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Commander John Robert Crichton, Jr.
crichton 1
A stranger in a strange part of the universe.
First appearance Premiere
Last appearance Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
Details
Gender Male
Species Human
Affiliation IASA, Moya's crew
Romantic Associations Married to Aeryn Sun. Gilina Renaez, Jenavian Charto, Alexandra O'Conner, Caroline Wallace
Vehicle of Choice Farscape-1 Module, Moya
Weapon of Choice Peacekeeper Pulse Pistol which he affectionately named "Winona" (after Winona Ryder)
Portrayed by Ben Browder(present-day Crichton); Jamie Croft (teenage John Crichton); Robert Supple (young Crichton)
"John Crichton. Commander John Crichton. Generations will know that name..."
-Scorpius to John Crichton

John Robert Crichton, Jr. (played by Ben Browder) is an IASA astronaut who is catapulted through a wormhole across the galaxy, thus setting the scene for the show as a whole. As the only regularly appearing human on the show he is the main focus and (arguably) the main character as he narrates the weekly credits and, thanks to a third season plot device (in which he was duplicated and the two Crichtons spent time on two different ships), he is the only character to appear in every episode.

Overview

At the start of the series John Crichton is an astronaut and theoretical scientist in his 30s. As the first episode opens he is setting out to on the space shuttle test a theory with his childhood friend, DK, while his proud father (Jack Crichton), who was also an astronaut in his younger days, watches. However, due to a scientific phenomenon he had not anticipated, the experiment results in Crichton traveling through a wormhole to a distant part of the galaxy, and by the end of the first episode he finds himself on the run aboard Moya with a collection of aliens who eventually become his allies and friends.[1]

Character History

Pre-Show

Young John

Young John Crichton.

Teen Crichton

Teenage Crichton.

John Crichton was born in 1969 in Memphis, Tennessee[2] to Jack and Leslie Crichton and has a younger sister, Olivia, and an older sister, Susan. He has a childhood friend named Douglas "D.K." Knox, who he helped cheat on his SATs. Jack was an astronaut and as such spent a lot of time away from home, something the young John Crichton grew to resent. However, he still has some very happy memories of his childhood with his father, including his tenth birthday: his father missed it, but woke John up at four in the morning the following day to go fishing. He had a girlfriend named Kim during his teenage years, and he attended a high school called JFK. He lost his virginity to, he thought, Karen Shaw, but it turns out it was really his Moya companion Chiana, who traveled back in time and tricked him. His mother died four years before his Farscape-1 accident and it is implied in one episode that he has always regretted not being there for her when she died.

Eventually, John Crichton went off to university (possibly MIT) and found himself following in his father's footsteps as he studied cosmology and astrophysics, achieving a Ph.D. and, with his friend DK, formulating his own theory about gravity-assisted propulsion. Around this time he considered proposing to Alex, his long-time girlfriend, but just before his planned proposal she told him she was taking a fellowship to attend medical school at Stanford in California, while he was planning to become an astronaut in Florida, so he decided against proposing and they broke up. He joined the IASA, flying two missions aboard the space shuttle as Science Officer and achieving the rank of Commander. He was given the go-ahead to be the pilot on a flight to test out his propulsion theory. He had a casual relationship with a woman named Caroline for the two years prior to his Farscape accident.

Season One

In the first episode of Season One, John finally has the chance to test his and DK's theory. However, during the test flight, a wormhole appears and John and his module (named Farscape One) are pulled through it to parts unknown. On his sudden exit from the wormhole, in the middle of a spaceship dogfight, Tauvo Crais - the brother of Peacekeeper Captain Bialar Crais - clips Farscape One's wing with his spacecraft, causing Tauvo to lose control and fatally collide with an asteroid. Crichton then finds his craft being pulled aboard a large spaceship, where he meets his first aliens. Confusion is his initial reaction and even after the aliens inject him with translator microbes, allowing him to understand what they are saying, he is still bewildered. He eventually learns that he is aboard a bio-mechanoid prisoner transport vessel named Moya, a Leviathan, which has been taken over by its three prisoners (Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel); they brought him aboard because they assumed his sudden appearance was deliberate and they might be able to utilise such technology to facilitate their own escape. Despite Crichton being unable to help them, they do manage to escape.

