Superhero

# Superhero

## Abstract

A superhero or superheroine is a stock character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero; typically using their powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books (and later in Hollywood films, film serials, television and video games), as well as in Japanese media (including kamishibai, tokusatsu, manga, anime and video games).

Superheroes come from a wide array of different backgrounds and origins. Some superheroes (for example, Batman and Iron Man) derive their status from advanced technology they create and use, while others (such as Superman and Spider-Man) possess non-human or superhuman biology or use and practice magic to achieve their abilities (such as Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange). The Dictionary.com definition of "superhero" is "a figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime", and the Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also: an exceptionally skillful or successful person." Terms such as masked crime fighters, costumed adventurers or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to characters such as the Spirit, who may not be explicitly referred to as superheroes but nevertheless share similar traits.

Some superheroes use their powers to help fight daily crime while also combating threats against humanity from supervillains, who are their criminal counterparts. Often at least one of these supervillains will be the superhero's archenemy or nemesis. Some popular supervillains become recurring characters in their own right.

## History

### Influences

Antecedents of the archetype include mythological characters such as Gilgamesh, Hanuman, Perseus, Odysseus, David, and demigods like Heracles, all of whom were blessed with extraordinary abilities, which later inspired the superpowers that became a fundamental aspect of modern-day superheroes. The distinct clothing and costumes of individuals from English folklore, like Robin Hood and Spring-Heeled Jack, also became inspirations. The dark costume of the latter, complete with a domino mask and a cape, became influential for the myriad of masked rogues in penny dreadfuls and dime novels.

The vigilantes of the American Old West also became an influence to the superhero. Several vigilantes during this time period hid their identities using masks. In frontier times when the law was not yet developed, people put the law into their own hands with the use of makeshift masks made out of sacks. Vigilante mobs and gangs like the San Diego Vigilantes and the Bald Knobbers became infamous throughout that era. Such masked vigilantism later inspired fictional masked crimefighters in American story-telling, beginning with the character Deadwood Dick in 1877.

### 1900s–1939

The word superhero dates back to 1899. The 1903 British play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized the idea of a masked avenger and the superhero trope of a secret identity. Over the next few decades, masked and costumed pulp fiction characters such as Jimmie Dale/The Grey Seal (1914), Zorro (1919), Buck Rogers (1928), The Shadow (1930), and Flash Gordon (1934), and comic strip heroes such as the Phantom (1936), began appearing, as did non-costumed characters with super strength, including the comic-strip characters Patoruzú (1928) and Popeye (1929) and novelist Philip Wylie 's character Hugo Danner (1930). Another early example was Sarutobi Sasuke, a Japanese superhero ninja from children's novels in the 1910s; by 1914, he had a number of superhuman powers and abilities. The French character L'Oiselle, created in 1909, can be classed as a superheroine.

In August 1937, in a letter column of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories, the word superhero was used to define the title character of the comic strip Zarnak, by Max Plaisted. In the 1930s, the trends converged in some of the earliest superpowered costumed heroes, such as Japan's Ōgon Bat (1931) and Prince of Gamma (early 1930s), who first appeared in kamishibai (a kind of hybrid media combining pictures with live storytelling), Mandrake the Magician (1934), Olga Mesmer (1937) and then Superman (1938) and Captain Marvel (1939) at the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books, whose span, though disputed, is generally agreed to have started with Superman's launch. Superman has remained one of the most recognizable superheroes, and his success spawned a new archetype of characters with secret identities and superhuman powers. At the end of the decade, in 1939, Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

### 1940s

During the 1940s there were many superheroes: The Flash, Green Lantern and Blue Beetle debuted in this era. This era saw the debut of one of the earliest female superheroes, writer-artist Fletcher Hanks 's character Fantomah, an ageless ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into a skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in Fiction House 's Jungle Comic #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg". The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, a non-costumed character who fought crime and wartime saboteurs using the superpower of invisibility created by Russell Stamm, would debut in the eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip a few months later on June 3, 1940.

In 1940, Maximo the Amazing Superman debut in Big Little Book series, by Russell R. Winterbotham (text), Henry E. Vallely and Erwin L. Hess (art).

Captain America also appeared for the first time in print in December 1940, a year prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese government, when America was still in isolationism. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the superhero was the physical embodiment of the American spirit during World War II.

One superpowered character was portrayed as an antiheroine, a rarity for its time: the Black Widow, a costumed emissary of Satan who killed evildoers in order to send them to Hell —debuted in Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940), from Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics. Most of the other female costumed crime-fighters during this era lacked superpowers. Notable characters include The Woman in Red, introduced in Standard Comics ' Thrilling Comics #2 (March 1940); Lady Luck, debuting in the Sunday- newspaper comic-book insert The Spirit Section June 2, 1940; the comedic character Red Tornado, debuting in All-American Comics #20 (Nov 1940); Miss Fury, debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941; the Phantom Lady, introduced in Quality Comics Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941); the Black Cat, introduced in Harvey Comics ' Pocket Comics #1 (also Aug. 1941); and the Black Canary, introduced in Flash Comics #86 (Aug. 1947) as a supporting character. The most iconic comic book superheroine, who debuted during the Golden Age, is Wonder Woman. Modeled from the myth of the Amazons of Greek mythology, she was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston, with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. Wonder Woman's first appearance was in All Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941), published by All-American Publications, one of two companies that would merge to form DC Comics in 1944.

Pérák was an urban legend originating from the city of Prague during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in the midst of World War II. In the decades following the war, Pérák has also been portrayed as the only Czech superhero in film and comics.

### 1950s

In 1952, Osamu Tezuka 's manga Tetsuwan Atom, more popularly known in the West as Astro Boy, was published. The series focused upon a robot boy built by a scientist to replace his deceased son. Being built from an incomplete robot originally intended for military purposes, Astro Boy possessed amazing powers such as flight through thrusters in his feet and the incredible mechanical strength of his limbs.

The 1950s saw the Silver Age of Comics. During this era DC introduced the likes of Batwoman in 1956, Supergirl, Miss Arrowette, and Bat-Girl; all female derivatives of established male superheroes.

In 1957 Japan, Shintoho produced the first film serial featuring the superhero character Super Giant, signaling a shift in Japanese popular culture towards tokusatsu masked superheroes over kaiju giant monsters. Along with Astro Boy, the Super Giant serials had a profound effect on Japanese television. 1958 saw the debut of superhero Moonlight Mask on Japanese television. It was the first of numerous televised superhero dramas that would make up the tokusatsu superhero genre. Created by Kōhan Kawauchi, he followed up its success with the tokusatsu superhero shows Seven Color Mask (1959) and Messenger of Allah (1960), both starring a young Sonny Chiba.

### 1960s

It is arguable that the Marvel Comics teams of the early 1960s brought the biggest assortment of superheroes ever at one time into permanent publication, the likes of Spider-Man (1962), The Hulk, Iron Man, Daredevil, Nick Fury, The Mighty Thor, The Avengers (featuring a rebooted Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, Quicksilver), and many others were given their own monthly titles.

Typically the superhero super groups featured at least one (and often the only) female member, much like DC's flagship superhero team the Justice League of America (whose initial roster included Wonder Woman as the token female); examples include the Fantastic Four 's Invisible Girl, the X-Men 's Jean Grey (originally known as Marvel Girl), the Avengers ' Wasp, and the Brotherhood of Mutants ' Scarlet Witch (who later joined the Avengers) with her brother, Quicksilver.

In 1963, Astro Boy was adapted into a highly influential anime television series. Phantom Agents in 1964 focused on ninjas working for the Japanese government and would be the foundation for Sentai -type series. 1966 saw the debut of sci-fi/horror series Ultra Q created by Eiji Tsuburaya this would eventually lead on to the sequel Ultraman, spawning a successful franchise which pioneered the Kyodai Hero subgenre where the superheroes would be as big as giant monsters (kaiju) that they fought.

The kaiju monster Godzilla, originally a villain, began being portrayed as a radioactive superhero in the Godzilla films, starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with the magazine King of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s."

### 1970s

In 1971, Kamen Rider launched the "Henshin Boom" on Japanese television in the early 1970s, greatly impacting the tokusatsu superhero genre in Japan. In 1972, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman anime debuted, which built upon the superhero team idea of the live-action Phantom Agents as well as introducing different colors for team members and special vehicles to support them, said vehicles could also combine into a larger one. Another important event was the debut of Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, creating the Super Robot genre. Go Nagai also wrote the manga Cutey Honey in 1973; although the Magical Girl genre already existed, Nagai's manga introduced Transformation sequences that would become a staple of Magical Girl media.

The 1970s would see more anti-heroes introduced into Superhero fiction such examples included the debut of Shotaro Ishinomori 's Skull Man (the basis for his later Kamen Rider) in 1970, Go Nagai's Devilman in 1972 and Gerry Conway and John Romita's Punisher in 1974.

The dark Skull Man manga would later get a television adaptation and underwent drastic changes. The character was redesigned to resemble a grasshopper, becoming the renowned first masked hero of the Kamen Rider series. Kamen Rider is a motorcycle riding hero in an insect-like costume, who shouts Henshin (Metamorphosis) to don his costume and gain superhuman powers.

