null

Name: Johnathan Paul Herrig

Age: 34

Height: 6'7"

Weight: 255lbs.

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: German, Belgian and Danish ancestry

Relatives: Unknown father, Gail Herrig (Mother/Deceased), Lucille "Lucy" Herrig (Sister)   

Occupation: Former Captain in the United States Marine Corps/Former Auditor of Clandestine Intervention, Combat & Logistics Operations (C.I.C.L.ops)

Character Type: Brooding/Methodical/Sociopathic/Calculating/Violent

Musical Representation:

~~~~

John Herrig is a man steeped in mystery, fear and violence.  He's a character I created for one singular purpose...being the ultimate engine of human destruction. When I was coming up with the concepts of the Stiel Maiden story, I didn't just want the main antagonist to be just your garden variety bad guy. I wanted them to be the definition of the word "monster"...character that's very presence evokes dread in the hearts and minds of everyone. While he's not the root of evil, he is it's sword...and takes no quarter in spilling blood for what he believes is the right cause. He's a man who has spent his entire adult life, from the age of 18 in service of his country. As a Marine, he excelled in all areas of combat leagues about his peers. As result, he was skyrocketed up the ranks from Infantry, to Force Recon and finally the Marine Raiders...the elite special operations division of the USMC. But as he rose up the ranks and gained experience, he came to see the world wasn't black and white anymore...it was one single shade of gray, and where you fell within that shade merely depended on which side of it had the resources to you where they wanted. Towards the tail end of his military career, this spurned John to the point where he viewed the world's most powerful people as the root cause of the world's strife...which included the very government he served under.

To Herrig, his current motives are justified. He's not inherently "evil" in the sense that he wishes to dominate or control. No, Herrig's purpose is the opposite, to create a world were the people have control of their own destinies, not the corporations. If you've played Cyberpunk 2077...think of him like Jonny Silverhand, expect he's not a rebel rockstar, he's a highly trained war machine. As far as John's combat prowess, he's second only to Lori. In fact, he's actually better than Lori. The core difference between the 2 is that Lori tries to avoid unnecessary conflict to complete her mission, as seen in Vol. 1. If it were Herrig conducting "Operation Warmonger" he would have leveled the entire complex, and the El sisters would have shared the same fate as the Sheik. This is the reason he's earned the nicknames "The Beast" and "Reaper". When Herrig is involved, death awaits. As the story continues, I plan on introducing more instances where we get a glimpse into the mind of John. How he justifies the atrocities he's committed...and will commit (In the next volume to come after this blog, Volume 7...he does something REALLY fucked up. Even more than his broad daylight assassination).

The character is inspired by 2 other "Johns"; Jonny Silverhand as played by Keanu Reeves from Cyberpunk 2077, and John Bernthal's portray of both Frank Castle/The Punisher and John Walker from Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. A character who sees the world as broken, and ruled by cruel overlords who only sees it's citizens as pawns. Driven by his own moral code, he's decided that they are the ultimate enemy, and as he's been trained...the enemy of the people must be destroyed. His intention is noble, but his methods are barbaric and destructive. And in that, he's the most feared man walking the face of my fictional Earth. Well...the most feared "mortal" man anyway.