, New York, under the working title "Crime". Locations for the production included Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the Williamsburg Bridge, Columbus Circle and Central Park West, Cortlandt Alley, Circle Line Downtown cruises, the Manhattan Family Court building, Long Island City, Grand Ferry Park in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Sunnyside, Queens, Pulaski Bridge, the Roosevelt Island and its steam plant, the Bronx County Courthouse, Newtown Creek, The Roosevelt Hotel, Astoria Park, Tudor City, Hunts Point, Bronx, the Forest Park Carousel, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, the "GoodFellas Diner" before it was damaged in a 2018 fire and the Mount Zion Cemetery, both in Maspeth, Queens, and in Astoria, Queens. A car chase for the season was filmed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in night shoots, with Moss-Bachrach driving one of the cars. Filming for the season wrapped on April 9, 2017.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Visual effects supervisor Greg Anderson and vendor FuseFX returned from the first season of "Luke Cage" to create the visual effects for "The Punisher", creating 855 visual effects shots across the season. Their team changed in size for each episode, but generally consisted of 15 to 20 people. Due to the realistic tone of the series, which does not feature any superpowers, the visual effects department had to work even harder than usual to ensure their effects were believable, with a focus on creating "gunplay, knifeplay, explosions and other real world effects." They preferred to augment practical effects rather than start from scratch to help with realism as well as the series' budget and schedule.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: As an example of the work Fuse did during fight sequences, Anderson discussed the scene where Russo and his men attack Micro's basement. Though practical prop weapons were used for the fight, Fuse had to augment the action with computer generated blood, knives, and muzzle flashes, as well as a computer generated head that is blown apart by a shotgun. The sequence was thoroughly storyboarded and pre-visualized to plan out the exact visuals required. Because the scene, like many others throughout the season, required a dark environment the visual effects team had to work with the cinematography department to decide where the low-light should be practical and where color-grading could be used to alter a more brightly-lit set given it is difficult to integrate visual effects with dark images. Conversely to this scene, a sequence such as when Russo blows up a hideout required minimal visual effects work because the explosion was shot practically, with Fuse mainly just adding some windows to the building that were removed for the explosion.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: The most technically difficult scene of the season to create was in the first episode, where Castle shoots someone from across the Mexico–United States border. Anderson estimated that the scene was 90 percent digital, with the environment between Castle and his target created entirely by the visual effects department. So that Moore could portray amputee Curtis Hoyle, Fuse had to digitally replace his leg in several shots. This involved Moore wearing a green sleeve over his leg and Fuse replacing it with a stump. The company also had to recreate the background behind Moore's actual leg which was often the most difficult part, such as when he is getting out of bed and realistic-looking digital cloth needed to match with the actual sheets that were on set. Additionally, visual effects were used to augment cement in the sequence where people are thrown into it. The special effects department created a mixture to look like cement for use while filming the scene, but it ultimately did not look realistic on camera and had to be changed digitally.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: In April 2017, Tyler Bates was announced as the composer for "The Punisher", after previously composing for Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2". In order to "get into the dark corners of the Punisher's mind," Bates played "more of a broken blues" guitar, which was augmented with talkbox effects and other "guitar noises", along with guitar-vol and melodica. On this style, Bates said, "The rough edges and broken nature of [music like this] leaves a great deal of space for emotion and interesting color—and a bit of an attitude. Otherwise it's not going to be an authentic expression of the idea. There's a darkness in there that I'm happy to tap into." A soundtrack album for the season was released digitally by Hollywood Records on November 17, 2017 in conjunction with the season's Netflix release. All music composed by Tyler Bates:


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Bernthal and Woll appeared at New York Comic Con in October 2016 to officially announce the start of production on the series and the latter's involvement, while Bernthal presented exclusive footage from the series at San Diego Comic-Con 2017. A teaser was revealed on Netflix in August 2017 after the credits of the final episode of "The Defenders". Also in the month, the series' Twitter account revealed the episode titles as Morse code messages. In September 2017, the series' Instagram account released viral videos made to look like security footage, while episodic photos and a poster for the season with a redacted release date were also released. On September 20, the official trailer for the season was released. Andrew Liptak of "The Verge" said it "sets up "The Punisher" with its own distinct tone that's different from the other Marvel Netflix shows. It wades into government conspiracies and hacking, which is reminiscent of shows like CBS's "Person of Interest" or USA's "Mr. Robot", but with more gunfire." Nerdist's Kendall Ashley called the trailer "intense, super bloody, and has [me] INCREDIBLY pumped for the show's premiere." She added that "if this trailer is any indication, "The Punisher" is definitely going to live up to fan expectations". Ashley felt the inclusion of "One" by Metallica in the trailer "helps paint Frank as a badass unlike any we've seen on the Marvel Netflix shows so far." Cooper Hood, writing for Screen Rant felt the trailer would "only increase the fever for" the series despite it not yet having a release date, with it more closely fitting the "mold" of the character than the more cryptic videos previously released. He also found it "well-cut" to the beat of the song, which he praised as "amplifying the intensity".


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: By the end of September, Netflix had updated their viral website for the "New York Bulletin" to include a profile page for Karen Page. After revealing her login credentials in a post on "Daredevil"s Facebook page, readers who visited Page's profile found images referencing Page's research into Castle from the second season of "Daredevil". Bernthal and other members of the cast were scheduled to appear at New York Comic Con 2017 to promote the season, but the panel was cancelled after the 2017 Las Vegas Strip shooting. Two weeks later, a second trailer was released revealing the season's release date of November 17, 2017. Tom Philip at "GQ" was not very enthused with the trailer, saying it was "hard to get super jazzed about another gritty, ultra-violent, gun-loving, non-superhero show right now." He was critical of the "utilitarian-sounding writing" in the trailer, but felt the chemistry between Bernthal and Woll would be a reason to watch the series. Philip also felt the addition of Moss-Bachrach was "curious", and said "at least [the series is] a swing for the fences from a TV studio that tends to play it astoundingly safe." Scott Mendelson of "Forbes" noted that the gun violence sequences featured were mainly "flashbacks with military men doing military things in full fatigues or scenes of bad guys shooting at not-so-bad guys with heavy gunfire", which was a strong contrast to the first trailer. Mendelson felt this shift in the marketing strategy could have been in response to the Las Vegas shooting. TechCrunch's Darrell Etherington agreed with Mendelson, noting how the trailer "plays up Castle's motivations and the more human side of the story", while still looking "gritty and dark, [and] Bernthal's portrayal looking as strong as ever." Etherington also criticized the soundtrack of the trailer. "The Punisher" had its red carpet premiere on November 6, 2017, in New York City at the 34th Street AMC Loews theatre.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: The first season of "The Punisher" was released on November 17, 2017 on the streaming service Netflix, worldwide. In July 2016, Netflix COO Ted Sarandos had stated that "The Punisher" would not debut until 2018 at the earliest, following "The Defenders" August 18, 2017 release, but in October 2016 Marvel confirmed the 2017 release instead.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: In early September 2017, Dominic Patten and Denise Petski of "Deadline Hollywood" commented on the lack of specific release date for the season at the time, calling it "an unusual" and "rare move for Marvel and Netflix, who usually give a lot of lead-up to the launch" of their high profile series. The pair felt with the increased marketing of the season, it would release "sooner rather than later". Allison Keene of Collider expressed irritation at this because she and other television journalists were unable to plan content without knowing the release date, while fans anticipating the series would watch it "whenever it appears" regardless of when the date is announced. "Polygon"s Susana Polo felt Marvel and Netflix would announce the date at their scheduled New York Comic Con 2017 panel in October, as the convention had been used in previous years to reveal "breaking fall Marvel/Netflix news". It was soon reported that this was indeed the case, with Netflix planning a surprise "drop" release of the season after the New York Comic Con panel, mimicking a strategy from the music industry where an artist's album is released "with little or no fanfare". However, Marvel and Netflix decided to delay the release of the season to later in 2017 following the Las Vegas shooting and subsequent cancelling of the panel. Two weeks later, the November 17 release was announced.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Regarding the decisions made concerning the New York Comic Con panel and the season's release, Loeb said that they were made "specifically because it was a week after a horrible, horrible incident. It hasn't changed the television series, the show is not predominantly about gun violence, and in fact it shows you the problems that occur in that world." Bernthal and Lightfoot felt delaying the release of the season "was the right decision" out of respect for the victims, with Lightfoot saying there was no reason to go ahead with the panel if it was going to upset "even one person involved" with the shooting. Moore had initially felt the season would not be released at all once the panel was cancelled. Between the Las Vegas shooting and subsequent delaying of the season, and the eventual November 17 release, the United States experienced another mass shooting with the Sutherland Springs church shooting. Bernthal hoped that these two shootings and the release of the season would together help further the discussion on gun violence, with "all sides of this debate" represented in "The Punisher".


