document_title: List of Samurai Champloo characters

question_text: who is the samurai who smells like sunflowers

question_tokens: who is the samurai who smells like sunflowers

text: List of Samurai Champloo characters

text: Main characters[edit]

text: Mugen[edit]

text: Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (Japanese); Steven Blum (anime), Liam O'Brien (PS2 video game dub) (English)

text: Mugen (ムゲン（無限）) is a 19-year-old man who is one of the main protagonists of the series. He was born in a penal colony on the Ryukyu Islands which in the Edo period was a separate kingdom with close ties to Japan's Satsuma domain. Incidentally, Mugen writes his name using the infinity symbol (∞), a pun on his name, 無幻 which is a homophone of the Japanese word for infinite. His Japanese is quite rough and "Yankī"; and he is illiterate until later in the show. Little is known about Mugen's childhood and he states that it has been a long time since he can remember what it is like to have parents in episode 20, "Elegy of Entrapment, Verse 1." The blue tattoos on his wrists and ankles indicate that he was once in prison.[1] The circumstances of his imprisonment are initially unclear, but it is later verified that he was to be executed for engaging in piracy.

text: As a boorish antihero, Mugen is fond of fighting and has a tendency to pick fights for petty reasons. It is implied in a few episodes, that he is a womanizer, with his libido getting the better of him sometimes. In spite of it all, he is shown to have some redeeming qualities throughout the show. Character designer Kazuto Nakazawa stated in an interview: "When I was doing character design, the most difficult one was Mugen, as I expected. I'm pretty sure that as far as the director's image went, he probably was thinking of someone like a 'rapper who acts like a bad guy.' But the way Mugen acts is relatively based on his core conviction."[2]

text: Mugen's highly unorthodox swordplay and a fighting style based on breaking – dubbed "champuru kendo" (Champloo Kendo in English) and ostensibly developed by himself – taking bits and pieces from all forms of martial arts and making up the rest on-the-go as he fights his opponents, make him a force to be reckoned with.[3] But despite the unpredictable nature of the fighting, it was pointed out in Episode 25, that his improvisational style, exposes his limits easily, giving experienced fighters the knowledge to beat him. He carries two blades, his principal weapon a unique sword with a curved blade and a hilt with two prongs sheathed across his back and the other a small tantō concealed at the end of his scabbard (only resorted to as a trump card). His main weapon appears to be an amalgamation of the Okinawan sai and Japanese katana. Mugen also has a tendency to parry attacks with the steel base of his geta.

text: Mugen often states his desire to fight and kill Jin once their quest is over, and Jin returns this desire and on the numerous occasions where Mugen is going to face a strong opponent and possibly risk his life, Jin reminds Mugen that 'I will be the one to slay you'. Mugen does likewise. In the final episode, exhausted and near death, Jin and Mugen finally do have their battle, but both their swords break when they clash. Afterwards Mugen states that he doesn't want to kill Jin, another sentiment that Jin returns.

text: Jin[edit]

text: Voiced by: Ginpei Sato (Japanese); Kirk Thornton (English)

text: Jin (ジン（仁）) is a 6-foot tall, 20-year-old man who is one of the main protagonists of the series. He wields a Katana and Wakizashi, and spent the majority of his life training in kenjutsu dojos. Unlike Mugen, it is legal for him to carry a daisho, as he is of the samurai class. His swords have a lightning and twin-eyed design on the tsuba. He wears traditional hakama and gi in indigo blue patterned with a white diamond kamon made up of four small white diamonds. His kamon closely resembles that of the great Takeda Clan, leading to speculation that his family origins may be of nobility.[4] He wears glasses but Fuu states that they are "for show", indicating Jin wears them as an accessory rather than actually needing them.

text: When he was eighteen, he was to be assassinated in his sleep by his sensei, Mariya Enshirou, at Kariya Kagetoki's insistence. However, Jin killed Mariya in self-defense and fled the dojo, becoming a ronin. His death is sought by former classmates and other fame-seekers. Mujushin was a real sword-fighting dojo, and Mariya Enshirou is known to have been the third master — although the circumstances of his death are unclear.[5]

text: Jin is highly devoted to upholding Bushido and is in fact named after jin (benevolence), one of the seven samurai virtues. Jin is usually taciturn and unusually collected. He is an extremely skilled swordsman, using swift, refined, orthodox moves of the Mujushin Kenjutsu discipline, making him the perfect foil for Mugen. Jin is also a skilled Shogi player with a sharp memory, as demonstrated when he reproduces a shogi board position after his opponent 'accidentally' upsets the board.

text: In the last episode of the series, he confesses to both Fuu and Kariya that he has spent his entire life without ties to others. He lived only for his sword and no master; saying that the lords of that time have no sense of honor, only caring about self-preservation. But he seems to change during his travels with Fuu and Mugen, saying that they are his "first friends."

text: Fuu[edit]

text: Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese); Kari Wahlgren (English)

text: Fuu (フウ（風）, Fū) is a 5'2, 15-year-old girl and the female protagonist of the series. In her childhood before the beginning of the series, her dad left her and her mom for an (initially) unknown reason. Without her father around to support them, Fuu and her mother led a difficult life until Fuu's mom died of illness. After a not-so-successful stint as a teahouse waitress, she saves Mugen and Jin from death and recruits them as her bodyguards to help her on a quest. She is searching for the "Samurai who smells of Sunflowers", but never explains what a sunflower smells like or what the man looks like. Mugen and Jin are often reminded of their life-debt to her when they wish to fight each other, much to their chagrin.

text: She is a surprisingly big eater (in one episode she entered an eating contest and was one of the last two remaining, shocking all the spectators; she might have won, except for an unintentional forfeit), has a bright and compassionate personality, and is strongly prone to accidents, getting lost, and trouble although she is quite practical. She often puts on a front of being more worldly and experienced than she actually is so as not to appear completely ingenuous in front of her bodyguards. Fuu wears a deep pink kimono with a pattern of flowers and carries a matching tantō. Attached to the tantō are three netsuke: a skull (a Christian pendant from her father), a pair of dice and a dog. She's almost always seen wearing what looks like pink polish on both her nails and toenails. Her name, Fuu (フウ), is short for fuukinchou (フウキンチョウ), which is Japanese for "tanagers", small, brightly colored birds.

text: Secondary characters[edit]

text: The Samurai who smells of sunflowers[edit]

text: Voiced by: Kouji Nakata (Japanese); Doug Stone (English)

text: The "samurai who smells of sunflowers" (向日葵の匂いのする侍, himawari no nioi no suru samurai) is Kasumi Seizō, a Christian samurai who played a leading role in the Shimabara Rebellion. His death is sought by the Shogunate as a result of this betrayal.

text: The objective of the trio's quest, he is revealed later on in the series to actually be Fuu's father. He left Fuu and her mother to save them from anti-Christian persecution (he was a major proponent of Christianity, considered heretical at the time). Fuu, however, thinks that his abandoning the family was unforgivable. Her only memory of him is a departing figure shifting through a field of sunflowers.

text: He was relentlessly pursued by the Shogunate, but succeeded in evading them. When Fuu began to search for him, the Shogunate had her followed. She led them right to him, sick and dying in a hut on Ikitsuki Island. Kariya Kagetoki arrives just after Fuu's tearful reconciliation with her father and kills him right in front of her.

text: Mariya Enshirou[edit]

text: Voiced by: Makio Inoue (Japanese); Peter Spellos (English)

text: The renowned "Slayer of a Thousand Men" and third master of the Muju. He has perished by the show's beginning, but features prominently in flashbacks. Both his character and the dojo were actual historical entities, albeit relatively obscure.[5] According to Samurai Champloo, he intended to turn the dojo into an academy for training assassins, under pressure from Kariya Kagetoki, but received passionate opposition from his finest pupil and heir, Jin.

text: In Episode 25, Jin remembers a flashback of a conversation with Mariya about turning the Dojo into an assassins academy. Jin said if it becomes that, then Mujushin Kenjutsu would no longer be a martial art. Change was the only way to survive in this day and age, Mariya lamented. In Kariya Kagetoki's view, if Jin would not see change, he would have to be erased from the picture. Jin would have to be killed in his sleep. However, Jin killed his attacker in the dead of the night, discovering to his horror that it was Mariya. Proudly before passing away, Mariya remarked, "You've improved tremendously, Jin."

text: Given the identical kamon on their kimonos, Jin and Mariya were either relatives or Mariya adopted Jin.

text: Inspector Manzo[edit]

text: Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka (Japanese); Michael McConnohie (English)

text: A recurring character, Inspector Manzo, known also as "The Saw", is a lampoon of Hanzo Itami. Aside from the main trio, Momotaro and Ichiemon the announcer, he is probably the only other character shown in multiple episodes (discounting flashbacks and multiple-part episodes). His persistence and enthusiasm are not without humorous results. As he is a law enforcer, he carries a sort of billy-club with him wherever he goes and is apparently able to use it to perform calisthenics. In all three episodes in which he appears, he plays the narration for the part or all of the story. Oddly enough, his narration transcends time, as he has narrated about future events which he could not feasibly be alive long enough to know about, like Vincent van Gogh, the popularity of baseball throughout America today, the Zen movement in the 1960s, and even commentary on the modern-day Japanese views on sexuality contemporary to the show's airing.

text: Oshaberi Ichiemon[edit]

text: Voiced by: Isshin Chiba (Japanese); Dave Mallow (English)

text: Ichiemon, also known as "Ichiemon the Announcer", serves mostly in the role of comic relief, providing amusing commentary during the eating contest in episode 6 and the baseball game in episode 23. His name "Oshaberi" literally translates to "honorable talker" and is meant to imply that he is a gossip.[6] He wears a strange hat that appears to be a newspaper folded up like origami.

text: Sasaki Ryujiro[edit]

text: Voiced by: Otoya Kawano (Japanese); Dave Wittenberg (English)

text: Sasaki Ryujiro (佐々木 龍) is the mentally unbalanced subordinate to Shibui Matsunosuke, the corrupt magistrate of an oppressed town, who assigns him to protect his brat of a son, Tomonoshin. Ryujiro's arm is chopped off by Mugen after the altercation in the teahouse, driving him over the edge. He has a ruthless sadism which predates the loss of his arm, claiming to have lost his humanity a long time ago and having no problem with killing and torturing his opponents. He burns the teahouse down in retaliation, inadvertently putting Fuu out of work and Jin and Mugen in prison. While Shibui Sr. (and his son) perish, Ryujiro survives and returns later to exact revenge on Mugen. He is strangled to death by Oniwakamaru for threatening Fuu's life.

text: Nagatomi Rikiei[edit]

text: Leader of the Nagatomi yakuza, ruthless and ambitious. He enlists Mugen as his partner after the former impresses him by sitting at his men's table, eating their food and beating them up. Keeps a chinstrap and sports Ray-Bans, a distinguishing part of his appearance. Killed by his personal yojimbo Ishimatsu for his wicked ways after Ishimatsu decides enough is enough.

