John Clark (Tom Clancy character)
Encyclopedia
John Clark is a fictional character
created by Tom Clancy
who appears in many of Clancy's novels. He is an Irish American
Catholic
.
. His father, Timothy Kelly, was a fireman who perished from a heart attack during a fire while saving two children. John lost his mother to cancer when he was a young boy.
His first wife, Patricia, for whom his second daughter would eventually be named, was killed in a car accident
when her car went under a line haul tractor/trailer unit. She was pregnant at the time.
Six months after his wife died, Kelly spent a brief period of time in a relationship with Pamela Madden. Pamela was a former prostitute who had been forced into working for a drug ring, and she worked with Kelly to bring her former captors to justice. Together, they scouted out the area in which Pamela used to work, intending to share the information with a police contact of Kelly's. While there, Pam was spotted by her former captors and a chase ensued. Thinking that he had lost them, Kelly stopped to talk to Pamela. The traffickers, however, caught up to Kelly's vehicle and shot him, capturing Pamela. She was later tortured, murdered and her body dumped in a fountain.
While recovering from his injuries at Johns Hopkins Hospital
, he met his future wife, Sandra "Sandy" O'Toole. They eventually had two daughters, Patricia Doris and Margaret Pamela. The girls' middle names were taken from two girls who Kelly temporarily rescued from the drug ring. Patricia, a doctor, went on to marry Domingo "Ding" Chavez
, who worked with Kelly (at this point having adopted the identity of John Clark) in the CIA, in a black operation in Colombia, and later as an assault team leader at RAINBOW. In Rainbow Six
, Patricia gave birth to a son, John Conor Chavez, making Clark a grandfather.
, where he became a Navy SEAL and participated in several special operations, one of which was the rescue of a naval aviator shot down over North Vietnam. After his first tour of duty, Kelly retires from the service, but is later re-hired by the Central Intelligence Agency
's (CIA) Special Activities Division
(Special Operations Group
) for another mission in Vietnam. At the same time at home, Kelly is carrying out his own war against a drug ring that killed his girlfriend, Pamela Madden; while he succeeds in taking it down, the Baltimore Police Department
(including Emmet Ryan, Jack Ryan's father) eventually identifies him as the man who murdered the drug dealers. In response, Kelly fakes his own death and goes to work for the CIA full-time, under the pseudonym "Mr. Clark". (See Without Remorse
) His middle name appears variously with one and two 'R's, and the name "John Terence Clark" does appear in the novel Clear and Present Danger.
Throughout his career, Clark has been through a number of real-life crisis zones; in addition to the Vietnam War, he has also been through the Iran hostage crisis
and the Gulf War
, plus a number of missions in the Soviet Union
, and claims to have "had Abu Nidal
's head in my gunsights", but never got the green light allowing him to kill the man (Clear and Present Danger
).
He first enters the Jack Ryan universe in Patriot Games
(technically in Without Remorse
Officer Em Ryan with his son Jack); although he does not appear in Patriot Games, it is later revealed that he was the CIA's liaison with a French black ops unit involved in the campaign against the ULA
. He appears briefly in The Cardinal of the Kremlin
, during which he arranges the escape of KGB
Chairman Gerasimov's wife and daughter, after the Chairman decides to defect to the United States. This marks Clark's first published appearance.
In Clear and Present Danger
, he commands a U.S. Army black ops unit carrying out a secret war against the Medellín Cartel
in Colombia. When the government abandons the men for political reasons, Clark and Jack Ryan fly down to Colombia and rescue the survivors; this is the first time he interacts with Ryan.
In The Sum of All Fears
, he is Ryan's personal driver and bodyguard. Later in the novel, he is returned to the field for one operation, electronically bugging the aircraft of the Japanese Prime Minister in Mexico City
. During the operation, the terrorist bombing in Denver occurs, and his mission is changed to intercepting the Palestinian terrorists trying to escape through Mexico, which he does successfully.
In Debt of Honor
, he is again a field officer for the CIA's Directorate of Operations (DO); at the beginning of the novel, he and his partner Domingo Chavez capture an Aidid-like African warlord, Mohammed Abdul Corp, and bring him to justice. Soon thereafter, they are sent to Japan to assess the national mood of the country; Clark is under cover as a Russia
n reporter.
