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Berserk (manga)

Berserk (ベルセルク) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. Set in a medieval Europe-inspired dark fantasy world, the story centers on the characters of Guts, a lone swordsman, and Griffith, the leader of a mercenary band called the "Band of the Hawk". The series follows Guts' journey seeking revenge on Griffith, who betrayed him and sacrificed his comrades to become a powerful demonic being.

Miura premiered a prototype of Berserk in 1988. The series began the following year in Hakusensha's manga magazine Monthly Animal House, which was replaced in 1992 by the semimonthly magazine Young Animal, where Berserk has continued its publication. Following Miura's death in May 2021, the final chapter that he worked on was published posthumously in September of the same year; the series resumed in June 2022, under supervision of Miura's fellow manga artist and childhood friend Kouji Mori and Miura's group of assistants and apprentices from Studio Gaga.

Berserk was adapted into a 25-episode anime television series by OLM, which covered the Golden Age story arc, and was broadcast from October 1997 to March 1998. The Golden Age arc was also adapted into a trilogy of theatrical anime films; the first two films premiered in 2012 and the third film premiered in 2013. A second 24-episode anime television series adaptation was broadcast for two seasons in 2016 and 2017.

By September 2023, the Berserk manga had over 60 million copies in circulation, including digital versions, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. It received the Award for Excellence at the sixth installment of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2002. Berserk has been widely acclaimed, particularly for its dark setting, storytelling, characters, and Miura's detailed artwork.

Plot
Guts was born from a hanged corpse and raised as a mercenary by his abusive adoptive father, Gambino, following the death of his adoptive mother, Shisu. After being forced to kill Gambino in self-defense, Guts fled his mercenary group and became a wandering mercenary. His reputation attracts the attention of Griffith, the leader of a mercenary group called the Band of the Hawk, which he makes Guts join after defeating him. The kingdom of Midland hires the Band to aid them in their war against the Chuder Empire, and Guts learns of Griffith's desire to rule his own kingdom and of the pendant he possesses, called the Behelit. After Nosferatu Zodd spares them, he warns Guts that he will die for being Griffith's friend.

As Griffith befriends Midland's nobility and the king's daughter, Charlotte, Guts begins to develop feelings for Casca. After overhearing Griffith confess to Charlotte that he only considers someone with their own dream as a friend, Guts decides to leave the group to find his own dream, a decision that sends Griffith into a downward spiral that culminates in his arrest after he seduces Charlotte. He loses the Behelit while being subjected to torture, and the Midland army declares the Hawks as criminals. Soon after, a mysterious being known as the Skull Knight warns Guts that his actions have triggered an Eclipse and, after learning of the Hawks' predicament, he rejoins them to rescue Griffith.

After rescuing Griffith, the Hawks learn that his torture has left him incapable of leading them. When Griffith regains his Behelit, it uses his blood to initiate the Eclipse, a convergence of the physical and astral realms. During the Eclipse, the Hawks encounter a quartet of archdemons known as the Godhand, who reveal that Griffith has been chosen as their fifth member and can only do so if he sacrifices his comrades, which he accepts. After being branded with sigils that mark them for sacrifice, the Hawks are slaughtered by the Godhand's Apostles—humans who, like Zodd, gained power by sacrificing their loved ones—and only Guts and Casca survive. Griffith, who has become the fifth Godhand, Femto, rapes Casca, and Guts loses his left forearm and right eye while trying to save her; although the Skull Knight rescues them, the ordeal traumatizes Casca. After learning from the Skull Knight that the Brands of Sacrifice make them targets for beings of darkness, Guts leaves Casca in the care of the blacksmith Godo, his adoptive daughter Erica, and Rickert, the youngest member of the Band of the Hawk, who survived because he was not present at the Eclipse. After Godo gives Guts a new sword, Dragonslayer, and Rickert gives him a prosthetic left arm, Guts begins hunting the Apostles while being pursued by the Demon Infant, which is revealed to be his and Casca's unborn child that became deformed after Femto raped her.

Two years later, having killed many Apostles and become known as the Black Swordsman, Guts is joined by the elf Puck, but they are captured by Farnese, the captain of the Holy See Church's Holy Iron Chain Knights, who believes that Guts is a harbinger of the apocalypse. Guts escapes after saving Farnese and returns home to Godo, where he learns that Casca has wandered off. His search for her takes him to the ruined city of St. Albion, which the Godhand have prepared as the site for a ceremony to give one of their own a physical form and which has become a refuge for refugees fleeing the Kushan Empire's armies. Guts saves Casca from the Holy See bishop Mozgus as the souls of the dead attack the city and is joined by Farnese, her bodyguard Serpico, and the young thief Isidro. Meanwhile, an Apostle living under St. Albion consumes the Demon Infant and uses its body to restore Griffith to physical form.

After Guts fights Griffith and Zodd at Godo's home, Griffith realizes that some traces of the Demon Infant remain within him. Hoping to find a land safe from the demons, Guts decides to travel with Casca to Puck's homeland of Elfhelm on the island of Skellig, allowing Isidro, Farnese, and Serpico to follow him out of fear that he will lose control of himself to his dark impulses, which are embodied as the Beast of Darkness within his mind, with Farnese becoming Casca's primary caretaker. Meanwhile, Griffith forms a second Band of the Hawk with Zodd and other Apostles to save Midland from the Kushan Empire, which is led by their emperor Ganishka, a rogue Apostle.

Guts' party encounters the witch Flora and her apprentice Schierke while saving a village from trolls, and Flora gives him the Berserker Armor, which increases his power but risks pushing his body beyond its limits and being consumed by his inner darkness. Flora is later killed, and after escaping, Guts' party encounters the Moonlight Child, who expresses affection for Guts and Casca before disappearing after the full moon passes. Meanwhile, the Skull Knight warns Guts to not abuse the Berserker Armor's power while assuring him that Elfhelm's inhabitants can heal Casca's mind. While Guts and his party secure a ship called the "Seahorse", which is captained by Farnese's fiance, Prince Roderick, to reach Elfhelm, the Emperor transforms and causes the physical and astral realms to merge. With the blessing of Charlotte and the Holy See, Griffith establishes the city of Falconia to provide refuge for the Midlanders and humanity from the creatures that manifested after the realms merged.

After recruiting a merrow girl named Isma, Guts' party reaches Elfhelm; its elf ruler, Danann, helps Farnese and Schierke begin a training, and succeed in restoring Casca's mind. The Skull Knight introduces Guts to the creator of the Berserker Armor and reveals his past with the Godhand and its leader, Void. The Moonlight Child later reappears; it is revealed that he is the Demon Infant, who can take control of Griffith's host during a full moon. Griffith regains control of his host and abducts Casca while destroying the island's spirit tree, unleashing spirits that attack the island and causing Danann, Isma, and the other magical creatures (except for Puck and Ivalera) to disappear into the Astral Realm. As the survivors flee on the Seahorse, Guts breaks down in despair. Griffith returns to the mainland with Casca, heading to Falconia, where she remembers her companions and attempts to escape, only to lose consciousness. Guts is taunted by visions of his inner darkness that urge him to give in, but he passes out as Kushan warriors invade the ship and are revealed to be under the command of Silat, the leader of the Bakiraka warrior clan, and Daiba, a magician and former servant of Ganishka. Among the soldiers is Rickert, who had escaped from Falconia along with the Kushan deserters.

The Kushan escort Guts and the rest of the party to their capital and Guts is imprisoned. Daiba informs them that Falconia's army has appeared on the borders of the Kushan Empire and that the attack on Elfhelm is part of a wider campaign by Falconia to have Griffith rule the world. As such, Daiba orders that Guts and his party, Rodrick, the ships' crew, and Elfhelm's surviving sorcerers be placed under his command as the empire prepares for war with Falconia.

Development
While briefly working as an assistant to George Morikawa at 18, Miura had already planned some ideas for Berserk's development, having a dark warrior with a gigantic sword illustrated in his portfolio who would be the first conception of Guts. Miura submitted manuscripts to a manga magazine for about four years before working for Hakusensha; however, he felt that he was not capable enough for it and they were also not interested in publishing science fiction or fantasy works. In 1988, while working with Buronson on a manga titled King of Wolves, Miura published a prototype of Berserk in Hakusensha's Gekkan ComiComi. This 48-page prototype placed second at the seventh ComiComi's Manga-School prize. He later submitted his work to a magazine that, at the time, "was on the verge of going under," and he was switched around between several editors before meeting his first editor. The serialization of Berserk began in Hakusensha's Monthly Animal House in 1989. Miura commented that he landed the serial as soon as he made his debut, so he never had the opportunity to receive much criticism from editors.

Concept and influences
Miura stated that the inspiration for the series' title was diffuse at the time of creation. He did not have information about the berserkers or the Berserker Armor (which first appeared in the 222nd chapter) planned out from the start. He chose the word, telling himself that "its mysterious aspect would stick well." Miura said that the title was connected to Guts' imagery, influenced by Mad Max, further elaborating: "In short, starting from a world with a dark hero who is burning for revenge, prompts you to imagine a rabid character. When, guided by his anger, he will pour out this rage on overpowered enemies, we must insist on his fanaticism if you want to stay consistent. That's why I thought "Berserk" would make a perfect title to represent my universe." According to Miura, the series' dark fantasy setting was inspired by the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian and the Elric of Melniboné series. Miura stated that he did not see dark fantasy as a genre in itself, but rather as an equivalent of general fantasy. He commented that outside of Japan the big works of fantasy, like The Lord of the Rings, contain dark elements, and in Japan, the fantasy genre was popularized by video games like Dragon Quest, which were aimed at children, and therefore, expurgated the dark elements, but since he received the influence from novels before that of those games, Miura "naturally turned to dark fantasy."