The ideas of second-wave feminism, which spread through the 1960s into the 1970s, greatly influenced the way comic book companies would depict as well as market their female characters: Wonder Woman was for a time revamped as a mod-dressing martial artist directly inspired by the Emma Peel character from the British television series The Avengers (no relation to the superhero team of the same name), but later reverted to Marston's original concept after the editors of Ms. magazine publicly disapproved of the character being depowered and without her traditional costume; Supergirl was moved from being a secondary feature on Action Comics to headline Adventure Comics in 1969; the Lady Liberators appeared in an issue of The Avengers as a group of mind-controlled superheroines led by Valkyrie (actually a disguised supervillainess) and were meant to be a caricatured parody of feminist activists; and Jean Grey became the embodiment of a cosmic being known as the Phoenix Force with seemingly unlimited power in the late 1970s, a stark contrast from her depiction as the weakest member of her team a decade ago.

Both major American publishers began introducing new superheroines with a more distinct feminist theme as part of their origin stories or character development. Examples include Big Barda, Power Girl, and the Huntress by DC comics; and from Marvel, the second Black Widow, Shanna the She-Devil, and The Cat. Female supporting characters who were successful professionals or hold positions of authority in their own right also debuted in the pages of several popular superhero titles from the late 1950s onward: Hal Jordan 's love interest Carol Ferris was introduced as the Vice-President of Ferris Aircraft and later took over the company from her father; Medusa, who was first introduced in the Fantastic Four series, is a member of the Inhuman Royal Family and a prominent statesperson within her people's quasi-feudal society; and Carol Danvers, a decorated officer in the United States Air Force who would become a costumed superheroine herself years later.

In 1975 Shotaro Ishinomori 's Himitsu Sentai Gorenger debuted on what is now TV Asahi, it brought the concepts of multi-colored teams and supporting vehicles that debuted in Gatchaman into live-action, and began the Super Sentai franchise (later adapted into the American Power Rangers series in the 1990s). In 1978, Toei adapted Spider-Man into a live-action Japanese television series. In this continuity, Spider-Man had a vehicle called Marveller that could transform into a giant and powerful robot called Leopardon, this idea would be carried over to Toei's Battle Fever J (also co-produced with Marvel) and now multi-colored teams not only had support vehicles but giant robots to fight giant monsters with.

### 1980–present

In subsequent decades, popular characters like Dazzler, She-Hulk, Elektra, Catwoman, Witchblade, Spider-Girl, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey became stars of long-running eponymous titles. Female characters began assuming leadership roles in many ensemble superhero teams; the Uncanny X-Men series and its related spin-off titles in particular have included many female characters in pivotal roles since the 1970s. Volume 4 of the X-Men comic book series featured an all-female team as part of the Marvel NOW! branding initiative in 2013. Superpowered female characters like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Darna have a tremendous influence on popular culture in their respective countries of origin.

With more and more anime, manga and tokusatsu being translated or adapted, Western audiences were beginning to experience the Japanese styles of superhero fiction more than they were able to before. Saban 's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, an adaptation of Zyuranger, created a multimedia franchise that used footage from Super Sentai. Internationally, the Japanese comic book character, Sailor Moon, is recognized as one of the most important and popular female superheroes ever created.

## Trademark status

### Background

The first use of the word “super hero” dates back to 1917. At the time, the word was merely used to describe a “public figure of great accomplishments.” However, in 1967, Ben Cooper, Inc., an American Halloween costume manufacturer, became the first entity to commercialize the phrase “super hero” when it registered the mark in connection with Halloween costumes. In 1972, Mego Corporation, an American toy company, attempted to register the mark “World’s Greatest Superheroes '' in connection with its line of action figures. Mego Corporation’s attempted registration led Ben Cooper, Inc. to sue Mego Corporation for trademark infringement. Due to its financial struggles, Mego Corporation was unwilling to defend itself against Ben Cooper Inc.’s suit. As a result, in 1977, Mego Corporation jointly assigned its interest in the trademark to DC Comics, Inc. (“DC) and Marvel Comics (“Marvel”). Due to the financial prowess of DC and Marvel, Ben Cooper, Inc. decided to withdraw its trademark opposition and jointly assigned its interest in the “World’s Greatest Super Heroes” mark to DC and Marvel. Two years later in 1979, DC and Marvel applied for the mark in connection with comic books, and were granted the mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1981.

In the years leading up to the assignment of the mark, both DC and Marvel battled to register various trademarks involving the phrase “super hero.” However, DC and Marvel quickly discovered that they could only register marks involving the phrase “super hero” if the phrase referenced their own company or a character associated with their company. As a result, DC and Marvel decided to become joint owners of the “super hero” trademark.

Although many consumers likely see DC and Marvel as competitors, the two comic book publishing giants are allies when it comes to protecting the trademark “super hero” and variants thereof. Although joint ownership in a trademark is uncommon, the USPTO will grant joint ownership in a mark. For example, in the case Arrow Trading Co., Inc. v. Victorinox A.G. and Wegner S.A., Opposition No. 103315 (TTAB June 27, 2003), the TTAB held that when "two entities have a long-standing relationship and rely on each other for quality control, it may be found, in appropriate circumstances, that the parties, as joint owners, do represent a single source.”

DC and Marvel have continued to expand their commercialization of the "super hero" mark to categories beyond comic books. Now, the two publishers jointly own numerous trademarks for figurines (see Spiderman, Batman), movies, TV shows, magazines, merchandise, cardboard stand-up figures, playing cards, erasers, pencils, notebooks, cartoons, and many more. For instance, the companies filed a trademark application as joint owners for the mark “SUPER HEROES” for a series of animated motion pictures in 2009 (Reg. No. 5613972). Both DC and Marvel also individually own trademarks involving the “super hero” mark. Notably, DC owns the mark “ Legion of Super-Heroes ” for comic magazines and Marvel owns the mark “Marvel Super Hero Island” for story books, fiction books, and children’s activity books.

Today, DC and Marvel have become known for aggressively protecting their registered marks. In 2019, the companies pursued a British law student named Graham Jules who was attempting to publish a self-help book titled “Business Zero to Superhero.” Currently, much academic debate exists about whether the “super hero” mark has become generic and whether DC and Marvel have created a duopoly over the "super hero" mark. Conversely, DC and Marvel hold that they are merely exercising their right and duty to protect their registered marks.

### Current status/relevant cases

Currently, the following trademarks are registered jointly to MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC. and DC COMICS:

73222079 SUPER HEROES for publications

72243225 SUPER HERO for costumes

77732560 SUPER HEROES for production and distribution of a series of animated motion picture

78356610 SUPER HEROES for t-shirts

73011796 SUPER HEROES for toy figures

As mentioned, the two companies also own a variety of other super hero related marks. For instance, DC owns “Legion of Super-Heroes" and " DC Super Hero Girls " and Marvel owns “Marvel Super Hero Island" and "Marvel Super Hero Adventures."

DC and Marvel have garnered a reputation for zealously protecting their super hero marks. As noted above, one of these instances included a man by the name of Graham Jules, who sought to publish a book entitled “Business Zero to Superhero.” In 2014, he received a cease and desist from DC and Marvel who claimed that his use of the term superhero would cause confusion and dilute their brands. He was offered a few thousand dollars in settlement to change the name of his book, but he did not concede. A few days prior to the scheduled hearing at the Intellectual Property Office in London, the companies backed down.

A similar scenario occurred when comic book creator Ray Felix attempted to register his comic book series "A World Without Superheroes" with the USPTO. Felix is one of many who argue that the term "super hero" has become generic (see discussion below). Felix's mark is currently abandoned, but he has stated that he intends to fight against DC and Marvel for use of the term.

### Ongoing legal debate

There is an ongoing debate among legal scholars and in the courts about whether the term "superhero" has become genericized due to its widespread use in popular culture, similar to terms like "aspirin" or "escalator" which lost their trademark protection and became generic terms for their respective products. Some argue the term "SUPER HERO" trademark is at risk of becoming generic.

Courts have noted that determining whether a term has become generic is a highly factual inquiry not suitable for resolution without considering evidence like dictionary definitions, media usage, and consumer surveys. Trademark owners can take steps to prevent genericide, such as using the trademark with the generic product name, educating the public, and policing unauthorized uses. However, misuse by the public alone does not necessarily cause a trademark to become generic if the primary significance of the term is still to indicate a particular source.

Some legal experts argue that, like the once-trademarked terms "aspirin" and "yo-yo," the term "superhero" now primarily refers to a general type of character with extraordinary abilities, rather than characters originating from specific publishers. However, DC and Marvel may be able to preserve their trademark by consistently referring to "DC superheroes" and "Marvel superheroes" and challenging unauthorized uses.

Ultimately, whether "superhero" has become or will become generic is a complex issue that continues to be debated. The potential impact on independent creators and the public domain is also implicated. If "superhero" is deemed generic, it could open the door for more creators to use the term to describe characters without fear of trademark infringement. However, courts may still find particular uses of even generic terms to be confusing or misleading depending on the specific context.

## Minority superheroes

In keeping with their origins as representing the archetypical hero stock character in 1930s American comics, superheroes are predominantly depicted as White American middle- or upper-class young adult males and females who are typically tall, athletic, educated, physically attractive and in perfect health. Beginning in the 1960s with the civil rights movement in the United States, and increasingly with the rising concern over political correctness in the 1980s, superhero fiction centered on cultural, ethnic, national, racial and language minority groups (from the perspective of US demographics) began to be produced. This began with depiction of black superheroes in the 1960s, followed in the 1970s with a number of other ethnic-minority superheroes. In keeping with the political mood of the time, cultural diversity and inclusivism would be an important part of superhero groups starting from the 1980s. In the 1990s, this was further augmented by the first depictions of superheroes as homosexual. In 2017, Sign Gene emerged, the first group of deaf superheroes with superpowers through the use of sign language.

