Jon Canmore is a former hunter who posed as Jon Carter, a reporter for WVRN. He has since adopted the alias John Castaway.
History[]
Jon and his siblings, Jason and Robyn, were the latest in the bloodline descended from Stuart Canmore, who carried on the tradition started by Scottish assassin Gillecomgain, where one would train as a warrior and adopt the mantle of "The Hunter" to viciously hunt down Gargoyles, namely Demona (or "The Demon", as The Canmore family had come to call her).
On September 28, 1980, under The Hunter's Moon, Jon's father, Charles, managed to locate Demona in Paris and committed himself to killing her. Having trained his whole life to battle her, Charles felt victory was inevitable, and assured Jason, Robyn, and Jon that they had no reason to worry. However, despite his training and extreme confidence, Charles was easily defeated by Demona and thrown off the top of Notre Dame to his death, much to the horror of his children.
Jason and Robyn developed considerable hatred for Gargoyles (especially Demona) as a result of this incident. However, the kind-hearted Jon would secretly come to doubt that Gargoyles were inherently evil as time went on.[1] Instilled with the drive to carry on their family's tradition, the siblings committed themselves to hunting Gargoyles and began to amass resources through violence and destruction as they grew up, each adopting a false identity to help them track down their enemies (Jason as a police officer, Jon as a reporter, and Robyn as an executive assistant).
Eventually, Jason, Jon and Robyn tracked Demona down in Manhattan. Jon took the alias "Jon Carter", working as a reporter for WVRN, to try and get information about The Gargoyles from David Xanatos. When the siblings discovered The Manhattan Clan, they started hunting them as well, and after injuring the clan leader's daughter, the clan retaliated with considerable aggression.
While the siblings battled The Manhattan Clan outside their hideout within a local hydroelectric plant, a skirmish with Goliath caused Jason and Elisa Maza to tumble off the wall and into the water below. Amazingly, Jason survived the experience and managed to save an unconscious Elisa. The near-death experience caused him to have a change of heart and let go of his hatred. As a result, he resolved to stop the fighting between his family and The Gargoyles.
The shock of thinking Jason had perished had changed Robyn's perspective on things, causing her to have doubts about their family's vendetta. However, it had resulted in the opposite effect for Jon, who became consumed with bloodlust and was determined to see every Gargoyle slaughtered. This determination was only worsened upon the discovery that Demona was planning to wipe out all mankind with a deadly carrier virus called "CV-1000".
Jon and Robyn pursued Demona to St. Damian's Cathedral, where they encountered The Manhattan Clan, who had tracked them there. The two groups began to battle, each side determined to kill the other, blaming them for the loss of their respective loved ones. This altercation was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Jon and Elisa, who everyone was shocked to see alive. Jason, acknowledging his own stubbornness, attempted to dissuade his siblings from continuing their battle with the Gargoyles, even going so far as to admit he was wrong, and the Gargoyles were not their enemies.
Meanwhile, Demona was preparing to unleash the apocalyptic pathogen. Having heard a cry of pain from Brooklyn (who had gone to stop her), Goliath tried to rush towards the chamber where Demona was fighting him. Thinking Goliath was trying to attack his brother, Jon attempted to shoot him. But Jason, wanting to protect the Gargoyle, jumped in front of the blast. The force of the shot severed his spine, paralyzing him from the waist down and caused him to lose consciousness.
For a moment Jon seemed to accept blame for this mistake, before turning his anger towards The Gargoyles, mirroring Demona's own words upon discovering the survivors of her clan cursed to remain in stone form in 994 A.D. ("What have I- What have THEY done?!"). Having embraced the idea that The Gargoyles were at fault for this tragic outcome, Jon flew off in a blind rage, proclaiming that The Hunt was not over.[2]
After Demona was stopped and Xanatos rescued The Gargoyles from the gathering angry crowd outside, Jason was rushed to Manhattan General. During a visit from Robyn, the two discovered through a television ad that their brother had taken the name "John Castaway" and founded The Quarrymen with help from The Illuminati[1].
Castaway's first battle against The Gargoyles as a Quarryman was a chase after Goliath throughout Manhattan that ended with a fight in the ruined police station. Castaway managed to restrain Goliath and Elisa Maza, intending to execute them both. Vinnie Grigori, a reluctant Quarryman recruit, began to have doubts about the righteousness of Castaway's dilemma, and stopped Castaway from killing the two of them. Castaway then fled via a Quarryman helicopter.[3]
During the next Halloween, Castaway was visited by fellow Illuminatus Martin Hacker, who assured him that The Illuminati shared his desire to destroy The Gargoyles.[4]
Future[]
Castaway will continue to pose a threat to The Gargoyles in the future. By 2198, Castaway's descendants will presumably still be Anti-Gargoyle and connected to The Quarrymen, and also on poor terms with The Monmouths, descended from Dingo and Robyn Canmore, as a result.[5][6][7]
The Goliath Chronicles[]
Note: This section is not canon.
In The Goliath Chronicles, John Castaway was arrested after battling The Gargoyles with heavy weaponry that he had bought from a "third world country with a shortage of cash". He somehow got out of jail shortly afterward and trapped The Manhattan Clan inside the supposed new home of "The Castaway Corporation" and blew the building up, only for them to be secretly saved by Xanatos. He then led a group of Quarrymen to destroy the last two remaining members of the clan, who were being moved by train to a holding facility. The Quarrymen had one final battle with the gargoyles trying to rescue Angela and Bronx, while Castaway attempted to destroy the entire train and everyone aboard. The Gargoyles defeated The Quarrymen and Castaway was sent to prison once more.
In The Goliath Chronicles, it is never explicitly revealed that John Castaway is Jon Canmore, and the reasons for Castaway's hatred for The Gargoyles are left unexplained. He does, however, insist that all Gargoyles are evil in a manner similar to "Hunter's Moon" as well as referring to them as "monstrosities" and "abominations". In the final episode, Goliath berates Castaway for destroying innocent lives for a mere "ancient hatred", implying that he knows who Castaway is.
Appearances[]
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Awakening |
1. Leader of the Pack |
14. Outfoxed |
27. Golem |
40. Bushido |
1. The Journey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SLG comic books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References[]
External link[]Jon Canmore at GargWiki. |