Cardcaptor Sakura (カードキャプターさくら, Kādokyaputā Sakura), abbreviated as CCS and also known as Cardcaptors, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized in Nakayoshi from May 1996 to June 2000, and published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha from November 1996 to July 2000. The story focuses on Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is then tasked with retrieving those cards in order to avoid an unknown catastrophe from befalling the world. The series was adapted into a 70-episode anime TV series by Madhouse that aired on Japan's satellite television channel NHK BS2 from April 1998 to March 2000. Additional media produced include two anime films, as well as video games, art books, picture books, and film comics. Tokyopop initially released the manga in English in North America from March 2000 to August 2003. After Tokyopop's license for Cardcaptor Sakura expired, Dark Horse Manga acquired the license and released the series in omnibus editions from October 2010 to September 2012. Nelvana licensed the TV series and first film for North American broadcast and distribution, renaming it Cardcaptors. All 70 episodes were dubbed; while other English-speaking territories received the full run, the version aired on American television was heavily edited into 39 episodes. Cardcaptors aired on Kids' WB, Cartoon Network, Teletoon and Nickelodeon. The TV series and films were sub-licensed by Geneon, which released them unedited with English subtitles. The TV series was also later released by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand. Critics praised the manga for its creativity and described it as a quintessential shōjo manga, as well as a critical work for manga in general. The manga series was awarded the Seiun Award for Best Manga in 2001. The TV anime adaptation was praised for transcending its target audience of young children and being enjoyable to older viewers. The artwork in the anime was also a focus of attention, described as above-average for a late-1990s TV series, and Sakura's magic-casting scenes were complimented for being nearly unique because of the regular costume changes. The TV anime won the Animage Grand Prix award for Best Anime in 1999. The American edit of Cardcaptors, however, was heavily panned by critics for cutting out character backgrounds essential to understanding the plot.

Carmageddon is a graphically violent vehicular combat 1997 PC video game. It was later ported to other platforms, and spawned a series of follow-up titles. It was inspired by the 1975 cult classic movie Death Race 2000. The game was produced by Stainless Games, published by Interplay and SCi. In early 2012, it was announced that a new port of the game would be released for iOS and certain Android mobile devices. The game was released as both a free demo and paid game in 2013.

Castlevania (キャッスルヴァニア), also known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura, lit. Devil's Castle Dracula), is a video game series created and developed by Konami, centered on the Belmonts, a clan of vampire hunters, and their fight with Dracula. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release for the Family Computer Disk System (FDS), followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30. Although the MSX 2 port (localized in Europe and Brazil as Vampire Killer) was released first outside of Japan, the series did not receive wide attention outside of Japan until the FDS version was ported to cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System and localized for North American and European releases of Castlevania in 1987. The series soon became one of Konami's flagship series. The Castlevania titles have been released on various platforms, from early systems including the Nintendo Entertainment System to modern consoles. It has also been released for Pocket PCs Emulators and mobile phones.

Castlevania (キャッスルヴァニア), also known as Akumajō Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ, Akumajō Dorakyura, lit. Devil's Castle Dracula), is a video game series created and developed by Konami, centered on the Belmonts, a clan of vampire hunters, and their fight with Dracula. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release for the Family Computer Disk System (FDS), followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30. Although the MSX 2 port (localized in Europe and Brazil as Vampire Killer) was released first outside of Japan, the series did not receive wide attention outside of Japan until the FDS version was ported to cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System and localized for North American and European releases of Castlevania in 1987. The series soon became one of Konami's flagship series. The Castlevania titles have been released on various platforms, from early systems including the Nintendo Entertainment System to modern consoles. It has also been released for Pocket PCs Emulators and mobile phones.

Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillainess, the character was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel, as well as actress Jean Harlow. The original and most widely known Catwoman, Selina Kyle, first appears in Batman #1 (Spring 1940) in which she is known as The Cat. She is usually depicted as an adversary of Batman, known for having a complex love-hate relationship with him. In her first appearance, she was a whip-carrying burglar with a taste for high-stake thefts. For many years Catwoman thrived, but from September 1954 to November 1966 she took an extended hiatus due to the newly developing Comics Code Authority in 1954. These issues involved the rules regarding the development and portrayal of female characters that were in violation of the Comics Code. Since the 1990s, Catwoman has been featured in an eponymous series that cast her as an antiheroine classy cat burglar rather than a traditional villain. The character has been one of Batman's most enduring love interests. A popular figure, Catwoman has been featured in most media adaptations related to Batman. Actresses Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether and Eartha Kitt introduced her to a large audience on the 1960s Batman television series and the 1966 Batman motion picture. Michelle Pfeiffer portrayed the character in 1992's Batman Returns. Halle Berry starred in a stand-alone Catwoman film, 2004's Catwoman, which was a box-office flop, and bears little to no resemblance to the Batman character. Anne Hathaway portrayed Selina Kyle in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. Catwoman was ranked 11th on IGN's "Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time" list, and 51st on Wizard magazine's "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list. Conversely, she was ranked 20th on IGN's "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time" list, as well as 23rd in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is a game position in chess (and in other board games of the chaturanga family) in which a player's king is in check (threatened with capture) and there is no way to remove the threat. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess the king is never actually captured – the game ends as soon as the king is checkmated. In master and serious amateur play, most players resign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated, and it is considered bad etiquette to continue playing in a completely hopeless position. If a player is not in check but has no legal move, then it is stalemate, and the game immediately ends in a draw. A checkmating move is recorded in algebraic notation using the hash symbol (#) – for example, 34.Qh8#.