### Female superheroes and villains

Female super heroes—and villains—have been around since the early years of comic books dating back to the 1940s. The representation of women in comic books has been questioned in the past decade following the rise of comic book characters in the film industry (Marvel/DC movies). Women are presented differently than their male counterparts, typically wearing revealing clothing that showcases their curves and cleavage and showing a lot of skin in some cases. Heroes like Power Girl and Wonder Woman are portrayed wearing little clothing and showing cleavage. Power Girl is portrayed as wearing a suit not unlike the swimsuits in the T.V. show Baywatch. The sexualization of women in comic books can be explained mainly by the fact that the majority of writers are male. Not only are the writers mostly male, but the audience is mostly male as well. Therefore, writers are designing characters to appeal to a mostly male audience. The super hero characters illustrate a sociological idea called the " male gaze " which is media created from the viewpoint of a normative heterosexual male. The female characters in comic books are used to satisfy male desire for the "ideal" woman (small waist, large breasts, toned, athletic body). These characters have god-like power, but the most easily identifiable feature is their hyper sexualized bodies as they are designed to be sexually pleasing to the hypothetical heteronormative male audience.

Villains, such as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, use their sexuality to take advantage of their male victims. In the film versions of these characters, their sexuality and seductive methods are highlighted. Poison Ivy uses seduction through poison to take over the minds of her victims as seen in the 1997 film Batman and Robin. Harley Quinn in 2016's Suicide Squad uses her sexuality to her advantage, acting in a promiscuous manner.

Through the overdeveloped bodies of the heroes or the seductive mannerisms of the villains, women in comic books are used as subordinates to their male counterparts, regardless of their strength or power. Wonder Woman has been subject to a long history of suppression as a result of her strength and power, including American culture's undoing of the Lynda Carter television series. In 2017's Wonder Woman, she had the power of a god, but was still drawn to a much weaker, mortal male character. This can be explained by the sociological concept "feminine apologetic," which reinforces a woman's femininity to account for her masculine attributes (strength, individualism, toughness, aggressiveness, bravery). Women in comic books are considered to be misrepresented due to being created by men, for men.

The Hawkeye Initiative is a website satirizing the sexualized portrayal of women in comics by recreating the same poses using male superheroes, especially Marvel's Hawkeye.

### Ethnic and religious minorities

In 1966, Marvel introduced the Black Panther, an African monarch who became the first non- caricatured black superhero. The first African-American superhero, the Falcon, followed in 1969, and three years later, Luke Cage, a self-styled "hero-for-hire", became the first black superhero to star in his own series. In 1989, the Monica Rambeau incarnation of Captain Marvel was the first female black superhero from a major publisher to get her own title in a special one-shot issue. In 1971, Red Wolf became the first Native American in the superheroic tradition to headline a series. In 1973, Shang-Chi became the first prominent Asian superhero to star in an American comic book (Kato had been a secondary character of the Green Hornet media franchise series since its inception in the 1930s.). Kitty Pryde, a member of the X-Men, was an openly Jewish superhero in mainstream American comic books as early as 1978.

Comic-book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes; Cage and many of his contemporaries often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films, Native Americans were often associated with shamanism and wild animals, and Asian Americans were often portrayed as kung fu martial artists. Subsequent minority heroes, such as the X-Men 's Storm and the Teen Titans ' Cyborg avoided such conventions; they were both part of ensemble teams, which became increasingly diverse in subsequent years. The X-Men, in particular, were revived in 1975 with a line-up of characters drawn from several nations, including the Kenyan Storm, German Nightcrawler, Soviet / Russian Colossus, Irish Banshee, and Japanese Sunfire. In 1993, Milestone Comics, an African-American-owned media/publishing company entered into a publishing agreement with DC Comics that allowed them to introduce a line of comics that included characters of many ethnic minorities. Milestone's initial run lasted four years, during which it introduced Static, a character adapted into the WB Network animated series Static Shock.

In addition to the creation of new minority heroes, publishers have filled the identities and roles of once-Caucasian heroes with new characters from minority backgrounds. The African-American John Stewart appeared in the 1970s as an alternate for Earth's Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and would become a regular member of the Green Lantern Corps from the 1980s onward. The creators of the 2000s-era Justice League animated series selected Stewart as the show's Green Lantern. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Miles Morales, a youth of Puerto Rican and African-American ancestry who was also bitten by a genetically-altered spider, debuted as the new Spider-Man after the apparent death of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who is revealed to have Inhuman lineage after her shapeshifting powers manifested, takes on the identity of Ms. Marvel in 2014 after Carol Danvers had become Captain Marvel. Her self-titled comic book series became a cultural phenomenon, with extensive media coverage by CNN, the New York Times and The Colbert Report, and embraced by anti- Islamophobia campaigners in San Francisco who plastered over anti-Muslim bus adverts with Kamala stickers. Other such successor-heroes of color include James "Rhodey" Rhodes as Iron Man and to a lesser extent Riri "Ironheart" Williams, Ryan Choi as the Atom, Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle and Amadeus Cho as Hulk.

Certain established characters have had their ethnicity changed when adapted to another continuity or media. A notable example is Nick Fury, who is reinterpreted as African-American both in the Ultimate Marvel as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuities.

### Sexual orientation and gender identity

In 1992, Marvel revealed that Northstar, a member of the Canadian mutant superhero team Alpha Flight, was homosexual, after years of implication. This ended a long-standing editorial mandate that there would be no homosexual characters in Marvel comics. Although some minor secondary characters in DC Comics ' mature-audience 1980s miniseries Watchmen were gay, and the reformed supervillain Pied Piper came out to Wally West in an issue of The Flash in 1991, Northstar is considered to be the first openly gay superhero appearing in mainstream comic books. From the mid-2000s onward, several established Marvel and DC comics characters (or a variant version of the pre-existing character) were outed or reintroduced as LGBT individuals by both publishers. Examples include the Mikaal Tomas incarnation of Starman in 1998; Colossus in the Ultimate X-Men series; Renee Montoya in DC's Gotham Central series in 2003; the Kate Kane incarnation of Batwoman in 2006; Rictor and Shatterstar in an issue of X-Factor in 2009; the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott is reimagined as openly gay following The New 52 reboot in 2011; and in 2015, a younger time displaced version of Iceman in an issue of All-New X-Men.

Many new openly gay, lesbian and bisexual characters have since emerged in superhero fiction, such as Gen 's Rainmaker, Apollo and Midnighter of The Authority, and Wiccan and Hulkling of the Young Avengers. Notable transgender or gender bending characters are fewer in number by comparison: the alter ego of superheroine Zsazsa Zaturnnah, a seminal character in Philippine popular culture, is an effeminate gay man who transforms into a female superhuman after ingesting a magical stone. Desire from Neil Gaiman 's The Sandman series, Cloud from Defenders, and Xavin from the Runaways are all characters who could (and often) change their gender at will. Alysia Yeoh, a supporting character created by writer Gail Simone for the Batgirl ongoing series published by DC Comics, received substantial media attention in 2011 for being the first major transgender character written in a contemporary context in a mainstream American comic book.

The Sailor Moon series is known for featuring a substantial number of openly LGBT characters since its inception, as Japan have traditionally been more open about portraying homosexuality in its children's media compared to many countries in the West. Certain characters who are presented as homosexual or transgender in one continuity may not be presented as such in others, particularly with dubbed versions made for international release.

An animated short The Ambiguously Gay Duo parodies comic book superheroes and features Ace and Gary (Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell). It originated on The Dana Carvey Show and then moved to Saturday Night Live.

### Language minority

In 2017, Pluin introduced Sign Gene, a film featuring a group of deaf superheroes whose powers derive from their use of sign language. The film was produced by and with deaf people and deals with Deaf culture, history and language.

## Subtypes

- List of metahumans in DC Comics


CCDC47

# CCDC47

## Abstract

Coiled-coil domain 47 (CCDC47) is a gene located on human chromosome 17, specifically locus 17q23.3 which encodes for the protein PAT complex subunit CCDC47. The protein itself contains coiled-coil domains, the SEEEED superfamily, a domain of unknown function (DUF1682) and a transmembrane domain. The function of the protein is unknown, but it has been proposed that CCDC47 is involved in calcium ion homeostasis and the endoplasmic reticulum overload response.

## Gene

The CCDC47 gene itself is located on the minus strand of human chromosome 17 and contains 13 exon splice sites and 14 distinct introns. After removal of exons, the gene is 3445 base pairs in length. No evidence for micro RNA or pseudogenes has been found. The gene does not have various isoforms, only transcript variant 1X exists.

## Protein

### Structure

The protein encoded by CCDC47 is 483 amino acids in length and contains both a signal peptide and transmembrane domain. It is rich in negatively charged amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid giving it an acidic isoelectric point of 4.56. The protein is also rich in methionine. In total, it weighs 55.9 kDal which is conserved through various orthologs. CCDC47 also contains the SEEEED superfamily and domain of unknown function 1682 (DUF1682). The SEEEED superfamily is a short, low complexity region which is composed mainly of serine. The family routinely lies on the clathrin adaptor complex 3 beta-1 subunit proteins. The exact function of DUF 1682 is unclear but one member of the family has been described as an adipocyte-specific protein.

