text: The Guardians of the Galaxy are a band of outlaws who joined to protect the galaxy from threats. The group's founding members are Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. The team's membership is later expanded with the addition of Yondu Udonta and Mantis while temporarily aided by Nebula in their fight against Ego. Kraglin also assists the team in the final confrontation. Four years later, they aid Thor and the Avengers in confronting Thanos in his attempt to collect the six Infinity Stones. Thanos succeeds in collecting all of Stones, murdering Gamora in the process, and disintegrates half of all life in the universe, with Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, and Groot among his victims, with only Rocket and Nebula spared. After Thanos has destroyed the Stones and is executed by Thor, Rocket and Nebula help the Avengers travel back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past. They are successful, but the Thanos of 2014 becomes aware of the presence of this other Nebula, and has her captured, sending 2014 Nebula to the present in the former's place. 2014 Nebula summons Thanos to the present, where he destroys Avengers headquarters in order to acquire the Stones to kill the entire universe. Nebula successfully convinces 2014 Gamora to join her in opposing Thanos, and kills her 2014 counterpart, though 2014 Gamora has no emotional connection to Quill. The combined forces of the Avengers, the Guardians and all of their allies succeed in repelling his forces, and killing Thanos once and for all. Afterwards, Nebula and Thor joins the Guardians, quipping that they are now the "Asgardians of the Galaxy", and jokingly argues with Star-Lord over command of the team. Thor eventually leaves the team. The Guardians, having gained lots of money due to their role in saving the universe, buy Knowhere to use as their base of operations. Cosmo the Spacedog then joins the team.


title: Teams and organizations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

text: They appeared in the films "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Avengers: Infinity War", "Avengers: Endgame", and ""; as well the Disney+ television special "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" and the animated series "What If...?".


text: The Guardians of the Multiverse is a group consisted of superheroes and supervillains from across the Multiverse. The group was assembled by the Watcher with the goal of stopping an alternate version of Ultron from destroying the Multiverse. The group's members are Peggy Carter / Captain Carter, T'Challa / Star-Lord, Thor, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens, Gamora, Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, and Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange Supreme. After a lengthy battle, the team defeats Ultron, but Killmonger enters into a duel with Arnim Zola over the Infinity Stones. Strange Supreme then casts a spell which imprisons the two inside a pocket dimension before the team is disbanded, returning to their universes by the Watcher. However, Romanoff is transported to another universe, as her own universe was destroyed by Ultron.


text: The Howling Commandos are an elite combat unit that had been led by Captain America (portrayed by Chris Evans) during World War II. At the end of the war and after Captain America's apparent demise, their unit continued to be active and was led by Dum Dum Dugan (portrayed by Neal McDonough). They are first introduced in "Captain America: The First Avenger". They were made up of men freed from a Hydra prisoner camp by Rogers. Their number also included Bucky Barnes, Gabe Jones, James Montgomery Falsworth, Jim Morita, and Jacques Dernier (portrayed by Sebastian Stan, Derek Luke, JJ Feild, Kenneth Choi, and Bruno Ricci respectively). In "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", the team uses old Howling Commandos' equipment provided by Agent Antoine Triplett who is the grandson of one of the Howling Commandos. Commandos Dugan and Morita also return in a flashback, led by Peggy Carter. They also appear in "Agent Carter".


text: They appeared in the film "" and "Agent Carter", as well as the Disney+ animated series "What If...?".


text: The Revengers is a team of ex-Sakaar prisoners assembled by Thor to escape the planet and defeat Hela. The team consists of Thor, Loki, Hulk, Valkyrie, Korg, and Miek. With the exception of Loki, who is choked to death by Thanos, the team survives Ragnarok and the attack on the "Statesman".


text: The Salem Coven was a witch coven based in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1693, during the Salem witch trials, the coven brought one of its members, Agatha Harkness, to the woods. She begged to be spared but was tied to a wooden post with magic bonds. Evanora Harkness, her mother, inquired if she was a witch, which Agatha admitted to. Evanora responded by saying she had betrayed her coven and stole knowledge above her place and that she practiced the darkest of magic, which Agatha denied. The witches tried to kill Agatha with energy beams as Agatha pleaded with Evanora. Agatha continued to cry until her powers took over and she reversed the effect of the beams onto the witches and killed them. Agatha broke free of the post and killed Evanora before taking the brooch off her mother's corpse and flew away.


text: The Starforce is an elite military task force of skilled Kree warriors in the service of the Kree Empire. Led by Yon-Rogg (portrayed by Jude Law in the 2019 film "Captain Marvel"), the group also includes Vers, Korath, Minn-Erva, Att-Lass, and Bron-Char (portrayed by Brie Larson, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, and Rune Temte, respectively). The group is first seen going to the planet Torfa to rescue a Kree scout named Soh-Larr. Vers is captured in a Skrull ambush led by Talos, but escapes to Earth and makes contact with Yon-Rogg. Following a parley with Talos and the discovery of the Skrull refugees hidden by Mar-Vell, Starforce arrives on Earth and takes prisoner the Skrulls, Nick Fury, Maria Rambeau, and Goose. Vers, in her regained identity of Carol Danvers, is placed in a transmission with the Supreme Intelligence. After breaking free and overheating the implant that limited her abilities, Carol Danvers fights Starforce and Kree soldiers to rescue Nick Fury, Maria Rambeau, and the Skrulls; most of the antagonizing Kree are killed or incapacitated.


text: The Strategic Operations Command Center, also known by its acronym SOCC, was a special task force led by Thaddeus Ross in order to hunt down the Hulk. Part of the United States Army, the SOCC tracked Banner down in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and attempted to arrest him, but Banner transforms into the Hulk and manages to escape. The SOCC then confront the Hulk at Grayburn College and arrest Banner, but are forced to become temporary allies with him during his fight with the Abomination in Harlem.


text: The Valkyrie were a group of female Asgardian warriors who served under Odin. Described by Thor as a "legend", the Valkyrie were sworn to protect the throne and fly on winged horses. During one of their missions, they were sent by Odin to Hel in order to prevent his daughter, Hela, from escaping. However, Hela single-handedly murdered all but one of the Valkyrie before Odin arrived and stopped her. Deeply traumatized by the experience, the sole surviving Valkyrie leaves Asgard and becomes a bounty hunter, serving the Grandmaster on Sakaar as "Scrapper 142".


text: The Warriors Three are a group of Asgardian warriors/adventurers, made up of Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg, with Fandral initially portrayed by Joshua Dallas, Hogun portrayed by Tadanobu Asano, and Volstagg portrayed by Ray Stevenson. They often fight alongside Thor and Lady Sif. Zachary Levi later replaces Joshua Dallas as Fandral. They are ultimately killed by Hela during her takeover of Asgard.


text: They appeared in the films "Thor", "Thor: The Dark World", and "Thor: Ragnarok"; as well as the Disney+ animated series "What If...?".


text: Advanced Idea Mechanics, better known by its acronym A.I.M., was a scientific research and development company that was founded by Aldrich Killian. In 1999, Killian attempted to recruit Tony Stark, but failed and was instead approached by Maya Hansen, who agreed to join the organization and develop the Extremis genetic manipulation technology. Over the years, A.I.M. gathered an army of Extremis soldiers, but many of them became unstable and exploded. To cover the accidents up, Killian hired failed actor Trevor Slattery to pose as the Mandarin and claim responsibility for the "attacks". The Mandarin's actions eventually caught the attention of Tony Stark, whose mansion was later destroyed by A.I.M., while Killian kidnapped U.S. President Matthew Ellis. Killian is ultimately stopped by Stark and James Rhodes, and is then killed by Pepper Potts.


text: Bestman Salvage was a company based in New York owned and run by Adrian Toomes. Other employees included Phineas Mason, Herman Schultz, Jackson Brice, and Randy Vale. This company went defunct following the Department of Damage Control taking over their contracts, leading to Toomes choosing a life of crime to support his family.


text: Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter & Training, better known by its acronym F.E.A.S.T, is an American non-profit charitable organization. In 2024, May Parker worked for F.E.A.S.T. to feed the poor and the hungry in New York. During one of her shifts, the recently displaced Norman Osborn seeks shelter at the F.E.A.S.T. Community Center, and is tended to by May until her nephew Peter Parker arrives to escort him to the New York Sanctum, housing all the other displaced individuals from across the multiverse.


text: Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, better known by its initialism GLK&H, is an American law firm operating in New York City and Los Angeles.


text: Hammer Industries is an American weapons manufacturing company formerly led by Justin Hammer, until his arrest at the Stark Expo. Following Tony Stark's unprecedented announcement that his company would no longer manufacture weapons, Hammer Industries received the weapons contract for the United States Armed Forces. However, despite its claims, most of the weapons produced by Hammer Industries are defective or weak.


text: Pym Technologies was a multinational technology and scientific research company founded by Hank Pym and later taken over by his protégé, Darren Cross. Following his departure from S.H.I.E.L.D., Pym founded the company to study quantum mechanics, but was later voted out of his own company by Cross and his daughter, Hope van Dyne. Obsessed with recreating the fabled Pym Particles, Cross eventually succeeded and created the Yellowjacket suit, hoping to sell it to the military or terrorist organizations and planning to rename the company Cross Technologies. He is ultimately stopped by Pym, van Dyne, and Scott Lang, and the company's headquarters is destroyed.


text: Roxxon Corporation is a large industrial conglomerate that frequently comes into conflict with S.H.I.E.L.D. and other superheroes due to its willingness to use unethical methods.


text: It appeared in the films "Iron Man", "Iron Man 2", and "Iron Man 3"; the Marvel One-Shot "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer"; as well as the ABC series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Agent Carter", the Netflix series "Daredevil", the Freeform series "Cloak & Dagger", the Hulu series "Runaways" and "Helstrom," and the Disney+ series "Loki".


