document_title: Bharatiya Janata Party

question_text: in which state the bharatiya janata party from the government for the first time in 2018

text: Bharatiya Janata Party

text: History

text: Predecessors

text: Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951–77)

text: The BJP's origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, popularly known as the Jana Sangh, founded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee in 1951 in response to the politics of the dominant Congress party. It was founded in collaboration with the Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and was widely regarded as the political arm of the RSS.[20] The Jana Sangh's aims included the protection of India's "Hindu" cultural identity, in addition to countering what it perceived to be the appeasement of Muslim people and the country of Pakistan by the Congress party and then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The RSS loaned several of its leading pracharaks, or full-time workers, to the Jana Sangh to get the new party off the ground. Prominent among these was Deendayal Upadhyaya, who was appointed General Secretary. The Jana Sangh won only three Lok Sabha seats in the first general elections in 1952. It maintained a minor presence in parliament until 1967.[21][22]

text: The Jana Sangh's first major campaign, begun in early 1953, centred on a demand for the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir into India.[23] Mookerjee was arrested in May 1953 for violating orders from the state government restraining him from entering Kashmir. He died of a heart attack the following month, while still in jail.[23] Mauli Chandra Sharma was elected to succeed Mookerjee; however, he was forced out of power by the RSS activists within the party, and the leadership went instead to Upadhyaya. Upadhyay remained the General Secretary until 1967, and worked to build a committed grassroots organisation in the image of the RSS. The party minimised engagement with the public, focusing instead on building its network of propagandists. Upadhyaya also articulated the philosophy of integral humanism, which formed the official doctrine of the party.[24] Younger leaders, such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani also became involved with the leadership in this period, with Vajpayee succeeding Upadhyaya as president in 1968. The major themes on the party's agenda during this period were legislating a uniform civil code, banning cow slaughter and abolishing the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir.[25]

text: After assembly elections across the country in 1967, the party entered into a coalition with several other parties, including the Swatantra Party and the socialists. It formed governments in various states across the Hindi heartland, including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It was the first time the Jana Sangh held political office, albeit within a coalition; this caused the shelving of the Jana Sangh's more radical agenda.[26]

text: Janata Party (1977–80)

text: In 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency. The Jana Sangh took part in the widespread protests, with thousands of its members being imprisoned along with other agitators across the country. In 1977, the emergency was withdrawn and general elections were held. The Jana Sangh merged with parties from across the political spectrum, including the Socialist Party, the Congress (O) and the Bharatiya Lok Dal to form the Janata Party, with its main agenda being defeating Indira Gandhi.[22]

text: The Janata Party won a majority in 1977 and formed a government with Morarji Desai as Prime Minister. The former Jana Sangh contributed the largest tally to the Janata Party's parliamentary contingent, with 93 seats or 31% of its strength. Vajpayee, previously the leader of the Jana Sangh, was appointed the Minister of External Affairs.[27]

text: The national leadership of the former Jana Sangh consciously renounced its identity, and attempted to integrate with the political culture of the Janata Party, based on Gandhian and Hindu traditionalist principles. According to Christophe Jaffrelot, this proved to be an impossible assimilation.[28] The state and local levels of the Jana Sangh remained relatively unchanged, retaining a strong association with the RSS, which did not sit well with the moderate centre-right constituents of the Party.[29] Violence between Hindus and Muslims increased sharply during the years that the Janata Party formed the government, with former Jana Sangha members being implicated in the riots at Aligarh and Jamshedpur in 1978–79. The other major constituents of the Janata Party demanded that the Jana Sangh should break from the RSS, which the Jana Sangh refused to do. Eventually, a fragment of the Janata Party broke off to form the Janata Party (Secular). The Morarji Desai government was reduced to a minority in the Parliament, forcing its resignation. Following a brief period of coalition rule, general elections were held in 1980, in which the Janata Party fared poorly, winning only 31 seats. In April 1980, shortly after the elections, the National Executive Council of the Janata Party banned its members from being 'dual members' of party and the RSS. In response, the former Jana Sangh members left  to create a new political party, known as the Bharatiya Janata Party.[30][27]

text: BJP (1980–present)

text: Formation and early days

text: Although the newly formed BJP was technically distinct from the Jana Sangh, the bulk of its rank and file were identical to its predecessor, with Vajpayee being its first president. Historian Ramachandra Guha writes that the early 1980s were marked by a wave of violence between Hindus and Muslims. The BJP initially moderated the Hindu nationalist stance of its predecessor the Jana Sangh to gain a wider appeal, emphasising its links to the Janata Party and the ideology of Gandhian Socialism.[9] This was unsuccessful, as it won only two Lok Sabha seats in the elections of 1984.[9] The assassination of Indira Gandhi a few months earlier resulted in a wave of support for the Congress which won a record tally of 403 seats, contributing to the low number for the BJP.[31]

text: Babri Masjid demolition and the Hindutva movement

text: The failure of Vajpayee's moderate strategy led to a shift in the ideology of the party toward a policy of more hardline Hindu nationalism.[32][33] In 1984, Advani was appointed president of the party, and under him it became the political voice of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. In the early 1980s, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Rama at the site of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya. The mosque had been constructed by the Mughal Emperor Babur in 1527. There is a dispute about whether a temple once stood there.[34] The agitation was on the basis of the belief that the site was the birthplace of Rama, and that a temple had been demolished to construct the mosque.[35] The BJP threw its support behind this campaign, and made it a part of their election platform. It won 86 Lok Sabha seats in 1989, a tally which made its support crucial to the National Front government of V. P. Singh.[36]

text: In September 1990, Advani began a rath yatra (chariot journey) to Ayodhya in support of the Ram temple movement. According to Guha, the imagery employed by the yatra was "religious, allusive, militant, masculine, and anti-Muslim", and the speeches delivered by Advani during the yatra accused the government of appeasing Muslims and practising "pseudo-secularism" that obstructed the legitimate aspirations of Hindus.[37] Advani defended the yatra, stating that it had been free of incident from Somnath to Ayodhya, and that the English media were to blame for the violence that followed.[38] Advani was placed under preventive detention on the orders of the then Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. A large number of kar sevaks nonetheless converged on Ayodhya. On the orders of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, 150,000 of them were detained, yet half as many managed to reach Ayodhya and some attacked the mosque. Three days of fighting with the paramilitary forces ended with the deaths of several kar sevaks. Hindus were urged by VHP to "take revenge" for these deaths, resulting in riots against Muslims across Uttar Pradesh. [39] The BJP withdrew its support from the V.P. Singh government, leading to fresh general elections. It once again increased its tally, to 120 seats, and won a majority in the Uttar Pradesh assembly.[40]

text: On 6 December 1992, the RSS and its affiliates organised a rally involving more than 100,000 VHP and BJP activists at the site of the mosque.[40] Under circumstances that are not entirely clear, the rally developed into a frenzied attack that ended with the demolition of the mosque.[40] Over the following weeks, waves of violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted all over the country, killing over 2,000 people.[40] The government briefly banned the VHP, and many BJP leaders, including  Advani were arrested for making inflammatory speeches provoking the demolition.[41][42] Several historians have said that the demolition was the product of a conspiracy by the Sangh Parivar, and not a spontaneous act.[40]

text: A 2009 report, authored by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, found that 68 people were responsible for the demolition, mostly leaders from the BJP.[42] Among those named were Vajpayee, Advani, and Murli Manohar Joshi. The report also criticised Kalyan Singh, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh during the demolition.[42] He was accused of posting bureaucrats and police officers who would stay silent during the demolition.[42] Anju Gupta, an Indian Police Service officer in charge of Advani's security, appeared as a prominent witness before the commission. She said that Advani and Joshi made provocative speeches that were a major factor in the mob's behaviour.[43]

text: In the parliamentary elections in 1996, the BJP capitalised on the communal polarisation that followed the demolition to win 161 Lok Sabha seats, making it the largest party in parliament.[44] Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister, but was unable to attain a majority in the Lok Sabha, forcing the government to resign after 13 days.[44]

text: NDA government (1998–2004)

text: A coalition of regional parties formed the government in 1996, but this grouping was short lived, and mid-term polls were held in 1998. The BJP contested the elections leading a coalition called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which contained its existing allies like the Samata Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Shiv Sena in addition to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Biju Janata Dal. Among these regional parties, the Shiv Sena was the only one which had an ideology similar to the BJP; Amartya Sen, for example, called the coalition an "ad hoc" grouping.[45][46] The NDA had a majority with outside support from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Vajpayee returned as Prime Minister.[47] However, the coalition ruptured in May 1999 when the leader of AIADMK, Jayalalitha, withdrew her support, and fresh elections were held again.[48]

text: On 13 October 1999, the NDA, without the AIADMK, won 303 seats in parliament and thus an outright majority. The BJP had its highest ever tally of 183. Vajpayee became Prime Minister for the third time; Advani became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. This NDA government lasted its full term of five years. Its policy agenda included a more aggressive stance on defence and terror as well as neo-liberal economic policies.[49]

text: In 2001, Bangaru Laxman, then the BJP president, was filmed accepting a bribe of ₹100,000 (equivalent to ₹280,000 or US$3,900 in 2017)[50] to recommend the purchase of hand-held thermal imagers for the Indian Army to the Defence Ministry, in a sting operation by Tehelka journalists.[51][52] The BJP was forced to make him resign and he was subsequently prosecuted. In April 2012, he was sentenced to four years in prison.[53]

text: 2002 Gujarat violence

text: On 27 February 2002, a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was burned outside the town of Godhra, killing 59 people. The incident was seen as an attack upon Hindus, and sparked off massive anti-Muslim violence across the state of Gujarat that lasted several weeks.[54] The death toll estimated was as high as 2000, while 150,000 were displaced.[55] Rape, mutilation, and torture were also widespread.[55][56] The then-Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and several high-ranking government officials were accused of initiating and condoning the violence, as were police officers who allegedly directed the rioters and gave them lists of Muslim-owned properties.[57] In April 2009, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate and expedite the Gujarat riots cases. In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by the SIT and BJP MLA Maya Kodnani, who later held a cabinet portfolio in the Modi government, was convicted of having orchestrated one of the riots and sentenced to 28 years imprisonment;[58][59] she was later acquitted by the Gujarat High Court.[60] Scholars such as Paul Brass, Martha Nussbaum and Dipankar Gupta have said that there was a high level of state complicity in the incidents.[61][62][63]

text: General election defeats

text: Vajpayee called for elections in early 2004, six months ahead of schedule. The NDA's campaign was based on the slogan "India Shining", which sought to depict it as responsible for a rapid economic transformation of the country.[64] However, the NDA unexpectedly suffered a heavy defeat, winning only a 186 seats in the Lok Sabha, compared to the 222 of the Congress and its allies. Manmohan Singh succeeded Vajpayee as Prime Minister as the head of the United Progressive Alliance. The NDA's failure to reach out to rural Indians was provided as an explanation for its defeat, as was its divisive policy agenda.[64][65]

text: In May 2008, the BJP won the state elections in Karnataka. This was the first time that the party won assembly elections in any South Indian state. In the 2009 general elections, its strength in the Lok Sabha was reduced to 116 seats. It lost the next assembly election in 2013.[66]

text: General election victory, 2014

text: In the 2014 Indian general election, the BJP won 282 seats, leading the NDA to a tally of 336 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha.[67] Narendra Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014.[68][69]

text: The vote share of the BJP was 31% of all votes cast, a low figure relative to the number of seats it won.[70] This was the first instance since 1984 of a single party achieving an outright majority in the Indian Parliament[71] and the first time that it achieved a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own strength. Support was concentrated in the Hindi-speaking belt in North-central India.[70] The magnitude of the victory was not predicted by most opinion and exit polls.[70]

text: Political analysts have suggested several reasons for this victory, including the popularity of Modi, and the loss of support for the Congress due to the corruption scandals in its previous term.[72] The BJP was also able to expand its traditionally upper-caste, upper-class support base and received significant support from middle-class and Dalit people, as well as among Other Backward Classes.[73][70] Its support among Muslims remained low; only 8% of Muslim voters voted for the BJP.[73][70] The BJP was also very successful at mobilising its supporters, and raising voter turnout among them.[70]

text: General election results

text: The Bharatiya Janata Party was officially created in 1980, and the first general election it contested was in 1984, in which it won only two Lok Sabha seats. Following the election in 1996, the BJP became the largest party in the Lok Sabha for the first time, but the government it formed was short-lived.[44] In the elections of 1998 and 1999, it remained the largest party, and headed the ruling coalition on both occasions.[49] In the 2014 general election, it won an outright majority in parliament. From 1991 onwards, a BJP member has led the Opposition whenever the party was not in power.[74] For the electoral results of the BJP's predecessors, see the JP and BJS articles.

text:
Year

Legislature

Party  Leader

Seats won

Change in seats

% of votes

Vote swing

Outcome

Ref.

1984

8th Lok Sabha

Lal Krishna Advani

2 / 533

 2

7.74

 –

Opposition

[75]

1989

9th Lok Sabha

Lal Krishna Advani

85 / 545

 83

11.36

 3.62

Outside support for NF

[76]

1991

10th Lok Sabha

Lal Krishna Advani

120 / 545

 35

20.11

 8.75

Opposition

[77]

1996

11th Lok Sabha

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

161 / 545

 41

20.29

 0.18

Government, later opposition

[78]

1998

12th Lok Sabha

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

182 / 545

 21

25.59

 5.30

Government

[79]

1999

13th Lok Sabha

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

182 / 545

 0

23.75

 1.84

Government

[80]

2004

14th Lok Sabha

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

138 / 543

 44

22.16

 1.69

Opposition

[81]

2009

15th Lok Sabha

Lal Krishna Advani

116 / 543

 22

18.80

 3.36

Opposition

[82]

2014

16th Lok Sabha

Narendra Modi

282 / 543

 166

31.34

12.54

Government

[83]

text: Ideology and political positions

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text: Social policies and Hindutva

text: The official philosophy of the BJP is "Integral humanism," a philosophy first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965, who described it as advocating an "indigenous economic model that puts the human being at center stage."[84][85] It is committed to Hindutva, an ideology articulated by  Indian independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. According to the party, Hindutva is cultural nationalism favouring Indian culture over westernisation, thus it extends to all Indians regardless of religion.[9] However, scholars and political analysts have called their Hindutva ideology an attempt to redefine India and recast it as a Hindu country to the exclusion of other religions, making it a Hindu nationalist party in a general sense.[40][9][86][87] The BJP has slightly moderated its stance after the NDA was formed in 1998, due to the presence of parties with a broader set of ideologies.[40][49]

text: The BJP's Hindutva ideology has been reflected in many of its government policies. It supports the construction of the Ram temple at the site of the Babri Mosque.[86] This issue was its major poll plank in the 1991 general elections.[86] However, the demolition of the mosque during a BJP rally in 1992 resulted in a backlash against it, leading to a decline of the temple's prominence in its agenda.[86] The education policy of the NDA government reorganised the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and tasked it with extensively revising the textbooks used in Indian schools.[88] Various scholars have stated that this revision, especially in the case of history textbooks, was a covert attempt to "saffronise" Indian history.[88][89][90][91] The NDA government introduced Vedic astrology as a subject in college curricula, despite opposition from several leading scientists.[92]

text: Taking a position against what it calls the "pseudo-secularism" of the Congress party, the BJP instead supports "positive secularism".[86] Vajpayee laid out the BJP's interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi's doctrine of Sarva Dharma Sambhava and contrasted it with what he called European secularism.[93] He had said that Indian secularism attempted to see all religions with equal respect, while European secularism was independent of religion, thus making the former more "positive".[94] The BJP supports a uniform civil code, which would apply a common set of personal laws to every citizen regardless of their personal religion, replacing the existing laws which vary by religious community. According to historian Yogendra Malik, this ignores the differential procedures required to protect the cultural identity of the Muslim minority.[9][86] The BJP favours the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which grants a greater degree of autonomy to the Jammu and Kashmir in recognition of the unusual circumstances surrounding its accession to the Indian union.[9]

text: The BJP opposes illegal migration into India from Bangladesh.[87] The party states that this migration, mostly in the states of Assam and West Bengal, threatens the security, economy and stability of the country.[87] Academics have pointed out that the BJP refers to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh as refugees, and reserves the term "illegal" for Muslim migrants.[87] Academic Michael Gillan writes that this is an attempt to use an emotive issue to mobilise Hindu sentiment in a region where the party has not been historically successful.[87][95]

text: In 2013, the Supreme Court of India reinstated the controversial Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which, among other things, criminalises homosexuality. There was a popular outcry, although clerics, including Muslim religious leaders, stated that they supported the verdict.[96][97] BJP president Rajnath Singh said that the party supported section 377, because it believed that homosexuality was unnatural,[98] though its stand has softened after its victory in the 2014 general elections.[99]Senior party members including Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan openly support the rights of gender and sexual minorities in India. Vanathi Srinivasan BJP leader from Tamil Nadu launched the first book on LGBTQIA and Genderqueer in Tamil penned by Gopi Shankar Madurai.[100][101][102][103]

text: Economic policies

text: The BJP's economic policy has changed considerably since its founding. There is a significant range of economic ideologies within the party. In the 1980s, like the Jana Sangh, it reflected the thinking of the RSS and its affiliates. It supported swadeshi (the promotion of indigenous industries and products) and a protectionist export policy. However, it supported internal economic liberalisation, and opposed the state-driven industrialisation favoured by the Congress.[104]

text: During the 1996 elections, the BJP shifted its stance away from protectionism and towards globalisation; its election manifesto recommended increasing foreign investment in priority sectors, while restricting it in others. When the party was in power in 1998, it shifted its policy even further in favour of globalisation. The tenure of the NDA saw an unprecedented influx of foreign companies in India.[104] This was criticised by the left parties and the BJP's affiliates (the RSS and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch).[104] The communist parties said that the BJP was attempting to appease the World Bank and the United States government through its neoliberal policies.[104] Similarly, the RSS stated that the BJP was not being true to its swadeshi ideology.[104]

text: The two NDA governments in the period 1998-2004 introduced significant deregulation and privatisation of government owned enterprises. It also introduced tariff-reducing measures. These reforms built off of the initial economic liberalisation introduced by the Congress government in the early 1990s.[105] India's GDP growth increased substantially during the tenure of the NDA. The 2004 campaign slogan "India Shining" was based on the party's belief that the free market would bring prosperity to all sectors of society.[106] After its unexpected defeat, commentators said that it was punished for neglecting the needs of the poor and focusing too much on its corporate allies.[64][65][107]

text: This shift in the economic policies of the BJP was also visible in state governments, especially in Gujarat, where the BJP held power for 16 years.[108] Modi's government, in power from 2002 to 2014, followed a strongly neo-liberal agenda, presented as a drive towards development.[109][110] Its policies have included extensive privatisation of infrastructure and services, as well as a significant rollback of labour and environmental regulations. While this was praised by the business community, commentators criticised it as catering to the BJP's upper class constituency instead of the poor.[109][111]

text: Upon his election as Prime Minister in 2014, Modi has largely continued the reformist approach of the last two NDA governments, but unlike Vajpayee, "prefers to bill himself as a messiah of the poor, and not as an economic liberaliser".[112] Modi has been described as taking a more economically populist approach on healthcare and agricultural policy.[113]

