John Shaffner
From The 4400 Wiki, a fan encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
| John Shaffner | |
| |
| Name | John Shaffner |
| Born | |
| Age | |
| Occupation | U.S. Army Ranger |
| Introduced | The Starzl Mutation |
| Abducted | |
| Ability | None (promicin treatments unfinished) |
| Last seen | The Starzl Mutation |
| Status | Dead |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Relatives | |
| Portrayed by | J. August Richards |
| John Shaffner is a member of The 4400 | |
| John Shaffner is a member of NTAC | |
John Shaffner was an Army Ranger in the U.S. Military with the rank of Staff Sergeant and dogtag number of 271192384577. He served in Iraq with his fellow officer and best friend; Sergeant Darren Piersahl. In 2005, Haspelcorp, with the aid of the U.S. Government and military officials, selected Shaffner and Piersahl for the new enhanced soldier program, which involved physically-prime soldiers being injected with promicin filtered from the blood of Isabelle Tyler, leading to them developing 4400-like abilities, all for the purpose of defending the country they loyally served against hostile threats. The military arranged for Shaffner and Piersahl to officially "die" when the helicopter they are supposedly on crashed in Iraq.
Now in the program under the command of General Randa, Shaffner and the other 19 recruits were each given initial doses of promicin to see who was viable for the program, leading to the deaths of 10 of the recruits due to the 50% mortality rate, while Shaffner, Piersahl and 8 others survived and began training and conditioning for service in the new elite fighting force, all the while being given constant updated doses of promicin, adrenaline and other stimulants until their abilities emerged. Shaffner and the other soldiers also went through learning session about the 4400 and the reasons behind their return, which included the discovery that should a 4400 have a child with a person with the Starzl Mutation, their children would have 4400-like abilities. He still maintained a friendship with Piersahl, however, and often shared stories in their spare time, and Piersahl often mentioned Eagle Creek, a mountain-side lake he often liked to go to.
Shaffner became steadily more fearful of the program, fearing the powers they were being given could be abused and used to cause mass destruction and death. This reached its breaking point when Piersahl became the first enhanced soldier to manifest an ability; oxidization, which appeared in the middle of a training fight and led to the deaths of one of the trainers. Convinced they had to escape, Shaffner and Piersahl escaped from the training facility, but separated shortly after their escape. Shaffner remained underground, fearful of any form of pursuit (and lacked any way to defend himself due to him leaving without finishing his promicin treatments, as a result, he lacked an ability).
When Shaffner learned Piersahl was murdering people with the Starzl Mutation, he immediately realised that the dangerously high amounts of promicin and other stimulants and caused his friend to go mad, and immediately went to NTAC, confronting their two top agents; Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris, in the building's parking garage. After revealing everything he knew about Piersahl, the enhanced-soldier program and the Starzl Mutants, he agreed to help the agents stop Piersahl on the condition they help his friend. After leading a team of NTAC Agents to the campsite on Eagle Creek where Piersahl was camped and had previously mentioned to his friend, Shaffner decided to go on ahead as he was convinced he could reach him, and was instead confronted by a wildly-active Piersahl wielding a large knife. Shaffner initially calmed him down, and Piersahl was exstatic to see his friend again, thinking Shaffner was there to help him in his "mission". However, Shaffner tried to convince Piersahl to stop and he had brought people with him to help. When Piersahl saw that the approaching people were NTAC Agents, Piersahl finally lost all sense of sanity and, in a panicked rage, attacked Shaffner. Shaffner was able to grab the knife off Piersahl and repeatedly stabbed him in the chest, critically injuring him. Though this killed Piersahl several minutes later, this wasn't enough to save Shaffner's life, as Piersahl was able to use his ability on him, oxidizing and killing Shaffner. His body was later brought back to NTAC for furthur study.
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