Captain Jack Harkness

CHARACTER NAME: Captain Jack Harkness (current alias), Jaxom Touchstone (birth name)
CHARACTER SERIES: Doctor Who/Torchwood (slight AU)

[OOC]

Backtagging: Absolutely.
Threadhopping: That's fine.
Fourthwalling: I'd prefer that this didn't happen with this character.
Offensive subjects: Not entirely offensive, but even though Jack is a massive flirt who loves sex, I would prefer not to play out any sex scenes. Implied fade-to-black is fine.

[IC]

Hugging this character: Jack loves hugs!
Kissing this character: Jack loves kisses! Even if he doesn't know you.
Flirting with this character: Flirting is practically his primary form of communication most days.
Fighting with this character: So long as you have a reason, sure!
Injuring this character: With good reason, absolutely. I'd prefer no sexual violence but everything else is fine.
Killing this character: As long as there's an in-character reason to do so, absolutely! Jack is immortal, so if you do kill him, he'll automatically come back to life shortly.
Using telepathy/mind reading abilities on this character: Due to Jack's immortality, he has a canon immunity to mindreading. Someone who attempts to read his thoughts will get about as much out of him as they would get from a dead guy. My version of Jack can allow someone to read his thoughts if he chooses, but he has to do so consciously.

Warnings:
Jack is omnisexual and he will hit on everyone who is of legal age eventually.

While Jack was born in the 51st century, he has spent the last 100+ years on Earth in the past, starting in 1869. He's spent most of his life as a government agent at this point, so he might flat-out lie to you a lot. He also says a lot of things that sound like bullshit but are absolutely true.


Get your own copy of the IC/OOC Permissions meme!

And finally: Write a letter to your character, from yourself.
Jack, I never intended for you to be a regular RP character. I made your journal to get into your head so I could write for NaNoWriMo better, since I was doing my take on your backstory. And since then, you've far surpassed my expectations and become one of my latest favorite characters to play. I'm proud of the friends you've made and the progress you've seen since we started. And I look forward to seeing where you go in the future.


Is the character religious? What are their views, and why or why not? Jack wasn't religious even before he became immortal. Religion in his century is seen as a mostly outdated concept, though no one will discriminate against you if you do belong to a religion. He never saw any need for spirituality in his life, so he never looked into it.
How would they like to die? He's died numerous deaths over the decades, and while there are many he really doesn't like, at this point he would take any death so long as it sticks.
Choose a person, historical or fictional, and write about a meeting between them and your character. I don't know enough about most historical people to write any snapshots about them, but Jack has canonically dated several notable persons, including Christopher Isherwood and Marcel Proust. He's also personally met every British monarch since 1900.

If your character’s life was a genre, what would it be?
An immortal time traveler's life story is hard to categorize outside of just plain science fiction. He also has shades of war films, film noir detective stuff, Men In Black-type movies, and action/drama with just a touch of pornography.


Do they value faith over reason or vice versa? He prefers reason overall, though when it comes to the Doctor, it does not matter how little sense a plan makes to him, he has faith in the Doctor.
Do they believe in an afterlife? No. In all the times he's died, he's never seen anything on the other side. His team is currently testing a 'resurrection glove' that brings people back from the dead for two minutes, and no one he's asked has seen anything either, except for "something moving in the dark."
Do they have any habits that reflect their beliefs? (Ex. regular prayer, vegetarianism, etc.) Not particularly.
Do they respect the beliefs of others? He respects their right to believe what they want so long as it doesn't hurt anybody else.

Second day of favorites! Favorite comfort food, favorite vice, favorite outfit, favorite hot drink, favorite time of year, and favorite holiday.
Jack's favorite comfort food is a kind of casserole his mother used to make with local Boeshane ingredients, but they aren't available to him in the 21st century. His favorite vice is sex, favorite outfit is his WWII soldier look, favorite hot drink is kafe (which is also not available to him, so coffee is close enough), favorite time of year is spring, and his favorite holiday is Christmas.


