John Doe

In this world, strength defines a person. And those without strength are crushed.

- John's ideology as Joker

John Doe is the main protagonist of unORDINARY. John currently attends Wellston Private High School as a 3rd year student and the 2nd ranked student, but repeatedly got bullied at first for claiming that he was powerless. After Arlo's betrayal^[2] during his best friend, Seraphina's suspension, he revealed his true power by ripping apart Wellston's hierarchy under the alias of Joker, donning an infamous black mask. After a fallout with his best friend, he is enraged and takes over as the school's tyrannical King alongside Zeke. This lasts until his suspension, where he returns to his hometown of New Bostin with his father. After a month, John returns to Wellston, reunites with Seraphina, and steps down from his royal position, passing it on to Blyke.

Appearance[]

John is a tall and muscular teenager with black hair and burnt gold eyes. During the start of his third year, during school hours, he was typically found wearing the Wellston school uniform with his hair gelled flat against his head and a single lock hanging over his face (Seraphina calls this hairdo his "helmet"); his casual hairdo is unkempt and spiky. This becomes his hairdo later into his third year. During much of Season 2, he has dark shadows around his eyes and an angry shade of red across his face, because of his poor mental state and tiredness. In recent chapters, he has slick hair and his eye bags no longer appear. After his return to Wellston, his hair appears to be a hybrid of his hair-gel 'helmet' and his spiky hair. Based on instances in which he is seen shirtless, he appears to be fairly fit. Outside of the school uniform, he often wears shorts.

In the past, John left his hair spiky, and wore casual clothes, most often a light blue t-shirt, a dark blue jacket, and dark grey shorts. As ʎɐpsǝn┴, John discards his jacket and wears a paper bag over his face. As the masked attacker and the Joker, John wears a black ski-mask and ditches his jacket. As of recently, he has begun to wear a U-Mart hat when going undercover.

His speech bubbles vary between white with black text or black with white text, depending on his state of mind. When activating his ability, his eyes glow a bright gold color.

Personality[]

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John is a conflicted young man with multiple facets to his personality. However, John does have some traits that are always present no matter which alias is presented. John's lifelong goal is to live a normal life free of strife. He does not take the denial of this dream very well, and would always attempt to try and force it to become reality. He sees the hierarchy and the people who enforce it as his greatest adversaries. How he approaches the problems posed by these obstacles depends on which of his personalities is dominant.

Another trait John always displays is a stubborn adherence to his own course of action. He almost never takes advice from anyone other than himself, even from people he trusts and respects. As a result, he often sabotages himself and worsens his own problems. When his actions blow up in his face, he'll feel a deep regret that he can never elude. Because of his bullheaded stubbornness, he firmly refuses to ever accept he is in the wrong, going to great lengths to make his beliefs true, and denying any proof they aren't.

Though John is plagued by the guilt born of his terrible mistakes, he is loathe to reflect on them because of his belief that nothing he does in the future will remedy his past mistakes. John preferred concealing his true power and trying to forget the pain and suffering he caused rather than improving himself as a high-tier. As far as he's concerned, the details of his past at New Bostin were off-limits to everyone who didn't want to become his sworn enemy. John was even willing to cut ties with his best friend when she found out about his history, convinced that she saw him as a monster just as his hometown peers did.

John doesn't advocate second chances, a belief he fostered even before becoming a student of Wellston. This worldview extends even to himself, though he tried his hardest to deny it. He felt that neither he, nor anybody who regularly abused the weak, could ever change of their own volition. To John, all apologies were lies told to weasel out of the consequences. He shuns any attempts to help him find redemption and peace of mind for his many cruel actions, distancing himself from anybody who actually agreed with the altruistic philosophies he briefly advocated. He uses this view of himself on the world, possibly as a form of self-torture, causing him to lose trust in everybody. It took his best friend Seraphina to force him to understand that he could be forgiven after a violent battle, for him to do so.

After John learns to accepts himself with the help of Seraphina, Adrion and William, he becomes much calmer and more civil, akin to how he was as a cripple. He has better control over his anger and is able to joke around and smile like he did before. He is motivated to become a better person, even though he isn't sure if he can be one. His transition from his once tyrannical rule is not without complications; many of his classmates still distrust him for his past actions and many who were willing to give him a chance in the past are more reluctant to do so. Furthermore, John is hesitant to use his ability, as he sees it as an enabler for his violent ways, though he seems to have greater self control.