Miura said that Fist of the North Star, by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara, was the work that had the greatest impact on his own work, helping as well to develop his art style. Miura also mentioned animator and manga artist Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and manga artist Fujihiko Hosono as early influences to his art style. Violence Jack by Go Nagai and Guin Saga by Kaoru Kurimoto inspired the series' story and atmosphere. Ranpo by Masatoshi Uchizaki served him as a reference for his backgrounds. Miura said that his favorite manga series was Dororo by Osamu Tezuka, and that he wanted to create a fantasy work that possessed dark, "muddy" and -like elements. Miura stated that he learned the basics of storytelling from George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise, and called the eponymous 1977 film his favorite work. Miura commented about the influence of manga on the series, stating that it is about "expressing every feeling powerfully." Particularly, he mentioned influence from Yumiko Ōshima, and that the anime adaptations of The Rose of Versailles and Aim for the Ace!, both directed by Osamu Dezaki, inspired him to read The Rose of Versailles manga and the works of Keiko Takemiya, mainly Kaze to Ki no Uta.

Some aspects of Guts (personality and design) were partially inspired by Miura's highschool friend and later fellow manga artist Kouji Mori, by Mad Max's Max Rockatansky and by Rutger Hauer's performances in Flesh and Blood, Blade Runner, The Hitcher and The Blood of Heroes. Guts' prosthetic hand was inspired by Dororos Hyakkimaru and Cobras eponymous protagonist. Kurt, the protagonist of Pygmalio, by Shinji Wada, and an illustration of a giant wielding a sword, featured in The Snow Queen (Guin Saga spin-off), inspired the size of Guts' sword, the Dragon Slayer, by mixing both characters' swords. Miura commented that when drawing the Dragon Slayer, he wanted to emulate the effect of Kenshiro's or Raoh's (Fist of the North Star) fist "flying out from the page," but he felt that Guts' sword did not have the same feeling of weight as a fist. He wanted to convey an "extension of reality" feel to the sword, similar to the depiction of the Fist of the North Star's Hokuto Shinken martial art, and make it believable for the readers. Miura stated that "Black Swordsman" Guts was the first thing he was set on, but he did not have any idea about what his backstory would be. He focused on the character development up until around the third or fourth volume and then he would think about what brought him to revenge.

Frequency
Berserk is known for its frequent and often extended hiatuses, which date back to late 2006. Following a pause, three consecutive chapters about Guts' childhood were published from June 8 to July 13, 2012;  the main storyline resumed eight months later on October 12,  and the series went on hiatus after a chapter published on December 28 of the same year. Miura took a break to work on his six-chapter mini-series Giganto Maxia, and Berserk was published intermittently from April 11 to September 26, 2014. After a 10-month hiatus, the manga resumed on July 24, 2015, and was published monthly until November 27 of the same year, before entering on hiatus. It was published monthly from June 24 to September 23, 2016, before entering another hiatus. The manga resumed publication from March 24 to June 23, 2017,  and was then published on a monthly basis from December 22 of the same year to May 25, 2018. Four months later, another chapter was published on August 24, 2018, before entering an eight-month hiatus. Two chapters were published on April 26 and August 23, 2019. Three chapters were published on April 24, July 22, and October 23, 2020, respectively. The last chapter published in Miura's lifetime was released on January 22, 2021.

Miura's death and series resumption
On May 20, 2021, Hakusensha announced that Miura died at 54 due to an acute aortic dissection on May 6, leaving it undecided what would happen to the series. The posthumous 364th chapter of Berserk was published in Young Animal on September 10 of the same year, which was Miura's last work, and members of Miura's Studio Gaga, which consisted of him and his group of assistants and apprentices, worked to finish the manuscript of the chapter. The magazine's issue was a "memorial" to Miura, featuring a special "Messages to Kentarou Miura" booklet and a poster of "famous scenes" from the manga. In the same issue, Hakusensha stated that the future of the series remained uncertain and that the staff's priority would "always be placed on him—what he would think if he were still with us." The afterword in the manga's 41st volume (released in December 2021) from Young Animal's editorial staff stated that the future of the manga was still undecided.

On June 7, 2022, Hakusensha and Kouji Mori announced that the series would continue publication, using plans and thoughts that were relayed to Mori by Miura himself, as well as memorandums and character designs that Miura left behind. Mori related how he had visited Miura nearly 30 years ago when the latter was drawing "the Eclipse" event of Berserk and how his friend completed the storyline for the manga up to its last chapter that week. Mori explained that the story for Berserk had since gone on "exactly as we discussed at the time, with almost no changes." As the only person who knows the ending Miura intended, Mori agreed to continue the series and promised, "I will only write the episodes that Miura talked to me about. I will not flesh it out. I will not write episodes that I don't remember clearly. I will only write the lines and stories that Miura described to me."

In a 2023 interview, on the occasion of the 42nd volume release, Mori commented that Miura "was a manga genius bursting with talent," and that "[h]e had an eagerness to see things through to the end as well as an outstanding ability to paint, conceive stories and employ narrative devices effectively." For this reason, Mori initially concluded that it would be impossible to keep the series going without Miura, but he changed his mind after meeting with the members of Studio Gaga, who had worked under Miura, to perfect the unfinished last Berserk chapter that Miura had worked on. Mori recalled thinking: "The thought that Miura would be mad at me doing nothing motivated me to reach a decision." About his taking over from Miura in connection with the series, Mori stated that he still had mixed feelings: "It may be unforgivable for me to do it, now that Miura is no longer here," reiterating as well: "I will never add my own twist. I will simply remember and convey what Miura told me."

Berserk has continued with the credits appearing as "original work by Kentaro Miura, art by Studio Gaga, supervised by Kouji Mori". The "Fantasia Arc/Elf Island Chapter" finished with chapters released from June 24, 2022, to May 26, 2023; a new story arc started on September 22 of the same year.

Themes
Berserk explores a wide range of themes and topics. Free will, destiny, and causality are discussed within the series. Human resilience is a recurring theme, with many characters coming from traumatic backgrounds, constantly struggling against an unjust world. Guts struggles with destiny itself and is constantly resisting the pull of predetermination. Griffith also embodies this idea of resilience, by chasing his dream of ruling his own kingdom, despite his lowborn origins, as well as free will, by his own decision to sacrifice the Band of the Hawk in order to achieve his dream.

The series also explores human nature and morality, as characters struggle between becoming good human beings or falling into madness and evil. Guts, at the beginning of the story, is presented as an antihero who does not care about killing and is indifferent to people who aid him. Guts does not act in accordance with definitions of right and wrong, he operates within a gray area. Initially he does not attempt to be heroic or protect the innocent, though his self-motivated actions sometimes do so incidentally. However, as the story progresses, it is shown that he is in fact a person who is deeply conflicted internally. His tragic and traumatic past, unfolded in the Golden Age arc, shows Guts as a more complex character. Anne Lauenroth of Anime News Network wrote that Griffith is "not evil at all," but "arrogant and brutally realistic about human nature." The suppression of his own human nature would initiate his demise as the Hawk and the rise of Femto.

Friendship, comradery and human relations are other explored themes. As a child, Guts tried to build some level of friendship with his mercenary group, but due to his traumatic experience with them, he lost trust in people. However, through the time he was with Griffith and the rest of the Band of the Hawk, Guts formed bonds, friendships, animosities and co-dependencies, maturing as well as individual. Miura stated that he based the Band of the Hawk on his own high school friend relationship experience. Specifically, he mentioned that his friendship with later fellow manga artist Kouji Mori partially inspired the relationship between Guts and Griffith. Jacob Chapman of Anime News Network, wrote that through their friendship, Guts' ambitions were elevated and Griffith's were lowered, allowing both of them to consider a new future for the first time, one where they fight side by side as equals and die on the battlefield, but they reject this future out of their own personal fears, as Guts did not think he was "good enough" for a happy future and Griffith was terrified of his lofty dream crumbling into something more mundane. Miura also said that the conflict between Guts and Griffith speaks about their change after having built their personalities.

The Golden Age arc has been compared to a Greek tragedy. According to Lauenroth, Griffith's hamartia lies in how he compartmentalizes his feelings of guilt and shame that would get in the way of his dream and how he deals to repress them. His inner dialogue in his second duel with Guts, "If I can't have him, I don't care," marks the Golden Age arc peripeteia. When Guts comes running to rescue him during the Eclipse, Griffith reaches his moment of anagnorisis with his thought: "You're the only one... who made me forget my dream."

Betrayal and revenge are major themes in the series. Guts suffered his first betrayal when Gambino sold Guts' body to another soldier for a few coins. He would eventually take revenge against the soldier, killing him on the battlefield and he later would kill Gambino as well. Guts is in a quest for revenge after his comrades were betrayed by Griffith and sacrificed by the God Hand. This desire for vengeance has been his main reason of survival.

Religion has been also touched in the series, mainly through the characters of Mozgus and Farnese. Miura stated that he created Mozgus based on the concept of rigid personality to create a religious fanatic character with no flexibility. Farnese is presented as the figurehead of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, inquisitors tasked with burning heretics and witches at the stake. After her encounter with Guts, she finds it increasingly difficult to resolve her faith with the atrocities she became party to, as Guts, inversely, takes action against something he disagrees with. Guts denounces the very idea of prayer, claiming that the act of clasping hands only prevents people from fighting for their lives. Farnese eventually begins to reject her faith and the rigidity of her beliefs after finding out the truth about Mozgus. After the battle between Guts and Mozgus, Farnese decides to follow Guts, to find a new purpose in her life, away from her social position and the church.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura, Berserk debuted in Hakusensha's Monthly Animal House on August 25, 1989. Hakusensha published the first volume of Berserk under its Jets Comics imprint on November 26, 1990. In 1992, Monthly Animal House was replaced by Young Animal, where the series resumed publication in October of that same year. Miura continued the series' irregular publication in the semimonthly magazine until his death in May 2021; the series resumed in June 2022, under supervision of Miura's fellow manga artist and childhood friend Kouji Mori, with illustrations by Miura's group of assistants and apprentices from Studio Gaga. In June 2016, Hakusensha's Jets Comics imprint was rebranded as Young Animal Comics, and the first thirty-seven volumes of Berserk were re-published with new cover arts. The posthumous 41st volume came in both regular and special editions; the latter included special canvas art drawn by Miura and a drama CD. The 42nd volume was released on September 29, 2023.