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: The season, along with the additional "Punisher" seasons and the other Marvel Netflix series, was removed from Netflix on March 1, 2022, due to Netflix's license for the series ending and Disney regaining the rights. The season became available on Disney+ in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 16, ahead of its debut in Disney+'s other markets by the end of 2022.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating with an average rating of 6.70/10 based on 79 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "A rocky start can't keep "The Punisher" from pushing the boundaries of Marvel's TV universe with a fresh take on the comics-derived action thriller." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 55 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Summarizing the critical response to the entirety of the first season, "GameSpot" said reviews were "mixed." It received mixed to negative reviews from the "LA Times" and "Salon."


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: "The Washington Post" said that Netflix had finally gotten the franchise "right" in a live-action in a way the prior three movies had failed to please fans. It gave the credit to the "soul" of the show and Bernthal as "one of Marvel's great casting gets" and made the show "a definitive adaptation that doubles as Netflix's best Marvel show to date." "The Hollywood Reporter" thought the first 13 episode season felt "at least twice the length it should be." "The New York Times" said "the action picks up as the season progresses, but "The Punisher" never quite gets in touch with the visceral roots of its material."


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: "Esquire" called the first season "a compelling and complex horror story about the military." "The New York Times" said that although the action picks up later in the first season, the slow pace made it less pulpy and more of a procedural thriller with a moody and psychological approach, particularly for its focus on PTSD. "Variety" also wrote positively of both the show and Bernthal's "seamless" performance, saying that "It's difficult to imagine better casting than Bernthal, who communicates so fluently with impassive silences, and is convincing both when he is being terribly violent and especially gentle." However, the review said the show took some time to show that it "transcends what it appears to be" at first, through Steve Lightfoot's "sharp, conscious storytelling." It also praised what it called anti-violence themes throughout the series. "Vanity Fair" wrote a less positive review, saying the show was as "psychologically confused as its antihero," as the writers had Castle target people for questionable reasons but portrayed him as justified. "Vanity Fair" wrote that "What the series neglects to examine, of course, is the fact that the Punisher is just as wicked as the villains he targets." "Vulture" described the show's attempts to "humanize and deepen" Castle beyond the violent "monster" he was in the original comics as "unpersuasive," and described a conflict between the showing wanting to be both "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "Death Wish IV: The Crackdown" at the same time.