Do the ends justify the means in their eyes? It's not so black and white with him. He strives to do the right thing, but every now and then there are no good choices, and he's forced to do something he considered abhorrent in order to save others. He also doesn't like killing enemies as an option, but it's something he isn't squeamish about and won't regret if it needs to be done.
Are they a leader or a follower? Why? Jack has spent most of his life following in some form or another, and he's an exemplary soldier. However, he's also led squads and during the past seven years, he's taken the helm at Torchwood and done quite well with it. At this point he's become far more of a leader than a follower, but he still has a superior in the chain of command in the form of the Queen, and he will always defer to the Doctor's authority out of choice.
What do they feel responsible for? (Ex. I owe it to the world to do this.) He is responsible for defending the Earth from alien threats, and defending the more peaceful aliens from humanity. Public alien encounters with Earth are becoming more and more common in the 21st century, and Jack's goal is to help humankind make steps towards reaching out to the stars instead of lashing out in fear.

What might your character’s ideal romantic partner be?
Jack's "type" is an incredibly wide variety of people, so he mostly cares about personality rather than looks (although attractiveness is a major bonus). He likes his partners to be good people, quite liberal with regards to sexual attitudes, and who look after those weaker than them.


Describe one fight they’ve had in the past (physical or otherwise).
While waiting for the Doctor in Cardiff, 1899, Jack got in a bar fight and ended up with a broken bottle shoved through his stomach, killing him. This proved a perfect opportunity for him to be approached by Torchwood operatives, who had observed him dying over a dozen times already. They captured him and tortured him so he would reveal the Doctor's location, and once they realized he didn't know but was waiting, they coerced him to join them, telling him that he had very few other options.

If your character could time travel, where would they go?
Jack can time travel, or at least he could until the stabilizer crystal in his vortex manipulator burnt out on a long jump. That said, his favorite time to visit is the 1940s, not necessarily because he likes the war itself, but he likes the atmosphere he finds around people of that era. He's also quite fond of the 51st century, which is where he's from originally.


Describe one (or more) plots you would like to do.
I'd like to bring some of his Nexus friends to the Hub for some plot or another, maybe have April help out on a mission or something. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to just ignore CoE or play it out and change it, but if I do, it's going to fix a lot of crap that they did.

Does your character have any irrational fears?
Jack is terrified of faeries. However, this is far from an irrational fear.


If these don’t apply already: do they want to get married? Have kids? Jack would love to do either of those things at some point, but is hesitant to, due to the strange nature of his lack of aging/death. He actually already has an adult daughter and a grandson, but his daughter doesn't allow him to visit very often. It's unknown if he has other children scattered across the galaxy.
Would they ever consider adopting a child? Why or why not? Not particularly. His job doesn't really allow for children, but if they did, he would prefer to go about it the natural way due to more fun being involved in the creation.
Do they have any prominent sensory associations? (Ex. the smell of their mother’s perfume, the sound of ice cracking under their feet as a child, etc.) The smell of blood and sand always brings Jack back to his memories of the War of the Sands, and the sound of the TARDIS materializing is something he's always listening for.

Is your character a good cook? What’s their favorite recipe, whether they’re good or not? (Microwave mac-and-cheese applies.)
Jack doesn't really cook; he tends to call for take-out or go to a restaurant if he wants something. His favorite food is pizza because you can put anything on it.