In North America, Dark Horse Comics, in conjunction with Digital Manga Publishing, announced the license of the manga in 2003. The first volume was published on October 22, 2003. , 41 volumes have been published. In September 2018, Dark Horse Comics announced a deluxe edition of Berserk, featuring hard covers and larger prints, with the first volume (collecting original volumes 1–3) released on February 27, 2019. The 14th and latest volume (collecting original volumes 40, 41, and Berserk Official Guidebook) was released on November 22, 2023.

First series (1997–1998)
Berserk was adapted into a 25-episode anime television series, produced by Nippon Television and VAP, animated by Oriental Light and Magic, and directed by Naohito Takahashi. The first episode begins with the Black Swordsman arc and shifts into the Golden Age arc thereafter. It was broadcast in Japan on Nippon TV from October 8, 1997, to April 1, 1998.

Film series (2012–2013)
The Berserk Golden Age arc was adapted into a trilogy of theatrical anime films by Studio 4°C. The first film, The Egg of the King, premiered in Japan on February 4, 2012. The second film, The Battle for Doldrey, premiered in Japan on June 23, 2012. The third film, The Advent, premiered in Japan on February 1, 2013. A remastered television broadcast edition, labeled as "Memorial Edition", aired from October 2 to December 25, 2022.

Second series (2016–2017)
A second anime television series adaptation of Berserk was produced by Liden Films and animated by GEMBA and Millepensee. The series' 12-episode first season covered the manga's Conviction arc. It was broadcast on Wowow and MBS's Animeism anime programming block from July 1 to September 16, 2016. A 12-episode second season, which covered the first half of the manga's Falcon of the Millennium Empire arc, was broadcast from April 7 to June 23, 2017.

Video games
Two video games based on Berserk have been developed by Yuke's. The first game, Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage (ベルセルク 千年帝国の鷹篇 喪失花の章), was released for the Dreamcast in Japan by ASCII Corporation in late 1999. It was localized in western regions early the following year by Eidos Interactive.

The second game, Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō (ベルセルク 千年帝国の鷹篇 聖魔戦記の章), was published by Sammy Corporation exclusively in Japan on the PlayStation 2 in 2004.

A Berserk-themed spin-off of Omega Force's Dynasty Warriors series, titled Berserk and the Band of the Hawk (ベルセルク無双) was released on October 27, 2016, in Japan, and later in the U.S. on February 21, 2017, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and PC via Steam.

In a collaborative event with Dragon's Dogma, the weapons and armor sets from the Berserk: The Golden Age Arc films were added to the game, and Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2 made characters as they appeared in the 2016 TV series adaptation of Berserk playable. In December 2021, the MMORPG Lineage W announced a collaboration with Berserk, including the ability to play as Guts.

Novel
A spin-off novel, titled Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight (ベルセルク 炎竜の騎士), written by Makoto Fukami with illustrations by Kentaro Miura, was released on June 23, 2017. It is focused on the past of the new Band of the Hawk's apostle Grunbeld. In North America, the novel was published in English by Dark Horse on April 17, 2019.

Other media
Five Berserk art books and one guidebook have been released by Hakusensha:
 * Berserk: Illustrations File, also known as Kentaro Miura - Berserk Illustration Book (三浦建太郎画集　ベルセルク), released on February 26, 1997.
 * Berserk: Kenpū Denki—Kanzen Kaiseki-sho (ベルセルク 剣風伝奇完全解析書), an art book about the 1997 anime, released on December 9, 1998.
 * Berserk: War Cry—Postcard Collection (ベルセルク ポストカードブック WAR CRY (雄叫び)), released on August 20, 1998.
 * Berserk: Visual & Story File (ベルセルク ビジュアル＆ストーリーFILE), art book about the video game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage, released on December 22, 1999.
 * Berserk Official Guidebook (ベルセルク オフィシャルガイドブック), was released by Hakusensha on September 23, 2016. It was published in North America by Dark Horse on September 19, 2018.
 * The Artwork of Berserk was released for the 2021 Large Berserk Exhibition; it was sold exclusively during the event, but it was later announced that it would be available for purchase after the event.

A trading card game was released by Konami in Japan in 2003 and 2004. Berserk has spurred a line of statues and action figures produced by Art of War, Prime 1 Studio and First 4 Figures. Various figma figures by Max Factory based on the characters have been released, including Guts (Black Swordsman version, Band of the Hawk version and Berserker Armor version), Griffith and Femto, Casca, and the Godhand. Berserk inspired two pachinko machines that feature original CG animation.

With the publication of the 40th volume of the manga on September 18, 2018, a promotional video, featuring actor Shigeru Matsuzaki portraying Guts, was streamed.

"Large Berserk Exhibition" (大ベルセルク展), a special event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Berserk, was announced in October 2020. It was originally scheduled to be held at Ikebukuro Sunshine City's Exhibition Hall A in Tokyo from January 30 to February 15, 2021. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, the event was postponed. The event was rebranded as "Large Berserk Exhibition: Kentaro Miura's 32 Years of Artistry" (大ベルセルク展～三浦建太郎 画業32年の軌跡～), and was held at the same location from September 10–23, 2021. The exhibition was held in Osaka from December 11, 2021, to January 30, 2022.

A drama CD, featuring the return of the 2016 anime's cast, portraying the "Awakening" chapter of the manga, was published with the special edition of the 41st volume of the manga on December 24, 2021.

Reception
The 1988 prototype chapter of Berserk placed second at the seventh ComiComi's Manga-School prize. The manga was a finalist for the second, third, fourth, and fifth installments of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001, respectively. In 2002, Berserk earned Miura the Award for Excellence at the sixth installment of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, being awarded along with Takehiko Inoue, who won the Grand Prize for Vagabond. Berserk was one of the Manga Division's Jury Recommended Works at the fifth and sixth installments of the Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Berserk: Birth of the Black Swordsman, a 15-second video commercial for the 2016 anime television series adaptation, was one of the Entertainment Division's Jury Recommended Works at the 20th installment of the Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2017.

In 2016, Berserk ranked 38th on the 17th "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine; it ranked 44th on the 22nd list in 2022. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Berserk ranked 91st.

In 2007, the manga received the prize of best manga at the Japan Expo Awards. Berserk won the French AnimeLand's Anime & Manga Grand Prix for Best Classic in 2008, 2009 and 2013. It won the Spanish Manga Barcelona award for the category in 2013 and 2021.

Sales
Volumes 33–41 of Berserk debuted in the top six on Oricon weekly manga chart from 2008 to 2021; volumes 34 and 40 debuted first in 2009 and 2018, respectively. By July 2015, the manga had over 27 million copies in circulation in Japan and 8 million overseas; over 40 million copies in circulation by January 2016; over 50 million copies in circulation (including digital versions) by May 2021; over 55 million copies in circulation (including digital versions) by October 2022; and over 60 million copies in circulation (including digital versions) by September 2023.

Berserk received an Excellence Award of Hakusensha's Denshi Shoseki Taishō (E-Book Award) in 2015, which went to the publisher's best-selling digital manga from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015; it won the same award in its 2021 edition, which went for the publisher's best-selling digital manga from January 1 to December 31, 2021.

In March 2017, Michael Gombos, Dark Horse Comics' director of international publishing and licensing, reported that Berserk was their best-selling product of all time (not just among manga), dethroning Lone Wolf and Cub, and it had over 2 million copies sold in North America by September 2018. Following Miura's death announcement in May 2021, it was reported that the first eight volumes of Dark Horse's deluxe edition of Berserk ranked on Amazon's top 100 overall best-selling books list. According to ICv2, Berserk was the fourth best-selling manga franchise for Q4 2021 (September–December) in the United States, and it was also the tenth "most efficient manga franchise" for retailer bookshelves, based on the website's calculations of which manga franchises had the highest sales per volume. The first volume of Dark Horse's deluxe edition was one of the highest-selling manga volumes of 2022; it was also one of the highest-selling manga volumes of 2023.

Critical reception
Berserk has been widely acclaimed by critics. Reviewing the first volume, Michael Aronson of Manga Life described Berserk as "a curious mix of medieval barbarism, sorcery and futurist technology, combining ghouls, guns and gore. The result is beautifully rendered badass action with enough bloody violence to keep fans of the genre happy." Publishers Weekly wrote: "Berserk offers a montage of merciless violence and thrilling action sequences in a blend of pure fantasy and graphic horror." Grant Goodman of Pop Culture Shock wrote: "Berserk redefines what is considered a well-written fantasy manga. There are few manga that come anywhere close to creating a complex tale that includes medieval warfare, magic, and horror." Reviewing the first two volumes, Greg McElhatton of Read About Comics wrote: "it's still hard to identify what about Berserk brings across such a fascination. Is it the characters? The visual look of the monsters? The little hints of a troubled past, like Guts' tattoo that oozes blood? All of the above? I'm not sure, but I do know that I'm hooked." In his review of the third volume, Daniel Briscoe of The Fandom Post called the series "a tragic story of hatred, violence, and innocence lost," adding that Miura "manages to pack so much emotion, both good and bad, next to so much violence and gore I believe is a testament to his writing and his artwork."

In his review of the first six volumes, Satyajit Chetri of Rolling Stone wrote: "By the end of the fifth volume, Berserk has morphed into a touching tale of humanity, friendship and ambition. It is less about the blood spilt and more about the choices made by the characters, the small twists that will ultimately turn friends into nemeses." Reviewing the twelfth volume, Eduardo M. Chavez writing for AnimeOnDVD, commented that despite its long-running publication, "Berserk is as shocking and unique as ever this far into the series. There are few titles out there that can sustain the level of intensity and relevance as this." In his review of the twenty-first volume, Scott Campbell of Active Anime wrote: "The deep, dark places that this manga travels to both in story and in artistic expression can be as interesting and captivating as they are horrifying," adding that there are not many other stories or manga quite like Berserk. Writing for SciFi.com, Zac Bertschy said: "Kentaro Miura has managed to create a story that's not only darkly disturbing, but also absorbing and affecting on a deeper level than most manga titles can achieve." Bertschy praised the story and character development, concluding: "Not for the faint of heart, Berserk is perfect for mature manga fans who like a little blood with their drama."

