Every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in. So why is the man known to the criminal
underworld as Baba Yaga so bad at staying retired? Here's what we know so far about
the backstory of film's greatest assassin, John Wick.
It isn't until the third installment of the John Wick franchise that we learn anything
about the early life and upbringing of everyone's favorite dog-loving hitman. In many ways,
even the small bits of information we do get are coded with symbolism meant to lead the
audience to draw their own conclusions. Here's what we know: Born Jardani Jovanovich in Belarus,
he was orphaned as a child and adopted by the Ruska Roma, which is the name of both
an ethnic group and a criminal syndicate. He then began training as an assassin under
a woman known as the Director in the guise of studying at a performing arts institute
in New York City. We're not sure when he changed his name, but "Jardani" is the equivalent
name to John in the Romany language.
We also don't know when exactly John received all of his tattoos, but as we get a short
tour of the Director's institute we see that the older students are already heavily tattooed
with Catholic imagery similar to John's, possibly indicating they've gone through a similar
initiation into the assassin underworld. We also see the students in the process of various
kinds of training, from dancing to wrestling, and so much more. Given that our boy John
is an expert marksman and driver, a skilled martial artist across a number of different
styles, experienced in hand-to-hand combat and with virtually every weapon, and resilient
enough to walk off a back alley surgery with no anesthetic, they've probably got more going
on there, too.
The most obvious and definitive thing we know about John's past is what we're directly told
in the first movie.
"John is a man of focus. Commitment. And sheer will."
Before settling down with his wife, Wick was an incredibly proficient and prolific assassin
who quickly earned the nickname of "Baba Yaga" for being the hitman so lethal that he terrified
the other hitmen. After leaving the Ruska Roma, John joined the Tarasov Mob as one of
the main enforcers for its leader, Viggo Tarasov. During this time John developed different
relationships with people at various levels of the High Table, the ruling body of this
criminal underworld, with delegates from each of the 12 families in charge of, it seems,
all crime everywhere. John developed a friendly relationship with a few allies, including
the staff of the assassin-friendly Continental Hotel, particularly its stickler for the rules
manager Winston.
Unfortunately, he also made a collection of frenemies along the way among his rival killers,
as is to be expected in the assassin game. At some point during the Assassin years, John
crossed paths with Sofia, another dog lover and assassin, who would go on to manage the
Casablanca branch of the Continental. John helps to get Sofia's daughter to safety from
the mob and in return, he receives a blood oath marker from her. These markers are made
of elaborate gold designs and open like a locket. Inside they have room for two thumbprints,
the first establishing the oath and the second when the oath has been fulfilled by returning
any favor they ask. No matter what the relationship might be between the two parties, they are
absolutely non-negotiable. If someone has your marker, you owe them, period.
"This is your blood. Your bond. When you needed help, I was there."
At the heart of this action franchise is an operatic love story that ends in tragedy.
John falls in love with a woman named Helen and knows he has no choice but to get out
of the assassin game. When he approaches Viggo Tarasov about retiring, the crime lord seizes
the moment to take full advantage of John's new vulnerability.
"I gave him an impossible task. A job no one could have pulled off."
Viggo tasks John with taking out all of his rival leaders in a single night, and against
all odds, he does. While John earned his freedom through his staggering body count, he wasn't
able to pull it off alone. He gives his blood oath marker to the son of the head of the
Rome Syndicate, Santino D'Antonio, for tactical assistance. This will prove to be one of the
biggest mistakes of John Wick's life.
The blood marker ends up being the price of five years with his beloved Helen before she
passes away from cancer, shattering him in a way that he'd never been broken before.
She was his anchor in the real world outside of the assassin game. As a final gift, Helen
leaves John a puppy named Daisy, someone new for him to take care of and to help him remember
his humanity and all the love he has in his heart.
John isn't out of the game long, but those five years were still long enough for the
next generation of mobsters to forget who he was and what he's capable of. Apparently
even the bad guys don't tell their kids bedtime stories about a guy who once took out three
men with a pencil. As John is filling up at a gas station near his home, a young hoodlum
asks to buy John's muscle car from him, which John refuses. This happens to be Viggo Tarasov's
son Iosef, who decides to get a crew together, storm John's house, assault him, and steal
the car. They also kill John's puppy, which will prove to be the biggest mistake of anyone's
life, ever.
Badly injured and emotionally devastated once more, John's grief turns to pure unbridled
rage. While Viggo tries to negotiate a solution that doesn't end with a very crowded Tarasov
mausoleum, John digs up the remnants of his former career, a trove of markers, gold coins,
and weapons cemented underneath his garage. With Iosef in his sights, John Wick makes
a return to his old life with one thing on his mind: revenge.
"People keep asking if I'm back and I haven't really had an answer, but now, yeah, I'm thinking
I'm back."
In the meantime, Viggo sends his own assassins after John, but, well, the movie isn't called
"Ms. Perkins," is it? After an enormous death toll that takes out Viggo, Iosef, Ms. Perkins,
and dozens more, John adopts a pit bull who is set to be put down the next day and goes
home.