There are two predicted disulfide bonds in the structure of CCDC47 at cysteines 209 to 214 and cysteines 215 to 283, respectively. The C-terminal portion of the protein is highly charged and its secondary structure is predicted to be that of an alpha helix region. This region also contains coiled coil domains which are structural motifs in which 2-7 alpha helices are coiled together and are subsequently involved in biological expression. These domains typically follow the pattern HxxHCxC where H is a hydrophobic amino acid, C is a charged amino acid and x is any amino acid. Many amino acid sequences following this pattern are seen in the C-terminal region of CCDC47 where the highest conservation through orthologs is represented.

### Regulation and translation

CCDC47 is regulated by the promoter GXP43413. The promoter is 819 base pairs in length and is highly conserved in mammals. Conserved binding sites in mammals which are located on this promoter include nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), PAR bZIP family and Sp4 Transcription Factor. NRF1 encodes a protein which homodimerizes and activates expression of key metabolic genes. CREB binds to cAMP response elements thereby increasing or decreasing the transcription of downstream genes while PAR bZIP family is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms. In regards to the mRNA, translation begins at base pair 337 and ends at 1728. There is a strong stem loop located in the 5' UTR from bases 289-318 which likely is involved in regulation of the mRNA due to its close proximity to the start codon.

### Cellular distribution

The final protein is thought to be translated from the endoplasmic reticulum into the cytoplasm of the cell. The protein is anchored in the membrane of the ER at the transmembrane domain located from amino acid 137 to 165. The portion of the protein which extends into the cytosol is predicted to be highly phosphorylated as the protein's phosphorylation sites are conserved into the bony fish orthologs. Research has shown that CCDC47 is expressed in the response to an ER overload making this close proximity to the ER important.

### Post translational modification

In addition to the high levels of phosphorylation seen in CCDC47, three sulfation sites are predicted and conserved in mammals, reptiles and birds but not in fish, amphibians or invertebrates. Five potential sumoylation sites are also seen and conserved back to the bony fish. There is no glycosylation of the protein as it is not predicted to extend into the extracellular space.

## Expression

Microarray tissue expression patterns from GEO were analyzed and showed that CCDC47 appears to be an ubiquitously expressed at moderate levels in many different human tissues. Although the protein is ubiquitously expressed, the highest levels of expression are seen in neuronal tissues such as the superior cervical ganglion, brain amygdala and ciliary ganglion. Elevated expression is also seen in the thyroid and CD34 cells.

## Homology

CCDC47 has no known paralogs through text based queries, BLAST and BLAT. The gene has many orthologs extending back to invertebrates such as C. elegans and is highly conserved in mammals with a percent identity greater than 95%. CCDC47 has been sequenced in a wide taxonomy of organisms including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, bony fish and invertebrates. Percent identity of human CCDC47 to a specific ortholog declines with increasing years of divergence, as expected. Homologous genes of CCDC47 are also present in mosquitos, mushrooms, arabidopsis and Asian rice. These homologs contain the same DUF1682 which is found in CCDC47.


Scary Movie

# Scary Movie

## Abstract

Scary Movie is a 2000 American slasher parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Jon Abrahams, Carmen Electra, Shannon Elizabeth, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, Regina Hall, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, and Dave Sheridan, it follows a group of teenagers who accidentally hit a man with their car, dump his body in a lake, and swear to secrecy. A year later, someone wearing a Ghostface mask and robe begins hunting them one by one.

The film is a parody of multiple genres including the horror, slasher, and mystery film genres. Several 1990s films and TV shows are also spoofed, and the script primarily follows the plot of the slasher films Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Some films and TV shows like Halloween, The Shining, Friday the 13th, The Usual Suspects, The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, The Matrix and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were also parodied in some scenes.

Dimension Films released Scary Movie in the United States on July 7, 2000. The film grossed $278 million worldwide on a $19 million budget. It was the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year domestically in the United States. The film is the first installment in the Scary Movie film series, as well as being the highest-grossing film in the series. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with the film's humor dividing critics. It later spawned four sequels, starting with 2001's Scary Movie 2.

## Plot

On Halloween night, Drew Decker receives a threatening phone call while home alone. Chased outside by somebody dressed as Ghostface, she is stripped to her bra and panties before being stabbed in the breast, removing one of her silicone implants. Her father, who is distracted by receiving fellatio, accidentally hits her with his vehicle, and she looks at her murderer just before she is fatally stabbed.

Cindy Campbell meets up with her boyfriend Bobby Prinze and her friends, Brenda Meeks, Ray Wilkins, Greg Phillippe, Buffy Gilmore, and Brenda's stoner brother Shorty. News teams, including hack reporter Gail Hailstorm, converge on the school because of Drew's murder. Gail seduces Buffy's intellectually disabled brother, Special Officer Doofy, to elicit information from him.

While in class, Cindy notices the killer watching her from outside before receiving an ominous note and realizes Drew was murdered exactly one year after she and her friends accidentally killed a man. After football practice, Greg finds a photo of his small penis on his locker saying "I KNOW" on it. Believing Ray took it, he nearly fights him.

Cindy tells her friends about the note, attempting to convince them to tell the police, but Greg beats her instead, fearing imprisonment for the murder of the previous year. At Buffy's beauty pageant that evening, the killer murders Greg in plain view, while the audience mistakes her pleas for help as part of her dramatic reading. Buffy eventually wins the pageant and forgets Greg.

The killer attacks Cindy while home alone but retreats when she contacts the police. Bobby arrives and is arrested after a cellphone, knife, and gloves fall out of his pocket. As Cindy spends the night at Buffy and Doofy's, she receives a call from the killer.

The following day, Bobby is released from jail. Buffy is beheaded by the killer with a cleaver. That night, Gail and her cameraman Kenny go to a makeout spot to get a murder on camera. After they film the killer murdering teenager Heather, he chases them into the woods and murders Kenny. Gail later gives a snot-filled apology to Kenny's family, a parody of a scene from The Blair Witch Project.

Later that night, Ray and Brenda go to the movies to see Shakespeare in Love, where he is stabbed through his ear in a bathroom stall through a glory hole. The killer chases Brenda, but angry movie patrons, weary of her talking during the film and her obnoxious behavior, stab her to death to silence her, as revenge for spoiling several films.

Meanwhile, Cindy has a house party, hoping for safety in numbers. One of her friends, Tina, is killed while getting beer from the garage. During the party, Cindy and Bobby go upstairs and have sex. The killer gets stoned with Shorty and his friends in the basement, but kills all but Shorty. After the pair has sex, the killer stabs Bobby and disappears. Cindy gets a gun from a drawer and Bobby follows. Shorty comes up from the basement warning about the killer, but Bobby shoots him. Ray arrives on the scene, still alive.

Bobby and Ray confront Cindy in the kitchen, announcing they will only kill her and her father, and that they are merely copying the real killer. Bobby admits to being gay, while Ray denies it. The plan backfires when Ray stabs Bobby repeatedly out of anger because his favorite show, The Wayans Bros., has been canceled after five seasons without getting a final episode. The killer abruptly arrives and stabs him, so Cindy kicks him out a window, employing moves from The Matrix. However, the killer vanishes before the police arrive, to Cindy's dismay.

At the police station, Cindy and the sheriff discover the killer was Doofy and not David Keegan, the man whom Cindy and her friends accidentally killed a year earlier. He was faking his disability and has escaped with Gail Hailstorm after removing his disguise, similarly to the ending of The Usual Suspects. Finding his discarded backpack with his Ghostface mask and knife in the street, Cindy begins screaming but is run over by a car as the sheriff walks away.

## Cast

- Kurt Fuller as Sheriff Burke (from Scream)

- Rick Ducommun as Neil Campbell (from Scream)

- David L. Lander as Principal "Squiggy" Squiggman (from Laverne & Shirley) parodying Principal Himbry (Henry Winkler from Scream)

- Andrea Nemeth as Heather

- Dan Joffre as Cameraman Kenny (from Scream)

- Marissa Jaret Winokur as Tina (from Scream)

- Keenen Ivory Wayans as Slave (from Amistad)

- Jayne Trcka as Miss Mann

- Kelly Coffield Park as Teacher

- Tanja Reichert as Miss Congeniality

- James Van Der Beek as himself (uncredited)

- Anthony McKay as Not Drew's Boyfriend (from Scream)

## Production

The screenplay was developed by Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans with Buddy Johnson and Phil Beauman, writers for the sitcom The Wayans Bros. At the same time, Miramax was developing a spoof of Scream scripted by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Due to a WGA decision, all six writers were credited, despite Friedberg and Seltzer not actually working on the filmed script.

Anna Faris had graduated from the University of Washington and planned to travel to London, but decided instead to go to Los Angeles and after meeting with some managers; she then auditioned for the film and booked her first acting job. Keenen had rejected many other actresses, and was willing to take the chance on Faris despite her lack of experience because of her instinctual performance. He said: "She had this natural innocence and was funny. Jenny McCarthy and Melissa Joan Hart auditioned for the part of Drew Decker, before Carmen Electra was cast.