When the situation turns into a war between Japan and America, they establish contacts with the opposition in the Japanese government, and are also used to eliminate a pair of Japanese AWACS planes.
Clark spends the first half of the next book, Executive Orders
, serving as an instructor for CIA field agents in training. Early in the novel, the new President, Jack Ryan
, issues a presidential pardon to John Terence Kelly for his several murders. This clears his name and personal honor, but he will continue his career as John Clark. Towards the end, he and Chavez are returned to the field and ordered to discover who is responsible for the Ebola
attack on the United States, an action they quickly trace to the new United Islamic Republic. With the cooperation of the Russian SVR
, which is working with the Americans, they are infiltrated into Tehran, where they laser-designate
the home of UIR dictator Mahmoud Daryaei so that Air Force stealth aircraft can destroy the house.
The next year, Clark writes a memo to the CIA expressing his concerns over the rise of international terrorism since the demise of the Cold War, and recommends creating a NATO response team that could be rapidly deployed in terrorist situations. This special unit is created soon thereafter, with its base in Hereford
, Britain; it is code-named Rainbow, and Clark is put in command.
In the book Rainbow Six, Rainbow is first put into operation; it responds successfully to three attacks by "red" terrorists in Bern, Vienna, and Spain, respectively. It also succeeds in defending itself from an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(PIRA) against its home base; this is eventually determined to have been ordered by a radical eco-terrorist group, which Rainbow tracks down and destroys in the last pages of the novel.
Clark's next appearance is in The Bear and the Dragon
, where he is still the head of Rainbow. In the novel, Rainbow is temporarily reassigned from its anti-terrorist duties to the Russian-Chinese war being fought in Siberia; in a joint Rainbow-Spetznaz operation, he is involved in the destruction of China's only ICBM base. The operation is mostly successful: all but one of the missiles is destroyed, and the last one, while it is fired, is destroyed by the Navy before it can reach its intended target.
Neither Clark nor Rainbow appears in the next work in the Ryanverse timeline, The Teeth of the Tiger
, but it is revealed that Rainbow is still operating. Prior to Jack Ryan resigning as President, Clark's Navy Cross was upgraded to a Medal of Honor. During the Medal of Honor ceremony Jack Ryan, Jr. was present in the Oval Office.
Clark returns in Dead or Alive
, in which he is part of a Rainbow team that successfully rescues all hostages taken by terrorists at the Swedish embassy in Libya. This proves to be his last act with the CIA, as he is pushed into retirement. He then joins The Campus, an "off-the-books" intelligence agency that Jack Ryan had founded late in his Presidency. Clark is immediately involved with the organization's effort to find and neutralize "The Emir", an international terrorist leader obviously modeled on Osama bin Laden
, while also serving as mentor and trainer to Jack's son Jack Jr., a Campus analyst who wants to do field work.
Outside the novels, John Clark's career continues further in the Rainbow Six video game series. In Rainbow Six: Critical Hour
, John retires and passes the leadership of Team Rainbow on to his son-in-law, Domingo "Ding" Chavez
. In the next video game, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
, although Ding Chavez appears in the game, as Rainbow commander, no mention is made of John Clark.
, Silver Star
with an oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star
with Valor devices with 3 oak leaf clusters, three Purple Heart
s and four Intelligence Star
s. He is also recipient of the Medal of Honor
, awarded and presented to him by Jack Ryan (then President of the U.S.) for the rescue of a downed fighter pilot during his time in Vietnam (see Without Remorse
). He is a simulated Major General
in the Rainbow Six book, though he only reached the rank of Chief Boatswain's Mate
(Chief Petty Officer) during his Naval career.
Clark has a small tattoo of a red seal, sitting up on its hind flippers "grinning impudently," on his forearm. Though no other visual details are given, a comment made by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel "Bear" Malloy in Rainbow Six
indicated that at least some of the Ryanverse SpecOps community had heard of the red seal tattoo and understood that it was associated with the Third Special Operations Group (SOG), which Clark served with during the Vietnam War. Clark stated that everyone in his unit got the tattoo. In the real world, having such a tattoo would violate operations security
(OPSEC).