It is at this point that Bialar Crais learns of his brother's death and Crais blames Crichton for murdering his brother by charging him in his "white death pod" and swears vengeance. Crais' determination to capture the escaped prisoners takes on a more personal twist as he becomes the main antagonist for much of Season One, determined to kill Crichton with his bare hands.

John has to adapt rather quickly to a life of aliens, guns, space travel, and a lack of chocolate and TV. The last item may be the toughest privation for Crichton, as he's very fond of pop culture, making numerous references to 20th century products, movies, commercials, TV shows, and the like, all of which are hopelessly lost on his friends and crewmates aboard Moya, though John does sometimes try to explain some aspects of Earth culture to them.

Towards the end of Season One, Crichton encounters a mysterious alien race known only as The Ancients. It is this encounter that first gives us a window into Crichton's life back on Earth, as The Ancients try to fool Crichton into thinking he has returned to his home planet with his new alien friends in tow. Crichton eventually sees through the simulation but this encounter proves to be one of the most important of the entire show. In the following episode, Crichton displays his exceptional, perhaps eidetic, memory, easily confirming a set of lengthy and complex commands that Aeryn remembers due to the brief time she had Pilot's DNA merged with her own. A few episodes later Crichton finds himself captured by a Sebacean-Scarran hybrid Peacekeeper by the name of Scorpius. Scorpius puts Crichton in an Aurora Chair, a torture device that painfully forces victims' memories from their minds and onto a projection screen. During this torture both Crichton and Scorpius are surprised to discover that The Ancients left Crichton with some subconscious wormhole knowledge that they intended as a guide to help Crichton get home. But Scorpius has an obsession with wormholes and after Crichton escapes, with a little help from his friends, Scorpius takes over from Bialar Crais as the main antagonist of the show, hunting Crichton across the galaxy.

Season Two

Early in Season Two Crichton starts hallucinating visions of, and eventually entire conversations with, Scorpius. He learns that while he was prisoner in the Aurora Chair, Scorpius injected a neural chip into his head. This chip contained "Harvey", a neural clone of Scorpius himself which has been slowly influencing Crichton and searching through his memories in an effort to get at the hidden wormhole knowledge. This plot device allows an interesting connection between hero and villain to form while only rarely having the two actually meet. Possibly as a result of the neural chip or his continued absence from Earth and being chased through the galaxy, but more likely as a result of a combination of both, Crichton's behaviour during Season Two grows more erratic and unpredictable and he finds himself taking to the life he has aboard Moya more and more. It must be said that a lot of his acceptance of his position is due to his feelings for Aeryn Sun (see below). Towards the end of Season Two, the control of the neural clone starts getting stronger and stronger and at times can even fully take over Crichton's mind and body, with the neural clone eventually killing Aeryn in a dogfight while trying to fulfill the imperative of returning Crichton to Scorpius. An attempt to find a surgeon to remove the chip ends in disaster, for while the surgeon is eventually successful, the mission results in Crichton being left with aphasia on the operating table as Scorpius arrives to steal the neural chip and attacks the surgeon, possibly killing him.

Season Three

Season three opens as Season Two ended, with Crichton still on the operating table. It quickly emerges that although the neural chip has successfully been removed, a neural clone still remains in Crichton's head. The surgeon, who had only been momentarily stunned, restores him to normal speech but his hopes of having the clone removed are unsuccessful, and he wants to die because Aeryn is dead. Zhaan uses all of her psychic energy to revive Aeryn and announces that now she is dying. She gives her life soon after to restore Moya after colliding with a Pathfinder ship inside a wormhole. A few episodes later, Crichton is "twinned" by another alien. This "twinning" is explained as the splitting of Crichton into two identical beings; neither of the Crichtons can be called a copy and neither is the original; they are both equally John Crichton. This proves to be an unhappy development for John Crichton (both of them) and he often argues with himself and each Crichton resents the other, who each sees as a clone trying to move in on his life.

Twinned John

John after the twinning.

