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BFG

The BFG, an initialism for "Big Friendly Giant", is the central character in Roald Dahl's 1982 children's fantasy novel The BFG, depicted as the smallest and most benevolent giant in Giant Country who rejects the human-eating habits of his larger kin to instead harvest and distribute dreams to sleeping children.
In the story, the BFG, who communicates in a distinctive mangled English and sustains himself on unpalatable snozzcumbers and fizzy frobscottle, abducts insomniac orphan Sophie from her London orphanage one night, leading to their alliance against nine voracious giants who raid human populations for meals. Their adventure culminates in appealing to Queen Elizabeth II for military intervention, resulting in the marauding giants' capture and relocation to an isolated pit.
The novel, illustrated by Quentin Blake, has achieved enduring commercial success, selling over 21 million copies globally and ranking as the tenth most popular children's fiction book. It has inspired multiple adaptations, including a 1989 British animated film nominated for a BAFTA, a 2016 live-action feature directed by Steven Spielberg starring Mark Rylance as the BFG, and ongoing stage productions such as the Royal Shakespeare Company's premiere scheduled for late 2025.

Literature

The BFG (novel by Roald Dahl)

The BFG is a children's fantasy novel written by the British author and illustrated by . First published on 1 October 1982 by in the and in the United States, the book expands upon a short story from Dahl's earlier work Danny, the Champion of the World (1975). The narrative centers on , a young orphan girl, who encounters giants after spotting one outside her orphanage window during the night; she is subsequently taken to Giant Country by the Big Friendly Giant (BFG), a 24-foot-tall figure who abstains from eating humans unlike his larger, more vicious counterparts. The BFG sustains himself on the foul-tasting vegetable known as snozzcumber and a fizzy beverage called frobscottle, while his profession involves capturing dreams from Dream Country using a and blowpipe, then delivering pleasant ones to children worldwide via his trumpet-like . , initially terrified, forms an alliance with the BFG to thwart the predations of nine other giants—including the brutish Fleshlumpeater and Bloodbottler—who nightly raid human locales for victims ranging from Turkish children to Alaskan Eskimos. The duo's scheme involves alerting the British monarch to the giants' activities, leading to their capture and relocation to an isolated island. Dahl's signature inventive language features prominently, with the BFG's dialect incorporating neologisms like "snozzcumber" and "whizzpopping" to convey childlike wonder and phonetic play. Key characters include , portrayed as resourceful and literate despite her orphan status under the strict Mrs. Clonkers; , distinguished by his , small ears for hearing dreams, and aversion to ; and the antagonistic giants, each named for their gluttonous habits. The novel explores themes of unlikely , moral distinction between , and the power of intellect over brute strength, with embodying a gentle in a savage society. Dedicated to Dahl's late daughter , who died of in 1962 at age seven, the book has sold over 37 million copies worldwide since publication. Critically, The BFG received acclaim for its imaginative storytelling and Dahl's unorthodox portrayal of giants as explicit child-eaters, diverging from sanitized fairy-tale conventions, though some reviewers noted the gruesomeness of the giants' habits as potentially unsettling for young readers. It garnered translations awarded by the International Board on Books for Young People in 1986 for and editions, alongside later reader-voted honors such as the 2011 Bluestem Award. The work's enduring appeal lies in its blend of whimsy and peril, reinforcing Dahl's reputation for narratives that challenge children with real dangers resolved through cunning rather than sentimentality.

Film and animation

Adaptations of The BFG

The principal animated adaptation of Roald Dahl's is a British television film produced by and directed by Brian Cosgrove. It features voice acting by as the BFG and as , with the story following the orphan girl's encounter with the giant and their efforts against child-eating giants. The 74-minute production aired on in the on April 1, 1991, following an initial release in , and incorporates Dahl's distinctive language and dream-blowing elements while using traditional 2D . A live-action directed by was released in 2016 by , , and . The film stars as Sophie and as the BFG via motion-capture performance, with supporting roles by , , and . Premiering at the on May 14, 2016, and entering wide theatrical release on , 2016, in the United States, it emphasizes for the giants and dream sequences, running 117 minutes and grossing approximately $195.2 million worldwide against a $140 million budget. adapted the novel shortly before her death in 2015, preserving core plot points like the BFG's capture of dreams and confrontation with the Bloodbottler and Fleshlumpeater. The novel has also seen stage adaptations, including early theatrical productions in the and a 1998 musical version by the Royal National Theatre. A new staging by the Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by Sean Foley with flying giant effects, is set to premiere at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in from November 25, 2025, to January 31, 2026, before transferring to .