text: Stark Industries is a company founded by Howard Stark and later handed over to Tony Stark. During World War II, a young Howard Stark assists the Strategic Scientific Reserve in their Super Soldier program, and provides key assistance to Steve Rogers and Agent Peggy Carter. The Stark Industries logo is modified to fit in with the 1940s time period. When Tony becomes CEO, the company is featured with a logo similar to those of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, and touted as developing many of the same weapons systems that Lockheed Martin is/was responsible for developing, such as the F-22 Raptor and F-16 Fighting Falcon. After Tony's father Howard dies, Obadiah Stane becomes the CEO and later abdicates when Tony grows old enough to run it. After Stark comes back from Afghanistan, he announces that he is closing the weapons division of the company, causing the company's stocks to fall by about 40.7%.


text: In 2010, Pepper Potts, Stark's lover and eventual wife, becomes the CEO of the company. Stark Industries, for the first time since 1974, hosted the renowned Stark Expo in Flushing Meadows. In 2012, Tony Stark opens the Stark Tower in New York City. After the Chitauri invasion, almost all the lettering forming the word 'STARK' on the side of the tower falls off, leaving only the 'A' - mirroring the logo of the Avengers that would replace the lettering later on. In 2013, Pepper is still the CEO of Stark Industries and Happy Hogan is the head of security. Happy calls out to an off-camera secretary named Bambi in reference to Bambi Arbogast. The company is later stated to have designed Sam Wilson's winged flight gear, as well as the redesigned Helicarriers' propulsion systems. After S.H.I.E.L.D. is dissolved, Maria Hill is seen applying for a position at the Human Resources department of Stark Industries.


text: The company also has a negative impact, with Wanda and Pietro Maximoff recalling their childhood in the fictional nation of Sokovia, where the apartment in which the Maximoff family was living was attacked with Stark Industries-manufactured mortar shells, killing their parents. This would prove to be the basis for their hatred of Stark.


text: A former Stark Industries warehouse later becomes the new Avengers headquarters. It is revealed in 2016 that Damage Control is a joint venture between Stark Industries and the U.S. government to clean up New York City in the aftermath of the invasion.


text: In 2024, a group of disgruntled former Stark Industries employees led by Quentin Beck create a fabricated superhero named Mysterio using the Stark Industries augmented reality technology "B.A.R.F." to wreak havoc while using drones to pose as the Elementals. They are stopped by Peter Parker, but William Ginter Riva managed to leak Spider-Man's identity to DailyBugle.com.


text: It appeared in the films "Iron Man", "The Incredible Hulk", "Iron Man 2", "Captain America: The First Avenger", "The Avengers", "Iron Man 3", "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Ant-Man", "Captain America: Civil War", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Avengers: Infinity War", "Avengers: Endgame", "Spider-Man: Far From Home", and "Spider-Man: No Way Home"; the Marvel One-Shot "The Consultant"; as well as the ABC series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Agent Carter" and the Disney+ series "WandaVision", "What If...?", and "Hawkeye".


text: The Daily Bugle (formerly TheDailyBugle.net) is a sensationalist news outlet modeled on Alex Jones' InfoWars headquartered in New York City and hosted by J. Jonah Jameson. In 2024, the site released doctored footage incriminating Spider-Man for the death of Mysterio and exposed his secret identity as Peter Parker. Betty Brant later joins the company under an internship as Jameson's correspondent.


text: It appeared in the MCU films "" and "", a series of viral marketing videos on YouTube and TikTok of the same name, as well as in the mid-credits scene of the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film "".


text: WHIH World News is a television network and subsidiary of VistaCorp that reports political, scientific, and entertainment news. Its program "WHIH Newsfront" is anchored by Christine Everhart and Will Adams. Over the years, it has covered stories on the bombings of Sokovia, Tony Stark's "I am Iron Man" press conference, the opening ceremony of the 2011 Stark Expo, a clash between the Hulk and the military at Culver University, the aftermath of the Hydra Uprising, Wilson Fisk's thoughts on Daredevil, the Battle of Sokovia, Scott Lang's break-in of VistaCorp, the creation of the Advanced Threat Containment Unit (ATCU), the reemergence of Danny Rand, an interview with Dr. Stephen Strange, the appointment of Thaddeus Ross as Secretary of State, the aftermath of the Lagos Incident, the signing of the Sokovia Accords, the return of the Punisher, reported sightings of the Inhumans, the activities of the Runaways, an alien attack in New York City, worldwide celebrations following the Blip, the appointment of John Walker as the new Captain America, and the Flag Smashers' attack on the Global Repatriation Council in New York.


text: It appeared in the films "The Incredible Hulk", "Iron Man 2", "Black Widow", and "Eternals"; the ABC series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Inhumans", the Netflix series "Daredevil", "Jessica Jones", "Luke Cage", "Iron Fist", and "The Punisher", the Hulu series "Runaways", and the Disney+ series "WandaVision" and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier"; and is the main focus of the web series "WHIH Newsfront", which served as a viral marketing campaign for "Ant-Man" and "Captain America: Civil War".


text: X-Con Security Consultants is a security company founded by Scott Lang, Luis, Dave, and Kurt. While Scott is under house arrest for violating the Sokovia Accords, it is run by Luis.


text: The Black Widows are a group of assassins, part of the Red Room program led by General Dreykov. The program takes young orphan girls and turns them into elite assassins named "Black Widows", and is overseen by various individuals, including Madame B. and Melina Vostokoff. Graduates of the program include Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova. The program sends assassins, called Widows, to perform missions, and following Romanoff's escape from the program adopts mind control techniques to prevent their defection. It was terminated in 2016 following the destruction of the Red Room's headquarters by Romanoff and Belova, and each surviving Widow went their separate ways.


text: The Flag Smashers are a team of anarchists who oppose all forms of nationalism, believing that life was better during the Blip. The group posts messages in online forums and leave clues around the world with augmented reality. Led by Karli Morgenthau, its members have enhanced strength due to taking the Super Soldier Serum, given to them by the Power Broker. They eventually turn on the Power Broker, who is later revealed to be Sharon Carter.


text: Hydra is the former science research division of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party and a covert terrorist organization responsible for infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. during the modern day. Hydra was originally founded as an Inhuman cult dedicated to worshipping Hive and continued to exist throughout the centuries before it became part of Nazi Germany under Hitler. The modern incarnation was created by Hitler to pursue methods of creating advanced weaponry to help the Axis Powers win World War II. Initially led by Johann Schmidt, Hydra acquired the Tesseract and conducted research on it to harness the energy it released to power weapons. Hydra's allegiance to its Nazi superiors grew to be only superficial; as Schmidt intended to harness the potential of the Tesseract to overthrow Hitler and eventually the world, believing that mankind could not be trusted with its own freedom. However, during the war, Hydra learned, particularly due to Steve Rogers' attacks on their operations, that humanity will always fight for its freedom. After Schmidt's disappearance and Rogers' successful efforts to botch Schmidt's plans to attack cities around the world, Hydra was defeated and fell. Following World War II, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded by former members of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and employed Operation Paperclip, recruiting former Hydra scientists with strategic value. As part of the process, Arnim Zola was recruited and then subsequently began to reform Hydra secretly from within S.H.I.E.L.D. Operating discreetly within S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra staged political coups, wars (including the Cold War), and assassinations (including those of Howard and Maria Stark), intending to destabilize world governments and drive humanity to surrender its freedom in exchange for security. Hydra agent Gideon Malick (portrayed by Powers Boothe) infiltrated the World Security Council. Hydra's operations were later exposed by Rogers once S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, and their remnants were pursued and defeated by the Avengers and by remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.


text: It appeared in the films "Captain America: The First Avenger", "", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Ant-Man", "Captain America: Civil War", and "Avengers: Endgame"; as well as the ABC series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Agent Carter," and the Disney+ series "WandaVision", "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier", and "What If...?".


text: Intelligencia is a far-right online criminal organization founded by Todd Phelps and other influential people that harass people belonging to discriminated groups.


text: The Marauders were a group of space pirates who took advantage of the destruction of the Rainbow Bridge in Asgard and wreaked havoc across the Nine Realms, until they were stopped by Thor, Sif, the Warriors Three, and the Einherjar.


text: The Ravagers are an interstellar crime syndicate comprising thieves, smugglers, criminals, bandits, mercenaries, bounty hunters, and space pirates. There are nearly one hundred factions of Ravagers around the galaxy each led by an independent captain. Their moral code states that Ravagers do not steal from other Ravagers or deal in children.


text: They appeared in the films "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", and "Avengers: Endgame"; as well as the Disney+ animated series "What If...?".


text: Stakar Ogord (portrayed by Sylvester Stallone) led his own team of Ravagers. Other members included Yondu Udonta, Aleta Ogord, Charlie-27, Martinex, Mainframe, and Krugarr (portrayed by Michael Rooker, Michelle Yeoh, Ving Rhames, Michael Rosenbaum, Miley Cyrus respectively, with Krugarr being portrayed through CGI). The team eventually disbanded, but was reunited following the death of their former teammate Yondu.


text: The Ten Rings is a clandestine criminal organization founded one thousand years ago by the immortal warlord Xu Wenwu and named after his mystical ten rings. The group's name is an homage to the Mandarin's ten cosmic rings in Marvel Comics. In 1996, Wenwu disbanded the organization after marrying and starting a family, but reactivated the Ten Rings following the death of his wife, Ying Li.


text: In 2010, the Ten Rings is hired by Obadiah Stane to kidnap Tony Stark in Afghanistan, with the cell led by a man named Raza.


text: Years later, Aldrich Killian of AIM hires actor Trevor Slattery to pose as Wenwu; unfamiliar with Wenwu's history, Killian invents "the Mandarin" persona for Slattery and has him unwittingly broadcast propaganda messages claiming credit on behalf of the Ten Rings for explosions caused by AIM's failed Extremis experiments. However, following his arrest, Slattery is confronted by Jackson Norriss in prison, who reveals that he is a member of the group and that "the Mandarin" is real.


text: A member of the organization was also one of Darren Cross' potential buyers of his Yellowjacket suit.


text: Sometime after 2023, Wenwu begins hearing his deceased wife's voice, telling him she is trapped in her former home, Ta Lo. Wenwu dispatches his Ten Rings warriors to capture his estranged children Shang-Chi and Xialing for their pendants that can lead him to Ta Lo. Wenwu and the Ten Rings arrive in Ta Lo and attack the village to free Li. Unbeknownst to Wenwu, Li's voice was that of the sealed Dweller-in-Darkness, who manipulates him into releasing it and its minions. The Ten Rings form a truce with the villagers to fight the new threat. After Wenwu's death, Xialing becomes the new leader of the Ten Rings and starts restructuring it by incorporating more female recruits into the previously all-male organization.


text: The organization Ten Rings was an original creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The organization resembles Si-Fan from Sax Rhomer's books. In the animated series "", Gene Khan, the Mandarin leads the Tong; tong is a name of a type of criminal organization of Chinese immigrants in the United States.


text: It appeared in the films "Iron Man", "Iron Man 2", "Iron Man 3", "Ant-Man", and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"; as well as the One-Shot "All Hail the King".


text: The Tivan Group is a powerful group led by the Collector. Responsible for the founding of the Exitar mining colony on Knowhere, the group wields enormous power and prestige in the criminal underworld of the cosmos.


text: It appeared in the films "", "Guardians of the Galaxy", and "Avengers: Infinity War"; as well as the Disney+ animated series "What If...?".


text: The Tracksuit Mafia is a criminal organization operating in New York, with a history of being fought by Ronin, eventually revealed to be working for Wilson Fisk, under the orders of Maya Lopez / Echo. In the comics, they were known as the Tracksuit Draculas.


text: The Wrecking Crew is a four-man criminal group wielding stolen enhanced Asgardian construction tools as weapons. The group's members consist of Wrecker, Piledriver, Bulldozer, and Thunderball. They were hired by an anonymous client to steal a sample of Jennifer Walters' gamma-irradiated blood, though she fights them off.


text: The Zealots were a separatist faction of the Masters of the Mystic Arts led by Kaecilius. Kaecilius and his surviving disciples were given the immortality they had wanted all along from Dormammu. Unfortunately for them, the warnings they failed to heed turned out to be correct as the three were dragged into the Dark Dimension upon Doctor Strange defeating Dormammu.


text: The United States Department of Damage Control (DODC), often referred to as simply Damage Control, is a United States government agency set up with the aid of Stark Industries in order to clean up after the Battle of New York in 2012. This drives Bestman Salvage, Adrian Toomes' company, out of business. It appeared again in 2016 to clean up a destroyed deli-grocery store and bank, and in 2024, to apprehend Peter Parker and interrogate his aunt and friends after his identity as Spider-Man was made public.


text: In 2025, DODC agents P. Cleary and Sadie Deever launch an investigation into Jersey City resident and emerging superhero Kamala Khan, after she is suspected to have caused significant damages and injuries during the local AvengerCon exhibit. Their methods for tracking her draw significant controversy among the public, particularly garnering ire from the city's Muslim-American community upon their attempt to (in Cleary's case, reluctantly) raid a mosque related to Khan's associates. Eventually, Cleary orders Deever to forfeit the operation as a result of the public backlash, with Deever opting to proceed with capturing Khan, Kamran, and their friends at Coles Academic High School. Deever's raid subsequently draws the attention of Jersey City locals, allowing them to intervene and stop Damage Control from capturing Khan, who eventually flees the scene after consoling Kamran. The ensuing events cause Deever to be fired from her position by Cleary for her inability to comply with orders and for putting children at risk.


text: It appeared in the films "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home"; as well as the Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel" and "".


text: The Global Repatriation Council, abbreviated as the GRC, is an international organization established by world governments following the Blip that is responsible for managing resources for refugees displaced by the Blip.


text: The Nova Corps was the intergalactic military and police force of the Nova Empire that was headquartered on the planet Xandar. Led by the Nova Prime, the Nova Corps initially arrest the Guardians of the Galaxy on Xandar after they cause a public disturbance and send them to the Kyln, a secure prison. Later, during the Battle of Xandar, the Corps defend Xandar from Ronan the Accuser along with the Guardians, but are almost completely obliterated by Ronan using the Power Stone. Following the battle, the Corps expunge each of the Guardians' criminal records in gratitude, while the Orb is placed in the Corps' possession for safekeeping. Four years later, the Nova Corps was presumed to have been annihilated by Thanos during the decimation of Xandar in search of the Power Stone as mentioned by Thor. Other notable members of the Corps include and Denarian Garthan Saal.


text: The film version of the Nova Corps acts as a traditional police force, with no mention of the Nova Force. When asked about a Nova solo movie, James Gunn said "I think there is always a chance of a Nova movie."


text: The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, better known by its acronym S.H.I.E.L.D., is an intelligence agency founded by Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, and Chester Phillips following World War II as the successor to the Strategic Scientific Reserve. In the early 21st century, Nick Fury was promoted to the position of Director by Secretary Alexander Pierce, who was secretly working for Hydra. In 2010, Agent Phil Coulson was sent to speak with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts following his kidnapping in Afghanistan, but before he could do so Stark became involved in a battle with Obadiah Stane in an advanced armored suit. Later, in a press conference, Stark publicly declares himself as "Iron Man", prompting Fury to approach him on the "Avengers Initiative". S.H.I.E.L.D. was also involved in an attack by an army of unmanned drones at the Stark Expo, monitored the activity of Dr. Bruce Banner, witnessed the arrival of Thor in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, and recovered the long-lost body of Captain America. In 2012, Fury assembled a team which consisted of six extraordinary individuals known as the Avengers in response to the theft of the Tesseract by Loki, leading to the Battle of New York. Following the incident, Fury secretly revives Coulson (who was killed by Loki) via Project T.A.H.I.T.I., while Rogers joins S.H.I.E.L.D..


text: During the Hydra Uprising, Hydra was revealed to have been secretly infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, culminating in the destruction of the Triskelion, three Helicarriers, and Project Insight, along with the collapse of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra. S.H.I.E.L.D. was secretly revived by Phil Coulson and Nick Fury, the latter assisting the Avengers during the Battle of Sokovia.


text: It appeared in the films "Iron Man", "The Incredible Hulk", "Iron Man 2", "Thor", "Captain America: The First Avenger", "The Avengers", "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Ant-Man", "Ant-Man and the Wasp", "Captain Marvel", "Spider-Man: Far From Home" and "Black Widow"; the Marvel One-Shots "The Consultant", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer", "Item 47", and "Agent Carter"; as well as the ABC series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and the Disney+ series "What If...?".


text: S.T.R.I.K.E. is a unit of S.H.I.E.L.D. led by Steve Rogers, but also infiltrated by Hydra moles such as Brock Rumlow. A glimpse of S.H.I.E.L.D. records in "The Avengers" show that Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton were partnered together under S.T.R.I.K.E. Team Delta.


text: It appeared in the films "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Avengers: Endgame"; as well as the Disney+ series "What If...?".


text: The Strategic Scientific Reserve, or SSR, was a top secret Allied war agency during World War II, founded by Chester Phillips, Howard Stark and Peggy Carter, on the orders of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was based in London. It was later replaced by S.H.I.E.L.D., with all operations taken over by Nick Fury.


text: It appeared in the film "Captain America: The First Avenger", the ABC series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Agent Carter", and the Disney+ series "What If...?".


text: The Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division, better known by its acronym S.W.O.R.D., is an intelligence agency that was founded by Maria Rambeau. In 2020, Rambeau died from cancer, prompting Tyler Hayward to succeed her by becoming the new acting director. Under Hayward's directives, S.W.O.R.D. obtained the Vision's corpse and began the process of attempting to re-activate it. In 2023, two weeks following the Blip, Wanda Maximoff created an anomaly around the town of Westview, New Jersey, prompting S.W.O.R.D. to send one of its agents, Monica Rambeau, to assist FBI agent Jimmy Woo in investigating it. After Rambeau is accidentally sucked inside the anomaly, Hayward and other S.W.O.R.D. members set up a temporary response base outside the town, bringing in Darcy Lewis to further investigate the anomaly. Later, Hayward successfully re-activates the Vision through exposure to Wanda's power from a drone, and sends it inside the anomaly to kill Maximoff and the Vision simulacrum. Following a tense confrontation between the Maximoff family, S.W.O.R.D., and Agatha Harkness, Hayward is arrested, and Monica meets with a Skrull posing as an FBI agent.


text: S.W.O.R.D. was originally intended to appear in "Thor", in a deleted post-credits scene wherein Erik Selvig tells Jane Foster and Darcy to "cross reference ... with the S.W.O.R.D. database". However, due to complications with 20th Century Fox, which owned the film rights to S.W.O.R.D. members Lockheed and Abigail Brand at the time, the scene was cut. The creative team behind the TV show "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." intended to incorporate S.W.O.R.D., but were refused permission by Marvel Studios.


text: War Dogs are sleeper agents responsible for covert operations and gathering intelligence for Wakanda. They are branded with a tattoo on their lips to identify themselves when prompted. In 1992, King T'Chaka visited his brother N'Jobu in Oakland, California, where he was stationed as a War Dog. Revealing that he had sent Zuri to spy on him, T'Chaka demanded to know why N'Jobu had helped black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue steal a cache of vibranium from Wakanda before killing him in order to save Zuri's life.


text: In 2016, War Dog member Nakia is rescued by T'Challa and Okoye whilst undertaking a mission in Nigeria, and is taken back to Wakanda to attend T'Chaka's funeral. Later, after N'Jadaka ascends to the Wakandan throne, he orders W'Kabi to deliver vibranium to War Dogs stationed around the world, but this plot was thwarted by resistance from T'Challa and his allies in Wakanda.


text: The World Security Council is an international council formed of politicians from some of the world's most powerful countries that function as oversight for S.H.I.E.L.D. Its stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace.


text: The Einherjar is the army of Asgard who have been serving the Asgardian throne since the time of Odin's father, Bor. Over the millennia, they have fought the Dark Elves, the Frost Giants, and the Marauders, as well as Hela and Thanos's forces. Their current leader is Tyr.


text: It appeared in the films "Thor", "Thor: The Dark World", "Thor: Ragnarok", and "Avengers: Endgame"; as well as the Disney+ series "What If...?".


text: The Illuminati is an organization established by an alternate version of Stephen Strange in Earth-838. They are intended to monitor and apprehend potential threats to the wider multiverse. Joining Strange as council members are Maria Rambeau / Captain Marvel, Peggy Carter / Captain Carter, Blackagar Boltagon / Black Bolt, Professor Charles Xavier, and Reed Richards. When Strange recklessly uses the "Darkhold" to prevent Thanos's invasion of their world, he was deemed a threat to the multiverse by his peers, leading him to be executed by Boltagon and subsequently replaced by the succeeding Sorcerer Supreme, Karl Mordo. Some time later, the Illuminati arrest and imprison the Stephen Strange of Earth-616, as they fear he and his companion America Chavez pose a similar threat. However, their attempt to decide his fate is interrupted by a corrupted Wanda Maximoff from Earth-616, who infiltrates their headquarters and slaughters every member of the organization (except for Mordo) while Strange, Chavez and that reality's Christine Palmer pursue the "Book of Vishanti" to subdue her. They were later avenged when the redeemed Wanda destroys the Darkhold and seemingly killing herself as self punishment.


text: The Masters of the Mystic Arts are an order of sorcerers dedicated to protecting the world from mystical threats. They originated in the time of Agamotto, and through the centuries developed into their current form. Notable current and former members include Dr. Stephen Strange, Wong, the Ancient One, Karl Mordo / Baron Mordo, Kaecilius, Jonathan Pangborn, Daniel Drumm, Hamir, Tina Minoru, Sol Rama and Rintrah.


text: They appeared in the films "Doctor Strange", "", "" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness".


text: The Order of the Red Daggers, or simply Red Daggers, is an order of mystic warriors based in Pakistan and dedicated to protecting the world from inter-dimensional and supernatural threats. Specifically, they take interest in tracking down and eliminating the Clandestines, "djinn" who are trying to tear down the Veil of Noor in order to merge their home-world with Earth. Notable current and former members include Kareem and Waleed.


text: The Time Variance Authority, better known by its initialism TVA, is an organization which was created by He Who Remains (a variant of Kang the Conqueror) that monitors the various timelines of the Multiverse, including the preservation of the Sacred Timeline.


text: In an alternate 2012 created by the Avengers Time Heist, Loki escaped from Stark Tower with the Tesseract following his defeat, leading TVA agents to take him into custody. It is later revealed by Sylvie to Loki that all TVA agents are Variants taken from different times by He Who Remains. The Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel was used to portray the TVA Headquarters.


title: Social learning theory

text: Social learning is a theory of learning process social behavior which proposes that new behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. In addition to the observation of behavior, learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement. When a particular behavior is rewarded regularly, it will most likely persist; conversely, if a particular behavior is constantly punished, it will most likely desist. The theory expands on traditional behavioral theories, in which behavior is governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the important roles of various internal processes in the learning individual.


title: Social learning theory

text: In the 1941s, B. F. Skinner delivered a series of lectures on verbal behavior, putting forth a more empirical approach to the subject than existed in psychology at the time. In them, he proposed the use of stimulus-response theories to describe language use and development, and that all verbal behavior was underpinned by operant conditioning. He did however mention that some forms of speech derived from words and sounds that had previously been heard (echoic response), and that reinforcement from parents allowed these 'echoic responses' to be pared down to that of understandable speech. While he denied that there was any "instinct or faculty of imitation", Skinner's behaviorist theories formed a basis for redevelopment into Social Learning Theory.


title: Social learning theory

text: At around the same time, Clark Leonard Hull, an American psychologist, was a strong proponent of behaviorist stimulus-response theories, and headed a group at Yale University's Institute of Human Relations. Under him, Neal Miller and John Dollard aimed to come up with a reinterpretation of psychoanalytic theory in terms of stimulus-response. This led to their book, "Social Learning and Imitation", published in 1941, which posited that personality consisted of learned habits. They used Hull's drive theory, where a drive is a need that stimulates a behavioral response, crucially conceiving a drive for imitation, which was positively reinforced by social interaction and widespread as a result. This was the first use of the term 'social learning,' but Miller and Dollard did not consider their ideas to be separate from Hullian learning theory, only a possible refinement. Nor did they follow up on their original ideas with a sustained research program.


title: Social learning theory

text: Julian B. Rotter, a professor at Ohio State University published his book, "Social Learning and Clinical Psychology" in 1954. This was the first extended statement of a comprehensive social learning theory. Rotter moved away from the strictly behaviorist learning of the past, and considered instead the holistic interaction between the individual and the environment. Essentially he was attempting an integration of behaviorism (which generated precise predictions but was limited in its ability to explain complex human interactions) and gestalt psychology (which did a better job of capturing complexity but was much less powerful at predicting actual behavioral choices). In his theory, the social environment and individual personality created probabilities of behavior, and the reinforcement of these behaviors led to learning. He emphasized the subjective nature of the responses and effectiveness of reinforcement types. While his theory used vocabulary common to that of behaviorism, the focus on internal functioning and traits differentiated his theories, and can be seen as a precursor to more cognitive approaches to learning.


title: Social learning theory

text: Rotter's theory is also known as expectancy-value theory due to its central explanatory constructs. Expectancy is defined as the individual's subjectively held probability that a given action will lead to a given outcome. It can range from zero to one, with one representing 100% confidence in the outcome. For example, a person may entertain a given level of belief that they can make a foul shot in basketball or that an additional hour of study will improve their grade on an examination. Reinforcement value is defined as the individual's subjective preference for a given outcome, assuming that all possible outcomes were equally available. In other words, the two variables are independent of each other. These two variables interact to generate behavior potential, or the likelihood that a given action will be performed. The nature of the interaction is not specified, though Rotter suggests that it is likely to be multiplicative. The basic predictive equation is:


title: Social learning theory

text: Although the equation is essentially conceptual, it is possible to enter numerical values if one is conducting an experiment. Rotter's 1954 book contains the results of many such experiments demonstrating this and other principles.


title: Social learning theory

text: Importantly, both expectancies and reinforcement values generalize. After many experiences ('learning trials,' in behaviorist language) a person will develop a generalized expectancy for success in a domain. For example, a person who has played several sports develops a generalized expectancy concerning how will they will do in an athletic setting. This is also termed freedom of movement. Generalized expectancies become increasingly stable as we accumulate experience, eventually taking on a trait-like consistency. Similarly, we generalize across related reinforcers, developing what Rotter termed need values. These needs (which resemble those described by Henry Murray) are another major determinant of behavior. Generalized expectancies and needs are the major personality variables in Rotter's theory. The influence of a generalized expectancy will be greatest when encountering novel, unfamiliar situations. As experience is gained, specific expectancies are developed regarding that situation. For example, a person's generalized expectancy for success in sports will have less influence on their actions in a sport with which they have long experience.


title: Social learning theory

text: Another conceptual equation in Rotter's theory proposes that the value of a given reinforcer is a function of the expectancy that it will lead to another reinforcing outcome and the value set upon that outcome. This is important because many social reinforcers are what behaviorists term secondary reinforcers - they have no intrinsic value, but have become linked with other, primary, reinforcers. For example, the value set on obtaining a high grade on an examination is dependent on how strongly that grade is linked (in the subjective belief system of the student) with other outcomes - which might include parental praise, graduation with honors, offers of more prestigious jobs upon graduation, etc. - and the extent to which those other outcomes are themselves valued.


title: Social learning theory

text: Rotter's social learning theory also generated many suggestions for clinical practice. Psychotherapy was largely conceptualized as expectancy modification and, to some extent, as values modification. This may be seen as an early form of cognitive-behavioral therapy.


title: Social learning theory

text: In 1959, Noam Chomsky published his criticism of Skinner's book "Verbal Behavior," an extension of Skinner's initial lectures. In his review, Chomsky stated that pure stimulus-response theories of behavior could not account for the process of language acquisition, an argument that contributed significantly to psychology's cognitive revolution. He theorized that "human beings are somehow specially designed to" understand and acquire language, ascribing a definite but unknown cognitive mechanism to it.