Eventually the crew of Moya is split across the two Leviathans Moya and Talyn, and are separated from each other. Each ship has one Crichton. This means that Crichton will be in every episode while all other actors appear in every other episode for the length of time this plot device is employed. Aeryn begins a romantic relationship with the Crichton on Talyn. The adventures of one of the crews proves to be far more dramatic than the other and the Crichton on Talyn ends up dying while successfully fighting to prevent wormhole knowledge from falling into the hands of the Scarrans.

When the survivors of the two crews are reunited, Aeryn is very cold to the remaining Crichton, unable to process her grief at his death with the fact that he's still alive and therefore could die again. Then the surviving Crichton, at the urging of the dead Crichton via a deathbed message recorded by Stark, formulates a dangerous and risky plan to stop Scorpius from utilising the wormhole knowledge he obtained from the neural chip, completing the job begun by the dead Crichton.

The conclusion of Season Three shows Crichton leading his crewmates into a dangerous, seemingly suicidal situation to stop Scorpius. As Season Three ends the crew of Moya starts going their separate ways, and Aeryn Sun breaks Crichton's heart as she leaves for good. Just after she leaves, he learns she is pregnant and he begins to pursue her but Moya is swallowed by a wormhole, and Crichton, outside Moya on his module, is abandoned with little fuel and no supplies.

Season Four

Season Four opens with Crichton having been saved by boarding a dying Leviathan (he's at the ancient Leviathan graveyard), with nothing to do to occupy his time but work on his wormhole theories. Slowly he finds himself reuniting with the crew members of Moya and they return to Moya, reuniting with Aeryn Sun, who is dying of heat delirium. However, her life is saved by Scorpius who in return requests asylum and safe passage onboard Moya as he has fallen out of favour with Peacekeeper high command. Scorpius also injects Crichton with something that he says will remove Harvey from his brain, which appears to be effective. The role of the head Peacekeeper chasing Moya and her crew is assumed by yet another higher-ranking officer, Commandant Grayza. He also picks up another traveling companion, Sikozu, who quickly becomes close to Scorpius.

Halfway through the season, Crichton finds his way back to Earth - for real this time. He finds his loyalties torn but as Commandant Grayza sends an assassin to Earth the resulting chaos and carnage shows Crichton that he has unfinished business back on Moya. Earth has already been severely changed by his return and its exposure to his alien friends, but he voluntarily gives up the life he has dreamed of back on Earth and returns to Moya and his life of being chased. This sacrifice follows on from the sacrifice of the other Crichton in Season Three, giving up his life and his happiness in exchange for what he sees as his duty.

A few episodes later Aeryn Sun is captured by the Scarrans and we learn the one thing that Crichton values more than his duty - Aeryn herself. He goes to Scorpius and makes a deal to give Scorpius everything he wants about wormholes in exchange for Scorpius' help freeing Aeryn. Scorpius agrees and the unlikeliest of alliances is forged. Together Crichton, Scorpius and the rest of Moya's crew rescue Aeryn Sun. However, in the process Scorpius is himself captured, and Crichton abandons him to his fate. However, Harvey is now resurrected--Scorpius lied when he said he was getting rid of Harvey. Instead, he made Harvey dormant, and loyal to Scorpius, with the provision that if John betrayed Scorpius, Harvey would reemerge from dormancy. Harvey tells Crichton that everything Crichton knows has been transmitted to Scorpius, and Scorpius will now tell the Scarrans. Crichton realises that he must now risk everything once again to save his mortal enemy to prevent the Scarrans from learning about wormhole technology. Once again, Crichton sacrifices his and his friends' safety in the cause of his principles. He arguably had had no intention of fulfilling his promise to give Scorpius wormhole technology. In any event, when Scorpius is rescued, Crichton makes a deal with him to forgive the wormhole technology promise if he destroys a plant (bird-of-paradise) that is particularly important to the Scarrans. Plant destroyed, the Moyans flee the Scarrans, and send Scorpius (and Sikozu) to join the Peacekeepers. However, the Scarrans are now bent on traveling through a wormhole to conquer earth and gain control of the bird-of-paradise flowers that they need. Crichton then destroys the wormhole connecting earth to his part of the galaxy, eliminating his own route back to earth.