text: Defence and counterterrorism

text: Compared to the Congress, the BJP takes a more aggressive and nationalistic position on defence policy and terrorism.[114][115] The Vajpayee-led NDA government carried out nuclear weapons tests, and enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which later came under heavy criticism.[114][115] It also deployed troops to evict infiltrators from Kargil, and supported the United States' War on Terror.[116]

text: Although previous Congress governments developed the capability for a nuclear weapons test, the Vajpayee government broke with India's historical strategy of avoiding it and authorised Pokhran-II, a series of five nuclear tests in 1998.[114] The tests came soon after Pakistan tested a medium-range ballistic missile. They were seen as an attempt to display India's military prowess to the world, and a reflection of anti-Pakistan sentiment within the BJP.[114]

text: The Vajpayee government ordered the Indian armed forces to expel the Pakistani soldiers occupying Kashmir territory, later known as the Kargil War.[117][118] Although the government was later criticised for the intelligence failures that did not detect Pakistani presence, it was successful in ousting them from the previously Indian-controlled territory.[117][118] The Vajpayee administration also offered political support to the US War on Terror, in the hope of better addressing India's issues with terrorism and insurgency in Kashmir. This led to closer defence ties with the US, including negotiations for the sale of weapons.[116]

text: After the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001, the NDA government passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act.[115] The aim of the act was to improve the government's ability to deal with terrorism.[115] It initially failed to pass in the Rajya Sabha; therefore, the NDA took the extraordinary step of convening a joint session of the Parliament, where the numerical superior Lok Sabha allowed the bill to pass.[115] The act was subsequently used to prosecute hundreds of people accused of terrorism.[115] However, it was criticised by opposition parties and scholars for being an infringement upon civil liberties, and the National Human Rights Commission stated that it had been used to target Muslims.[115] It was later repealed by the Congress-led UPA government in 2004.[119]

text: Foreign policy

text: The historical stance of the BJP towards Foreign policy, like the Jana Sangh, was based on an aggressive Hindu nationalism combined with economic protectionism.[120] The Jana Sangh was founded with the explicit aim of reversing the partition of India; as a result, its official position was that the existence of Pakistan was illegitimate.[120] This antagonism toward Pakistan remains a significant influence on the BJP's ideology.[120][121] The party and its affiliates have strongly opposed India's long standing policy of nonalignment, and instead advocate closeness to the United States.[120]

text: The Vajpayee government's foreign policy in many ways represented a radical shift from BJP orthodoxy, while maintaining some aspects of it.[104][121] Its policy also represented a significant change from the Nehruvian idealism of previous governments, opting instead for realism.[122] His party criticised him for adopting a much more moderate stance with Pakistan. In 1998, he made a landmark visit to Pakistan, and inaugurated the Delhi–Lahore Bus service.[120] Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration, which was an attempt to improve Indo-Pakistani relations that deteriorated  after the 1998 nuclear tests.[120] However, the presence of Pakistani soldiers and militants in the disputed Kashmir territory was discovered a few months later, causing the 1999 Kargil War. The war ended a couple of months later, with the expulsion of the infiltrators two months later, without any shift in the Line of Control that marked the de facto border between the two countries.[120] Despite the war, Vajpayee continued to display a willingness to engage Pakistan in dialogue. This was not well received among the BJP cadre, who criticised the government for being "weak".[120] This faction of the BJP asserted itself at the post-Kargil Agra summit, preventing any significant deal from being reached.[120]

text: Organisation and structure

text: In April 2015 the BJP stated that it had more than 100 million registered members, which would make it the world's largest political party by primary membership.[1][123] The organisation of the BJP is strictly hierarchical, with the president being the highest authority in the party.[85] Until 2012, the BJP constitution mandated that any qualified member could be national or state president for a single three-year term.[85] This was amended to a maximum of two consecutive terms.[124] Below the president is the national executive, which contains a variable number of senior leaders from across the country. It is the higher decision making body of the party. Its members are several vice-presidents, general-secretaries, treasurers and secretaries, who work directly with the president.[85] An identical structure, with an executive committee led by a president, exists at the state, regional, district and local level.[85]

text: The BJP is a cadre-based party. It has close connections with other organisations with similar ideology, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The cadres of these groups often supplement the BJP's. Its lower members are largely derived from the RSS and its affiliates, loosely known as the Sangh Parivar:[85]

text:
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (All India Student's Union), the students' wing of the RSS.[85]
The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (Indian Farmer's Union), the farmers' division.[85]
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (Indian Labourers Union), the labour union associated with the RSS.[85]

text: The party has subsidiary organisations of its own, such as:

text:
The BJP Mahila Morcha (BJP Women's Front), its women's division.[85]
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (Indian People's Youth Front), its youth wing.[85]
The BJP Minority Morcha (BJP Minority Front), its minority division.[85]

text: Presence in various states

text: As of October 2018, the BJP has Chief Ministers in 15 states:

text:
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam (with Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People's Front)
Chhattisgarh
Goa (with Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party)
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jharkhand (with All Jharkhand Students Union)
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra (with Shiv Sena and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha)
Manipur (with Naga People's Front, National People's Party and Lok Janshakti Party)
Rajasthan
Tripura (with Indigenous People's Front of Tripura)
Uttar Pradesh (with Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party)
Uttarakhand

text: In 4 other states, it shares power with other political parties. In all these states, the BJP is junior ally in the ruling alliance. The states are:

text:
Bihar (with Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party)
Meghalaya (with National People's Party, United Democratic Party, People's Democratic Front and Hill State People's Democratic Party)
Nagaland (with Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, National People's Party and Janata Dal (United))
Sikkim (with Sikkim Democratic Front)

text: In the past, the BJP has also been the sole party in power in the following states:

text:
Delhi
Karnataka

text: It has been a part of the government in the following states as a junior ally being a part of coalition governments in the past:

text:
Andhra Pradesh (with Telugu Desam Party)
Jammu and Kashmir (with Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party)
Odisha (with Biju Janata Dal)
Puducherry (with All India N.R. Congress)
Punjab (with Shiromani Akali Dal)

text: It has never been a part of the government in the following states:

text:
Kerala
Mizoram
Tamil Nadu
Telangana (However, BJP administered the Telangana region as Andhra Pradesh with its former ally Telugu Desam Party before the state was bifurcated.)
West Bengal

text: It also has a regional political alliance in the North-East named the North-East Democratic Alliance.[125][126][127][128]

text: Current BJP and NDA governments

text:
State/UT

NDA govt. Since

Chief Minister

CM's Party

CM Since

Seats in Assembly

Ref(s)

Gujarat

28 February 1998

Vijay Rupani

BJP

7 August 2016

100/182

[129]

Chhattisgarh

7 December 2003

Raman Singh

BJP

7 December 2003

49/90

[130]

Madhya Pradesh

4 December 2003

Shivraj Singh Chouhan

BJP

29 November 2005

166/230

[131]

Nagaland

8 March 2008

Neiphiu Rio

NDPP

7 March 2018

33/60

[132]

Goa

6 March 2012

Manohar Parrikar

BJP

14 March 2017

24/40

[133]

Rajasthan

8 December 2013

Vasundhara Raje

BJP

13 December 2013

160/200

[134]

Haryana

19 October 2014

Manohar Lal Khattar

BJP

26 October 2014

47/90

[135]

Maharashtra

19 October 2014

Devendra Fadnavis

BJP

31 October 2014

186/288

[136]

Jharkhand

23 December 2014

Raghubar Das

BJP

28 December 2014

47/81

[137]

Assam

24 May 2016

Sarbananda Sonowal

BJP

24 May 2016

86/126

[126][127]

Sikkim

24 May 2016

Pawan Kumar Chamling

SDF

12 December 1994

22/32

[126][127]

Arunachal Pradesh

16 September 2016

Pema Khandu

BJP

16 September 2016

57/60

[138]

Manipur

15 March 2017

N. Biren Singh

BJP

15 March 2017

41/60

[139]

Uttarakhand

18 March 2017

Trivendra Singh Rawat

BJP

18 March 2017

57/70

[140]

Uttar Pradesh

19 March 2017

Yogi Adityanath

BJP

19 March 2017

325/403

[141]

Bihar

27 July 2017

Nitish Kumar

JD(U)

27 July 2017

131/243

Himachal Pradesh

27 December 2017

Jai Ram Thakur

BJP

27 December 2017

44/68

Meghalaya

6 March 2018

Conrad Sangma

NPP

6 March 2018

39/60

Tripura

8 March 2018

Biplab Kumar Deb

BJP

8 March 2018

44/60


document_title: Structure of the Earth

question_text: how many layers in the earth's core

question_tokens: how many layers in the earth 's core

root

text: Structure of the Earth

text: Mass[edit]

text: The force exerted by Earth's gravity can be used to calculate its mass. Astronomers can also calculate Earth's mass by observing the motion of orbiting satellites. Earth’s average density can be determined through gravitometric experiments, which have historically involved pendulums.

tag: p

text: The mass of Earth is about 7024600000000000000♠6×1024 kg.[1]

text: Structure[edit]

text: The structure of Earth can be defined in two ways: by mechanical properties such as rheology, or chemically. Mechanically, it can be divided into lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesospheric mantle, outer core, and the inner core. Chemically, Earth can be divided into the crust, upper mantle, lower mantle, outer core, and inner core. The geologic component layers of Earth[3][not in citation given] are at the following depths below the surface:

text:
Depth
Layer

Kilometres
Miles

0–60
0–37
Lithosphere (locally varies between 5 and 200 km)

0–35
0–22
… Crust (locally varies between 5 and 70 km)

35–60
22–37
… Uppermost part of mantle

35–2,890
22–1,790
Mantle

210-270
130-168
… Upper mesosphere (upper mantle)

660–2,890
410–1,790
… Lower mesosphere (lower mantle)

