Ianto Jones
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ianto Jones |
| Occupation: | Torchwood operative |
| Relationships: | Captain Jack Harkness, Lisa Hallett |
| Fandom: | Torchwood |
| Other: |  Ianto Jones by nuriwan (2009) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Ianto Jones is a member of the Torchwood Institute on the TV show Torchwood. He is initially an administrative figure, but later takes a more active role on the team's missions.
Along with Captain Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones is one half of the canonical slash pairing Jack/Ianto. Both Ianto and the pairing are immensely popular among fans.
Canon
Ianto was raised near Cardiff, but ending up working for Torchwood in London. He was present at the Battle of Canary Wharf. At the time, Ianto was in a relationship with fellow employee Lisa Hallett, who was partially cyberized.
After the battle, Ianto brought her to Cardiff to care for her while he begged for a job from Jack Harkness. Initially working as support for Torchwood 3 staff, Ianto's role expanded and he became an active agent. There is some discussion about whether his expanded role was due to his growing fan appeal. It is unknown when his sexual relationship with Jack began, as its complex course remains largely incidental to the show's plots.
Ianto died in Torchwood's third season, "Children of Earth".
Fandom
This article or section needs expansion. |
Fan Reaction to Ianto's Death
Ianto's death in season three shocked fans. There was massive criticism about the way Ianto was characterized in S3 episodes and misleading promotional material, but much of this criticism arose after his canonical death.
Many fans refused to accept that Ianto was truly gone. His death led to Save Ianto Jones, a fan campaign to have him written back into the show.[1] Fans created Ianto's Shrine, a memorial wall on the Cardiff waterfront where Torchwood was filmed; see flambard's images on flickr, blog post on Queerattitude. Both campaigns started immediately after the airing of the season finale, when it became clear to some that the creators had no plans to resurrect Ianto.[2]
A claim that Russell T. Davis said, the backlash was "nine hysterical women typing on the internet", was not received positively by fans.[3]
Many fix-it fics were written, in which Ianto survived season 3. Some writers went further, with Immortal Ianto Jones becoming a common fixture in fics.
Shipping
Ianto is one half of the juggernaut pairing in the Torchwood fandom; Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones.
He has also been shipped with Lisa Hallett, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato.
Challenges
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanvids
Ianto Jones | My Boy | Billie Eilish
Meta
- Coffee, Misery, and the Benefits of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace an Idol Reflections essay by shaggydogstail, written before season 2 aired (2007)
Archives & Fannish Links
- Ianto Jones works on Ao3
Livejournal Communities
- torchwoodcoffee - Ianto Jones community
- ninja teaboy - Ianto Jones community
- garethdlloyd - Gareth David-Lloyd community
- jantolution - Jack/Ianto
- gwenianto - Gwen/Ianto
- rubbish_manners - Jack/Gwen/Ianto
- odetojoi - Jack/Owen/Ianto
- constable_jones - Ianto/Andy
- doctor_janto - Ten/Jack/Ianto
- againsttheodds - Martha/Ianto
- halfwee_and_tea - Ianto/Owen
Resources
- SaveIantoJones.com
- Ianto Jones entry on the Doctor Who Wiki
References
- ^ Thousands join online battle to save Torchwood character Ianto, WalesOnline, Jul 23 2009.
- ^ The History of Ianto's Shrine, a facebook post by @IantosShrine, 29 August 2015.
- ^ Jan. 13th, 2010 LJ post by solitary-summer. Includes, "people are gleefully writing RPF subjecting RTD to homophobia they honestly believe he doesn't know about", and discusses the issues inherent in accusing a gay person of homophobia, when the accuracy of the "hysterical women" quote is (for some) questionable.