document_title: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

question_text: what engine was used for breath of the wild

text: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

text: Gameplay

text: Breath of the Wild is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment where players are tasked with exploring the kingdom of Hyrule while controlling Link. In terms of structure, Breath of the Wild encourages nonlinear gameplay, which is illustrated by the game's lack of defined entrances or exits to areas,[1] scant instruction given to the player, and encouragement to explore freely.[2] Breath of the Wild introduces a consistent physics engine to the Zelda series, letting players approach problems in different ways rather than trying to find a single solution.[3] The game also integrates a "chemistry engine" that defines the physical properties of most objects and governs how they interact with the player and one another.[4] For example, players may take advantage of the game's dynamic weather by throwing metal objects at enemies during thunderstorms to attract a lightning strike.[5] These design approaches result in a generally unstructured and interactive world that rewards experimentation and allows for nonlinear completion of the story.[6][7]

text: As Link, players can perform actions such as running, climbing, swimming, and gliding with a paraglider, although Link is limited by his stamina.[5] Link can procure items from the environment, including weapons, food, and other resources. Unlike previous Zelda games, weapons and shields will degrade over time.[5] Many items have multiple uses; for example, wooden weapons and armor can be set to light fires or collect incoming enemy arrows, and shields can be used as makeshift snowboards.[5] Players can obtain food from hunting animals, gathering wild fruit, or collecting parts of deceased enemies.[6] By cooking combinations of food or materials, the player can create meals and elixirs that can replenish Link's health and stamina, or provide temporary status bonuses such as increased strength or weather resistance.[6] An important tool in Link's arsenal is the "Sheikah Slate", which can be used to mark waypoints on a map. Over the course of the game, Link can collect powers to add to the Slate, including remote bombs, the ability to manipulate metal objects, form ice blocks on watery surfaces, and temporarily stopping objects in time.[8][9][10] In combat, players can lock onto targets for more precise attacks, while certain button combinations allow for advanced offensive and defensive moves.[11] Players may also defeat enemies without weapons, such as rolling boulders off cliffs into enemy camps.[12]

text: Besides exploration, players can undergo quests or challenges to obtain certain benefits. Activating towers and shrines adds waypoints that the player may warp to at any time.[13] Activating towers also adds territories to the map, although location names are not added until the player explores that area. Dotted throughout Hyrule are shrines that contain challenges ranging from puzzles to battles against robotic opponents. Clearing shrines earns Spirit Orbs, which can be traded for additional health or stamina points.[13] Scattered across Hyrule are small puzzles that reveal Korok Seeds, which can be traded to expand inventory size for weapons, shields, and bows.[14] Towns serve as hotspots for quests, sidequests and shops selling materials and clothing. Hikers and other travelers offer sidequests, hints, or conversation.[5][11] Additionally, players can scan Amiibo figures against their console to summon items or call Link's horse Epona from previous Zelda games and Wolf Link from Twilight Princess.[15][16]

text: Plot

text: Breath of the Wild takes place at the end of the Zelda timeline in the kingdom of Hyrule.[17] When the evil Calamity Ganon threatens Hyrule, he is defeated by Princess Zelda, descendant of the Goddess Hylia, with the help of her knight, Link.[18]

text: Hyrule matured into an advanced civilization, protected by four Divine Beasts— enormous animalistic machines— and an army of Guardians, autonomous weapons.[19] Upon Ganon's return, four great warriors were given the title of Champion and piloted one of the Divine Beasts to weaken him, protected by Zelda, Link, and the Guardians. Link struck Ganon down with the Master Sword, allowing Zelda to seal Ganon away.[20]

text: 10,000 years later, the kingdom of Hyrule regressed to a medieval state.[21] Reading their ancestors' prophecies, the Hyrulians recognized the signs of Ganon's return and excavated the Divine Beasts and Guardians.[22] The champions of Hyrule's races—Daruk, warrior of the mountainous Goron; Mipha, princess of the aquatic Zora; Revali, archer of the birdlike Rito; and Urbosa, chief of the desert-dwelling Gerudo—assembled to pilot the Divine Beasts, while Zelda and Link battled Ganon.[23] However, Ganon possessed the Guardians and Divine Beasts, turning them against Hyrule. King Rhoam and the Champions were killed, the castle town was destroyed, and Link was gravely wounded.[24] Zelda took Link to safety, hid the Master Sword, and used her magic to trap Ganon in Hyrule Castle.[25]