One of his most common trait is being sassy, so due to this personality trait, he often gets into fights. Despite his fearless personality, he often gets scared and spooked towards ghosts by a movie, Evie's story, and Arlo's sudden appearance. His love of bubble tea is consistent when John holds bubble tea with his New Bostin friends and Seraphina.

White Text[]

This is John's mask as an earnest attempt to turn over a new leaf and live a life free of strife. It didn't pan out the way John had wanted to, but he made the effort to keep up the charade anyway. John's Cripple mask had the greatest understanding of what would happen if he ever lost control of his anger, and viewed his ability as an enabler for these negative emotions. His readjustment program with Keon left him so afraid of his own ability that he refused to activate it to defend himself, avoid confrontation, or even heal injuries he sustained daily. John's father, William, was a major influence on this personality, and he strived to make it through school days by emulating him (and his hairstyle). It was thanks to William's book, Unordinary, that John was able to attempt another shot at life in the first place, and the superheroes that have emerged as a result gave him hope that the world's strongest individuals might actually used their power to benefit mankind. However, he is unwilling to become a superhero himself, both out of shame for being corrupted by his power and seeing nearly everyone as not worth saving anyway; the only exception to this is Seraphina.

Presenting himself as a powerless cripple, not unlike his father, John came off as hopelessly optimistic and naïve, but he was more than willing to risk his neck to stop the rampant bullying in Wellston. Even though the odds were clearly against him more often than not, John would always get back up and think positively, and continue to press forward on with his tasks. He does not care for the social norms of the world and would rather live his own way, outside of the hierarchy. Additionally, this aspect of John has developed a degree of self-loathing. When he was berating Zeke for going after weaker students to make himself feel powerful, he was simultaneously thinking back to his tyrannical actions at New Bostin. Overall, despite his power, John considered himself weak for having been corrupted so easily by his ability.

Posing as a cripple has given him a clearer insight on people he didn't have when he was King of New Bostin, since back then people continued to disrespect him even after his increase in strength. He saw that people at Wellston put on a façade of respect when in front of people stronger than they were, and revealed their true cruel selves when around people they didn't fear. These individuals bought into John's own façade of helplessness, and did with him as they wished. Though John tried his hardest to sell the image of a powerless cripple, his total lack of fear betrayed him to more perceptive individuals, such as Arlo and Isen. He nearly exposed himself when he slapped Remi's helping hand away in a confused fit of anger.

Though his life of being a target by Wellston's most aggressive bullies would be enough to drive anyone mad, he found immense comfort in the friendship he formed with Seraphina. Towards her, he is very light-hearted and joking, almost never giving any hints of his more violent side. He was immensely proud of the fact that she chose to be his friend despite believing him to be a genuine cripple. John strives to keep up appearances as the school cripple even when she wasn't around, out of fear that she would reject him if she found out about his Monster personality. It was only through experiences as traumatic as Keon's readjustment program that caused John to drop the act entirely and cut loose on the ones who provoked him.

Black Text[]

As a young teenager with no signs of developing abilities, John was subjected to bullying by his schoolmates at New Bostin High School. This treatment fostered anger and resentment, and the belief that authority was gained only through strength. Because of the mistreatment he suffered, John desired power and hated and had trouble accepting the reality of being a cripple. After discovering his true power, John became obsessed with cultivating his ability and sought to get as strong as he possibly could, and even pushed aside his friendships for the sake of getting stronger. As King, John often used the other students as an outlet for his feelings of contempt, thinking it was only the natural way of the world.

Despite being clear winner of any fight, John would attack attacking students long after they could no longer fight back. Even after getting punished for his actions, John showed no remorse for his brutality. Thanks to his early life experiences, he felt that nobody should question the actions of the most powerful individual around, yet he found himself the subject of scathing critique and judgement, which worsened his anger and brutality. This monstrous side was soon dominated by traits of arrogance and unfettered rage, which left John devoid of reason and believing that he could never lose, no matter what anyone else said, even shunning and threatening his own father when he could not tell John what he wanted to hear. Following his expulsion and readjustment program, John came to view himself and his actions with disgust. This self-hatred would continue to fester in John and affect him in the future. He has tried to disassociate himself with his natural personality, but thanks to the world he lived in, he could never truly be rid of it. It has emerged when John was alone in the company of those who knew his secret. He would threaten or bark orders to them, and get angry whenever he didn't get the results he wanted. His rage seemed to blind him to the fact that some of the things he demanded from them were beyond their power. He's only managed to calm down when he remembered the suffering he caused back in New Bostin.

• Joker
• Post-Joker/King

In the wake of Seraphina's misery as a result of Zeke's "godslayer" stunt, John's real personality slowly began peak out his "Cripple" persona. John concluded that despite the corruption that he succumbed to when using his ability, he would never achieve any results by holding back. So he began to wreak vengeance on those who sought to disrupt his and Seraphina's peaceful life by using his ability while in disguise, allowing him to keep up his act as an optimistic cripple. Following Seraphina's capture and torture at the hands of mid-tier bullies, John decided that it was the hierarchy itself that was the source of all of life's problems and decided to destroy it. Thus, John's Joker personality was truly born.

As with his actual personality, John does not relent when he fights, and sadistically beats his opponents within an inch of their lives. Any targets who tried to run away would be chased after or trapped. Admitting defeat, apologizing, or pleading for mercy only falls on deaf ears as Joker would indiscriminately beat down all his victims in the same fashion; John knew full well from his time posing as a cripple that his targets surrendered out of fear rather than any genuine sense of remorse. Though brutal in battle, John had a better control of his temper when not on the attack and would not be goaded into fighting ahead of his own schedule.

Despite the similarities, John's Joker and Monster alias are distinguishable from each other by one trait: their attitudes towards hierarchy itself. While John tried to control the hierarchy as King, as Joker he sees it as an evil that must be destroyed, and still views his past tyrannical reign with disgust. John has begun developing other unsavory personality traits as a result of his crusade. He feels immense satisfaction watching major supporters of "might makes right" squirm when he puts them on the receiving end of their own philosophies. John himself sees no wrong in this, as people like them have sought to ruin his life just to feel powerful and important.

Despite his cynicism pushing him to extreme measures, he still values Seraphina's opinion of him over all other things. She has confided to him her admiration of his persistence to make it through life as a cripple. He desperately keeps up appearances with false claims of "being the same" and helping her adjust to her new lifestyle. This last remaining noble trait of his is ironically the major motivator of his mission to decimate those who adhere to the hierarchy even if they've never personally hurt him or his best friend. Despite his noble intentions towards Seraphina, John believes that she must always take his side and accept his lies. He's the only one who considers his extreme measures are ultimately for a good cause. Isen goes as far as to claim that "[John]'s just an angry dude who wants to watch all of us burn."

When John could no longer deny the fact that Seraphina learned of his secret, he dropped all pretenses and once again began openly treating everyone with hostile contempt. While he didn't revert to the state where he took pride in his power and rank, John lost all fear of what his power turned him into. John no longer takes anybody's attempt at abuse lying down, and when attacked, John would openly retaliate with the full extent of his power. In fact, he is even more short-tempered than before now, vowing to sabotage Remi's "Safe House" simply because she insulted him. As he no longer had any reason to care who knew the truth about him, John doesn't bother wearing any disguises.

Ever since he shut Seraphina out, all he could focus on were how people always treated him because they saw him as powerless. Even after Isen let the whole school know he was Joker, John found that people looked at him with disgust regardless of whether they doubted the revelation or feared it might be true. Some even sought proof in the form of a demonstration, hoping they might be amused by his suffering. Thoroughly convinced that everyone else is just as monstrous as he is, John decided that mercy was wasted on them. Thus, he publicly declared himself King of Wellston after savagely beating Zeke in front of the whole school.

Later on it is also revealed that due to his past trauma and his inability to trust others, as Seraphina would later note, he is liable to words that he feels is against him, stating it as being "stuck in his past," leaving him blind to the true intentions of the Safe House. Instead, John sees the Safe House as a ploy for students plotting to overthrow him behind his back and believes Zeke's lies when he said that Remi made the Safe House to be open to all except him. This causes John to once more feel betrayed, thinking everyone is against him.

Ultimately, John's overwhelming hatred is a projection of his self-loathing and his unwillingness to accept that the Wellston Royals he despised have moved on while he stayed stagnant in his violent ways.

Powers & Abilities[]

During his middle school years, John was believed to be a cripple with no ability at level of 1.2; however, John turned out to be a late-bloomer and his ability manifested during his final year of middle school, being a gift from his mother^[3]. While he initially started off as a low-tier,^[4] John's ability level shot up significantly during his high school years and by the time of his expulsion, John was already a god-tier with a level of 7.0.^[5] His current level has been revealed to be 7.5^[6] (later increased to 7.6^[7]), the fourth highest level revealed in the series, next to Headmaster Vaughn, Seraphina, and Jane. Even though he was disabled, he was able to manifest his ability against Zeke and Liam which shows his partial resistance against the disabler. ^[8][9] After receiving his ability at half power from the recovery machine, John retained his ability (albeit at half strength) after the time he was supposed to lose it.^[10] After speaking with Arlo, John managed to crack a wall with seemingly no ability copied.^[11] After taking the cure and having his channels re-opened, Zeke stated that John was able to hit hard without having any ability copied.^[12] Ever since recovering, John has been able to do basic enhancements without an ability to sample which was something his aura couldn't do before.^[13]

Aura Manipulation[]

John is capable of copying abilities that are high above his level, shown when he copies Liam's ability when his level was higher than John's, albeit to a lesser degree, and combining abilities for devastating results. In addition to these skills, John is capable of detecting and sensing intensities of auras given off by abilities and amplifying any of the abilities he copies.

Abilities Copied[]

Physical Abilities[]

Despite initially not using any abilities, John is shown to be capable of holding his own against mid-tiers such as Gavin,^[32] Krolik^[33], and Hower^[34] with his fists and reflexes. He often practices hand-to-hand combat against a punching bag during workouts, and his proficiency in hand-to-hand combat far outclasses many of his peers. Furthermore, John appears to have a high pain tolerance and is capable of fighting back even when he is greatly wounded, as was seen when he withstood Remi and Arlo's combined attack. These physical aspects, combined with his powerful ability, make John more than a match against most, if not all of his peers.

Intelligence[]

In terms of grades, John is only an average student. His sense of judgment and common sense are often clouded by his own anger, fears, and arrogance, making him oblivious to truths that are obvious to others. He's not that bothered by this, seeing as it means he's not the type to devise long-term plots against people, save for Arlo.

However, as shown against his first battle with Gavin, John is shown to be a very witty person and has used these wits to win battles.^[32][35] When he goes all out, he displays a sharp, tactical mind that can overcome the limitations of his ability; he often goad his targets into using their abilities so he could mimic them for personal use. John possesses incredible knowledge over ability fundamentals and aura, so much so that he can copy abilities without much effort^[15]; even when it's his first time copying an ability, John can effortlessly combine abilities and create new techniques from said abilities without a second thought. To conceal his identity John has taken the logical step of never wearing his jacket or vest during his excursions as a masked attacker and wears his jacket when unmasked to differentiate himself from his more violent alter-ego. When it comes to combat, even opponents who understand Aura Manipulation and its limits usually find themselves two steps behind John. Aware that his secrets were slowly being uncovered, John is able to anticipate his opponents' strategies against him and devise counter-strategies to ensure his victory.^[27] Even when he was still learning the fundamentals of his ability, Claire noted that John was naturally gifted with it, and it eventually got to the point where he could innovate new techniques with Aura Manipulation on his own, without the aid of Claire's visions.^[36]

The disparity between John's intelligence on and off the battlefield is remarkably stark. He appears unable to acknowledge facts he should be well-aware of, such as when Cecile pointed out that Seraphina was more than smart enough to figure out he is the student known as Joker.^[37] This is likely because, as pointed out by his father and Claire, John has difficulty coming to terms with certain realities^[38][14], making him appear outright delusional at times. It would explain why he stubbornly refuses to claim any responsibility for the turbulent state of Wellston High's environment and the situation it puts Seraphina in. John's tendency to blame others for problems, while not entirely without merit, prevents him from learning from his own mistakes and developing the wisdom necessary to resolve them and prevent said mistakes from happening again.

Ability Knowledge[]

Due to the nature of Aura Manipulation, John is well adept in many abilities and is capable of using them to the their fullest potential. Even when he doesn't copy the ability, he has a good grasp on how it works. For example in his first battle against Gavin, he was able to deduce the weaknesses of Stone Skin and outsmarted his opponent without using any ability. He is also proficient in combining abilities in creative ways, which was best displayed in the Season 1 Finale against Remi, Blyke, Isen, and Arlo. With John's knowledge of ability fundamentals and his quick thinking, he’s truly a force to be reckoned with. When Blyke was facing the Rowden Royals, John was able to successfully deduce the abilities of the four Royals and their limitations, and inform Blyke on the most efficient way to take them down.

Weaknesses[]

As one of the strongest god-tiers in unOrdinary, John does not have many weaknesses to speak of and has never lost a battle unless he chose not to activate his ability; his ability combined with his high pain tolerance and hand-to-hand combat proficiency makes him a formidable opponent regardless of the situation. However, John does have some exploitable weaknesses that exist. First and foremost, in order for John to copy an ability, he needs to be able to sense the aura of said ability; he cannot copy an ability via passive effects, and long-ranged abilities such has Energy Discharge can safely operate outside of aura sensing range.

Furthermore, John seems to have certain limits when it comes to abilities he can copy. At his peak, the maximum number of copied abilities he can utilize is four. How long it takes John to learn a new ability depends on how simple it is to use. Naturally, it takes him longer to master abilities that are incredibly complex in nature. Furthermore, there are certain abilities he is altogether unable to copy. These abilities were noted to be lacking in visual feedback (ie: abilities he cannot see), such as Flash Forward and Clairvoyance, which are both complex mental abilities that allow the user to see into the future.^[16] Lastly, when John copies an ability, he also gains the weaknesses associated with that ability.

John is not immune to the effects of the disabler, despite showing resistance unseen in anybody else injected with it. He was able to draw out vestiges of his ability in times of desperation,^[8] though doing so voluntarily seemed beyond his capabilities.^[9]

Family Tree[]

William H. Doe

Jane

Cameron

John

Quotes[]

• (To Seraphina on his rough day) "I just... had a long day."^[39]
• (To Arlo) "You should be grateful. If you're able to keep all but one person in line... Then you must be doing your job right."^[40]
• "After all...a King is nothing if his subjects refuse to follow him."
• (Being tricked by Arlo) "All I wanted was to be ordinary."
• (To Sera, after returning from battling Arlo) "Please...don't look at me now."
• (To Seraphina) "When you're always stuck in situations where there's no way to fight back... It starts messing with you. In here. You feel trapped. Angry. Detached from yourself. ...It sucks."
• (To Adrion ) "I'LL NEVER LOSE, BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE IS TRASH!"
• "I'm not the monster. They are."
• (To Arlo) "If anyone finds out about what happened here today...I'll dethrone you."
• (To Zeke) "Go ahead. You and your incompetent lapdog...can do whatever the hell you want with me. Just don't forget...In the end...you're just like me. Another worthless piece of trash in this world." ^[41]
• (To Arlo while discussing about the 'kidnapping' event) "You know, Arlo... not everyone spends an entire month planning on the downfall of a single person."
• (To Seraphina, upon her return from suspension) "You don't understand. The moment you fall, people become cruel."
• "I'm good with secrets :D"
• (To Remi) "You're apologetic now that your reputation is on the line...But you don't actually care."
• (To the Wellston student body) "I am your new KING! Anyone who dares to cross me will end up exactly like this shithead! NO EXCEPTIONS! NO MERCY! JUST PAIN!"
• (To Cameron) "Don't you dare talk shit about my dad! He did everything for me...! Unlike you or my sad excuse for a mom!"

Notes & Trivia[]

• John's exact level was veiled until Chapter 224, and he is currently the fourth most powerful amongst characters with confirmed levels, behind Vaughn, Seraphina and his mother.
• John and his father William H. Doe are the only characters in the series to have known surnames.
• In real life, John's full name is a placeholder name that refers to a person, party or corpse whose identity is unknown.
• Despite being introduced as powerless, it was hinted throughout the series that John had an ability until it was confirmed in Chapter 41 by his eyes glowing.
  • LINE Webtoons's video on UnOrdinary also shows John with glowing eyes in one scene.^[42]
  • In Chapter 3 John's eyes seem to glow when he throws Gavin out the window.
  • In Chapter 4 John's eyes seem to glow again as he was playing Slappy Pig with Sera .
  • In Chapter 35, Arlo commented that John's behavior was like that of a high-tier; it was also hinted that John may have had a personality change during his transition from New Bostin to Wellston.
  • In Chapter 41, John activates his ability the first time since transferring to Wellston.
  • Isen has implied that John is a high-tier with the following quote, "What happens when a high-tier runs rampant?".^[43] Furthermore, John might even be a god-tier, as Isen implied that he did not think Arlo could deal with him.^[43]
  • In Chapter 54, John uses his ability to battle for the first time since transferring to Wellston, and the following battle in Chapter 55 and Chapter 56 shows that John is powerful enough to best even a god-tier like Arlo in combat.
  • Uru-chan stated in her Fireside Chat that John was originally going to be powerless throughout unORDINARY, but began to plan out his ability starting from Chapter 2.

• In the Bonus Episode 2, John has his ability "Sass" crossed out and replaced with "N/A" as a joke. In the same fashion, John's level was scratched out and replaced with a 1.0.
• The hair gel John uses receives much hatred from the fanbase.
  • Many fans commented that John looked better with his hair unkempt and Uru-chan addressed this to John in the form of a petition in the first Bonus Episode, though he flatly rejects it. John finally let his hair down in Chapter 40.

• An "A" can be seen in the ability box of John's New Bostin High School records. This could mean that his ability starts with an A or it is simply placeholder text.^[44] It also states, "NOTE: Do not activate ability when handling situations involving John". This implies that John becomes a noticeable threat when people with abilities activate them in John's presence.^[44]
  • Once John used his ability in Chapter 55, he was seen copying abilities used by others. Because of this, John's ability had the placeholder name "Ability Mimicry".
  • In Chapter 148, John's ability is officially called "Aura Manipulation."
• It is revealed in Chapter 85 that John's ability level when he was still in New Bostin Grade and Middle School was around level 1.2, with no signs of progress. He was rank 427. But, his ability level shot up to a greater degree when he was in high school, as Isen stated.
  • According to Chapter 148, New Bostin records state that John was a god-tier with a level of 7.0 before he was expelled.
  • Chapter 181 further reveals that John's ability did not manifest until his final year of middle school.
• Upon attacking his chosen targets, John chooses to cover his head with a paper bag in order to remain anonymous. Fans would rather call him "ʎɐpsǝn┴" as a reference to when he once wore Zeke's paper lunch bag, which was labeled "Tuesday", upside-down.
  • When he replaced paper bags with his new black mask, certain fans began to refer to him as "Black Friday."
  • The masked John is officially named "Joker" as a reference to the card.
• John is older than the students in his grade by a year, as he had taken a year off at the readjustment facility.
• John formerly lived in a house on Walnut Street before being transferred to his dorm.
• Most of the limits John has regarding his ability is based on logical speculation made by other characters and readers of the WebToon. Uru-chan is not one to officially establish all the specifics of Aura Manipulation, preferring to let fans try to figure those out themselves.
• According to the Discord interviews, John likes chillstep, his favorite color is dark blue, and he cannot play any instruments.^[45]

Cameos[]

• In Episode 77 of walkingnorth's webtoon Always Human, John and Seraphina were seen in Starclimber Station, kissing.^[46]
• In Episode 21 of Quimchee's webtoon I Love Yoo, John and Seraphina were waiting in line to play a game of Fabio Kart.^[47] The former shows up again in Episode 64+65, as one of the names on the HIRAHARA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL sign in list.^[48]
• In Episode 13 of Enjelicious's webtoon Age Matters, John and Arlo are singing about stopping the hair gel petition.^[49]

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