Torchwood: Jack's lovers...

[fajrdrako]

One of the things I've been wanting to do is to see - or make - a list of Captain Jack's Harkness's known lovers.

Easier said than done. It isn't that Jack doesn't talk about past lovers, he does. In very vague and general terms. Acrobats, executioners.... But Estelle? Rose? He's like a clam.

A list, from memory, of Jack's known lovers:

1. Algy, an RAF officer in World War II (seen getting his butt patted in Doctor Who 1:09, "The Empty Child")
   
2. two executioners, identity and gender unknown (mentioned to Jack's computer in Doctor Who 1:10, "The Doctor Dances")
   
3. Estelle Cole (seen in Torchwood 1:5, "Small Worlds")
   
4. a boyfriend with a stormy temper (mentioned to Gwen Cooper in Torchwood 1:08, "They Keep Killing Suzie")
   
5. that person's acrobat brother (mentioned to Gwen Cooper in Torchwood 1:08, "They Keep Killing Suzie")
   
6. Captain John Hart, another Time Agent (seen in Torchwood 2:01, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", and 2:13, "Exit Wounds")
   
7. an unspecified alien (mentioned in Torchwood 2:04, "Meat")
   
8. a boyfriend whose nostrils flared when he lied (mentioned to Dr. Aaron Copley in Torchwood 2:06, "Reset")
   
9. Jack's wife, name unknown (seen in a photograph in Torchwood 2:22, "Something Borrowed")
   
10. Ianto Jones (seen in Torchwood, all episodes)
    
11. Greg, a Torchwood operative who appears in the novel Twilight Streets
    
12. Brendan, one of the the two alien gods from the novel Almost Perfect
    
13. Jon, the other alien god from the novel Almost Perfect
    
14. Professor Len, in the novel Something in the Water
    
15. Michael Bellini, time-displaced in the novel Trace Memory
    
16. Sam (seen in the novel Trace Memory)
    
17. a Cardiff girl in the Tretarri area in 1922 (mentioned in the novel Twilight Streets)
    
18. a sailor and a showgirl in 1902 (mentioned in the novel Twilight Streets)
    
19. a Boston chorus girl in the early 1970s (mentioned in the novel Trace Memory[?])
    
20. A repair man mentioned in the Doctor Who novel Only Human
    
21. Christopher Isherwood (mentioned in Torchwood 2:06, "Reset")
    
22. Marcel Proust (mentioned in Torchwood 2:07, "Dead Man Walking")
    
23. "a guy with no mouth" (mentioned in Torchwood 2:12, "Fragments")
    
24. the flight crew on a trip from Venus to Mars (mentioned in the radio play Lost Souls)
    

...Am I forgetting anyone?

Then there's a whole other category of people Jack is known to love but either hasn't had sex with, or hasn't explicitly has sex with; or whom he is known to have been attracted to:

• the original Captain Jack Harkness, whom he loved, danced with, and kissed;
  
• Gwen Cooper.
  
• Should I also list Owen and Tosh? He often acts lovingly towards them, talked about "coming back for you - all of you". I'm unsure what limitations to put on this list.
  
• the Chula captain from whom he stole his ship, whom he described as 'gorgeous'
  
• Alice Guppy, the Torchwood operative who found him, tortured him, and seemed attracted to him, in Torchwood 2:12, "Fragments". Possibly also her boss/lover, Emily Holroyd.
  
• Melody White, a Torchwood operative mentioned in The Torchwood Archives, p. 40, in tiny print

It doesn't look like such a long list, really. Not when you consider Jack must be around 200 years old at the beginning of "Exit Wounds".

Another category of people Jack has loved: the Doctor and his connections. Central core: the Doctor and Rose. More peripherally: I'd say he cares about Martha and Tish Jones, and even in a brief meeting, Donna Noble and Sarah Jane Smith. But Nine and Rose were central, and of course they overturned his life. Twice.