In Manga: The Complete Guide, author Jason Thompson gave Berserk 4 out of four stars. He called it "[a] blood-soaked sword-and-sorcery epic with elements of Clive Barker's Hellraiser," and wrote: "Berserk's medieval European world of mud and blood is so realistic—and drawn in such realistic detail—that when dark fantasy elements begin to intrude upon it, they do so with a slow, dawning horror." Thompson, in a review for j-pop.com, also wrote: "Despite the slaughter, Berserk doesn't feel as amoral as it could be; our hero is a killer, but given his well-developed back story, his occasional tears of remorse seem more genuine than, say, Crying Freeman's." In another article, writing for Anime News Network (ANN), Thompson said that Berserk started as "the story of a lone swordsman traveling the world fighting demons with blood and sweat," and it was later turned into a "fantasy RPG party of heroes with a magic-user, a thief, a fighter, some elves, etc.," commenting that Miura apparently was "aiming the series at a younger age group." Despite this, Thompson stated: "I'm still impressed by Miura's great art and his ability to create such a long storyline with so much scope and (relative to other manga, at least) so little filler. No other seinen fantasy manga has such well-developed characters with such deep backstories, even for the minor characters."

Matt Fagaly, writing for Crunchyroll, analyzed Berserk's use of and  manga tropes in the Lost Children arc (volumes 14–16), which resulted in an "entirely original and moving narrative." Fagaly commented about the arc protagonist, Jill, and her hopeful words at the end of that story, further adding: "I have never seen another Shonen or Shojo express this notion with the same audacity, depth, and idiosyncrasy as Berserk." Carl Kimlinger, writing for ANN, in his review of the thirty-fifth volume, compared Guts' "monster-plagued" trip to Elfhelm to the fantasy tales of Robert E. Howard and, in comparing the volume to the previous ones, he wrote that series dropped down a notch, although he stated that it was not a "disastrous drop," but "just the series falling back into a comfortable, classical adventure mode." Brittany Vincent of Otaku USA said: "Berserk is undoubtedly one of the most unique and engaging Western-style fantasies of all time." Writing for Syfy Wire, Eric Frederiksen said: "Berserk is one of the longest-running manga, and consistently one of the darkest out there, but also one of the most emotionally powerful and rewarding." Writing for Crunchyroll, Peter Fobian expressed: "Berserk is one of the most deeply personal works I've ever read, both for myself and in my perception of Miura's works. The series' transformation in the past 30 years artistically and thematically is so singular it's difficult to find another work that comes close."

Artwork
Miura's artwork has been particularly praised by critics. Bertschy said that the artwork is where Berserk "really shines," adding: "The cross-hatching work, the level of detail, it's all stunning. Every page is a work of art, each scene drawn with the outmost attention to detail and atmosphere." He compared the art to the 1950s horror comics from EC Comics and found it fitting to the series' "gruesome nature." Bertschy concluded: "Miura is a fabulously talented artist and author, and future manga series by him will be met with great anticipation." Thompson said: "Miura's art is one of the real attractions. The people may occasionally look funky, but castles, knights, horses, and Baroque and Romanesque trappings are drawn with detail and accuracy." McElhatton wrote that he was "pretty unimpressed" with Miura's art at first, but he changed his mind after the demons appeared, stating: "Miura draws demons in such a wrong and disturbing manner that it's unsettling. That's how demons should look, of course." Publishers Weekly wrote: "this work has a style characteristic of other 1980s manga, with sparse dialogue, spectacular action sequences and gritty character art. The pencil shading and use of shadows lend an ominous tone." Campbell wrote: "You just can't know what 'attention to detail' means until you read Berserk—it's rare when it comes to what it has to offer to all the readers out there, so really it's no wonder that it stands out as much as it does." Campbell also commented: "The closest thing visually that Berserk could be compared to might be Claymore, another very good manga—but really Berserk is on a plain of its own." Writing for Advanced Media Network, Serdar Yegulalp said that the artwork of the first volumes are "a little rougher and less polished than the later ones," but that after the eighth volume "there is scarcely a page that doesn't look spectacular," adding that "Miura's loving attention to detail on most any page or panel is stupefying." Writing for ANN, Casey Brienza stated: "Miura's artwork is exquisite and, remarkably, drawn without the help of an army of assistants. And while he has been great right from the first page of volume one, he has improved over the many years of working on Berserk."

In another review for Graphic Novel Reporter, Brieza wrote: "Unlike virtually all other commercially successful manga artists, Miura produces his artwork without assistants, and the exquisite detail of this erotic-grotesque, Dungeons & Dragons-esque high fantasy issues from his hand and his hand alone," adding that it is "one that appeals to men and women alike." Carlo Santos, reviewer from ANN, wrote: "Miura's complete command of light and shadow gives every moment an otherworldly quality—this is one of the few series that can honestly claim to transport its readers to another time and place—and the attention to backgrounds is a welcome sight when so many other artists are too lazy to be bothered." Kimlinger wrote that Miura's art "is among the most intricate, evocative and plain beautiful art ever to be put to page and arranged cinematically. He draws wonderfully expressive faces, awe-inspiring monsters, gorgeous armor and some of the finest gore to be found just about anywhere." Chetri described Miura's otherworld featured in the first arc as "something a drug-addled MC Escher would have painted," also noting homages to Hellraiser and H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and called Miura a "splendid storyteller whose artwork is stark and bold enough to bring the world of Guts to life magnificently." Writing for IGN, Bruna Penilhas commented that Miura's level of detail in his illustrations is "impressive from start to finish," praising the design and features of his characters, adding that he was able to "perfectly illustrate characteristics and feelings such as pain, anger and sadness." Alex Traub from The New York Times commented about the comparison of Miura's drawings to Hieronymus Bosch's paintings, particularly for Miura's images of "little human figures occupying sweeping fantastical landscapes," adding: "Mr. Miura was known for his spectacular, apocalyptic style; specific images—a humongous sword, a monster cloaked in shadow—are immediately recognizable to his fans."

Legacy
Berserk is regarded as one of the most influential dark fantasy works. Peter Fobian, in an essay of the legacy and impact of Berserk, called it a "monolith not only for anime and manga, but also fantasy literature, video games, you name it," comparing its level of influence to Blade Runner, further adding: "it's difficult to imagine what the world might look like without it, and the generations of creators the series inspired."

According to writer and editor Kazushi Shimada, series like Fullmetal Alchemist, Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba or Jujutsu Kaisen would not have existed if not for Berserk. Some dark fantasy manga authors who have declared influence from Berserk include Hajime Isayama (Attack on Titan), Kazue Kato (Blue Exorcist), and Yana Toboso (Black Butler). Other authors influenced by Berserk include Makoto Yukimura (Vinland Saga), Yūki Tabata (Black Clover), and Ryōgo Narita (Baccano! and Durarara!!). Adi Shankar, producer of the Castlevania animated series, said in an interview that he would like to adapt Berserk, calling the "hyper-detailed beauty" of Miura's artwork a "true masterpiece", while Adam Deats, Castlevania assistant director, stated that the show was inspired by Berserk.

Critics like Gene Park of The Washington Post and Ramsey Isler of IGN stated that Berserk started a visual trend of characters wielding giant swords that spread to Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, Dante from Devil May Cry, and Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach.

Berserk has also inspired a number of video games, including the Dynasty Warriors series, the Final Fantasy series (considerably Final Fantasy VII and XIV), the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Elden Ring, and Capcom's Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma series.

Finnish heavy metal band Battle Beast have written songs about Berserk, including several on their 2013 self-titled album. When guitarist Anton Kabanen left Battle Beast in 2015, he formed Beast in Black and continues to write songs about the series. The deathcore band Brand of Sacrifice released the album God Hand in 2019. Both the band and album are hugely inspired by Berserk. In 2021, deathcore band Slaughter to Prevail released a music video for their song "Zavali Ebalo", which featured scenes from the Berserk 1997 anime series.

title: Berserk (manga)


text:
User:Jimdevlin

Wikipedian since 2003.

I discovered Wikipedia late one night, when using a search engine for an obscure subject and then spent the next eight hours going from article to article. The following yawnful day I realised that this project is what the internet was designed for.

There are millions of us out here, each with some specialist knowledge - related to our occupation, our hobby, our home town, our favourite movie, performer or sport. Every one of us has read an article in a reference book or internet site and complained, "This is out of date! This is just plain wrong! I know more than this guy! I should be writing this!". Now is our chance to share what we know. OK, there are bound to be mistakes, but these are going to be picked up and ruthlessly edited by other Wikipedians. (Can any readers correct Encyclopedia Britannica with a few taps of a keyboard?)

My interests: well, everything really... but particularly evolutionary biology, history of science, health topics.

Contributions so far on:
 * Alex Garland and the Tesseract
 * Paul Simon's Graceland (album)
 * Asthma, allergy and the house dust mite
 * Mythology on some constellations
 * Tyrese
 * Terry Dactyl

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User:Jimdevlin


text:
Richard Hauptmann

Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as "The Crime of the Century". Both Hauptmann and his wife, Anna Hauptmann, proclaimed his innocence to his death, when he was executed in 1936 by electric chair at the Trenton State Prison. Anna later sued the State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor David T. Wilentz.

Background
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was born in Kamenz, a town near Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony, which was a state of the German Empire. He was the youngest of five children. Neither he nor his family or friends used the name Bruno, although prosecutors in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial insisted on referring to him by that name. At the age of eleven, he joined the Boy Scouts (Pfadfinderbund). Hauptmann attended public school during the day while attending trade school (Gewerbeschule) at night, studying carpentry for the first year, then switching to machine building (Maschinenschlosser) for the next two years. Hauptmann's father died in 1917. During that same year, Hauptmann learned that his brother, Herman, had been killed fighting in France in World War I. Not long after that, he was informed that another brother, Max, had also been killed while fighting in Russia. Shortly thereafter, Hauptmann was conscripted into the German Army and assigned to an artillery battery.

Upon receiving his orders, he was sent to Bautzen but was transferred to the 103rd Infantry Replacement Regiment upon his arrival. In 1918, Hauptmann was assigned to the 12th Machine Gun Company at Königsbrück. Hauptmann later claimed he was deployed to western France with the 177th Regiment of Machine Gunners in either August or September 1918, then fought in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel; that he was gassed in September or October 1918; and that he was struck in the helmet by shrapnel from shelling, knocking him out so that he was left for dead. When he came to, he crawled back to safety and was back on duty that evening.