2,890–5,150
1,790–3,160
Outer core

5,150–6,360
3,160–3,954
Inner core

tag: table

text: The layering of Earth has been inferred indirectly using the time of travel of refracted and reflected seismic waves created by earthquakes. The core does not allow shear waves to pass through it, while the speed of travel (seismic velocity) is different in other layers. The changes in seismic velocity between different layers causes refraction owing to Snell's law, like light bending as it passes through a prism. Likewise, reflections are caused by a large increase in seismic velocity and are similar to light reflecting from a mirror.

text: Crust[edit]

text: The crust ranges from 5–70 kilometres (3.1–43.5 mi) in depth and is the outermost layer. The thin parts are the oceanic crust, which underlie the ocean basins (5–10 km) and are composed of dense (mafic) iron magnesium silicate igneous rocks, like basalt. The thicker crust is continental crust, which is less dense and composed of (felsic) sodium potassium aluminium silicate rocks, like granite. The rocks of the crust fall into two major categories – sial and sima (Suess,1831–1914). It is estimated that sima starts about 11 km below the Conrad discontinuity (a second order discontinuity). The uppermost mantle together with the crust constitutes the lithosphere. The crust-mantle boundary occurs as two physically different events. First, there is a discontinuity in the seismic velocity, which is most commonly known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity or Moho. The cause of the Moho is thought to be a change in rock composition from rocks containing plagioclase feldspar (above) to rocks that contain no feldspars (below). Second, in oceanic crust, there is a chemical discontinuity between ultramafic cumulates and tectonized harzburgites, which has been observed from deep parts of the oceanic crust that have been obducted onto the continental crust and preserved as ophiolite sequences.

text: Many rocks now making up Earth's crust formed less than 100 million (1×108) years ago; however, the oldest known mineral grains are 4.4 billion (4.4×109) years old, indicating that Earth has had a solid crust for at least that long.[4]

text: Mantle[edit]

text: Earth's mantle extends to a depth of 2,890 km, making it the thickest layer of Earth. The mantle is divided into upper and lower mantle. The upper and lower mantle are separated by the transition zone. The lowest part of the mantle next to the core-mantle boundary is known as the D″ (pronounced dee-double-prime[5]) layer. The pressure at the bottom of the mantle is ≈140 GPa (1.4 Matm). The mantle is composed of silicate rocks that are rich in iron and magnesium relative to the overlying crust. Although solid, the high temperatures within the mantle cause the silicate material to be sufficiently ductile that it can flow on very long timescales. Convection of the mantle is expressed at the surface through the motions of tectonic plates. As there is intense and increasing pressure as one travels deeper into the mantle, the lower part of the mantle flows less easily than does the upper mantle (chemical changes within the mantle may also be important). The viscosity of the mantle ranges between 1021 and 1024 Pa·s, depending on depth.[6] In comparison, the viscosity of water is approximately 10−3 Pa·s and that of pitch is 107 Pa·s. The source of heat that drives plate tectonics is the primordial heat left over from the planet’s formation as well as the radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium in Earth’s crust and mantle.[7]

text: Core[edit]

text: The average density of Earth is 5,515 kg/m3. Because the average density of surface material is only around 3,000 kg/m3, we must conclude that denser materials exist within Earth's core. Seismic measurements show that the core is divided into two parts, a "solid" inner core with a radius of ≈1,220 km[8] and a liquid outer core extending beyond it to a radius of ≈3,400 km. The densities are between 9,900 and 12,200 kg/m3 in the outer core and 12,600–13,000 kg/m3 in the inner core.[9]

text: The inner core was discovered in 1936 by Inge Lehmann and is generally believed to be composed primarily of iron and some nickel. It is not necessarily a solid, but, because it is able to deflect seismic waves, it must behave as a solid in some fashion. Experimental evidence has at times been critical of crystal models of the core.[10] Other experimental studies show a discrepancy under high pressure: diamond anvil (static) studies at core pressures yield melting temperatures that are approximately 2000 K below those from shock laser (dynamic) studies.[11][12] The laser studies create plasma,[13] and the results are suggestive that constraining inner core conditions will depend on whether the inner core is a solid or is a plasma with the density of a solid. This is an area of active research.

text: In early stages of Earth's formation about four and a half billion (4.5×109) years ago, melting would have caused denser substances to sink toward the center in a process called planetary differentiation (see also the iron catastrophe), while less-dense materials would have migrated to the crust. The core is thus believed to largely be composed of iron (80%), along with nickel and one or more light elements, whereas other dense elements, such as lead and uranium, either are too rare to be significant or tend to bind to lighter elements and thus remain in the crust (see felsic materials). Some have argued that the inner core may be in the form of a single iron crystal.[14][15]

text: Under laboratory conditions a sample of iron–nickel alloy was subjected to the corelike pressures by gripping it in a vise between 2 diamond tips (diamond anvil cell), and then heating to approximately 4000 K. The sample was observed with x-rays, and strongly supported the theory that Earth's inner core was made of giant crystals running north to south.[16][17]

text: The liquid outer core surrounds the inner core and is believed to be composed of iron mixed with nickel and trace amounts of lighter elements.

text: Recent speculation suggests that the innermost part of the core is enriched in gold, platinum and other siderophile elements.[18]

text: The matter that comprises Earth is connected in fundamental ways to matter of certain chondrite meteorites, and to matter of outer portion of the Sun.[19][20] There is good reason to believe that Earth is, in the main, like a chondrite meteorite. Beginning as early as 1940, scientists, including Francis Birch, built geophysics upon the premise that Earth is like ordinary chondrites, the most common type of meteorite observed impacting Earth, while totally ignoring another, albeit less abundant type, called enstatite chondrites. The principal difference between the two meteorite types is that enstatite chondrites formed under circumstances of extremely limited available oxygen, leading to certain normally oxyphile elements existing either partially or wholly in the alloy portion that corresponds to the core of Earth.

text: Dynamo theory suggests that convection in the outer core, combined with the Coriolis effect, gives rise to Earth's magnetic field. The solid inner core is too hot to hold a permanent magnetic field (see Curie temperature) but probably acts to stabilize the magnetic field generated by the liquid outer core. The average magnetic field strength in Earth's outer core is estimated to be 25 Gauss (2.5 mT), 50 times stronger than the magnetic field at the surface.[21][22]

text: Recent evidence has suggested that the inner core of Earth may rotate slightly faster than the rest of the planet;[23] however, more recent studies in 2011[which?] found this hypothesis to be inconclusive. Options remain for the core which may be oscillatory in nature or a chaotic system.[citation needed] In August 2005 a team of geophysicists announced in the journal Science that, according to their estimates, Earth's inner core rotates approximately 0.3 to 0.5 degrees per year faster relative to the rotation of the surface.[24][25]

text: The current scientific explanation for Earth's temperature gradient is a combination of heat left over from the planet's initial formation, decay of radioactive elements, and freezing of the inner core.


document_title: Upper middle class

question_text: how much money to be upper middle class

question_tokens: how much money to be upper middle class

text: Upper middle class

text: American upper middle class[edit]

text: The American middle class (and its subdivisions) is not a strictly defined concept across disciplines, as economists and sociologists do not agree on defining the term.[4] In academic models, the term "upper middle class" applies to highly-educated, salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed. Many have postgraduate degrees, with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Household incomes commonly may exceed $100,000, with some smaller one-income earners earning incomes in the high five figures.[5] Typical professions for this class include lawyers, physicians, psychologists, certified public accountants, pharmacists, optometrists, stockbrokers, editors, dentists, engineers, professors, architects, school principals, urban planners, civil service executives, and civilian contractors.[3][6]

text: The upper middle class has grown ... and its composition has changed. Increasingly salaried managers and professionals have replaced individual business owners and independent professionals. The key to the success of the upper middle class is the growing importance of educational certification ... its lifestyles and opinions are becoming increasingly normative for the whole society. It is in fact a porous class, open to people ... who earn the right credentials.

text: In addition to having autonomy in their work, above-average incomes, and advanced educations, the upper middle class also tends to be influential, setting trends and largely shaping public opinion.[8] Overall, members of this class are also secure from economic down-turns and, unlike their counterparts in the statistical middle class, do not need to fear downsizing, corporate cost-cutting, or outsourcing—an economic benefit largely attributable to their postgraduate degrees and comfortable incomes, likely in the top income quintile or top third.[1]

text: Income[edit]

text: While many Americans cite income as the prime determinant of class, occupational status, educational attainment, and value systems are equally important variables. Income is in part determined by the scarcity of certain skill sets.[1] An occupation that requires a scarce skill set which is attained through higher educational degree, and which involves higher autonomy, responsibility and influence, will usually offer higher economic compensation. Qualifying for such higher income often requires that individuals obtain the necessary skills (e.g., by attending law, medical, or postgraduate school) and demonstrate the necessary competencies.[9] There are also differences between household and individual income. In 2005, 42% of US households (76% among the top quintile) had two or more income earners; as a result, 18% of households but only 5% of individuals had six-figure incomes.[10] To illustrate, two nurses each making $55,000 per year can out-earn, in a household sense, a single attorney who makes a median of $95,000 annually.[11][12]

text: The sociologists Dennis Gilbert, Willam Thompsonm and Joseph Hickey estimate the upper middle class to constitute roughly 15% of the population. Using the 15% figure one may conclude that the American upper middle class consists, strictly in an income sense, of professionals with personal incomes in excess of $62,500, who commonly reside in households with six-figure incomes.[5][10][13] The difference between personal and household income can be explained by considering that 76% of households with incomes exceeding $90,000 (the top 20%) had two or more income earners.[10]

text:
Income statistics[14][15]

Data
Top third
Top quarter
Top quintile
Top 15%
Top 10%
Top 5%

Household income[14]

Lower threshold (annual gross income)
$65,000
$80,000
$91,705
$100,000
$118,200
$166,200

Exact percentage of households
34.72%
25.60%
20.00%
17.80%
10.00%
5.00%

Personal income (age 25+)[15]

Lower threshold (annual gross income)
$37,500
$47,500
$52,500
$62,500
$75,000
$100,000

Exact percentage of individuals
33.55%
24.03%
19.74%
14.47%
10.29%
5.63%

text: Note that the above income thresholds may vary greatly based on region due to significant differences in average income based on region and urban, suburban, or rural development. In more expensive suburbs, the threshold for the top 15% of income earners may be much higher. For example, in 2006 the ten highest income counties had median household incomes of $85,000 compared to a national average of about $50,000. The top 15% of all US income earners nationally tend to be more concentrated in these richer suburban counties where the cost of living is also higher. If middle-class households earning between the 50th percentile ($46,000) and the 85th percentile ($62,500) tend to live in lower cost of living areas, then their difference in real income may be smaller than what the differences in nominal income suggest.

text: Values[edit]

text: Upper-middle-class people statistically highly value higher education for themselves and their children, favouring pursuit of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

text: Political ideology is not found to be correlated with social class; however, a statistical relationship is seen between the level of one's educational attainment one's likelihood of subscribing to a particular political ideology. In terms of income, liberals tend to be tied with pro-business conservatives.[16] Most mass affluent households tend to be more right-leaning on fiscal issues but more left-leaning on social issues.[17] The majority, between 50% and 60%, of households with incomes above $50,000 overall, not all of whom are upper middle class,[7] supported the Republican Party in the 2000, 2004, and 2006 elections.[18][18][19] Nevertheless, those with postgraduate degrees overall statistically favour the Democratic Party.[19][20][21] In 2005, 72% of surveyed full-time faculty members at four-year institutions, the majority of whom would be considered upper middle class,[1] identified themselves as liberal.[22]

text: The upper middle class is often the dominant group to shape society and bring social movements to the forefront. Movements such as the peace movement, the anti-nuclear movement, environmentalism, the anti-smoking movement, and even in the past with blue laws and the temperance movement have been in large part (although not solely), products of the upper middle class. Some claim this is because this is the largest class (and the lowest class) with any true political power for positive change, while others claim some of the more restrictive social movements (such as with smoking and drinking) are based upon "saving people from themselves."[3]

text: British upper middle class[edit]

text: The upper middle class in Britain traditionally consists of the educated professionals who were born into higher income backgrounds, such as legal professionals or executives. This stratum, in England, traditionally uses received pronunciation natively. A typical Mosaic geodemographic type for this group would be cultural leadership. It is also usually assumed that this class is most predominant in the home counties of South East England and the more affluent boroughs of London. Children of this group are often educated at a preparatory school until about 13 years old and then at one of the "major" or "minor" British public schools[23][24] which will typically charge fees of at least £11,500 per year per pupil (as of 2013)[25][26] followed by one of the most prestigious universities, often within the Russell Group.

text: French upper middle class[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2016)

text: Monique Pinçon-Charlot and Michel Pinçon, sociologists at the French National Center for Scientific Research, suggest that members of the French upper middle class live off their estates, not their salaries.[27] Nevertheless, Catherine Comet and Jean Finez, professors at Lille University of Science and Technology, argue that the French upper middle class is made up of business executives, high-ranking civil servants, surgeons, and the owners of large vineyards.[28]


document_title: Planet of the Apes (1968 film)

question_text: where was the planet of the apes statue of liberty scene filmed

text: Planet of the Apes (1968 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Astronauts Taylor (Charlton Heston), Landon (Robert Gunner) and Dodge (Jeff Burton) are in deep hibernation when their spaceship crashes in a lake on an unknown planet after a long near-light speed voyage, during which they aged 18 months due to time dilation while their fourth crewmate Stewart died and decayed due to a malfunction. The three survivors abandon ship when it immediately starts sinking, Taylor remaining on long enough to see the date is November 25, 3978, approximately two millennia after their departure in 1972. Once ashore, Dodge performs a soil test and pronounces the soil incapable of sustaining life.

text: After abandoning their raft, the astronauts set off through a desolate wasteland in hopes of finding food and water before their provisions run out. They encounter plant life and go swimming at an oasis at the edge of the desert, ignoring eerie scarecrow-like figures around the edge. While they are swimming, their clothes are stolen. The astronauts pursue the thieves, finding their clothes torn to shreds and their supplies pillaged as the perpetrators, a group of mute primitive humans, raid a cornfield. The primitive humans are then set upon by armed gorillas on horseback who capture some of them while killing the rest, Dodge being killed in the chaos while Landon is rendered unconscious. Taylor is shot in the throat and captured alongside the primitive humans, taken to Ape City where his life is saved after a blood transfusion administered by two chimpanzees: animal psychologist Zira (Kim Hunter) and surgeon Galen (Wright King).

text: While unable to speak as his throat wound is healing, called "Bright Eyes" by Zira and placed with one of the captive primitive humans he later names "Nova", Taylor observes the enhanced society of talking apes and in a strict caste system: the gorillas being the military police, hunters and workers; the orangutans overseeing the affairs of government, science, and religion; and intellectual chimpanzees being mostly scientists. While their society is a theocracy similar to the beginnings of the human Industrial Era, the apes consider the primitive humans as vermin that are hunted, either killed outright, enslaved, or used in scientific experiments.

text: Taylor eventually gets Zira's attention, convincing her of his intelligence as she and her fiancé Cornelius (Roddy McDowall), an archaeologist, take an interest in him. The couple's orangutan superior, Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), learns of this and arranges for Taylor to be castrated. Taylor escapes before the castration can occur, passing through a museum during his desperate flight through Ape City where he finds Dodge's stuffed and eyeless corpse on display. When Taylor is recaptured by gorillas, he overcomes his throat injury while roaring: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!"

text: A hearing to determine Taylor's origins is convened by the president of the Assembly (James Whitmore), Dr. Zaius, and Maximus (Woodrow Parfrey). Dr. Honorious (James Daly) is the prosecutor. Taylor mentions his two comrades at this time, learning that Landon was subjected to a lobotomy that has rendered him catatonic and unable to speak.  After the tribunal, believing Taylor to be of a human tribe from beyond their borders, Zaius privately threatens to castrate and lobotomize Taylor for the truth about where he came from. With help from Zira's socially rebellious nephew Lucius (Lou Wagner), Zira and Cornelius free Taylor and Nova and take them to the Forbidden Zone, a taboo region outside Ape City that has been ruled out of bounds for centuries by Ape Law where Taylor's ship crashed. While Cornelius and Zira are intent to gather proof of an earlier non-simian civilization which the former came upon a year prior to be cleared of heresy, Taylor is more focused on the evolution of the ape world and to prove he is not of that world.

text: Arriving at the cave, Cornelius is intercepted by Zaius and his soldiers, with Taylor holding them off while threatening to shoot if he has to. Zaius agrees to enter the cave to disprove their theories and to avoid physical harm to Cornelius and Zira. Inside, Cornelius displays the remnants of a technologically advanced human society pre-dating simian history. Taylor identifies artifacts such as dentures, eyeglasses, a heart valve and, to the apes' astonishment, a talking children's doll. More soldiers appear and Lucius is overpowered, but Taylor holds Zaius hostage so he can arrange his escape. Zaius admits to Taylor that he always knew of the ancient human civilization, revealing that "the Forbidden Zone was once a paradise, your breed made a desert of it... ages ago!" Taylor nonetheless thinks it best to search for answers, despite being warned that he may not like what he finds. Once Taylor and Nova have ridden off, Dr. Zaius has the gorillas lay explosives to seal off the cave and destroy the evidence while charging Zira, Cornelius and Lucius with heresy.

text: Taylor and Nova, at last free, follow the shoreline and discover the remains of the Statue of Liberty, revealing that this "alien" planet is actually Earth long after a nuclear war. Realizing what Zaius meant earlier, Taylor falls to his knees in despair and anger while condemning humanity for destroying the world.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Charlton Heston as George Taylor
Roddy McDowall as Cornelius
Kim Hunter as Zira
Maurice Evans as Dr. Zaius
James Whitmore as President of the Assembly
James Daly as Honorious
Linda Harrison as Nova
Robert Gunner as Landon
Lou Wagner as Lucius
Woodrow Parfrey as Maximus
Jeff Burton as Dodge
Buck Kartalian as Julius
Norman Burton as Hunt Leader
Wright King as Dr. Galen
Paul Lambert as Minister

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Origins[edit]

text: Producer Arthur P. Jacobs bought the rights for the Pierre Boulle novel before its publication in 1963.  Jacobs pitched the production to many studios, but was passed over. After Jacobs made a successful debut as a producer doing 1964's What a Way to Go! (1964) for 20th Century Fox and begun pre-production of another movie for the studio, Doctor Dolittle, he managed to convince Fox vice-president Richard D. Zanuck to greenlight Planet of the Apes.[9]

text: One script that came close to being made was written by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, though it was finally rejected for a number of reasons. A prime concern was cost, as the technologically advanced ape society portrayed by Serling's script would have involved expensive sets, props, and special effects. The previously blacklisted screenwriter Michael Wilson was brought in to rewrite Serling's script and, as suggested by director Franklin J. Schaffner, the ape society was made more primitive as a way of reducing costs. Serling's stylized twist ending was retained, and became one of the most famous movie endings of all time. The exact location and state of decay of the Statue of Liberty  changed over several storyboards. One version depicted the statue buried up to its nose in the middle of a jungle while another depicted the statue in pieces.[9]

text: To convince the Fox Studio that a Planet of the Apes film could be made, the producers shot a brief test scene from a Rod Serling draft of the script, using early versions of the ape makeup. Charlton Heston appeared as an early version of Taylor (named Thomas, as he was in the Serling-penned drafts), Edward G. Robinson appeared as Zaius, while two then-unknown Fox contract actors, James Brolin and Linda Harrison, played Cornelius and Zira. This test footage is included on several DVD releases of the film, as well as the documentary Behind the Planet of the Apes. Linda Harrison, at the time the girlfriend of studio chief Richard Zanuck, went on to play Nova in the 1968 film and its first sequel, and had a cameo in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes more than 30 years later, which was also produced by Zanuck. Although Harrison often opined that the producers had always had her in mind for the role of Nova, they had, in fact, considered first Ursula Andress, then Raquel Welch, and Angelique Pettyjohn. When these three women proved unavailable or uninterested, Zanuck gave the part to Harrison. Dr. Zaius was originally to have been played by Robinson, but he backed out due to the heavy makeup and long sessions required to apply it.[10] Robinson later made his final film, Soylent Green (1973), opposite his one-time Ten Commandments (1956) co-star Heston.

