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John Connor (Thomas Dekker)

Age: 24 years old (February 28, 1985)
Gender: Male
Occupation: Student
* First appeared on January 13, 2008 in the episode Pilot.
* This character was last seen on April 10, 2009 in the episode Born to Run.

John has grown up considerably since his rebellious pre-teen years. The all-too-real threat of the machines has dulled his anti-social disposition, especially under his mother's supervision. By the time of the "Pilot" episode, John has adapted to a stable life and his relationship with his mother has strengthened, barring adolescent disputes.

When the machines return to kill him, John declares that he has had enough of running and resolves to stand and fight. His resolve is tested many times throughout the first season, such as when he decides to take the fight to the T-888 Carter in "Heavy Metal", despite Sarah's warnings. He remains true to his convictions in "What He Beheld" when they are targeted by Armenian mobster Sarkissian, forcing Sarah and Derek to consider abandoning their home and going back into hiding.

Over the course of three years, John has grown increasingly compassionate towards others. This is shown most predominately in his relationship with his mother, but can also be seen through his relationship with Charley Dixon, Sarah's one-time fiance. When Sarah reveals that they must leave Charley, John is distraught and highly resentful, later commenting that he trusted Charley enough to tell him about his destiny one day, and later comes to the hospital to comfort him about his wife's death. When fellow student Jordon Cowan prepares to jump off of a building, John is the only one who tries to save her and is extremely upset when Cameron prevents him from doing so. He is also fairly traumatized after witnessing the murder of several men at the hands of Carter, despite being subjected to such violence before. Later, when he finds out that twenty members of an FBI team had been murdered by Cromartie, he is deeply saddened and blames himself for the deaths, stating, "He's here for me. Those people are dead because of me."

Unlike Sarah and Derek, John possesses a passion for technology. He is an adept computer hacker, often breaking into encrypted hard drives and the LAPD database. His skill is such that, with the correct equipment, he can hack into a Terminator CPU and read the data it contains. He is also shown to be able to create a virus with the purpose of taking down a sophisticated traffic surveillance system. Though the virus fails its task, it nevertheless causes momentary disruption, showing John's considerable affinity for software. His affection for technology also allows him a unique insight where Cameron is concerned, granting him the clarity to look beyond her mechanical nature.

In addition to his computer skills, John is also shown to be an expert marksman, though he has yet to fire a weapon outside of a gunnery range and, with the possible exception of Sarkissian, has not killed anyone to date. Whilst practising at the Presidio Alto military academy, John teaches a fellow cadet his mnemonic for checking a jammed rifle before taking aim and hitting the bullseye with a perfect shot.

John spends most of the first season looking to others for protection and rarely takes the initiative in their endeavors. This changes in the second season when a series of events leads John to re-think his outlook on life. Watching Sarkissian beat his mother brings out a deep rage in John, resulting in him violently strangling the mobster to death. This, and the trauma of dealing with Cameron, fills John with a need to rebel against his mother and uncle. His first act being the reinsertion of Cameron's chip, despite a lack of assurance that she was safe.

Following the events in "Goodbye to All That", wherein John partakes in the destruction of a T-888 and saves the life of a future ally, John is forced to tearfully embrace his destiny and the sacrifices that others will one day make for him. He confesses to Derek that he sometimes wishes that he could just "wake up from all of this", as if his entire life is just one long nightmare.

In "The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short", John is shown to be suffering from a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress as a result of him killing Sarkissian and the subsequent chaos with Cameron afterward. The psychiatrist, Dr. Sherman, likens his behavior to that of a soldier veteran, as he has a tendency to check his exits whenever he enters a room. It is also strongly implied that John attempted suicide in a weak moment, which only highlights the degree of his mental suffering.

Season 1 (1999 - 2007)

Two years after blowing up Cyberdyne; John is thrust back into the fight against the machines when his destiny returns in the form of Cameron, his cyborg protector. With her help, and the guidance of his mother, John must travel to the year 2007 in order to prevent a chess computer called the Turk from one day becoming Skynet.

Season Two (2007 - 2009)

Following the Jeep explosion, John's world hurtles off the tracks when he is forced to risk his life to save a damaged Cameron from her murderous pursuits, learning a hard lesson in self-reliance. Traumatized by the incident, John cuts himself off from all those around him as he finally accepts the destiny that awaits him.

Post-Judgment Day (2011 - ????)

John Connor helps Mankind to rise out of the ashes of the nuclear war and leads a world-wide Resistance against the machines. Leading the charge to break out of the Century Work Camp with fellow prisoners, young Kyle Reese and military leader Martin Bedell, John would organize the first effective resistance to the machine threat. Temporarily recaptured in The Battle of Kansas Bunker, John and 39 others would be rescued by Kyle, his brother Derek Reese, and a heroic final act by fellow resistance organizer, Martin Bedell. In 2027; while Derek and his squad are MIA after a disastrous patrol, John sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect his mother Sarah in a top secret mission. Later that same year, John captures Cameron, an advanced infiltrator model Terminator, and other units such as The Rogue to support and defend resistance bunkers. After a disbelieving Derek is released from his Skynet imprisonment and encounters both resistance-loyal terminators like Cameron, and defective units such as the rampaging Rogue, John assigns Derek to go back in time (approximately 2006-2007) to set up safehouses and assets for the resistance's other time travel missions to use. After Derek is sent back he then assigns Cameron the task of protecting his younger self by sending her back to the year 1999.

Behind the Scene

John Connor is portrayed by Thomas Dekker throughout the season, but was also played briefly by John DeVito during a flashback scene in "Queen's Gambit".

In the Sarah Connor Chronicles John is listed as 15 years old, in his mother's FBI record, and on the shows website. However his birthday (1985-02-28) as established in The Terminator and Terminator 2 would make him about that age when the show is set (September 1999/2007, with a time jump in between). In the season one finale, he remarks that he should be chronologically twenty-four years old, but that he is currently at sixteen. Curiously, the events in "Automatic for the People" take place on November 15-16 2007, which would place John's birthday on November 14 or 15, 1983, a direct contradiction to his original birth date. Because the original movie took place in 1984 (the year John was originally conceived), the TSCC Connor would have been born a whole year before his own conception.