John Carter

John Carter
John Carter with Dejah Thoris, by artist Frank Frazetta
Biographical information
Title	Warlord of Mars
Gender	Male
Race	Earthman
Status	Alive

John Carter also known as captain Jack Carter of Virginia, and sometimes even Dotar Sojat. John Carter was the first man from Earth to reach Mars, and became one of the greatest Warlords in the history of Barsoom.

History

A Princess of Mars

Before Barsoom

John Carter's history before his advent on Barsoom is mostly a mystery, even to himself. As far as he knows he has always been a man of about thirty, and remembers no childhood. He has always been a warrior with a strong sense of duty, which may account for the honors bestowed upon him by three republics and the decorations and friendships of an old and powerful emperor and several lesser kings, in whose service his sword has been red many a time. When the American Civil War ended he found himself with only a captain's commission in an army that no longer existed and several hundred thousand dollars (Confederate). In an attempt to regain his fortune he traveled to Arizona to search of gold with the aid another Confederate officer James K. Powell.

Advent upon Mars

While in the Arizona desert, John Carter's companion James K. Powell was abducted and killed by the native Apache peoples. In an effort to save the man John Carter found himself chased into a cave where he was inexplicably paralyzed (possibly by the fumes in the cave), fearing for his life he desperately tried to escape being completely unable to move his body. He broke free, and he inexplicably split from his body, as he left the cave he stared into the heavens seeing the red star that is Mars and feeling its calling he was mysteriously transported from Earth to Mars.

Amongst the Tharks

Soon after arriving upon Mars John Carter discovered his increased strength and agility. Finding nobody within sight he found his way to a small structure which he discovered was an incubator, this incubator held the hatching green Martian eggs. Soon he was captured by the tharks, who were greatly impressed with his abilities. Amongst the tharks he learned the language of the planet, and developed telepathic abilities while gaining their trust. Carter also taught tharks to respect their animals (animal cruelty was rampant before) and made a friend with the pet Woola. During his time with the tharks a fleet of fliers was attacked, the tharks managed to make a prisoner of one of the fleets human passengers. The princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris. It was also during this time that Carter earned the name Dotar Sojat, a combination of the surnames of two Tharkian warrior chieftains he killed in honorable combat.

Escaping the Tharks

After a time with the tharks, John Carter found himself needing to escape with the princess Dejah Thoris, the two joined with the thark Sola escaped the city of thark and found themselves lost. Soon, John carter was apprehended by the horde of warhoon, but not before giving them a fight.

Warhoons and Atmosphere Factory

John Carter was captured by the Warhoons and forced to fight in the savage horde's Great Games. During his time with them, he met the red man Kantos Kan and the two were forced to fight each other. The two men stalled until it was dark, and pretending to kill John Carter, Kantos Kan earned his freedom and Carter escaped.

Fall of Tal Hajus

After escaping from the Atmosphere factory, John Carter met his old friend, Tars Tarkas whilst in the Martian wastes. John Carter and Tars Tarkas ventured back to Thark where they planned to overthrow the evil Tal Hajus. John Carter found himself face to face with the evil Tal Hajus, but decided not to kill him, and let Tars Tarkas kill him instead because he wanted to avenge his beloved Gozava, who Tal Hajus had mercilessly killed. Tars Tarkas and Tal Hajus fought in a duel to the death, and Tars Tarkas killed Tal Hajus and avenged Gozava. After this, Tars Tarkas became the new jeddak of Thark.

Externa Link: Sword of Jhon carter reproduction

Zodanga

John Carter's lover, Dejah Thoris, was forced into marrying Prince Sab Than whom she did not really love. Sab Than was the prince of Zodanga, which had always been enemies with the people of Helium the homeland of Dejah Thoris.

In an attempt to rescue Dejah Thoris, John Carter and Tars Tarkas led an attack against Zodanga with an army of Tharkian warriors. John Carter arrived just in time to prevent the wedding, then he had a duel with Sab Than, whom he did not kill due to Martian customs. Instead, Tars Tarkas killed Sab Than.

Following the victory at Zodanga, John Carter took his lover Dejah Thoris back to her homeland of Helium, where there was a celebration for the defeat of Tal Hajus and Sab Than. At this celebration, Tardos Mors, the grandfather of Dejah Thoris, decided to make an alliance with the Tharkians because of the bravery of Tars Tarkas. Also during this celebration, John Carter and Dejah Thoris got married and John Carter became a prince of Helium in the house of Tardos Mors.

Disaster on Mars

The operators of the atmosphere factory died and their machines were shut down. This caused there to be changes in the Martian atmosphere, it beginning to thin and the inhabitants of Barsoom beginning to die.

John Carter managed to open the doors to the atmosphere factory with the knowledge he had gained on his previous visit to the installation, but John Carter lost his life in exchange. John Carter had died on Mars, but he woke up alive and back on Earth in the Arizona cave where he had been before he was transported to Mars. John Carter, disappointed to be back on Earth, longed to be back on Mars with his lover Dejah Thoris. John Carter became wealthy for serving in the Civil War and bought a house back in his homeland of Virginia, which overlooked the Hudson River. He spent ten years living back on Earth in Virginia, and at night he would gaze at the planet Mars, and imagine Dejah Thoris and a young boy waiting for him there.

When he finally managed to return to Mars, he gave this house to his nephew Edgar and instructed for his own body to be buried in a special tomb that was well ventilated and could only be opened from the inside.

Abilities

• Enhanced Strength: John Carter, while within the lower gravity of Barsoom, is endowed with considerable superhuman strength, superior to that of Red Martians, White Martians, Black Martians, and even slightly surpassing the strength of Green Martians (to the point that John once killed one with a single all-out punch), and Plant Men, while on par with White Apes.
• Enhanced Agility: John Carter, while on Barsoom, is superhumanly agile, being able to jump a distance of 150 feet horizontally, and about 30-40 ft vertically.
• Telepathy: John Carter acquired the psychic abilities of the natives of Barsoom, and could therefore occasionally read their minds.
• Telepathic Immunity: John Carter's mind could not be read by any Martian, much to his advantage.
• Interstellar Astral Travel: John Carter's most impressive ability, however is demonstrated when he crosses space without the need of a vessel, using only sheer force of will to break himself free of his body, leaving it on Earth, while he transports his soul to Baroom, where it acquires another body.
• Combat Skill: John Carter has fought in many wars (including the American Civil War, prior to visiting Barsoom), and is thus an extremely skilled and experienced combatant, even without the powers he gains on Barsoom. Hence, even when he was pitted against opponents of comparable strength in While Apes and Plant Men, John Carter would emerge victorious in these battles.
• Linguist Skills: John Carter was able to extremely quickly learn the language of Barsoom from Sola, in only a few short weeks, and soon spoke it with enough fluency to convincingly disguise himself as a Red Martian.

Relationships

James K. Powell -Best friend (deceased)

Dejah Thoris - Wife

Carthoris - Son

Tara - Daughter

Llana - Granddaughter

Edgar Rice Burroughs - Nephew

Tars Tarkas - Best friend and war ally

Sola - Best friend

Other Versions

Asylum Film

John Carter is a US marine in Afghanistan, that is mortally wounded in war. After he is injured he is informed that he had previously signed an agreement that would allow military experimentation involving telepotation to other planets. He is then transported to the fourth planet in a distant star system called Mars 216, or as it is called by its natives, Barsoom. He is portrayed by Antonio Sabato Jr. who is the first actor to play him on screen.

Disney Film

John Carter was a succesful cavalryman in the civil war. When he returned home he discovered that his wife and daughter had died in a house fire. After burying them, Carter left for Arizona in search of gold in the hills. However, he was arrested by Colonel James K. Powell in an attempt to sway Carter in assisting with the local Apache. Carter escaped his jail with Powell and company chasing close behind. Unfortunately, Carter ran into a group of Apache warriors, and a firefight broke out between the Army men and the Apache, wounding Powell as he and Carter ran away. Forced into a last stand, Carter and Powell took refuge in the mouth of a cave, which the Apache dared not come close to. Investigating the cave, Carter found the gold he was looking for, and accidentally met his first Thern, whom he killed in self defense. The Thern started mumbling unknown words with his dying breath, holding a medallion in his hand. Carter took it away from him, and unknowingly finished the inaction, teleporting him to Barsoom. John Carter is portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in this movie adaption who is the second actor to play John Carter on screen.