John Wick

Jonathan "John" Wick, born Jardani Jovonovich, is the titular protagonist of the film series of the same name. Over the course of his violent career as a killer-for-hire, John Wick has earned a widespread reputation as one of the world's deadliest and most skilled professional assassins. His extraordinary exploits, formidable skill set, lethal precision, and unwavering focus and determination to complete his tasks have solidified his status as both a legendary and infamous figure within the international criminal underworld and made him one of the most dangerous and feared men in the world: known and feared by many as the Baba Yaga (Баба-Яга) or The Boogeyman. He previously worked for the Tarasov Mob until his retirement. He retired in order to spend time with his wife, Helen Wick, who later passed away from an unidentified illness. His superior, Viggo Tarasov, promised to allow John to quit if he first completed an "impossible task": killing all of Tarasov's enemies in a single night. Having succeeded, John retired and lived peacefully for just over five years. Following his wife's death, John came out of retirement after Viggo's son, Iosef Tarasov, murdered his dog, Daisy (who was gifted to John posthumously by Helen to help him grieve), and stole his car during a home invasion. He succeeds in his quest by killing Iosef and eventually Viggo, before reacquiring his car from Viggo's brother Abram Tarasov. Unfortunately, his "impossible task" forced him to swear a blood oath to Camorra boss, Santino D'Antonio, who ruined his chances of returning to retirement by compelling him to assassinate his sister, Gianna, allowing him to take over their family's legacy. Once John killed Gianna in Rome, he finds himself at odds with numerous assassins hired by Santino, who wanted to tie up loose ends. After several confrontations, John successfully returns to New York and elects to murder Santino in the Continental's lounge, where no assassinations are allowed. This act led to the High Table, an global empire composed of twelve of the world's powerful crime lords, to put a large bounty on John's head and the New York Continental's manager, Winston Scott, saw himself forced to revoke John's membership in the Continental, rendering him excommunicado. Due to their friendship, he gave John an hour to flee for his life. Through his old allies in the Ruska Roma as well as the assistance of Sofia Al-Azwar, John met The Elder, the head of the Table, who agreed to forgive his sins and nullify his excommunicado status if he executed Winston. Although he initially agreed to the task, he was ultimately convinced by Winston to live as the man that his wife loved rather than the Baba Yaga. After killing dozens of assassins of the High Table, John was betrayed by Winston, who shot him to regain his place among the Table, causing John to fall off the Continental. John survived the fall and was taken to the Bowery King's lair, where he agreed to join forces with him so they can take down the High Table. After killing the Elder, John was convinced by Winston to take a smarter path and use the High Table's own rules against them. John made a deal with his sister Katia to be reinstated into the Ruska Roma and then challenged the Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont to a duel under the High Table's rules in which John will either die or earn his permanent freedom from the High Table. Although, presumably, mortally wounded by his old friend Caine, John kills Vincent, winning the duel and his freedom and dying in peace. Winston and the Bowery King, apparently, buried John next to his wife with the epitaph "Loving Husband," something that John previously requested of Winston in the event of his death. Jardani Jovonovich was born in the Byelorussian SSR (now Belarus), Soviet Union on September 12, 1964. Little is known about his childhood, but it was revealed that he was orphaned at a young age, adopted and recruited by the Ruska Roma organized crime group, then mentored by one of its leaders, a woman known as the The Director, in New York City. Jardani became associated with many members from the other branches of the Ruska Roma around the world, including Katia, who became his surrogate sister. Under the Director's supervision, Jardani was extensively trained to become a lethal hitman and learned multiple skills which included martial arts, marksmanship, melee combat, tactical and defensive driving, stealth, infiltration, and escapology. Jardani would later adopt the name "Jonathan Wick", or "John Wick" for short as the anglicized form of his birth name. John was shown to have a tattoo across his back with the Latin phrase "Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat" (English: "fortune favors the bold"), which would imply that he once served in the United States Marine Corps, but this has yet to be confirmed. If he was, it was likely he was a member of the Special Operations Command division of the branch, given his extensive knowledge