text: Daigoro[edit]

text: Daigoro is the catalyst for the events that unfurl in Episodes 3 and 4. After a dramatic loss at one of Rikiei's gambling establishments, he is pressured to give up either the deed to his business or his daughter, Osuzu, in order to cover his debt. He pleads with Kawara Heitarou for help, suggesting that Rikiei's establishments practice dishonesty. Kawara refuses, citing a lack of evidence. Daigoro has no choice but to give up his store, but Ishimatsu takes Osuzu as well after Sosuke tries to intervene.

text: Osuzu[edit]

text: Voiced by: Sayuri (Japanese); Karen Strassman (English)

text: Daigorou's demure daughter; she is quite something to look at. Before she is forcibly procured by Ishimatsu, as an excuse to make up for Sousuke's insolence, she was the latter's tutor. She is put to work with in one of Rikiei's brothels, where she meets Fuu (who is also being forced into prostitution because of bad fortune) and they become friends. Both are emancipated after Rikiei's demise. She appears in the 3rd and 4th episodes: "Hellhounds For Hire (Part 1)" and "Hellhounds For Hire (Part 2)".

text: Kawara Sōsuke[edit]

text: Voiced by: Mayumi Yamaguchi (Japanese); Darrel Guilbeau (English)

text: Heitarō's pubescent son, heir to the Kawara Clan's leadership. He is hasty and impetuous, not a surprise for his age and the shame his father has to endure. He has strong feelings for Osuzu, and intervenes when Ishimatsu comes to collect her father's business deed, succeeding only in getting her taken away, too. Joins forces with Jin to rescue her but fail as Mugen is guarding the brothel. The night after he goes to see Osuzu again and blows a gasket when a customer puts his hands on her. The man is a Nagatomi, but Sousuke does not know that when he draws his sword and stabs him to death. Heitarō commits seppuku on his account. Rikiei mocks Heitarō, while Sousuke defends him. Upon the Nagatomi Clan's defeat and his dad's suicide, he assumes his dad's position. He, along with his dad and Osuzu, appears in the 3rd and 4th episodes: "Hellhounds For Hire (Part 1)" and "Hellhounds For Hire (Part 2)".

text: Kawara Heitaro[edit]

text: Voiced by: Hidekatsu Shibata (Japanese); Simon Prescott (English)

text: Known as "The Merciful" despite being a yakuza head, he is poised, level-headed and traditional, running the yakuza to take a form of foster care for its young men who would otherwise be criminals. It is because of this, the unscrupulous Rikiei easily moves in and seizes control of the town. He dotes on Sosuke, his only son. After losing a dice duel to Rikiei (who may have cheated) and in an act that moves almost everyone, he sacrifices his life to ensure the future of the Kawara Clan. He appears in the 3rd and 4th episodes: "Hellhounds For Hire (Part 1)" and "Hellhounds For Hire (Part 2)".

text: Ishimatsu[edit]

text: Ishimatsu is yojimbo to an influential yakuza boss, Rikiei. His considerable height, dark skin and a string of large Buddhist beads he wears around his neck are distinctive features. Rikiei offers Mugen a partnership after Mugen impresses him with his fighting skills. This does not sit well with Ishimatsu, and he and Mugen do not get along; barely past introductions they are attacking each other. Their duel is cut short by Rikiei, who wants to get down to business. Eventually, disillusioned by Kawara Heitarou's sacrifice, Ishimatsu cuts down Rikiei, and finishes his duel with Mugen. He suffers an honorable defeat. His manriki can be seen as a wild card, in the same light as Mugen's tantō.

text: Shino[edit]

text: Shino was married to a gambler who fell in debt, and to repay his debt, the gambler husband sold Shino to a brothel. On her last day of freedom she meets Jin and helps him sell Eel's. Jin goes to see her at the brothel but gets beaten because he has no money. He returns the next day with a gold ryo that Mugen won, and spends a night with her, and presumably has sex with her. He helps her escape the next day, and sets her off on a boat to a women's sanctuary across the river. She appears in the 11th episode "Gamblers and Gallantry".

text: Zuikō[edit]

text: Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (Japanese); Bob Papenbrook (English)

text: A muscle-bound monk who gives the trio room and board in his temple in exchange for their menial services. He was once the master of the dojo that Shōryū trained in and became a monk as penance for his failure to save his pupil's soul. Makes a second prominent appearance in the Episode 12 flashbacks, possibly instructing Mugen on the art of Hakkei (how he knows anything about its workings is quite inexplicable, though it wouldn't be a stretch to assume he researched it).

text: It would seem that his giving room and board to the trio was not merely for their labor. In "Disorder Diaries", he provided both Jin and Fuu with spiritual guidance, and Zuikō's predictive powers (evident by his telling them to fix the doors before Mugen actually broke them) could lead the viewer to believe that he predicted that Mugen would help his quest to end Ukon's path of destruction.

text: Ukon[edit]

text: Voiced by: Show Hayami (Japanese); Jeffrey Stackhouse (English)

text: Like Jin, Ukon, known also as Shōryū, was born into the samurai bloodline. He studied under Zuikou and became one of his most prized disciples. Ukon was sent on a voyage by the province's daimyo, but his ship met with disaster and capsized. Somehow, he ended up washed ashore in China. There, he encountered a 'mysterious martial art' known as Hakkei, and studied it vigorously under the tutelage of Shaolin monks. He returned to Japan a different man under a different name, Shōryū, and had become so different that he had no qualms about killing a fellow student in a simple training session, strongly believing that all fights are to the death.

text: After Zuikou expelled him, Shōryū wandered the continent searching for a new master, but no one would have him, labeling him a heretic. He became embittered as he felt his greatness deserved acknowledgment. He began murdering renowned samurai for sport, at the same time hoping to find a worthy opponent. The 'street killer' myth was built around him. During the duel with Mugen, Shōryū attempts to finish Mugen in the same manner; however, when Shōryū gets within striking distance to use his finishing move, Mugen springs his carefully laid trap, striking from a supposedly helpless position, killing Shōryū with a thrust from his previously concealed tantō.

text: Mugen's battle with Shōryū characterizes the uniqueness of his free-for-all fighting style he calls “champuru kendo”, swiping bits and pieces from all forms of martial arts thrown at him, as he was seemingly able to mimic and use Shōryū's ki technique to his own advantage, likely picked up in their first duel. This battle marks the first time Mugen ever faced an opponent he was unsure of defeating as stated by Jin.[7] Next to Kariya Kagetoki and Sara, Shōryū is easily one of the most powerful fighters in the Champloo universe. His stance and fighting style are markedly Shaolin. His discipline, Hakkei, makes use of ki. It is unknown if Shouryuu employs ki to strengthen his defenses, but he certainly uses it to greatly augment his offensive prowess. Already as quick as Mugen, if not quicker, he is able to project ki at a distance or even channel it through his sword. Furthermore, one blow from his palm is a fatal death touch.

text: Mukuro[edit]

text: Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (Japanese); Kim Strauss (English)

text: Wanted criminal, pirate captain, former cohort of Mugen. He carries a revolver tucked in his waistband. His clothing includes a sawtooth design, wristbands and ankle bandages, which Koza and a younger Mugen both share in appearance. Like his sister, Koza, he has a fairly swarthy complexion. He double-crossed Mugen at least once before and does it again. After their 'reunion', he convinces Mugen to rob a government ship with him, the spoils being 60,000 gold ryo. After Mugen and the pirates ram the government ship and kill most of the guards, Mukuro blows up the pirate ship with Mugen on board. He returns to shore on the (now empty) government ship, where he and his secret accomplice, a government official named Shiren, hoard the gold. Unfortunately, Koza is none too fond of her brother (according to her, he killed her mother), and engineers the double-cross into a triple-cross. He and Jin end up dueling. He fans two shots at Jin; however, Jin anticipates and evades them. Mukuro met his end when Jin sliced him across the chest, then stabbed him from behind seconds after drawing his katana.

text: Koza[edit]

text: Voiced by: Ai Maeda (Japanese); Stephanie Sheh (English)

text: Mukuro's perpetually gloomy younger sister. She has a fondness for Mugen that dates back to their days of piracy, though the feeling is not quite mutual. Koza isn't so much in love with Mugen as she is attached to him. This stems from her chronic dependency — she simply can't bear to be alone, which explains why she has remained with Mukuro all this time, even though he clearly repulses her. She devises a scheme to get rid of Mukuro and leave with Mugen, but as Mugen rejects her advances, she replaces him with Shiren. She neglects to inform Mugen what Mukuro has in store for him. After the ship Mugen is on explodes, she manipulates Jin and Mukuro into fighting, which ends in Mukuro's death. As she is leaving with Shiren, Mugen, having survived the explosion, confronts them and cuts Shiren down with a series of lightning-quick slashes despite being rigorously weakened. Koza begs him to kill her. He pays her no heed and continues walking, leaving her exactly as she didn't want to be: All alone.

text: It is disputable whether Koza is Mukuro's actual sister, as, aside from their skin tone, Fuu observes that they look nothing alike. Moreover, Koza states that Mukuro "killed her mother," not "their" mother.

text: Shiren[edit]

text: Voiced by: Ken Narita (Japanese); Erik Davies (English)

text: A Shogunate official, infatuated with Koza. He becomes Mukuro's collaborator in double-crossing Mugen and keeping the gold for themselves. He is slashed dead by Mugen at the end of everything. As he and Mukuro are the only two people who know where the gold is hidden, it is never recovered.

text: Yatsuha Imano[edit]

text: Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka (Japanese); Michelle Ruff (English)

text: Yatsuha is a skilled ninja who is always barefoot (though has some type of sock-like covering on her feet that exposes the heel and toe areas) when in her ninja outfit. She first appeared working as a prostitute in a covert mission to break up a criminal operation counterfeiting coins. She is the daughter of Imano Jinpachi, a member of the Shogunate guard staff. Yatsuha came to the brothel one year ago. She is purchased by Mugen after winning a rock-paper-scissor game with Jin to see who will stay with her instead of several of her less attractive coworkers.

text: While Mugen is preparing himself for Yatsuha, she overhears a conversation about the counterfeiting through a wall. After failing multiple attempts to subdue Mugen, who thinks her actions are foreplay, Yatsuha resorts to tricking Mugen into helping her stop the counterfeiting operation by promising him a night of sex. Together they defeat the counterfeiting group and its leader Momochi Ginsa, rescuing their captives. When Mugen later tries to get Yatsuha to uphold the promise at the conclusion of the episode, she knocks him out cold with a block of wood. As Yatsuha and her partner Otawa Hankichi leave Mugen outside the town limits, she confesses to Hankichi that she has fallen in love with Mugen and intends on marrying him in the future.