After the war, Hauptmann and a friend robbed two women wheeling baby carriages they were using to transport food on the road between Wiesa and Nebelschütz. The friend wielded Hauptmann's army pistol during the commission of this crime. Hauptmann's other charges include burgling a mayor's house with the use of a ladder. Released after three years in prison, he was arrested three months later on suspicion of additional burglaries.

Hauptmann illegally entered the United States by stowing away on an ocean liner. Landing in New York City in November 1923, the 24-year-old Hauptmann was protected by a member of the established German community and worked as a carpenter. He married a German waitress, Anna Schoeffler (1898–1994), in 1925 and became a father eight years later.

Crime and investigation
On the evening of March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, was kidnapped from Highfields, New Jersey; a homemade ladder was found under the window of the child's room. The $50,000 demanded in a ransom note had been delivered by John F. Condon, but the infant's body was found on May 12 in woods 4 mi from the family's home. The death was ascribed to a blow to the head, which some have theorized occurred accidentally during the abduction.

On September 15, 1934, a bank teller realized that the serial number on a $10 gold certificate deposited by a gas station was on the list of Lindbergh ransom bills. On the bill's margin, the attendant, who found the certificate suspicious, had written the license plate number of the customer's car, which turned out to be Hauptmann's. Hauptmann was placed under surveillance by the New York City Police Department, New Jersey State Police, and the FBI.

On September 19, Hauptmann realized he was being watched and attempted to escape, speeding and running through red lights. He was captured after finding himself blocked by a truck on Park Avenue just north of Tremont Avenue in the Bronx.

Trial
His trial was dubbed the "Trial of the Century", while Hauptmann was named "The Most Hated Man in the World".

Evidence against Hauptmann included: $14,600 of the ransom money found in his garage; testimony alleging handwriting and spelling similarities to that found on the ransom notes; testimony that lumber used in constructing the ladder probably originated in Hauptmann's house; Condon's address and telephone number found written on the inside of one of Hauptmann's closets; and what appeared to be a hand-drawn sketch of a ladder found in one of Hauptmann's notebooks. Experts retained by the defense were never called to testify.

During the trial, Hauptmann was identified as the man who received the ransom money, the man who had spent some of the ransom gold certificates, and as a man seen near the Lindbergh home on the day of the kidnapping. He had been absent from work on the day of the ransom payment and had quit his job two days later.

Hauptmann's attorney, Edward J. Reilly, argued that the evidence against Hauptmann was entirely circumstantial, as no reliable witness had placed Hauptmann at the scene of the crime, nor were his fingerprints found on the ladder, the ransom notes, or anywhere in the nursery.

Hauptmann was convicted, however, and immediately sentenced to death. His appeals failed, though his execution stayed twice while New Jersey Governor Harold G. Hoffman reviewed the case.

Execution
On April 3, 1936, Hauptmann was executed in the electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison. Reporters present said he made no statement. His spiritual advisor said that Hauptmann told him, before being taken from his cell, "Ich bin absolut unschuldig an den Verbrechen, die man mir zur Last legt" ("I am absolutely innocent of the crimes I am accused of").

Hauptmann's widow, Anna, had his body cremated. Two Lutheran pastors conducted a private memorial service in German. A crowd of some 2,000 gathered outside.

Guilt questioned
In the latter part of the 20th century, the case against Hauptmann came under serious scrutiny. For instance, one item of evidence at his trial was a scrawled phone number on a board in his closet, which was the number of the man who delivered the ransom, John F. Condon. A juror at the trial said this was the one item that convinced him the most; according to some accounts, a reporter later admitted he had written the number himself. However, Hauptmann stated in court that he had written it but could not remember why.

Additionally, neither Lindbergh nor the go-between who delivered the ransom initially identified Hauptmann as the recipient. Condon, after seeing Hauptmann in a lineup at New York Police Department Greenwich Street Station, told FBI Special Agent Turrou that Hauptmann was not "John", the man whom Condon claimed he had passed the ransom money to in St. Raymond's Cemetery. He further stated that Hauptmann looked different (for instance that he had different eyes, was heavier, and had different hair), and that "John" was actually dead because he had been murdered by his confederates. However, during the trial, "Condon did identify Hauptmann, although he took a pounding from the defense for his earlier failure to do so", and later claimed that he had "immediately recognized John". His initial description of "John" as a person "in his thirties, 5'9" tall, and 165 pounds and [who] spoke with a distinct German accent [...] turned out to be a fair description of Hauptmann."

While waiting in a car nearby, Lindbergh heard the voice of "John" calling to Condon during the ransom drop-off, but never saw him. Although he testified before the Bronx grand jury that he heard only the words "Hey, Doc!", and that it would be very difficult to say he could recognize a man by his voice, he identified Hauptmann as having the same voice during his trial in Flemington. The police beat Hauptmann while in custody at the Greenwich Street Station.

Other coverage has said that certain witnesses were intimidated, and some claim that the police planted or doctored evidence, such as the ladder; or that the police doctored Hauptmann's time cards and ignored fellow workers who stated that Hauptmann was working the day of the kidnapping. These and other findings prompted J. Edgar Hoover, the first Director of the FBI, to question the manner in which the investigation and the trial were conducted. Hauptmann's widow campaigned until the end of her life to have her husband's conviction reversed.

Erastus Mead Hudson was a fingerprint expert who knew about the then-rare silver nitrate process of collecting fingerprints from wood and other surfaces on which the previous powder method would not work. He found that Hauptmann's fingerprints were not on the wood, even in places that the man who made the ladder must have touched. Upon reporting this to a police officer and stating that they must look further, the officer said, "Good God, don't tell us that, Doctor!" The ladder was then washed of all fingerprints, and Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf Sr., the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, refused to disclose to the public that Hauptmann's prints were not on the ladder.

Several books have been written proclaiming Hauptmann's innocence. These books variously criticize the police for allowing the crime scenes to become contaminated, Lindbergh and his associates for interfering with the investigation, Hauptmann's trial lawyers for ineffectively representing him, and the reliability of the witnesses and physical evidence presented at the trial. Scottish journalist Ludovic Kennedy in particular questioned much of the evidence, such as the origin of the ladder and the testimony of many of the witnesses.

In her book about another high-profile trial of the 1930s, the Winnie Ruth Judd case, investigative reporter Jana Bommersbach argued that Hauptmann could not have received a fair trial because the press created an atmosphere of prejudice against him. Bommersbach noted that in those days, newspapers acted as both "judge and jury", and covered crime in a way that would be considered sensationalistic today.

In 1974, Anthony Scaduto wrote Scapegoat, which took the position that Hauptmann was framed and that the police both withheld and fabricated evidence. This led to further investigation, and in 1985, Ludovic Kennedy published The Airman and the Carpenter, in which he argued that Hauptmann had not kidnapped and murdered Lindbergh Jr. The book was made into the 1996 television film Crime of the Century, starring Stephen Rea and Isabella Rossellini.

Some authors suggest Lindbergh was involved in the kidnapping and/or death of his baby, including retired judge Lise Pearlman in her 2020 book The Lindbergh Kidnapping Suspect No. 1: The Man Who Got Away. She points out that instead of being investigated as a possible suspect (due to his fame), Lindbergh helped lead the investigation despite being home at the time of the abduction.

Not all modern authors agree with these theories. Jim Fisher, a former FBI agent and professor at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, has written two books on the subject, The Lindbergh Case (1987) and The Ghosts of Hopewell (1999) to address, at least in part, what he calls a "revision movement". In these texts, he explains in detail the evidence against Hauptmann. He provides an interpretation discussing both the pros and cons of that evidence. He concluded:

"Today, the Lindbergh phenomenon is a giant hoax perpetrated by people who are taking advantage of an uninformed and cynical public. Notwithstanding all of the books, TV programs, and legal suits, Hauptmann is as guilty today as he was in 1932 when he kidnapped and killed the son of Mr and Mrs Charles Lindbergh."

For more than 50 years, Hauptmann's widow fought with the New Jersey courts without success to get the case re-opened. In 1982, the then 82-year-old Anna Hauptmann sued the State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor David T. Wilentz (then 86) for over $100 million in wrongful-death damages. She claimed that the newly discovered documents proved misconduct by the prosecution and the manufacture of evidence by government agents, all of whom were biased against Hauptmann because he happened to be of German ethnicity. In 1983, the United States Supreme Court refused her request that the federal judge considering the case should be disqualified because of judicial bias, and in 1984, the judge dismissed her claims.

In 1985, more than 23,000 pages of Hauptmann-case police documents were found in the garage of the late Governor Hoffman. These documents, along with 34,000 pages of FBI files, which, although discovered in 1981, had not been disclosed to the public, represented a windfall of previously undisclosed information. As a direct result of this new evidence, Anna Hauptmann again amended her civil complaint on July 14, 1986, to clear her late husband's name by continuing to assert that he was "framed from beginning to end" by the police looking for a suspect. She suggested that the rail of the ladder taken from the attic, where they used to live in 1935, was planted by the police, and that the ransom money was left behind by Isidor Fisch, who was possibly the real kidnapper. Fisch applied for a passport on May 12, 1932, the same day that the Lindbergh baby was found dead. On December 9, 1933, he sailed for Germany, taking with him "$600 to buy Reichsmarks", although Hauptmann testified during the trial that he had in fact given this exact amount to Fisch. In addition to this, "Fisch's German relatives described him as being penniless, and his American associates claimed he left the country owing them sizable debts." In 1990, New Jersey's governor, James Florio, declined her appeal for a meeting to clear Hauptmann's name. Anna Hauptmann died on October 10, 1994.

Lindbergh, for his part, believed that Hauptmann must have been involved in the kidnapping and murder of his son.

title: Richard Hauptmann


text:
Talk:Charles Lindbergh

Lindbergh's chart
The image of the sailing chart used by Lindbergh doesn't have enough resolution to see detail. Could someone obtain a better image? Humphrey Tribble (talk) 02:10, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protecting article?
What do we think about putting a semi-protection lock on this article? Just like Amelia Earhart, the Wright brothers, Neil Armstrong and others. There has been quite a bit of vandalism to it from IP addresses that are not attributed to a user name / account, so it may be a good idea, though I am not familiar with how the process works of going about deciding and then ultimately administering that action. Thanks. ~ Flyedit32 (talk) 22:15, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Figured I'd reignite this discussion given some recent contributions by non-verified user accounts, and would appreciate any input other regular users have on it. Thanks. ~ Flyedit32 (talk) 23:42, 7 June 2023 (UTC)
 * That may be the cause of my getting a GOLF app every time I click on a link Ralph47 (talk) 20:07, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

More pro-Nazi than the article states
1. **Visits to Nazi Germany**: Lindbergh visited Nazi Germany several times in the 1930s. He toured German aviation facilities, met with key military figures, and was impressed by the advancements in German aviation technology. He even accepted a medal from Hermann Göring in 1938 on behalf of the German Air Force, a decision that would later haunt his reputation.

2. **Admiration for German Efficiency**: In his writings and public comments, Lindbergh expressed admiration for the efficiency and organizational capabilities of the Nazi regime. While he criticized aspects of Nazi ideology, particularly anti-Semitism, his praise for other aspects of the regime led to accusations of sympathy.

3. **Isolationism and Non-Interventionism**: Lindbergh became a prominent spokesman for the America First Committee, which opposed U.S. intervention in the European conflict. While this stance was not unique to Lindbergh and was shared by many Americans at the time, his vocal opposition to aiding the Allies against Nazi Germany further contributed to the perception that he was pro-Nazi.

4. **Controversial Remarks on Race and Jews**: Lindbergh made several public statements that were perceived as anti-Semitic or racially insensitive. In a speech in Des Moines in 1941, he suggested that the "British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt Administration" were pushing America into the war, a comment that many saw as echoing Nazi propaganda.

5. **Private Correspondence**: Some of Lindbergh's private letters and diary entries reveal a more nuanced view of the Nazi regime. He expressed concerns about the dangers of Bolshevism and seemed to view Germany as a bulwark against the spread of communism. Altonbr (talk) 04:39, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Irrelevant descriptions of Nazi actions
What are all these descriptions of the Nazi atrocities doing in the Charles Lindbergh article? Yes, he was an anti-semite and had pro-Nazi leanings, but shoe-horning these paragraphs in here is unnecessary and makes the article read like a first attempt at a history essay. The article should be about Lindbergh and his history and not someone's opinion piece on the man.

All of these edits appear to be made by a single user. Zebidiah27 (talk) 07:24, 19 September 2023 (UTC)

 * I removed most of them. Zebidiah27 (talk) 07:43, 19 September 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Charles Lindbergh


text:
Guy Thys

Guy Jean-Leonard Thys (6 December 1922 – 1 August 2003) was a Belgian football manager, mostly known for being the most successful manager in the history of the Belgium national football team as he managed to lead the national side to their only UEFA European Championship final in 1980 and a fourth–place finish at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Career
Thys was born in Antwerp and started his career in the 1940s and 50s as a football player with Beerschot, Daring Molenbeek and Standard. In 1952 and 1953 he played two matches with the Red Devils, the Belgium national team.

He combined the activities of player and trainer for Cercle Brugge from 1954 until 1958. In 1959 he performed the same functions for Racing Lokeren. He became a full-time trainer with Wezel the same year, followed by Herentals, Beveren, Union Sint-Gillis, and Antwerp. Under Thys' leadership Antwerp was a finalist in the Belgian Cup and twice finished second in the championship. Thys was appointed Belgium manager in 1976 and remained in the job until 1989, managing the team for 101 games, 45 of which were victories. Eight months after stepping down as manager Thys was re-appointed in early 1990 in order to take charge of the team for the 1990 World Cup. The side duly qualified through the group stage and was knocked out by the England national team in the second round of the tournament. Thys retired again in 1991.

Under his lead the Red Devils participated twice in the European Championship, and three times at the World Cup. In 1980, Belgium narrowly lost the European Championship final to Germany in Rome. In the opening game of the 1982 World Cup, Belgium surprised the world by beating the reigning world champions Argentina 1–0. In 1986 Belgium finished fourth in the World Cup in Mexico. His team beat Spain and the Soviet Union, but was defeated by Diego Maradona and his Argentine team in the semi-finals.

Death
Guy Thys died on 1 August 2003.

Player

 * Standard Liège

 * Belgian Cup: 1953–54

Cercle Brugge

 * Belgian Third Division: 1955–56

Manager

 * Beveren

 * Belgian Second Division: 1966–67

 * Royal Antwerp

 * Belgian First Division Runner-up: 1973–74, 1974–75
 * Belgian Cup Runner-up: 1974–75

International
Belgium

 * UEFA European Championship: 1980 (runners-up)
 * FIFA World Cup: 1986 (fourth place)
 * Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1980

Individual

 * World Soccer Magazine Manager of the Year: 1986
 * Coach of the Platina 11 (Best Team of 50 Years Golden Shoe Winners): 2003
 * Guy Thys Awards: From 2011
 * RBFA 125 Years Icons Team Coach: 2020

title: Guy Thys


text:
Talk:Jimmy Hoffa

Slanderous 5.
"Hoffa became involved with organized crime from the early years of his Teamsters work, and this connection continued until his disappearance in 1975." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.42.215.25 (talk) 02:01, 16 May 2013 (UTC)
 * to quote J. Jonah Jameson, "... in print, it's libel" - however, not relevant, since the Reliable Sources have long attested to his involvement with the mafia 50.111.41.243 (talk) 12:26, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

A dumb (?) question about his death date
There is probably some legal technicality here but why does it have in the lede "(February 14, 1913 – ?)"? If he was declared legally dead on July 30, 1982, that doesn't become his death date? Shouldn't that date be in the place of the question mark? Thanks. __209.179.0.121 (talk) 04:13, 30 November 2015 (UTC)
 * He really didn't die then so there's no point in using that date.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:42, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

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Disappearance section
I read the book "Hoffa", by Arthur A. Sloane, and providing some of the information, to expand more on the disappearance section.

Here are the sources:

1. New York Times, August 2, 1975, p. 6.

2. Ibid., August 13, 1975, p. 14.

3. Time, August 18 1975, p. 17.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.13.17.73 (talk) 13:28, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

 * Michael Franzese's interview where he mentions Hoffa with details about his definite death appears to be from July 2018, and with Patrick Bet-David. Sampharo (talk) 13:08, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

50 gallon drum
One of the wilder theories is Kuklinski's and it's totally implausible, unless something has been misquoted. I do not have access to the source, so cannot check.

50 US gallons is less than 20% of a cubic metre. Hoffa was 5 ft 5 (1.65m). A 50 gallon cylinder with a length of 1.65m would have a diameter of 37cm. Not many bodies could fit into that space. Even if the drum was large enough, I highly doubt it would fit in the "trunk of a car". Anywikiuser (talk) 09:25, 28 August 2019 (UTC)

 * 50 gallon drum usually refers to a 200 liter standard drum, where the dimensions are typically 584 millimetres (23 in) diameter and 876 millimetres (34.5 in) height. Hoffa's standing height of 5'5" is not relevant as the drum is not required to allow him to stand full length inside it like a coffin, his body would have been stuffed inside and if necessary dismembered to fit. The average male human volume is 18-20 gallons (by water displacement), so it is very conceivable to fit a man in a 50 gallon drum. Finally, a 34.5 x 23 inch drum can indeed fit inside a car's trunk. Sampharo (talk) 13:03, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Disappearance Prelude section is confusing and makes no sense
The sentence regarding threats: " Hoffa could not afford to take these threats lightly" is made without any reference within the paragraph. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Newb787 (talk • contribs) 11:17, 11 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Removed. Vaselineeeeeeee★★★ 13:24, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Last call to Louis Linteau
I have been suspicious that Hoffa would wait for an hour and a half for an appointment with Provenzano. Looking through the FBI Hoffa memo, it's clear that this is what Louis Linteau suggested. On page 257:
 * At this point, Linteau advises that he went into his office at ASL [Linteau's business] and made a telephone call to Local 299, IBT, Detroit, Michigan, and shortly thereafter, he was in the process to talking to an official at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, when he was advised by [Redacted], an employee of ASL, that JRH [Hoffa] was on the other line for him. Linteau placed the time of the Hoffa call at 3:30pm.

 * During the conversation with JRH, Linteau was asked by Hoffa if the Giacalones had called, to which Linteau replied in the negative. JRH then advised Linteau "the bastards are an hour and a half late to meet me". JRH further advised Linteau that he was departing the MRF [Machus Red Fox] enroute to his residence, inasmuch as Mrs Hoffa had steak dinners planned for 4:00pm. However, JRH advised Linteau he would stop at ASL enroute."

However, the FBI memo estimates that Hoffa left the restaurant much earlier, saying that he was sighted in the car park at 2:00-2:45pm. They also find telephone records that suggest that the call to Linteau occurred about an hour earlier. On page 258:
 * Further investigation revealed that a telephone call was placed from ASL to Local 299, at 2:35pm, according to the records of the Michigan Bell Telephone Company. Further, [Redacted] at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the individual Linteau admits talking to, when the Hoffa telephone call was received at ASL, states he overheard a female tell Linteau that JRH was on another line. [Redcated] places the time of this telephone call between 1:30 and 2:30pm, stating that he believed it was closer to 2:30pm.

 * Numerous interviews of employees at ASL has failed to confirm Linteau's time of 3:30pm, regarding the incoming Hoffa call, nor does anyone at ASL recall answering the Hoffa call."

Page 261 of the FBI memo also notes that "Linteau's memory is bad". Even people with great memories are unlikely to remember full quotes of what someone said. More likely, Linteau was correct that he had received the phone call but got the time wrong, and unknowingly adjusted his recollection of what Hoffa had said to fit that time. Anywikiuser (talk) 11:29, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

Inquest
Was there an inquest into his death?--Jack Upland (talk) 07:26, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

"Missing" in infobox
Greetings. The infobox informed me that Hoffa has been missing for over 46 years. I did a double-take there because he was only missing for 7 years before being declared dead, and he would now be over 100 years old if he were still missing today. So, I feel the wording could be clarified that nobody else would be confused, that the period of time that he's been missing is up-to-date, and has been steadily counting up since his disappearance. Or alternatively, since it is really not useful to continually report that he's been missing long after his death, we can simply erase that counter from his status, because we may now be 100% confident that he's safely dead and won't be making an appearance at the local Amazon warehouse. Elizium23 (talk) 01:26, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

 * Yes. He has been declared dead, not missing. This appears to be an unsolved homicide. I would suggested the 46 years be taken out of the infobox.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:27, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

STATUS BOX: Missing
It’s either a typo or open discussion I believe another raised. It reads ‘Missing for 47 years, 6 months and 11 days; declared dead in abstentia on July 30, 1982 (aged 69)’.