Fictional weapons in video games

BFG9000 (Doom series)

The BFG9000 is a fictional heavy weapon featured prominently in the , developed initially by . It functions as the most destructive armament available to the player, consuming 40 energy cells per shot to launch a slow-moving sphere of green that detonates upon striking an enemy or surface, inflicting massive area-of-effect damage through secondary energy rays projected in a forward cone from the impact point. This mechanic allows it to eliminate clusters of demonic foes visible to the originating blast, making it ideal for in dense combat scenarios. Introduced in the original Doom (1993), the BFG9000 debuted in the third episode, , specifically accessible via a secret compartment in the level "" (E3M3) on difficulties above "I'm Too Young to Die." Its rarity in early levels underscores its role as an endgame power tool, with ammunition pickups also scarce to balance its overwhelming firepower—typically granting only eight shots per find. The weapon's design evokes a bulky, industrial rifle scaled up, complete with a charging hum and recoil animation, emphasizing its status as the pinnacle of the player's arsenal against hellish invasions. co-founder has referenced its conceptual roots in early prototyping, evolving from rapid-fire concepts to the iconic single-shot devastator. In subsequent titles like Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994), the BFG9000 retained core mechanics but appeared more frequently, suiting expanded enemy varieties and level designs. Doom 3 (2004) retooled it into a chargeable beam emitter, where holding the trigger builds energy for a sustained laser that shreds targets along its path before exploding in a localized radius, shifting focus toward precision amid horror elements—though this iteration drew mixed developer commentary for deviating from the original's chaotic splash potential. Modern reboots, including Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal (2020), restored explosive plasma orbs with enhancements: the 2016 version delivers up to 6000 damage on direct hits plus radial bolts, while Eternal integrates resource hooks like Argent energy for sustained use, preserving its room-clearing dominance across fast-paced campaigns. These evolutions reflect id Software's (later Bethesda) iterative refinement, prioritizing visceral impact over strict realism.

Technology and engineering

BFG Technologies (hardware company)

BFG Technologies was a privately held American manufacturer of , specializing in high-performance graphics cards based on technology, power supplies, and related PC components such as processors and desktops. The company, founded in 2003 by Scott Herkelman in , maintained its headquarters in , and marketed products under brands like ASYLUM for overclocked graphics cards aimed at enthusiasts. It offered systems like the series and notebooks such as Deimos, alongside modular power supplies noted for reliability in enthusiast builds. The firm gained a reputation among PC builders for stable factory-overclocked cards, such as models supporting 's 7950 GT and later series, and for its , including lifetime warranties on many products. These warranties covered replacements for defective units, fostering loyalty despite , though the company occasionally explored alternatives like cards amid partnership strains. In May 2010, BFG Technologies announced its exit from the graphics card market, citing unsustainable conditions, and shifted focus to power supplies and pre-built systems. By August 2010, the company entered liquidation, attributing the closure to lack of support from its primary supplier—widely understood as NVIDIA—and ceased honoring RMAs and warranties, leading to customer backlash over unfulfilled lifetime guarantees. The shutdown marked the end of operations, with no revival reported since.

BFG in other technical contexts

In and , BFG denotes blast furnace gas, a byproduct of the iron process in . This gas, comprising approximately 20-30% , 20-25% , 3-4% , and the balance mostly , has a low calorific value of 3-4 /Nm³ but is produced in large volumes—up to 1,500-2,000 Nm³ per of hot metal. It is captured for , typically via in boilers, gas turbines, or engines to generate or process , reducing reliance on external fuels and lowering emissions in integrated mills. Cofiring BFG with pulverized in utility boilers has been studied to mitigate unburned carbon losses, with numerical models showing altered flow patterns and residence times that influence efficiency. In electronics and , BFG refers to a beat-frequency , an oscillator that heterodynes two close to produce a lower beat frequency output, often used in radio receivers for or frequency . This technique exploits patterns from the nonlinear mixing of signals, yielding precise difference frequencies measurable in the audio range. In engineering, First Light Fusion employs BFG as the acronym for its Big Friendly Gun, a two-stage designed for experiments. Operational since development in the , the device accelerated projectiles to achieve a world-record of over 1 terapascal on , 2025, at the UK's , surpassing prior gas-gun benchmarks by leveraging driver gas and tapered amplifiers for impacts on fusion targets. In biotechnology, BFG stands for barcode fusion genetics, a pooled screening assay that fuses DNA barcodes to protein-fragment libraries for high-throughput detection of protein-protein interactions via next-generation sequencing and genetic complementation. Introduced in 2022, the method enhances PPI discovery by quantifying interaction strengths across thousands of pairs simultaneously, outperforming traditional yeast two-hybrid systems in scale and sensitivity.

Other uses

BFG as slang and miscellaneous acronyms

In slang, BFG most prominently denotes "Big Fucking Gun," a vulgar expression for an oversized, high-powered weapon, originating in lexicon to describe armaments of exaggerated scale and destructive potential. This usage gained traction through gaming communities, where it symbolizes overwhelming beyond standard weaponry. Other informal interpretations include "Big Fat Grin," referring to an expansive or expression of , often in online or textual communication to convey without emojis. Less common variants encompass "Best Friend's Girlfriend," slang for a romantic partner of one's closest companion, typically implying relational complexities or prohibitions in . Among miscellaneous acronyms, BFG designated , the collective term for , , and personnel, along with associated civil servants, stationed in from 1945 following until the early 2020s, peaking at over 50,000 troops during the to counter Soviet threats. The command structure supported commitments, with major bases like those in and housing armored brigades until drawdowns post-1990 reduced numbers to under 3,000 by 2020. Additional niche acronyms include "Beat-Frequency Generator," a in producing audio tones via interference of two close frequencies for testing purposes, though such technical applications overlap with engineering contexts.

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