text: Okuru[edit]

text: Voiced by: Akio Ohtsuka (Japanese); Richard Epcar (English)

text: An Ainu warrior whose village was struck by an epidemic and torched by the Matsumae clan Han. Overcome with rage, he killed the official who authorized the burning. He was arrested and incarcerated, but escaped before he could be executed. His weapon is unique, a modified crossbow, called a Chu-Ko-Nu, that can repeatedly fire bolts. He mistakes Mugen as part of the Matsumae Han (who, ironically, later mistake Mugen for Okuru) and attacks him. He withdraws after he realizes the error. Later, he saves Fuu after she plunges off a crag. Upon encountering Mugen again, they do battle, and Mugen remarks that he has the "eyes of a dead man, like a severed head that doesn't know it's been cut off." Their fight is interrupted by agents of the Matsumae Han, led by Tobata. Okuru is riddled by flaming arrows, but miraculously remains standing. Jin and Mugen slaughter the rest of the Matsumae Han agents, while Okuru wrenches an arrow out of his gut and stabs Tobata dead with it. Engulfed in flames, he leaps off a cliff into the river below. Mugen believes that Okuru is still alive.

text: Yukimaru[edit]

text: Yukimaru was a student of Mariya Enshirou before Jin killed him. Yukimaru contends that, unlike Ogura, he wants to take Jin's life not to avenge Enshirou but to make a name for himself. Unwilling to fight him, Jin takes a dive off the edge of a waterfall. Yukimaru is persistent and hunts him down once more. They clash katana, and Jin gives him one last chance to turn back. Yukimaru charges on. Jin runs him through. On his dying breath, shedding a tear, Yukimaru whispers that he only "wanted to be like you." Jin and Fuu bury him, and pray before his grave. When Fuu asks Jin about who he was, Jin replies Yukimaru "was like a little brother".

text: The crest on Yukimaru's kimono is identical to the kamon of the Hōjō clan.[8] Though the Takeda and Hojo clan were neighboring clans that often fought, they both did battle against Tokugawa and Nobunaga.[9] If Jin and Yukimaru are of the Takeda and Hojo clan, this might explain their more familiar relationship with each other.

text: Tobata[edit]

text: Commands the band of Matsumae Han officials sent to pursue Okuru. Clearly enjoys what he is doing, as evidenced by the smirk on his face when he (thinks he) finally has Okuru cornered. His allegiance is to his daimyo and cannot be swerved, as he declares that he "has his orders," even after hearing that his superiors' motives might be less than honorable. Is stunned that Okuru is still on his feet after having been riddled by flaming arrows. He rushes forward with his katana drawn, intending to put an end to the enemy of the state. A dispassionate Okuru wrenches an arrow out his body and stabs Tobata to death with it.

text: Sara[edit]

text: Voiced by: Sakiko Tamagawa (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead (English)

text: A beautiful blind shamisen player and singer (Goze). Sara is always barefoot where the sense of touch in her feet help to make out the terrain because of her blindness. Mugen, Jin, and Fuu encounter Sara near the end of their journey. The quartet travel together for a while, and she reveals she has an illegitimate son that was sequestered from her, allegedly due to her blindness. She requests that one of the men to accompany her on her quest to find her son. Knowing of Mugen's unconcealed lust for Sara, Fuu reluctantly offers Jin, expecting him to reject the offer, but Jin calmly accepts out of a sense of duty. While crossing a narrow footbridge with Jin, Sara reveals that she is a Shogunate assassin and brandishes an elaborate kama-yari disguised inside her walking staff. The two engage in battle, with Sara quickly gaining the upper hand despite (or perhaps because of) her blindness, as she possesses a superhuman ability to perceive whenever an opponent telegraphs their movements. Jin is wounded twice, and finally, out of desperation, destroys the bridge's suspension, with both combatants falling into the river beneath them. After hearing of the collapse of the bridge, Fuu worries about the well-being of Jin and Sara, and she and Mugen turn around to search for their former companions. Shortly thereafter, they locate an unconscious Sara washed up on the riverbank. Mugen finds Sara's staff on the riverbank as well, and becomes suspicious of her after finding cut planks nearby.

text: Upon Sara's recovery, Mugen—having deduced her true nature and motives—returns her shamisen and concealed kama-yari staff with a thinly veiled remark about the "tools of [her] trade". Realizing she's been discovered, she offers to fight Mugen by the river. During their fight, Sara again grossly outmatches her opponent due to the superior range of her kama-yari vs. Mugen's katana and her ability to perceive his attacks almost even before he makes them. Mugen is badly wounded and incapacitated, but she relents from killing him when Fuu throws herself on top of him and begs Sara for mercy. That night, however, a Shogunate contact disguised as a pinwheel merchant coerces Sara into finishing her job by reminding her that her son's life hangs in the balance: if she fails to kill the trio, the Shogun's agents will kill her son instead. When one of his pinwheels stops spinning, she begins to doubt that her child is still alive. Nonetheless, Sara returns to the riverbank to engage Mugen in a final fight. Despite Jin's coaching on how to counter her sensory abilities, she proves superior once again and is presented with a window of opportunity to kill Mugen. However, she pulls back the swing of her kama-yari at the last moment, allowing Mugen's katana to strike her. In her last moments, she states that she realizes her son is long dead, and asks Mugen to continue living instead as he mourns her.

text: Sara is one of the strongest fighters in the series, able to split large boulders with her kama-yari and perfectly sense an opponent's movements despite her blindness. Sara's concealed yari weapon and blindness may be references to Zatoichi. She is one of the most powerful fighters in the series, one of only two (along with Kariya Kagetoki) to decisively dominate both Jin and Mugen in separate fights and the only fighter to utterly incapacitate Mugen, his death being forestalled only by Fuu's pleas for mercy.

text: Matagi[edit]

text: An old hermit who rescues Jin after the latter nearly drowns from the fight with Sara. Matagi brings him back to an old hut to recuperate. As Jin awakens he is offered a bowl of food, then denied it. Only joking, the hermit then places the bowl across the room from Jin allowing him to get it for himself. Jin painfully crawls towards it only to find it empty, and Matagi again laughing at him and observing his ability to move. Later, Jin finds Matagi outside standing in the water trying to catch fish with his bare hands, who explains his methods of entrusting oneself to the flow – a method later referred to as the "Way of the Water" (although it doesn't exactly work the first time it is demonstrated).

text: As Jin is leaving, he thanks the hermit for the lesson (to teach a man to fish instead of to give him one), to which Matagi claims he didn't teach Jin anything. Jin is greatly surprised when he asks the hermit's name and his reply is, in a serious tone, Miyamoto Musashi. But the old man laughs it off, saying that couldn't be true and his real name is Johnny. Whether or not he is indeed the legendary swordsman is left up to the audience to decide (Samurai Champloo takes place after the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-38, and not in the 1850s as previously speculated by others, therefore Musashi's cameo is plausible). His name has been officially given as Matagi.

text: Heike Shige[edit]

text: Voiced by: Tony Oliver

text: Heike Shige is the leader of a band of zombie-like workers, who have been mining for the legendary gold of the Heike clan for 500 years. Some unearthly quality of the area's mushroom population preserved them long after their bodies expired and the consumption of the large amount of wasabi (believed to have preservative properties) staved off the inevitable rot of their bodies. Because Shige and his men are already dead, it is apparently impossible to kill them – although Shige notes it was a "close call" when Mugen nearly beheads him.

text: Shige, believing himself a descendant of the Heike, thought to eventually use the gold to defeat their ancient enemies the Genji clan, and claims that his biwa could summon the stars from heaven to strike his foes. When he encounters Mugen, Jin and Fuu, he offers them 10% of the treasure in exchange for their help at the quarry. Shige's quixotic quest came to an end, however, when Fuu discovered the nature of his men. During the ensuing confrontation, Jin announced his discovery that Shige was not a true descendant of the Heike, which he noticed upon examining the family tree Shige presented as evidence of his claim. This led to the zombie workers themselves turning on their would-be leader, serving him only out of the belief that he was heir to the Heike line. Seeing his plans come to nothing, Shige at last unveiled his ultimate weapon, and indeed summoned a meteor upon the entire area. Mugen, Jin and Fuu may have left by the time it arrived, since they survive for the next episode (though it's possible the mushrooms were psychedelic). The ultimate fate of Shige and his men is not known; presumably they were annihilated in the impact, though the ending credits to his episode are interrupted by a shot of him bursting from the grave—an indication that he "lives" on.

text: Shige is inspired by Japanese video game designer, Shigesato Itoi (the creator of EarthBound), from his name, direct quotes, and his wasting much time and money searching for, in all likelihood, a nonexistent treasure. Shige's ability to summon a meteor may be referencing Dawn of the Dead, which unofficially speculates that meteors were involved in causing the zombies.[original research?]

text: The Brothers[edit]

text: Three brothers whose lives were ruined by Mukuro and Mugen during a pirate raid on a sugar shipment. The three brothers, who had been charged with security, were held responsible for the loss and forced to desert their positions in Satsuma. Mugen crippled the eldest brother during the raid, and they have been seeking his death ever since. As with Ryujiro, Mugen appears to have no recollection of the damage he caused. Predictably, he doesn't care once he is reminded, lambasting that "once you point your sword at someone it's kill or be killed." Each of the three brothers' left eyes are red.

text: Denkibou[edit]

text: Voiced by: Keiichi Nanba (Japanese); Derek Stephen Prince (English)

text: The youngest and certainly the ugliest (hunched posture, large fanatical eyes, crooked teeth) of the brothers; wears a steel claw on his left wrist. He is the least stable of the three and prone to violent fits of uncontrollable urges to kill. He carries a bisento short enough for him to wield and whines or shrieks wildly whenever he opens his mouth. He is given the task of bringing Mugen to his brothers, but loses control and attacks Mugen himself instead. He takes advantage of Mugen's inability to fight well in small spaces (they are on a boat), but Mugen overturns the boat. He is the first of the brothers to die, stabbed underwater by Mugen after Mugen grabs his clawed hand to keep him from attacking.

text: Umanosuke[edit]

text: Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese); Doug Erholtz (English)

text: Umanosuke sports a hefty chonmage, is deformed in one eye (it is lidless; he wears an eye patch to compensate for this), and wields a spectacular weapon: a chain-sickle kusarigama with an incredibly long reach. He wears a daisho, indicating that he was once samurai, but relies principally on his kusarigama. It is a fearsome, highly destructive weapon. While a normal kusarigama makes use of the chain to ensnare the opponent so the wielder may attack at full advantage with the sickle, the chain of Umanosuke's kusarigama is located in the shaft and can be launched to at least forty feet and retracted, ostensibly by some sort of helix mechanism[original research?]. The sickle cuts effortlessly through solid objects like wood and rock; Umanosuke wields it with immense skill. Once retracted, it is effective as a scythe at close quarters.

text: When first seen, Umanosuke is cool and composed, and almost suave. He even has no problem with letting Fuu escape as long as he can kill Mugen. Upon his meeting Mugen, the composure crumbles, worse when the eye patch is cut away, and he spirals to Denkibou's level of madness. At this point, Umanosuke sports possibly the greatest destructive intent in the entire series, attacking in a berserk flurry of vicious attacks. Mugen gives up his sword in order to rescue Fuu from his clutches, but manages to reclaim it and, after a hard-fought battle, decapitates Umanosuke with his own weapon. The way he ends the battle is important; in the earlier battle against Kariya, Mugen is told that simply fighting on instinct shows everyone his limits and is soundly defeated. The manner in which Mugen works out Umanosuke's death shows Mugen overcoming his weakness.[original research?]