text: Michael Wilson's rewrite kept the basic structure of Serling's screenplay but rewrote all the dialogue and set the script in a more primitive society. According to associate producer Mort Abrahams an additional uncredited writer (his only recollection was that the writer's last name was Kelly) polished the script, rewrote some of the dialogue and included some of the more heavy-handed tongue-in-cheek dialogue ("I never met an ape I didn't like") which wasn't in either Serling or Wilson's drafts. According to Abraham some scenes, such as the one where the judges imitate the "See no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil" monkeys, were improvised on the set by director Franklin J. Schaffner and kept in the final film because of the audience reaction during test screenings prior to release.[11][page needed] During filming John Chambers, who designed prosthetic make up in the film,[6] held training sessions at 20th Century-Fox studios, where he mentored other make-up artists of the film.[12]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Filming began on May 21, 1967, and ended on August 10, 1967.  Most of the early scenes of a desert-like terrain were shot in northern Arizona near the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, Lake Powell,[11]:61 Glen Canyon[11]:61 and other locations near Page, Arizona[11]:59 Most scenes of the ape village, interiors and exteriors, were filmed on the Fox Ranch[11]:68 in Malibu Creek State Park, northwest of Los Angeles, essentially the backlot of 20th Century Fox. The concluding beach scenes were filmed on a stretch of California seacoast between Malibu and Oxnard with cliffs that towered 130 feet above the shore. Reaching the beach on foot was virtually impossible, so cast, crew, film equipment, and even horses had to be lowered in by helicopter.[11]:79 The home movies of Roddy McDowall (on YouTube) show makeup, the Ape Village set and the beach site/set - a wooden ramp was built around the point from Westward Beach to Pirates Cove for access to the beach set.  The remains of the Statue of Liberty were shot in a secluded cove on the far eastern end of Westward Beach, between Zuma Beach and Point Dume in Malibu.[13] As noted in the documentary Behind the Planet of the Apes,[9] the special effect shot of the half-buried statue was achieved by seamlessly blending a matte painting with existing cliffs. The shot looking down at Taylor was done from a 70-foot scaffold, angled over a 1/2-scale papier-mache model of the Statue. The actors in Planet of the Apes were so affected by their roles and wardrobe that, when not shooting, they automatically segregated themselves with the species they were portraying.[14]

text: Taylor's spacecraft[edit]

text: The spacecraft onscreen is never actually named in the film.  But for the 40th anniversary release of the Blu-ray edition of the film, in the  short-film created for the release called A Public Service Announcement from ANSA, the ship is called "Liberty 1".[15] The ship had originally been called "Immigrant One" in an early draft of the script, and then called "Air Force One" in a test set of Topps Collectible cards, and dubbed "Icarus" by a fan; that name gained popularity among Ape fandom.[15][16]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Planet of the Apes was well received by critics and is widely regarded as a classic film and one of the best films of 1968, applauded for its imagination and its commentary on a possible world gone upside down.[17][18] Pauline Kael called it "one of the most entertaining science-fiction fantasies ever to come out of Hollywood."[19] As of  July 5, 2018[update], the film held a 87% approval rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 54 reviews with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Planet of the Apes raises thought-provoking questions about our culture without letting social commentary get in the way of the drama and action."[20] In 2008, the film was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[21]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The film won an honorary Academy Award for John Chambers for his outstanding make-up achievement. The film was nominated for Best Costume Design (Morton Haack) and Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) (Jerry Goldsmith).[22] The score is known for its avant-garde compositional techniques, as well as the use of unusual percussion instruments and extended performance techniques, as well as his 12-note music (the violin part using all 12 chromatic notes) to give an eerie, unsettled feel to the planet, mirroring the sense of placelessness.

text:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies—Nominated[23]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills—#59
AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
Colonel George Taylor—Nominated Hero[24]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"—#66
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores—#18
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)—Nominated[25]
AFI's 10 Top 10—Nominated Science Fiction Film[26]

text: Legacy[edit]

text: Original series sequels[edit]

text: Writer Rod Serling was brought back to work on an outline for a sequel. Serling's outline was ultimately discarded in favor of a story by associate producer Mort Abrahams and writer Paul Dehn, which became the basis for Beneath the Planet of the Apes.[11][page needed] The original film series had four sequels:

text:
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

text: Television series[edit]

text:
Planet of the Apes (1974)
Return to the Planet of the Apes (animated) (1975)

text: Remake[edit]

text: Planet of the Apes (2001): The film was a re-imagining of the original film, directed by Tim Burton.

text: Reboot series[edit]

text:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011): A series reboot, directed by Rupert Wyatt, was released in August 5, 2011 to critical and commercial success. It is the first installment in the new series of films.[8]
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014): The second entry in the Planet of the Apes reboot series, directed by Matt Reeves, was released in July 11, 2014.[27][28]
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017): The third film in the reboot series, directed by Matt Reeves, was released on July 14, 2017.[29][30][31]

text: Comics[edit]

text: Comic book adaptations of the films were published by Gold Key (1970) and Marvel Comics (b/w magazine 1974-77,[32] color comic book 1975-76[33]). Malibu Comics reprinted the Marvel adaptations when they had the license in the early 1980s. Dark Horse Comics published an adaptation for the 2001 Tim Burton film. Currently Boom! Studios has the licensing rights to Planet of the Apes. Their stories tell the tale of Ape City and its inhabitants before Taylor arrived. However, in July 2014, it was announced that Boom! Studios and IDW Publishing will do a crossover between Planet of the Apes and Star Trek the original series.

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: A parody of the film series titled "The Milking of the Planet That Went Ape" was published in Mad Magazine. It was illustrated by Mort Drucker and written by Arnie Kogen in regular issue #157, March 1973.[34]

text: Numerous parodies and references have appeared in films and other media, including Spaceballs, The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, South Park, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory and the Madagascar films.[citation needed]

text: The film is also alluded to in literature, most notably in Junot Díaz's Pulitzer-winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007).[citation needed]

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
The crash of the astronauts' spacecraft was partially filmed in and around Lake Powell.

Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River, near Page, Arizona, was a part of the Forbidden Zone, through which Taylor, Zira, and Cornelius fled Ape City.

Malibu Creek State Park, part of which was formerly the 20th Century Fox Movie Ranch, was the location of the astronauts' initial encounter with primitive humans and superior apes, and of Cornelius, Zira and Taylor's escape from Ape City.

The final scene was filmed at Point Dume's Westward Beach on the Malibu coast.

The cliff face of Point Dume is obscured by the matte painting of the Statue of Liberty.


document_title: Piper Halliwell

question_text: who does piper end up with in charmed

question_tokens: who does piper end up with in charmed

text: Piper Halliwell

text: Casting and development[edit]

text: In 1998, The WB began searching for a drama series, and looked to Spelling Television, which had produced the network's most successful series 7th Heaven, to create it. Expanding on the popularity of supernatural-themed dramas, the production company explored forms of mythology to find mythological characters they could focus on with contemporary storytelling.[1] In order to create the series, Constance M. Burge was hired as the creator as she was under contract with 20th Century Fox and Spelling Television after conceiving the drama Savannah.[1]

text: The character of Piper Halliwell was conceived by Burge, who wrote the pilot script for Charmed. The pilot script was based around three mismatched sisters[1] who are initially based on Burge and her two older sisters, Laura and Edie Burge.[2][3] Piper is based on Burge's second-oldest sister Edie.[3] On creating Piper, Burge stated "The middle sibling typically tends to be a real people pleaser and very funny, tends to deal with life with a lot of humour. That really applied to my sister, Edie and so I could see the character of Piper [through her]."[2] Executive producer Brad Kern stated that Piper was written into the series as "the middle sister just trying to keep the peace, trying to find love, trying to find her career, and trying to keep Prue and Phoebe from killing each other."[1]

text: When the series was in its first development stages, executive producer Aaron Spelling had always known who he wanted for the role of Prue, Shannen Doherty, an actress from a previous Spelling Television series, Beverly Hills, 90210. Doherty already devoted to the project pitched the idea of her best friend for the role of Piper Halliwell, former Picket Fences actress Holly Marie Combs. Doherty played the role of Prue in a 28-minute test pilot (the "unaired pilot", never aired on television) alongside Combs and actress Lori Rom who played the youngest sister Phoebe Halliwell. By the time Charmed aired on The WB, Rom had been replaced by former Who's the Boss actress Alyssa Milano.[2]

text: Appearances[edit]

text: Television[edit]