Parallels can be drawn between John Clark and Jack Ryan, who both exist within the same fictional universe (Ryanverse). Clark is more capable of bending the rules and operating outside the law than Ryan is, so Clancy uses him in grittier roles. Clark also loathes the "desk work" that Ryan typically finds himself "at home" doing. Clancy himself has stated that John Clark is the "dark side" of Jack Ryan.
The relationship is quite similar to that between Spenser and Hawk
in the Robert B. Parker
novels.
in Clear and Present Danger
and Liev Schreiber
in The Sum of All Fears
. Liev Shrieber will play John Clark in the upcoming film based on The Teeth of the Tiger
. He will be the head of the "Campus" in the Ryanverse.
In the 1996 novel Executive Orders
, the character John Clark sarcastically suggests to reporter Robert Holtzman "Get Val Kilmer
to play me in the movies" to which R. Holtzman replies "Too pretty, Nick Cage
has a better stare."
Various directors, screenwriters, and actors have been involved in attempts to film other novels in which John Clark appears, but none of these movies has been produced.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
created by Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
who appears in many of Clancy's novels. He is an Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
Personal life
John Kelly was born in 1944 in Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. His father, Timothy Kelly, was a fireman who perished from a heart attack during a fire while saving two children. John lost his mother to cancer when he was a young boy.
His first wife, Patricia, for whom his second daughter would eventually be named, was killed in a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
when her car went under a line haul tractor/trailer unit. She was pregnant at the time.
Six months after his wife died, Kelly spent a brief period of time in a relationship with Pamela Madden. Pamela was a former prostitute who had been forced into working for a drug ring, and she worked with Kelly to bring her former captors to justice. Together, they scouted out the area in which Pamela used to work, intending to share the information with a police contact of Kelly's. While there, Pam was spotted by her former captors and a chase ensued. Thinking that he had lost them, Kelly stopped to talk to Pamela. The traffickers, however, caught up to Kelly's vehicle and shot him, capturing Pamela. She was later tortured, murdered and her body dumped in a fountain.
While recovering from his injuries at Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
, he met his future wife, Sandra "Sandy" O'Toole. They eventually had two daughters, Patricia Doris and Margaret Pamela. The girls' middle names were taken from two girls who Kelly temporarily rescued from the drug ring. Patricia, a doctor, went on to marry Domingo "Ding" Chavez
Domingo Chavez
Domingo "Ding" Chavez is a fictional character described as a "passionate Latino" by American author Tom Clancy and appearing in many of his novels and video games.-History:...
, who worked with Kelly (at this point having adopted the identity of John Clark) in the CIA, in a black operation in Colombia, and later as an assault team leader at RAINBOW. In Rainbow Six
Rainbow Six (novel)
Rainbow Six is a techno-thriller novel written by Tom Clancy. It focuses on John Clark, Ding Chavez, and a fictional multi-national counterterrorist unit codenamed Rainbow, rather than Jack Ryan and national politics...
, Patricia gave birth to a son, John Conor Chavez, making Clark a grandfather.
Professional life
Clark originally joined the Navy (as John Terrence Kelly) during the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, where he became a Navy SEAL and participated in several special operations, one of which was the rescue of a naval aviator shot down over North Vietnam. After his first tour of duty, Kelly retires from the service, but is later re-hired by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's (CIA) Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
(Special Operations Group
Special Operations Group
Special Operations Group may refer to:* Special Operations Group of Argentina* Special Operations Group of the Australian Victoria Police* Special Operations Group of the Tasmania Police* Special Operations Group of Brazil...
) for another mission in Vietnam. At the same time at home, Kelly is carrying out his own war against a drug ring that killed his girlfriend, Pamela Madden; while he succeeds in taking it down, the Baltimore Police Department
Baltimore Police Department
The Baltimore Police Department provides police services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland and was officially established by the Maryland Legislature on March 16, 1853...
