Background
Born in Belarus, Jardani Jovonovich was orphaned and taken in by the Ruska Roma, a crime syndicate that fostered him for his early years and taught him several martial arts. After leaving the group, he moved to North America, adopting the name Jonathan Wick and joining the Continental hotel, a hotel that houses criminals on business. Wick became a professional assassin revered throughout the underworld for his unparalleled skill in killing people, earning him several nicknames such as Baba Yaga, the Boogeyman, the Devil, the Reaper, and the Legendary Hitman, though he just prefers “John”. “Mr. Wick” for formalities.
Later, John joined the Tarasov Mob and unsurprisingly became one of their top men. But after years of killing for a living, John would come to meet and fall in love with a woman named Helen. Desperately wishing to leave his life of crime behind so he could live a happy life with her, John asked his boss Viggo Tarasov to allow him to retire. Viggo agreed, but on the condition that John would eliminate all of Viggo’s enemies in a single night so they wouldn’t have time to react and attack back. An impossible task even for John Wick, but after making a marker pact with Santino D’Antonio, Wick got the help he needed to accomplish his final job and leave the life of the Boogeyman behind.
John and Helen lived a happy five years together, but their happy life would be cut short quite literally when Helen died of cancer, leaving John absolutely distraught. As a final gift to her husband so he could find his peace, Helen posthumously gave her husband a young beagle named Daisy. The two formed a quick bond with each other, but were just as quickly ripped away from each other when Viggo’s son Isosef broke into John’s house, beat the shit out of the retired hitman, stole his car and killed Daisy in front of him. His chance to grieve his wife in peace stripped away, John returned to the underworld fueled by rage and one goal in mind: revenge. A goal he would succeed in when he killed Isosef, only for it to further spell his downfall when Santino forced John back into the scene through their marker and had the Boogeyman kill his sister so Santino could take her place at the High Table.
John once again succeeded, only to be betrayed by Santino when he placed a two million dollar bounty on his head. After fighting his way through his fair share of New York City criminals, John broke the rules of the Continental hotel and killed Santino on company grounds, making him excommunicato, kicking his bounty up to $14 million and making it an international open contract. The entire underground world after his head, John is now on the run and aims to take down the High Table for the same goal all over again: revenge.
Experience
While John’s age is never officially stated, it can be assumed that he is in his late 40s-early 50s (Keanu Reeves was around that age when filming the first movie). He has been trained by the Ruska Roma in martial arts, which is believed to include the styles of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Jujutsu, Sambo, Aikido and Krav Maga. While it has never been outright confirmed, it is highly speculated that he was a member of the United States Marines Corps given the “Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat” (Fortune Favours the Bold) tattoo on his back, as this is the symbol of the 3rd Marine Battalion from Hawaii. This would help explain where he got his extensive knowledge of firearms, given the Ruska Roma isn’t implied to teach them at any point. It’s worth mentioning that Keanu Reeves was confirmed to have trained with SWAT and Navy Seals for the role of John Wick.
John spent several years working as a professional assassin for the Tarasov Mob and Continental hotel.
Equipment
Suit
John’s fancy suit is equipped with tactical lining to help defend against gunshots. Because if you’re gonna kill a kajillion people, may as well look good while doing it. The suit’s dark colors also help him blend into the shadows, almost as if he disappears.
Bulletproof Vest
On top of his bulletproof suit, or rather underneath it, John wears a bulletproof vest for extra protection. And it works pretty well, considering he’s been shot plenty of times over the course of the series and is still running.
Guns
Note: For this section I’m specifically focusing on guns that John either received for missions by the Continental or received from his allies, rather than stuff he steals from the people he fights. It’s worth noting that he’s shown incredible proficiency in all kinds of firearms however, though handguns seem to be his preference.
Heckler & Koch P30L: John’s main weapon, a semi-automatic handgun with a custom compensator. 15 rounds.
Glocks: John’s secondary firearms
Glock 26: Minimum recoil with fast fire rate and high accuracy. 10 Mags.
Glock 17: Used by law enforcement and military personnel. 17 Mags.
Glock 34: Known for its accuracy. 17 Mags.
Glock 19X: Takes the full-size frame of the Glock 17 and the compact Glock 19 slide into one gun. 17 Mags.
Kimber Warrior: Ideal for duty and personal defense. 7 Mags.
Kimber Super Carry: “The best of the .45 ACP family”
Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless: .32 ACP caliber, self-loading, semi-automatic pistol.
TTI STI 2011 Combat Master: Light handgun with light recoil allowing for faster and more accurate shots. 25 mags.
Remington 1875: Army-style revolver.
Coharie Arms CA-415: American assault rifle
TR-1 Ultralight: With BCM parts, compensator, a 1-6x24 Trijicon Accupoint scope with an RMR on a canted rail and Magpul PMAGs
Benelli M4 Super 90: Semi-automatic auto-regulating gas-operated shotgun.
Benelli M2 Super 90: Semi-automatic shotgun. Tactical and defensive shotgun with short-stroke recoil system allowing for quicker reloads.
SIG-Sauer MPX Copperhead: Gas-operated submachine gun with incredible firing rate. Short-stroke system reduces recoil and improves user safety.
TTI SIG-Sauer MPX Carbine: Submachine gun that allows for barrel and stock configuration in the field for high adaptability. 41 Rounds.
Knives
John carries numerous knives and switchblades in his suit and socks/shoes. Has shown incredible proficiency with them, having defeated Zero who is a master of the blade.
Remote Detonators
While hunting Iosef in the first movie, John straps some bombs to a car and sets them off with a remote controller.
Abilities
Martial Arts Expertise
As stated earlier, John had been trained at a very young age in several martial arts styles by the Ruska Roma. While it is never directly stated in-canon what all of his martial arts styles are, they have been determined through the different techniques he employs throughout his fights. It has also been stated that Keanu Reeves trained in several of them for months before shooting the first film. While many of the martial arts styles taught are for self-defense, John is pretty good at using them to kill people too, between snapping bones and incorporating guns and knives into the mix.
Jujutsu: The progenitor of many of the other martial arts on this list, jujutsu is a close-combat style intended to be used against one or several opponents. It originates from Japanese samurai, so it was developed with the intention of being able to take down an armoured and armed opponent without a weapon, or at the very least a short one. As such, it focuses on using the opponent’s strength against them through pins, joint-locks and throws rather than using one’s own strength with punches and kicks. Can be used offensively or defensively.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Focuses on immobilizing an opponent by taking them to the ground and controlling their movements through joint-locks and chokeholds. Created with the idea that a smaller opponent can defeat a larger one by taking advantage of weight distribution and leverage. Defensive style.
Judo: Derived from Jujutsu and very similar to it, focuses on “maximum efficiency, minimum effort” (John Wick to a tee!) Involves throwing the opponent to the ground, pinning them, or making them submit with a joint lock or a choke. Hand and feet strikes are also incorporated to weaken opponents.
Sambo: A type of defensive wrestling style. Uses elements of wrestling, judo and jujitsu with the intent of taking an opponent down in the least amount of time possible.
Aikido: Defensive style that’s also intended to minimize damage to the attacker. Not really John Wick’s style. Focuses on grips and throws.
Krav Maga: While still being derived from the likes of judo and jujitsu, Krav Maga also incorporates wrestling, street fighting and boxing into its form for a more offensive and aggressive style designed for military combat with a focus on real-world situations and efficiency. It can be seen as the martial art that Wick took most of his philosophies from, as it practices continuous strikes until incapacitation, pre-emptive and counterattacks, attacking as quickly as possible, targeting weak points, using any object at hand for attacks, repeatable movements and maintaining an awareness of surroundings.
Stealth
John Wick is a master of stealth and the silent takedown. He entered the bathroom at the Red Circle Club completely unnoticed aside from the creaking door and then immediately killed someone in seconds. The dark suit certainly helps to keep him hidden.
Tactical Prowess
Being a master assassin for so long, John is an expert at making the most out of whatever tools are at his disposal. He frequently incorporates items from his surroundings into his martial arts if it’ll help get the job done quicker, even the likes of pencils and books. He has also shown precise knowledge of the body’s vital points, stabbing one of his attackers from the second movie in their aorta and telling them that if they pull it out, they’ll bleed and die. In the third film, he precisely shoots the black market doctor to avoid his vital points without even being told what they were.
Driving Skills (& Others)
While everyone knows that John Wick was pissed about his dog being killed, the other thing that got him riled up was his stolen car. John has shown to be exceptionally good at driving, being involved in several chases and even using it for combat against grounded fighters. He can drive in reverse, drift and shoot while driving. He has also fought people on a motorcycle and on a horse.
Feats
Power
John leaps across an alleyway to the building next door and busts the window with a pillow cushion
Takes down the group at once, even slamming one guy's head in a car door
Kills Ernest by beating him with a book and snapping his neck against it
Speed
Survivability/Endurance
Of course John does have actual durability feats which will be included, but I think it’s much more impressive to say “here’s what he walked away from” than “here’s what didn’t scratch him” in this scenario, since almost everything does scratch him. A lot. He isn’t durable enough that bullets and knives don’t pierce his skill, but he still keeps fighting despite those injuries.