title: Social learning theory

text: Within this context, Albert Bandura studied learning processes that occurred in interpersonal contexts and were not, in his view, adequately explained either by theories of operant conditioning or by existing models of social learning. Specifically, Bandura argued that "the weaknesses of learning approaches that discount the influence of social variables are nowhere more clearly revealed than in their treatment of the acquisition of novel responses." Skinner's explanation of the acquisition of new responses relied on the process of successive approximation, which required multiple trials, reinforcement for components of behavior, and gradual change. Rotter's theory proposed that the likelihood of a behavior occurring was a function of the subjective expectancy and value of the reinforcement. This model did not (according to Bandura) account for a response that had not yet been learned - though this contention does not address the likelihood that generalization from related situations would produce behaviors in new ones. Bandura also argued that Miller and Dollard had essentially abandoned the hypothesis that imitation was an important form of learning based on the fact that the made little mention of it in their later book, "Personality and Psychotherapy" Dollard and Miller, 1950). In fact, that book was not a revision of their earlier work at all, but treated a wholly new subject - the attempted integration of Hullian behaviorism with Freudian psychoanalysis. In any case, Bandura began to conduct studies of the rapid acquisition of novel behaviors via social observation, the most famous of which were the Bobo doll experiments.


title: Social learning theory

text: Social Learning Theory integrated behavioral and cognitive theories of learning in order to provide a comprehensive model that could account for the wide range of learning experiences that occur in the real world. As initially outlined by Bandura and Walters in 1963, the theory was entirely behavioral in nature; the crucial element that made it innovative and increasingly influential was its emphasis upon the role of imitation. Over the years, however, Bandura shifted to a more cognitive perspective, and this led to a major revision of the theory in 1977. At this time, the key tenets of Social Learning Theory were stated as follows:


title: Social learning theory

text: Typical stimulus-response theories rely entirely upon direct experience (of the stimulus) to inform behavior. Bandura opens up the scope of learning mechanisms by introducing observation as a possibility. He adds to this the ability of modeling – a means by which humans "represent actual outcomes symbolically". These models, cognitively mediated, allow future consequences to have as much of an impact as actual consequences would in a typical S-R theory. An important factor in Social Learning Theory is the concept of reciprocal determinism. This notion states that just as an individual's behavior is influenced by the environment, the environment is also influenced by the individual's behavior. In other words, a person's behavior, environment, and personal qualities all reciprocally influence each other. For example, a child who plays violent video games will likely influence their peers to play as well, which then encourages the child to play more often.


title: Social learning theory

text: Social Learning Theory draws heavily on the concept of modeling as described above. Bandura outlined three types of modeling stimuli:


title: Social learning theory

text: Exactly what information is gleaned from observation is influenced by the type of model, as well as a series of cognitive and behavioral processes, including:


title: Social learning theory

text: Social Learning Theory has more recently applied alongside and been used to justify the theory of cultural intelligence. The cultural intelligence hypothesis argues that humans possess a set of specific behaviors and skills that allow them to exchange information culturally. This hinges on a model of human learning where social learning is key, and that humans have selected for traits that maximize opportunities for social learning. The theory builds on extant social theory by suggesting that social learning abilities, like Bandura's cognitive processes required for modeling, correlate with other forms of intelligence and learning. Experimental evidence has shown that humans overimitate behavior compared to chimpanzees, lending credence to the idea that we have selected for methods of social learning. Some academics have suggested that our ability to learn socially and culturally have led to our success as a species.


title: Social learning theory

text: Recent research in neuroscience has implicated mirror neurons as a neurophysiology basis for social learning, observational learning, motor cognition and social cognition. Mirror neurons have been heavily linked to social learning in humans. Mirror neurons were first discovered in primates in studies which involved teaching the monkey motor activity tasks. One such study, focused on teaching primates to crack nuts with a hammer. When the primate witnessed another individual cracking nuts with a hammer, the mirror neuron systems became activated as the primate learned to use the hammer to crack nuts. However, when the primate was not presented with a social learning opportunity, the mirror neuron systems did not activate and learning did not occur. Similar studies with humans also show similar evidence to the human mirror neuron system activating when observing another person perform a physical task. The activation of the mirror neuron system is thought to be critical for the understanding of goal directed behaviors and understanding their intention. Although still controversial, this provides a direct neurological link to understanding social cognition.


title: Social learning theory

text: Social learning theory has been used to explain the emergence and maintenance of deviant behavior, especially aggression. Criminologists Ronald Akers and Robert Burgess integrated the principles of social learning theory and operant conditioning with Edwin Sutherland's differential association theory to create a comprehensive theory of criminal behavior. Burgess and Akers emphasized that criminal behavior is learned in both social and nonsocial situations through combinations of direct reinforcement, vicarious reinforcement, explicit instruction, and observation. Both the probability of being exposed to certain behaviors and the nature of the reinforcement are dependent on group norms.


title: Social learning theory

text: In her book "Theories of Developmental Psychology", Patricia H. Miller lists both moral development and gender-role development as important areas of research within social learning theory. Social learning theorists emphasize observable behavior regarding the acquisition of these two skills. For gender-role development, the same-sex parent provides only one of many models from which the individual learns gender-roles. Social learning theory also emphasizes the variable nature of moral development due to the changing social circumstances of each decision: "The particular factors the child thinks are important vary from situation to situation, depending on variables such as which situational factors are operating, which causes are most salient, and what the child processes cognitively. Moral judgments involve a complex process of considering and weighing various criteria in a given social situation."


title: Social learning theory

text: For social learning theory, gender development has to do with the interactions of numerous social factors, involving all the interactions the individual encounters. For social learning theory, biological factors are important but take a back seat to the importance of learned, observable behavior. Because of the highly gendered society in which an individual might develop, individuals begin to distinguish people by gender even as infants. Bandura's account of gender allows for more than cognitive factors in predicting gendered behavior: for Bandura, motivational factors and a broad network of social influences determine if, when, and where gender knowledge is expressed.


title: Social learning theory

text: Social learning theory proposes that rewards aren't the sole force behind creating motivation. Thoughts, beliefs, morals, and feedback all help to motivate us. Three other ways in which we learn are vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. Modeling, or the scenario in which we see someone's behaviors and adopt them as our own, aide the learning process as well as mental states and the cognitive process.


title: Social learning theory

text: Principles of social learning theory have been applied extensively to the study of media violence. Akers and Burgess hypothesized that observed or experienced positive rewards and lack of punishment for aggressive behaviors reinforces aggression. Many research studies and meta-analyses have discovered significant correlations between viewing violent television and aggression later in life and many have not, as well as playing violent video games and aggressive behaviors. The role of observational learning has also been cited as an important factor in the rise of rating systems for TV, movies, and video games.


title: Social learning theory

text: Entertainment-education in the form of a telenovela or soap opera can help viewers learn socially desired behaviors in a positive way from models portrayed in these programs. The telenovela format allows the creators to incorporate elements that can bring a desired response. These elements may include music, actors, melodrama, props or costumes. Entertainment education is symbolic modeling and has a formula with three sets of characters with the cultural value that is to be examined is determined ahead of time:


title: Social learning theory

text: Within this formula there are at least three doubters that represent the demographic group within the target population. One of these doubters will accept the value less than halfway through, the second will accept the value two-thirds of the way through and the third doubter does not accept the value and is seriously punished. This doubter is usually killed. Positive social behaviors are reinforced with rewards and negative social behaviors are reinforced with punishment. At the end of the episode a short epilogue done by a recognizable figure summarizes the educational content and within the program viewers are given resources in their community.


title: Social learning theory

text: Through observational learning a model can bring forth new ways of thinking and behaving. With a modeled emotional experience, the observer shows an affinity toward people, places and objects. They dislike what the models do not like and like what the models care about. Television helps contribute to how viewers see their social reality. "Media representations gain influence because people's social constructions of reality depend heavily on what they see, hear and read rather than what they experience directly". Any effort to change beliefs must be directed toward the sociocultural norms and practices at the social system level. Before a drama is developed, extensive research is done through focus groups that represent the different sectors within a culture. Participants are asked what problems in society concern them most and what obstacles they face, giving creators of the drama culturally relevant information to incorporate into the show.


title: Social learning theory

text: The pioneer of entertainment-education is Miguel Sabido a creative writer/producer/director in the 1970s at the Mexican national television system, Televisa. Sabido spent 8 years working on a method that would create social change and is known as the Sabido Method. He credits Albert Bandura's social learning theory, the drama theory of Eric Bentley, Carl Jung's theory of archetypes, MacLean's triune brain theory and Sabido's own soap opera theory for influencing his method. Sabido's method has been used worldwide to address social issues such as national literacy, population growth and health concerns such as HIV.


title: Social learning theory

text: Another important application of social learning theory has been in the treatment and conceptualization of anxiety disorders. The classical conditioning approach to anxiety disorders, which spurred the development of behavioral therapy and is considered by some to be the first modern theory of anxiety, began to lose steam in the late 1970s as researchers began to question its underlying assumptions. For example, the classical conditioning approach holds that pathological fear and anxiety are developed through direct learning; however, many people with anxiety disorders cannot recall a traumatic conditioning event, in which the feared stimulus was experienced in close temporal and spatial contiguity with an intrinsically aversive stimulus.


title: Social learning theory

text: Social learning theory helped salvage learning approaches to anxiety disorders by providing additional mechanisms beyond classical conditioning that could account for the acquisition of fear. For example, social learning theory suggests that a child could acquire a fear of snakes by observing a family member express fear in response to snakes. Alternatively, the child could learn the associations between snakes and unpleasant bites through direct experience, without developing excessive fear, but could later learn from others that snakes can have deadly venom, leading to a re-evaluation of the dangerousness of snake bites, and accordingly, a more exaggerated fear response to snakes.


