title: Causes of autism

text: The fetal testosterone theory hypothesizes that higher levels of testosterone in the amniotic fluid of mothers pushes brain development towards improved ability to see patterns and analyze complex systems while diminishing communication and empathy, emphasizing "male" traits over "female", or in E-S theory terminology, emphasizing "systemizing" over "empathizing". One project has published several reports suggesting that high levels of fetal testosterone could produce behaviors relevant to those seen in autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: Based in part on animal studies, diagnostic ultrasounds administered during pregnancy have been hypothesized to increase the child's risk of autism. This hypothesis is not supported by independently published research, and examination of children whose mothers received an ultrasound has failed to find evidence of harmful effects.


title: Causes of autism

text: Some research suggests that maternal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of autism, but it remains unclear whether there is a causal link between the two. There is evidence, for example, that this association may be an artifact of confounding by maternal mental illness.


title: Causes of autism

text: Autism is associated with some perinatal and obstetric conditions. A 2007 review of risk factors found associated obstetric conditions that included low birth weight and gestation duration, and hypoxia during childbirth. This association does not demonstrate a causal relationship. As a result, an underlying cause could explain both autism and these associated conditions. There is growing evidence that perinatal exposure to air pollution may be a risk factor for autism, although this evidence has methodological limitations, including a small number of studies and failure to control for potential confounding factors.


title: Causes of autism

text: A wide variety of postnatal contributors to autism have been proposed, including gastrointestinal or immune system abnormalities, allergies, and exposure of children to drugs, infection, certain foods, or heavy metals. The evidence for these risk factors is anecdotal and has not been confirmed by reliable studies.


title: Causes of autism

text: Paracetamol has been suggested as a possible risk factor for autism. A study has found that male children exposed to Paracetamol before the age of 2 years old are associated with being at risk for being diagnosed with ASD.


title: Causes of autism

text: This theory hypothesizes that an early developmental failure involving the amygdala cascades on the development of cortical areas that mediate social perception in the visual domain. The fusiform face area of the ventral stream is implicated. The idea is that it is involved in social knowledge and social cognition, and that the deficits in this network are instrumental in causing autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: This theory hypothesizes that autoantibodies that target the brain or elements of brain metabolism may cause or exacerbate autism. It is related to the maternal infection theory, except that it postulates that the effect is caused by the individual's own antibodies, possibly due to an environmental trigger after birth. It is also related to several other hypothesized causes; for example, viral infection has been hypothesized to cause autism via an autoimmune mechanism.


title: Causes of autism

text: Interactions between the immune system and the nervous system begin early during embryogenesis, and successful neurodevelopment depends on a balanced immune response. It is possible that aberrant immune activity during critical periods of neurodevelopment is part of the mechanism of some forms of ASD. A small percentage of autism cases are associated with infection, usually before birth. Results from immune studies have been contradictory. Some abnormalities have been found in specific subgroups, and some of these have been replicated. It is not known whether these abnormalities are relevant to the pathology of autism, for example, by infection or autoimmunity, or whether they are secondary to the disease processes. As autoantibodies are found in diseases other than ASD, and are not always present in ASD, the relationship between immune disturbances and autism remains unclear and controversial. A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis found that children with a family history of autoimmune diseases were at a greater risk of autism compared to children without such a history.


title: Causes of autism

text: When an underlying maternal autoimmune disease is present, antibodies circulating to the fetus could contribute to the development of autism spectrum disorders.


title: Causes of autism

text: Gastrointestinal problems are one of the most commonly associated medical disorders in people with autism. These are linked to greater social impairment, irritability, behavior and sleep problems, language impairments and mood changes, so the theory that they are an overlap syndrome has been postulated. Studies indicate that gastrointestinal inflammation, food allergies, gluten-related disorders (celiac disease, wheat allergy, non-celiac gluten sensitivity), visceral hypersensitivity, dysautonomia and gastroesophageal reflux are the mechanisms that possibly link both.


title: Causes of autism

text: A 2016 review concludes that enteric nervous system abnormalities might play a role in several neurological disorders, including autism. Neural connections and the immune system are a pathway that may allow diseases originated in the intestine to spread to the brain. A 2018 review suggests that the frequent association of gastrointestinal disorders and autism is due to abnormalities of the gut–brain axis.


title: Causes of autism

text: The "leaky gut syndrome" hypothesis developed by Andrew Wakefield, known for his fraudulent study on another cause of autism, is popular among parents of children with autism. It is based on the idea that defects in the intestinal barrier produce an excessive increase in intestinal permeability, allowing substances present in the intestine (including bacteria, environmental toxins, and food antigens) to pass into the blood. The data supporting this theory are limited and contradictory, since both increased intestinal permeability and normal permeability have been documented in people with autism. Studies with mice provide some support to this theory and suggest the importance of intestinal flora, demonstrating that the normalization of the intestinal barrier was associated with an improvement in some of the ASD-like behaviours. Studies on subgroups of people with ASD showed the presence of high plasma levels of zonulin, a protein that regulates permeability opening the "pores" of the intestinal wall, as well as intestinal dysbiosis (reduced levels of "Bifidobacteria" and increased abundance of "Akkermansia muciniphila", "Escherichia coli", "Clostridia" and "Candida" fungi that promote the production of proinflammatory cytokines, all of which produces excessive intestinal permeability. This allows passage of bacterial endotoxins from the gut into the bloodstream, stimulating liver cells to secrete tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), which modulates blood–brain barrier permeability. Studies on ASD people showed that TNFα cascades produce proinflammatory cytokines, leading to peripheral inflammation and activation of microglia in the brain, which indicates neuroinflammation. In addition, neuroactive opioid peptides from digested foods have been shown to leak into the bloodstream and permeate the blood–brain barrier, influencing neural cells and causing autistic symptoms. (See Endogenous opiate precursor theory)


title: Causes of autism

text: After a preliminary 1998 study of three children with ASD treated with secretin infusion reported improved GI function and dramatic improvement in behavior, many parents sought secretin treatment and a black market for the hormone developed quickly. Later studies found secretin clearly ineffective in treating autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: In 1979, Jaak Panksepp proposed a connection between autism and opiates, noting that injections of minute quantities of opiates in young laboratory animals induce symptoms similar to those observed among autistic children. The possibility of a relationship between autism and the consumption of gluten and casein was first articulated by Kalle Reichelt in 1991.


title: Causes of autism

text: Opiate theory hypothesizes that autism is the result of a metabolic disorder in which opioid peptides gliadorphin (aka gluteomorphin) and casomorphin, produced through metabolism of gluten (present in wheat and related cereals) and casein (present in dairy products), pass through an abnormally permeable intestinal wall and then proceed to exert an effect on neurotransmission through binding with opioid receptors. It has been postulated that the resulting excess of opioids affects brain maturation, and causes autistic symptoms, including behavioural difficulties, attention problems, and alterations in communicative capacity and social and cognitive functioning.


title: Causes of autism

text: Although high levels of these opioids are eliminated in the urine, it has been suggested that a small part of them cross into the brain causing interference of signal transmission and disruption of normal activity. Three studies have reported that urine samples of people with autism show an increased 24-hour peptide excretion. A study with a control group found no appreciable differences in opioid levels in urine samples of people with autism compared to controls. Two studies showed an increased opioid levels in cerebrospinal fluid of people with autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: The theory further states that removing opiate precursors from a child's diet may allow time for these behaviors to cease, and neurological development in very young children to resume normally. As of 2014 there is no good evidence that a gluten-free diet is of benefit as a standard treatment for autism. Problems observed in studies carried out include the suspicion that there were transgressions of the diet because the participants asked for food containing gluten or casein to siblings and peers; and the lack of a washout period, that could diminish the effectiveness of the treatment if gluten or casein peptides have a long term residual effect, which is especially relevant in studies of short duration. In the subset of people who have gluten sensitivity there is limited evidence that suggests that a gluten-free diet may improve some autistic behaviors.


title: Causes of autism

text: The hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency has a role in autism is biologically plausible, but not researched. Vitamin D deficiency is found more often in children with autism than in children who are considered to be healthy.


title: Causes of autism

text: Lead poisoning has been suggested as a possible risk factor for autism, as the lead blood levels of autistic children has been reported to be significantly higher than typical.


title: Causes of autism

text: The atypical eating behaviors of autistic children, along with habitual mouthing and pica, make it hard to determine whether increased lead levels are a cause or a consequence of autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: This theory hypothesizes that autistic behaviors depend at least in part on a developmental dysregulation that results in impaired function of the locus coeruleus–noradrenergic (LC-NA) system. The LC-NA system is heavily involved in arousal and attention; for example, it is related to the brain's acquisition and use of environmental cues.


title: Causes of autism

text: This theory hypothesizes that autism is associated with mercury poisoning, based on perceived similarity of symptoms and reports of mercury or its biomarkers in some autistic children. This view has gained little traction in the scientific community as the typical symptoms of mercury toxicity are significantly different from symptoms seen in autism. The principal source of human exposure to organic mercury is via fish consumption and for inorganic mercury is dental amalgams. The evidence so far is indirect for the association between autism and mercury exposure after birth, as no direct test has been reported, and there is no evidence of an association between autism and postnatal exposure to any neurotoxicant. A meta-analysis published in 2007 concluded that there was no link between mercury and autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: Oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage and disruptions of DNA repair have been postulated to play a role in the aetiopathology of both ASD and schizophrenia. This theory hypothesizes that toxicity and oxidative stress may cause autism in some cases. Evidence includes genetic effects on metabolic pathways, reduced antioxidant capacity, enzyme changes, and enhanced biomarkers for oxidative stress; however, the overall evidence is weaker than it is for involvement oxidative stress with disorders such as schizophrenia. One theory is that stress damages Purkinje cells in the cerebellum after birth, and it is possible that glutathione is involved. Autistic children have lower levels of total glutathione, and higher levels of oxidized glutathione. Based on this theory, antioxidants may be a useful treatment for autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: The social construct theory says that the boundary between normal and abnormal is subjective and arbitrary, so autism does not exist as an objective entity, but only as a social construct. It further argues that autistic individuals themselves have a way of being that is partly socially constructed.


title: Causes of autism

text: Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism are particular targets of the theory that social factors determine what it means to be autistic. The theory hypothesizes that individuals with these diagnoses inhabit the identities that have been ascribed to them, and promote their sense of well-being by resisting or appropriating autistic ascriptions.


title: Causes of autism

text: Lynn Waterhouse suggests that autism has been reified, in that social processes have endowed it with more reality than is justified by the scientific evidence.


title: Causes of autism

text: Many studies have presented evidence for and against association of autism with viral infection after birth. Laboratory rats infected with Borna disease virus show some symptoms similar to those of autism but blood studies of autistic children show no evidence of infection by this virus. Members of the herpes virus family may have a role in autism, but the evidence so far is anecdotal. Viruses have long been suspected as triggers for immune-mediated diseases such as multiple sclerosis but showing a direct role for viral causation is difficult in those diseases, and mechanisms, whereby viral infections could lead to autism, are speculative.


title: Causes of autism

text: Research exploring the evolutionary benefits of autism and associated genes has suggested that autistic people may have played a "unique role in technological spheres and understanding of natural systems" in the course of human development. It has been suggested that it may have arisen as "a slight trade off for other traits that are seen as highly advantageous", providing "advantages in tool making and mechanical thinking", with speculation that the condition may "reveal itself to be the result of a balanced polymorphism, like sickle cell anemia, that is advantageous in a certain mixture of genes and disadvantageous in specific combinations".


title: Causes of autism

text: In 2011, a paper in "Evolutionary Psychology" proposed that autistic traits, including increased abilities for spatial intelligence, concentration and memory, could have been naturally selected to enable self-sufficient foraging in a more solitary environment, referred to as the "Solitary Forager Hypothesis". However, the author notes that such individuals "were probably not completely solitary; rather, they may have done much of their foraging alone and reconvened intermittently with familiar individuals." A 2016 paper examines Asperger syndrome as "an alternative pro-social adaptive strategy" which may have developed as a result of the emergence of "collaborative morality" in the context of small-scale hunter-gathering, i.e. where "a positive social reputation for making a contribution to group wellbeing and survival" becomes more important than complex social understanding. The authors further suggest that "mutual interdependence of different social strategies" may have "contributed to the rise of innovation and large scale social networks".


title: Causes of autism

text: Conversely, some multidisciplinary research suggests that recent human evolution may be a driving force in the rise of a number of medical conditions in recent human populations, including autism. Studies in evolutionary medicine indicate that as biological evolution becomes outpaced by cultural evolution, disorders linked to bodily dysfunction increase in prevalence due to a lack of contact with pathogens and negative environmental conditions that once widely affected ancestral populations. Because natural selection primarily favors reproduction over health and longevity, the lack of this impetus to adapt to certain harmful circumstances creates a tendency for genes in descendant populations to over-express themselves, which may cause a wide array of maladies, ranging from mental illnesses to autoimmune disorders.


title: Causes of autism

text: Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim believed that autism was linked to early childhood trauma, and his work was highly influential for decades both in the medical and popular spheres. In his discredited theory, he blamed the mothers of individuals with autism for having caused their child's condition through the withholding of affection. Leo Kanner, who first described autism, suggested that parental coldness might contribute to autism. Although Kanner eventually renounced the theory, Bettelheim put an almost exclusive emphasis on it in both his medical and his popular books. Treatments based on these theories failed to help children with autism, and after Bettelheim's death, his reported rates of cure (around 85%) were found to be fraudulent.


title: Causes of autism

text: Scientific studies have consistently refuted a causal relationship between vaccinations and autism. Despite this, some parents believe that vaccinations cause autism; they therefore delay or avoid immunizing their children (for example, under the "vaccine overload" hypothesis that giving many vaccines at once may overwhelm a child's immune system and lead to autism, even though this hypothesis has no scientific evidence and is biologically implausible). Diseases such as measles can cause severe disabilities and even death, so the risk of death or disability for an unvaccinated child is higher than the risk for a child who has been vaccinated. Despite medical evidence, antivaccine activism continues. A developing tactic is the "promotion of irrelevant research [as] an active aggregation of several questionable or peripherally related research studies in an attempt to justify the science underlying a questionable claim."


title: Causes of autism

text: The MMR vaccine as a cause of autism is one of the most extensively debated hypotheses regarding the origins of autism. Andrew Wakefield "et al." reported a study of 12 children who had autism and bowel symptoms, in some cases reportedly with onset after MMR. Although the paper, which was later retracted by the journal, concluded "We did not prove an association between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described," Wakefield nevertheless suggested a false notion during a 1998 press conference that giving children the vaccines in three separate doses would be safer than a single dose. Administering the vaccines in three separate doses does not reduce the chance of adverse effects, and it increases the opportunity for infection by the two diseases not immunized against first.


title: Causes of autism

text: In 2004, the interpretation of a causal link between MMR vaccine and autism was formally retracted by ten of Wakefield's twelve co-authors. The retraction followed an investigation by "The Sunday Times", which stated that Wakefield "acted dishonestly and irresponsibly". The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and the U.K. National Health Service have all concluded that there is no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.


title: Causes of autism

text: In February 2010, "The Lancet", which published Wakefield's study, fully retracted it after an independent auditor found the study to be flawed. In January 2011, an investigation published in the journal "BMJ" described the Wakefield study as the result of deliberate fraud and manipulation of data.


title: Causes of autism

text: Perhaps the best-known hypothesis involving mercury and autism involves the use of the mercury-based compound thiomersal, a preservative that has been phased out from most childhood vaccinations in developed countries including US and the EU. There is no scientific evidence for a causal connection between thiomersal and autism, but parental concern about a relationship between thiomersal and vaccines has led to decreasing rates of childhood immunizations and increasing likelihood of disease outbreaks. In 1999, due to concern about the dose of mercury infants were being exposed to, the U.S. Public Health Service recommended that thiomersal be removed from childhood vaccines, and by 2002 the flu vaccine was the only childhood vaccine containing more than trace amounts of thimerosal. Despite this, autism rates did not decrease after the removal of thimerosal, in the US or other countries that also removed thimerosal from their childhood vaccines.


title: Causes of autism

text: A causal link between thimerosal and autism has been rejected by international scientific and medical professional bodies including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Medical Toxicology, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the European Medicines Agency.


title: Junkers

text: Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germany, in 1895 by Hugo Junkers, initially manufacturing boilers and radiators. During World War I and following the war, the company became famous for its pioneering all-metal aircraft. During World War II the company produced the German army's Luftwaffe planes, as well as piston and jet aircraft engines, albeit in the absence of its founder, who had been removed by the Nazis in 1934.


title: Junkers

text: In the immediate post-war era, Junkers used their J8 layout as the basis for the F-13, first flown on 25 June 1919 and certified airworthy in July of the same year. This four passenger monoplane was the world's first all-metal airliner. Of note, in addition to significant European sales, some twenty-five of these airplanes were delivered to North American customers under the Junkers-Larsen affiliate and were used primarily as airmail planes.


title: Junkers

text: The Treaty of Versailles signed only days after the F-13 flew, initially forbade any aircraft construction in Germany for several months. After that span of time, only the design of civilian aircraft was permitted to Germany. With a partial relocation of the Junkers firm to the Fili western suburb of Moscow, the Junkers firm was able to restart its aircraft manufacturing concern within the borders of the Soviet Union in 1922, the partly revitalized Junkers firm developed a series of progressively larger civil aircraft including the single-engined G.24 and three-engine G.31. Neither aircraft was a commercial success. With the expiration of treaty restrictions in 1926, Junkers introduced the Junkers W33 and Junkers W34 series, which did find significant commercial success via large production orders in passenger, freight hauling, and, somewhat later, military configurations. The W-33/W-34 series also set multiple aviation "firsts" including records for flight duration, flight distance, altitude, rocket assisted take-off and inflight refueling between 1926 and 1930.


title: Junkers

text: After previous study work, Junkers set up the "Junkers Luftbild-Zentrale" in Dessau in 1924 to produce aerial photographs for various purposes. Eight years later, due to the financial difficulties of the parent company, this branch was separated and continued to operate as "Bild-Flug" for a year until it was taken over by its main competitor, "Hansa Luftbild".


title: Junkers

text: Junkers' produced a design study in 1924 for a visit to the United States. The study outlined a four-engined 80-passenger plane, incorporating a forward canard wing, as well as a main wing, both of which were fitted above twin pylons. Called the Junkers J.1000 Super Duck passenger seating was to be provided both in the main wing and the hull sections of the craft. This Junkers design, including a scale model, was intended to illustrate an aircraft capable of trans-Atlantic operations of 8 to 10 hours and was completely revolutionary for its day.


title: Junkers

text: It was in 1922 that American engineer William Bushnell Stout, and in 1924 that Soviet engineer Andrei Tupolev each adapted the Junkers corrugated duralumin airframe design technologies for their own initial examples of all-metal aircraft in their respective nations – for Stout, the Stout ST twin-engined naval torpedo bomber prototype aircraft, and for Tupolev, the Tupolev ANT-2 small passenger aircraft, who had the assistance of the Soviet government's TsAGI research center in achieving success with light-weight metal airframes.


title: Junkers

text: The basic principles outlined in this design were later introduced in the Junkers G.38, which was introduced and put into regular service by Deutsche Luft Hansa. At the time of its introduction, this four-engined transport was the largest landplane in the world carrying thirty-four passengers and seven crew members. The G.38 sat some of its passengers in the wing area outboard of the fuselage, the front of which was covered with windows.


title: Junkers

text: Also, in 1932, Junkers joint project with Maybach designed and built an aerodynamic car but found due to the depression that the market for high end luxury cars was saturated.


title: Junkers

text: Around 1931 the company suffered from a series of financial difficulties that led to the collapse of the group of companies. The existing shareholders pressured Hugo to leave the company. Hugo, however, was the patent holder on a wide variety of the technologies used in most of the existing Junkers designs, including many of their engines.


title: Junkers

text: A plan was started to solve both problems by "buying out" Hugo's engine patent portfolio and placing it into the hands of a new company, the Junkers Motoren-Patentstelle GmbH, which was eventually formed in November 1932. The new company would then license the technologies back to the various companies, most notably what was then Junkers Motorenbau (one of many "Jumo" companies). However, before Junkers actually transferred his patents to the Patentstelle, the collapse of the Junkers consortium was solved by the sale of the Junkers Thermo Technik GmbH to Robert Bosch, whose company still uses the brand name. Adolf Dethmann, a Communist activist and friend of Hugo, was appointed managing director.


title: Junkers

text: The Junkers company survived the Second World War and the formation of East Germany, and was reconstituted as Junkers GmbH and eventually merged into the MBB consortium (via joint venture Flugzeug-Union-Süd between Heinkel and Messerschmitt in 1958). Messerschmitt ended the joint venture in 1965 by acquiring control of JFM AG and absorbing it within Messerschmitt in 1967. Within West Germany, Junkers GmbH was engaged in research on the future of aerospace transportation during the fifties and early-1960s. During this period, Junkers employed the famous Austrian engineer and space travel theorist, Eugen Sänger, who in 1961 completed work for the design of an advanced orbital spacecraft at Junkers. Junkers GmbH was absorbed within MBB and the Junkers name disappeared in 1969.


title: Junkers

text: The Junkers firm's early aircraft were identified by the letter J for Junkers followed by an Arabic type number. From 1919 they introduced an additional sales designation using the same number but prefixed by a letter indicating the role of the aircraft:


title: Junkers

text: Just once, the same number was used to identify two different completed types. This pair was the T 23 and G23, both also known as J 23.


title: Junkers

text: During World War I, machines in service used the regular Idflieg aircraft designation system to specify their design's purpose, also promoted by the Flugzeugmeisterei (Air Ministry), again a letter number system indicating role:


title: Junkers

text: The best known and most confusing example is the Junkers J 4 armored-fuselage, all-metal sesquiplane, known to the military as the Junkers J.I.


title: Junkers

text: The single letter company prefix was not replaced by the twin-letter Ju prefix until 1933. This RLM system – from the Third Reich's air ministry – applied to all German manufacturers; the first Junkers aircraft to receive a Ju number was the W 33, so retrospectively it became the Ju 33. However, earlier aircraft built in Moscow like the H 21 were often described by a Ju number, e.g. Ju 21.


title: Junkers

text: All Junkers diesel engines were two stroke, opposed piston designs, an arrangement he invented in the early 1890s. It was intended to provide an alternative to Nicholaus Otto's patented four stroke which would run on low grade fuels such as blast furnace waste gases. By 1896 Junkers engines were generating electrical power in steelworks.


title: Modesty

text: Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word "modestus" which means "keeping within measure". Standards of modesty are culturally and context dependent and vary widely. In this use, it may be considered inappropriate or immodest to reveal certain parts of the body. In some societies, modesty may involve women covering their bodies completely and not talking to men who are not immediate family members; in others, a fairly revealing but one-piece bathing costume is considered modest while other women wear bikinis. In some countries, exposure of the body in breach of community standards of modesty is also considered to be public indecency, and public nudity is generally illegal in most of the world and regarded as indecent exposure. For example, Stephen Gough, a lone man attempting to walk naked from south to north in the United Kingdom, was repeatedly imprisoned. However, nudity is at times tolerated in some societies; for example by Digambara monks in India, who renounce clothing for ascetic reasons, and during a World Naked Bike Ride.


title: Modesty

text: In semi-public contexts standards of modesty vary. Nudity may be acceptable in public single-sex changing rooms at swimming baths, for example, or for mass medical examination of people for military service. In private, standards again depend upon the circumstances. A person who would never disrobe in the presence of the opposite sex in a social context might unquestioningly do so for a medical examination; others might allow examination, but only by a person of the same sex.


title: Modesty

text: Standards of modesty discourage or forbid exposure of parts of the body, varying between societies, which may include areas of skin, the hair, undergarments, and intimate parts. The standards may also require obscuring the shape of the body or parts of it by wearing non-form-fitting clothing. There are also customs regarding the changing of clothes (such as on a beach with no enclosed facilities), and the closing or locking of the door when changing or taking a shower.


title: Modesty

text: Standards of modesty vary by culture or generation and vary depending on who is exposed, which parts of the body are exposed, the duration of the exposure, the context, and other variables. The categories of persons who could see another's body could include:


title: Modesty

text: The context would include matters such as whether it is in one's own home, at another family member's home, at a friend's home, at a semi-public place, at a beach, swimming pool (including whether such venues are considered clothes-optional), changing rooms or other public places. For instance, wearing a bathing suit at the beach would not be considered immodest, while it likely would be in a street or an office. The context may change during specific events or rituals such as Mardi Gras in New Orleans or during neopagan Skyclad work.


title: Modesty

text: Excessive modesty is called prudishness. As a medical condition, it is also called gymnophobia. Excessive "immodesty" is called exhibitionism.


title: Modesty

text: At times of public or private emergency, expectations of modest dress may be suspended if necessary. For example, during suspected anthrax attacks in 1998 and 2001 in the United States, groups of people had to strip to their underwear in tents set up in parking lots and other public places for hosing down by fire departments. On the other hand, even in an emergency situation, some people are unable to abandon their need to hide their bodies, even at the risk of their life. This may apply to decontamination after a chemical or biological attack, where removal of contaminated clothing is important, or escaping from a night-time fire without time to dress.


title: Modesty

text: Most discussion of modesty involves clothing. The criteria for acceptable modesty and decency have relaxed continuously in much of the world since the nineteenth century, with shorter, form-fitting, and more revealing clothing and swimsuits, more for women than men. Most people wear clothes that they consider not to be unacceptably immodest for their religion, culture, generation, occasion, and the people present. Some wear clothes which they consider immodest, due to exhibitionism, the desire to create an erotic impact, or for publicity.


title: Modesty

text: Appropriate modesty depends on context and place. For example, in single-sex public changing rooms, nudity is often acceptable.


title: Modesty

text: In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much body exposure is acceptable in public. In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose cleavage depends on social, cultural and regional context. Women's swimsuits and bikinis commonly may reveal the tops and sides of the breasts, or they may be topless as is common on the beaches of French Riviera. Displaying cleavage is considered permissible in many settings, and is even a sign of elegance and sophistication on many formal social occasions, but it may be considered inappropriate in settings such as workplaces, churches and schools. Showing the nipples or areolae is almost always considered toplessness or partial nudity. However, in 2014 newly elected Pope Francis drew world-wide commentary when he encouraged mothers to breastfeed in church if their babies were hungry.


title: Modesty

text: In private homes, the standards of modesty apply selectively. For instance, nudity among close family members in the home can take place, especially in the bedroom and bathroom, and wearing of only undergarments in the home is common.


title: Modesty

text: In many cultures it is not acceptable to bare the buttocks in public; deliberately doing so is sometimes intended as an insult. In public, Western standards of decency expect people to cover their genitalia, and women to cover their breasts.


title: Modesty

text: Since the 1980s it has become more common for young women in Western societies to wear clothing that bared the midriff, "short shorts," backless tops, sheer and other styles considered to be immodest.


title: Modesty

text: In the United States in the early twenty-first century, public breastfeeding has become increasingly acceptable, sometimes protected by law. President Barack Obama's health care bill from 2010 provides additional support to nursing mothers, requiring employers to provide a private and shielded space for employees to use in order to nurse.


title: Modesty

text: Men and women are subject to different standards of modesty in dress. While both men and women, in Western culture, are generally expected to keep their genitals covered at all times, women are also expected to keep their breasts covered. Some body parts are normally more covered by men than women—e.g., the midriff and the upper part of the back.


title: Modesty

text: In 1992 New York State's highest court accepted Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution arguments and struck down the provision in New York's "Exposure of the Person" statute that made it illegal for women to bare their chests where men were permitted to do so.


title: Modesty

text: Most world religions have sought to address the moral issues that arise from people's sexuality in society and in human interactions. Each major religion has developed moral codes covering issues of sexuality, morality, ethics, etc. Besides other aspects of sexuality, these moral codes seek to regulate the situations which can give rise to sexual interest and to influence people's behaviour and practices which could arouse such interest, or which overstate a person's sexuality. These religious codes have always had a strong influence on people's attitudes to issues of modesty in dress, behaviour, speech, etc.


title: Modesty

text: Modesty (appicchatà or hiri) is the quality of being unpretentious about one's virtues or achievements. Genuinely modest people are able to see themselves as they really are and rejoice in their good qualities without becoming vain or self-promoting, and acknowledge their faults without shame or self-loathing.


title: Modesty

text: Modesty in dress is important in Buddhism. The Sekhiya rules of Buddhist Monastic code, for example, provide guidelines on proper clothing as well as recommended ways of dressing for monks.


title: Modesty

text: The 'robes hitched up' phrase above refers to lifting one's 1 or 2 piece cloth robe, thereby exposing either side or both sides of one's body to other human beings in an inhabited area. Such exhibitionism is not recommended to monks. Beyond monks, the Buddhist belief is that modesty has a purifying quality for everyone.


title: Modesty

text: There are verses in the Christian Bible that discuss the issue of modesty. Before the fall of man, "Nakedness was 'very good' from the beginning, but its innocence was corrupted by the fall", a concept taught in and . , and discuss that after the fall of man, "publicly exposed nakedness is a symbol of the shame of sin." In , Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness, though their attempt was inadequate for God and so God properly clothed humans in . and explicate that God instructed humans to cover their torso and thighs. instructs Christians to dress in "modest apparel" rather than to adorn themselves; in the same vein, Saint Peter wrote to Christians that "Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God" ().


title: Modesty

text: Historically, female communicants of traditional Christian denominations (including Anglican, Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, Oriental Orthodox, Reformed, and Roman Catholic) wore a headcovering while praying at home and worshipping in the church, or all the time as with Anabaptists such as the Mennonites and the Bruderhof, in keeping with their interpretation of , which has been practiced since the time of the early Church. Apostolic Tradition commands: "let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." John Chrysostom (407) delineated Saint Paul's teaching on the wearing of headcoverings by Christian women, continually:


title: Modesty

text: These ancient Christian practices regarding modesty continue to be normative among Christians in regions such as in Eastern Europe and in South Asia, though they have waned in the Western world starting in the 1960s. Many Trinitarian Christians consider modesty extremely important, though considerable differences of opinion exist about its requirements and purposes. The early Church stressed the importance of modesty in the practice of Christianity, with early Church Father Clement of Alexandria teaching:


title: Modesty

text: The early Christian manual Paedagogus (198 AD) teaches that clothing worn by faithful Christians should extend beyond the knees and warns against the wearing of expensive clothing, in addition to forbidding the excesses of jewelry:


title: Modesty

text: Early ecclesiastical writer Tertullian echoed the same teachings regarding modesty in his "On the Apparel of Women", also including a prohibition on Christian men and women dyeing their hair. Rather than to ostentatiously display the hair, Tertullian said that Christian women are to wear a headcovering in public. He taught that Christians should be able to be easily distinguished from non-Christians by their wearing of modest clothing.


title: Modesty

text: Many Christians belonging to the Conservative Anabaptist and Old Order Anabaptist traditions (including the Amish, Conservative Mennonites, Old Order Mennonites, Hutterites, Apostolic Christians, Charity Christians, Bruderhof, River Brethren and Schwarzenau Brethren) have plain dress prescriptions designed to achieve modesty and create a sense of church identity, as Petrovich writes: "Their dress standard is not only intended to specify a pattern which all members agree to be a modest covering for the human form but must also correspond to their vision of Jesus as meek and humble, dressed as a simple peasant from a common village. Since an established dress standard promotes uniformity, it also provides a sense of shared purpose." These requirements are either written in denominational or congregational statements or are understood and reinforced through informal pressure and ministerial reminders.


title: Modesty

text: Requirements vary across churches and denominations; however, all conservative Anabaptist women wear Christian headcoverings and a skirt or dress, and all men wear long trousers. From there, considerable variation exists in men's, women's, and children's styles. Anabaptist adherents read a church group's relative strictness, distance from popular culture, and even religious ideas by their appearance and the speed of dress changes. Accordingly, the extent to which popular fashion elements show up in an Anabaptist person's dress often depends on the social distance of that church from popular culture. For example, women's headcoverings have numerous subtle design elements that distinguish church association, age, and attitude toward modest dress. Women in more fashion-conscious groups , especially among some Conservative Mennonites as well as young adults among some Old Order Amish, may wear a lacy doily that fits a stylized appearance, whereas groups and individuals holding to a distinctive form of modesty wear a fixed-style kapp with a back part that covers the hair bun and is pleated to a front part that vertically encircles the head.


title: Modesty

text: Churches vary in how much members may experiment with modesty and fashion in dress. Some groups, for example, may be less inclined to censure tight dresses so long as the church's distinctive style is maintained or to censure popular swimwear worn while swimming in groups or in public; others carefully observe and embrace their church's pattern for modest, distinct dress on all non-private occasions.


title: Modesty

text: The Catechism of the Catholic Church points out that "Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s choice of clothing" (CCC, 2522)."


title: Modesty

text: The wearing of a veil (headcovering) for women while praying at home and while worshipping at Mass has been practiced by Christian women since the time of the early Church. The wearing of headcoverings during the celebration of the liturgy was mandated as a universal rule for the Latin Rite by the Code of Canon Law of 1917, abrogated by the Code of Canon Law of 1983.


title: Modesty

text: The standards issued by Pope Pius XI declared that "women who wear immodest dress shall be denied Holy Communion, and shall not be admitted as a godmother at Baptism or as a sponsor at Confirmation". They further stated "Nuns, in accordance with the Letter of 23 August 1928, of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, shall not admit to their colleges, schools, oratories, or amusement centers, nor allow to remain there any girls who do not observe Christian modesty in dress; and in the education of their charges they shall take special care to sow deeply in their hearts a love of chastity and Christian modesty.


title: Modesty

text: Pope Pius XI also issued the standard of decent dress, declaring that "A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper."


title: Modesty

text: The Catholic Legion of Decency has been active from 1933 in monitoring morally objectionable content in films. It has condemned a number of films including several on account of the clothing worn. For example, the Legion has condemned the display of cleavage in "The Outlaw" (1941) and in "The French Line" (1954).


title: Modesty

text: In 1944 on Immaculate Conception Day, the so-called "Marylike Crusade" (formally known as the "Purity Crusade of Mary Immaculate") was initiated by Rev. Bernard Kunkel to codify Pope Pius' XII directives on the Catholic standards of dress, known as "Marylike Modesty". It seeks for Christians to emulate the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title "Mother Most Chaste" as the model for modesty. Mary-like Modesty includes for women, wearing sleeves "extending at least to the elbows" and "skirts reaching below the knees", as well as having a neckline no more than two inches with the rest of the bodice fully covered. The Marylike Crusade promotes a vow for Catholics to take: "While I am determined always to dress with Marylike modesty, both at home and in public, I intend to be specially careful to do so when visiting any place dedicated to God." The Marylike Crusade received an Apostolic Blessing from Pope Pius XII on 14 July 1954 and on 11 May 1955, Pope Pius XII extended this "to the members, to their Directors and Moderators, to their families and loved ones, and to all who further their laudable movement for modesty in dress and behaviour." The standards of Mary-like Modesty established by the Purity Crusade of Mary Immaculate continue to be promoted by Traditionalist Catholics as normative.


title: Modesty

text: In 2004 Cardinal Anthony Okogie sent letters to the priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos and asked them to prohibit "fashions promoting lust and immorality" within churches. Under this rubric, people wearing "clothes which reveal sensitive parts of the body such as the bust, chest, belly, or upper arms, transparent clothing or dresses with slits above the knees" are forbidden to attend Mass inside the church. The faithful Catholics in the Archdiocese have been wholly supportive of the dictum concerning modesty, with many women practicing Christian headcovering with the Virgin Mary as their model.


title: Modesty

text: Some Catholics have attempted to form cohesive theories of modesty. Sometimes this is from a sociological perspective, while at other times it takes a more systematic, Thomistic approach, combined with the writings of the Church Fathers. Approaches arguing primarily from traditional practices and traditional authorities, such as the saints, can also be found. In various localities, from time to time the church hierarchy have given opinions on various matters regarding dressing and modesty of the faithful. While Nicholas the Great wrote to the first Christian ruler of Bulgaria, Boris I, in the 9th century, that it was acceptable for the Bulgarian women to continue to wear trousers, Giuseppe Cardinal Siri stated in 1960 that trousers were unacceptable dress for women. Many traditional Catholics have attempted to further expand on this latter standard. Around 1913, it became fashionable for dresses to be worn with a modest round or V-shaped neckline. In the German Empire, for example, all Roman Catholic bishops joined in issuing a pastoral letter attacking the new fashions.


title: Modesty

text: Methodists belonging to the conservative holiness movement, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Wesleyan Church, have guidelines on modest apparel in accordance with the Wesleyan-Arminian doctrine of outward holiness. The Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, which continues to observe the ordinance of women's headcovering, stipulates "renouncing all vain pomp and glory" and "adorning oneself with modest attire." Their interpretation of and is seen as forbidding the exposure of the body from torso to thighs, while is interpreted as God mandating gender-distinct clothing. The 2015 "Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church", for example, states: "We require our women to appear in public with dresses of modest length, sleeves of modest length, modest necklines and modest hose; the wearing of split skirts, slacks, jeans, artificial flowers or feathers is forbidden." It goes on:


title: Modesty

text: Holiness Pentecostalism, the original trunk of Pentecostal Christianity, historically affirms the doctrine of outward holiness, which is reflected in the wearing of modest clothing. Holiness Pentecostals have historically taught a distinction between the male sex and female sex with respect to gender distinct clothing; they do not wear adornment, such as jewelry and makeup. The Apostolic Faith Church and the Free Gospel Church, for example, subscribe to these Holiness Pentecostal standards; in addition to these, the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church adheres to the ordinance of women's headcovering (cf. ).


title: Modesty

text: Oneness Pentecostalism, another branch of Pentecostal Christianity, teaches the wearing of modest clothing. Oneness Pentecostal denominations, such as the United Pentecostal Church International, maintain the teaching of gender distinctions, including a belief that men should have short hair and women should not cut their hair (cf. ). While at the beach, women wear swimming dresses rather than what adherents would consider revealing bathing suits. Oneness Pentecostals do not adorn themselves with cosmetics or jewelry. Additionally, certain Oneness Pentecostal denominations, such as the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, observe the wearing of headcoverings by Christian women (cf. ).


title: Modesty

text: Conservative Friends and Holiness-Orthodox Friends, two associations of Quaker Christians, wear plain dress as part of their testimony of simplicity.


title: Modesty

text: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has issued official statements on modest dress for its members. Clothing such as "short shorts and short skirts, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and clothing that does not cover the shoulders or is low-cut in the front or the back" are discouraged. Men and women are also encouraged to avoid extremes in clothing or hairstyles. Rules on modesty also include women being asked to wear no more than one pair of earrings. Women are generally expected to wear skirts or dresses for church services. Most LDS members do not wear sleeveless shirts or shorts that do not reach the knee.


title: Modesty

text: The church-funded university, Brigham Young University (BYU), requires students and tenants of BYU housing to sign an agreement to live according to these standards of modesty.


title: Modesty

text: The premise and concepts of modesty have evolved under Hinduism. During Vedic times, both women and men wore at least two pieces of draped dress that was largely undifferentiated, voluntary and flexible. Stitched clothes such as skirts and bodices were also common in the Vedic period. However, modesty was not determined by the precepts of religion, but by local traditions, social codes, profession, circumstances and occasion. The multiple pieces of draped dress for women evolved into a single length of draped cloth among Indian Hindus, now called a sari; but it remained two or more pieces for Southeast Asian Hindus. For men, the draped dress reduced to one piece, now called by various names such as dhoti, "lungi", "pancha", "laacha" and other names among Indian Hindus, and "kamben" among Balinese Hindu.


title: Modesty

text: The Hindu belief, suggests Christopher Bayly, is that modesty through appropriate dress has the energy to transmit spirit and substance in a social discourse. Dress serves as a means of expression or celebration, with some dressing elements such as saffron threads or white dress worn by men as moral, transformative and a means to identify and communicate one's social role in a gathering, or one's state of life such as mourning in days or weeks after the passing away of a loved one.


title: Modesty

text: The canons of modesty for Hindus in South Asia underwent significant changes with the arrival of Islam in the 12th century. The Islamic rulers imposed a dress code in public places for Hindu dhimmis, per their Islamic mores of modesty. The "sari" worn by Hindu women extended to provide a veil, as well as a complete cover of her navel and legs. In the early 18th century, Tryambakayajvan—a court official in south central India—issued an edict called "Stridharmapaddhati". The ruling outlined a required dress code for orthodox Hindus in that region. "Stridharmapaddhati" laced social trends with Hindu religion to place new rules on modesty for women, but gave much freedom to men.


title: Modesty

text: The concept of modesty evolved again during colonial times when the British administration required Indians to wear dresses to help identify and segregate the local native populations. Bernard Cohn and others remark that dress during the colonial era became part of a wider issue in India about respect, honor and modesty, with the dress code intentionally aimed by the administration to reflect the relationship between the British ruler and the Indian ruled. The British colonial empire encouraged and sometimes required Indians to dress in an 'oriental manner', to help define and enforce a sense of modesty and to identify roles and a person's relative social status. Among Indonesian Hindus, the accepted practice of toplessness among teenage Hindu girls changed during the Dutch colonial rule, with women now wearing a blouse or colorful cloth.


title: Modesty

text: Inside most Hindu temples, there is an expectation of modesty rather than sexual allurement. Men and women typically wear traditional dress during religious ceremonies and rituals in a temple, with women wearing "saris" or regional Indian dress. In Indonesia and Cambodia, Hindu temple visitors are often requested to wrap their waist with a traditional single piece cloth called "kamben", "wastra" or "sarung", with or without "saput".


title: Modesty

text: Hindus have diverse views on modesty, with significant regional and local variations. Among orthodox Hindu populations, sexually revealing dress or any sexual behaviour in public or before strangers is considered immodest, particularly in rural areas. In contrast, the dress of deities and other symbolism in Hindu temples, the discussion of dress and eroticism in ancient Hindu literature, and art works of Hinduism can be explicit, celebrating eroticism and human sexuality.


title: Modesty

text: In general, a disregard of modesty can be confusing or distressing, in particular to traditional Hindu women. Even in a health care context, some Hindu women may express reluctance to undress for examination. If undressing is necessary, the patient may prefer to be treated by a doctor or nurse of the same sex.


title: Modesty

text: Islam has strongly emphasized the concept of decency and modesty. In many authentic hadiths, it has been quoted that "modesty is a part of faith". Modesty is verily required in the interaction between members of the opposite sex and in some case between the members of same sex also. Dress code is part of that overall teaching.


title: Modesty

text: "And tell the believing women to cast down their glances and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women." -Quran 24:31.


title: Modesty

text: "O Prophet! Say to your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers that: they should let down upon themselves their jalabib." -Quran 33:59. Jalabib is an Arabic word meaning "loose outer garment".


title: Modesty

text: In some Muslim societies, women wear the niqab, a veil that covers the whole face except the eyes, or the full burqa, a full-body covering garment that occasionally does cover the eyes. Wearing these garments is common in some, but not all, countries with a predominately Muslim population.


title: Modesty

text: Though by some scholars these expressions of modesty are interpreted as mandatory, most countries do not enforce modesty by law. However, a few countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iran, enforce specified standards of dress for women.


title: Modesty

text: "Tell the believing men to cast down their glances and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is [well] acquainted with what they do." -Quran 24:30


title: Modesty

text: Most scholars agree that men are required to cover everything from the navel to the knees; some men choose also to wear the traditional Islamic cap (taqiyah), similar to the Jewish yarmulke or kippah. The taqiyah may vary in shape, size, and color, with differences according to tradition, region, and personal taste.


title: Modesty

text: Modesty in Judaism, called Tzniut (), is important beyond aspects of clothing. It extends to behaviour in public and in private, and depends on the context.


title: Modesty

text: Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish women usually wear skirts that cover their knees, with blouses or shirts covering the collarbone and sleeves covering the elbows. See-through materials may not be used, and clothes are expected not to be tight-fitting or "provocative". Less strict Conservative Judaism recommends modest dress, but this is not broadly observed. Less restrictive branches of Judaism tend to adopt the fashions of the society in which they live.


title: Modesty

text: It is the custom for a married Orthodox Jewish woman to cover her hair in public, and sometimes at home. The hair covering may be a scarf (tichel), snood, hat, or a wig called a Sheitel.


title: Modesty

text: Standards of modesty also apply to men. While some Orthodox men will wear short-sleeve shirts in public, ultra-Orthodox men will not. More modern Orthodox Jewish men will be more lax in their dress when surrounded by other men (if it is not in a religious environment). Modesty for men most often translates to covering the torso and legs with loose clothing. Different groups of Orthodox Jews have different dress norms. But all have men dress in a head covering (kippah).


title: Modesty

text: Expectation of modesty also applies in the arts, though standards of modesty have varied at different times and in different places. Nudity and various types of behaviour were sometimes depicted, sometime not. In many cases where society did not allow nudity or immodest dress, nudity was accepted in art. Where nudity in art was not acceptable, full nudity was not displayed; otherwise nude subjects had their intimate parts hidden by apparently accidental draped fabric, flowers, other people, a fig leaf, etc. In films, very brief nudity was accepted. Some nude artworks had fig leaves added when standards became less permissive.


title: Modesty

text: In a given society, the criteria varied according to the circumstances; for example artworks on public display were more restrained than those for private display to adults.


title: Modesty

text: In cartoons, even in cases where the genital area is not covered with clothing, genitals are often simply not drawn, as is the case in Family Guy and other animated sitcoms. In the film "Barnyard", showing anthropomorphized cattle of both sexes walking on two legs, instead of either showing genitals of male cattle or not showing them, the concept of a "male cow" was used, with an udder. In "Underdog" a partly animated anthropomorphized dog is shown with a penis when a real dog is filmed, and without one in the animated parts.