text: Toube[edit]

text: Toube is the eldest of the brothers and one whose lifestyle changed most after the attack: he now uses a wheelchair. Like his brothers, he lives for revenge; Mugen severed his leg in the raid on the ship he was protecting, and since then he has never uttered a word. He shoots Mugen in the back with a pistol concealed in the wheelchair's left armrest after watching Umanosuke die, then ignites a stash of dynamite concealed in the wheelchair's base, intending to take Mugen with him.

text: Kariya Kagetoki[edit]

text: Voiced by: Takayuki Sugou (Japanese); Steve Kramer (English)

text: An elite samurai working for the Shogunate known as the "Divine Hand" because of his skill in combat. According to Goroujuu, a member of the Shogun's council, Kariya has not drawn his sword in quite some time since there hasn't been a worthy opponent in years. Upon learning of Sara's death, Kariya decides that Mugen and Jin are worthy adversaries, and brings himself out of retirement in order to face them.

text: His calm and collected demeanor hides a cold and manipulative personality. Kariya attempted to gain control of the Mujushin Dojo and is the one responsible for ordering Mariya Enshirou to kill Jin. He is ordered to seek out and kill Kasumi Seizou, the Sunflower Samurai, for his role in the Shimabara Rebellion as well as Kasumi's family — Fuu. Regarded amongst his peers as "The Hand of the Gods" for his divine skills, being said that there is possibly no one in existence capable of defeating him, he is arguably the strongest fighter in the series. He fights Mugen and Jin simultaneously, easily handling Mugen's fighting style and defeating Jin in a standoff. Similar to Shōryū, he is a master of his ki and is able to use it with great force both offensively and defensively, and to an almost supernatural level. Jin defeats Kariya by sacrificing his own body to breach Kariya's defense, utilizing a strategy that his master, Mariya Enshirou, had described as suicidal.


document_title: List of most-subscribed YouTube channels

question_text: who is the #2 most subscribed on youtube

question_tokens: who is the # 2 most subscribed on youtube

root

text: Top channels

text: All-time

text: The following table lists the fifty most-subscribed channels on YouTube, with each total rounded down to the nearest million subscribers, as well as the network, primary language, and content category of each channel. Channels marked as "Auto-generated by YouTube" (such as Music, Gaming, Sports and Movies) and channels whose content has been transferred (such as JustinBieberVEVO and RihannaVEVO)[note 1] are excluded. As of  September 2018[update], 31 of these channels primarily produce content in English.

tag: p

tag: table

text: Self-owned channel (without a network)

text:
Rank

Chg.

Channel

Subscribers[2](millions)

Network[A]

Primarylanguage(s)

Contentcategory[2]

1.

PewDiePie[5]

68

N/A[6][7]

English

Comedy

2.

T-Series[8]

67

T-Series[9]

Hindi

Music

3.

Canal KondZilla[10]

42

ONErpm[11]

Portuguese

4.

Justin Bieber[12]

41

N/A[B][13]

English

Entertainment

5.

5-Minute Crafts[14]

38

Channel Frederator[15]

How-to

6.

Dude Perfect[16]

35

N/A[17]

Sports

7.

WWE[18]

WWE[19]

8.

Ed Sheeran[20]

N/A[21]

Music

9.

HolaSoyGerman.[22]

34

HolaSoyGerman.[23]

Spanish

Entertainment

10.

SET India[24]

SET[25]

Hindi

Shows

11.

EminemMusic[26]

33

UniversalMC[C][27]

English

Music

12.

whinderssonnunes[28]

32

Fullscreen[29]

Portuguese

Comedy

13.

elrubiusOMG[30]

31

Mixicom[31]

Spanish

14.

Katy Perry[32]

N/A[D][33][E][34][F][35]

English

Music

15.

Taylor Swift[36]

16.

Rihanna[37]

30

Entertainment

17.

Fernanfloo[38]

BroadbandTV[39]

Spanish

Games

18.

JuegaGerman[40]

29

HolaSoyGerman.[41]

19.

TheEllenShow[42]

28

WarnerMedia[G][43]

English

Entertainment

20.

One Direction[44]

N/A[45]

Music

21.

YouTube Spotlight[46]

27

Google[47]

News

22.

Ariana Grande`[48]

26

N/A[H][49]

Music

23.

Felipe Neto[50]

Maker Studios[51]

Portuguese

Entertainment

24.

Badabun[52]

N/A[I][53]

Spanish

25.

Zee Music Company[54]

25

Zee Music Company[55]

Hindi

Music

26.

Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes[56]

24

Fullscreen[57]

English

Education

27.

VEGETTA777[58]

Mixicom[59]

Spanish

Games

28.

VanossGaming[60]

23

N/A[61][J][62]

English

29.

Shakira[63]

Spanish and English

People

30.

Smosh[64]

Break[65]

English

Comedy

31.

Spinnin' Records[66]

Spinnin' Records[67]

Entertainment

32.

Trap Nation[68]

N/A[K][69][70][71]

Music

33.

Bruno Mars[72]

22

34.

Luis Fonsi[73]

Spanish

Entertainment

35.

Yuya[74]

How-to

36.

Markiplier[75]

Maker Studios[76]

English

Games

37.

Marshmello[77]

21

Monstercat Media[78]

Music

38.

nigahiga[79]

N/A[80][L][81]

Entertainment

39.

Maroon 5[82]

Music

40.

Get Movies[83]

20

LetsonCorp[84]

Russian

Shows

41.

jacksepticeye[85]

Disney Digital Network[M][86]

English

Games

42.

Zee TV[87]

DMCL[88]

Hindi

Entertainment

43.

ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs[89]

ChuChu TV Studios[90]

English

Education

44.

DanTDM[91]

StyleHaul[92]

Games

45.

Ozuna[93]

Rimas Entertainment[94]

Spanish

Music

46.

rezendeevil[95]

Disney Digital Network[N][96]

Portuguese

Games

47.

Luccas Neto[97]

BroadbandTV[98]

People

48.

Selena Gomez[99]

19

N/A[O][100]

English

Film

49.

ToyPudding TV[101]

Machinima[102]

Entertainment

50.

KSI[103]

StyleHaul[104]

As of October 29, 2018

text: By country and territory

text: The following table lists the most-subscribed YouTube channel in each country and territory from which at least one channel with at least five million subscribers originates, according to social media analytics website DBase.

text:
Country or territory

Most-subscribed channel

Subscribers(millions)

 Argentina

DrossRotzank[105]

15

 Australia

Wengie[106]

12

 Austria

Red Bull[107]

7

 Brazil

Canal KondZilla[108]

42

 Canada

VanossGaming[109]

23

 Chile

HolaSoyGerman.[110]

34

 Colombia

toycantando[111]

9

 El Salvador

Fernanfloo[112]

30

 France

David Guetta[113]

18

 Germany

freekickerz[114]

7

 India

T-Series[115]

67

 Indonesia

Ricis Official[116]

6

 Iraq

الرماس ميوزك[117]

8

 Ireland

jacksepticeye[118]

20

 Japan

Fischer's-フィッシャーズ-[119]

5

 Jordan

toyorbabytv[120]

6

 Latvia

TrapMusicHDTV[121]

5

 Mexico

Badabun[122]

26

 Morocco

Saad Lamjarred | سعد لمجرد[123]

6

 Netherlands

Trap City[124]

11

 Norway

Alan Walker[125]

18

 Philippines

ABS-CBN Entertainment[126]

13

 Puerto Rico

Ozuna[127]

20

 Romania

Cat Music[128]

5

 Russia

Get Movies[129]

20

 Saudi Arabia

Rotana[130]

9

 South Korea

ibighit[131]

18

 Spain

elrubiusOMG[132]

31

 Sweden

PewDiePie[133]

68

  Switzerland

FIFATV[134]

7

 Thailand

WorkpointOfficial[135]

18

 Turkey

netd müzik[136]

11

 Ukraine

SlivkiShow[137]

 United Arab Emirates

Noor Stars[138]

9

 United Kingdom

Ed Sheeran[139]

35

 United States

Dude Perfect[140]

 Venezuela

LA DIVAZA[141]

7

 Vietnam

FAP TV[142]

As of October 29, 2018

text: Historical progression of most-subscribed channels

text: The following table lists the sixteen YouTube channels that have most recently been the most-subscribed on the website, since May 2006.

text:
Channel name

Date achieved

Days held

Reference

Smosh[64]

May 17, 2006

26

[4]

Judson Laipply[143]

Jun 12, 2006

21

[144][145]

Brookers[146]

Jul 3, 2006

45

[147][148]

geriatric1927[149]

Aug 17, 2006

31

[150]

lonelygirl15[151]

Sep 17, 2006

221

[152][153][154]

Smosh[64]

Apr 26, 2007

517

[155]

nigahiga[79]

Sep 24, 2008

12

[156]

Fяᴇᴅ[157]

Oct 6, 2008

318

[156]

nigahiga[79]

Aug 20, 2009

677

[158][159]

Ray William Johnson[160]

Jun 28, 2011

564

[161][162]

Smosh[64]

Jan 12, 2013

215

[163][164]

PewDiePie[5]

Aug 15, 2013

80

[165]

YouTube Spotlight[46]

Nov 2, 2013

36

[166]

PewDiePie[5]

Dec 8, 2013

4

[144]

YouTube Spotlight[46]

Dec 12, 2013

10

[167][168]

PewDiePie[5]

Dec 22, 2013

1772

[144]

As of  December 22, 2013[update]

text: Timeline

text: Timeline of the most-subscribed YouTube channels (May 2006 – October 2018)

text: Reactions

text: In late 2006, when Peter Oakley's channel Geriatric1927 became the most-subscribed on YouTube, a number of television channels expressed interest in interviewing him on his rise to fame.[citation needed] The Daily Mail and TechBlog published an article about him and his success.[citation needed] In 2009, the FRED channel became the first to attain one million subscribers.[169]

text: Following the third time that Smosh became the most-subscribed YouTube channel, Ray William Johnson collaborated with the duo.[170] A flurry of top YouTubers including Ryan Higa, Shane Dawson, Felix Kjellberg, Michael Buckley, Kassem Gharaibeh, The Fine Brothers, and Johnson himself, congratulated the duo shortly after they surpassed Johnson as the most-subscribed channel.[171]


document_title: The Addams Family (1964 TV series)

question_text: who played wednesday addams in the tv series

text: The Addams Family (1964 TV series)

text: Plot[edit]

text: The Addamses are a close-knit extended family with decidedly macabre interests and supernatural abilities, though no explanation for their powers is explicitly given in the series. The wealthy, endlessly enthusiastic Gomez Addams (John Astin) is madly in love with his refined wife, Morticia (Carolyn Jones). Along with their daughter Wednesday (Lisa Loring), their son Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax), Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan), and Grandmama (Blossom Rock), they reside at 0001 Cemetery Lane in an ornate, gloomy, Second Empire-style mansion, attended by their servants: Lurch (Ted Cassidy), the towering butler, and Thing, a disembodied hand that appears from within a small wooden box. Other relatives who made recurring appearances included Cousin Itt (Felix Silla), Morticia's older sister Ophelia (also portrayed by Jones), and Morticia's mother Grandma Frump (Margaret Hamilton).

text: Much of the humor derives from the Addamses' culture clash with the rest of the world. They invariably treat normal visitors with great warmth and courtesy, unaware that some of their guests often have bad intentions. They are puzzled by the horrified reactions to their own good-natured and normal behavior, since the family is under the impression that their tastes are shared by most of society. Accordingly, they view "conventional" tastes with generally tolerant suspicion. Invariably, as a result of their visit to the Addamses, a visitor would be institutionalized, change professions, move out of the country or suffer some other negative life-changing event.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Addams Family[edit]

text: Morticia Addams (Carolyn Jones) – A cultivated and beautiful woman who knits, dabbles in art, plays the shamisen, raises carnivorous plants and trims roses by clipping off the buds and arranging the thorny stems in a vase. With long, straight ebony-black hair, she is always attired in a long, floor-length tight black dress, and with her aristocratic bearing and detachment, she is often the calm center of the chaotic events of the household.

tag: ul

text:
Gomez Addams (John Astin) – A retired lawyer,[3] Gomez is passionately in love with his wife, often referring to her in Spanish pet names such as "Querida" and "Cara Mía". His ardor is greatly intensified when she speaks French. Gomez is very wealthy as a result of owning numerous companies and stocks, and squanders money in a cavalier manner while remaining wealthy, while his hobby consists of gleefully detonating model trains. He refers to Spain as his "ancestral home" with his family background referenced as "Castilian".[citation needed] Regularly dressed in a double-breasted, pinstriped suit with a black tie, Gomez is almost always seen smoking a cigar. Astin added this trait to the character as he had already been a cigar smoker prior to the show's debut, but then quit after the series ended.[3]
Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) – Morticia's exuberant uncle, who is completely bald and dressed in a floor-length, fur-collared coat. Fester he is quite fond of dynamite and blasting caps. He often relaxes on a bed of nails, by inserting his head into a book press or by being stretched on a wooden torture rack, while he powers light bulbs by placing them into his mouth.

text:
Lurch (Ted Cassidy) – The Addams' loyal butler, who mainly speaks in grunts or groans. Morticia and Gomez summon him with a hangman's-noose bell pull, to which he immediately appears on screen and replies, "You rang?" He is physically imposing and plays the harpsichord. Cassidy made a cameo appearance as Lurch on an episode of the Batman TV series, and on TV music shows while promoting the pop song of the era "The Lurch" (and the dance which it accompanied).[citation needed]
Grandmama Addams (Blossom Rock) – Gomez's mother, a witch who conjures potions and spells, and dabbles in fortune telling and knife throwing.
Wednesday Addams (Lisa Loring) – Gomez's and Morticia's daughter and the youngest member of the family, Wednesday is a strange yet sweet-natured little girl who enjoys keeping bizarre pets such as a black widow spider named Homer and a lizard named Lucifer, in addition to playing with a beheaded doll named Marie Antoinette.
Pugsley Addams (Ken Weatherwax) – Gomez's and Morticia's son, and Wednesday's older brother. Kind-hearted and smart, he occasionally conforms to conventional standards contrary to his family, such as joining the Boy Scouts. He also enjoys engineering various machines, playing with blasting caps, and playing with his pet octopus Aristotle.
Thing – A disembodied hand that appears out of boxes and other conveniently placed containers. Gomez's constant "companion" since childhood, Thing is always ready to assist family members with minor daily services and diversions, such as lifting the receiver on telephones, retrieving the mail, lighting cigars, pouring tea and playing chess. Thing apparently has the ability to teleport from container to container, almost instantly: Thing sometimes appears from different containers at opposite ends of the room within seconds of each other. Though Ted Cassidy would often portray Thing, assistant director Jack Voglin would sometimes portray Thing in scenes where Lurch and Thing appear together. However, Thing was regularly billed as "Itself" in the closing credits.

text: Recurring characters[edit]

text: Family members[edit]

text:
Cousin Itt (Felix Silla; voiced by Tony Magro) – Gomez's cousin, Itt is a diminutive character composed entirely of floor-length hair accompanied by a bowler hat and sunglasses. He speaks in rapid, unintelligible gibberish that only the family can understand. The character was created specifically for the television series.[4][5]
Ophelia Frump (Carolyn Jones) – Morticia's flighty flower-child sister who is the "white sheep of the family." In the two-part, second-season episode "Morticia's Romance", Gomez is originally engaged to Ophelia in an arranged marriage, but when he sees the then-22-year-old Morticia (dressed in a grown-up version of Wednesday's clothing), they fall in love with each other. The flowers entwined in Ophelia's hair actually have roots that travel down into her foot, and the foot raises when one of the flowers are tugged on. She sings in three-part harmony and has a love of judo that enables her to flip men (usually Gomez) onto their backs. Ophelia was played by Carolyn Jones in a blonde wig, and, along with Cousin Itt, was created specifically for the television series,[4] appearing in family portrait artwork by Charles Addams after the show's debut.[5]
Hester Frump (Margaret Hamilton) – The mother of Morticia and Ophelia.

text: Minor characters[edit]

text:
Arthur J. Henson (Parley Baer) – An insurance executive in the town where the family resides.
Joe Digby (Eddie Quillan) – An insurance clerk who works for Arthur Henson.
Sam L. Hilliard (Allyn Joslyn) – A truant officer who is scared to death of the family. In one episode, his middle name is given as "Lucifer", much to the family's delight ("Sam Hill" is an older American euphemism for Satan).
Mr. Briggs (Rolfe Sedan) – The neighborhood postman who delivers the mail to the Addams house.
Sam Picasso (Vito Scotti) – A scheming Spanish artist upon whom family members rely for artistic advice.

text: Production[edit]

text: Writing[edit]

text: Series creator David Levy explained the premise of the show to syndicated columnist Erskine Johnson in August 1964: "We have made [the family] full-bodied people, not monsters ... They are not grotesque and hideous manifestations. At the same time we are protecting the images of [Charles] Addams' 'children', as he refers to them. We are living up to the spirit of his cartoons. He is more than just a cartoonist. He's a social commentator and a great wit."[6] The tone was set by series producer Nat Perrin, who was a close friend of Groucho Marx and writer of several Marx Brothers films. Perrin created story ideas, directed one episode and rewrote every script. The series often employed the same type of zany satire and screwball humor seen in the Marx Brothers films. It lampooned politics ("Gomez, The Politician" and "Gomez, The People's Choice"), the legal system ("The Addams Family in Court"), rock n' roll and Beatlemania ("Lurch, The Teenage Idol") and Hollywood ("My Fair Cousin Itt").

text: Opening theme[edit]

text: The show's memorable theme, written and arranged by longtime Hollywood composer Vic Mizzy, was dominated by a harpsichord with finger snaps as percussive accompaniment. Ted Cassidy punctuated the lyrics with the words "neat", "sweet" and "petite". Mizzy's theme was popular enough to enjoy a release as a 45-rpm single, though it failed to make the U.S. charts. The song was revived for the 1992 animated series, as well as in 2007 for a series of Addams Family television commercials for M&M's chocolates.

text: Episodes[edit]

text: For both seasons, episodes aired Friday nights at 8:30 p.m.

text: Syndication[edit]

text: The show has been aired worldwide. In the United Kingdom, it first aired on ITV in 1965–1966, and then it appeared on Sky 1 in 1991 and ran until 1992. and then it was aired on BBC Two from 6 p.m. on Monday nights starting in February 1992 until the end of 1993 and then moved to Saturdays in 1994 and later in school summer holidays before it vanished at the end of August 1996.[citation needed]

text: Since October 2011, the series was picked up by Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang and runs through the entire month of October for Halloween alongside The Munsters.

text: The series airs on select local stations,[7] and as of November 2013 airs weekends on the national movie/classic TV network Antenna TV[8]

text: Reunions, sequels and adaptations[edit]

text: A reunion TV film, Halloween with the New Addams Family, aired on NBC in October 1977 and starred most of the original cast, except for Blossom Rock, who was very ill at the time and was replaced as Grandmama by Phyllis actress Jane Rose. Elvia Allman portrayed Mother Frump, whom Margaret Hamilton had played in the original series. Veteran character actors Parley Baer and Vito Scotti, who both had recurring roles in the original series, also appeared in the movie. The film also included extended family members created specifically for this production, such as Gomez's brother Pancho (played by Henry Darrow) and two additional children, Wednesday Jr. and Pugsley Jr. The latter two were portrayed as near copies of the original children, now known as Wednesday Sr. and Pugsley Sr., who were once again played respectively by Lisa Loring and Ken Weatherwax, the original Wednesday and Pugsley in the series. Vic Mizzy rewrote and conducted the series theme as an instrumental.

text: Astin reprised his role as Gomez Addams for the 1992 animated adaptation of the series. No other members of the original cast were involved.

text: In 1998, a standalone film, Addams Family Reunion, aired on the Fox Family Channel, followed by the series The New Addams Family that ran from 1998 to 2000. Astin appeared in the series as Grandpapa Addams. John Astin and Lisa Loring are the only living cast members from the TV show.

text: Home media[edit]

text: As of May 2009, the show can be purchased on iTunes, and can be streamed in the US on Netflix, IMDb, YouTube and Hulu, and minisodes are available on Crackle. MGM Home Entertainment has released The Addams Family on DVD in Region 1, 2 and 4 in three-volume sets.[citation needed]

text:
DVD Name
Episodes
Release date
Additional information

Volume 1
22
August 10, 2006

Audio commentary for "The Addams Family Goes to School" by cast members Lisa Loring, Ken Weatherwax and Felix Silla, along with Stephen Cox (author of The Addams Chronicles)
You Rang, Mr. Addams featurette
Snap, Snap featurette
Theme Song Karaoke
The DVD releases contain alterations to the episodes "Halloween with the Addams Family" and "The Addams Family Meets the Undercover Man". In two scenes, Morticia's song "It's So Nice to Have a 'Thing' Around the House" (to the tune of "It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House") was cut. The edits were made because MGM/20th Century Fox could not obtain the rights to the original song.[9]

Volume 2
21
March 27, 2007

Mad About the Addams featurette: Experts discuss the history and impact of the show
Thing and Cousin Itt commentaries
Guest Star Séance interactive featurette: A magical crystal ball conjures guest star clips and trivia
Tombstone Trivia on "Morticia's Romance, Part 1" episode
Audio commentary with The Addams Chronicles author Stephen Cox

Volume 3
21
September 11, 2007[10]