title: Social learning theory

text: Many classroom and teaching strategies draw on principles of social learning to enhance students' knowledge acquisition and retention. For example, using the technique of guided participation, a teacher says a phrase and asks the class to repeat the phrase. Thus, students both imitate and reproduce the teacher's action, aiding retention. An extension of guided participation is reciprocal learning, in which both student and teacher share responsibility in leading discussions. Additionally, teachers can shape the classroom behavior of students by modelling appropriate behavior and visibly rewarding students for good behavior. By emphasizing the teacher's role as model and encouraging the students to adopt the position of observer, the teacher can make knowledge and practices explicit to students, enhancing their learning outcomes.


title: Social learning theory

text: In modern field of computational intelligence, the social learning theory is adopted to develop a new computer optimization algorithm, the social learning algorithm. Emulating the observational learning and reinforcement behaviors, a virtual society deployed in the algorithm seeks the strongest behavioral patterns with the best outcome. This corresponds to searching for the best solution in solving optimization problems. Compared with other bio-inspired global optimization algorithms that mimic natural evolution or animal behaviors, the social learning algorithm has its prominent advantages. First, since the self-improvement through learning is more direct and rapid than the evolution process, the social learning algorithm can improve the efficiency of the algorithms mimicking natural evolution. Second, compared with the interaction and learning behaviors in animal groups, the social learning process of human beings exhibits a higher level of intelligence. By emulating human learning behaviors, it is possible to arrive at more effective optimizers than existing swarm intelligence algorithms. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of the social learning algorithm, which has in turn also verified through computer simulations the outcomes of the social learning behavior in human society.


title: Social learning theory

text: Another example is the social cognitive optimization, which is a population-based metaheuristic optimization algorithm. This algorithm is based on the social cognitive theory, simulating the process of individual learning of a set of agents with their own memory and their social learning with the knowledge in the social sharing library. It has been used for solving continuous optimization, integer programming, and combinatorial optimization problems.


title: Social learning theory

text: There also several mathematical models of social learning which try to model this phenomenon using probabilistic tools.


title: Montenegrin language

text: Montenegrin ( ; ) is a normative variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Montenegrins and is the official language of Montenegro. Montenegrin is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian, more specifically on Eastern Herzegovinian, which is also the basis of Standard Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian.


title: Montenegrin language

text: Montenegro's language has historically and traditionally been called either Serbian or Montenegrin. The idea of a standardized Montenegrin standard language separate from Serbian appeared in the 1990s during the breakup of Yugoslavia, through proponents of Montenegrin independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegrin became the official language of Montenegro with the ratification of a new constitution on 22 October 2007.


title: Montenegrin language

text: In January 2008, the government of Montenegro formed the Board (Council) for Standardization of the Montenegrin Language, which aims to standardize the Montenegrin language according to international norms. Proceeding documents will, after verification, become a part of the educational programme in Montenegrin schools.


title: Montenegrin language

text: The first Montenegrin standard was officially proposed in July 2009. In addition to the letters prescribed by the Serbo-Croatian standard, the proposal introduced two additional letters, and , to replace the digraphs and . The Ministry of Education has accepted neither of the two drafts of the Council for the Standardization of the Montenegrin language, but instead adopted an alternate third one which was not a part of their work. The Council has criticized this act, saying it comes from "a small group" and that it contains an abundance of "methodological, conceptual and linguistic errors".


title: Montenegrin language

text: The first written request for the assignment of an international code was submitted to the technical committee ISO 639 in July 2008, with complete paperwork forwarded to Washington in September 2015. After a long procedure, the request was finally approved on Friday, December 8, 2017 and ISO 639-2 and -3 code [cnr] was assigned to the Montenegrin language, effective December 21, 2017.


title: Montenegrin language

text: In the census of 1991, the vast majority of Montenegrin citizens, 510,320 or 82.97%, declared themselves speakers of the then-official language: Serbo-Croatian. The earlier 1981 population census had also recorded a Serbo-Croatian-speaking majority. However, in the first Communist censuses, the vast majority of the population declared Serbian to be their native language. Such had also been the case with the first recorded population census in Montenegro, in 1909, when approximately 95% of the population of the Principality of Montenegro claimed Serbian as their native language. According to the Constitution of Montenegro, the official language of the republic since 1992 has been Serbian of the Shtokavian (Ijekavian) standard.


title: Montenegrin language

text: After World War II and until 1992, the official language of Montenegro was Serbo-Croatian. Before that, in the previous Montenegrin realm, the language in use was called Serbian. Serbian was the officially used language in Communist Montenegro until after the 1950 Novi Sad Agreement, and Serbo-Croatian was introduced into the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro in 1974. Organizations promoting Montenegrin as a distinct language have appeared since 2004 when the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro regime introduced usage of the term. The new constitution, adopted on 19 October 2007, deemed Montenegrin to be the official language of Montenegro.


title: Montenegrin language

text: The most recent population census conducted in Montenegro was in 2011. According to it, 36.97% of the population (229,251) declared that their native language was Montenegrin, and 42.88% (265,895) declared it to be Serbian.


title: Montenegrin language

text: Mijat Šuković, a prominent Montenegrin lawyer, wrote a draft version of the constitution which passed the parliament's constitutional committee. Šuković suggested that Montenegrin be declared the official language of Montenegro. The Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe, had a generally positive attitude towards the draft of the constitution but did not address the language and church issues, calling them symbolic. The new constitution ratified on 19 October 2007 declared Montenegrin to be the official language of Montenegro, but also gave some recognition to Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian.


title: Montenegrin language

text: The ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro and Social Democratic Party of Montenegro stand for simply stating the country's official language to be Montenegrin, but this policy is opposed by the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro, the People's Party, the Democratic Serb Party, the Bosniak Party, and the Movement for Changes as well as by the Serb List coalition led by the Serb People's Party. A referendum was not needed, however, as a two-thirds majority of the parliament voted for the Constitution, including the ruling coalition, Movement for Changes, the Bosniaks, and the Liberals, while the pro-Serbian parties voted against it and the Albanian minority parties abstained from voting. The Constitution was ratified and adopted on 19 October 2007, recognizing Montenegrin as the official language of Montenegro.


title: Montenegrin language

text: According to a poll of 1,001 Montenegrin citizens conducted by Matica crnogorska in 2014, the linguistic demographics were:


title: Montenegrin language

text: According to an early 2017 poll, 42.6% of Montenegro's citizens have opted for Serbian as the name of their native language, while 37.9% for Montenegrin.


title: Montenegrin language

text: A declaration of Montenegrin as their native language is not confined to ethnic Montenegrins. According to the 2011 census, a proportion of other ethnic groups in Montenegro have also claimed Montenegrin to be their native language. Most openly, Matica Muslimanska called on Muslims living in Montenegro to name their native language as Montenegrin.


title: Montenegrin language

text: Montenegrins speak Shtokavian subdialects of Serbo-Croatian, some of which are shared with the neighbouring Slavic nations:


title: Montenegrin language

text: The proponents of the separate Montenegrin language prefer using Gaj's Latin alphabet over the Serbian Cyrillic. In both scripts, the Montenegrin alphabets have two additional letters (bold), which are easier to render in digital typography in the Latin alphabet due to their existence in Polish, but which must be created "ad hoc" using combining characters when typesetting Cyrillic.


title: Montenegrin language

text: Many literary works of authors from Montenegro provide examples of the local Montenegrin vernacular. The medieval literature was mostly written in Old Church Slavonic and its recensions, but most of the 19th century works were written in some of the dialects of Montenegro. They include the folk literature collected by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and other authors, as well as the books of writers from Montenegro such as Petar Petrović Njegoš's "The Mountain Wreath" ("Gorski vijenac"), Marko Miljanov's "The Examples of Humanity and Bravery" ("Primjeri čojstva i junaštva"), etc. In the second half of the 19th century and later, the Eastern Herzegovinian dialect, which served as a basis for the standard Serbo-Croatian language, was often used instead of the Zeta–South Raška dialect characteristic of most dialects of Montenegro. Petar Petrović Njegoš, one of the most respectable Montenegrin authors, changed many characteristics of the Zeta–South Raška dialect from the manuscript of his "Gorski vijenac" to those proposed by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić as a standard for the Serbian language.


title: Montenegrin language

text: For example, most of the accusatives of place used in the Zeta–South Raška dialect were changed by Njegoš to the locatives used in the Serbian standard. Thus the stanzas ""U dobro je lako dobar biti, / na muku se poznaju junaci"" from the manuscript were changed to ""U dobru je lako dobar biti, / na muci se poznaju junaci"" in the printed version. Other works of later Montenegrin authors were also often modified to the East Herzegovinian forms in order to follow the Serbian language literary norm. However, some characteristics of the traditional Montenegrin Zeta–South Raška dialect sometimes appeared. For example, the poem "Onamo namo" by Nikola I Petrović Njegoš, although it was written in the East Herzegovinian Serbian standard, contains several Zeta–South Raška forms: ""Onamo namo, za brda ona"" (accusative, instead of instrumental case "za brdima onim"), and ""Onamo namo, da viđu" (instead of "vidim") "Prizren"", and so on.


title: Montenegrin language

text: Most mainstream politicians and other proponents of the Montenegrin language state that the issue is chiefly one of self-determination and the people's right to call the language what they want, rather than an attempt to artificially create a new language when there is none. The Declaration of the Montenegrin PEN Center states that the ""Montenegrin language does not mean a systemically separate language, but just one of four names (Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) by which Montenegrins name their part of [the] Shtokavian system, commonly inherited with Muslims, Serbs and Croats"". Therefore, in 2017, numerous prominent writers, scientists, journalists, activists and other public figures from Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia signed the Declaration on the Common Language, which states that in Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina a common polycentric standard language is used, consisting of several standard varieties, such as German, English or Spanish.