Finally, with all the danger seemingly passed, Crichton and Aeryn find time alone together. Aeryn tells him he is the father of her child, and Crichton proposes to her. Immediately after she accepts, she and Crichton are apparently killed by an alien craft. And the season (and series) ends.

The Peacekeeper Wars: The Mini-series

As the mini-series opens, we learn that Crichton and Aeryn have in fact been crystallised and are quickly reconstituted. They learn that they are on a planet of Eidelons, an ancient race with the power to influence peace. As galactic war breaks out between the Sebaceans and the Scarrans, Crichton once again risks everything for what he believes in as he does all he can to get the Eidelons into a position to use their powers to end the war. But ultimately he is forced to do what Scorpius has always wanted him to do and he uses a wormhole weapon to enforce the peace. He activates a high-gravity wormhole that tears apart the Eidelon's planet, above which both the Scarrans and Sebaceans are fighting each other. He tells the commanders of both fleets that he is more than prepared to let the wormhole weapon swallow up Moya, its crew and his and Aeryn's new child, all in the name of forcing a peace treaty. Ultimately the commanders of the fleets agree, Crichton deactivates the wormhole weapon and peace is restored. While deactivating the weapon, an ancient John named Einstein, appears to him and removes the wormhole knowledge from his mind, putting John into a coma for some unknown period of time. John comes out of the coma to the sound of his crying child, and to a signed peace treaty. He and Aeryn decide to name their child D'Argo Sun-Crichton.

Post-War

After the completion of the war, Crichton began searching for a more permanent place in the Uncharted Territories where he and his young family could settle down and live. During this time, he accompanies his longtime ship mate Rygel back to Hyneria in the former Dominar's attempt to unseat his cousin Bishan from power.

Personality

As is demonstrated many times throughout the series, John Crichton is a man of principle and conviction and is prepared to risk and sacrifice himself and his friends (provided they are willing to help) for what he believes in. When one of the "twinned" Crichtons dies during Season Three, the other risks everything by taking his friends onto Scorpius' command carrier at the end of season three, during season four he voluntarily gives up the happiness of a life on Earth that he has longed for since the first episode of season one and at the end of season four he once again risks himself and his friends, this time to stop the Scarrans from getting wormhole technology. But also during season four we learn that there is one thing more important to him than his principles and his beliefs, and that is Aeryn Sun. His love for her proves to be his ultimate driving force. Even during Season One it is possible to see the start of these feelings; he takes more risks for her than for any other crewmember.

He is a naturally upbeat man, constantly making jokes and looking on the bright side. It seems that his pop culture laden references are a way of putting his unfamiliar surroundings into perspective, giving something he doesn't recognize a comprehensible label. We learn in early episodes that his hope for the future is the main thing that gets him through the day. Later this hope takes second place to his love for Aeryn and this central relationship becomes a driving force in the show.

He also is a very intelligent man and despite the advanced technology of his new surroundings he often proves to know and understand more theoretical physics than most of his companions (even if it did take him, as he complains in one episode, ten minutes to figure out how to open a door on board Moya). In many ways, his ignorance of how things work in his new life actually gives him an advantage, as it means that he is able to make suggestions about how to resolve a situation in different ways than his friends might come up with; an early example of this is when the crew was attempting to remove a beacon that had been planted on Moya, and Crichton suggested that they land her to do the work, something that no one else considered as Leviathans are typically thought of only as space-dwelling life forms.

Crichton habitually gives people and things nicknames, some affectionate, some derisive. He often refers to Chiana as "Pip", Zhaan as "Blue", Rygel as "Sparky", "Spanky", "Fluffy", "Buckwheat", or "Guido," Scorpius as "Grasshopper", "Leatherface", "Nosferatu" or "Bob", Sikozu as "Sputnik", the neural clone as "Harvey" (a reference to Harvey The Rabbit), D'Argo as "D", Jool as "Princess", Noranti as "Grandma", and his own personal pulse pistol as "Winona" (named after Winona Ryder, who had just starred in Alien Resurrection). He also taught a DRD the 1812 Overture and painted it red, white, and blue with the number 1812 in black.