(including Emmet Ryan, Jack Ryan's father) eventually identifies him as the man who murdered the drug dealers. In response, Kelly fakes his own death and goes to work for the CIA full-time, under the pseudonym "Mr. Clark". (See Without Remorse
Without Remorse
Without Remorse is a thriller novel published in 1993 by Tom Clancy and is a part of the Jack Ryan universe series. While not the first novel of the series to be published, it is first in plot chronology. The main setting of the book is set during the Vietnam War, in the American city of Baltimore...
) His middle name appears variously with one and two 'R's, and the name "John Terence Clark" does appear in the novel Clear and Present Danger.
Throughout his career, Clark has been through a number of real-life crisis zones; in addition to the Vietnam War, he has also been through the Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
and the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, plus a number of missions in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and claims to have "had Abu Nidal
Abu Nidal
Abu Nidal , born Sabri Khalil al-Banna , was the founder of Fatah–The Revolutionary Council , a militant Palestinian group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization...
's head in my gunsights", but never got the green light allowing him to kill the man (Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger is a novel by Tom Clancy, written in 1989, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe. In the novel, Jack Ryan is thrown into the position of CIA Acting Deputy Director and discovers that he is being kept in the dark by his colleagues who are conducting a covert war...
).
He first enters the Jack Ryan universe in Patriot Games
Patriot Games
Patriot Games is a novel by Tom Clancy. It is chronologically the first book focusing on CIA analyst Jack Ryan, the main character in almost all of Clancy's novels. It is the indirect sequel to Without Remorse...
(technically in Without Remorse
Without Remorse
Without Remorse is a thriller novel published in 1993 by Tom Clancy and is a part of the Jack Ryan universe series. While not the first novel of the series to be published, it is first in plot chronology. The main setting of the book is set during the Vietnam War, in the American city of Baltimore...
Officer Em Ryan with his son Jack); although he does not appear in Patriot Games, it is later revealed that he was the CIA's liaison with a French black ops unit involved in the campaign against the ULA
ULA
ULA can refer to any of the following:* ULA TV, a Venezuelan regional television channel* Ulster Liberation Army, a fictional terrorist organization* Uncommitted Logic Array, a type of microchip* Underground Literary Alliance, a writer society...
. He appears briefly in The Cardinal of the Kremlin
The Cardinal of the Kremlin
The Cardinal of the Kremlin is a novel by Tom Clancy, featuring his character Jack Ryan. It is a sequel to The Hunt for Red October, based on the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative and its Soviet equivalent, covering themes including intelligence gathering and counterintelligence,...
, during which he arranges the escape of KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
Chairman Gerasimov's wife and daughter, after the Chairman decides to defect to the United States. This marks Clark's first published appearance.
In Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger is a novel by Tom Clancy, written in 1989, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe. In the novel, Jack Ryan is thrown into the position of CIA Acting Deputy Director and discovers that he is being kept in the dark by his colleagues who are conducting a covert war...
, he commands a U.S. Army black ops unit carrying out a secret war against the Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
in Colombia. When the government abandons the men for political reasons, Clark and Jack Ryan fly down to Colombia and rescue the survivors; this is the first time he interacts with Ryan.
In The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears is the best-selling thriller novel by Dan Fogelman and Tom Clancy, and part of the Jack Ryan series. It was the fourth book of the series to be turned into a film. An interesting historical note is that this book was released just days before the Moscow uprising in 1991, which...
, he is Ryan's personal driver and bodyguard. Later in the novel, he is returned to the field for one operation, electronically bugging the aircraft of the Japanese Prime Minister in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. During the operation, the terrorist bombing in Denver occurs, and his mission is changed to intercepting the Palestinian terrorists trying to escape through Mexico, which he does successfully.
In Debt of Honor
Debt of Honor
Debt of Honor is a novel by Tom Clancy. It is a continuation of the series featuring his character Jack Ryan. In this installment, Ryan has become the National Security Advisor when the Japanese government goes to war with the United States...
, he is again a field officer for the CIA's Directorate of Operations (DO); at the beginning of the novel, he and his partner Domingo Chavez capture an Aidid-like African warlord, Mohammed Abdul Corp, and bring him to justice. Soon thereafter, they are sent to Japan to assess the national mood of the country; Clark is under cover as a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n reporter.