Excellent job to the author, I’d consider, however clarifying with something like:

‘’Missing officially from July 30th, 1975-July 30th, 1982, the statutory requirement of 7 years until qualified as ‘dead in abstentia’ at the age of 69.’

‘Though, his body has never been discovered. Outside of legally defined death, one could potentially hypothesize he’s still missing in excess of 47 years.’

Side note, given his grandiose and many high-ranking Italian mob connections, I can’t help but think he lived out his years on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea somewhere… 184.98.51.29 (talk) 07:39, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

Proposed addition re search for body
In 2003, Oakland County Sheriff's Department dug up a backyard in Hampton Township, Michigan based on information from an inmate who claimed he buried Hoffa in his backyard. Nothing was found, but the same informant had directed police to another missing person previously. https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Still-no-Hoffa-7208533.php https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-lead-in-jimmy-hoffa-case/ 38.140.154.34 (talk) 01:32, 14 June 2023 (UTC)

Bruce Almighty
Didn't Bruce Almighty find his body..? 188.113.95.213 (talk) 21:03, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Jimmy Hoffa


text:
Google bombing

The terms Google bombing and Googlewashing refer to the practice of causing a website to rank highly in web search engine results for irrelevant, unrelated or off-topic search terms by linking heavily. In contrast, search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving the search engine listings of web pages for relevant search terms.

Google-bombing is done for either business, political, or comedic purposes (or some combination thereof). Google's search-rank algorithm ranks pages higher for a particular search phrase if enough other pages linked to it use similar anchor text. By January 2007, however, Google had tweaked its search algorithm to counter popular Google bombs such as "miserable failure" leading to George W. Bush and Michael Moore; now, search results list pages about the Google bomb itself. On 21 June 2015, the first result in a Google search for "miserable failure" was this article. Used both as a verb and a noun, "Google bombing" was introduced to the New Oxford American Dictionary in May 2005.

Google bombing is related to spamdexing, the practice of deliberately modifying HTML to increase the chance of a website being placed close to the beginning of search engine results, or to influence the category to which the page is assigned in a misleading or dishonest manner.

The term Googlewashing was coined by Andrew Orlowski in 2003 in order to describe the use of media manipulation to change the perception of a term, or push out competition from search engine results pages (SERPs).

History
Google bombs date back as far as 1999, when a search for "more evil than Satan himself" resulted in the Microsoft homepage as the top result.

In September 2000 the first Google bomb with a verifiable creator was created by Hugedisk Men's Magazine, a now-defunct online humor magazine, when it linked the text "dumb motherfucker" to a site selling George W. Bush-related merchandise. Hugedisk had also unsuccessfully attempted to Google bomb an equally derogatory term to bring up an Al Gore-related site. After a fair amount of publicity the George W. Bush-related merchandise site retained lawyers and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hugedisk, thereby ending the Google bomb.

Adam Mathes is credited with coining the term "Google bombing" when he mentioned it in an April 6, 2001, article in the online magazine uber.nu. In the article Mathes details his connection of the search term "talentless hack" to the website of his friend, Andy Pressman, by recruiting fellow webloggers to link to his friend's page with the desired term. Some experts forecast that the practice of Google Bombing is over, as changes to Google's algorithm over the years have minimised the effect of the technique.

Uses as tactical media
The Google Bomb has been used for tactical media as a way of performing a "hit-and-run" media attack on popular topics. Such attacks include Anthony Cox's attack in 2003. He created a parody of the "404 – page not found" browser error message in response to the war in Iraq. The page looked like the error page but was titled "These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed". This website could be found as one of the top hits on Google after the start of the war in Iraq. Also, in an attempt to detract attention from the far-right group English Defence League (EDL), a parody group has been made known as "English Disco Lovers", with the expressed purpose of Google bombing the acronym.

Alternative meanings
The Google bomb is often misunderstood by those in the media and publishing industry who do not retain technical knowledge of Google's ranking factors. For example, talk radio host Alex Jones has often conducted what he calls "Google bombs" by dispatching instructions to his radio/Internet listeners. In this context, the term is used to describe a rapid and massive influx of keyword searches for a particular phrase. The keyword surge gives the impression that the related content has suddenly become popular. The strategy behind this type of Google bombing is to attract attention from the larger mainstream media and influence them to publish content related to the keyword.

Google bowling
By studying what types of ranking manipulations a search engine is using, a company can provoke a search engine into lowering the ranking of a competitor's website. This practice, known as Google bowling or negative SEO, is often done by purchasing Google bombing services (or other SEO techniques) not for one's own website, but rather for that of a competitor. The attacker provokes the search company into punishing the "offending" competitor by displaying their page further down in the search results. For victims of Google bowling, it may be difficult to appeal the ranking decrease because Google avoids explaining penalties, preferring not to "educate" real offenders. If the situation is clear-cut, however, Google could lift the penalty after submitting a request for reconsideration. Furthermore, after the Google Penguin update, Google search rankings now take Google bowling into account and very rarely will a website be penalized due to low-quality "farm" backlinks.

Other search engines
Other search engines use similar techniques to rank results and are also affected by Google bombs. A search for "miserable failure" or "failure" on September 29, 2006, brought up the official George W. Bush biography number one on Google, Yahoo!, and MSN and number two on Ask.com. On June 2, 2005, Tooter reported that George Bush was ranked first for the keyword "miserable", "failure", and "miserable failure" in both Google and Yahoo!; Google has since addressed this and disarmed the George Bush Google bomb and many others.

The BBC, reporting on Google bombs in 2002, used the headline "Google Hit By Link Bombers", acknowledging to some degree the idea of "link bombing". In 2004, Search Engine Watch suggested that the term be "link bombing" because of its application beyond Google, and continues to use that term as it is considered more accurate.

"We don't condone the practice of googlebombing, or any other action that seeks to affect the integrity of our search results, but we're also reluctant to alter our results by hand in order to prevent such items from showing up. Pranks like this may be distracting to some, but they don't affect the overall quality of our search service, whose objectivity, as always, remains the core of our mission."

By January 2007, Google changed its indexing structure so that Google bombs such as "miserable failure" would "typically return commentary, discussions, and articles" about the tactic itself. Google announced the changes on its official blog. In response to criticism for allowing the Google bombs, Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team, said that Google bombs had not "been a very high priority for us".

"Over time, we’ve seen more people assume that they are Google's opinion, or that Google has hand-coded the results for these Google-bombed queries. That's not true, and it seemed like it was worth trying to correct that misperception."

Competitions
In May 2004, the websites Dark Blue and SearchGuild teamed up to create what they termed the "SEO Challenge" to Google bomb the phrase "nigritude ultramarine".

The contest sparked controversy around the Internet, as some groups worried that search engine optimization (SEO) companies would abuse the techniques used in the competition to alter queries more relevant to the average user. This fear was offset by the belief that Google would alter their algorithm based on the methods used by the Google bombers.

In September 2004, another SEO contest was created. This time, the objective was to get the top result for the phrase "seraphim proudleduck". A large sum of money was offered to the winner, but the competition turned out to be a hoax.

In March 2005's issue of .net magazine, a contest was created among five professional web developers to make their site the number-one site for the made-up phrase "crystalline incandescence".

Political activism
Some of the most famous Google bombs are also expressions of political opinions (e.g. "liar" leading to Tony Blair or "miserable failure" leading to the White House's biography of George W. Bush):