Thing and Cousin Itt commentaries
Audio commentary with Stephen Cox, author of The Addams Chronicles
Tombstone Trivia on "Cat Addams" episode

The Complete Series
64
November 13, 2007[11]

Special "velvet-touch" package

text: In other media[edit]

text: Film[edit]

text: A successful film, The Addams Family, was released by Paramount Pictures in 1991, starring Raúl Juliá as Gomez, Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Christopher Lloyd as an amnesiac Uncle Fester and Christina Ricci as Wednesday. After the film's release, series creator David Levy filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures; the suit was settled out of court. A sequel, Addams Family Values, followed in 1993, to greater critical success than the first film, though it earned less at the box office.


document_title: Quantal neurotransmitter release

question_text: neurotransmitter filled packets in the presynaptic neuron are called

text: Quantal neurotransmitter release

text: This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; try the Find link tool for suggestions. (April 2015)

text: Neurotransmitters are released into a synapse in packaged vesicles called quanta. One quantum generates what is known as a miniature end plate potential (MEPP) which is the smallest amount of stimulation that one neuron can send to another neuron.[1] Quantal release is the mechanism by which most traditional endogenous neurotransmitters are transmitted throughout the body. The aggregate sum of many MEPPs is known as an end plate potential (EPP). A normal end plate potential usually causes the postsynaptic neuron to reach its threshold of excitation and elicit an action potential.[1] Electrical synapses do not use quantal neurotransmitter release and instead use gap junctions between neurons to send current flows between neurons. The goal of any synapse is to produce either an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) or an inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP), which generate or repress the expression, respectively, of an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. It is estimated that an action potential will trigger the release of approximately 20% of an axon terminal's neurotransmitter load.[2]

text: Quantal Neurotransmitter Release Mechanism[edit]

text: Neurotransmitters are synthesized in the axon terminal where they are stored in vesicles. These neurotransmitter-filled vesicles are the quanta that will be released into the synapse. Quantal vesicles release their contents into the synapse by binding to the presynaptic membrane and combining their phospholipid bilayers. Individual quanta may randomly diffuse into the synapse and cause a subsequent MEPP. These spontaneous occurrences are completely random and are not the result of any kind of signaling pathway.

text: Calcium ion signaling to the axon terminal is the usual signal for presynaptic release of neurotransmitters. Calcium ion diffusion into the presynaptic membrane signals the axon terminal to release quanta to generate either an IPSP or EPSP in the postsynaptic membrane. Release of different neurotransmitters will lead to different postsynaptic potentials. Releases of glutamate or GABA will lead to EPSPs or IPSPs, respectively. Action potentials that transmit down to the axon terminal will depolarize the terminal's membrane and cause a conformational change in the membrane's calcium ion channels. These calcium channels will adopt an "open" configuration that will allow only calcium ions to enter the axon terminal. The influx of calcium ions will further depolarize the interior of the axon terminal and will signal the quanta in the axon terminal to bind to the presynaptic membrane.[1] Once bound, the vesicles will fuse into the membrane and the neurotransmitters will be released into the membrane by exocytosis.

text: The exact mechanism of calcium ion signaling to the presynaptic membrane is unknown, but it has been well established that calcium ion influxes in the axon terminal are linked to neurotransmitter release. Current research suggests that neurotransmitter release into neuromuscular junctions is signaled using a hierarchy of calcium ion channels and receptors in the presynaptic membrane, with different channels and receptors showing varying degrees of excitability in the presynaptic membrane.[3] The variety in calcium channels suggests that more efficient channels are utilized first and that differing use of calcium ion channels leads to differing levels of quantal release.

text: Once in the synapse, neurotransmitters will rapidly move across the synapse to attach themselves to receptors on the postsynaptic membrane. Neurotransmitter receptors will either signal postsynaptic channels to "open" or "close" which will affect the rates that ions are able to cross the synaptic membrane. The relative change in ion flow will polarize the membrane based on the properties of the affected ion channel.[1] For example, opening a potassium ion channel in the presynaptic membrane will create a flow of positive potassium ions out of the neuron; loss of the positively charged potassium ions will cause the neuron to become more negatively charged. It is through the use of a variety of neurotransmitters and receptors that neurons are able to send a plethora of potential signals to each other. Estimations of quantal release time courses can be roughly estimated from the original quantal release events following presynaptic simulation.[4] Such estimations cannot be reliably used in all synapses, but can be useful tools in developing the understanding of neurotransmitter release time courses in general.

text: Synaptic Vesicle Recycling[edit]

text: As described above, the synaptic vesicle will remain fused to the presynaptic membrane after its neurotransmitter contents have been released into the synapse. The repeated additions to the axon terminal membrane would eventually result in the uncontrolled growth of the axon terminal, which could lead to disastrous breakdown of the synaptic complex. The axon terminal compensates for this problem by reuptaking the vesicle by endocytosis and reusing its components to form new synaptic vesicles.[1] The exact mechanism and signaling cascade which triggers synaptic vesicle recycling is still unknown.

text: No one method of synaptic vesicle recycling seems to hold true in all scenarios, which suggests the existence of multiple pathways for synaptic vesicle recycling. Multiple proteins have been linked with synaptic vesicle reuptake and then subsequently been linked to different synaptic vesicle recycling pathways. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) and activity-dependent bulk endocytosis (ADBE) are the two most predominant forms of synaptic vesicle recycling, with ADBE being more active during periods of high neuronal activity and CME being active for long periods of time after neuronal activity has ceased.[5]


document_title: Lilies of the Field (1963 film)

question_text: who sang amen in lilies of the field

question_tokens: who sang amen in lilies of the field

text: Lilies of the Field (1963 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier) is an itinerant handyman/jack-of-all-trades who stops at a farm in the Arizona desert to obtain some water for his car. There he sees several women working on a fence, very ineptly. The women, who speak very little English, introduce themselves as German, Austrian and Hungarian nuns. The mother superior, the leader of the nuns, persuades him to do a small roofing repair. He stays overnight, assuming that he will be paid in the morning. Next day, Smith tries to persuade the mother superior to pay him by quoting Luke 10:7, "The laborer is worthy of his hire." Mother Maria Marthe (Lilia Skala, called "Mother Maria"), responds by asking him to read another Bible verse from the Sermon on the Mount: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

text: Mother Maria likes things done her way. The nuns have essentially no money and subsist by living off the land, on what vegetables the arid climate provides, and some milk and eggs. Even after being stonewalled when asking for payment, and after being persuaded to stay for a meal, and against his better judgment, Smith agrees to stay another day to help them with other small jobs, always with the faint hope that Mother Maria will pay him for his work.

text: As Smith's skills and strengths become apparent to the nuns, they come to believe that he has been sent by God to fulfill their dream of building a chapel for the townsfolk—who are Latino and impoverished—as the nearest church is miles away.

text: When Sunday comes, Mother Maria informs Smith that he will be driving the sisters to Mass in his station wagon. (The nuns have no vehicle and thus ordinarily would walk the long distance to church.) Smith is invited to attend the Catholic Mass, celebrated by a roving priest not in a church but outdoors, but he declines because he is a Baptist. Instead, he takes the opportunity to get a proper breakfast from the trading post next door. In talking to the proprietor, Juan (Stanley Adams), Smith learns about the hardships that the nuns, led by the unyielding Mother Maria, overcame to emigrate from Eastern Europe – over the Berlin Wall – only to barely scratch out a meager living on the farm that was willed to their order. Juan humorously tells Homer that he considers prayer and belief in religion a form of "insurance", and suggests that is why Homer is helping the nuns without being paid.

text: Though he has come to realize how unlikely it is that he will be paid, and partly out of respect for all the women have overcome, Smith stays longer and finds himself driven to work on at least clearing the construction site for the chapel. He rationalizes that it would be too hard for the sisters to move the heavy beams. After losing another duel of Bible quotes with Mother Maria, Smith acknowledges that he has always wanted to be an architect, but couldn't afford the schooling. His unfulfilled dream impels him to agree to undertake the (unpaid) job of building the sisters a chapel.

text: To earn money to buy some "real food" to supplement the spartan diet the nuns are able to provide him, Smith gets a part-time job with the nearby construction contractor, Ashton (director Ralph Nelson, uncredited), who is impressed that Smith can handle nearly every piece of heavy equipment he owns. Smith supplements the nuns' diet as well, shopping for groceries to stock up their kitchen and delighting them with treats such as lollipops.

text: To pass the evenings, Smith (whom the nuns call "Schmidt") helps the sisters improve their rudimentary English (only Mother Maria speaks the language well enough to converse with him) and joins them in singing. They share their different musical traditions with one another: their Catholic chants and his Baptist hymns. He teaches them to join him in the call-and-response song "Amen" by Jester Hairston (dubbed by Hairston in the film).

text: Smith, determined that the building will be constructed to the highest standards, insists that the work be done by him and only him. Meanwhile, the nuns write letters to various philanthropic organizations and charities asking for money for supplies, but all their requests are denied. As word spreads about the endeavor, locals begin to show up to contribute materials and to help in construction, but Smith rebuffs all offers of assistance in the labor. As he gains a larger and larger audience for his efforts, the locals, impressed with his determination, but no less dogged than he, will content themselves no longer with just watching. They find ways to lend a hand that Smith cannot easily turn down – the lifting of a bucket or brick, for example. Once the process is in motion, they end up doing as they intended, assisting in every aspect of the construction, as well as contributing materials. This greatly accelerates the progress, much to the delight of everyone but Smith.

text: Even Ashton, who has long ignored Mother Maria's pleas, finds an excuse to deliver some more materials. Almost overnight, Smith finds that he's become a building foreman and contractor. Enduring the hassles of coordinating the work of so many, the constant disputes with Mother Maria, and the trial of getting enough materials for the building, Smith brings the chapel to completion, placing the cross on the spire himself and signing his work where only he and God will know.

text: It is the evening before the Sunday when the chapel is to be dedicated. All the work has been done and Smith is exhausted. Now that there is nothing more to keep Smith among them, Mother Maria, too proud to ask him outright to stay, insists that he attend the opening Mass next day to receive proper recognition from the congregation. She speaks enthusiastically of all that "Schmidt" still can do to aid the town, such as building a school. Making no reply to any of this, Smith tricks Mother Maria, as part of the night's English lesson, into saying "thank you" to him. Until then, she stubbornly had thanked only God for the work, assistance, and gifts that Smith had provided to the nuns. It is a touching moment between two strong personalities.

text: Later that evening, as he leads the nuns in singing "Amen" once again, Smith slips out the door and, still singing the lead, the nuns' voices chiming softly behind him, he takes one last look at the chapel he built. Mother Maria hears him start up his station wagon, but remains stolidly in her seat, singing along with the rest of the sisters, as Smith drives quietly off into the night.

text: Production[edit]

text: The movie was filmed on the northern edge (near Sabino Canyon and Cloud Road)[3] of Tucson. The church doors were borrowed from the Chapel in Sasabe, Arizona and were carved by local Tucson artist Charles Bolsius.

text: Sequel[edit]

text: A sequel, Christmas Lilies of the Field, was made in 1979 for television in which Homer Smith (now played by Billy Dee Williams), returns and is "convinced" to build a kindergarten for a group of orphans and runaways whom the sisters have taken in.

text: Jester Hairston, who wrote the gospel arrangement of Amen used in the film, and who arranged the vocal parts, also dubbed the vocals for Poitier, who is famously tone-deaf.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Sidney Poitier as Homer Smith
Lilia Skala as Mother Maria
Lisa Mann as Sister Gertrude
Isa Crino as Sister Agnes
Francesca Jarvis as Sister Albertine
Pamela Branch as Sister Elizabeth
Stanley Adams as Juan
Dan Frazer as Father Murphy
Jester Hairston as Homer Smith singing (uncredited); composer of the song "Amen"
Ralph Nelson as Mr. Ashton (uncredited)

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text: Poitier won the 1963 Academy Award for Best Actor, the first time a black man won a competitive Oscar.[4][a] Poitier also won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival.[5]

text: The film was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lilia Skala), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.[6]

text: The film was also nominated in 1965 for the United Nations Award at the BAFTA Awards.[7]

text: Also, the film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:

Homer Smith – Nominated Hero[8]

2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #46[9]


document_title: Gillette Stadium

question_text: what are the two symbols on the patriots field

text: Gillette Stadium

text: History[edit]

text: Foxboro Stadium[edit]

text: From the 1971 NFL season until the 2001 NFL season, the Patriots played all of their home games at Foxboro Stadium. The stadium was privately funded on an extremely small budget and featured few amenities. Its aluminum benches would freeze over during games with cold weather and it had an unorganized dirt parking lot.[18] Foxboro Stadium did not prove to bring in the profit that was needed to keep an NFL team in New England, as it was one of the smallest stadiums in the NFL, with just over 60,000 seats.[19][20] The team had fallen into debt after team executive Chuck Sullivan funded the Jackson Victory Tour, in an attempt to earn more profit for the team. Tickets sales failed, however, and the team's debt increased even further – to a final total of US$126 million.[21] After two unsuccessful owners bought the team and stadium, it was clear that a new stadium had to be built for the team to stay in New England. This is when other cities in the New England area, including Boston (which was previously home to the Patriots and already had a stadium they could, and for a time before Foxboro Stadium opened, did, play in), Hartford, and Providence became interested in building new stadiums to lure the Patriots away from Foxborough.[22]

text: Location discussions[edit]

text: The first major stadium proposal from another city came in September 1993. Lowell Weicker, the Governor of Connecticut, proposed to the Connecticut General Assembly that a new stadium should be built in Hartford to attract the Patriots to move there, stating that a stadium had "potentially great benefit" if it were built. The bill passed in the State Assembly on September 27, 1993.[23]

text: In Massachusetts, there was a proposal to build a "Megaplex" in Boston, which would be the site of the stadium, as well as a new Fenway Park (the home park of the Boston Red Sox) and a much needed convention center. The proposed sites for this hybrid convention center-stadium were along Summer Street in South Boston or at the so-called Crosstown site along Melnea Cass Boulevard in Roxbury, adjacent to Boston's South End. The administration of Massachusetts Governor William Weld pushed for construction of a full "Megaplex" at the crosstown site, with then-new Boston Mayor Thomas Menino favoring construction of a new, stand-alone convention center in South Boston. Ultimately, the residents of neither of these neighborhoods wanted a stadium, and as a result, Menino backed out, fearing that it would affect his chance at re-election.[24] The Fenway Park plan was cancelled after many "Save Fenway Park!" groups popped up to save the historic ballpark.

text: Kraft then began a plan to build a new stadium in South Boston. In that plan, Kraft was to pay for the stadium himself, hoping to win the support of Weld and Menino. He began to sketch designs, but the project was leaked to the press in December 1996. The residents of South Boston objected to a stadium being built in that location, causing Menino and Weld to become angry at Kraft. Kraft abandoned all plans for a Boston Stadium after the affair.[25] In January 1997, Kraft began talks with Providence mayor Vincent Cianci to relocate the team to Providence and build a new stadium there. The proposed 68,000-seat domed stadium would have cost $250 million, and would have been paid through income taxes, public bonds, surcharges on tickets, and private funds. Residents of the neighborhood of the proposed project were extremely opposed to the project because the surrounding area would have needed massive infrastructure improvements. The proposal fell through after a few weeks.[26]

text: During a news conference in September 1998, the team revealed plans to build a new stadium in Foxborough, keeping the team in Massachusetts. It was to be funded by the state as well as Kraft himself. This plan brought more competition from Connecticut, as a $1 billion plan to renovate an area of Hartford, including building a stadium.[27] Kraft then signed an agreement to move the team to Hartford on November 18, 1998. The proposed stadium included 68,000 seats, 60 luxury boxes, and had a projected cost of $375 million.[28] As before in Boston and Providence, construction of the stadium was challenged by the residents. Problems with the site were discovered, and an agreement could not be reached regarding the details of the stadium. The entire plan eventually fell through, enraging then Connecticut governor John G. Rowland, who lobbied hard for the stadium and spent weeks deliberating with Robert Kraft.[29] Rowland announced at a press conference that he was officially "a New York Jets fan, now and probably forever".[30] In 1999, the team officially announced that it would remain in Foxborough, which led to Gillette Stadium's construction.[31] After the Hartford proposal fell through, Robert Kraft paid for 100% of the construction costs, a rare instance of an NFL owner privately financing the construction of a stadium.

text: Design[edit]

text: On April 18, 2000, the team revealed plans for the new stadium in Foxborough.[32] It was announced as a 68,000-seat stadium at a cost of $325 million, with the entire cost privately funded. Boston is thus the only city in professional sports in which all facilities are privately owned and operated. The Patriots own Gillette Stadium, the Red Sox own Fenway Park, and TD Garden is owned by Delaware North (the owner of the Bruins) (the Celtics rent the TD Garden from Delaware North).

text: Concurrently announced was a new road to access the stadium from U.S. Route 1, and an additional 3,000 parking spaces to accommodate the increased number of fans.[32]

text: The stadium was designed by HOK Sport (now Populous). Kraft wanted it modeled on M&T Bank Stadium which had opened in Baltimore, Maryland in 1998. Kraft insisted on it having a "front door" with a Disneyland-like entrance. Populous went through 200 designs before coming up with one that Kraft liked.[33] The entrance includes a lighthouse (which was originally designed to shoot a light 2 miles (3.2 km) high) and a bridge modeled on Boston's Longfellow Bridge.[34] The lighthouse and bridge are now featured on the stadium's logo.

text: For the first eight years of its existence the stadium used a video display, with a smaller LED scoreboard just beneath it, at each end of the field. The south side also had a large LED scoreboard in addition to the smaller one. In 2010, the stadium installed two new high definition Daktronics video displays to replace the entire previous setup at both ends.[35] At the time of their construction, the larger screen, at 41.5 feet tall and 164 feet wide (12.6 m x 50.0 m), was the second-largest video monitor in any NFL stadium; only AT&T Stadium had a larger one.[36]

text: Gillette Stadium ranks first among all NFL venues in stadium food safety with a 0% critical violations.[37] The Gillette Stadium food service, instead of being outsourced like most NFL teams, is run in-house and is led by the Patriots executive director of foods and beverage David Wheeler.[38]

text: Events[edit]

text: NFL[edit]

text: The venue has hosted the NFL's nationally–televised primetime season–opening games in 2004, 2005, 2015, and 2017 (when the Patriots unveiled their championship banners from Super Bowl XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX and LI). The stadium also played host to the 2003 AFC Championship Game, in which the Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts 24–14. Eight days earlier the Patriots hosted the coldest game (4 °F, −12 °F wind chill) in New England Patriots history in the AFC Divisional Playoff game when the Patriots defeated the Tennessee Titans, 17–14.[39] Gillette Stadium also hosted the 2007 AFC Championship Game, with the Patriots defeating the San Diego Chargers, 21–12.

text: On January 10, 2010, the Baltimore Ravens beat the Patriots 33–14 here giving the Patriots their first home loss in the playoffs in Gillette Stadium. The Patriots suffered their second home playoff loss on January 16, 2011 in a 28–21 New York Jets victory. During the 2012 NFL playoffs, the Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos, 45–10, and again hosted the AFC Championship, where they won against the Baltimore Ravens, 23–20. The following year, they again hosted the AFC Championship game, where they lost 28–13 to the Baltimore Ravens. During the 2015 NFL playoffs, the Patriots avenged their previous defeat by the Baltimore Ravens by edging the Ravens 35-31.  They then defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7 in the AFC Championship. The stadium hosted its sixth AFC Championship game during the 2016 playoffs, as the Patriots defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 36–17. In all, the Patriots are 16–3 at Gillette Stadium in the playoffs.

text: College football[edit]

text: As part of the UMass football program's move to Division I FBS, the Minutemen played all of their home games at Gillette Stadium for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The stadium is 95 miles away from the UMass campus in Amherst—the longest trip of any FBS member. The Minutemen's on-campus stadium, Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium, was not suitable for FBS football in its previous configuration. Its small size (17,000 seats) would have made it prohibitively difficult to meet FBS average attendance requirements, and its press box and replay facilities were well below Mid-American Conference standards. Additionally, several nonconference teams would not even consider playing games in Amherst. McGuirk Stadium was renovated to FBS standards for the 2014 season, but the Minutemen's current deal with the Kraft Group calls for the Minutemen to play four of their home games in Foxborough from 2014 to 2016 in exchange for keeping part of the revenue from ticket sales.[40][41] Moving forward, Gillette will continue to host UMass football with those games of anticipated larger attendance.

text: Hockey[edit]

text: Gillette Stadium also hosted the eighth edition of the NHL Winter Classic, between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, on January 1, 2016.[42]

text: Notable soccer games[edit]

text: Memorable Major League Soccer playoff victories include wins over the Chicago Fire in the 2005 and 2007 Eastern Conference Final, sending the Revs to the MLS Cup. Additionally, the venue hosted MLS Cup 2002, four games of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, and some Copa America Centenario matches in 2016.

text: International soccer matches[edit]

text:
Date

Winning Team

Result

Losing Team

Tournament

Spectators

September 27, 2003
 Norway
7–1
 South Korea
2003 FIFA Women's World Cup First Round
14,356

 Canada
3–1
 Japan

October 1, 2003
 United States
1–0
 Norway
2003 FIFA Women's World Cup Quarterfinals
25,103

 Sweden
2–1
 Brazil

June 10, 2016
 Chile
2–1
 Bolivia
Copa América Centenario Group D
19,392

June 12, 2016
 Peru
1–0
 Brazil
Copa América Centenario Group B
36,187

June 18, 2016
 Argentina
4–1
 Venezuela
Copa América Centenario Quarterfinal
59,183

text: Concerts[edit]

text:
Date

Artist

Opening act(s)