text: 100 years later, an amnesiac Link awakens in Hyrule. He meets an old man, who reveals himself as the spirit of King Rhoam. Rhoam explains that Ganon, sealed in Hyrule Castle, has grown strong; he pleads for Link to defeat Ganon before he breaks free and destroys the world.[26]

text: Link travels Hyrule, returning to locations from his past and regaining his memories. With the help of the Hyrulian races, he boards the four Divine Beasts and purges them of Ganon's monsters, releasing the spirits of Hyrule's former champions. After obtaining the Master Sword from the Lost Woods, Link enters Hyrule Castle and defeats Ganon with the help of the Divine Beasts and Zelda's Bow of Light. Zelda seals Ganon away, restoring peace and allowing the spirits of King Rhoam and the champions to depart. Zelda realizes that Hyrule must be rebuilt and that she and Link must begin the process themselves.[27] If the player fulfills certain conditions, they unlock an alternative ending where Link and Zelda survey Hyrule and talk about rebuilding the world.[28]

text: Development

text: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was developed by Nintendo EPD for the Wii U and Nintendo Switch consoles. According to series producer Eiji Aonuma, the development team aimed to "rethink the conventions of Zelda".[29][30] Following the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in 2011, Aonuma received comments from players who wished to see a more interconnected map to explore the locales between the gameplay areas.[3] In 2013, Nintendo experimented with nonlinear, open-world gameplay in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.[31] At the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Aonuma said he planned to reform dungeons and puzzles, two of the series' major gameplay elements,[32] and redesign the game to allow players to reach the end without progressing through the story.[33] As Nintendo had never worked on a modern open-world game before, they took influence from the development of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.[34]

text: Prior to full development, the developers designed a playable 2D prototype similar to the original Zelda to experiment with physics-based puzzles. The final game uses a modified version of the Havok physics engine.[35] At the 2017 Game Developers Conference, Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, technical director Takuhiro Dohta, and art director Satoru Takizawa held a presentation titled "Change and Constant – Breaking Conventions with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild", during which they demoed the prototype.[35][36] Aonuma called the physics engine in Breath of the Wild a major development for the Zelda series, saying that it "underpins everything in the world" and makes things operate in a "logical and realistic way", allowing players to approach puzzles and problems in different ways. He expanded on the difficulty in developing this system, recalling how one day during development he entered an area in the game and found that all the objects had been blown away by the wind.[3]

text:
"Our mission in developing this new Zelda game ... is quite plainly to re-think the conventions of Zelda. I'm referring to the expectation that the player is supposed to complete dungeons in a certain order...we want to set aside these conventions, get back to basics and create a newborn Zelda so that the players can best enjoy the real essence of the franchise."
Eiji Aonuma, producer[29]

tag: div

text: The game was built and demonstrated with touchscreen features for the Wii U, but the developers found that looking away from the main screen distracted from the game. The features were removed when the game moved to tandem development across the Wii U and Nintendo Switch.[37] The Wii U GamePad also affected animation; although Link is canonically left-handed, he is right-handed in the game to match the GamePad's control scheme, which has its sword-swinging buttons on its right side.[38] The Switch version performs better than the Wii U release when docked to a television, although when undocked, both run at the same resolution. The Switch version also has higher-quality environmental sounds.[39][40] Aonuma stated that the art design was inspired by gouache and en plein air art to help identify the vast world.[41] The game's landscape was based on locations in and around Kyoto, the hometown of game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and was partially designed by Monolith Soft, who assisted with topographical level design.[42][43][44]

text:
"I really think the implementation of this physics engine is a major development for the Zelda series. The way the physics engine underpins everything in the world really offers up a lot of new possibilities. For instance, in Breath of the Wild you might have a puzzle where making use of the physics, there’ll be various ways you can solve that puzzle. That really opens up a lot of possibilities so there’s not just one way to progress in the game or just one way to solve a puzzle."
Eiji Aonuma, producer[3]