 * In 2003, Steven Lerner, creator of Albino Blacksheep, created a parody webpage titled "French Military Victories". When typed into Google, the first result (or the "I'm Feeling Lucky" result) led to a webpage resembling a Google error message, reading, "Your search – French military victories – did not match any documents. Did you mean French military defeats?" The page received over 50,000 hits within 18 hours of its release. Links near the top of the page led to a simplified list of French military history. The only war listed as a win for the French was the French Revolution, in which they fought themselves. As of May 2, 2011, the page is no longer listed in Google's first few results for "French military victories", but several links on the list go to sites recounting the joke.
 * In 2003, columnist Dan Savage began his campaign to define the word "santorum" after former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum made several controversial statements regarding homosexuality. A search for "santorum" led to the top result being a website defining it as being related to anal sex. One search engine expert has argued that this campaign does not qualify as a Google bomb, arguing that it is instead a successful new definition for a word explained by a website. (see search engine optimization)
 * In 2004, Jewish writer and activist Daniel Sieradski urged visitors to his blog to link to the Wikipedia article for "Jew" in response to findings, first publicized by Steven Weinstock, that a search for "Jew" returned the anti-Semitic website Jew Watch at the top of the results. The campaign was successful in displacing the site from the top result.
 * In the same year the Persian Gulf naming dispute was the subject of a Google bomb by an Iranian blogger named Pendar Yousefi.
 * Also, in 2004, a Google bomb involving searching "ladrones" (Spanish for thieves) on Google linked the SGAE website.
 * In France, groups opposing the DADVSI copyright bill, proposed by minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, mounted a Google bombing campaign linking ministre blanchisseur ("laundering minister") to an article on Donnedieu de Vabres' conviction for money laundering. The campaign was so efficient that, merely searching for ministre ("minister") or blanchisseur ("launderer") brings up a news report of his conviction as one of the first results.
 * In 2004, after the controversy that erupted in the Philippines over the allegations that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had cheated in the elections, the phrase "pekeng pangulo" (Tagalog for "fake president") was linked to her official website.
 * In December 2004, the "Yan Ang Pinay" ("I am a Filipina") campaign encouraged bloggers to self-identify as Filipina and link the word Filipina to target URLs such as the Filipina Women's Network (ffwn.org), to displace mail-order bride sites in search results.
 * In 2004, kretyn (Polish for moron) and similar insults referring to stupidity were linked to websites of various Polish politicians including Andrzej Lepper and Roman Giertych.
 * In 2005 an Estonian blogger led a successful campaign to link the word masendav (Estonian for dismal or depressive) to the homepage of Estonian Centre Party. The Centre Party's website still ranks first in the results for masendav.
 * In the 2006 U.S. midterm elections, many left-wing bloggers, led by MyDD.com, banded together to propel neutral or negative articles about many Republican House candidates to the top of Google searches for their names.
 * Also in 2006, Siedziba szatana (satan's headquarters) was linked to the website of controversial Polish ultra-conservative Catholic broadcaster Radio Maryja.
 * In January 2007, Google announced a change in its search engine algorithm to significantly reduce the effectiveness of the technique.
 * In March 2007, the Washington Post reported that Nikolas Schiller was able to Google bomb "Redacted Name" to highlight his website's block on search engines.
 * During the initial stages of the anti-Scientology campaign, Project Chanology, hackers and other members of an anonymous Internet group Google-bombed the Church of Scientology's main website as the first match found when the term "Dangerous Cult" was searched.
 * In September 2008, John Key, leader of the New Zealand National Party was Google-bombed with the query "clueless".
 * In January 2009, a successful Google bomb was performed against the site of the Bulgarian government by a loose group of bloggers and forum users. It was discovered that by mistake, the robots.txt on the government.bg forbade the crawling of the site by indexing machines which allowed for Google bombing. The group linked the search term "failure" (провал) to the government site. Within a couple of days, the first search result for "провал" was the Bulgarian government's site regardless of the search results language.
 * In April 2009, the website Smart Bitches, Trashy Books launched a Google bomb against Amazon in response to its removal of LGBT material from their ranking lists, Amazon citing it as "adult material". Within hours of its creation the page appeared on the first page of returned search results for the term "Amazon Rank".
 * In July 2009, Opie and Anthony successfully performed a new method of Google bombing in which a specific word or phrase is artificially raised in Google Trends. The phrase "Rev Al is a racist" was made #1 on Google Trends on July 8, 2009, due to the controversial comments made by Reverend Al Sharpton during Michael Jackson's Memorial Service. "Corey Feldman is Hurting" was also number 14 on the top Google Trends for the same day in response to Feldman dressing up as Michael Jackson during the memorial service.
 * In France, in July 2009, "trou du cul du web" ("Asshole of the Internet") returned as the first result the official website of French president Nicolas Sarkozy; in September 2010, the same tactic resulted in President Sarkozy's Facebook page being the first result. As of May 2014, the top 10 results for the same Google search contain references to Sarkozy.
 * In September 2010, 4chan users tried to Google bomb the phrase "Robert Pisano MPAA CEO arrested for child molestation!", as a related action to DDoS attacks on the RIAA, MPAA and British Phonographic Industry (BPI) websites. This was in retaliation for DDoS attacks carried out on The Pirate Bay and various other file-sharing sites.
 * In February 2011, several anti-abortion activists managed to make it so that the page for abortion on English Wikipedia was the second highest ranking result for the term "murder".
 * During the summer of 2011, a joke in response to Craig James’ role in the firing of Mike Leach was posted on EveryDayShouldBeSaturday.com. The joke was indexed often enough by a major search engine that typing "Craig James" into the search box at the search engine resulted in the autocomplete function including "killed 5 hookers". Later this humorous search index behavior was characterized as a "Google bomb" in regards to Craig James’ campaign for elected office.
 * In July 2012, searching for "plagiator" (Romanian for "plagiarist/cheater") returns the personal page of Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta, who is accused of plagiarizing his PhD thesis, and various news websites which provide information about the scandal that erupted around the politician. This Google bomb has become itself a piece of news in the Romanian media.
 * In October 2012, searching the phrase "completely wrong" on Google images, returns pictures of Mitt Romney, the Republican Nominee for the U.S. Presidential Election in 2012. However, this was not actually an example of a Google bomb - the result came naturally from a series of comments made by Romney, rather than a concentrated campaign intended to link the two.
 * In September 2012 the English Disco Lovers campaign was initiated with the intention of replacing the English Defence League (EDL) as the number one result for EDL on Google. On 27 August 2013 the English Disco Lovers overtook all English Defence League related items and became the top search result for the acronym "EDL".
 * In June 2015 the search query "top 10 criminals" returned the images of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alongside the images of terrorists, murderers and dictators. However, in an official statement Google apologized and said that it was due to an erroneous meta data published by a British daily.
 * In July 2018, the search query "idiot" returned images of President Donald Trump.
 * In two separate instances – November 2018 and August 2019 – searching for the word bhikhari (Hindi and Urdu for beggar) turned up images of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, alluding to the country's financial crisis. In response to the first instance, the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab passed a resolution to demand answer from Google on the issue. In February 2019, following the Pulwama attack, a Google search for best toilet paper in the world yielded images of the Flag of Pakistan.

Commercial use
Some website operators have adapted Google bombing techniques to do "spamdexing". This includes, among other techniques, posting of links to a site in an Internet forum along with phrases the promoter hopes to associate with the site (see spam in blogs). Unlike conventional message board spam, the object is not to attract readers to the site directly, but to increase the site's ranking under those search terms. Promoters using this technique frequently target forums with low reader traffic, in hopes that it will fly under the moderators' radar. Wikis in particular are often the target of this kind of page rank vandalism, as all of the pages are freely editable. This practice was also called "money bombing" by John Hiler circa 2004.

Another technique is for the owner of an Internet domain name to set up the domain's DNS entry so that all subdomains are directed to the same server. The operator then sets up the server so that page requests generate a page full of desired Google search terms, each linking to a subdomain of the same site, with the same title as the subdomain in the requested URL. Frequently the subdomain matches the linked phrase, with spaces replaced by underscores or hyphens. Since Google treats subdomains as distinct sites, the effect of many subdomains linking to each other is a boost to the PageRank of those subdomains and of any other site they link to.

On February 2, 2007, many users noticed changes in the Google algorithm. These changes largely affected (among other things) Google bombs: as of February 15, 2007, only roughly 10% of the Google bombs still worked. This change was largely due to Google refactoring its valuation of PageRank.

Quixtar's bomb
Quixtar, a multi-level marketing company also known as Amway North America, has been accused by its critics of using its large network of websites to move sites critical of Quixtar lower in search engine rankings. A Quixtar/Amway independent business owner (IBO) reports that a Quixtar leader advocated the practice in a meeting of Quixtar IBOs. Quixtar/Amway denied wrongdoing and states that its practices are in accordance with search engine rules.

GoDaddy bomb
On December 26, 2011, a bomb was started against GoDaddy to remove them from the #1 place on Google for "domain registration" in retaliation for its support for SOPA. This was then disseminated through Hacker News.

Other examples of Google bombs
In Australia, one of the first examples of Google bombs was when the keyword "old rice and monkey nuts" was used to generate traffic for Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt's website. The keyword phrase references the alleged $4 billion in loan deals brokered by Tirath Khemlani to Australia in 1974.

In May 2019, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were targets of multiple Google bombs caused by Reddit users' dissatisfaction with the eighth season of their show Game of Thrones. Targeted phrases included "bad writers" and "Dumb and Dumber".

In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo was target of Googlebombing on Google Picture Search when typing "Monyet Pakai Jas Hujan" (Monkey Wearing Raincoat) the results were President Joko Widodo wearing green raincoat when on an official visit.

News articles

 * Google hit by link bombers – BBC News, March 13, 2002
 * Top of the Heap – Business 2.0, July 2002 – Ego bombing
 * Engineering Google Results to Make a Point – NY Times, January 22, 2004
 * Student trying to 'bomb' Kerry – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2004
 * Dropping 'Google-bombs' – San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 2004
 * Inbound Links most important for Google ranking and bombs BBC – Direct Traffic News, April 4, 2007
 * Corey Feldman is hurting…or is it a Google bomb? – CollegeNews.com July 8, 2009

גוגל (מנוע חיפוש)

title: Google bombing


text:
Talk:United States Census Bureau

Wiki Education assignment: Race, Law, and Politics
— Assignment last updated by Lefeverk (talk) 17:19, 10 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:United States Census Bureau


text:
Talk:BerliOS

Moved from Village pump:

BerliOS
When Wikipedia was down this morning there was a link to a wiki page on another site. Some of the discussion was quite funny, but I now have no idea where that site is now (and can't use browser history since I was at work at the time). So where was that page? Evercat 17:25 28 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * It's berliOS, & the specific page u're looking for is Talk:Wikipedia Status/Archive. --Menchi 17:27 28 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Moved from Village pump:

BerliOS II
Another question about the temporary refuge (berliOS ? or was it BERLIos, anyway...) There was a page called This is not Wikipedia, and it spawned a handful of stubbish new articles, with the idea that they would be ported over into Wikipedia, when and if it could be raised again. Now Wikipedia does not outwardly appear to be in imminent fear of collapsing again (well, for all I know some tech-guy may be desperately holding a finger in the dyke, but then...); what I am querying is what is the preferred modus for transplanting those non-autochtonous wikipedia articles beneath the juicy mulch of wikipedia. Cut and paste? Or is there a way to transfer them wiki to wiki, without losing edit histories? Does it matter? Thank you for your attention. -- Cimon Avaro on a pogo-stick 00:18, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * Copy and paste is the only viable option I'm afraid.—Eloquence 01:23, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Downtime
In the last weeks there where many downtimes (some days long). Was there any information what happened/why there was a downtime?

Reports of intrusion at BerliOS

 * . Little information available. JesseW, the juggling janitor 17:26, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Continuation
Someone should probably note that BerliOS has received funding to continue. 76.251.208.28 (talk) 03:10, 15 November 2011 (UTC)
 * . Announcement.

Closure
Berlios was closed in April 2014, as per the announcement, with most projects moved to Sourceforge. All former links, including those in this article re the closure, go to the Berlios homepage. I have done small changes to reflect this, but maybe more is needed. Dsergeant (talk) 10:28, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

title: Talk:BerliOS