title: The Punisher (season 1)

text: Lightfoot defended the amount of violence in the series, reiterating that he did not feel that it was any more violent than "Daredevil", that he believed it would be worse to not show the violent repercussions of Castle's actions because that would be "flippant" and not convey the real-life cost of the violence, and that Castle never "just blithely walk[s] away" from the violence as it always takes a physical or emotional toll on him. This extended to the repeated depictions of the death of Castle's wife, which Lightfoot did not think was in bad taste because it was about visualizing Castle's feelings, something he would not talk about; the deaths evolve through the season until they show Castle as the one killing her to signify that he blames himself for her death, which Lightfoot felt was important relationship building between Castle and the audience rather than just gratuitous violence.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: Flashpoint is a Canadian crime drama television series created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern. The series debuted on July 11, 2008, on CTV. In the United States, the series originally aired on CBS; it also aired on Ion Television. The series starred Hugh Dillon, Amy Jo Johnson, David Paetkau, Sergio Di Zio, and Enrico Colantoni.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: The show focuses on a fictional elite tactical unit, the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), within a Canadian metropolitan police force (styled on the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force). The SRU are tasked to resolve extreme situations that regular officers are not trained to handle, including hostage-taking, bomb threats, and heavily armed criminals. Although the team is seldom seen doing so, they do sometimes discuss the "day job" of serving high-risk arrest warrants. Equipped with high-tech tools and a cache of weapons and explosives, members use negotiation tactics and intuition to try to avoid the use of deadly force, which they exert only as a last resort. The initiation of a given situation is often determined by a split-second decision, hence the show's title.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: On January 25, 2011, it was announced that Ion Television had acquired all rights to the show held by CBS, including the option to continue production. On May 1, 2012, the producers announced that the fifth season would be the last of the series. The series finale aired on December 13, 2012.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: Flashpoint follows the lives of several officers working for an elite police tactical unit known as the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), which is called in by regular police to resolve situations beyond their control.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: The majority of the cast of "Flashpoint" are Canadians, including Enrico Colantoni, David Paetkau, Hugh Dillon, Sergio Di Zio, Michael Cram, Mark Taylor, and Ruth Marshall. Amy Jo Johnson is the only American. Johnson said she had no problems with the physical demands of the show despite being pregnant with her first child with her fiancé Oliver Giner during initial production of "Flashpoint". Ruth Marshall left the series after Season 1 and Mark Taylor left after the tenth episode of the second season after his character, Lou, died. During Amy Jo Johnson's maternity leave (during which her character was hospitalized with a gunshot wound), she was temporarily replaced by Jessica Steen, who played Donna Sabine. Steen left the main cast in the sixth episode of the second season, when Johnson's character returned full-time, although she has appeared in some later episodes. Taylor was replaced by Oluniké Adeliyi, who portrays Leah Kerns as of the second episode of the second season. In the fifth episode of the fourth season, Michael Cram, known as "Wordy," left the show when his character was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Cram was replaced by Clé Bennett, portraying Rafik Rousseau. This character left by the first episode of the fifth season. Two episodes later, Adeliyi's character returned to Team One. In an interview, the show's creators stated that they liked to cast only Canadians in "Flashpoint"; the only non-Canadians who have been on the show are Amy Jo Johnson, Colin Cunningham, and Ben Bass.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: "Flashpoint" began life in 2005 as a part of a CTV project that encouraged actors to submit scripts to the network. The original "Flashpoint" script (known earlier as "Sniper" and "Critical Incident") 1 was for a two-hour TV movie. A pilot episode was produced for CTV in July 2007 under the "Critical Incident" title featuring most of the cast of what would become the series, but without the characters Jules Callaghan and Lewis Young; the characters in the pilot were Kate Travers and Robert "Shakes" Boneyman. CTV's interest in the project led to "Flashpoint"'s being reworked as a regular CTV series, which was approved in mid-December 2007. The show was unaffected by the 2007–08 WGA strike because WGC rules allow any members of the WGC living in Canada, including writers with dual WGA/WGC membership, to write for Canadian productions. Writers living in the US with dual WGA/WGC membership were required to get a waiver from the WGA to work on Canadian productions during the strike.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: Although originally developed for a Canadian audience, it was announced on January 29, 2008, that American network CBS had purchased the rights to air the series in the United States, making it the second Canadian TV series aired in primetime on a US broadcast network after "Due South," also a CTV show aired by CBS. In addition, "Flashpoint" is the first Canadian series aired by a major U.S. broadcast network set entirely in Canada (as "Due South" was primarily set in Chicago but filmed in Toronto). On March 5, 2008, CBS announced that "Flashpoint" would premiere in July. CTV announced on May 8, 2008, that it would simulcast the show in Canada beginning on July 11. "Flashpoint" began filming 13 episodes on April 17, 2008. It was written and created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern and executive produced by multiple Gemini Award-winner Anne Marie La Traverse for Pink Sky Entertainment and Bill Mustos for Avamar Entertainment, in association with the CTV Television Network and CBS Television Studios (formerly CBS Paramount Network Television). The pilot episode, titled "Scorpio" was based on an actual event that occurred in Toronto in 2004, in which a gun-wielding hostage-taker was shot and killed by an Emergency Task Force (TPS) sniper. Ellis and Morgenstern wrote their teleplay for the episode after interviewing members of the ETF. The majority of the episode reused substantial portions of the unaired "Critical Incident" pilot together with new footage featuring Amy Jo Johnson and Mark Taylor (who were not in the pilot). Director David Frazee carefully shot the SRU as one unit to demonstrate their unity. Producer Anne Marie La Traverse said the show would take people to their "own personal flash point." David Paetkau, one of the show's regular cast members, said "Flashpoint" "tries to capture the human element involved in policing, and discusses how some officers end up with emotional baggage and suffer with mental illnesses like post traumatic stress disorder." Input and advice from various ETF personnel were used in making the series.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: On August 25, 2008, CTV announced it had renewed the show for a second season of 13 episodes to begin production in Toronto in early 2009. Some months later, both CTV and CBS increased the renewal to 18 episodes. According to tvguide.com, CBS announced that "Flashpoint" would return January 9, 2009, at 9 pm for a midseason start. In the United States and Canada, the remaining four episodes that were originally produced for Season 1 aired as a part of Season 2. CTV in Canada originally considered these episodes as part of Season 1; however, after the airing of the fourth episode (which was originally considered the final episode of Season 1), CTV changed the labelling of these four episodes and, following CBS, began considering them part of Season 2. CBS and CTV both ended Season 2 on May 25, 2009, after airing only the first nine episodes produced. The second nine episodes, filmed from May to August 2009, were originally aired in Canada by CTV as Season 3. CTV has since officially begun to refer to the episodes as the second half of Season 2 (and altered its "Flashpoint" website accordingly). These episodes began airing June 4, 2010, on CBS, where they are considered part of Season 3.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: A new group of 13 episodes, now referred to by both CTV and the production companies as "Season 3", was commissioned by CTV and CBS in October 2009. The first of these episodes began filming on January 13, 2010. This gave CBS 22 original episodes to broadcast while CTV had 13. CBS completed broadcasting Season 2 on July 30, 2010. The third season premiered on July 16, 2010, on both CTV and CBS. After entering a hiatus in mid-September after the broadcast of seven episodes from Season 3, CTV resumed airing the remaining episodes on January 4, 2011. CTV ordered a fourth season of "Flashpoint" on June 3, 2010, before the third season began to air. On January 21, 2011, it was announced that CBS would air 7 of the 18 episodes from Season 4, as well as the remaining 6 episodes from Season 3 not yet shown on CBS, during the summer of 2011. Due to the cancellation of "CHAOS", the remaining episodes from Season 3 of "Flashpoint" were shown on CBS starting May 6, 2011. The remaining 11 episodes from season 4 began airing on ION Television in October of that year.


title: Flashpoint (TV series)

text: Filming of season four took place between February 14 and September 15, 2011. On May 9, 2011, CTV announced that the fourth season would begin airing on June 17, 2011, to be simulcast by CBS. On June 1, 2011, Bell Media announced that the network ordered another season of "Flashpoint," containing 18 new episodes. starting to air in Canada in September 2012. Filming of season 5 took place between February 9 and June 27, 2012.