[With thanks to rm, sevendayloan, kaylamds, alhanna, la_esmeralda_, immora, wraithkeeper, lionessvalenti and iceglitterati for having better memories than I do and coming up with some delicious additions.]

Cross-posted to my lj and torch_wood.

Comments

[angelfireeast.livejournal.com]

On Doctor Who Jack mentioned that was became lovers with his executioner and wife. I think it was wife, maybe partner as I don't remember Jack saying what gender they both were.

I agree Jack loves the original Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Owen and Tosh. People can fight over that Jack doesn't love Gwen and didn't have time to fall in love with real Captian Jack Harkness but disagree. What kind of love Jack has for Gwen is int he eye of the beholder but he loves her as he loves his term.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree with all of that. Especially about Gwen.

[atheneunknown.livejournal.com]

It was 'my executioners, nice couple, they kept in touch, can't say that about most executioners'.

That might not be EXACT but its damn close. Jack never names a gender for them.

I think he loves his team...just the same way he obviously cared for Alex, the previous team leader before he killed himself. I don't think Gwen stands out above them actually, if anyone does I'd say Ianto...I mean he brought a KILLER into the Hub and kept his job. Thats loyalty there.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

NO, he Executioners' gender is never give. I always assumed two men. Could be a het couple, could be two women. Doesn't matter, from Jack's point of view.

Ianto stands out if only because he's the one Jack is sleeping with. I don't think Jack feels the need to sort out lesser and greater loves among his team.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I came back to correct himself; I said "Ianto stands out if only because he's the one Jack is sleeping with", but Jack doesn't sleep. I meant he's the one Jack is having sex with.

[topgeargirl2.livejournal.com]

Jack really did fall in love with Captain Jack. The whole 'love at first sight' theory.

Didn't Jack mention something about a roman solder in 'End of Days'? something about it's great to wake up to one in the morning?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Jack really did fall in love with Captain Jack.

Absolutely. Very much so.

Didn't Jack mention something about a roman solder in 'End of Days'?

Yes, but it was more of a fantasy wish than a statement of experience. What he said was: "Under any other circumstances, an exuberant Roman soldier would be my idea of a perfect morning." It doesn't prove he didn't ever have sex with a Roman soldier, but it doesn't say he did, either.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

sounds about right, can't remember any others he's mentioned...

will meme this if that's ok, great for background info on fic!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

sounds about right, can't remember any others he's mentioned...

It's such fun, when he does reminisce about old loves.

Yes, please meme it! And let me know if you get any more information.

[kaimu-art.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for compiling this! (Saves link for future reference) Hmm, I wonder if Sarah Jane would fall under the people' he's been known to be attracted to but hasn't explicitly had sex with, or more on the Doctor-related side of things.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I should certainly have mentioned Sarah Jane, at least in the same context as Donna. She's such a wonderful character.

[maxine-mirkwood.livejournal.com]

Actually an awful lot of that list are people who Jack has made wise cracks about shagging, can't say I'd take that as a "known lover". Jack says an awful lot of things for effect. And as you yourself said, he also rarely talks about anything personal, so my guess would be for a whole lot of lovers we know nothing about and probably not too many of the ones he brags about.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

And as you yourself said, he also rarely talks about anything personal, so my guess would be for a whole lot of lovers we know nothing about and probably not too many of the ones he brags about.

In principle, I agree; what we get from Jack is partial truths and misleading statements. (Along the lines of "a certain kind of Doctor".) But I don't think he's lying about any of the people he mentions. It's just that... whenever he mentions one of them, he has a purpose.

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

If the list includes people that Jack is attracted to, whether he acts on that attraction or not, then it could pretty much include anybody he's ever said "Hi, Captain Jack Harkness, and you are?" to!
(Of course I firmly believe that that phrase is the 51st century equivalent of "How you doing?" :-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Jack likes to be friendly. And he likes people. I don't think he really wants to shag everyone he says, "...and you are?" to. It's a combination of 51st century manners and his own natural exuberance.

The rest is the influence of his pheromones on other people.