### Parodies

Much of the humor of Scary Movie relies upon specific references to other contemporary films. Roger Ebert remarked in his review that "to get your money's worth, you need to be familiar with the various teenage horror franchises." The two films on which the script is most heavily based are Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) (both written by Kevin Williamson), using the general narrative arcs of both films, and featuring comedic recreations of key scenes. The backstory in which the teenagers are responsible for accidentally killing a man following a beauty pageant recalls the same plot point in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Major references to Scream include the identity of Ghostface and the murder of Drew Decker in the opening scene, a reference to the opening scene of Scream in which the same thing occurs to the character of Casey Becker, played by Drew Barrymore. Additionally, the characters of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer are mirrored in the film, and the title "Scary Movie" was originally the working title for the project that would eventually become Scream. At one point the title of this film was going to be "Scream If You Still Know What I Did Last Halloween". Although the Ghostface mask and costume was a replica, the original costume in the Scream series was used when Cindy notices the killer outside of the school.

Many scenes and jokes parody or reference other films outside the horror film genre. The fight between Cindy and the killer heavily mimics The Matrix, particularly its use of bullet time. The final scene, in which Doofy stops feigning his disability and drives away with Gail, is a takeoff of the final scene of The Usual Suspects. When asked about her favorite horror movie, Drew answers " Kazaam " due to Shaquille O'Neal 's acting. Cindy becomes aggressive and roars "Say my name!" during sex with Bobby, similar to the sex scene between Michelle and Jim in American Pie. The movie theater scene shows a screening of Shakespeare in Love and a trailer for a fictitious sequel to Amistad titled Amistad II with elements of Titanic also appears in the movie theater scene. When Gail and her cameraman are attacked by the killer, she partakes in a parody of the famous scene in The Blair Witch Project where Heather records an apology to her friends' parents.

The film also makes other pop culture references beyond the scope of film, such as the parodied version of Sarah Michelle Gellar 's character Helen Shivers in I Know What You Did Last Summer being named Buffy, which is a reference to her character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Others include a brief references to Dawson's Creek, Candid Camera, Big Momma's House, Candyman, Friday the 13th and a parody of the Whassup? ad campaign by Budweiser.

The tagline for the movie's poster was "No Shame. No Mercy. No Sequel." When Scary Movie 2 was released a year later, the tagline for the sequel was "We Lied."

- I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997): Main parody

- Scream (1996): Main parody Scream 2 (1997): Brenda's death parodies Maureen Evans' in the opening theater scene, and Cindy's chase scene references CiCi Cooper throwing a bicycle down the stairs, as well as the killer falling over a chair from Sidney Prescott's chase scene. Scream 3 (2000): Post video of Shorty giving advice what to do in a sequel.

- Scream 2 (1997): Brenda's death parodies Maureen Evans' in the opening theater scene, and Cindy's chase scene references CiCi Cooper throwing a bicycle down the stairs, as well as the killer falling over a chair from Sidney Prescott's chase scene.

- Scream 3 (2000): Post video of Shorty giving advice what to do in a sequel.

- The Sixth Sense (1999): Character of Shorty says "I see dead people".

- The Blair Witch Project (1999): Gail Hailstorm references famous "I'm so scared" scene.

- Halloween (1978): The scene in which Cindy spots the killer outside her classroom window is a direct parody to the scene from Halloween, in which Laurie Strode first spots Michael Myers outside her classroom window.

- Friday the 13th (1980): Killer says "ch ch ch ah ah ah", a famous sound effect in the Friday the 13th franchise.

- The Shining (1980): Killer says "Redrum".

- The Matrix (1999): Climax references several fight scenes.

- The Usual Suspects (1995): Ending parodies the twist ending.

- Psycho (1960): Bobby references the Norman Bates line when he says "we all go a little crazy sometimes", imitating Billy Loomis in Scream.

- Candyman (1992): Ray tells Cindy that she "branded the Candyman" after Bobby was released from jail.

## Music

The soundtrack to Scary Movie was released on July 4, 2000, through TVT Records and consists of a blend of hip hop and rock music.

- "Too Cool for School"- 2:27 (Fountains of Wayne)

- "The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope"- 3:53 (Bloodhound Gang)

- "Stay"- 3:56 (Radford)

- "The Only Way to Be"- 3:20 (Save Ferris)

- "My Bad"- 3:22 (Oleander)

- "Punk Song #2"- 2:46 (Silverchair)

- " Everybody Wants You "- 4:11 (Unband)

- "Superfly"- 2:55 (Bender)

- " I Wanna Be Sedated "- 2:31 (The Ramones)

- "Scary Movies"- 3:56 (Bad Meets Evil)

- " All Bout U "- 4:34 (2Pac, Top Dogg, Yaki Kadafi, Hussein Fatal, Nate Dogg & Dru Down)

- "I Want Cha"- 4:37 (Black Eyed Peas)

- "What What"- 5:03 (Public Enemy)

- "Feel Me"- 3:49 (Rah Digga, Rampage & Rock)

- "I'm the Killer"- 3:57 (Lifelong & Incident)

## Release

### Home media

Scary Movie was released on DVD and VHS on December 12, 2000 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment (under the Dimension Home Video banner).

## Reception

### Box office

Scary Movie opened theatrically in the United States and Canada on July 7, 2000, on 1,912 screens, and debuted at number one at the US box office, grossing $42,346,669 during its opening weekend. It went on to break Air Force One ' s record for having the biggest opening weekend for any R-rated film. The film ultimately grossed $157,019,771 in the United States and Canada, surpassing Good Will Hunting as Miramax's highest-grossing film in that market. It grossed $121,000,000 in other markets, for a worldwide gross of $278 million.

### Critical response

Scary Movie received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 117 reviews, with an average score of 5.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Critics say Scary Movie overloads on crudity and grossness to get its laughs." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 48 based on 32 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Joe Leydon of Variety said that the film was "unbounded by taste, inhibition or political correctness" and that "the outer limits of R-rated respectability are stretched, if not shredded". Leydon concluded the film is "practically guaranteed to make you laugh until you're ashamed of yourself". Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying it "delivers the goods", calling the film a "raucous, satirical attack on slasher movies." However, Ebert was critical of the film for not being as innovative as other films, saying it lacked "the shocking impact of Airplane!, which had the advantage of breaking new ground."

Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution felt that the film's crude humor detracted from the film, saying that Scary Movie "dives so deep into tasteless humor that it's a wonder it landed an R rating instead of an NC-17." Other reviewers, such as A.O. Scott of The New York Times, argued that the jokes were "annoying less for their vulgarity than for their tiredness." Scott remarked "Couch-bound pot smokers, prison sex, mannish female gym teachers, those Whassssup Budweiser commercials—hasn't it all been done to death?"

Peter Howell of The Toronto Star wrote that the film "doesn't just push the gross-out envelope, it folds, spindles, mutilates and mails it to your mama." He adds, however, that " Scary Movie has a nasty side to it that negates much of the humour. Many jokes are just plain sexist, racist, homophobic, violent... and not funny. A scene where a woman is knocked to the ground by an angry man who then proceeds to brutally kick her is sickening to watch. The film's frequent use of profanity also seems gratuitous, even by these standards, but that may be beside the point. By the time you realize the four-letter word count is running high, the plot itself has become repetitious and forced."


Bledar Gjeçaj

# Bledar Gjeçaj

## Abstract

Bledar Gjeçaj (born 4 March 1970) is an Albanian basketball coach and former basketball player. He is currently an assistant coach for Bashkimi of the Kosovo Basketball Superleague. He was part of the Albania national team from 1992 until 2004.

## Personal life

His son, Veton Gjeçaj, is also a professional basketball player and plays currently for Bashkimi.


Black Myth: Wukong

# Black Myth: Wukong

## Abstract

Black Myth: Wukong is a 2024 action role-playing game developed and published by Game Science. The game is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West and follows an anthropomorphic monkey based on Sun Wukong from the novel.

Black Myth: Wukong was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 20, 2024, with an Xbox Series X/S version and an expansion planned for release. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics. It sold 18 million units within two weeks, making it one of the fastest-selling games of all time.

## Gameplay

Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game, with Soulslike elements. It is a single-player game, which is played from a third-person perspective.

The player controls a monkey protagonist referred to as the Destined One, who is based on Sun Wukong from the Journey to the West. The protagonist's weapon is a staff, which is based on the Ruyi Jingu Bang from the novel. The staff can extend and shrink in size during combat. The three staff stances, which are the smash stance, the pillar stance, and the thrust stance, provide versatility in fights. The combat mechanics involve resource management. Focus can be accumulated by landing light attacks, executing well-timed dodges, and other means. A focus point is gained when the meter for focus is filled up. These points can be used to initiate a varied combo, chained to light attacks, or to charge a heavy attack on its own. Stamina is depleted by sprinting, dodging, and attacking.

Spells have cooldowns and consume mana. They are categorized in mysticism, alteration, strand, and transformations. The protagonist uses transformations to shapeshift into a different creature or being. An example is the transformation Red Tides, which takes the form of Guangzhi, a wolfman who wields a flaming glaive. The transformations come with their own movesets and health. They are available on cooldown, but do not cost mana. They last until their might, which is depleted by attacking, or health runs out.

Spirits provide a skill and passive effect if they are equipped. Defeated yaoguai chiefs may leave behind their spirits, which can be acquired if they are absorbed into a gourd. Spirit skills function as transformations to do a unique attack. Qi is used to activate spirit skills. An example of a spirit is the Wandering Wight, who does a headbutt attack.

The game follows a mostly linear progression interspersed with expansive areas. There are keeper's shrines, which act as checkpoints for the player, along the way. Throughout the world, the protagonist encounters various yaoguai as enemies. The game's difficulty cannot be changed by players, but it does not remain the same throughout a playthrough.

