Deadliest Warrior
Encyclopedia
Deadliest Warrior is a television program in which information on historical or modern warriors and their weapons are used to determine which of them is the "deadliest" based upon tests performed during each episode. The show is characterized by its use of the data compiled in creating a dramatization of the warriors' battle to the death.

In its first two seasons, the show was hosted by three commentators: Geoff Desmoulin (biomedical scientist and high speed camera operator), Dr. Armand Dorian
Armand Dorian
Armand Dorian is an Armenian-American Emergency Physician, Medical Consultant and CEO. Dorian is best known for his role as a Host/Medical Consultant on the popular Spike TV show Deadliest Warrior. He is also known for his role as himself on Untold Stories of the ER and Diagnosis X...

, (medical consultant), and Max Geiger (simulations programmer). All three provided commentary throughout the show, as well as technical details of each weapons test. The show is narrated by Drew Skye .

Season two had 13 episodes which began airing on April 20, 2010, with the last episode airing on July 27, 2010.

The show was originally developed by Morningstar Entertainment, and has since moved to production company 44 Blue. The Show Runner (Senior Producer) in the first season was Tim Prokop. Tim Warren became the show runner during the second season and has continued with the show during its move to 44 Blue. The Historical Adviser and Associate Producer in the Second Season is Barry Jacobsen, who represented the Spartan Team in Season 1.

The third season had 10 episodes, running from July 20, 2011 to September 14, ending with a 2 episode finale. Geiger did not return for season 3. He was replaced by former "Green Beret" and military software developer Robert Daly, who designed the new simulation program (however, it was discovered that he was being misleading about his military service, serving in intelligence, not a combat role. http://kotaku.com/5848839/studio-head-deadliest-warrior-expert-resigns-over-green-berets-misrepresentation). Former Navy SEAL Richard "Mack" Machowicz
Richard Machowicz
Richard "Mack" Machowicz, a former Navy SEAL, was the host of the Discovery Channel and Military Channel show Future Weapons. According to the program's introduction, he spent ten years as a U.S. Navy SEAL and now searches for new weapons and military technologies used in modern warfare. He is also...

, who analyzes the history and strategy of the warriors, was added to demonstrate a warrior's perspective among the hosts. Dave Baker, veteran weapons maker and armorer since season one, was given his own segment in which he gives background information used to recreate the show's weapons .

Format of the show

Episodes begin with the introduction of either two types of historical or contemporary warriors, or two historical individuals. The history, culture, and general fighting philosophies of each are explained. The explanations are accompanied by segments showing actors performing dramatized scenes that are meant to depict the daily lives of the actual fighters. Two teams of experts (either of the history or martial ability of the warriors) are brought onto the show to test weapons spotlighted as being used by each of the warriors. Typically, the different weapons are organized into four categories (and as of season 3, three categories): short range, mid range, long range, and special weapons (usually absent in season 3). However, some episodes (for instance, "Green Berets vs. Spetsnaz") have had as many as six categories. Matt Anderson and Sonny Puzikas, the experts for the "Green Beret vs. Spetsnaz" episode, have suggested that the teams are assigned weapons by the producers and that they have little influence in the production of the acted simulations.

The teams test the assigned weapons on various targets including human silhouette targets, mannequins, pig and cattle carcasses, and ballistics gel
Ballistic gelatin
Ballistic Gelatin is a testing medium scientifically correlated to swine muscle tissue , in which the effects of bullet wounds can be simulated. It was developed and improved by Martin Fackler and others in the field of wound ballistics. Ballistic gelatin is a solution of gelatin powder in water...

 torsos, heads, limbs, etc. Additionally pressure mats, accelerometers, chronometers, and other measuring tools are used to test such figures as the striking force and speed of each weapon. Sometimes, the targets are covered with armor that is representative of what would be worn by the warrior's opponent. While the damage inflicted on the armor by the weapon is factored into the weapon's effectiveness, the defensive ability of armor isn't included as a separate category on the show in the first two seasons (with the exception of Pirate vs. Knight). All of the weapon tests are recorded with high speed photography, and the results are fed into a computer that measures the damage each weapon is capable of inflicting. The producers and hosts then compare the results for each of the weapon categories and determine which weapon they feel will give its warrior an edge in that category during the simulation. However, the hosts of the show have admitted that their choice of which weapon gets the edge has no effect on the final results.

The data collected from the weapons tests is fed into a computer simulation based on an unreleased commercial game engine developed by Slitherine Strategies
Slitherine Strategies
Slitherine was created on July 4, 2000.The company develops and publishes videogames, and is responsible for the production of a tabletop wargame known as Field of Glory....

 to determine the average winner of one thousand battles, and starting with season 3, a new system created by Pipeworks Software determines the winner based on five thousand battles. These results are then used to create a fictional battle reenactment (between two characters or two small groups) performed by actors. After the battle dramatization has ended, the number of killing blows (or effectiveness percentages in season 3) attained by each weapon during the computer simulations are revealed. Episodes conclude with the hosts and guests commenting on why they agree or disagree with the outcome of the match.

Response

After three episodes, Deadliest Warrior averaged 1.7 million viewers. On July 7, 2009, the program (specifically the "IRA vs. Taliban" episode) was ridiculed during the first episode of You Have Been Watching
You Have Been Watching
You Have Been Watching is a British comedy panel game presented by Charlie Brooker, produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 and filmed at BBC Television Centre and Riverside Studios in London. It first aired on Tuesday 7 July 2009, for a weekly eight-episode run...

, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 television review and panel game
Panel game
A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....

 hosted by critic Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...

