Torchwood: Captain Jack's childhood...

[fajrdrako]

I was thinking about what we do know and what we don't know about Captain Jack. He appears to be in his thirties and American, but we know that's largely an illusion - he's an immortal of unknown age, presumably from the 51st century - even that leaves room for fudging, since he might have gone to the 51st century from another time.

So do any Torchwood fans here have any theories as to his original background? We know from his comments to the other Jack in "Captain Jack Harkness" that he went to war when young - though we don't know exactly how young. Are there any other clues?

Would would you speculate? Did he choose to appear as an American just to cover the Captain Jack Harkness identity? What kind of a family do you think he came from? A nuclear family? Or something more futuristic and outre? Two parents, or more? Fewer? None? Siblings? Schooling? Was he born on a poverty-stricken post-holocaust world, or did he come from a comfortable middle-class background, or was he a scion of a wealthy ruling class?

Any ideas?

Cross-posted to torch_wood.

Comments

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

And currently chooses male because - why? Because it makes it easier to function as a cover warrior in 21st century Wales?

Mostly, for something that beccaelizabeth wrote: He's also currently believed to be a he, but given that that's the most advantageous option in the last few thousand years that could be more of a professional choice. And given the fact that I don't recall ever seeing in cannon that the women-shaped people are ever in charge ( though my Who cannon is spotty ): it's either misogynistic or egalitarian. Mostly the latter, but it's helpful to be man-shaped in the former. Plus, adding in the places that Jack mentioned conducting his cons in ( WWII London, and 79 CE Pompeii ) both places were more advantageous being male. After that, it's what the Doctor and Rose would recognize him.


When Jack's using this script, does he write with his left hand?

I'm not sure - it depends on whether or not Jack's ambidextrous or not, because John Barroman is right-handed ( at least, I'm pretty sure he is ) so Jack's been writing ( in English ) with his right and doing things right handed. But hey, Jack's a flexible guy, so I'll say that he does write left-handed with that system, at least.

His partner at the Time Agency gave him the name James Harper on a job.

I like that idea. No relation to Owen, hmm?

No, but I'm playing about with the idea that Owen's grandmother - who someone's fannon taught Owen about lay lines - knew Estelle, and the American that she was going with.

I like the idea that his wristband keeps track of his personal chronology.

It's the only way I can figure that you can have agents returning to a fix time without meeting themselves - and making it so much easier to pay them for jobs that start and end before the agency exists.

After all, an obsession with Captain Jack is a sign of good taste and good mental health. Isn't it?

Very much so! I was just worried because a lot of this is has absolutely no groundings in cannon - though most of it is a distillation of fannon that I've seen about.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Your scenario is logical and I like it. I'm not entirely sold on it - other scenarios are fun too - but it's imaginative and smart and it fits what we know. Especially about the wristband keeping track of agents' chronology. Now, since Jack doesn't want to be tracked by the Agency, he has probably dismantled some of it - but kept all the useful bits.

In fact, tangentially, you've just given me a story idea. Hmm. Add that to the list. Thank you!

I don't think there's any evidence of it at all, but it seems to me that Jack should be ambidextrous.