of security surveillance and being able to strategically plan things very well, although this is just speculation. Years after leaving the Ruska Roma, John became a professional hitman who earned the nickname Baba Yaga ("The Boogeyman" in Russian) for his unparalleled hyper-lethality. He joined the Continental in New York City, a hotel chain catering exclusively to criminals. His reputation for peerless efficiency and reliability earned him considerable respect and fear within the criminal underworld, as well as his persistence to go after those who earn his anger, making him a legendary figure, known to the leaders of virtually all criminal organizations as someone never to be crossed. John eventually joined a Russian criminal organization known as the Tarasov Mob, becoming one of the main executors of its leader, Viggo Tarasov, who valued and respected John's exceptional abilities, and once saw John kill three men in a bar with a single pencil. During this time, Wick developed relationships with various other criminals working for the High Table, the highest known power in the international criminal underworld, comprised of delegates representing each controlling mafia family. However, John also made a considerable array of enemies - unsurprising, given his profession - including Ms. Perkins, Cassian, and Ernest. In spite of this collection of enemies, John developed valuable friendships with fellow assassins like Sofia Al-Azwar, Marcus, Caine, and Koji Shimazu, forging a brotherly bond with the latter two. During this time, he even helped Sofia rescue her daughter from the mob, and consequently received a blood oath marker from her, symbolizing her debt to him. John also met a woman named Helen, with whom he fell deeply in love and later married. John decided to leave the uncertain life of an assassin to be with her. When he approached Viggo about retiring, the latter reluctantly agreed to let him leave, but on the condition that he completed an "impossible task": kill every one of Tarasov's rivals in a single night, ensuring his enemies would be completely destroyed before any could mobilize and retaliate. Completing this task was not considered possible for even John to do alone, and so he sought the help of Italian syndicate leader, Santino D'Antonio, who provided additional manpower and equipment in exchange for John giving him a marker—a decision that would ultimately come back to haunt them both; John figured since he would be free of the criminal underworld, he wouldn't be bound to honor the marker, thus exploiting a rare loophole. Upon completing the task, Wick was released from Viggo's service and the criminal underworld, and allowed to retire to a quiet life as a law-abiding citizen. John and Helen lived peacefully for five years before Helen's death from cancer, shortly before the events of John Wick.. Due to his harsh background and being rigorously trained for his childhood and adulthood by The Director and his career in the Marines, John could be described as a very serious and stoic individual who rarely spoke more than necessary (preferring actions over words and being described as someone who never wasted words) with a strong sense of obligation; to put it another way, John was "a man of few words". As a professional assassin and hitman, John was highly confident in his abilities and reputation, being greatly respected and feared by many criminal organizations and other assassins alike. Both Viggo and Abram Tarasov described John as "a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will". Despite this, he had a strong moral code as well as honor which was unique among his colleagues according to Zero, as John never willingly dragged innocent people to his job or threatens them during it. In spite of his professionalism, he was also friendly and develops strong friendships with many other dangerous people like Marcus and even managers of Continental Hotels, like Winston and Koji Shimazu. His good side was also seen after meeting Helen, John was willing the end his career as a killer and live a normal happy life with her, which Winston referred to as impossible. However, John was a man who is worth his reputation as The Boogeyman for his lethality as he never failed on his missions. Despite his calm and collected behavior, once angered or taken by vengeance, he would stop at nothing until he kills his target no matter who or what stands in his way. After a puppy from his wife, which was the last posthumous gift from her not to be alone, was killed and his car stolen, John set out on a journey for revenge, which was successful but also created other problems for himself on future events. John was shown to be sympathetic to Eve Macarro and her own quest for revenge, giving her as much time as he could to carry it out before he would be forced to kill her and even helping Eve by saving her from Dex. In this case, John deliberately chose not to carry out his contract unless he was otherwise forced to by the midnight deadline.