Johncrichton2

Family

John Robert "Jack" Crichton, Sr

John's father and the inspiration for his life in IASA. Jack worked with his son in IASA and was part of the team helping coordinate the Farscape project. As a result, Jack witnessed his son's module disappear into the wormhole on its initial test. Father and son would be reunited nearly four years later when John returned to Earth.

Leslie Crichton

John's mother and Jack's wife, she died of cancer four years before John's test of the Farscape module.

Olivia Crichton

John's younger sister, he is reunited with her when he returns to Earth.

Susan Coleman

John's older sister.

Frank Coleman

Susan's husband and John's brother-in-law

Bobby Coleman

Frank's and Susan's son and John's nephew. He spends quite a bit of time around John and his crew mates from Moya on their visit to Earth and records quite a bit of footage of them with his video camera.

Unborn daughter

A child that he fathered with Princess Katralla of the Breakaway Colonies. As a result, she is a human/Sebacean hybrid and the first one conceived. She will not be born, however, for over 80 cycles after her conception due to her mother's current state in stasis as a statue.

D'Argo Sun-Crichton

John's son with Aeryn Sun. D'Argo was named after their fallen comrade Ka D'Argo and was born during the final battle of the Peacekeeper/Scarran War. He is the first human/Sebacean hybrid known to be born.

Romances

Julie

John's very first girlfriend, nicknamed Jules, loved mirror mazes.

Kim Kupperstein

John's girlfriend in 1985 when John was 16. An adult Crichton encountered the teenaged Kim again, when he traveled back in time following his encounter with the Ancient dubbed "Einstein".

Karen Shaw

Karen was really a time traveling Chiana whom young John encountered on Halloween in 1985. It seems that there was also a real Karen Shaw whose identity John mixed up with Chiana's, whose alien appearance he believed to be a costume. John lost his virginity to "Karen".

Alexandra O'Connor

Before joining IASA, John had a serious relationship with Alexandra, a.k.a. "Alex". It grew to the point that John considered asking her to marry him, having gone as far as buying the ring. Their diverging career paths, however, put them on opposite ends of the country and they chose to break it off.

Caroline Wallace

John's girlfriend for about two years before he left Earth, presumably while he was with IASA. When Crichton returned to Earth around four years after his disappearance, Caroline tried to resume the relationship. Crichton, however, had already found someone else.

Gilina Renaez

A Peacekeeper tech whom the crew of Moya discovered aboard the derelict command carrier Zelbinion, Gilina was one of his first romances upon arriving in the Uncharted Territories. Though her return to Crais' command carrier would separate them, they would meet again at Scorpius' gammak base. Gilina realized, however, that John's heart seemed to belong to another. Nevertheless, she eventually chose to go with him aboard Moya and helped John and his friends escape the base. She was shot by Scorpius as they fled and later died aboard Moya, shortly after John admitted that he could have grown to love her.

Lishala

The daughter of the local tribe's chief on the planet Acquara, Lishala grew to like Crichton in his months stranded on the planet. This led to complications with another potential suitor, Rokon, as well as the arrival of Moya to rescue Crichton, all in spite of John's attempt to coexist peacefully and separately. After the crisis on the planet was resolved, Crichton bid Lishala and Rokon farewell.

Princess Katralla

The heiress of the Breakaway Colonies discovered to her joy that Crichton was one of the few if not the only man able to impregnate her. As a result she requested John to marry her, ensuring the royal line continue with Katralla and not pass to her Scarran-collaborating brother. With little choice thanks to Scorpius, Crichton married Katralla and was turned into a statue, planning to stay that way for 80 cycles. Clavor's machinations, however, led to Crichton being turned back. Eventually, Clavor's plot failed, though Crichton requested the freedom to leave. When it was revealed that material had been harvested from John and that Katralla was pregnant with their daughter, Crichton changed his mind. The process to turn him into a statue, however, could not be performed on him again without killing him. Crichton convinced Katralla's lover Tyno to rule and raise his daughter in his stead and left the Royal Planet.

Jenavian Charto

While on the Royal Planet, Crichton also worked closely with Jenavian Charto, an undercover Peacekeeper Disruptor whose mission it was to prevent Clavor from taking the throne. After Jenavian saved Crichton's life no less than two times, the two spent the night together. The next morning, however, Crichton noted that they were "not compatible".

Aeryn Sun

John aeryn

'John Crichton (Ben Browder) and Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black)'

Then there was Aeryn Sun, the former Peacekeeper commando and pilot. For months then cycles they worked and fought together, taking every obstacle the galaxy threw at them beside their friends on Moya, growing closer as time passed. Though they shared their first kiss on a damaged transport pod trapped in the flax and spent their first night together on an Ancient-simulated Earth, it was some time before they would be in a steady relationship, often reluctant to admit their feelings for one another. Their mutual peril at the hands of Scorpius drove them together, only to be pulled apart by Aeryn's then Zhaan's death. Finally, after Crichton was duplicated, one John began an ongoing relationship with her aboard Talyn before he tragically died. Apart again, they kept their distance, first because of Aeryn's reluctance to accept the other John as more than a copy, and later because of the many secrets Aeryn kept from Crichton. Finally, they resolved their issues and after rescuing Aeryn from Scarran captivity and protecting Earth from Scarran attack, Crichton proposed to Aeryn. They were later married during the Peacekeeper/Scarran War, during the birth of their son. Aeryn was in the process of pushing when she stopped and demanded Stark marry them. Their son was, in all liklihood, conceived by the dead John Crichton Aeryn was with on Talyn, but could have been conceived from the surviving John AND dead John when they were the same person during the one time they slept together on the false earth created by the ancients. The remaining John considered the child his own anyway, as he still carried his DNA and was mothered by Aeryn anyway.....

Deaths

Crichton, like most of the crew of Moya, died several times throughout the series.

1. Died when Aeryn injected him with a Peacekeeper "kill shot" in (1.13 "The Flax")<br\> 2. Had brain activity and heart stopped briefly by the neural clone of Scorpius to convince a Scarran interrogator that he was dead in (2.15 "Won't Get Fooled Again")<br\>

IP2

The twinned John on Talyn dies from radiation poisoning.

3. The John on Talyn died from exposure to massive radiation in (3.15 "Infinite Possibilities - Icarus Abides").<br\> 4. The John on Moya was clinically dead for a time after being attacked by D'Argo in (3.16 "Revenging Angel")<br\> 5. Experienced "game death*" while playing a game blob in (4.7 "John Quixote")(non-lethal) <br\> 6. Crystallized* by the Eidelons in (4.22 "Bad Timing")(non-lethal) <br\>

7. Died many times from various future worsenings in Episode 1.05: Back And Back And Back To The Future.

Quotes

  • Does this bother you? Because it bugs the crap out of me! Can we go before we become a permanent attraction in this bog and my eye falls out.....jeez!
  • There's life out here dad. Weird, amazing.....pyschotic life.......and uh......in Technicolor. Hey..Dad, you know those rattlers in the stomach we talked about? Well....I've got them now.
  • I try to save a life a day. Usually it's my own.
  • You can be more.
  • D'Argo, just because some ancient Luxan doesn't like the feel of your spleen does not give her the right to call my friend a fraud!
  • Have we sent the "Don't shoot, we're pathetic" transmission yet?
  • Welcome to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack.
  • I'm sick of this whole turd-burp end of the universe.
  • That's your plan? Wile E. Coyote could come up with a better plan.
  • (opening narration for each episode of seasons 1 and 2) My name is John Crichton, an astronaut. A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole! Now Im lost in some distant part of the universe on a ship, a LIVING ship, full of strange alien life forms! Help me, help me! Listen, please. Is there anybody out there who can hear me? I'm being hunted... by an insane military commander. I'm doing everything I can. I'm just looking for a way home.
  • (opening narration for each episode of season 3) My name is John Crichton ... I'm lost ... An astronaut ... Shot through a wormhole ... In some distant part of the universe ... I'm trying to stay ALIVE ... Aboard this ship ... This living ship ... Of escaped prisoners ... My friends ... If you can hear me ... Beware ... If I make it back ... Will they follow? ... If I open the door ... Are you ready? ... Earth is unprepared ... Helpless ... For the nightmares ... I have seen ... Or should I stay? ... Protect my home ... Not show them ... You exist ... But then you'll never know ... The wonders I have seen.
  • (opening narration for each episode of season 4) My name is John Crichton... an astronaut. Three years ago I got shot through a wormhole. I'm in a distant part of the universe aboard this living ship of escaped prisoners, my friends. I've made enemies. Powerful. Dangerous. Now all I want is to find a way home, to warn Earth. Look upward, and share... the wonders I've seen.
  • Opening narration for The Peacekeeper Wars: ONCE upon a TIME, there was a boy named JOHN... And JOHN... was an ASTRONAUT. He lived in a far away place called Earth which is so far away you've never heard of it. One day, when John was out doing astronaut things a big, blue wormhole gobbled him up and spat him out at the far end of the Universe.
  • You cant handle the tru...... Alright alright. Let's cut the crap. Let's cut to the chase - stick this critter on my face. Damn, in some parts of the galaxy, this guy would be considered GOOD EATIN'! WHOOO! My name is John Crichton. I was not at the refreshment house after-hours, I was not present at any bombing or explosion. I did not have a private meeting with the beautiful Miss Sarova, The End. Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster on my head!
  • I am TOO OLD for this SHIT!
  • Hey, you bastards. John Crichton was here.
  • Furlow I dont have time for this.
  • Crais, I want you to find the fattest target you can; Government House, missile site, McDonald's, whatever.