Knowing quite well that John Wick was battered after his war with the Tarasovs, an opportunistic
Santino D'Antonio pulls John back into the underworld even further by cashing in his
own marker. Santino's request? Take out his sister Gianna, who's been selected to represent
their family at the High Table so he can assume her throne. John can't refuse the marker,
so he sadly, reluctantly flies to Rome where he uses gold coins to get a stylish, but tactical,
wardrobe as well as weapons.
When he arrives at Gianna's ascendence party, a gorgeous affair set in Roman ruins, she
knows what her brother has done, and chooses to end things herself to maintain what little
agency she has left. The job is now done, but Santino can't leave well enough alone.
He lies and puts a hit of $7 million out on John Wick for assassinating his sister that
leads to another huge showdown with a dozen assassins. Once again, we see John emerging
as the victor, but not without cost.
Back in New York, John is forced to visit the Bowery King, a low-level player in the
hitman game, but he has access to his own resources. He gives John seven bullets, one
for each million of the bounty.
"And remember: You owe me."
"You don't want me owing you."
Santino flees to the Continental, because the rules that govern the assassins forbid
"doing business" on the Hotel's grounds. If you've been along for the ride so far, it
will not surprise you that this particular rule does not stop John Wick from getting
revenge.
Pulling off a hit on Continental grounds results in immediate excommunication from the entire
underworld network that was once available to John Wick. Because he knows that Santino
set John up, Winston gives him an hour to escape before putting in the excommunicado
order, but he can't stop the other assassins.
"Tell them all. Whoever comes, whoever it is, I'll kill them. I’ll kill them all."
Badly injured and running out of time, John goes to the New York Public Library where
he has stashed away a photograph of his wife Helen, as well as a rosary and more markers
inside a hollowed-out book of Russian folktales. While there, a giant assassin tries to kill
him before the hour long grace period is up, but fails when John takes him down with a
library book. That might be even more impressive than using a pencil.
John manages to make it to a friendly face, in the form of a Doctor, who begins tending
his wounds, but isn't able to finish before the hour is up, leaving John to finish stitching
himself. When the hour is up, more bounty hunters arrive to attack John in a museum
of ancient weapons, which is arguably the worst place outside of a pet store to fight
John Wick. Sure enough, our boy John defeats everyone and stumbles his way back to where
he started in New York as a child, the Director's performing arts institute. The Director decides
to help him, securing his passage to Casablanca where he will try to connect with the only
person above the High Table who can save his life: the Elder. In the process, the Director
brands over John's back tattoo. He has cashed his ticket. The institute and Ruska Roma are
no longer his allies.
As John Wick travels by boat to Morocco, a new emissary of the High Table enters the
mix. The Adjudicator arrives in Manhattan to mete out the consequences of John's actions
since Santino called in John's marker.
"There are rules. They are the only thing that separate us--"
"--from the animals."
"Yes."
Every person who helped John receives severe punishments, while Winston goes into hiding
to avoid the Adjudicator's sentencing.
In Casablanca, John meets with Sofia, the manager of Morocco's Continental Hotel, who
doesn't look happy to see him or his marker. To her dismay, however, she made the blood
oath to John when he helped Sofia get her daughter into hiding years before, and as
we saw with Santino, there's no refusing when that favor gets called in. Sofia and her two
German shepherds finally agree to help, which involves going to Sofia's old boss, Berrada,
the man in charge of minting the mysterious coins used in the assassin world. Berrada
tells them how to find the Elder, then demands Sofia give him one of her beloved dogs in
exchange for the information. She refuses, and Berrada shoots the dog, which is less
than advisable when dealing with John and his friends. Fortunately, this pup has a bulletproof
vest.
"He shot my dog."
"I get it."
Sofia, and John fight dozens of Berrada's henchmen before defeating them all, with the
dogs getting in on the action to get their own revenge as well.
Following Berrada's instructions, John wanders the desert until he's found by the Elder,
and agrees to be back in service to the High Table for the rest of his days, no exceptions.
To prove his fealty, he cuts off his ring finger, with his wedding ring on it, and offers
it as a tribute to the Elder.
John's first task for the High Table is to return to Manhattan and kill Winston, who
the members of the Table feel has gotten too high on his own power. In the meantime, the
$14 million bounty is still on John's head and he has to battle more minions in order
to get to Winston, including the acolytes of ninja trainer Zero, played by former Iron
Chef America chairman Mark Dacascos.
"SPINAAACH."
John can't bring himself to kill his long-time ally, though, and defies the High Table's
order once again. The Adjudicator de-consecrates the Continental, meaning it's open season
on John and Winston, who take on an army of assassins sent by the High Table to claim
their bounties, including some of John's biggest fans.
"That was a pretty good fight, huh?"
"Yeah."
After the massive battle that follows, Winston and the Adjudicator come to an understanding.
Winston decides to sell out his old friend, and agrees to kill John himself to get the
hotel reconsecrated and maintain his position as manager. Winston shoots John several times
point blank and John falls from the roof to what should have been his death.
But the Bowery King has his own power, and his own score to settle with the High Table..
His minion the Tick Tock Man rescues John and brings him down to the Bowery to plan
another round of revenge.
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