When the situation turns into a war between Japan and America, they establish contacts with the opposition in the Japanese government, and are also used to eliminate a pair of Japanese AWACS planes.
Clark spends the first half of the next book, Executive Orders
Executive Orders
Executive Orders is a political and military thriller novel by Tom Clancy. It was published in 1996, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe.-Plot summary:...
, serving as an instructor for CIA field agents in training. Early in the novel, the new President, Jack Ryan
Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy)
John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Sr. is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy who appears in many of his novels.-Backstory:Born in 1950, Ryan's background is established in Patriot Games and Red Rabbit. His father was Emmet William Ryan , a police homicide lieutenant in Baltimore, and World War II...
, issues a presidential pardon to John Terence Kelly for his several murders. This clears his name and personal honor, but he will continue his career as John Clark. Towards the end, he and Chavez are returned to the field and ordered to discover who is responsible for the Ebola
Ebola
Ebola virus disease is the name for the human disease which may be caused by any of the four known ebolaviruses. These four viruses are: Bundibugyo virus , Ebola virus , Sudan virus , and Taï Forest virus...
attack on the United States, an action they quickly trace to the new United Islamic Republic. With the cooperation of the Russian SVR
Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service is Russia's primary external intelligence agency. The SVR is the successor of the First Chief Directorate of the KGB since December 1991...
, which is working with the Americans, they are infiltrated into Tehran, where they laser-designate
Laser guidance
Laser guidance is a technique of guiding a missile or other projectile or vehicle to a target by means of a laser beam. Some laser guided systems utilise beam riding guidance, but most operate more similarly to semi-active radar homing . This technique is sometimes called SALH, for Semi-Active...
the home of UIR dictator Mahmoud Daryaei so that Air Force stealth aircraft can destroy the house.
The next year, Clark writes a memo to the CIA expressing his concerns over the rise of international terrorism since the demise of the Cold War, and recommends creating a NATO response team that could be rapidly deployed in terrorist situations. This special unit is created soon thereafter, with its base in Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
, Britain; it is code-named Rainbow, and Clark is put in command.
In the book Rainbow Six, Rainbow is first put into operation; it responds successfully to three attacks by "red" terrorists in Bern, Vienna, and Spain, respectively. It also succeeds in defending itself from an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(PIRA) against its home base; this is eventually determined to have been ordered by a radical eco-terrorist group, which Rainbow tracks down and destroys in the last pages of the novel.
Clark's next appearance is in The Bear and the Dragon
The Bear and the Dragon
The Bear and the Dragon is a political thriller novel by Tom Clancy featuring Jack Ryan. It was published in 2000.-Plot introduction:In the book Jack Ryan is President of the United States. After Russia discovers oil fields rivaling those of the Persian Gulf in Siberia and gold deposits just as...
, where he is still the head of Rainbow. In the novel, Rainbow is temporarily reassigned from its anti-terrorist duties to the Russian-Chinese war being fought in Siberia; in a joint Rainbow-Spetznaz operation, he is involved in the destruction of China's only ICBM base. The operation is mostly successful: all but one of the missiles is destroyed, and the last one, while it is fired, is destroyed by the Navy before it can reach its intended target.
Neither Clark nor Rainbow appears in the next work in the Ryanverse timeline, The Teeth of the Tiger
The Teeth of the Tiger
The Teeth of the Tiger is a thriller novel by Tom Clancy. Published on August 1, 2003, it is a part of the Jack Ryan universe, and follows the adventures of Jack Ryan, Jr., son of the original Jack Ryan, set in a post-9/11 world.-Plot summary:...
, but it is revealed that Rainbow is still operating. Prior to Jack Ryan resigning as President, Clark's Navy Cross was upgraded to a Medal of Honor. During the Medal of Honor ceremony Jack Ryan, Jr. was present in the Oval Office.
Clark returns in Dead or Alive
Dead or Alive (novel)
Dead or Alive is a political thriller novel by Tom Clancy and co-authored by Grant Blackwood, featuring Jack Ryan. It was published on December 7, 2010....
