John Lockard
Corporal John Erik Lockard
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Special abilities
Mental characteristics
Personal history
In 1971, when John was 17, he pushed his mother for permission to enlist in the Marines when his older brother, Dex enlisted. She was reluctant, but eventually agreed. He proved himself smart and capable during his time in the military and made several important connections within his unit, including Corvin Archer, a hunter. Most of his military service was spent stateside, though, due to the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. He did spend two months in Vietnam, earning himself several medals and the rank of Corporal in the process.
In 1975, he married his high school girlfriend, Sarah Duval. Their first son, Charlie was born in 1976. Gunnar, their second son was born in 1980. Their daughter, Jenny was born in 1982, after which Sarah urged John to have a vasectomy. In 1983, a house fire destroyed their home and gravely injured both Sarah and John, who insisted on staying behind to try to save her. While John recovered from his injuries, Sarah did not; she died March 17th, 1983. In the wake of her death and the destruction of their home, John took the insurance money, sold his half of the garage to his partner, Mike, and skipped town with the kids, determined to figure out what had happened.
From 1984 onward, John raised his kids on the road. He learned about the supernatural world and dedicated himself to hunting the dangerous things in the dark. Whenever he thought he might have a lead on what destroyed his home, he would leave the kids with friends or family and pursue it on his own. Sometimes, this would happen suddenly and without warning or time for prep, so he would need to leave them on their own, under Charlie’s supervision. He tried to minimize this until Charlie was at least twelve and capable of handling a double-barrelled shotgun.
In 1998, John’s brother Dex approached him about sending Gunnar to college, as his test scores in school had been excellent. John was reluctant, seeing how he still hadn’t solved the mystery of their house fire and wanted the kids to make sure it was solved, in addition to keeping up with the saving people thing. When Gunnar applied and was accepted with full scholarship to UCLA, John agreed. He also offered for Charlie to attend college, but his older son chose to stay. In 2000, Jennifer decided to take correspondence courses to complete a criminal justice BS. She stayed on the road with her brother and father.
In 2000, Ellie Nelson built a compound in South Dakota not far from Sioux Falls with the intention of it being a home base for the Lockard family. Since that point, she and John have lived as a married couple, though his currently legally dead status keeps that from being public knowledge.
In 2005, a solid lead came through on the house fire and John left Charlie and Jennifer on their own with Ellie at the compound. Gunnar was still in LA to complete his master’s degree. When he was out of communication for six months, Charlie called Gunnar and the siblings tracked him down together, resulting in the end of Gunnar’s master’s program. The trio continued to hunt even after they had located John and helped him kill the ifreet that had destroyed their house.
After the completion of his ifreet hunt, John and the kids returned to the compound and live there with Ellie, bringing in new members of family as relationships shift. They hunt as a team with Ellie and Sashi holding the fort from home.
Gender Identity
Sexuality
Education
Employment
Auto mechanic at Gunter Automotive 1975-1977
Partner at Gunter Automotive 1977-1983
Unemployed - Hunter 1983-present
Failures & Embarrassments
Minor regret: Chili cheese fries. They’re just so damn good.
Past failures he would be embarrassed to have people know about: He cannot braid.
Why?: It bothers him mostly because it’s a simple thing. If he can refit a car engine, memorize the exorcisms for five different kinds of possessions, pick a man’s pocket and return his wallet without the cash without him noticing, and master the hand symbols for some of the more complex spell work; why can he not manage to braid his daughter’s hair like she wants?
Morality & Philosophy
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Savvies & Ineptitudes
One paragraph description of how he would describe himself: I’m a father and a hunter. I kill things that would hurt other people. I’m a fucked-up excuse for a father, but I do my best. Do not mess with my kids. Not because I’ll come for you but they will. And I am so proud of them. So proud.
What does the character consider his best personality trait? I’m flexible, mentally. I can figure things out from a few different angles and think outside of the box to find the patterns I need.
What does the character consider his worst personality trait? I yell when I’m mad.
What does the character consider his best physical characteristic? I might be flattering myself, but more than a few girls have gone wobbly about my smile.
What does the character consider his worst physical characteristic? Do you have any idea how hard it is to find clothing to fit a tall but not big frame? The distance from my waist to my shoulders makes average flannel shirts faint in terror.
How does the character think others perceive him?: In general, monsters are afraid of me. With good reason. My kids respect me, love me, don’t always enjoy my company but they’re my kids. Strangers, it depends on if they’re seeing me or something I’m presenting. The ones who see me seem afraid or at least wary.
What would the character most like to change about himself?: I wish I had better control over my temper. I tend to go from zero to sixty in no time and I know that’s frightening and discomforting and it means I hurt people sometimes. Both physically and emotionally. I hit Sarah once, early on. Before the kids were born. I never did it again and I wish I could take that one back. But my temper really gets away from me sometimes. And I hate that.
Likes & Dislikes
Least favorite color: Red and pink
Music: Favors classic rock and more recent modern alternative. Particularly fond of some of the modern metal.
Songs: “Road to Nowhere” Ozzy Osbourne, “Fight the Good Fight” Triumph, “Uncle John” Eric Lindell, “The Gambler” Kenny Rogers,
Food: Tends toward diner/dive food like burgers, fries, and other heart-killing things. Does actually like salad, just doesn’t go out of his way to find it. Once ate 80% of an all-you-can-eat salad bar. His kids almost died of embarrassment.
Literature: Loves Tolkien-esque fantasy. Nothing surpasses the originals, but he is fond of Elizabeth Moon and Robert Jordan’s series as well.
Form of entertainment: likes to read, though does flip channels in motels and will catch a Showtime movie occasionally. Only indulges in the payperview stuff if the kids aren’t there.
Expressions: Son of a bitch.
Mode of transportation: 1995 Ford F150, customized truck bed with hidden weapons stash.
Most prized possession: Four stranded leather bracelet that Jenny made when she was about eight years old; it has charms on it to represent each of them, a padlock for Daddy, a frying pan for Charlie, a book for Gunnar, a dragon for her. Wedding ring. Copy of “Dear John” by E.L. Nelson.
Social
Religious Views
Hobbies & Pets
Relationships
History
Dex essentially raised John after their father left. He became man of the house and both brother and authority figure for John. John practically worshiped him in middle and high school, inspiring his leaving school to follow Dex to Vietnam.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Both love to play billards and often argue about who's better (inconclusive). They also enjoy pulling cons and scams together as well as hunting--both the supernatural hunts and the more mundane kinds.
Legal Status
John is Charlie's legal guardian until he turns 18.
Legal Status
John is Gunnar's legal guardian until he turns 18.
History
John raised Jenny entirely on the road, hunting monsters. Occasionally, he would drop her and the boys at Dex's house if the hunt he was pursuing was particularly dangerous or might take longer than a few days. As she grew up, Jenny followed John's directions easily and naturally, eager to learn everything she could about the hunting life and magic. During her early adulthood, though, Jenny started to question the choices of her life, realizing slowly that John had made all those decisions for her without giving her an opportunity to protest or make a different choice. She resents this a little, though she still loves the life and her father very much. For John, Jenny is a shadow of her mother. He hates that she didn't get a normal childhood or a chance to know her mother, but he loves her and trusts her implicitly.
Legal Status
John is Jenny's legal guardian until she turns 18.
History
Hestia didn’t manifest until after John’s death. While he never spoke with her directly, John sang to her especially when he was working on repairs to magical wards or physical construction issues. He always wondered why it felt like someone was singing harmony with him, but never quite figured it out.
History
Aaron struggles with his feelings toward the man who married his daughter and fathered her children. When John vanished after Sarah's death, he took the kids with him and Aaron hasn't seen them since. He resents John's decision to avoid Sarah's family after her death. John admires Aaron but also is intimidated by him. In the wake of Sarah's death, he wasn't entirely sane and he left without saying a word to the father of his wife. Because he left things in such disarray, John is reluctant to reconnect with Aaron.
History
Edna's father had been the art teacher when John was in school. When she saw the postcard John sent Ellie, Edna recognized the influence of her father's style as well as his touch of Scriptomagic. She has been wary of John ever since, suspicious that he was attracted to her teenaged daughter. John became aware that Edna could see through him shortly after Sarah's death. He dropped all pretenses with Edna and they came to trust each other and consider each other close friends in the years following Ben's death.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
They both enjoy drawing and art appreciation. When time and distance permitted, they visited museums and art installations together.
Wealth & Financial state
Page of Wands
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