Movie 1:
Gets beaten to hell by Iosef and his gang (15:00)
Takes a beating from a guard, gets a bottle smashed against his head and thrown over a balcony, but still keeps going (53:10)
John VS the femme fatale, even while gravely injured, and they really wreck the hotel room (57:30)
Gets hit by a car and is knocked out (1:05:55)
Suffocated with a plastic bag (1:10:45)
Survives a car slamming into his own, jumps out of it before it goes over the edge (1:28:20)
Lets himself get stab with the switchblade so he can break Viggo’s arm, steal the knife and stab him with it (1:30:40)
Movie 2:
John’s car gets rammed repeatedly (four times). He’s doing well though. (8:20)
Fights off more goons even after getting into multiple car crashes and getting knocked out of his vehicle (10:25)
John gets blasted out of his home as it’s set up in flames (24:30)
Gets hit by a car again (1:02:10)
A montage of John getting beat up at every corner. Gets shot in the back, smashed through glass, shot in the stomach. (1:15)
Smashes through a mirror to attack a goon (!:40:50)
Movie 3:
Performs minor surgery on himself once the Doctor isn’t able to anymore (12:00)
Gets head smashed against glass and keeps fighting (17:20)
Gets hit by two cars in a row and just runs away from them (20:35)
Gets branded (31:00)
Spends days walking through the desert on only the absolute slightest bit of water, all while wearing his black suit. Eventually passes out. (1:05:30)
Cuts off his wedding ring finger, gives up his wedding ring, and gets his finger wound cauterized (1:13:00)
Jumps off a speeding motorcycle and is fine (1:19:50)
Gets smashed through so many glass cases (1:42:15)
Gets shot by Winston and falls several stories off the Continental Hotel, but he lives with nothing broken (1:58:00)
It’s worth noting that the events of the three John Wick movies so far are all happening back to back. The second movie takes place just a few days after the ending to the first, and the third starts literally minutes after that. So John Wick has been taking all of these beatings in order with very, very little time to rest in the middle. Likely the only thing keeping him going is the sheer adrenaline he feels from being in life-threatening situations over and over and over again.
Skill
“He wasn’t exactly the Bogeyman. He was the one you sent to kill the fucking Bogeyman. John is a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will. I once saw him kill three men in a bar with a pencil. A fucking pencil.” - Viggo
Expert in hand to hand combat, punches, kicks, throws, grapples and blocks
John is really good at killing people quietly. Dude doesn’t notice it in the mirror
Carries a double-handle gun, shoots and kills a bunch of people in the church in seconds
Fights his way through pretty much the entirety of New York's biggest assassins, and kills dudes with a pencil! A fucking pencil!
Just the complete insanity of the knife fight scene. Throws a knife at a guy and hits him in the shoulder. Twice. They keep breaking glass to grab and throw more knives at each other. Uses one guy as a shield from more of the throwing knives. Stabs one guy in the head and pushes it down more to break his skull. Stabs one guy in the eye. Kills the last guy by throwing an axe into his head.
Can fight while driving a car, on a motorcycle, and on a horse
Knowledge of the body and weak points, targets those. Breaking bones is a favorite of his. He even cuts Zero’s muscle so he can’t use his arm anymore.
Habit of stealing his opponents’ weapons when he’s defeated them
Expert at taking on multiple foes at once and winning
A $15,000,000 international bounty on his head doesn’t matter to this guy. "Tell them, tell them all. Whoever comes, whoever it is, I'll kill them. I'll kill them all."
According to the director of the series, John has killed over 300 people (in the movies alone). Most likely a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s certainly plausible.
Defeated Ms. Perkins, Iosef, Viggo, Cassian, Ernest, Zero, and many many many more
Weaknesses
While John Wick may be incredible in many regards and no doubt tougher than the average human, he is still just that at the end of the day - human, and can still be taken out by a well-aimed bullet or knife in the head. Heck, he would have died in the desert had the Elder not rescued him. Speaking of which, John also doesn’t have much of a problem with taking life-threatening risks if it gives him a better chance at taking out his target, such as when he let Viggo stab him so he could in-turn break Viggo’s arm, steal the knife and stab him back.
John’s anger and drive for revenge are also as much a weakness as they are a strength. While that drive is what keeps John fighting even through extreme pain and harsh conditions, he doesn’t exactly know when to stop either, which can lead him into worse scenarios. The most obvious and infamous example of this is when rather than wait for Santino to leave the Continental, give up on killing him or find some other way of getting revenge, John just immediately shot him on company grounds, breaking the rules of the hotel and landing a solid $15,000,000 USD bounty on his head, and you can be sure people were eager to come after him for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment