Torchwood series 4 character Synopses Captain Jack Harkness

Captain Jack Harkness

He's American, handsome, with a killer smile and a classic coat. But you don't expect heroes to be this much fun. He's witty, fast, subversive and there's a reason for that glint in his eye - he'll sleep with women, he'll sleep with men; if aliens invade, he'll sleep with them too. Got a problem with that? Tough!

His dashing style hides a secret. There are mysteries about Jack - a man going under his name seems to have a history stretching back to World War 2, or even earlier, to the Nineteenth century, the Eighteenth...

Truth is, Jack Harkness is immortal. A fixed point in time and space. The only one of his kind. For thousands of years, he has never been able to die. When killed, he comes back to life - seconds later. Though his tragedy is, he feels every death. It hurts - and so does the passage of time. He can never love anyone for too long, because he will always lose them. As a result, he's lived many lives. He's been a conman, a thief, an adventurer - though more a rogue than a villain, because his perspective on human life makes him appreciate this world all the more.

Jack once ran the Torchwood Institute, a British organization dedicated to fighting the strange and bizarre. He was king of his own little world for a while, the happiest he'd ever been. But Torchwood fell. His friends were killed. The Institute closed down, and Jack disappeared, to start yet another of his many new lives. And yet...

The only thing that could call Jack Harkness back is his unstated love for Gwen Cooper. And when a new, epic danger affects the whole planet, Jack finds himself back at the center of events, fighting not just for his own life, but for everyone on Earth. But this time, are the stakes too high?