Character's Fully Name: Juan Castillo

Nickname: Johnny

Played By: manyshapesofme@yahoo.com

Character Type: Pre-immortal

Apparent Age: 26

Actual Age: 26

Sex: Male

Height: 5'10''

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Nationality: American

Distinguishing characteristics: He has somewhat of a babyface, so he usually sports some facial hair in order to look more his age. Slight hump on his nose from when it was broken when he was a child. He also has a couple of still-visible chicken pox scars, one on his forehead and one just below the inside corner of his left eyebrow, though these also are visible only up close.

Any other languages: Spanish

Skills: He is a trained paramedic and has two years of medical school under his belt. Thanks to his older brother, he can hold his own in a brawl. He's also a very good cook and boasts a pretty mean pollo adobo.

Personality: Johnny is serious and sensitive and tends to be a bit reserved in social situations until he gets to know people better. Once someone has earned his trust and affection, however, he is a fiercely loyal friend. He is highly intelligent and possesses a sense of humor that tends toward the cynical and ironic. In a medical situation, he has no problem taking charge, but otherwise he prefers to let others lead. Despite his love for his family, he always felt like an outsider, a situation that wasn't helped by his older siblings.

History: "Baby Johnny Doe" was discovered behind the altar of a Catholic church in Inglewood, California, by one of the priests when he was just a few days old. None of the priests could recall seeing anyone bringing a baby into the church, and no one ever discovered where he had come from, though he appeared to be of Hispanic heritage, which was not unusual in a town with an over 40% Hispanic population. The child was made a ward of the state, and several people, after seeing the press coverage about the abandoned child, expressed interest in adopting him, though custody of the child was finally given to the Castillo family, who were members of the church at which he was found.

The Castillos were a working class family, consisting of father Elian, a woodworker, mother Luisa, a teacher, and older siblings Patricia and Luis, who were respectively four and two years older than Johnny. Though money was tight, the elder Castillos did their best to raise the children in a stable and loving environment. Unfortunately, as both Patricia and Luis approached adolescence, they began to hang out with kids who were involved in gang activity and were eventually drawn into gang life. Johnny steadfastly avoided taking the same path as his siblings, however, which created some conflict amongst them, though Patricia was slightly more accepting (and grudgingly respectful) of her youngest brother's choices than Luis.

Looking for interesting things to do during the summer before he entered tenth grade, Johnny signed up for the EMS Explorer Program. Though he had initially only been looking for something exciting to occupy his summer, he soon found that he not only showed aptitude in the medical field, but he also enjoyed it. Before the summer was over, he had his career goals already mapped out: after high school, he would train to become a paramedic, then work in that field to pay his way through college and, eventually, medical school to become a doctor. Naturally, his parents were extremely proud and supportive of this decision; unsurprisingly, it caused more tension between Johnny and his siblings. Luis especially accused his younger brother of "trying to be Anglo" and made a big deal of the fact that Johnny wasn't a "real" Castillo.

Finishing high school with the appropriate grades to achieve his goal was no problem for Johnny, who had always been naturally bright. Finding funding for his dreams was a bit more difficult, as few paramedic training programs offered scholarships, but he managed to earn small cash scholarships from various sources and took various part-time jobs to supply the rest. Once he'd received his certification, he found a paramedic position at a local hospital and entered the City University of Los Angeles at Inglewood, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in health sciences. His grades in college were enough to earn him grants to enter medical school at UCLA.

He had just finished his second year of med school when the virus struck. Johnny cared for his family as best he could, to no avail. First his father, then his sister and his mother, and finally his brother succumbed to the disease, leaving him alone. After burying his family, he wandered aimlessly for a while, trying to find other survivors. He has only recently begun having dreams about an old woman in Colorado.

[ Join ] [ Create ] [ Rules ] [ Guidelines ] [ Characters ] [ Wanted ] [ Links ]