## Synopsis

### Setting

Black Myth: Wukong is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. The game spans six chapters, each focusing on the journey through a specific fictional location: Black Wind Mountain, Yellow Wind Ridge, Little Western Paradise, The Webbed Hollow, Flaming Mountains, and Mount Huaguo. It introduces cultural and natural landmarks derived from the real world into its setting. It features, for example, several locations from Shanxi Province, such as the Yungang Grottoes, Little Western Paradise, Nanchan Temple, Iron Buddha Temple, Guangsheng Temple, and Stork Tower, as well as locations from other provinces, such as the Kaiyuan Temple in Fujian Province.

Each chapter concludes with an animated cutscene providing a reflection and exploration of the narrative and thematic elements of Black Myth Wukong.

### Plot

After escorting his master Tang Sanzang and retrieving Buddhist scriptures in a perilous pilgrimage to the West, Sun Wukong ascends to Buddhahood. Yet, he rejects life in the Celestial Court and chooses the simple joys of life on Mount Huaguo instead. The Court grows mistrustful of his choice to forgo the life above and sends an army led by Erlang Shen to force him to submit. Sun Wukong duels Erlang Shen, but he is incapacitated by the circlet that binds him to the Court and sealed in stone on the mountain. He is severed from his six senses, corresponding to six relics scattered across the mortal realm. Over the next few centuries, the monkeys of the mountain send out young warriors to recover the relics in order to revive Sun Wukong. A monkey referred to as the Destined One sets out on this path.

The Destined One traverses through Black Wind Mountain. He meets the Keeper of Black Wind Mountain, who helps and guides him through the place. Along the way, he passes through Guanyin Temple, which was devastated by fire and later rebuilt. The Destined One defeats the Black Bear Guai, who has the "Craving Eyes" relic enshrined atop a pagoda at the mountain's summit, and takes the relic, while the Black Bear Guai reveals that he was just a pawn of the Celestial Court, begs for mercy, and promises to return to Guanyin at Mount Putuo for atonement, vowing never to leave Mount Putuo again.

The Destined One proceeds to the desolate Yellow Wind Ridge. Occasionally, a mysterious Headless Monk, who sings and plays a sanxian, appears and provides help. The Destined One defeats the Yellow Wind Sage, who uses Bodhisattva Lingji 's severed head to contain the "Fuming Ears" relic. The Headless Monk, who turns out to be Bodhisattva Lingji, places his head back on his body and hands over the relic to the Destined One.

The Destined One continues to The New West, a cold mountainous place. Yellowbrow, who possesses the "Hubris Nose" relic and has taken the guise of Maitreya, sends Kang-Jin Star after the Destined One. In their last battle, the Destined One causes her to crash into and separate the Gold Cymbals imprisoning Zhu Bajie, an old friend of Sun Wukong and a banished admiral of the Celestial Court. Zhu Bajie joins his quest to gather the relics. The Destined One defeats Yellowbrow at New Thunderclap Temple, but Yellowbrow flees toward the relic kept in a frozen lake and falls into the lake. Maitreya fishes the relic out of the lake for the Destined One.

The Destined One and Zhu Bajie are transported, hidden in a chest, by pig guais to The Webbed Hollow. The guais become alerted by Zhu Bajie, so the Fourth Sister kills the guais. She continues to watch over and aid the Destined One. She is from the Zhu family, composed of spider guai sisters and matriarch. Their Second Sister captures Zhu Bajie and brings him to the matriarch, the Violet Spider, but the Destined One goes to rescue him. The Violet Spider is defeated by the Destined One and flees to the Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master. The Daoist Master, who gave the "Envious Tongue" relic to her, violently takes it back from her. The spider sisters and the Destined One attack and defeat him. Zhu Bajie and the injured Violet Spider share a last glance at each other before he sorrowfully walks away toward the relic. They fell in love a long time ago, were an admiral and maiden of the Celestial Court once, and tragically became yaoguais in the mortal realm.

The Destined One and Zhu Bajie fight their way to Flaming Mountains. The Bull King, a sworn brother of Sun Wukong, keeps the "Grieved Body" relic hidden in his stomach. The Destined One and Zhu Bajie find someone who claims to be Pingping, the daughter of the Bull King and Princess Fair Fox, and asks for help to save her father. However, the Bull King could tell that his son Red Boy disguised himself as his daughter Pingping to deceive them. Red Boy takes the relic by feigning defeat through a death talisman, while the Bull King tries to give the relic to the Destined One, and consumes it for power, but is defeated by the Destined One and Zhu Bajie. His mother Rakshasi begs mercy for him and offers her Plantain Fan, but Red Boy refuses to submit and kills himself. With his death, the relic appears for them to take.

The ending is determined by the following optional storyline: In the Great Pagoda located in The New West, Maitreya guides both Erlang Shen and the Destined One to Mount Mei, where they confront each other. Here, the Destined One battles Erlang Shen and the Four Heavenly Kings. Upon their defeat, Erlang Shen, who has Sun Wukong 's mind contained in his Third Eye, unleashes Sun Wukong's memories to the Destined One and shares his realization that his fight a long time ago allowed Sun Wukong to set a path to break free through a mortal death.

#### Endings

The Destined One and Zhu Bajie return to Mount Huaguo. They retrieve Sun Wukong 's armor and Jingubang. They reach the summit and enter the stone, which contains a place shaped by Sun Wukong's lingering memories. The Old Monkey ferries them through its waters. In this place, however, they come across their current selves on the ferry, which represents the last memory of the Destined One's mind. The Old Monkey explains that Sun Wukong's mind is lost, as the mind is an essence unique to every life and therefore destined to fade away at life's end, so Sun Wukong will never return and the journey was meant for the Destined One to be forged into a worthy successor who inherits the name and nature of Sun Wukong. At the end, the Destined One fights Sun Wukong's broken shell stripped from his six senses. Sun Wukong's broken shell is defeated and dissipates, while his circlet appears on his head and falls into the water. The Old Monkey picks up and puts the circlet on the Destined One, who remains trapped inside the stone, in one ending. However, if the Destined One regained Sun Wukong's memories, he does not wear the circlet. The latter ending provides the "Freed Mind" relic in a New Game Plus.

## Development

Black Myth: Wukong is a game developed and published by Game Science. The decision to make a single-player game was made on February 25, 2018. The development team moved from Shenzhen to Hangzhou in December 2018. They wanted to create a single-player game in their own style with a focus on traditional cultural themes. They discussed themes such as xianxia and wuxia, but were most enthusiastic about the Journey to the West. The team chose to use Unreal Engine 4 and familiarized themselves with it in the level for Mount Huaguo, which briefly appeared in the announcement trailer, before they put work on it down and started on the level for Black Wind Mountain.

Black Myth: Wukong was first announced with a trailer showcasing gameplay in its pre-alpha build on August 20, 2020. The trailer demonstrated the game built on Unreal Engine 4. It showed the protagonist exploring the environment and fighting various foes in a location known as Black Wind Mountain. Within one day, the trailer had nearly two million views on YouTube and ten million views on Bilibili. As Game Science's development team was small, the trailer was released to attract people to the studio to help build the game. Therefore, the principle of the trailer was to show the level for Black Wind Mountain in its current state, rather than make adjustment for the sake of the demonstration. The team started with seven people and had thirty people around the time of the announcement. In the past, they would recruit within their own personal network, but they realized that this was not enough for the project. The popularity of the trailer far exceeded their expectations and had resulted in over 10 thousand applicants, but they maintained their plans to recruit between ten and fifteen people for the time being to not expand too quickly and lose their original vision.

Black Myth: Wukong is developed on Unreal Engine 5. It was initially developed on its previous iteration, Unreal Engine 4. The move to the newer version was revealed through a trailer on August 20, 2021. Game Science explained that, in 2021, they had switched to Unreal Engine 5 as this would help with their pursuit for realism in the style. In designing the environment, the development team conducted on-site studies of various locations. They made scans of many buildings and statues to recreate them or use them as a basis in the design. Motion capture performed by several actors was used for the movement of different characters. The actor Yin Kai provided the motion capture for the Destined One and several other characters. He, a practitioner of martial arts, remarked that most of his performances were for actions done by the protagonist during combat. The sound, including the music and voices, was co-produced by 8082 Audio. The game features an adaptation of the theme song " Yungong Xunyin ", originally composed by Xu Jingqing, from the 1986 television series Journey to the West. The game's end credits listed 140 people for the development team.

Black Myth: Wukong had a budget of $70 million throughout its six years of development, as reported by Bloomberg. This was partly contributed by the investor Hero Games. Feng Ji stated that they could not undertake such a project at the beginning, so they made two mobile games before they cautiously began the project, as they previously worked at Tencent and thus knew the possible risks from experience. Yang Qi stated that they considered the cost for research and development to be high as early as the start, so they did not have high expectations for profitability initially.

Feng Ji revealed that they planned Black Myth: Wukong to be the first installment in a Black Myth series, which would explore different stories in Chinese mythology. The game was internally referred to as B1, meaning Black Myth One, in reference to its status as the first work in the series. They already have ideas for two other titles in the series, but have not publicly revealed them.

Hero Games' Daniel Wu confirmed that an expansion for the game is in the works.

## Release

Black Myth: Wukong was released for PlayStation 5 and PC (Windows) on August 20, 2024, at 10 AM (UTC+8). An Xbox Series X/S version is planned, although the release date has not been announced.

In January 2023, Game Science published a promotional short film celebrating the upcoming Year of the Rabbit which revealed that Black Myth: Wukong would be released in the summer of 2024. During The Game Awards in December 2023, they released a trailer announcing the release date as August 20, 2024. In June 2024, they disclosed that the Xbox Series X/S version of the game was delayed for optimization to meet their quality standards. Reports suggested that this may be due to the technical limitations of Xbox Series S; some sources suggested a memory leak on Xbox as the possible issue. IGN reported that the delay was, according to an unnamed source, because of an exclusivity deal with Sony and not technical issues. Microsoft responded that the delay was not due to Xbox limitations "that have been raised to us." Giant Bomb ' s Jeff Grubb stated, after speaking to his sources, that Sony had no marketing deal in place to keep the game as an exclusive.

Black Myth: Wukong received four editions: Digital Standard Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, Deluxe Edition, and Collector's Edition. The Digital Standard Edition contains the base game. The Digital Deluxe Edition, additionally, provides in-game bonus content and a selected digital soundtrack. The content consists of the weapon Bronzecloud Staff; the equipment Folk Opera Mask, Folk Opera Almsgiving Armor, Folk Opera Leather Bracers, and Folk Opera Buskins; and the curio Wind Chimes. The two physical editions, the Deluxe Edition and the Collector's Edition, contain an activation code for the Digital Deluxe Edition on WeGame for JD.com purchases or Steam for overseas purchases. The Deluxe Edition comes with the physical collectibles: Steel Case, The Constricting Headband, Chaos at the Peach Banquet (color print on silk scroll), Wind Chime (necklace), Thunderstone (ring), Gold Sun Crow (pin), Stamps and Postcard, and Warranty Certificate. For the Collector's Edition, these are: Steel Case, Confront Destiny (protagonist figurine), Teaching of the Heart Sutra (color print on silk scroll), Wind Chime, Thunderstone, Gold Sun Crow, Stamps and Postcard, and Warranty Certificate. A physical disc is not included in any edition. Game Science stated that they are exploring options to offer physical discs, but that limitations in offline resources have made it difficult to offer physical discs simultaneously with the release.

Black Myth: Wukong was the most-wishlisted game on Steam from May 2024. Pre-orders for the game launched on June 8, 2024. This came with the in-game content Trailblazer's Scarlet Gourd, which is also obtainable through in-game progression. As reported in early August, the game ranked first on Steam 's global top sellers chart. When the game's preload went live shortly before release, the download bandwidth usage on Steam reached its highest-ever peak at 70 terabytes per second, superseding the previous record held by Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. Hero Games, a marketing partner, reportedly sent some content creators an email with an activation code for the game and guidelines to not discuss topics including politics, feminism, and other things in their coverage of the game at launch.

## Reception

Black Myth: Wukong received "generally favorable" reviews on PC and PlayStation 5 from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

The game won "Best Visuals" and was nominated for "Most Epic" at Gamescom in 2023.

### Sales

On the day of release, Black Myth: Wukong reached over 2.2 million concurrent players on Steam, which placed it as the second highest game of all time by this metric, surpassing other popular games such as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. Within hours, it became the single-player game with the most concurrent players of all time on Steam. Bloomberg reported that this ascent could help the game "seal its place in industry lore." On August 22, the game reached its all-time peak of over 2.4 million concurrent players on Steam, only following PUBG: Battlegrounds.

Game Science announced that Black Myth: Wukong had sold 10 million units, derived from data as of August 23, 2024, at 9 PM (UTC+8), and had reached 3 million concurrent players across all platforms. The game is one of the fastest-selling of all time. The physical editions were in high demand, with 700 thousand people signed up to purchase a supply of only 30 thousand units on the retailer JD.com for example.

Hero Games' Daniel Wu, an investor, shared to Bloomberg that Black Myth: Wukong had sold 18 million units within two weeks. Bloomberg described this as "one of the fastest starts the global gaming industry has seen." Sony revealed that it was the most-downloaded PlayStation 5 game in North America (United States and Canada), Europe, and Japan during August 2024.

### Impact

Nikkei Asia reported that Black Myth: Wukong is regarded as a new standard bearer for games in the Chinese video game industry, which undergoes a gradual shift from mobile games toward console games, and could inspire Chinese developers to undertake ambitious projects that draw international audiences. During the pre-release, Soulframe Liang, the director of Phantom Blade Zero, commented that, if Black Myth: Wukong succeeds in the domestic and international market, people would be confident about other games in their industry and that he thought that it would indeed be a large success.

The popularity of the game managed to boost sales of PlayStation 5, which reached the top for video game hardware and had twice the sales from the same period last year on Alibaba 's Tmall in the week before the game's launch for example, in the Chinese market. The game led to a substantial increase of tourism to the real-world locations of scenes in the game.

The character Fourth Sister has become a popular subject for cosplay on Bilibili, Douyin, and other platforms.


Wendell Krinn Technical High School

# Wendell Krinn Technical High School

## Abstract

Wendell Krinn Technical High School is a four-year public technical high school in New Port Richey, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico. It is part of the Pasco County Public School System in Pasco County, Florida. The school opened on August 13, 2018, using the campus of the old Ridgewood High School, which closed in May, 2018. It is named for the first principal of Ridgewood High School.

The school will operate as a magnet school, drawing students from throughout Pasco County. They may earn college credits and have career training while obtaining their high school diploma. Specialized courses will include cyber security and BioMedical.


Ede Višinka

# Ede Višinka

## Abstract

Ede Višinka (Serbian Cyrillic: Еде Вишинка, Hungarian: Visinka Ede; born 19 May 1972) is a Serbian-Hungarian football manager and former player.

## Playing career

While playing for Red Star Belgrade, Višinka won the FR Yugoslavia Cup in the 1996–97 season. He later played for Napredak Kruševac in the Second League of FR Yugoslavia, as well as for Rad and Obilić in the First League of FR Yugoslavia. Between 2003 and 2008, Višinka spent five seasons with Mladost Apatin, before moving abroad to Iceland. He ended his career after playing in the amateur leagues of Hungary.

## Managerial career

In June 2019, Višinka became manager of Nemzeti Bajnokság II club Aqvital FC Csákvár, spending two seasons in charge. He was then appointed as manager of Tiszakécskei LC in August 2021.

## Honours

- FR Yugoslavia Cup: 1996–97


Johnny Ray Salling

# Johnny Ray Salling

## Abstract

Johnny Ray Salling (born October 31, 1961) is an American politician from Maryland from the Republican Party. He is currently serving as a Maryland State Senator representing District 6, which covers southeast Baltimore County, including Dundalk, Essex and Rosedale.

## Early life and career

Salling was born in Baltimore, Maryland on October 31, 1961, where he graduated from Sparrows Point High School. In 1979, he joined the United States Army, serving as a combat engineer until 1981. Upon his return to the United States, he worked as a steel worker for LaFarge of North America at the Bethlehem Steel Mill in Sparrows Point, Maryland for more than 30 years, where he gained experience as a union representative for the United Steelworkers of America union.

In September 2013, Salling filed to run for Maryland Senate, seeking to succeed Democratic state senator Norman Stone, who had announced his retirement from the General Assembly. He says that the closing of the Sparrows Point mill in 2012 moved him to run for public office. Stone endorsed his challenger, state delegate Johnny Olszewski, during the general election. Salling defeated Olszewski in the general election, garnering 47.9 percent of the vote compared to Olszewski's 44.7 percent.

## In the legislature

Salling was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 14, 2015. He was a member of the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee from 2015 to 2019, afterwards serving as a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee. In April 2017, Salling joined the Reform on Tap task force, which was led by Comptroller Peter Franchot and sought to reform the state's regulations on the production and distribution of beer in the state.

In July 2019, Salling responded to a tweet about a request for an ethics investigation into U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar with "Get rid of this illegal know!!!!!" The Council on American–Islamic Relations called on Salling to apologize for the tweet or to resign. He deleted the tweet after speaking to The Baltimore Sun, denying having made the tweet and suggesting that he may have been hacked.

## 2020 House of Representatives election campaign

In August 2019, Salling announced his candidacy for Maryland's 2nd congressional district in the 2020 elections, seeking to take on incumbent Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger. He did not have to give up his state senate seat to run for Congress, as he was not up for reelection until 2022. Salling narrowly won the Republican nomination, earning 19.1 percent of the vote in the primary election. He was defeated by Ruppersberger in the general election, receiving 33 percent of the vote.

## Political positions

Maryland Matters has described Salling as a social conservative, but notes that he occasionally votes with Democrats on bills involving workers' rights and opportunities.

### Environment

In 2018, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters gave Salling a score of 17 percent on its annual legislative scorecard – the lowest score in the Maryland Senate.

During a debate on a sweeping climate action bill in March 2021, Salling introduced an amendment that would lower the bill's pollution reduction goal from 60 percent to 50 percent, contending that it was too ambitious. The amendment was rejected by a vote of 15-31.

### Immigration

Salling denounced an executive order issued by Baltimore County executive Kevin Kamenetz in April 2017 that formalized police policy on undocumented immigrants in the county, calling it "dangerous".

### Marijuana

Salling says that he does not agree with the legalization of recreational marijuana, but he does accept that cannabis does have some medicinal benefits.