If applicable: who is their current partner, and what attracted the character to them? How did they meet? How long have they been together? What kind of a relationship is it? Do they have any plans for the future? Jack isn't currently with anyone, but he has his eye on Ianto, his team's archivist/secretary/clean-up man. Jack hired Ianto for Torchwood Three in 2007, when Ianto contacted him about capturing a pteronodon that made its way through the Rift and was trapped in a Cardiff warehouse. His ability to think critically and quickly, sensibility, and background working at Torchwood One (before it was destroyed) impressed Jack. Ianto is currently not interested in pursuing any kind of romantic relationship for personal reasons, and Jack is not willing to make a move on someone who doesn't want it, so for now he's leaving it at flirting (which he does with everyone anyway).
What would be their perfect date? Jack's idea of a perfect date is going someplace together, maybe having a romantic meal, and ending in bed together.
Describe one of the character’s past relationships and what was significant about it. Jack had a long-term relationship with the man now known as John Hart, starting when they were being trained at the Time Agency together. Jack was still hurting from the war and having to see and feel his first lover tortured to death in front of him, and was not at all interested in Hart, which made the latter even more attracted to him since he was "playing hard to get." Jack resisted Hart's advances until they were trapped together in a time loop for five years, at which point sex became something to break up the boredom. The two always had a frenemy-style relationship, often going out drinking in bars after missions and getting into fistfights. Though Jack will never admit it, Hart is the one who made him want to have relationships again, and though he never quite felt the same way back, Hart fell in love with him and was angry that Jack abandoned the Agency without telling him first.
Have they ever hurt someone they loved? Not intentionally, but he certainly has done so accidentally.
Do they fall in love easily? Very much so, although separating from them is not always heartbreak. Love comes easily to those in Jack's century, and if you're only with someone for a short time and part on good terms, it isn't really seen as 'breaking up' with them. However, for those that become long-term relationships, the love runs much deeper, and separation can be painful, such as the case between him, Rose, and the Doctor.

Are there any blood relatives that your character is particularly close with, besides the immediate ones? Cousins, Uncles, Grandfathers, Aunts, et cetera. Are there any others that your character practically considers a blood relative?
Jack's only living blood relatives (relative to his original timeline) are his mother and little brother, so no, he doesn't have anyone outside the immediate family he's close with. He was starting to consider the Doctor and Rose as family, but now they're separated, not by his choice.


Sex and Romance:
What is their sexual orientation? Do they ever question it? Jack doesn't define himself by 20th/21st century labels and would object to anyone else labeling him as such. But for convenience, he can be described as omnisexual - man, woman, human, alien, other. If it's sentient and open to flirting with him, it's on his radar. In his century, people love who they love and no judgments are made with regards to sex, gender, or species, so he has no need to ever question his sexuality.
When did they lose their virginity? Who to? Where? What was it like? Jack's first time was with his next-door neighbor, James Harper, in the forest near their homes when they were both thirteen. Neither one knew how to do what they were doing, only that it felt good, so they didn't even take their clothes off (frottage).
What is their favorite sexual fantasy? Jack is too much of an open-minded guy to come back to the same fantasy over and over, so he doesn't have a favorite.

How does your character react to temperature changes such as extreme heat and cold?
Jack is far more comfortable in heat than he is when it's cold, but extremes of either will affect him the same as ordinary humans. He can only survive those conditions better because he'll come back to life if it kills him.


Do they, or have they in the past, had a mentor? What was their relationship with this person, and how has it changed since then? The Doctor is probably the closest thing Jack's ever had to a mentor. The Doctor saved Jack from a mistake he'd made which almost doomed humanity, and took him onboard the TARDIS to give him a second chance. Jack loved the Doctor and the two occasionally flirted, but nothing ever came of it, and Jack knew the Doctor would likely never take it farther than that. Now that the Doctor has left Jack behind, he's confused and angry about it, but still wants to find the Doctor so he can find out what happened and whether or not it was a mistake.
What sort of education have they had? Do they want more? Jack was homeschooled until he was fourteen, then given a year's military education. The Time Agency served as a highly specialized school for training field operatives, giving him numerous practical skills as well as a multitude of history. He's open to learning new things, but does not want to attend any kind of educational facility.
Who was their idol growing up? Who was the first person they fantasized about? He looked up to his father most of all, until Franklin was killed during the invasion of Boeshane. Jack's first fantasy involved his neighbor James Harper, a boy his age, who he later became romantically involved with.