text: Breath of the Wild was the first main Zelda game to use voice acting in cutscenes, although Link remains a silent protagonist. Aonuma was affected by the first time he heard a character with a human voice in-game, and wanted to leave a similar impression on players.[45] The team decided to record voice-overs for all cutscenes instead of only the key scenes, as originally planned.[46][47] Nintendo provided voice-overs and subtitles in eight languages.[b] Initially, players were not able to mix and match the languages of voices and subtitles;[48] however, Nintendo released an update in May 2017 that allowed players to choose the voice-over language.[49] The game went gold on February 3, 2017, with Nintendo holding a wrap party to celebrate.[50] Coinciding with the game's launch in Taiwan and South Korea in early 2018, Nintendo introduced a patch worldwide adding traditional and simplified Chinese and Korean translations for the Nintendo Switch version.[c][51][52][53]

text: The original score was composed by Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai. Kataoka and Wakai had previously worked on the Zelda games Spirit Tracks[54] and The Wind Waker respectively.[55] The soundtrack was primarily written and performed on a piano, with a focus on ambient music and sounds rather than the melodic and upbeat music in previous Zelda games. According to Wakai, this helped add "authenticity" to the environments, and was taken on as a challenge by the rest of the sound team.[56]

text: Promotion and release

text: Aonuma announced a new entry for Nintendo's Wii U console in January 2013 during the company's regular online presentation. The game, he continued, would challenge the series' conventions, such as the requirement that players complete dungeons in a set order.[2][57] The next year, Nintendo introduced the game's high-definition, cel-shaded visual style with in-game footage at its June 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo press event.[58][59] Once planned for release in 2015, the game was delayed early in the year and did not show at that year's E3.[60][61] Zelda series creator Shigeru Miyamoto reaffirmed that the game was still set for release on the Wii U, despite the development of Nintendo's next console, the Nintendo Switch.[62] The game was delayed again in April 2016 due to problems with its physics engine. Nintendo let attendees play the game's Wii U version at E3 2016,[63] where they also announced its subtitle, Breath of the Wild.[64] CNET said that the showing would "take your breath away",[65] and Breath of the Wild was the most talked-about E3 2016 game on social media according to Brandwatch, a social media monitoring platform.[66] It was also listed among the best games at E3 by Eurogamer,[67] GameSpot,[68] and GamesRadar+.[69][70] At a Nintendo presentation in January 2017, Nintendo showed a new trailer announcing that the game would be released as a launch game for the Switch.[71]

text: Breath of the Wild launched for both the Wii U and Switch on March 3, 2017.[72] It was the last Nintendo game released for the Wii U.[73] The Switch version was available in limited "Special Edition" and "Master Edition" bundles, which both included a Sheikah Eye coin, a Calamity Ganon tapestry with world map, a soundtrack CD, and a themed carrying case for the Switch. The Master Edition also included a figurine based on the Master Sword.[74][75][76] An "Explorer's Edition" was released for the Switch on November 23, 2017, containing a two-sided map and a 100-page book of story information.[77] In Europe, the game used unique packing artwork.[78] A five-disc, 211-track soundtrack was released in Japan on April 25, 2018.[79]

text: Downloadable content

text: On June 30, 2017, Nintendo released a "season pass" for two bundled downloadable content (DLC): The Master Trials and The Champions' Ballad.[80][81] The Master Trials adds gameplay modes, features, and items. In the Trial of the Sword challenge, Link fights through around 45 rooms of enemies and must finish each room before proceeding. Link begins with no equipment, but is rewarded with a glowing Master Sword that has greater durability and possesses a doubled damage stat if the player completes the challenge. The pack also adds an option to play the game at a higher difficulty level, which adds ranks and raises the ranks of enemies. The enemies are more perceptive when Link sneaks near them and slowly regenerate health in battle. New floating platforms throughout the land offer enemies to battle and treasure as a reward. The Hero's Path feature draws the player's path on the game's map, designed to help players determine places they have not visited. The player can also find the hidden Travel Medallion to save Link's current position as a single waypoint to which the player can transport Link at any time. New items include the Korok Mask, which helps the player find Korok locations, and other themed cosmetics related to previous Zelda games.[82]