### Policing

Salling supports providing police departments with additional funding and training and disagrees with calls to defund police departments and invest in community social services.

### Transportation

In March 2024, following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, Salling and state senator Bryan Simonaire introduced a bill that would allow the governor to declare a year-long state of emergency after damage to critical infrastructure, though it would eliminate the authority to seize private property for government use, as now allowed under a state of emergency. The bill was withdrawn by Simonaire following discussions with the Moore administration.


Johnny Ray Salling


Mikkelin Jukurit

# Mikkelin Jukurit

## Abstract

Mikkelin Jukurit is a professional ice hockey team in Liiga, the top tier Finnish ice hockey league. They play in Mikkeli, Finland, at the Kalevankankaan jäähalli (known since 2016 as Ikioma Areena). The team has won 7 Mestis (2nd highest level) championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2013, 2015, and 2016).

## History

Mikkelin Jukurit was founded in 1970. During the 1970s Jukurit played on the second highest level but the 80's and 90's they spent on lower levels. The season of 1998-99 was a turning point for the team, when Matti Turunen became the executive director and Risto Dufva from Jyväskylä became head coach. In the 1999–2000 season they won their first championship in the newly established Suomi-sarja league, and returned to the Mestis after a 20-year break. Jukurit won the Mestis championship on their first three seasons in Mestis and made the semifinals consecutively on their first 8 seasons. When Jukurit had won a fourth championship in spring 2006, Risto Dufva left the team. After this, Finnish hockey legend Reijo Ruotsalainen was hired as head coach but he was replaced mid-season by a long-time assistant coach Pekka Lipiäinen. The season 2008-2009 was the only Mestis season Jukurit didn't make the playoffs.

In 2009 an incorporation Jukurit HC Oy was founded. Until this the team had operated as an association.

After hiring Jarno Pikkarainen as head coach for the 2010-11 season, Jukurit returned to the finals but lost to Sport. Under Pikkarainen Jukurit won another championship in 2012-13 and two more in 2015 and 2016 with Antti Pennanen as head coach.

After the team's 7th Mestis championship, Jukurit was granted a permission to purchase a licence to Liiga, the top league in Finnish ice hockey. During the team's 16 seasons in Mestis, they achieved 7 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and one bronze medal.

Since the season 2016-2017 Jukurit has played in Liiga. During the first 4 seasons, the team has yet to make the playoffs, finishing 11th, 13th, 14th, and 13th in the regular season.

Coached by former NHL player Olli Jokinen, Jukurit sensationally finished second in the regular season of 2021-2022, reaching their first ever playoff spot.

## Personnel

### Current roster

Updated 15 September 2024

### Team officials

Updated January 8, 2022

### Retired numbers

- # 12 Antti Laakso

- # 22 Martti Salminen

- # 24 Lasse Kanerva

- # 31 Petri Lehtonen

Number 21 is not in circulation, it belonged to Sami Lehmusmetsä who died in a traffic accident.

### Notable players

- G Tero Leinonen

- G Mikko Strömberg

- D Kalle Kaijomaa

- D Marko Kauppinen

- D Tommi Kovanen

- D Jukka-Pekka Laamanen

- D Mikko Mäenpää

- D Simo Mälkiä

- D Joni Tuominen

- D Ilkka Vaarasuo

- F Mikko Hakkarainen

- F Iivo Hokkanen

- F Juha-Pekka Hytönen

- F Petri Koskinen

- F Niko Laakkonen

- F Pentti Nöyränen

- F Olli Sipiläinen

- F Erkka Westerlund

- F,C Pentti Matikainen

- C Sergei Krivokrasov

- HC Risto Dufva

- HC Olli Jokinen

- HC Reijo Ruotsalainen

Notes: G = Goaltender, D = Defenceman, F = Forward, HC = Head coach, C = Coach


Dejan Zukić

# Dejan Zukić

## Abstract

Dejan Zukić (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Зукић; born 7 May 2001) is a Serbian footballer who plays for Wolfsberger AC. He usually operates as an attacking midfielder.

## Club career

### Vojvodina

Originating from Bački Jarak, Zukić came through the Vojvodina youth academy. On the tournament "Max sport cup" in 2014, Zukić promoted himself as the best scorer in his generation.

Zukić joined the first team in summer 2017 at the age of 16, as the youngest member of the senior squad, signing a scholarship contract until summer 2019 previously. He was among the 13 players born in 2001, which were registered for the 2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga season. He noted his first time in protocol for senior match, staying on the bench as an unused substitution in the 3rd fixture game against OFK Bačka.

On 19 March 2019 Zukić signed his first professional contract, a three-year deal with Vojvodina.

Only 11 days later, Zukić made his first team debut, replacing Damjan Gojkov in 88th minute, and drawing a penalty kick only a minute later, in 3:1 away win against Dinamo Vranje.

On 7 August 2023, Zukić extended his contract with Vojvodina until June 2026.

## International career

Zukić was called into the national team selections since the age of 14. Later he was also called in Serbian under-15 team squad in 2015. Zukić made his debut for Serbia national under-16 football team in a match against Belarus on 2 April 2017. Playing for the team, Zukić made 6 appearances and scored 2 goals, in matches against Bulgaria and Estonia.

## Career statistics

## Honours

- Serbian Cup: 2019–20

Individual

- Serbian SuperLiga Player of the Week: 2022–23 (Round 24)


World Judo Championships

# World Judo Championships

## Abstract

The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, next to the quadrennial judo events at the Summer Olympic Games. The world championships are held by the International Judo Federation annually, except the calendar years of the Summer Olympics. Qualified judoka compete in their respective categories as representatives of their home countries. Team fixtures have also been held since 1994. The men's championships first took place in 1956, though the format and periodicity of the competition have changed over time. The last edition of the World Judo Championships (2024) was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

## History

The first edition of the world championships took place in Tokyo, Japan in 1956. There were no weight classes at the time and Japanese judoka Shokichi Natsui became the first world champion in history, defeating fellow countryman Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu in the final. The second world championship was also held in Tokyo two years later, with the Japanese winning the top two spots in the competition for the second time. In 1961, the championship was held outside Japan for the first time, and Dutch judoka Anton Geesink defeated the prior world champion, Koji Sone, in Paris, France, to become the first non-Japanese world champion.

The 1965 World Judo Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and weight classes were implemented for the first time with the addition of the −68 kg, −80 kg, and +80 kg categories. Judo had become an Olympic sport at the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, and a permanent sport after a brief absence at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Despite this progressive enlargement, it took until 1980 for women to participate in the world championships. The first women's world championships were held in New York City in 1980, and were held in alternating years as the men's championships until the 1987 World Judo Championships in Essen, where the two competitions were merged into one world championship. The mixed championships have been held biannually since 1987. In 2005, the world championships made its debut on the African continent in Cairo, Egypt. In the International Judo Federation meeting held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007 (during the 2007 World Judo Championships), it was decided that France would host the world championships for the fifth time in 2011.

## Weight classes

There are currently 16 tournaments in the world championships, with 8 weight classes for each gender.

## Competitions by year

The world championships have been held in every continent except Oceania and Antarctica.

### Medal tables

## World Team Judo Championships

The first World Team Judo Championships was held in 1994 as separate event and only for men's national teams. The first World Team Judo Championships for women's national team was held as separate event in 1997. Since 1998, World Team Judo Championships for men's and women's national teams have been held at the same time and venue. It were held every four years until 2006 (although promotional team events were held during 2003 and 2005 World Judo Championships) and every year from 2007 to 2015 (except 2009). Since 2011 men's and women's team competitions became the part of World Judo Championships. Starting from 2017, it were merged into mixed team competition. Judokas who participates in the individual events at the World Championships often do not participate in the team competition.

### Medal tables

The results of promotional team events which were held during 2003 and 2005 World Judo Championships are not included into overall statistics.

## All-time medal count

List of World Judo Championships medalists

Updated after the 2024 World Judo Championships.

This table include all medals in the individual and team competitions won at the World Judo Championships as well as at the separate World Team Judo Championships and separate World Judo Open Championships.

## Multiple gold medalists

Boldface denotes active judokas and highest medal count among all judokas (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

### Men

#### All events

# including one medal of the World Team Championships won as reserve * including one medal of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only ** including two medals of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only *## including one medal of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only and two won as reserve *** including three medals of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only

### Women

#### All events

# including one medal of the World Team Championships won as reserve * including one medal of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only **# including two medals of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only and one won as reserve **## including two medals of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only and two won as reserve ****# including four medals of the World Team Championships won for participation in the qualifying only and one won as reserve

## Video footage

- World Championships 2013 in Rio de Janeiro

- World Championships 2012 in Salvador

- World Championships 2011 in Paris

- World Championships 2010 in Tokyo

- World Championships 2009 in Rotterdam

- World Championships 2007 in Rio de Janeiro

- World Championships 2005 in Cairo

- World Championships 2003 in Osaka

- World Championships 2001 in Munich

- World Championships 1999 in Birmingham

- World Championships 1997 in Paris

- World Championships 1995 in Chiba

- World Championships 1993 in Hamilton

- World Championships 1991 in Barcelona

- World Championships 1989 in Belgrade

- World Championships 1987 in Essen

- World Championships 1985 in Seoul

- World Championships 1983 in Moscow

- World Championships 1981 in Maastricht

- World Championships 1980 in New York

- World Championships 1979 in Paris

- World Championships 1961 in Paris

- World Championships 1956 in Tokyo