text: Piper is the second eldest Halliwell sister and is portrayed by Holly Marie Combs in all of the show's aired 178 episodes as well as the unaired pilot, making Combs the only cast member to appear in the complete series and the first pilot. At the start of season one (1998–99), six months have passed since the death of her Grams, Penny Halliwell (Jennifer Rhodes). Piper having already moved back into her family's Victorian Manor with her eldest sister Prue (Shannen Doherty), is later joined by their youngest sister Phoebe (Alyssa Milano).[4] On the night of Phoebe's return, she finds a book called the Book of Shadows within the Manor's attic.[4] After Phoebe unknowingly recites aloud what turns out to be an incantation from the book, the three sisters each receive a magical power and discover their destiny as The Charmed Ones – the most powerful good witches the world has ever known.[4] Initially Piper receives the power to "freeze" her surrounding environment, beginning as she freezes her chef boss in a timed situation. A major plot for the first episode of the series focuses on Piper realizing that her boyfriend, Jeremy (Eric Scott Woods), is a warlock, when he seizes upon the opportunity to kill her for her powers, forcing Piper and her sisters to vanquish him.[4] Due to her role as the middle sister, Piper is often regarded as the peacemaker of the group as she often attempts to keep the peace between the headstrong Prue and free-spirited Phoebe. During this season, Piper works at the restaurant Quake as a chef and later as its manager. She develops an on-again off-again relationship with the handy-man Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause) who she later discovers to be her whitelighter – a guardian angel for good witches.[5]

text: In the second season (1999–2000), Piper has quit her job at Quake and has ventured into running her own business in the form of the nightclub P3.[6] After her split with Leo, due to the strenuous nature his Whitelighter duties place on their romantic relationship, Piper begins to date her neighbor Dan Gordon (Greg Vaughan) in an attempt at a normal relationship.[7] This causes major conflict as Leo and Piper retain lingering feelings for one another resulting in a love triangle between the three characters. As Piper hones her skills as a witch and a business owner, she eventually comes to the conclusion that despite her love for Dan, her heart will always belong to Leo.[8] Piper later breaks up with Dan[9] and reconciles with Leo.[10] In the season two finale, Piper and her sisters discover that the many attacks on their lives by evil beings have been orchestrated by a demonic force known as The Council.[11] Piper also desires to learn more about Leo's life as a whitelighter and asks him to take her to meet The Elders, senior whitelighters who act as the authoritative council for all of good magic.[11] The couple are last seen orbing off to The Elders' heavenly realm.[11]

text: In season three (2000–01), after being detained "Up There" for a month, Piper and Leo are told by The Elders to end their relationship or Leo will no longer be the sisters' whitelighter.[12] Leo subsequently proposes marriage to Piper claiming that once married The Elders will not have the power to break them apart.[12] Leo and Piper attempt to wed in secret during a solar eclipse, a phenomenon which prevents those "Up There" from looking down on Earth, but are caught in the act when The Elders are informed of the wedding by The Triad (who have replaced The Council), who in turn learned of the wedding through their demonic spy Cole Turner (Julian McMahon).[13] Leo is taken into captivity by The Elders as punishment for breaking their rules and Piper is left heartbroken.[13] After Piper makes the choice to continue to protect innocents despite losing Leo, The Elders return Leo to Earth.[14] The Elders allow the couple to prove that their relationship will not interfere with their greater calling.[14] Leo and Piper are finally allowed to wed in mid-season three.[15] Piper and her sisters eventually learn that The Triad work for an even greater evil, The Source of All Evil who is the leader of the demonic realm known as The Underworld.[16] Before the season's end, Piper acquires her second magical ability, the power to cause explosions.[17] During the season three finale, Prue and Piper unwittingly expose themselves as witches to the world after being caught on camera by a local news crew fighting with The Source's personal assassin Shax.[18] In the aftermath of the exposure, Piper is shot by a crazed Wiccan fanatic who wanted to join the sisters' coven and dies in the arms of Prue.[18] In order to save her sister's life, Prue orders Leo to find Phoebe and pass on a deal to The Source to turn back time. This would reset the exposure of magic and save Piper's life. The Source agrees, knowing that he plans to double cross her in the end as Phoebe will be immune to the time reset while in The Underworld. In the end Phoebe will not be able to warn her sisters' of the assassin attack and he will kill her himself. Time is reversed to the sisters' first encounter with Shax,[18] however Phoebe no longer answers when Prue calls for help, as she was never sent back. The season ends on a cliffhanger with Piper and Prue left for dead after losing in the fight against Shax.[18] Meanwhile, Phoebe remains trapped in The Underworld.[18]

text: In the opening episode of the fourth season (2001–02), "Charmed Again (Part 1)", it is revealed Piper has been healed of her injuries from the season three finale and Prue was unable to be saved.[19] Piper attempts numerous spells to resurrect Prue to no avail, and when she comes into contact with her Grams, it is revealed that Prue is still struggling to adjust to being in the afterlife and that she is being helped to process her actual death by both Penny and the girls' mother Patty Halliwell (Finola Hughes).[19] Penny also reveals to Piper that Prue cannot be summoned back to Earth because seeing Prue would not allow the sisters to grieve and move on to continue their destiny.[19] This leads to Piper being broken and outraged towards everyone around her, especially to Leo which she states "saved the wrong sister". Finally accepting Prue is really gone, she attends the funeral of her big sister. This results in Phoebe having a premonition to save a young girl at the funeral and later discovering her identity as their younger half-sister Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan). A love child between their mother and her whitelighter, who was kept secret because of her whitelighter heritage.[19] Piper struggles to accept the new sister and role of the now eldest sibling as she and Paige initially butt heads,[20][21][22] but eventually grow to have a mutual respect for each other.[23] With the addition of Paige, Piper and Phoebe are able to reconstitute the Power of Three and avenge Prue's death in vanquishing her murderer Shax and The Source himself twice – both in his original incarnation[24] and that of his next incarnation, Cole.[23] The sisters are later visited by the Angel of Destiny (Dakin Matthews) and given an offer to live a normal life without magical powers or the threat of demons.[25] After Piper declines alongside her sisters, the Angel informs her that she is pregnant with her first child.[25]

text: In season five (2002–03), the powers of her unborn child makes Piper indestructible. Initially, the baby makes her self-healing,[26] and later protects her with a force field.[27] When the child is born, to everyone's surprise, a boy—in a trip to the future she had only seen a daughter[28]—Piper names him Wyatt Matthew Halliwell.[29] Piper's son is discovered to be The Twice-Blessed Child, the most powerful magical being of all time, which attracts even more demons into the sisters' lives.[30] In the fifth-season finale, a whitelighter from the future named Chris (Drew Fuller) arrives to assist the sisters against the ancient Titans of mythology.[31] After the Elders are forced into hiding by the Titans, Chris manipulates events so that Leo has to become an Elder, causing him to separate from Piper.[32] Piper is so angry that she initially refuses to give up her temporary powers (those of Demeter, Goddess of Earth), though Leo uses his newfound powers to artificially alleviate her pain.[32]

text: In season six (2003–04), Piper again clings to goddess powers when she finds temporarily becoming a valkyrie a better alternative than living with the pain of Leo leaving her.[33] Her sisters use a spell to bring back Piper's feelings of loss.[33] She begins to recover from her separation from Leo and date again, though Chris (in reality, Piper's second son from the future) tries to stop this from happening. Chris is able to temporarily reunite Piper and Leo in the episode "The Courtship of Wyatt's Father" in order to ensure his conception.[34] After gaining the sisters' trust, Chris informs them that his true mission is to prevent Wyatt from growing up to be the evil dictator he becomes in the future. Unlike her pregnancy with Wyatt, the pregnancy with Chris offers Piper no protection and she is forced to relocate to Magic School, with Wyatt, for her own protection. The Elder Gideon (Gildart Jackson), also headmaster of Magic School, attempts to kill baby Wyatt in order to prevent this future but is killed by Leo in the season six finale, the same episode in which future Chris dies and present-day Chris is born.[35]

text: Season seven (2004–05) starts with Piper and Leo attending two Indian friends' wedding, where they are possessed by the spirits of two passing Hindu deities, Shakti and Shiva.[36] Piper uses these powers to defend herself from demons dispatched to kill her by old enemy Barbas (Billy Drago).[36] In the episode "Someone to Witch Over Me", Leo concedes to the offer of membership extended by The Avatars (powerful neutral beings who seek to create a Utopian reality).[37] He informs Piper of his decision in the episode "There's Something About Leo"[38] and later urges the sisters to join sides with The Avatars in their plan to turn the world into a utopia against the warnings of Paige's boyfriend Kyle Brody (Kerr Smith) and The Elders.[39] Realising the Utopia robs people of their free will, Leo sacrifices himself.[40] Piper realises her children's pain over their father's loss and allies with The Underworld's new leader, Zankou (Oded Fehr), to force The Avatars to rewind time to before the change took place.[40] Leo later chooses to return to Piper in the 150th episode, "The Seven Year Witch", at the expense of his magical abilities, becoming mortal.[41] Piper and Leo encounter evil Future Wyatt (Wes Ramsey) for themselves in the episode "Imaginary Fiends", but are able to stop the last impediment to his becoming a power for good.[42] In the season seven finale, the sisters are forced to fake their deaths after they destroy Zankou and escape the constant threat of demon attacks, as well as police and government investigations.[43]

text: The eighth and final season (2005–06) begins with the sisters assuming new identities (those of their fictitious cousins), with Piper assuming the identity of Jenny Bennett (Beatrice Rosen)[44] and later Jamie Bennett (Regan Nicole Wallake).[45] The sisters also take on neophyte witch Billie Jenkins (Kaley Cuoco) to do some of their magical legwork for them when she discovers who they really are. They later resume their real identities in the episode "Rewitched" with the help of federal agent Murphy (Brandon Quinn) in exchange for helping the FBI handle supernatural investigations.[46] An Angel of Destiny (Denise Dowse) seizes Leo in the episode "Vaya Con Leos" to motivate Piper against their final threat as Charmed Ones.[47] This turns out to be Billie and her sister, Christy (Marnette Patterson), who believe the sisters have stopped using their powers for good.[48] In the penultimate episode, "Kill Billie, Vol. 2", the two sets of sisters undertake an all-out battle, which destroys the Halliwell Manor, and only Piper and Billie survive.[49] In the series finale, "Forever Charmed", Piper uses cupid Coop's (Victor Webster) time-traveling ring to call upon her mother and grandmother and save the lives of her sisters.[50] After Christy is defeated, Piper and her sisters write about their lives in the Book of Shadows. An epilogue depicts Piper with her three children including the addition of a daughter who she calls Melinda, and then living to old age (played by Ellen Geer) and being surrounded by children and grandchildren.[50]

text: Literature[edit]

text: As one of the central characters throughout the entire series, Piper appears in the majority of Charmed literature. These appearances first began in the series of novels. The novels follow no strict continuity with the series or each other, and are often considered to be non-canon. However, the television series producers have final approval of everything in the novels,[51] which could indicate the literature fitting into the established canon of the series and the so-called "Charmed universe".[52] Piper's first appearance in Charmed literature takes place within the novel The Power of Three by Eliza Willard on November 1, 1999, which acts as a novelised version of the series premiere episode. Her last appearance in a Charmed novel takes place within Trickery Treat by Diana G. Gallagher on January 1, 2008.