, in which he is part of a Rainbow team that successfully rescues all hostages taken by terrorists at the Swedish embassy in Libya. This proves to be his last act with the CIA, as he is pushed into retirement. He then joins The Campus, an "off-the-books" intelligence agency that Jack Ryan had founded late in his Presidency. Clark is immediately involved with the organization's effort to find and neutralize "The Emir", an international terrorist leader obviously modeled on Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, while also serving as mentor and trainer to Jack's son Jack Jr., a Campus analyst who wants to do field work.
Outside the novels, John Clark's career continues further in the Rainbow Six video game series. In Rainbow Six: Critical Hour
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour is the fifth game in the Rainbow Six series, and was released between Rainbow Six: Lockdown and Rainbow Six: Vegas...
, John retires and passes the leadership of Team Rainbow on to his son-in-law, Domingo "Ding" Chavez
Domingo Chavez
Domingo "Ding" Chavez is a fictional character described as a "passionate Latino" by American author Tom Clancy and appearing in many of his novels and video games.-History:...
. In the next video game, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the fifth game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. It was released for the Xbox 360 on November 21, 2006 and Windows on December 12, 2006. The PlayStation Portable version was released on June 12, 2007, while the PlayStation 3 version was released on June...
, although Ding Chavez appears in the game, as Rainbow commander, no mention is made of John Clark.
Analysis
John Clark has been awarded the Navy CrossNavy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
, Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
with an oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
with Valor devices with 3 oak leaf clusters, three Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
s and four Intelligence Star
Intelligence Star
The Intelligence Star is an award given by the Central Intelligence Agency for a "voluntary act or acts of courage performed under hazardous conditions or for outstanding achievements or services rendered with distinction under conditions of grave risk." The award citation is from the Director...
s. He is also recipient of the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
, awarded and presented to him by Jack Ryan (then President of the U.S.) for the rescue of a downed fighter pilot during his time in Vietnam (see Without Remorse
Without Remorse
Without Remorse is a thriller novel published in 1993 by Tom Clancy and is a part of the Jack Ryan universe series. While not the first novel of the series to be published, it is first in plot chronology. The main setting of the book is set during the Vietnam War, in the American city of Baltimore...
). He is a simulated Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
in the Rainbow Six book, though he only reached the rank of Chief Boatswain's Mate
Chief Petty Officer
A chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...
(Chief Petty Officer) during his Naval career.
Clark has a small tattoo of a red seal, sitting up on its hind flippers "grinning impudently," on his forearm. Though no other visual details are given, a comment made by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel "Bear" Malloy in Rainbow Six
Rainbow Six
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a media franchise created by American author Tom Clancy about a fictional international counter-terrorist unit called "Rainbow." The franchise began with Clancy's novel Rainbow Six, which was adapted into a successful series of tactical first-person shooter video games.-...
indicated that at least some of the Ryanverse SpecOps community had heard of the red seal tattoo and understood that it was associated with the Third Special Operations Group (SOG), which Clark served with during the Vietnam War. Clark stated that everyone in his unit got the tattoo. In the real world, having such a tattoo would violate operations security
Operations security
Operations security is a process that identifies critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by adversary intelligence systems, determines if information obtained by adversaries could be interpreted to be useful to them, and then executes selected measures that eliminate...
(OPSEC).
Parallels can be drawn between John Clark and Jack Ryan, who both exist within the same fictional universe (Ryanverse). Clark is more capable of bending the rules and operating outside the law than Ryan is, so Clancy uses him in grittier roles. Clark also loathes the "desk work" that Ryan typically finds himself "at home" doing. Clancy himself has stated that John Clark is the "dark side" of Jack Ryan.
The relationship is quite similar to that between Spenser and Hawk
A Man Called Hawk
A Man Called Hawk is a prime time television series that ran on the ABC television network between January 1989 and May 1989. The series was a spin-off of the crime drama series Spenser: For Hire, and features the character Hawk, who first appeared in the 1976 novel Promised Land, the fourth in...
in the Robert B. Parker
Robert B. Parker
Robert Brown Parker was an American crime writer. His most famous works were the novels about the private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the late 1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also...
novels.
In books
The character John Clark appears in the following books:- The Cardinal of the KremlinThe Cardinal of the KremlinThe Cardinal of the Kremlin is a novel by Tom Clancy, featuring his character Jack Ryan. It is a sequel to The Hunt for Red October, based on the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative and its Soviet equivalent, covering themes including intelligence gathering and counterintelligence,...
(1988) - Clear and Present DangerClear and Present DangerClear and Present Danger is a novel by Tom Clancy, written in 1989, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe. In the novel, Jack Ryan is thrown into the position of CIA Acting Deputy Director and discovers that he is being kept in the dark by his colleagues who are conducting a covert war...
(1989) - The Sum of All FearsThe Sum of All FearsThe Sum of All Fears is the best-selling thriller novel by Dan Fogelman and Tom Clancy, and part of the Jack Ryan series. It was the fourth book of the series to be turned into a film. An interesting historical note is that this book was released just days before the Moscow uprising in 1991, which...
(1991) - Without RemorseWithout RemorseWithout Remorse is a thriller novel published in 1993 by Tom Clancy and is a part of the Jack Ryan universe series. While not the first novel of the series to be published, it is first in plot chronology. The main setting of the book is set during the Vietnam War, in the American city of Baltimore...
(1993) - Debt of HonorDebt of HonorDebt of Honor is a novel by Tom Clancy. It is a continuation of the series featuring his character Jack Ryan. In this installment, Ryan has become the National Security Advisor when the Japanese government goes to war with the United States...
(1994) - Executive OrdersExecutive OrdersExecutive Orders is a political and military thriller novel by Tom Clancy. It was published in 1996, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe.-Plot summary:...
(1996) - Rainbow SixRainbow Six (novel)Rainbow Six is a techno-thriller novel written by Tom Clancy. It focuses on John Clark, Ding Chavez, and a fictional multi-national counterterrorist unit codenamed Rainbow, rather than Jack Ryan and national politics...
(1998) - The Bear and the DragonThe Bear and the DragonThe Bear and the Dragon is a political thriller novel by Tom Clancy featuring Jack Ryan. It was published in 2000.-Plot introduction:In the book Jack Ryan is President of the United States. After Russia discovers oil fields rivaling those of the Persian Gulf in Siberia and gold deposits just as...
(2000) - The Teeth of the TigerThe Teeth of the TigerThe Teeth of the Tiger is a thriller novel by Tom Clancy. Published on August 1, 2003, it is a part of the Jack Ryan universe, and follows the adventures of Jack Ryan, Jr., son of the original Jack Ryan, set in a post-9/11 world.-Plot summary:...
(2003) - Dead or AliveDead or Alive (novel)Dead or Alive is a political thriller novel by Tom Clancy and co-authored by Grant Blackwood, featuring Jack Ryan. It was published on December 7, 2010....
(2010)
In movies
On film, John Clark has been portrayed by Willem DafoeWillem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
in Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger (film)
Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is a subsequent release to the 1992 film Patriot Games, which in itself is a subsequent release to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October.It is the last film to feature Harrison...
and Liev Schreiber
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
in The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears (film)
The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 American action film/political thriller directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the novel The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy...
. Liev Shrieber will play John Clark in the upcoming film based on The Teeth of the Tiger
The Teeth of the Tiger
The Teeth of the Tiger is a thriller novel by Tom Clancy. Published on August 1, 2003, it is a part of the Jack Ryan universe, and follows the adventures of Jack Ryan, Jr., son of the original Jack Ryan, set in a post-9/11 world.-Plot summary:...
. He will be the head of the "Campus" in the Ryanverse.
In the 1996 novel Executive Orders
Executive Orders
Executive Orders is a political and military thriller novel by Tom Clancy. It was published in 1996, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe.-Plot summary:...
, the character John Clark sarcastically suggests to reporter Robert Holtzman "Get Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
to play me in the movies" to which R. Holtzman replies "Too pretty, Nick Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
has a better stare."
Various directors, screenwriters, and actors have been involved in attempts to film other novels in which John Clark appears, but none of these movies has been produced.
See also
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow SixTom Clancy's Rainbow SixTom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a tactical shooter computer game and the first in the Rainbow Six series. It was developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment for the PC in 1998. It was later ported to Mac OS, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color. An expansion pack, Tom Clancy's...
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (video game)