Tour / Concert name

Attendance

Gross

Notes

September 5, 2002
The Rolling Stones
The Pretenders
The Licks Tour
—
—

July 6, 2003
Metallica
Limp BizkitLINKIN PARKDeftonesMudvayne
The Summer Sanitarium Tour
42,898 / 48,600
$3,217,350

August 1, 2003
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
—
The Rising Tour
96,108 / 98,559
$7,107,215

August 2, 2003

July 24, 2004
Toby Keith
Montgomery GentryJo Dee MessinaGretchen WilsonScotty EmerickDon Campbell Band
The Big Throwdown Tour
39,717 / 41,354
$2,850,279

July 23, 2005
Kenny Chesney
Keith UrbanGretchen WilsonUncle KrackerPat Green
The Somewhere in the Sun Tour
50,860 / 50,860
$3,263,448

September 3, 2005
Green Day
Jimmy Eat WorldAgainst Me!
The American Idiot Tour
26,781 / 43,615
$1,006,421

July 16, 2006
Kenny Chesney
Dierks BentleyBig & RichCarrie UnderwoodGretchen Wilson
The Road and The Radio Tour
55,124 / 55,124
$4,136,945

July 27, 2006
Bon Jovi
Nickelback
The Have a Nice Day Tour
45,874 / 45,874
$3,384,804

September 20, 2006
The Rolling Stones
Kanye West
A Bigger Bang Tour
44,115 / 45,285
$4,042,193

July 28, 2007
Kenny Chesney
Brooks & DunnSugarlandSara EvansPat Green
The Flip-Flop Summer Tour
56,926 / 56,926
$4,496,363

July 26, 2008
Kenny Chesney
Keith UrbanLeAnn RimesGary AllanSammy Hagar
The Poets and Pirates Tour
57,394 / 57,394
$5,274,364

July 18, 2009
Elton JohnBilly Joel
—
Face to Face 2009
52,007 / 52,007
$6,209,342

July 28, 2009
AC/DC
Anvil
The Black Ice World Tour
—
—

August 15, 2009
Kenny Chesney
SugarlandMontgomery GentryMiranda LambertLady Antebellum
The Sun City Carnival Tour
57,890 / 57,890
$5,041,001

September 20, 2009
U2
Snow Patrol
The U2 360° Tour
138,805 / 138,805
$12,859,778

September 21, 2009

June 5, 2010
Taylor Swift
Kellie PicklerGlorianaJustin Bieber
The Fearless Tour
56,868 / 56,868
$3,726,157
Swift became the first woman to headline the stadium.[43]

June 13, 2010
Eagles
Dixie ChicksKeith Urban
The Long Road Out of Eden Tour
26,433 / 41,582
$2,822,410

July 24, 2010
Bon Jovi
Kid Rock
The Circle Tour
51,138 / 51,138
$4,418,585

August 21, 2010
Brad Paisley
Jason AldeanDarius RuckerSara EvansEaston Corbin
The H2O Tour
51,107 / 51,107
$3,476,779

June 25, 2011
Taylor Swift
NeedtobreatheRandy MontanaJames Wesley
The Speak Now World Tour
110,800 / 110,800
$8,026,350

June 26, 2011

August 26, 2011
Kenny Chesney
Zac Brown BandBilly CurringtonUncle Kracker
The Goin' Coastal Tour
106,755 / 106,755
$9,228,920

August 27, 2011

August 18, 2012
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
—
The Wrecking Ball World Tour
49,621 / 50,000
$4,548,896

August 24, 2012
Kenny ChesneyTim McGraw
Grace Potter and the NocturnalsJake Owen
The Brothers of the Sun Tour
111,209 / 111,209
$9,926,110

August 25, 2012

July 20, 2013
Bon Jovi
The J. Geils Band
The Because We Can Tour
45,912 / 45,912
$3,514,571

July 26, 2013
Taylor Swift
Ed SheeranAustin MahoneJoel Crouse
The Red Tour
110,712 / 110,712
$9,464,063
At the first show, Carly Simon was the special guest.[44]

July 27, 2013

August 23, 2013
Kenny ChesneyEric Church
Eli Young BandKacey Musgraves
The No Shoes Nation Tour
109,207 / 109,207
$9,465,256

August 24, 2013

May 31, 2014
George Strait
Tim McGrawFaith HillCassadee Pope
The Cowboy Rides Away Tour
55,863 / 55,863
$5,005,789

June 15, 2014
Iggy Azalea
—
The New Classic Tour
—
—
This concert was part of 103.3 AMP Radio Birthday Bash[45]

July 1, 2014
BeyoncéJay-Z
—
The On the Run Tour
52,802 / 52,802
$5,738,114
Jay-Z became the first rapper to headline the stadium.[46]

August 7, 2014
One Direction
5 Seconds of Summer
The Where We Are Tour
148,251 / 148,251
$13,475,239

August 8, 2014

August 9, 2014

August 10, 2014
Luke Bryan
Dierks BentleyLee BriceCole Swindell
The That's My Kind of Night Tour
56,048 / 56,048
$4,349,568

July 24, 2015
Taylor Swift
Vance JoyShawn MendesHaim
The 1989 World Tour
116,849 / 116,849
$12,533,166
Walk the Moon was the special guest.[47]

July 25, 2015
MKTO was the special guest.[48]

August 22, 2015
AC/DC
Vintage Trouble
Rock or Bust World Tour
48,000 / 50,000
—

August 28, 2015
Kenny ChesneyJason Aldean
Brantley GilbertCole SwindellOld Dominion
The Big Revival TourThe Burn It Down Tour
120,206 / 120,206
$11,624,917

August 29, 2015

September 12, 2015
One Direction
Icona Pop
The On the Road Again Tour
48,167 / 48,167
$4,493,993
Liam Payne and Niall Horan, respectively, made a cover of "22" by Taylor Swift, because of the 22nd birthday of both.

September 25, 2015
Ed Sheeran
PassengerChristina Perri
The x Tour
51,996 / 54,000
$3,234,377

June 3, 2016
Beyoncé
DJ Khaled
The Formation World Tour
48,304 / 48,304
$6,008,698

July 15, 2016
Luke Bryan
Little Big TownChris StapletonDustin Lynch
The Kill the Lights Tour
76,450 / 87,871
$7,511,536

July 16, 2016

July 19, 2016
Guns N' Roses
Lenny Kravitz
The Not In This Lifetime... Tour
65,472 / 71,099
$8,302,575

July 20, 2016

July 30, 2016
Coldplay
Alessia CaraFoxes
A Head Full of Dreams Tour
54,952 / 54,952
$6,530,260

August 26, 2016
Kenny Chesney
Miranda LambertSam HuntOld Dominion
The Spread the Love Tour
121,399 / 121,399
$11,455,368

August 27, 2016

September 14, 2016
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
—
The River Tour
48,324 / 51,664
$5,439,521

May 19, 2017
Metallica
VolbeatMix Master Mike
The WorldWired Tour
47,778 / 48,905
$6,095,723

June 25, 2017
U2
The Lumineers
The Joshua Tree Tour 2017
55,231 / 55,231
$6,881,340

August 4, 2017
Coldplay
AlunaGeorgeIzzy Bizu
A Head Full of Dreams Tour
52,188 / 52,188
$6,263,906

August 25, 2017
Kenny Chesney
Thomas RhettOld DominionMidland
The No Shoes Nation Tour 2017
121,642 / 121,642
$12,095,688

August 26, 2017

July 26, 2018
Taylor Swift
Camila CabelloCharli XCX
Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour
TBA
TBA

July 27, 2018

July 28, 2018

August 5, 2018
Beyoncé & Jay-Z
—
On The Run II Tour
TBA
TBA

August 24, 2018
Kenny Chesney
Dierks BentleyBrothers OsborneBrandon Lay
The Trip Around The Sun Tour
TBA
TBA

August 25, 2018

September 15, 2018
Ed Sheeran
TBA
÷ Tour
TBA
TBA

text: Other events[edit]

text: Gillette Stadium hosted the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2017.

text: The AMA Supercross Championship has been racing at Gillette Stadium since 2016.[citation needed]

text: Monster Jam has been coming to the stadium since 2014.

text: Playing surface[edit]

text: On November 14, 2006, two days after a rainstorm contributed to the deterioration of the grass surface in a Patriots game against the Jets, team management decided to replace the natural grass surface with a synthetic surface, FieldTurf. The Patriots' first game on the surface was a victory over the previously 9–1 Chicago Bears on November 26. At the conclusion of the 2007 season, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had a career record of 31–3 on artificial turf. The team lost a preseason matchup in August 2007 to the Tennessee Titans on the new FieldTurf but otherwise won its first eleven regular-season and playoff games on the surface covering the period of November 2006 until September 2008, when the Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins.

text: In February 2010, the surface was pulled and upgraded to FieldTurf "Duraspine Pro", which was expected to meet FIFA standards that the previous turf did not, preventing the team from having to place sod on top of their turf to host international soccer matches.[49]

text: The surface was upgraded again in April 2014 to FieldTurf "Revolution" with "VersaTile" drainage system. The FieldTurf Revolution product is currently used at many venues across North America, including CenturyLink Field (home to the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and MLS's Seattle Sounders) and Providence Park, home of the MLS's Portland Timbers, where its installation was recently completed.[50]

text: Field logo[edit]

text: When the field is configured for American football, the Patriots have their "Flying Elvis" logo painted on the field at dead center of the 50-yard line. Off to both sides along the 50-yard line, the Gillette Stadium logo is also painted on the field. This is a gray-and-yellow stylized representation of the bridge and tower at the north entrance of the stadium.

text: Patriot Place[edit]

text: In 2006, the Patriots and Kraft announced plans to build a "super regional lifestyle and entertainment center" in the area around Gillette Stadium named Patriot Place.[51][52] The cost of the project was $350 million, more than the cost to build Gillette Stadium itself; Kraft had purchased much of the surrounding land, about 700 acres (280 ha), when he bought Foxboro Stadium in the late 1980s.[53]

text: The first phase of the project opened in fall of 2007,[54] and featured the first Bass Pro Shops in New England, as well as Circuit City (now closed), Bed Bath & Beyond, Five Guys Burgers, Christmas Tree Shops, and Staples.[53] In December 2007, the Patriots and CBS announced plans to build a themed restaurant and nightclub, named "CBS Scene", at the site, which would also include studios for CBS-owned WBZ-TV.[55] The restaurant was part of the second phase of the project, which included an open mall, a health center, a Cinema de Lux movie theater, a four-star Renaissance hotel, and "The Hall at Patriot Place." Attached to Gillette Stadium, the Hall includes a two-level interactive museum honoring the Patriots accomplishments and Super Bowl championships, plus the Patriots Pro Shop.[56] The first restaurants and stores in phase two began opening in July 2008, and were followed by the openings of the Hall at Patriot Place and the CBS Scene in time for the beginning of the 2008 New England Patriots season. More locations, including the health center and hotel, opened in 2009, along with additional sites in phase one.