text: The Champions' Ballad was released on December 7, 2017, with a trailer presented at The Game Awards 2017 exhibiting the new content. The expansion pack adds a new dungeon, original story, gear, and additional challenges.[81][83][84] It also introduces the Master Cycle Zero, a motorcycle-like vehicle that Link can ride after players complete the pack's additional content.[85]

text: Reception

text: ReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic(NS) 97/100[86](Wii U) 96/100[87]Review scoresPublicationScoreDestructoid10/10[88]Edge10/10[89]EGM9.5/10[90]EurogamerEssential[91]Famitsu40/40[92]Game Informer10/10[93]Game Revolution[94]GameSpot10/10[5]GamesRadar+[95]Giant Bomb[96]IGN10/10[6]Nintendo Life[97]Nintendo World Report9.5/10[98]Polygon10/10[99]VideoGamer.com9/10[100]

text: Breath of the Wild was released to critical acclaim, with some calling the game a masterpiece[106] and one of the greatest video games of all time.[107][108] On the review aggregator Metacritic, Breath of the Wild was the highest-rated game of 2017[109] and holds the largest number of perfect reviews of any game from any year.[110][111][112] Industry publications including IGN,[113] GameSpot,[114] Polygon,[115][116] Entertainment Weekly,[117] Eurogamer,[118] Electronic Gaming Monthly,[119] GamesRadar+,[120] and Game Informer[121] ranked Breath of the Wild the best game of 2017. It was the 29th game (including retrospective perfect scores) to earn a 10/10 score from Edge[89] and the 24th game to receive a 40/40 score from Famitsu.[122]

text: The open-world gameplay received praise. Jose Otero of IGN described it as "a masterclass in open-world design" and "a wonderful sandbox full of mystery, dangling dozens upon dozens of tantalizing things in front of you that just beg to be explored".[6] GameSpot called it the most impressive game Nintendo had made, writing that it "takes designs and mechanics perfected in other games and reworks them for its own purposes to create something wholly new, but also something that still feels quintessentially like a Zelda game ... It's both a return to form and a leap into uncharted territory, and it exceeds expectations on both fronts."[5] Edge wrote that the game world was "an absolute, and unremitting, pleasure to get lost in" and that "the magic of being given all the tools in the opening hour is the knowledge that the solution to any problem is already at your disposal, and you can always change tack".[89]

text: According to Kyle Orland of Ars Technica, "after spending a week utterly immersed in Nintendo's open-world reimagining of the tried-and-true Zelda formula, it's hard to return to the more formulaic entries of the franchise's past".[123] Journalists commented on unexpected results not intended by the developers,[124][125][126] with serendipitous moments proving popular on social media.[127] Chris Plante of The Verge predicted that whereas prior open-world games tended to feature prescribed challenges, Zelda would influence a new generation of games with open-ended problem-solving.[127]

text: Reviewers lauded the sense of detail and immersion.[128][124] Kotaku recommended turning off UI elements in praise of the indirect cues that contextually indicate the same information, such as Link shivering in the cold or waypoints appearing when using the scope.[128] Reviewers also commented on the unexpected permutations of interactions between Link, villagers, pets, and enemies,[124][125][126], many of which were shared widely on social media.[127] A tribute to former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who died during development, also attracted praise.[124][129]

text: Jim Sterling was more critical than most, giving Breath of the Wild a 7/10 score. He criticized the difficulty, weapon durability, and level design, but praised the open world and variety of content.[130] Other criticism focused on the unstable frame rate and the low resolution of 900p;[128][124] updates addressed some of these problems.[131][132]

text: Sales

text: Breath of the Wild broke sales records for a Nintendo launch game in multiple regions.[133][134] In Japan, the Switch and Wii U versions sold a combined 230,000 copies in the first week of release, with the Switch version becoming the top-selling game released that week.[135] In the UK, Breath of the Wild was the second-bestselling retail game its week of release behind Horizon Zero Dawn, and became the third-bestselling Zelda game behind Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.[136][137] In the United States, Breath of the Wild was the second-bestselling video game during its month of release behind Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.[138] Nintendo reported that Breath of the Wild sold more than one million copies in the US that month, 925,000 of which were for Switch - a 100% attach rate.[139][140][141][142] That month, Nintendo reported it had sold 3.84 million copies of Breath of the Wild worldwide, 1.08 million for Wii U and 2.76 million for Switch, surpassing the Switch's global sales of 2.74 million for the same period.[143] Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said that the attach rate of Breath of the Wild to the Switch was "unprecedented".[144] By June 2018, the Switch version had sold 9.32 million copies,[145] and the Wii U version 1.5 million, for a total of 10.82 million, making Breath of the Wild the best-selling Zelda game.[146] By September 2018, the Switch version reached 10.28 million copies sold.[147]