title: Modesty

text: Paintings are sometimes changed because of changed modesty standards, and later sometimes changed back. During the Counter-Reformation there was a "fig-leaf campaign" aiming to cover all representations of human genitals in paintings and sculptures that started with Michelangelo's works. Works covered in this way include the marble statue of "Cristo della Minerva" (church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome) which was covered by added drapery, as it remains today, and the statue of the naked child Jesus in "Madonna of Bruges" (The Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium) remained covered for several decades. Also, the plaster copy of the David in the Cast Courts (Victoria and Albert Museum) in London has a fig leaf in a box at the back of the statue. It was there to be placed over the statue's genitals so that they would not upset visiting female royalty. The statue of Achilles at Hyde Park Corner now has an incongruous figleaf permanently attached, after it was stolen several times.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: The Ringer is a 2005 American slapstick sports comedy starring Johnny Knoxville, Katherine Heigl, and Brian Cox with cameos by Terry Funk and Jesse Ventura. Directed by Barry W. Blaustein, it was produced by the Farrelly brothers. The film was released on December 23, 2005, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: One day, Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) suddenly receives a promotion at work, and is forced to fire his friend Stavi (Luis Ávalos). Steve reluctantly does so, but hires him to work around his apartment. While working, Stavi loses three fingers in a lawn-mower accident, and reveals that he does not have health insurance; Steve decides to raise $28,000 within two weeks to pay for the surgery to re-attach Stavi's fingers.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: His uncle Gary (Brian Cox), owes $40,000 in gambling debts and suggests that they fix the Special Olympics in San Marcos, Texas in order to solve both of their financial problems. Steve reluctantly enters the Special Olympics under the guise of being a high functioning young man named Jeffy Dahmor with a developmental disability. Gary, assuming that Steve will easily defeat the legitimate contenders, bets $100,000 that reigning champion Jimmy Washington (Leonard Flowers) won't win the gold medal. Despite initially being disgusted at pretending to be intellectually disabled, Steve goes along with it for Stavi.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: During the competition, Steve falls in love with Lynn (Katherine Heigl), a volunteer for the Special Olympics. During this time, six other contestants see through Steve's act, so he tells them the truth about Stavi. As Steve decides to leave after being exposed, they tell him to stay, resolving to help Steve save Stavi's fingers and because they want to see the arrogant Jimmy lose.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: In the meantime, Steve befriends the other contestants: he encourages Thomas (Bill Chott) to talk to a girl he likes, and even takes the group to see a showing of "Dirty Dancing". Steve gradually gets to know Lynn more, but is dismayed to learn that she is seeing David (Zen Gesner); after Steve discovers that David was cheating behind Lynn's back, she breaks up with him. At one point, Steve feels remorse for taking part in the Special Olympics and tells a priest in a confession booth, only for the priest to punch him in the face and kick him out of church.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: At the final competition, Steve's friend Glen (Jed Rees) comes in first, with Steve coming in third behind Jimmy. During the medal ceremony, Steve admits that he is not developmentally disabled, reveals his true name, and gives his medal to Thomas, who had finished fourth. Lynn, upset at Steve, rebuffs him when he attempts to apologize to her. Uncle Gary still ends up winning his bet, as his condition was that Jimmy would lose.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: Six months later, Steve has quit his job and is working in theater, producing a play with the friends he made during the Special Olympics, as well as Stavi, who got his fingers reattached. Glen and the others trick Lynn into coming to the theater, and Steve starts to apologize. Lynn forgives him because Stavi told her why Steve pretended to be developmentally disabled, and they kiss.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: In a mid-credits scene, Steve and his friends dance onstage with the Kids of Widney High as they perform the song "Respect".


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: Professional wrestlers Terry Funk and Jesse Ventura's cameo appearances came about due to their friendship with director Barry Blaustein, who met the pair whilst filming wrestling documentary "Beyond the Mat" in the late 1990s. Funk portrayed one of the debt collectors, while Ventura lent his voice as a motivational speaker on tape. ESPN sportscaster Steve Levy also appears in the movie as himself.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: The Special Olympics committee eventually agreed to endorse the film, the film makers having given them final say on the script.


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: Producer Farrelly is himself a longtime volunteer with Best Buddies, a group that provides mentoring program for people with intellectual disabilities, and has prominently featured characters with disabilities in his previous films such as Warren the brother of Mary in "There's Something About Mary" and Rocket in "Stuck on You".


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: During the end credits, scenes from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" are shown being performed, ending with the Kids of Widney High performing Aretha Franklin's "Respect."


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: The film-review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes lists 40% positive reviews based on 89 critics, with an average rating of 5.00/10. The site's consensus states: "Despite a few laughs and good intentions, "The Ringer" is too predictable to really score the points it aims for." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, stating: "The movie surprised me. It treats its disabled characters with affection and respect... and it's actually kind of sweet."


title: The Ringer (2005 film)

text: Spinal Cord Injury Zone stated: "Instead of tugging at the heartstrings, "The Ringer" uses the typical outrageous Farrelly Brothers humor ("There's Something About Mary", "Stuck on You", "Shallow Hal") to promote the message that just like everyone else, individuals with intellectual disabilities are people first, each with their own interests, talents, abilities and personalities. The movie also features more than 150 people with intellectual disabilities in small parts and supporting roles."


title: Brasserie

text: In France, Flanders, and the Francophone world, a brasserie () is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word "brasserie" is also French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brewing business". A brasserie can be expected to have professional service, printed menus, and, traditionally, white linen—unlike a bistro which may have none of these. Typically, a brasserie is open Wednesday to Sunday and serves the same menu all day. A classic example of a brasserie dish is steak frites.


title: Brasserie

text: The term "brasserie" is French for "brewery", from Middle French "brasser" "to brew", from Old French "bracier", from Vulgar Latin "braciare", of Celtic origin. Its first usage in English was in 1864.


title: Brasserie

text: The origin of the word probably stems from the fact that beer was brewed on the premises rather than brought in: thus an inn would brew its own beer as well as supply food and invariably accommodation too. In 1901 "Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language" defined "brasserie" as "in France, any beer-garden or saloon". In 2000 "The New Penguin English Dictionary" included this definition of "brasserie": "a small informal French-style restaurant".


title: By-election

text: A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.


title: By-election

text: A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumbent dying or resigning, or when the incumbent becomes ineligible to continue in office (because of a recall, election or appointment to a prohibited dual mandate, criminal conviction, or failure to maintain a minimum attendance), or when an election is invalidated by voting irregularities. In some cases a vacancy may be filled without a by-election or the office may be left vacant.


title: By-election

text: The procedure for filling a vacant seat in the House of Commons of England was developed during the Reformation Parliament of the 16th century by Thomas Cromwell; previously a seat had remained empty upon the death of a member. Cromwell devised a new election that would be called by the king at a time of the king's choosing. This made it a simple matter to ensure the seat rewarded an ally of the crown.


title: By-election

text: During the eighteen-year Cavalier Parliament of Charles II, which lasted from 1661 to 1679, by-elections were the primary means by which new members entered the House of Commons.


title: By-election

text: By-elections are held in most nations that elect their parliaments through single-member constituencies, whether with or without a runoff round. This includes most Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Pakistan, as well as non-Commonwealth countries such as France and Italy (until 2006).


title: By-election

text: In the United States, these contests have been called "special elections" because they do not always occur on Election Day like regular congressional elections. Special elections are held when a seat in the House of Representatives, state legislature, or local legislature becomes vacant. At the federal level, the U.S. Constitution requires that vacancies in the House of Representatives be filled with a special election (unlike the Senate, where it is up to law of the state involved to determine how the vacancy is filled). In most cases where a vacancy is filled through a special election, a primary will also be held to determine which candidates will represent the major parties.


title: By-election

text: When one seat in a multi-member constituency becomes vacant, the consequences vary. For example, a by-election may be held to fill just the vacancy, all the seats in the constituency could be contested in the by-election, or the vacancy could be filled by other means.


title: By-election

text: Typically, party-list proportional representation systems do not hold by-elections. Instead, the most successful unelected candidate named on the vacator's list fills the vacancy automatically. However, Turkey is an exception, as it holds by-elections when too many seats become vacant in the parliament (as in 1986) or a repeat vote has to be held (as in 2003).


title: By-election

text: In multi-member district systems that do not employ party lists - single transferable vote, single non-transferable vote and plurality at-large - vacancies may be filled by a by-election. This is done, for example, in the Dáil of the Republic of Ireland (STV), in the Parliament of Vanuatu (SNTV), and in the Senate of the Philippines (Pl. AL). In those systems, alternatives to holding a by-election include:


title: By-election

text: For the Australian Senate (in which each state forms a multi-member constituency elected via single transferable vote), the state parliament appoints a replacement in the event of a vacancy; in 1977 a referendum amended the Constitution to require that the person appointed must belong to the same political party (if any) as the Senator originally elected to that seat. The states with an upper house elected via STV (NSW, Victoria, and South Australia) use the same method, except for Western Australia, which holds a recount of ballots to determine the new winner, with sitting members retaining their seats.


title: By-election

text: Scotland and New Zealand still hold by-elections, despite having adopted the mixed-member proportional representation system, in which some members are chosen by party lists. The same is true for Italy, which employes a parallel voting system. In all three countries, by-elections where voters elect their preferred candidate are only used to fill a vacancy in a constituency seat. For example, the death of Donald Dewar resulted in a by-election for the constituency of Glasgow Anniesland. If a vacancy arises from the death or resignation of a party list member, the next unelected candidate on the party list is offered the seat. If that candidate has died or declines the seat, it is offered to subsequent candidates on the list until one accepts the seat. For example, on the resignation of Darren Hughes in March 2011, Louisa Wall was elected after all the five candidates above her on the New Zealand Labour Party's list declined the seat.


title: By-election

text: In the German Bundestag, which uses mixed-member proportional representation, by-elections were originally held upon the vacancy of any constituency seat, in the same manner as Scotland and New Zealand. This was changed in January 1953, since which time vacancies in constituency seats have been filled by the next candidate on the state list of the party which won the seat, in the same manner as vacancies among list seats. By-elections are now only held if a vacancy arises in a constituency seat and there is no associated party list with which to fill it – typically, if the former member was elected as an independent. This is referred to as a substitute election ("Ersatzwahl"). Since no independents have been elected to the Bundestag since the first legislative period, no such substitute election has ever taken place.


title: By-election

text: By-elections can be crucial when the ruling party has only a small majority. In parliamentary systems, party discipline is often so strong that the governing party can only lose a vote of no confidence after losing enough by-elections for it to become a minority government. Examples are the Labour government of James Callaghan 1976–1979 and Conservative government of John Major 1992–1997. In the United States Senate, Scott Brown's election in 2010 ended the filibuster-proof supermajority formerly enjoyed by Democrats.


title: By-election

text: By-elections can also be important if a minority party needs to gain one or more seats in order to gain official party status or the balance of power in a minority or coalition situation. For example, Andrea Horwath's win in an Ontario provincial by-election in 2004 allowed the Ontario New Democratic Party to regain official party status with important results in terms of parliamentary privileges and funding.


title: By-election

text: Non-experts often interpret by-election results as a bellwether or early indicator of the results of the next general election, but political scientists generally caution against overinterpretation. The evidence suggests that while the margin of victory relative to the district's normal performance may be relevant, other indicators generally provide stronger evidence with a larger sample size.


title: By-election

text: A 2016 study of special elections to the United States House of Representatives found "that while candidate characteristics affect special election outcomes, presidential approval is predictive of special election outcomes as well. Furthermore, we find that the effect of presidential approval on special election outcomes has increased in magnitude from 1995 to 2014, with the 2002 midterm representing an important juncture in the nationalization of special elections."


title: By-election

text: Seats which have unexpectedly changed hands in by-elections often revert to the former party in the next general election. One reason for this is that voter turnout at by-elections tends to be lower and skewed toward highly motivated supporters of the opposition party.


title: By-election

text: By-election upsets can have a psychological impact by creating a sense of momentum for one party or a sense of impending defeat for a government. For example, in Canada, Deborah Grey's 1989 by-election victory in Beaver River was seen as evidence that the newly formed Reform Party of Canada would be a serious political contender and that it posed a serious political threat for the ruling Progressive Conservatives. Similarly, the upset 1960 by-election victory of Walter Pitman in Peterborough as a "New Party" candidate was a significant boost for the movement to replace the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation with an unnamed "New Party" which would be integrated with the labour movement. Pitman's candidacy in a riding in which the CCF was traditionally weak was seen as a test of this concept, and his upset victory convinced the CCF and the labour movement to launch the New Democratic Party (NDP). Gilles Duceppe's 1990 upset landslide by-election victory in Laurier—Sainte-Marie with 66% of the vote on behalf of the newly formed Bloc Québécois was the first electoral test for what was initially a loose parliamentary formation created two months earlier after several Quebec MPs defected from the Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties to protest the failure of the Meech Lake Accord and provided the first indication that the party could be a serious force in the province of Quebec. On the strength of the by-election victory, the BQ went on to be officially formed as a party in 1991 and win 54 seats in the 1993 federal election, enough to form the Official Opposition.


title: By-election

text: By-elections may occur singly or in small bunches, especially if the authority responsible for calling them has discretion over the timing and can procrastinate. They are sometimes bunched to save money, as holding multiple by-elections is likely to cost more than holding a by-election to fill the vacancies all at once. In Canada, in 1978, 15 by-elections were held on a single date, restoring the House of Commons to 264 members. The media called it a "mini-election", a test of the Liberal government's popularity with a general election due in less than a year. In the United Kingdom, In September 1984, the Leader of the Greater London Council Ken Livingstone and three other Labour councillors resigned and stood in simultaneous by-elections in an attempt to stage a mini-referendum on the Thatcher government's proposal to abolish the GLC. The effect of the manoeuvre was blunted when the Conservative Party refused to stand candidates against them, and the following year the GLC was abolished.


title: By-election

text: The 1918 Swan by-election was held following the death of John Forrest. The seat was traditionally a safe seat for the Nationalist Party against the Labor Party, but the emergence of the Country Party lead to a "three-cornered contest". As Australia used a first-past-the-post system at the time, the conservative vote was split between the Country and Nationalists, allowing Labor candidate Edwin Corboy to come in first place and win the seat. The Swan by-election is cited as the reason for the introduction of preferential voting, to prevent Labor from benefiting from a divided opposition in the future.


title: By-election

text: The 2018 Wentworth by-election was held after the resignation of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who had served as the member for Wentworth since 2004. Wentworth was considered an exceptionally safe seat for the Liberal Party, as it had only ever been held by the Liberal Party and its predecessor parties since its creation in 1901. Former Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma was preselected as the Liberal Party's candidate for the by-election. The major challenger in the by-election was independent candidate Kerryn Phelps. A huge 17.7% two-party-preferred swing was required for the Liberal Party to lose the seat. Ultimately, the Liberals suffered a 19.0% swing to Phelps, the largest by-election swing in Australian history, which won her the seat. This loss deprived the Liberal Party of its majority in federal Parliament, forcing them into a minority government.


title: By-election

text: In 1942, the Conservatives' Arthur Meighen (who had already served as Prime Minister during the 1920s) sought to re-enter the House of Commons of Canada through a by-election in York South. His surprise defeat at the hand of Joseph Noseworthy of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation ended his political career, and may also have been a factor in the Conservative Party's decision to move to the left and rebrand itself the Progressive Conservative Party under Meighen's replacement. Noseworthy's victory was also a significant breakthrough for the CCF giving it credibility as a national party where it has previously been seen as a Western Canadian regional protest party.


title: By-election

text: On November 1, 1944, General Andrew McNaughton was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Defence without having a seat in parliament, after his predecessor resigned during the Conscription Crisis of 1944. A by-election was arranged in Grey North which the opposition Progressive Conservative party contested. The major campaign issue became the government's policy of "limited conscription" during World War II, which McNaughton supported, and which the Conservatives rejected. They called, instead, for "full conscription". McNaughton was defeated in the February 5, 1945 by-election. As a result, with confidence in his government undermined, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King called the 1945 federal election several weeks later; originally he had intended to postpone the election until the war was clearly won. McNaughton sought a seat in the 1945 contest but was again defeated, and resigned shortly after.


title: By-election

text: The most recent example of a cabinet minister appointed from outside parliament having to resign after losing a by-election was in 1975, when Minister of Communications Pierre Juneau was appointed to Pierre Trudeau's Liberal cabinet directly from the private sector, and tried to enter parliament through a by-election in Hochelaga. Juneau unexpectedly lost to the Progressive Conservative candidate and resigned from cabinet 10 days after his by-election defeat.


title: By-election

text: In Ontario, John Tory, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario ran in a 2009 by-election in Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, after he convinced one of his caucus members to step down, in hopes of re-entering the Ontario legislature. His by-election defeat resulted in his resignation as party leader.


title: By-election

text: In the March 2018 Hong Kong by-elections, the pro-democracy camp lost their majority status for the first time in the Geographical constituency part of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong By-elections were held due to six pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified by the High Court of Hong Kong during Oath-taking controversy. The pro-democracy camp was considered safe in de facto first past the post by-election because both pro-democracy camp and pro-Beijing camp would only nominate one candidate to fill in the by-election. However, pro-democracy camp lost twice in Kowloon West, which was considered as a safe seat for the pro-democracy camp.


title: By-election

text: A by-election held in Dublin South-West during 2014 provided a very surprising upset. The Sinn Féin candidate, Cathal King, was the favourite to take the seat. Sinn Féin had done extremely well in the area during that year's local elections. Sinn Féin captured high percentages of the first preference vote across the constituency. However, the Anti-Austerity Alliance candidate, Paul Murphy, was elected on the eighth count. Despite Murphy having received a lower first preference total than Cathal King, he outperformed the Sinn Féin candidate in attracting transfers. Murphy then took his seat in the 31st Dáil. As a direct result of this defeat in the by-election, Sinn Féin hardened their stance against Irish Water and called for the complete abolition of water charges in Ireland.


title: By-election

text: In 1965 the British Foreign Secretary Patrick Gordon Walker stood in the Leyton by-election for election to the UK Parliament, having been defeated in controversial circumstances in Smethwick at the previous year's general election. His appointment as a senior minister while not a member of either house of Parliament was against convention, and he therefore sought to regularise the position by standing in the first available by-election, which was at Leyton in January 1965. However a strong swing against Labour resulted in Gordon Walker's defeat: as a result, he resigned as Foreign Secretary.


title: By-election

text: In 2010, Republican Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts special election to the United States Senate. Coakley, a Democrat, had been widely expected to win, but Brown unexpectedly closed the gap and won, a shocking result in the heavily-Democratic state of Massachusetts. This eliminated the Democratic Party's filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes. Another shocking upset occurred in the 2017 special election in Alabama, one of the most heavily Republican states in the nation. Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in a close race after Moore was credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is an action-adventure game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics, with distribution involvement from Activision and BMG Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation in 1996, and a Microsoft Windows port was developed by Semi Logic Entertainments and released jointly by Crystal Dynamics and Activision in 1997, which was later rereleased digitally via GOG.com in 2021. The game is the first title in the "Legacy of Kain" series.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: In "Blood Omen", the player follows Kain, a slain nobleman newly resurrected as a vampire. Seeking revenge against his murderers and a cure to his vampiric curse, Kain is tasked with traversing the fictional land of Nosgoth and slaughtering the Circle of Nine, a corrupt oligarchy of godlike sorcerers, but slowly begins to forsake humanity and view his transformation as a blessing.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: Silicon Knights designed "Blood Omen" as "a game which adults would want to play", intending to evolve the action role-playing genre and bring artistic cinema to video game consoles. Reviewers praised its scope and storytelling, but criticized its lengthy loading times. After its release, a dispute arose concerning ownership of its intellectual property rights, after which Crystal Dynamics retained permission to continue the series with their 1999 sequel, "".


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: "Blood Omen" is a two-dimensional action-adventure game. The player controls the protagonist, Kain, from a top-down perspective. Gameplay is divided between outdoor traversal and dungeon crawls, entailing hack and slash combat, puzzle-solving, and navigating hazards. To advance the story, Kain must locate and defeat the members of the Circle of Nine - who act as boss enemies - and return their tokens to the Pillars of Nosgoth. Humans, animals, and a variety of fantasy creatures inhabit the game world, whom the player can typically elect to kill outright, or alternatively wound in order to feed on their blood. As a vampire, Kain is required to consume the red blood of living creatures to replenish his health meter, which gradually drains over time, and diminishes more quickly if he sustains damage. When he casts spells or shapeshifts, he expends magic energy—this recovers in time, and can be replenished by drinking the blue blood of ghostly enemies. Conversely, undead opponents relinquish harmful black blood, and demons and mutants yield green blood which poisons Kain, causing his health to deplete at a swifter rate.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: Over the course of the main quest, Kain acquires many items and abilities, which facilitate increasingly nonlinear exploration. As he collects blood vials and rune pyramids, Kain's maximum blood and energy capacity rises. By drinking from blood fountains, he receives strength upgrades, faster magic regeneration, and immunity to weather effects. Weapons include iron and fire-elemental swords, a spiked mace, twin axes, and the Soul Reaver, a two-handed flamberge. Suits of iron, bone, chaos, flesh, and wraith armor feature, and each combination of equipment has advantages and drawbacks. Spells, in the form of magical tarot cards, are used in both strategic and practical contexts, their functions ranging from summoning artificial light to mind control and the evocation of lightning storms. Shapeshifting enables Kain to assume the forms of a bat, allowing for immediate travel to checkpoints; a wolf, with enhanced speed and the capacity to jump; a cloud of mist, which enables him to pass through gates and cross water; or a human, with which he can covertly interact with, or bypass, certain non-player characters. There are 100 secrets present in the game, logged if the player uncovers hidden areas, switches, and dungeons; these encompass spirit forges, at which Kain may donate a significant portion of his blood in exchange for powerful battle artifacts. A day and night cycle passes progressively - at night, Kain's attacks become more potent, and during full moon phases, some sealed doors become accessible.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: "Blood Omen" introduces the land of Nosgoth, a fantasy setting dominated by humans and vampires. The health of the world is inextricably connected to the Pillars of Nosgoth—nine supernatural edifices, each one protected and represented by a human guardian. These sorcerers collectively comprise the Circle of Nine, and if a member dies, a new guardian is called to take their place by the Pillars. Hundreds of years prior to the events of the story, the Circle formed and sponsored the Sarafan, an order of monastic warriors devoted to eradicating the vampire race, and in the game's prologue, the vampire Vorador reacts vengefully by killing six of the guardians and defeating Malek, the Sarafan leader. Though the Sarafan disband, vampires continue to be persecuted.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: In the intervening years, new guardians have been summoned, Nosgoth's surviving vampires have retreated into hiding, and humanity has separated into two opposing factions: the kingdom of Willendorf, inspired by Arthurian legend, and the Legions of the Nemesis, an all-conquering army determined to bring an end to civilization. When the guardian of balance, Ariel, dies at the hands of a mysterious, malevolent entity, her lover Nupraptor the Mentalist turns his powers against his fellow Circle members, tainting the incumbent guardians with irrevocable madness and leaving the Pillars corrupt. To restore balance to Nosgoth, Kain must overcome the Legions and kill the insane sorcerers; as each Circle member is purged and their token returned, their respective Pillar is cleansed, and when he heals all nine Pillars, replacement guardians can be born.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: Kain (voiced by Simon Templeman), an ambitious, cynical young nobleman murdered and reluctantly raised as a vampire, is the protagonist of "Blood Omen". Conceived as an antihero whose nature reflects the story's moral ambiguity, Kain was partially modeled on the character of William Munny from the 1992 Clint Eastwood film, "Unforgiven". Mortanius the Necromancer (Tony Jay), an ancient wizard, resurrects Kain in a Faustian bargain, and serves as his enigmatic benefactor and semi-father figure throughout the game. The reclusive and decadent vampire Vorador (Paul Lukather) acts as a mentor and father figure to Kain, encouraging him to accept vampirism, whereas the specter of the deceased balance guardian, Ariel (Anna Gunn), directs Kain in his quest to restore the land. The corrupt guardians—such as Moebius the Time Streamer (Richard Doyle), a devious manipulator of history, and Malek the Paladin (Neil Ross), now an animated suit of armor eternally condemned to protect the Circle following his defeat against Vorador—feature as the villains in the game. Other major characters include King Ottmar (Ross), the ruler of Willendorf; The Nemesis (Jay), a once-benign monarch known as William the Just, turned despot and tyrant; and The Dark Entity (Jay), an otherworldly being capable of demonic possession who is the overall mastermind behind events, and a primary antagonist and final boss of "Blood Omen", seeking to topple the Circle and the Pillars and establish its reign in Nosgoth.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: During a journey, the human nobleman Kain is ambushed and killed by a band of assassins. Mortanius offers him the chance to exact revenge; Kain assents, heedless of the cost, and awakes as a vampire. Once he kills his attackers, Mortanius tells him that, while they were the instruments of his death, they were not the ultimate cause. In search of the truth, and a cure to his vampiric curse, Kain travels to the Pillars of Nosgoth. There, Ariel explains that he has to destroy the Circle of Nine before he can realize peace. Kain begins by tracking down and killing Nupraptor, and then confronts Malek, but their duel ends in a stalemate. To defeat Malek, Kain solicits the advice of the Oracle of Nosgoth. The Oracle forewarns him of the Legions of the Nemesis, and instructs him to seek out Vorador, Malek's old adversary. When the two meet, Vorador welcomes Kain, and offers his assistance, but urges the fledgling to embrace vampirism and refrain from interfering in the affairs of mankind.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: Haunted by the elder vampire, who serves as an example of what he will become if he fails to find a cure, Kain persists, and, in a decisive showdown, Vorador vanquishes Malek while Kain kills Bane the Druid and DeJoule the Energist. Later, after he slays Azimuth the Planer and recovers a time-streaming device, Ariel informs Kain that he must instead prioritize the war against The Nemesis, whose armies threaten to conquer Willendorf. Kain convinces King Ottmar to rally his troops against the Legions in a final stand, but the battle proves disastrous. Ottmar perishes, the Willendorf forces are overwhelmed, and Kain, cornered, uses the time-streaming device to escape. He emerges 50 years in the past, and kills the younger version of The Nemesis from this era—the beloved King William the Just—to trigger a temporal paradox which expunges the Legions from the timestream. However, when Kain returns to the present day, he discovers that William's murder has sparked a renewed vampire purge.


title: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

text: The Oracle of Nosgoth—revealed to be Moebius the Time Streamer, a member of the Circle—leads the genocidal crusade, and, having masterminded Kain's actions from the outset, consummates his trap by executing Vorador. Kain kills Moebius, but is left the last of his kind. At the Pillars, he witnesses Mortanius arguing with Anarcrothe the Alchemist, who reveals that Mortanius is a guardian, and culpable for both Ariel and Kain's deaths. Seduced by The Dark Entity, Mortanius was unwillingly controlled and forced to kill Ariel. To correct the imbalance, he created Kain, a creature potent enough to destroy the Circle. Mortanius slays Anarcrothe, and then succumbs to possession from The Dark Entity (the latter one's actions being the reason behind everything that happened in Nosgoth) whom Kain defeats. With only one Pillar left unrestored, Kain reaches an epiphany: he himself is the final insane Circle member, Ariel's unwitting successor as guardian of balance, culled in the brief interval between her death and the Pillars' corruption. The "cure" to vampirism which he sought is his own death.