title: Montenegrin language

text: The introduction of the Montenegrin language has been supported by other important academic institutions such as the Matica crnogorska, although meeting opposition from the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts. Some proponents go further. The chief proponent of Montenegrin was Zagreb-educated Dr. Vojislav Nikčević, professor at the Department of Language and Literature at the University of Montenegro and the head of the Institute for Montenegrin Language in the capital Podgorica. His dictionaries and grammars were printed by Croatian publishers since the major Montenegrin publishing houses such as Obod in Cetinje opted for the official nomenclature specified in the Constitution (Serbian until 1974, Serbo-Croatian to 1992, Serbian until 2007). Nikčević advocates amending the Latin alphabet with three letters Ś, Ź, and З and corresponding Cyrillic letters С́, З́ and Ѕ (representing IPA , and respectively).


title: Montenegrin language

text: Opponents acknowledge that these sounds can be heard by many Montenegrin speakers, however, they do not form a language system and thus are allophones rather than phonemes. In addition, there are speakers in Montenegro who do not utter them and speakers of Serbian and Croatian outside of Montenegro (notably in Herzegovina and Bosanska Krajina) who do. In addition, introduction of those letters could pose significant technical difficulties (the Eastern European character encoding ISO/IEC 8859-2 does not contain the letter З, for example, and the corresponding letters were not proposed for Cyrillic).


title: Montenegrin language

text: Prime minister Milo Đukanović declared his open support for the formalization of the Montenegrin language by declaring himself as a speaker of Montenegrin in an October 2004 interview with Belgrade daily "Politika". Official Montenegrin government communiqués are given in "English and Montenegrin" on the government's webpage.


title: Montenegrin language

text: In 2004, the government of Montenegro changed the school curriculum so that the name of the mandatory classes teaching the language was changed from "Serbian language" to "Mother tongue (Serbian, Montenegrin, Croatian, Bosnian)". This change was made, according to the government, in order to better reflect the diversity of languages spoken among citizens in the republic and to protect human rights of non-Serb citizens in Montenegro who declare themselves as speakers of other languages.


title: Montenegrin language

text: This decision resulted in a number of teachers declaring a strike and parents refusing to send their children to schools. The cities affected by the strike included Nikšić, Podgorica, Berane, Pljevlja and Herceg Novi.


title: Montenegrin language

text: The new letters had been used for official documents since 2009 but in February 2017, the Assembly of Montenegro removed them from the official webpage.


title: Montenegrin language

text: Article 1 of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" in Montenegrin, written in the Latin alphabet:


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The study of the history of clothing and textiles traces the development, use, and availability of clothing and textiles over human history. Clothing and textiles reflect the materials and technologies available in different civilizations at different times. The variety and distribution of clothing and textiles within a society reveal social customs and culture.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. There has always been some disagreement among scientists on when humans began wearing clothes, but studies involving the evolution of body lice suggest it started sometime around 170,000 years ago. Anthropologists believe that animal skins and vegetation were adapted into coverings as protection from cold, heat, and rain, especially as humans migrated to new climates.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Textile history is almost as old as human civilization, and as time has passed, the history of textile has been more enriched. Silk weaving was introduced to India circa 400 AD, whereas cotton spinning dates back to 3000 BCE in India.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Textiles can be felt or spun fibers made into yarn and subsequently netted, looped, knit or woven to make fabrics, which appeared in the Middle East during the late Stone Age. From ancient times to the present day, methods of textile production have continually evolved, and the choices of textiles available have influenced how people carried their possessions, clothed themselves, and decorated their surroundings.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Sources available for the study of clothing and textiles include material remains discovered via archaeology; representation of textiles and their manufacture in art; and documents concerning the manufacture, acquisition, use, and trade of fabrics, tools, and finished garments. Scholarship of textile history, especially its earlier stages, is part of material culture studies.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The development of textile and clothing in prehistory has been the subject of a number of scholarly studies since the late 20th century. These sources have helped to provide a coherent history of these prehistoric developments. Nonetheless, scientists have never agreed on when humans began wearing clothes and the estimates suggested by various experts have ranged greatly, from 40,000 to 3 million years ago.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Recent studies by Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser and Mark Stoneking—anthropologists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology—have attempted to constrain the most recent date of the introduction of clothing with an indirect method relying on lice. The rationale for this method of dating stems from the fact that the human body louse ("P. humanus corporus") cannot live outside of clothing, dying after only a few hours without shelter. This strongly implies that the date of the body louse's speciation from its parent, the human louse ("Pediculus humanus"), can have taken place no earlier than the earliest human adoption of clothing. This date, at which the body louse diverged from both its parent species and its sibling subspecies, the head louse ("P. humanus capitus"), can be determined by the number of mutations each has developed during the intervening time. Such mutations occur at a known rate and the date of last-common-ancestor for two species can therefore be estimated from the difference in number of their respective mutations. These studies have produced dates ranging from 40,000 to 170,000 years ago, with a greatest likelihood of speciation lying at about 107,000 years ago.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Kittler, Kayser and Stoneking suggest that the invention of clothing may have coincided with the northward migration of modern "Homo sapiens" away from the warm climate of Africa, which is thought to have begun between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago. A second group of researchers, also relying on the genetic clock, estimate that clothing originated between 30,000 and 114,000 years ago. It is important to note that some of these estimates predate the first known human exodus from Africa. However, other Hominidae species, now extinct, may have also worn clothes and appear to have migrated earlier. It follows that the lice which presently infest human clothing may have first been acquired by "Homo sapiens" in colder climates from the bodies or discarded clothing of these cousin hominins.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Dating with direct archeological evidence produces dates consistent with those hinted at by lice. In September 2021, scientists reported evidence of clothes being made from 90,000 to 120,000 years ago based on findings in deposits in Morocco. However, despite these archaeological indications and genetic evidence, there is no single estimate that is widely accepted.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Cave paintings and pictorial evidence suggest the existence of dress in the Paleolithic period, around 30,000 years ago, though these were skin drapes. Textile clothing came to notice around 27,000 years ago, while actual textile fragments from 7000 B.C. have been discovered by archeologists.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Sewing needles have been dated to at least 50,000 years ago (Denisova Cave, Siberia)—and are likely to have been made by "H. Denisova/H. Altai", about 10,000 years before the arrival of Neanderthal and human groups in the cave. The oldest possible example is 60,000 years ago, a needlepoint (missing stem and eye) found in Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Other early examples of needles dating from 41,000 to 15,000 years ago are found in multiple locations, e.g. Slovenia, Russia, China, Spain, and France.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The earliest dyed flax fibers have been found in a prehistoric cave in Georgia and date back to 36,000.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The 25,000-year-old Venus Figurine "Venus of Lespugue", found in southern France in the Pyrenees, depicts a cloth or twisted fiber skirt. Some other Western Europe figurines were adorned with basket hats or caps, belts were worn at the waist, and a strap of cloth wrapped around the body right above the breast. Eastern European figurines wore belts, hung low on the hips and sometimes string skirts. However, according to archeologists James M. Adovasio, Soffer and Hyland, the garments are more likely ritual wear, real or imagined, which served as a signifier of distinct social categories.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Archaeologists have discovered artifacts from the same period that appear to have been used in the textile arts: net gauges from 5000 B.C., spindle needles, and weaving sticks.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Knowledge of ancient textiles and clothing has expanded in the recent past due to modern technological developments. The first actual textile, as opposed to skins sewn together, was probably felt. The first known textile of South America was discovered in Guitarrero Cave in Peru. It was woven out of vegetable fiber and dates back to 8,000 B.C.E. Surviving examples of Nålebinding, another early textile method, have been found in Israel, and date from 6500 B.C.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: From prehistory through the early Middle Ages, for most of Europe, the Near East and North Africa, two main types of loom dominated textile production. These are the warp-weighted loom and the two-beam loom. The length of the beam determined the width of the cloth woven upon the loom, and could be as wide as 2–3 meters. Early woven clothing was often made of full loom widths draped, tied, or pinned in place.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Knowledge of cultures varies greatly with the climatic conditions to which archeological deposits are exposed; the Middle East, South America and the arid fringes of China have provided many very early samples in good condition, along with textile impressions in clay, and graphic portrayals. In northern Eurasia, peat bogs, rock salt mines, oak coffins, and permafrost also preserved textiles, with whole Neolithic garments surviving, Some of the most famous are those associated with Ötzi ("the Iceman"), along with artifacts associated with textile production. Early development of textiles in the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa and other moist parts of the world remains unclear.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Throughout the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, the fertile grounds of the Eurasian Steppe provided a setting for a network of nomadic communities to develop and interact. The Steppe Route has always connected regions of the Asian continent with trade and transmission of culture, including clothing.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Around 114 B.C., the Han dynasty, initiated the Silk Road trade route. Geographically, the Silk Road or Silk Route is an interconnected series of ancient trade routes between Chang'an (today's Xi'an) in China, with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean extending over on land and sea. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world. The exchange of luxury textiles was predominant on the Silk Road, which linked traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The earliest known woven textiles of the Near East may be flax fabrics used to wrap the dead; these were excavated at a Neolithic site at Çatalhöyük in Anatolia. Carbonized, and "protected by several layers of clay/plaster, in an anaerobic milieu... They were 'baked', or 'steam cooked'" in a fire, and are radiocarbon dated to c. 6000 BC. Evidence exists of flax cultivation from c. 8000 BC in the Near East, but the breeding of sheep with a wooly fleece rather than hair occurs much later, c. 3000 BC. Well preserved linen textiles were found in the Cave of the Warrior and are dating around 3200 BC.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: In Mesopotamia, the clothing of a regular Sumerian was very simple, especially in summer. In the winter, clothes were made of sheep fur. Even wealthy men were depicted with naked torsos, wearing only short skirts, known as "kaunakes", while women wore long dresses to their ankles. The king wore a tunic, and a coat that reached to his knees, with a belt in the middle. Over time, the development of the craft of wool weaving in Mesopotamia led to a great variety in clothing. Thus, towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC and later men wore tunics with short sleeves and even over the knees, with a belt (over which the rich wore a wool cloak). Women's dresses featured more varied designs: with or without sleeves, narrow or wide, usually long and without highlighting the body