text: The game's success sparked increased interest in the Wii U emulator Cemu, as the Cemu developers rapidly updated the software to run the game at a smooth frame rate within weeks of release.[148][149][150]

text: Accolades

text: Following its demonstration at E3 2016, Breath of the Wild received several accolades from the Game Critics Awards[151] and from publications such as IGN and Destructoid.[152][153] It was listed among the best games at E3 by Eurogamer,[67] GameSpot,[68] and GamesRadar+.[69][70] In late 2016, Breath of the Wild received two awards at Gamescom,[154] and won the award for Most Anticipated Game at The Game Awards 2016.[155]

text: After its release, Breath of the Wild won multiple awards at The Game Awards 2017, including Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, and Best Action/Adventure Game, and was nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Score/Music, and Best Audio Design.[156] At the 2018 DICE Awards, it won Game of the Year among other awards.[157]

text:
Award

Date of ceremony

Category

Result

Ref.

Game Critics Awards

July 5, 2016

Best Action/Adventure Game

Won

[158]

Best Console Game

Won

Best of Show

Won

The Game Awards 2016

December 1, 2016

Most Anticipated Game

Won

[159]

2017 Teen Choice Awards

August 13, 2017

Choice Video Game

Nominated

[160]

Japan Game Awards

September 21, 2017

The Grand Award

Won

[161]

BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards

October 22, 2017

Best Game

Nominated

[162]

Golden Joystick Awards

November 17, 2017

Best Visual Design

Nominated

[163][164]

Best Audio

Won

Critics' Choice Award

Won

Nintendo Game of the Year

Won

Ultimate Game of the Year

Won

The Game Awards 2017

December 7, 2017

Game of the Year

Won

[156]

Best Game Direction

Won

Best Art Direction

Nominated

Best Score/Music

Nominated

Best Audio Design

Nominated

Best Action/Adventure Game

Won

New York Game Awards

January 24, 2018

Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year

Won

[165]

Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game

Nominated

Statue of Liberty Award for Best World

Won

D.I.C.E. Awards

February 22, 2018

Game of the Year

Won

[157]

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Nominated

Outstanding Technical Achievement

Nominated

Adventure Game of the Year

Won

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

Won

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

Won

NAVGTR Awards

March 13, 2018

Art Direction, Fantasy

Won

[166][167]

Control Design, 3D

Nominated

Game Design, Franchise

Nominated

Game of the Year

Nominated

Game, Franchise Family

Nominated

Original Light Mix Score, Franchise

Won

SXSW Gaming Awards

March 17, 2018

Excellence in Musical Score

Nominated

[168][169]

Excellence in Animation

Nominated

Excellence in Art

Nominated

Excellence in Gameplay

Won

Excellence in Design

Won

Video Game of the Year

Won

Game Developers Choice Awards

March 21, 2018

Best Audio

Won

[170][171]

Best Design

Won

Innovation Award

Nominated

Best Technology

Nominated

Best Visual Art

Nominated

Game of the Year

Won

14th British Academy Games Awards

April 12, 2018

Artistic Achievement

Nominated

[172][173]

Best Game

Nominated

Game Design

Nominated

Game Innovation

Won

Music

Nominated

2018 Teen Choice Awards

August 12, 2018

Choice Video Game

Nominated

[174][175]


document_title: Randy Disher

question_text: who does randy end up with on monk

question_tokens: who does randy end up with on monk

root

text: Randy Disher

text: Personality[edit]

text: Randy is Captain Stottlemeyer's second-in-command and employed at the San Francisco Police Department. He is usually portrayed as loyal and tenacious, but with a comical lack of insight and given to far-fetched theories, which were a running gag of the series. Aside from his truly ridiculous theories, which often involve defying the very laws of physics (for instance astral projection), he is competent within his own range of abilities.