. The show was featured on You Have Been Watching, before its premiere in the UK on August 11, 2009, on Bravo. Bravo only aired eight episodes in the UK, with "IRA vs Taliban" omitted.

Robert Daly Special Forces Controversy

On October 11th, 2011, Robert Daly admitted he had lied about his service in the U.S. Army Special Forces and admitted he had never been a Green Beret. As a result, on October 14th, 2011 Daly resigned as a host from Deadliest Warrior as well as Pipeworks Software.

Web Series

Starting with Spartan vs. Ninja, a web series
Web series
A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...

 on Spike.com was created: Deadliest Warrior – The Aftermath. Produced in a roundtable format, and hosted by Kieron Elliot (of the William Wallace team), it serves as a liaison between those watching the show and its producers, hosts, and experts. During The Aftermath, the producers focus on a specific match-up, and debate the issues pertaining to the episode raised by viewers in internet forums
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...

. It was created to answer questions from viewers, address its perceived inconsistencies, and provide a commentary from contributors.

For the episode: U.S. Army Rangers vs. North Korean Special Operations Forces, The Aftermath was broadcast live on TV from the Aftermath Studios in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Hosted by Kieron Elliot, fans got a chance to vote online at dwlive.spike.com for who they thought was going to win the final battle at the end of the episode. Joining Elliot was show regulars Geoff Desmoulin, Armand Dorian, and Richard Machowicz to discuss the outcome of the episode. The segment also invited a special guest to talk about the show: retired Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell who was a key player in the hunt and capture of Saddam Hussein. The same was done for the season finale of Gurkhas vs. French Foreign Legion/Vampires vs. Zombies, featuring Steve Niles and Scott Bowen in the later portion.

Starting with Genghis Khan vs. Hannibal, another online web series started, entitled Deadliest Warrior – Armory. The show goes more in-depth regarding one weapon for each warrior in the same category, giving its history, specifications, and answering questions regarding its use. Hosted by Kieron Elliot, the show features Dave Baker: weapons maker giving details on ancient bladed weapons that he recreated as armorer for the show, with Gary Harper (of the Teddy Roosevelt team) using his historian and armorer experiences to impart knowledge on the featured vintage or modern firearms.

Video Games

A tower defense
Tower defense
Tower defense is a subgenre of real-time strategy computer games.The goal of tower defense games is to try to stop enemies from crossing a map by building towers which shoot at them as they pass. Enemies and towers usually have varied abilities, costs, and ability costs...

 game titled "Deadliest Warrior: Defend and Conquer" was released on March 11, 2010 and is currently available for download on the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

 and iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...

. It contains three campaigns where the player must defend against groups of attacking enemies by purchasing and positioning warriors from Season 1 (and later Season 2 with the update) who each have varying stats and weapons based on the battle data from the show.

Pipeworks Software
Pipeworks Software
-History:Part of Foundation 9 Entertainment, the largest independent game developer in North America, Pipeworks Software, Inc. began life as an independent studio with senior artists, designers, and programmers from such titles as Tribes, Pro Pilot, Populous, Aces, 3D Ultra, Front Page Sports, and...

 announced at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 12, 2009 that they would be developing a downloadable game called Deadliest Warrior: The Game
Deadliest Warrior: The Game
Deadliest Warrior: The Game is a fighting game developed by Pipeworks Software and published by Spike Games. Based on the Spike documentary TV series Deadliest Warrior, the game allows players to take control of various warriors from different time periods, utilizing their own unique set of...

 that will come out first for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

, and later the Playstation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

. The Apache, Knight, Ninja, Pirate, Samurai, Spartan, and Viking from season one are playable. The Roman Centurion from season two is also playable, with more characters to be added as the series progressesed. On December 11, 2010 it was announced during the Spike TV Video Game Awards that the first three DLC characters would be the Shaolin Monk, the Rajput, and the Zande.

On April 7, 2011, Spike Games announced a sequel to their downloadable home console fighting game, Deadliest Warrior: Legends
Deadliest Warrior: Legends
Deadliest Warrior: Legends is a fighting game developed by Pipeworks Software and published by 345 Games & Spike Games. Based on the Spike documentary TV series Deadliest Warrior and the sequel to Deadliest Warrior: The Game, Deadliest Warrior: Legends allows players to take control of various...

. It was again made by Pipeworks Software, with new company 343 Games (umbrella for all Comedy Central and Spike TV games) publishing it. It was released on July 7, 2011 for Xbox Live Arcade, and on July 26, 2011 for the PlayStation Network. New to this game is the inclusion of a new mode called Generals, a Risk
Risk (game)
Risk is a strategic board game, produced by Parker Brothers . It was invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957 as La Conquête du Monde in France. Risk is a turn-based game for two to six players...

-like game which uses the new combat simulator from season 3 to pit two opposing warriors and their armies against each other using the X-factors that made them legends. The characters that are included are Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Hannibal, Hernán Cortés, Shaka Zulu, Sun Tzu, Vlad the Impaler, and William Wallace, with Joan of Arc and host Mack available via downloaded.

On September 26, 2011, Spike confirmed Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat, a compilation of Deadliest Warrior: The Game and Deadliest Warrior: Legends. It will be on one disc apposed to digital download and will include additional content. It was scheduled to be released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on December 6th, 2011, but was postponed to January 10th, 2012.

Film adaptation

Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Shawn Adam Levy is a Canadian-American actor, director and producer who directed the comedy films Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther, Night at the Museum, Date Night, and the sci-fi movie Real Steel...

 and Dan Levine are currently planning a film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...

 produced by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

. The film's storyline is currently under wraps.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK