  This paper summarizes observed and physical properties of all types of core
collapse supernovae. Despite the great diversity displayed by these objects,
several regularities emerge which suggest that 1) there is a continuum in the
properties of these objects, 2) the mass of the envelope is one of the driving
parameters of the explosion, or it is correlated with some other property of
the core, with the latter determining the outcome of the explosion, and 3) the
physics of the core and explosion mechanism of all core collapse supernovae are
not be fundamentally different, regardless of the external appearance of the
supernova. Far above in energy scale and 56Ni production lies SN 1998bw, the
only supernova firmly associated with a gamma-ray burst.