tag: p

text: Another running gag in the series is the rather awkwardly ceremonial way in which he delivers news to Stottlemeyer, asking him to guess what it is or sit down for it; this method mostly annoys others who would like him to get to the point.[2][3] His feelings towards Monk change from the pilot episode of the series. In the pilot, Randy is not only skeptical of Monk, but he seems to find Monk a joke, even calling Monk "the defective detective" to Stottlemeyer. What appears as his jealousy of Monk in the beginning becomes admiration as their relationship develops.

text: In the book, Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, Stottlemeyer, in a covert meeting with Monk and Natalie, reveals that Randy has a high clearance and conviction rate. While teaching Monk how to be a Captain and delegate, he tells them how Randy is a people person, who gets people to say things they wouldn't have said otherwise. They aren't high profile or unusual like the cases Monk gets, but it is how Stottlemeyer delegates cases. The implication is that Stottlemeyer is a good captain for matching staff to cases, and Disher, while incapable of solving a weird case, is good at others, which is his gift.

text: Miscellaneous[edit]

text: His original name for the pilot was Randy Deacon, as part of the creators' homage to Sherlock Holmes' Lestrade (LEland STottlemeyer and RAndy DEacon). It was changed to Disher for the rest of the series.

text: In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist", much of the case was solved by Disher. In "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm", Monk feeds Randy the solution of how Jimmy Belmont killed Randy's uncle in his sleep. In "Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa", it is suggested that Disher thought that Santa Claus did indeed exist. Although it is not known which day Randy's birthday falls on, it is mentioned in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Voodoo Curse" that he is a Pisces.

text: Relationships[edit]

text: During the series, Randy loses his entire life savings during a trip to Las Vegas in "Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas", which prompted Monk and Stottlemeyer to come to his rescue, using Monk's abilities to win the money back. He acts as Natalie Teeger's bodyguard in "Mr. Monk and the Election". He helps Monk find clues for the Trudy Monk case by traveling to New York with him in "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan". Randy is shown to argue regularly with but not-so-secretly be attracted to Sharona Fleming, and he maintains a friendly, professional behavior towards Natalie.

text: Throughout the series, Randy seems to always harbor crushes on Sharona and Natalie. As well, he writes a personal ad fitting Sharona in "Mr. Monk and the Paperboy", which he unsuccessfully tries to hide from her. In the season 6 episode "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend", when Natalie tells Randy that she and Monk have news, he guesses that she wants to say she is in love with him, leaving Natalie in a dumbstruck state while Monk delivers their theory that Linda Fusco killed her former partner. Natalie is shown to be rather annoyed by Randy's theory that she is in love with him (bringing it up again when Monk asks Randy if he has any crazy theories about how to break Linda's alibi).

text: Randy's lack of luck getting dates is so notorious that when he actually does land a girlfriend, in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month", no one believes him. Throughout that episode, he shows the cast a generic picture of a woman. Sharona confirms that it was included with his wallet. They dismiss Randy's claims that his girlfriend is a wallet model named Crystal Smith (when Randy mentions that her first name is Crystal to Sharona, she asks if Crystal's last name is "Glassware", referring to the box of crystal glassware she is seeing in the loading dock). It is revealed to the viewers but not to the characters that Randy was telling the truth.

text: A few episodes later, in "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever", he dates a Chinese woman named Hayley, only for her to turn out to be part of a Triad hit crew sent to eliminate Monk after Monk goes into witness protection for witnessing a gang shooting.

text: In later seasons, Randy's success with women significantly increases. In "Mr. Monk Falls in Love", he's dating an attractive girl as shown by the opening scene, when he and his date climb into the back of a cab, only to find that their driver is dead, having been stabbed with a hat pin by his previous fare. In "Mr. Monk's 100th Case", Randy is dating Jillian, the actress who plays the reenactment of Kate Kindel's murder in James Novak's documentary. She is described as being used for reenactments on a number of crime shows (as Randy notes that she was bludgeoned to death on Dateline).

