John Carter (character)
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- John Carter of Mars may also refer to John Carter of Mars (novel) and John Carter of Mars (film).
John Carter is a major fictional character, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who appears in the Martian series of novels. Though actually a Virginian from Earth and a visitor to Mars, he is often referred to as "John Carter of Mars" in reference to the general setting in which his deeds are recorded, in the time-honored tradition of other heroes (such as Lawrence of Arabia).
John Carter first appeared in the initial Barsoom novel, A Princess of Mars, written by Burroughs between July and September 28, 1911 and serialized as Under the Moons of Mars in the magazine All-Story in the issues for February-July 1912. It was first published in book form in October, 1917. Carter reappeared in subsequent volumes of the series, most prominently in the second, The Gods of Mars (1918), the third, The Warlord of Mars (1919), the eighth, Swords of Mars (1936), the tenth, Llana of Gathol (1948), and the eleventh, John Carter of Mars (1964). John Carter is also a major secondary character in the fourth volume, Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920), and the ninth, Synthetic Men of Mars (1940).
Carter stands 6′2″ tall and has close-cropped black hair and steel-gray eyes. Burroughs portrays him as an immortal being. In the opening pages of A Princess of Mars, the author reveals to the reader that Carter can remember no childhood, having always been a man of about thirty years old. Many generations of families referred to him as "Uncle Jack," but he always lived to see all the members of the families grow old and die, while he remained young.
His character and courtesy exemplify the ideals of the antebellum South. A Virginian who served as a captain in the American Civil War, he strikes it rich by finding gold in Arizona after the end of hostilities. While hiding from Apaches in a cave, he seemingly dies, and leaving his inanimate body behind is mysteriously transported by a form of astral projection to the planet Mars, where he finds himself re-embodied in a form identical to his earthly one. Used to the greater gravity of Earth, he is much stronger than the natives.
On Mars, which its natives call Barsoom, Carter encounters both formidable alien creatures resembling the beasts of ancient myth and various humanoids and finds his true calling in life as a warrior-savior of the planet's inhabitants. He wins the hand of Martian princess Dejah Thoris of Helium, but ultimately sacrifices himself to save Barsoom. Awakening again after this second death he finds he has been miraculously transported back to Earth, and his original body. Carter then earns great wealth as a result of a find of a rich vein of gold ore. Unable to successfully return to Mars, he spends his last years in a small cottage on the Hudson River in New York, where he once more dies on March 4, 1886.
Again, Carter's apparent demise is not a true death; rather, he is restored to Barsoom, where after more adventures he rises to the position of Warlord of Mars. He afterwards returns to Earth on a number of occasions to relate his adventures to his nephew (Burroughs), revealing that he has mastered the process of astral travel between the two worlds. During his adventures on Mars his earthly body reposes in a special tomb that can only be opened from the inside.
John Carter and Dejah Thoris become the parents of a son, Carthoris, and daughter, Tara. Carthoris plays a secondary role in The Gods of Mars and The Warlord of Mars, and is the protagonist of Thuvia, Maid of Mars. Tara is the heroine of The Chessmen of Mars (1922), and the mother of Carter's grand-daughter Llana, heroine of Llana of Gathol.
Carter has appeared in numerous adaptations of the Martian stories, notably in a comic strip and various comic book series, including an appearance in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume Two. Moore suggests that H.P. Lovecraft's Randolph Carter is a descendent of John Carter.
[edit] Origin of name
Long-standing Burroughs fans often debate where the name for the John Carter character came from. Some believe Burroughs simply imagined it while others contest that it came from either a combination of names from real people he knew (a John and a Carter) or from a real fellow by the name of John Carter that served as the author's mechanic. The truth is lost in history. Interestingly, Carter is a name identified with the First Families of Virginia.