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Excavations of Indus Valley civilization sites to date have yielded a few twisted cotton threads, in the context of a connecting cord for a bead necklace. However, terracotta figurines uncovered at Mehrgarh show a male figure wearing what is commonly interpreted to be a turban. A figurine, from the site of Mohenjo-daro, and labeled the "Priest King," depicts the wearing of a shawl with floral patterns. So far, this is the only sculpture from the Indus Valley to show clothing in such explicit detail. Other sculptures of Dancing Girls, excavated from Mohenjo-daro, only show the wearing of bangles and other jewelry. However, the figurines do not provide any concrete proof to legitimize the history of clothing in the Harappan times.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Harappans may have used natural colors to dye their fabric. Research shows that the cultivation of indigo plants (genus: Indigofera) was prevalent.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, mentions Indian cotton in the 5th century BCE as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep." When Alexander the Great invaded India, in 327 BCE, his troops started wearing cotton clothes that were more comfortable than their previous woolen ones. Strabo, another Greek historian, mentioned the vividness of Indian fabrics, and Arrian told of Indian–Arab trade of cotton fabrics in 130 CE.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Evidence exists for production of linen cloth in Ancient Egypt in the Neolithic period, c. 5500 BC. Cultivation of domesticated wild flax, probably an import from the Levant, is documented as early as c. 6000 BC. Other bast fibers including rush, reed, palm, and papyrus were used alone or with linen to make rope and other textiles. Evidence for wool production in Egypt is scanty at this period.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Spinning techniques included the drop spindle, hand-to-hand spinning, and rolling on the thigh; yarn was also spliced. A horizontal ground loom was used prior to the New Kingdom, when a vertical two-beam loom was introduced, probably from Asia.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Linen bandages were used in the burial custom of mummification, and art depicts Egyptian men wearing linen kilts and women in narrow dresses with various forms of shirts and jackets, often of sheer pleated fabric.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The earliest evidence of silk production in China was found at the sites of Yangshao culture in Xia, Shanxi, where a cocoon of bombyx mori, the domesticated silkworm, cut in half by a sharp knife is dated to between 5000 and 3000 BC. Fragments of primitive looms are also seen from the sites of Hemudu culture in Yuyao, Zhejiang, dated to about 4000 BC. Scraps of silk were found in a Liangzhu culture site at Qianshanyang in Huzhou, Zhejiang, dating back to 2700 BC. Other fragments have been recovered from royal tombs in the [Shang Dynasty] (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC).


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Under the Shang Dynasty, Han Chinese clothing or Hanfu consisted of a "yi", a narrow-cuffed, knee-length tunic tied with a sash, and a narrow, ankle-length skirt, called "shang", worn with a "bixi", a length of fabric that reached the knees. Clothing of the elite was made of silk in vivid primary colours.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The earliest evidence of spinning in Thailand can be found at the archaeological site of Tha Kae located in Central Thailand. Tha Kae was inhabited during the end of the first millennium BC to the late first millennium AD. Here, archaeologists discovered 90 fragments of a spindle whorl dated from 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD. And the shape of these finds indicate the connections with south China and India.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The earliest textiles found in South America date back to an estimated 12,000 years ago. These woven textiles were excavated from the Guitarrero Cave in Peru. It is assumed that they were being used by settlers for a variety of creations like baskets and wall coverings. Contrary to the assumptions that these early raids in the Andes mountains were executed exclusively by men, Edward A. Jolie's research indicates that women must have been among these settlers as well. His reason for believing so is the general cultural connection of textile weaving being produced by women.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The earliest evidence of weaving in Japan is associated with the Jōmon period. This culture is defined by pottery decorated with cord patterns. In a shell mound in the Miyagi Prefecture, dating back about 5,500, some cloth fragments made from bark fibers were discovered. Hemp fibers were also discovered in the Torihama shell mound, Fukui Prefecture, dating back to the Jōmon period, suggesting that these plants could also have been used for clothing. Some pottery pattern imprints depict also fine mat designs, proving their weaving techniques. The patterns on the Jōmon pottery show people wearing short upper garments, close-fitting trousers, funnel-sleeves, and rope-like belts. The depictions also show clothing with patterns that are embroidered or painted arched designs, though it is not apparent whether this indicates what the clothes look like or whether that simply happens to be the style of representation used. The pottery also shows no distinction between male and female garments. This may have been true because during that time period clothing was more for decoration than social distinction, but it might also just be because of the representation on the pottery rather than how people actually dressed at the time. Since bone needles were also found, it is assumed that they wore dresses that were sewn together.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Next was the Yayoi period, during which rice cultivation was developed. This led to a shift from hunter-gatherer communities to agrarian societies which had a large impact on clothing. According to Chinese literature from that time period, clothing more appropriate to agriculture began to be worn. For example, an unsewn length of fabric wrapped around the body, or a poncho-type garment with a head-hole cut into it. This same literature also indicates that pink or scarlet makeup was worn but also that mannerisms between people of all ages and genders were not very different. However, this is debatable as there were probably cultural prejudices in the Chinese document. There is a common Japanese belief that the Yayoi time period was quite utopian before Chinese influence began to promote the use of clothing to indicate age and gender.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: From 300 to 550 AD was the Yamato period, and here much of the clothing style can be derived from the artifacts of the time. The tomb statues (haniwa) especially tell us that the clothing style changed from the ones according to the Chinese accounts from the previous age. The statues are usually wearing a two piece outfit that has an upper piece with a front opening and close-cut sleeves with loose trousers for men and a pleated skirt for women. Silk farming had been introduced by the Chinese by this time period but due to silk's cost it would only be used by people of certain classes or ranks.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The following periods were the Asuka (550 to 646 AD) and Nara (646 to 794 AD) when Japan developed a more unified government and began to use Chinese laws and social rankings. These new laws required people to wear different styles and colors to indicate social status. Clothing became longer and wider in general and sewing methods were more advanced.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The classical Filipino clothing varied according to cost and current fashions and so indicated social standing. The basic garments were the bahag and the tube skirt—what the Maranao call malong—or a light blanket wrapped around instead. But more prestigious clothes, lihin-lihin, were added for public appearances and especially on formal occasions—blouses and tunics, loose smocks with sleeves, capes, or ankle-length robes. The textiles of which they were made were similarly varied. In ascending order of value, they were abaca, abaca decorated with colored cotton thread, cotton, cotton decorated with silk thread, silk, imported printstuff, and an elegant abaca woven of selected fibers almost as thin as silk. In addition, Pigafetta mentioned both G-strings and skirts of bark cloth.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Untailored clothes, however had no particular names. "Pandong", a lady's cloak, simply meant any natural covering, like the growth on banana trunk's or a natal caul. In Panay, the word "kurong", meaning curly hair, was applied to any short skirt or blouse; and some better ones made of imported chintz or calico were simply called by the name of the cloth itself, tabas. So, too, the wraparound skirt the Tagalogs called tapis was hardly considered a skirt at all: Visayans just called it habul (woven stuff) or halong (abaca) or even hulun (sash).


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: The usual male headdress was the pudong, a turban, though in Panay both men and women also wore a head cloth or bandana called "saplung". Commoners wore pudong of rough abaca cloth wrapped around only a few turns so that it was more of a headband than a turban and was therefore called "pudong-pudong—as" the crowns and diadems on Christian images were later called. A red "pudong" was called magalong, and was the insignia of braves who had killed an enemy. The most prestigious kind of "pudong", limited to the most valiant, was, like their G-strings, made of pinayusan, a gauze-thin abaca of fibers selected for their whiteness, tie-dyed a deep scarlet in patterns as fine as embroidery, and burnished to a silky sheen. Such pudong were lengthened with each additional feat of valor: real heroes therefore let one end hang loose with affected carelessness.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Women generally wore a kerchief, called tubatub if it was pulled tight over the whole head; but they also had a broad-brimmed hat called sayap or tarindak, woven of sago-palm leaves. Some were evidently signs of rank: when Humabon's queen went to hear mass during Magellan's visit, she was preceded by three girls carrying one of her hats. A headdress from Cebu with a deep crown, used by both sexes for travel on foot or by boat, was called "sarok", which actually meant to go for water.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Fabric in Ancient Greece was woven on a warp-weighted loom. The first extant image of [weaving] https://www.britannica.com/technology/weaving in western art is from a terracotta lekythos in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. The vase, c. 550-530 B.C.E., depicts two women weaving at an upright loom. The warp threads, which run vertically to a bar at the top, are tied together with weights at the bottom, which hold them taut. The woman on the right runs the shuttle containing the weaving thread across the middle of the warp. The woman on the left uses a beater to consolidate the already-woven threads.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Dress in classical antiquity favored wide, unsewn lengths of fabric, pinned and draped to the body in various ways.


title: History of clothing and textiles

text: Ancient Greek clothing consisted of lengths of wool or linen, generally rectangular and secured at the shoulders with ornamented pins called fibulae and belted with a sash. Typical garments were the peplos, a loose robe worn by women; the chlamys, a cloak worn by men; and the chiton, a tunic worn by both men and women. Men's chitons hung to the knees, whereas women's chitons fell to their ankles. A long cloak called a himation was worn over the peplos or chlamys.