text: In "Mr. Monk and Sharona," Randy and Sharona have a fond reunion. While reminiscing over the cases that they've worked, Sharona apologizes to Randy for the amount of teasing that she gave him; he, in turn, states that he "missed" it. At the end of the episode, he picks up Sharona to go to the airport, sharing a kiss as they load her bags. In the series finale, "Mr. Monk and the End," Randy accepts a job as Chief of Police in the town of Summit in her native New Jersey, stating that he and Sharona are becoming a couple.

text: Background[edit]

text: Randy is noted to have been born in San Diego.[4] He attended Temple University and lived in Philadelphia briefly, where he was a sergeant in that city's police. This is mentioned in the season 4 episode "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding". In Philadelphia, one of Randy's cases was that of Darlene Coolidge, a black widow who murders her husbands. In "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding", someone attempts to run Randy down in the parking lot. Monk reveals that the new wife of Natalie's brother, Jonathan Davenport, Theresa Scott, is really Coolidge. As Randy was the chief investigator into the death of her husband, he would have recognized her, so Theresa tried to kill him by running him over in a car. Randy's injuries land him in a wheelchair but he manages to identify Coolidge/Scott.

text: In the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Leper", Monk and Natalie find a picture of Randy on the wall of Dr. Aaron Polanski's office. Polanski mentions that Randy as a teenager had incredibly bad acne, although when Natalie asks Randy about this later, Randy says that he was undercover and posing as a teenager with acne problems. He attempts to steal that picture later, ending up ripping out a small portion of the wall and knocking off a large number of other photos in the process. He joined the police force three years before the start of the series. In the season 2 episode "Mr. Monk Gets Married", Randy has Monk and Sharona pretend to be married in order to rescue his mother Maria from Dalton Padron, a killer with a very ulterior motive. While at the marriage counseling institute, Maria mentions Randy several times to Monk and Sharona, but they pretend not to know Randy.

text: Randy later revealed to have an uncle Harvey. In the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm", Randy inherits his uncle's farm after Harvey Disher supposedly commits suicide. Soon after he arrives, Randy claims to get the chilling suspicion that nearby farmer Jimmy Belmont (Ricardo Chavira) killed Harvey, and he brings Monk in to prove that there has been foul play.

text: The Randy Disher Project[edit]

text: In high school, he was part of a rock band, The Randy Disher Project, which he resurrects with his bandmates in "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist" after he quits because no one believes his claim that Dr. Oliver Bloom and Terri killed a man in the dentist's office during his operation. The band creates a music video entitled "I Don't Need a Badge", which tries to justify Randy's leaving the police force. The band breaks up when Randy realizes what the man his dentist killed was arguing with him about, and returns to the SFPD shortly afterwards.

text: The song was reprised in the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy". Disher is placed as a decoy to try to attract the attention of the perpetrator, playing the erstwhile rock song off-key while constantly forgetting most of the lyrics, with the instruments of a one-man band. However, when another man believed to be the perp comes up with an instrument, he is tackled by undercover agents, and turns out to be a harmless man wanting to accompany Randy.

text: In the novel Mr. Monk is Miserable, Monk, Natalie and Stottlemeyer are shocked to find that "I Don't Need a Badge" has become a cult phenomenon in Paris. It is revealed that Paris police Inspector Guy Gadois knows the lyrics and music of the song by heart (though Natalie notes that he has done slight modifications to the lyrics, e.g. replacing "Captain" with "Inspector", and "mustache" with "goatee").

text: Further, in "Mr. Monk and the Rapper", Randy boards the stage in a rap club, shouting: "If you enjoyed that, check out therandydisherproject.com!". However, his rapping abilities are questionable and he gets offended when Murderuss (Snoop Dogg) calls him the "whitest white guy" after Randy attempts to rap out part of Murderuss's song Car Bomb (specifically, the part of "Ch, ch, ch, I put the bomb in your limo, that's what the surprise is / Under your seat like Oprah giving prizes"). The song is also featured in the season 8 episode "Mr. Monk Goes Camping" as the ringtone on Randy's phone.

text: In "Mr. Monk's 100th Case," Randy pulls out the Randy Disher Project CD while riding with Stottlemeyer and James Novak's camera crew to a SWAT team raid on Douglas Thurman's photo studio. He describes the music style as "a sort of a jazz, fusion, punk kind of a rap, kind of a folk" music.