Involving Others

John: Who the hell are you?
Rinick: Rinic Pralanoth, Sovereign of Kanvia
John: John Crichton, Wizard of Oz
D'Argo: Maybe you should concentrate on Katoya's trainings.
John: Katoya is a frelling fruit loop.
D'Argo: Katoya.
John: Fruit loop.
John: Nope. Child's gotta have a father, Harv.
Harvey: Well I hope it's a boy!
John: Boy, girl, either is fine.

Trivia

  • Many elements of Ben Browder's own life were integrated into Crichton's character.

Alternate Crichtons

Neandro

Crichton Cave

Neandro Crichton

Episode: "My Three Crichtons"

"Neandro" is the behind the scenes nickname given to the caveman-like version of Crichton that appeared after he had been absorbed and ejected from the alien sphere of unknown origin. In spite of his appearance, Neandro was certain that he was Crichton and attempted to wear Crichton's old IASA uniform, a notion Crichton himself found absurd. Chiana, however, saw in Neandro all of the aspects that she loved in Crichton and became close to him. When the sphere demanded one of the three Crichtons be placed into it or Moya would face destruction, Chiana allowed Neandro to escape before the other two Crichtons could choose to sacrifice him. Though Crichton eventually tracked down his similar self, he realized he could not allow himself to force Neandro into the sacrifice and let him go. Crichton confronted his future version, who held John at gunpoint in order to force him to enter the sphere. Neandro ambushed the other Crichton, however, killing him in the process. Though the dead Crichton would be sufficient, Neandro chose to enter the sphere as well, a likely suicidal decision, proving to be the most evolved of them all. About his decision he said, "Want to. Not my place. Don't belong," and that Moya was "[John's] time. [John's] place. My fate, I accept."

Futuro

M3C

Futuro Crichton

Episode: "My Three Crichtons"

"Futuro" is the behind the scenes nickname given to the evolved version of John Crichton that appeared after he had been absorbed and ejected from the alien sphere of unknown origin. "Futuro" had a bald, brain-like wrinkly head and smoother, squarer teeth, and spoke with a heavier southern drawl. Like Neandro, Futuro believed himself to be the "real" John Crichton. True to his appearance, however, Futuro's intellect was superior to that of his "original template". This higher intellect, however, made him arrogant with a looser morality. When it was discovered that the sphere revealed that it needed one of the specimens to enter it or risk Moya's destruction, he suggested sacrificing the Neandro Crichton without hesitation. Chiana, however, helped Neandro escape and, after the original Crichton let him go, he confronted Futuro. Feeling that he was the superior of the three and that with the original Crichton around he would always be an outsider, Futuro tried to force Crichton into the sphere at gunpoint. Before this could happen, he was ambushed and killed by Neandro Crichton