text: In 2010, Charmed gained an officially licensed continuation in the form of a comic book, which is often billed as Charmed: Season 9. The series is published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. Set eighteen-months after the series finale, the sisters are seen living happy demon free lives and have each entered into motherhood. Piper has had a third child, a girl named Prudence Melinda and is planning on opening her own restaurant.[53] In Issue #4, Mortal Enemies, Piper develops a new power in the form of distorting the molecules of objects when she melts the ground to trap the resurrected Source of All Evil.[54]

text: Powers and abilities[edit]

text: Magical powers[edit]

text: In Charmed it is revealed that magical witches can develop and master a variety of magical skills and powers which include scrying,[7] spell casting,[4] and brewing potent potions.[55] As a magical witch Piper can utilize scrying, a divination art form that allows one to locate a missing object or person. Piper can also cast spells, often written in iambic pentameter or as a rhyming couplet, to influence others or the world around her. She can also brew potions, most often used to vanquish foes or to achieve other magical feats similar to the effects of a spell. As a witch and Charmed One, Piper has also developed a number of magical powers which include molecular immobilization, molecular combustion, and molecular acceleration.

text: Molecular Immobilization[edit]

text: As Piper first comes into her powers, the first power she develops is the ability to slow down molecular motion so that objects, people, and even energy discharges instantly freeze in place. In the Charmed series, certain magical powers are attached to emotional triggers, although all powers can be affected by the user's emotions. For Piper, the emotional trigger for her freezing power is panic induced situations which enact a fear response.[4] At first Piper would freeze everything in the immediate area whenever startled. Gradually, Piper learned to control this ability and freeze everything in the immediate area by a conscious act of will and gesturing. She must be able to gesture to activate her freezing power and cannot do so without using her hands. Piper also learns to selectively freeze specific objects of her choosing, rather than everything in the entire area.[56] When Piper was new to her powers, objects she froze would eventually regain their mobility on their own, usually after several seconds. She later learns to unfreeze at will, even freezing an entire object, then unfreezing only part of it. This can be seen in the season three episode, "Sleuthing with the Enemy", at which point Piper freezes a Zohtar demon named Krell (Scott MacDonald) in midair, then unfreezes his head in order to interrogate him.[16]

text: The mass of an object seems to be no restriction on her power. Instead, the limitation of her freezing power appears to be determined by the size of the area, and she can freeze anything (except those entities immune to her powers) in the area of effect. The exact limitation has never been determined. Indoors, however, Piper is limited by the room she is in. She can freeze objects in the same room and cannot freeze anything outside the room, unless she has an unobstructed path to those objects, such as through an open door or window. Certain entities have proven resistant or immune to her freezing ability, such as ghosts, furies, and certain demons and warlocks. However, as the series progresses, less and less enemies are immune to her power as it grows to the point that even The Triad, very powerful upper-level demons are frozen by it during the Charmed Ones final confrontation with their physical selves. Notably, unlike how one proved vulnerable to her combustion power, this was while the Triad was still at full power though they were seen to be starting to unfreeze before Piper unfroze them herself.

text: In the season two episode, "Morality Bites", Piper travels ten years into the future from the year 1999 and inhabits her future self's body.[28] In the episode, Piper discovers that in ten years time, her freezing power becomes ten times stronger allowing her to instantly freeze an entire city block.[28] After returning to the present, Piper never realizes the growth of this level of power before the series comes to an end.

text: Molecular Combustion[edit]

text: In late season three, Piper gains the ability to cause objects or evil beings to spontaneously explode using her hands.[17] As explained by Leo in the episode "Exit Strategy", "[Piper's] powers work by slowing down molecules, and apparently now [she] can speed them up as well."[17] Unlike her freezing power, this new ability is triggered by anger and frustration, but is also controllable by conscious act of will and hand gestures. She also proves able to cause magical energy discharges[37] and even living entities to explode.[17] However, the limitations on her explosive power are even less clear than those of her freezing ability, but appear to be determined by an object's size and durability. The largest object she ever caused to explode was a truck door entrance to a warehouse.[20] It once took her four tries to break down a much smaller gate, although this object was magically reinforced.[57] Over the course of the series, Piper's power grows to the point that even the most powerful demons are affected by it; she is able to vanquish Jeric, an Egyptian demon so powerful that in the past his enemies were only able to mummify him. She was also able to vanquish one of The Triad, three very powerful demons who had no known way of vanquishing them with just three hits from the power, albeit after he was weakened by the vanquish of one of his comrades. In later seasons, she also displayed the ability to deflect enemy attacks back at them in a similar way to telekinesis.

text: Molecular Acceleration[edit]

text: In the Charmed comics, specifically in Issue #4, Mortal Enemies, Piper develops a new power in the form of distorting the molecules of objects when she melts the ground to trap the resurrected Source of All Evil.[54] This power allows Piper to reverberate molecules at a speed which causes them to become disordered, resulting in either melting or burning.[54] Heat and fire can be created with the power also, as seen in Issue #9, The All or Nothing.[58]

text: Natural abilities[edit]

text: Piper is proven to be a skilled chef,[4] a talent which lends itself to her potion-making. While Piper has shown some gymnastic and athletic ability,[59][60] unlike her sisters Phoebe and Prue, neither she nor Paige are particularly adept at conventional means of hand-to-hand combat.

text: Reception[edit]

text: In 2001, Combs was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Science Fiction Series at the RATTY Awards for her portrayal of Piper.[61] She was nominated for Best Science Fiction Lead Actress at the same awards ceremony in 2002 and won that category in 2003.[62][63]

text: In his review of the first season, Terry Kelleher of People magazine described Piper as "the sweet one" out of the three Halliwell sisters.[64] PopMatters' Michael Abernethy wrote that Combs was "the most enjoyable to watch" and noted that her character Piper played "the role of compassionate mediator between her two sisters" in Charmed's first three seasons.[65] While reviewing the first season, Brett Cullum of DVD Verdict wrote, "Piper is the most sensitive middle sister who seems to bridge the gap between the oldest and youngest—the diplomat. She could handle the drama handily, and anchored the show with her acting chops and Neve Campbell-esque brunette good looks."[66] A writer for Film.com described Piper as "the moral compass and voice of reason for the 'Charmed Ones'."[67] Rachel Day of Geek Speak magazine praised Combs' acting on Charmed, noting that the scenes of Piper grieving over the loss of Prue in the season four episode "Hell Hath No Fury" was "superbly done" and showcased her "anger and pain at Pru[e]'s death."[68] Day also praised Piper and Leo's relationship as "the most successful depiction" throughout the series. She wrote, "The relationship traveled the course from forbidden love to marriage to separation to reconciliation and a happy ending. Personally, a lot of the charm about Charmed for me was the way the show really showcased this relationship with all its up and downs."[68]

text: CNN's Joshua Levs called Piper "the show's solid foundation" and commended the writers for making Piper and Leo's relationship "interesting throughout the entire run by throwing in major wrenches left and right. I can't think of another series that's pulled that off."[69] In reviewing the fourth season, Leigh H. Edwards of PopMatters felt that Piper and Leo provided "engaging, often funny material" when they were "navigating the equally momentous shoals of domesticity."[70] Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly commented that when it came to the comedy moments in the sixth season, Combs' acting was the best one out of the show's three lead actresses. Flynn described Piper as a "pert little mother" and "purse-lipped precision underplayer."[71] In his mixed review of the eighth and final season, DVD Verdict's Ryan Keefer praised Piper's "incredibly emotional goodbye to Leo" in the episode "Vaya Con Leos" and felt that she was "the saving grace for this season."[72]

text: Cultural impact[edit]

text: In 2007, Piper was ranked third on AOL TV's list of Top TV Witches, behind Samantha Stephens from Bewitched and Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[73][74] She also ranked third on the same list the following year.[75] In 2011, E! Online ranked Piper at number six on their list of the Top 10 Most Bitchin' Witches, writing "You don't have to be evil to be bitchin'. Not only does Holly Marie Combs' witch possess...the ability to freeze time and to make objects spontaneously explode, but Piper is driven by the desire to protect her family and won't let anything get in her way."[76] In 2016, Piper was also ranked sixth in The Huffington Post's list of "The Top 10 Greatest Witches of All Time", adding that "Piper is the true MVP of the Charmed Ones; over eight years she stepped into the role of family matriarch and proved that witches really can have it all, becoming a wife, mother and successful businesswoman, but never forgetting that sisterhood is everything."[77]

text: Both the show and character were referenced in the episode "Sorry for Your Loss" of the sci-fi series The Tomorrow People, when Piper Nichols (Aeriél Miranda) introduces herself to Russell Kwon (Aaron Yoo), and he responds by saying "Charmed, Piper"[78] In his review of the television series Witches of East End being too similar to Charmed, Christian Cintron of Hollywood.com noted that Rachel Boston's "high-strung but well meaning" character Ingrid Beauchamp "could be a carbon-copy of Piper."[79]