baum: (d a n g e r)
John Connor ([personal profile] baum) wrote in [personal profile] groundrules 2022-01-03 12:56 pm (UTC)

John Connor | The Sarah Connor Chronicles

PLAYER NAME: Kerry
CONTACT: [plurk.com profile] halfbloodly
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Mod referral!

CHARACTER: John Connor
CANON: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
CANON POINT: End of Season 2

BACKGROUND: The Terminator franchise has a number of different movies and variants, set in alternative futures and timelines. The Sarah Connor Chronicles was envisioned as a sequel series to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day movies, so the events of those movies represent John's past and count as canon for him. The later movies in the franchise take place in alternate timelines, and so are not relevant to this version of John. John's history in the show can be found in full here: Season 1 and Season 2.

In the future, an Artificial Intelligence called Skynet gains sentience, and causes the end of the known world by taking control of humanity's nuclear weapons systems and using them against them. The event is called Judgement Day; it permanently changes the face of the globe, destroying the environment and killing billions of people at once. Those who survive organise into the Resistance, led by John Connor, a charismatic and intelligent strategist who becomes an almost Messianic figure of hope. The machines create a time machine to send infiltration units called Terminators back in time, first to try and kill John's mother Sarah before he's born, and when that failed, to kill him in his childhood. Future John sends protectors back in time to save his own life; first, he knowingly sends his own father, Kyle Reese, back to rescue his mother and ensure that he's born. Then, he sends reprogrammed Terminators back to save his life.

In the Sarah Connor Chronicles, one such Terminator, Cameron, finds John in school and rescues him from the Terminator Cromartie. Together John, Cameron and Sarah decide to travel eight years into the future to try and stop the creation of Skynet and avoid Judgement Day. Cromartie manages to follow them. In the future, the Connors and Cameron take on new identities and work in secret. They are eventually joined by Derek Reese, John's uncle, who has come from the future with the same goal in mind. On John's 16th birthday, their efforts lead them into contact with the criminal Sarkissian, who John kills in order to save Sarah. Cameron then attacks John, after an explosion causes damage that reverts her to her original programming. John is able to remove her chip, but against Sarah's orders re-inserts it, unwilling to see Cameron destroyed.

Thereafter the group moves house and continues their efforts. John, traumatised after what had happened, acts out against his family and starts a relationship with Riley, a girl from school. Meanwhile others from the future arrive; first a dying Resistance fighter, who manages to leave a message which points the Connors to new targets, and secondly, a woman named Jesse with whom Derek is in love. Unknown to any of them, another machine taking the name Catherine Weaver has come back in time to take over the Zeira Corporation, which focuses on making a new AI system of its own. The Connors' targets take them close to Weaver, without their knowledge.

It is eventually revealed that Riley is also from the future, and is following orders from Jesse to seduce John and try to get him away from Cameron. When Riley is killed by Jesse, John reveals that he had suspected the truth for some time. Over the course of the second season, John slowly begins to accept his destiny and embrace the person that he is fated to be. At the very end of the season, the Connors finally encounter Weaver and the AI she is building to combat Skynet. When Cameron allows the AI to take her chip into the future, John makes the choice to follow, leaving his mother behind. He emerges into a version of the future where his name is not known because he had removed himself from the timeline, and the series ends there.

ABILITIES | POWERS:

Computer skills - John is notably proficient with computers. He's shown to like and have an aptitude for technology, and particularly for hacking; he's shown to be able to hack into sophisticated government and police computer systems. He's able to build complex computer viruses with ease, and able to build and repair computer systems. His aptitude is such that even when he travels forward in time, he quickly acclimatises to the new computer systems he encounters, and he is able to break into and read the data stored on the chip of a Terminator from 20 years in his future. John is both gifted and well practiced in this area, a combination that makes him the go-to tech expert throughout his life.

Combat and survival skills - John has been trained in combat since childhood. In Mexico he received paramilitary training, and as a result he's capable when it comes to self-defence. He's highly proficient in the use of firearms and is shown to be an expert marksman. He can use a wide variety of firearms, from simple handguns to shotguns and rifles. He's also experienced in making and using explosives, and knows how to check for traps, make bombs from chemical and mechanical parts, and set bombs. He's also picked up various survival skills with a criminal twist, thanks to generally living outside the law for most of his life; he can pick locks and hot wire cars, and knows how to pick pockets, practice sleight of hand, hack ATMs, and so on. Essentially he has the kind of training that might be expected from a guerilla soldier or a terrorist.

Mechanical skills - as well as being good with computer systems, John is a capable physical mechanic. He understands and can build and repair machines, from small alarm systems to cars, and even complex machines from his future. He helps Cameron (a Terminator from his future) to repair herself when she is damaged. As with his computer skills, John's aptitude extends beyond the machines and systems he is used to; he's shown to learn quickly, and can apply his skills to complex and futuristic systems that he hasn't worked with before.

Strategic mind - John has an intelligent, strategic mind, which comes to the fore throughout the series. To cultivate his skill in strategic thinking, he was taught to play chess from a young age, and retains a strong interest in it, displaying an awareness of current grandmasters and the various techniques and famous plays they have made throughout the years. He tends to think ahead; he is shown to familiarise himself with the local laws and expectations of the places he moves to, in order to exploit legal loopholes when needed. He's quietly analytical, watching the people around him and picking up on subtle cues that indicate they are not who they say they are. John won't always call them on their lies, but will play a long game to discover what their plans are, again showing his aptitude for strategy and tendency to treat the situations he's faced with like a game of chess.

Languages - John's native language is English. Thanks to spending parts of his childhood in Mexico, he speaks fluent Spanish (with an American accent). He is good enough to hold detailed conversations with native speakers.

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