Scorpius/Crichton

Scorpy John

Harvey-controlled Crichton

Episode: "Die Me, Dichotomy", "Infinite Possibilities - Daedalus Demands", "Infinite Possibilities - Icarus Abides"

After the destruction of the Shadow Depository, the neuro-biotracer chip containing the neural clone of Scorpius was operating more than it ever had before. At one point, the chip's consciousness was able to take over Crichton himself. When this happened and Harvey took over Crichton's mind and body, a visual representation of Crichton morphing into a Scorpius-like version of himself could be seen, presumably by him. While Crichton's mannerisms would change to mimic Scorpius', the visual image itself was not physical but only psychological and therefore unseen by Crichton's companions. This image would return months later when "Jack" the Ancient attempted to kill Harvey so that the wormhole knowledge in Crichton's brain to be unlocked. The attempt temporarily allowed Harvey to retake control of Crichton, hoping that Aeryn would kill Crichton before she realized that Harvey was dying. Though he almost succeeded, "Jack" was able to wake and stop Aeryn from carrying out Harvey's final sadistic wish.

John the Neural Clone

Episode: "Incubator"

Thanks to the extensive time Scorpius' neuro-biotracer chip had sat in Crichton's brain, Crichton's psyche had left a duplicate on the chip, a reverse of the process that had left Harvey within the real John's mind even after the removal of the chip. Hoping to gain vital knowledge that would unlock the secrets of the wormhole equations recovered by the chip, Scorpius made contact with this neural clone. In order to win the clone's sympathy, Scorpius showed the image Scorpius' memories of his life and his reason for hating the Scarrans. The clone, however, proved to be much like his original template, eventually refusing to help Scorpius. As Scorpius' cooling rod overheated, the clone dissolved and disappeared.

Animated John

Animated John

John the cartoon

Episode: "Revenging Angel"

Using his subconscious to create an enjoyable world he controlled, Crichton appeared in an animated form within his head after an accident with an enraged D'Argo sent him to the brink of death. This image of Crichton had a series of misadventures with his adversary, a cartoon D'Argo in the style of Chuck Jones animation. Here, Crichton rode on top of his module and mostly got the better of his angry friend. He was, however, eventually shown that he couldn't stay in his animated fantasy forever...

"John Headroom"

John Headroom

John Headroom

Episode: "John Quixote"

"John Headroom" was a game avatar encountered by the real John Crichton and Chiana in a mental video game created from Crichton's memories taken from Stark. The image appeared on a screen in an elevator that moved the players between levels. It also appeared on a T.V. set seen throughout the game. The avatar was a spoof and made fun of many real aspects of John Crichton, such as his naming of a pulse pistol and his career as an astronaut. It would also act as a help and hindrance in Crichton’s journey through the game, displaying a rather dark sense of humor.

The nickname comes from the character Max Headroom, the title character of the television show of the same name.

Unrealized Peacekeeper Crichton

Episode: "Unrealized Reality"

Visiting several unrealized realities shown to him by "Einstein", Crichton experienced one reality where he was a Peacekeeper captain and superior officer to Lt. Braca. In their custody was Scarran spy Sikozu. Believing her to be similar to the Sikozu he knew in his reality, Crichton tried to ease the situation by releasing her bonds and showing her kindness. This was repaid with an attack in which she shot and killed several Peacekeeper guards as well as Lt. Braca. Crichton, however, managed to blow out the window she was standing on, dropping her to the room below and presumably to her death, an occurrence which gave the Peacekeeper captain sadistic pleasure.

Unrealized Scarran Crichton

Scarran John

Human/Scarran hybrid Crichton

Episode: "Unrealized Reality"

Another unrealized reality Crichton found himself in was a Scarran-conquered Earth, in which humanity had been under Scarran subjugation for some time and had even cross-bred with their conquerors. In spite of the long life granted by the Scarran genes, humanity's descendants were slaves, a fact the Scarran hybrid Crichton could not accept.

Interestingly, thanks to the gene splicing, this Crichton resembled his longtime nemesis, Scorpius.

Appearances

Sources

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