Distinguishing Physical Characteristics

None, apart from the fact that he rarely smiles.

Personality

Jack is a quiet man, keeping his emotions buried deep like a Vulcan. He is also a very tough individual who trusts no-one but himself and has survived most of his life using his instincts. However, he does have a softer side and treats his crew more like family than employees. Whilst he would never reveal it to his crew, he cares deeply about each and every one of them.

Background

Born into slavery, Jack Stryker had a tough childhood, starting work in Orion controlled ore mines at the age of eight as a water carrier and eventually ending up working in the mines themselves, digging out ore for transport and sale.

It was during his work in the mines that he was trapped and injured by a cave-in. Trapped for three days and left for dead (rescuing a worthless slave would have proved pointless) he started to explore the tunnels which were still passable for a way out and eventually discovered a partially blocked opening. Removing the blockage and crawling out, Stryker found himself very close to the area where the Orion transports landed.

Believed dead, Jack managed to hide for over a week in the abandoned tunnels, making daring raids to obtain food and water under the cover of darkness. A week later, Jack saw his chance to escape and leave the planet. Managing to stow away on an Orion transport, two days later he found himself on an Orion way-station and slipped off the transport unnoticed.

Surviving on the station, first through theft and con-tricks, he later managed to gain "legitimate" work at the freight dock unloading ore, some of which must have come from the planet where he had been a slave. Eventually, he managed to find work on a small cargo vessel as a cargo hand and left the station behind. The vessel, the Firefly was an old Klingon Raptor which had been converted into a cargo vessel and undergone many modification and upgrades during it's two hundred year life.

Jack moved through the crew until he was offered a position on the Bridge. Although not very technically minded, he learnt to fly the Firefly well enough to be left on the Bridge alone. The Captain was fair, but Jack always knew that the crew and some of the work they did was not legitimate.

Jack became Captain of the Firefly in 2381, when the entire crew was betrayed by the first officer, who had been coerced into betraying the Captain. He had lured the crew to a nonexistent meeting, which was infact an ambush. Jack and the first officer remained onboard the vessel whilst the rest of the crew went to the meeting. When the Captain called that the meeting was an ambush and they needed support, Jack was prevented from taking off to rescue the Captain by the first officer.

The first officer was eventually killed by the Captain, who had managed to escape the ambush and return to the Firefly. However, he died two days later of his injuries, leaving Jack the ship. Lost and alone, Jack left for the emptiness of space in search of a new life and crew.