Jack Harkness
Character | |
---|---|
Name: | Jack Harkness (alias), Javic Piotr Thane (real name, rarely used)[1] |
Occupation: | Torchwood leader, Time Agent (formerly), Con-man (formerly) |
Relationships: | The Doctor, Captain John Hart, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper, Estelle Cole, Jack Harkness (1941), and many, many others |
Fandom: | Torchwood, Doctor Who |
Other: | time traveler, previous companion of The Doctor played by the actor John Barrowman |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Captain Jack Harkness is the leader of the Torchwood team on the British television show Torchwood, and he is the lead male protagonist of the show. The character was introduced in the first season of the new Doctor Who while he was running cons in London during WWII.
"Jack Harkness" is the identity stolen by our protagonist during WWII; his birth name remains unknown within televised continuity. Our protagonist, Jack Harkness, should not be mistaken for the other Captain Jack Harkness from whom our protagonist took his name. He is often thought to to be somehow related, linked, or is the Face of Boe.
Fandom
Shipping
Captain Jack is canonically omnisexual and flirtatious and has become a panfandom Little Black Dress, meaning that he can be paired with anyone, anywhere. His most popular pairing among fans is his canonical relationship with Ianto Jones (see Jack/Ianto). He was also frequently written as part of a threesome with The Doctor and Rose Tyler (see Doctor/Jack/Rose) in stories written after season one of Doctor Who or paired with only the Doctor (see Doctor/Jack).
Fanon and Fanfic Trends
An offhanded remark in the Torchwood pilot episode about pregnancy[2] has resulted in much speculation about Jack's reproductive history in fanworks. For example, see Get Loved, Make More, Try to Stay Alive by Dira Sudis and the crackvid Papa Don't Preach by Eunice and Greensilver.
Jack's long life & flexible sexuality make him hugely popular in crossovers; given canon time travel and amnesia, there is a minor trope in which any character played by John Barrowman, e.g. Arrow's Malcolm Merlyn, turns out to be Harkness (as a Time Agent, as a Torchwood agent, or later).
Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Challenges
- Twdw ficathon, first round was focused on Jack
Example Fanworks
Fanfic
- Planned Obsolescence by Miggy -- written post-'The Parting of the Ways'
- This Is How The Universe Ends by perryvic & shewhoguards -- popular crossover with Discworld
- The Lives and Deaths of Malcolm Merlyn] by Dieastra -- How could Malcolm Merlyn survive that last fight with Oliver? Because he’s actually the immortal Jack Harkness. Crossover with Arrow and Desperate Housewives
- Old Soldiers by A.J. Hall -- He's five foot four and he's six foot two/He fights with missiles and with spears. Spoilers for "To the Last Man" (Torchwood)
Vids
- Captain Jack Harkness = Captain Scarlet by etmuse (2009) - Jack Harkness vid to the Captain Scarlet theme.
- How Could This Happen To Me?
Meta
- Captain Jack Harkness is not gay; archive link page 1; archive link page 2; archive link page 3 by trobadora, discussing the erasure of bi/pan/omnisexuality in fandom in regards to Jack. (January 2020)
- Jack Harkness: Why We Need More Bisexual Men, a video essay by Dealing With Nihilism
Archives and Links
- Torchwood fanfic tagged Jack Harkness on FanFiction.net
- Doctor Who fanfic tagged Jack Harkness on FanFiction.net
- Fanworks tagged Jack Harkness on AO3
- Fanworks tagged Jack Harkness on DeviantArt
- Flexible fanfiction archive
Livejournal Communities
- galactic_conman - Jack Harkness
- allaboutjack - a Jack Harkness ficathon
- harknessstills - a Jack Harkness icontest
Pairings
- omnijaxual - Jack Harkness / Anything and everyone
- jackxianto - Jack Harkness / Ianto Jones
- jantolution - Jack Harkness / Ianto Jones
- available_very - Jack Harkness / Rose Tyler
- jack_and_gwen - Jack Harkness / Gwen Cooper
- absolutly_brill - Jack Harkness / Gwen Cooper
- jack_owen - Jack Harkness / Owen Harper
- jashiko_tw3 Jack Harkness / Toshiko Sato
- jackmartha - Jack Harkness / Martha Jones
- jackanddonna - Jack Harkness / Donna Noble
- at_the_ritz - Jack Harkness / The other Jack Harkness (1941)
- 3handedjack - Jack Harkness / The Tenth Doctor's severed Hand
- roguetimeagents - Jack Harkness / John Hart
- 2meninatimeloop - Jack Harkness / John Hart
- doctorslashjack - Jack Harkness / The Doctor
Threesomes
- tenmarthajack - Jack Harkness / Tenth Doctor / Martha Jones
- doctor_janto - Jack Harkness / Ianto Jones / Tenth Doctor
- captnsneyec - Jack Harkness / Ianto Jones / John Hart
- tw_i_candy - Jack Harkness / Ianto Jones / John Hart
- rubbish_manners - Jack Harkness / Ianto Jones / Gwen Cooper
- odetojoi - Jack Harkness/ Ianto Jones / Owen Harper
Notes
- ^ https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Month_25_(audio_story)
- ^ "Still, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again."