John Mulligan

John Mulligan
First appearance	Faction Zero
Debut	September 1, 2009
In-story stats
Known ability	Temporal rewind
Alias	The Mulligan
Nickname	Overcoat
Gender
Home	New York, NY
Residence	Apartment on 44th Street
Occupation	Former Company agent

John Mulligan is a former Company agent who, during the time of Building 26, went on the run with other evolved humans. When Building 26 fell, John tried to find a new purpose in life but is having problems trying to assimilate into a normal life. John is an evolved human with the ability to rewind space and time.

Heroes Evolutions

Faction Zero

In chapter 3 of Faction Zero, Rachel comes to a hideout of evolved humans, and sees John in the kitchen, together with a skinny guy, a large guy, and a fugitive mother. John attacks Rachel but Rachel teleports out of the way. After her attempt to take down the skinny guy fails, Rachel tries talking to John, and John says that they are a faction of ex-fugitives from Building 26. John informs Rachel that their leader, Markus Gaines, is on a mission to retrieve information from a young lady in Costa Verde. Realizing that Claire is in danger, Rachel immediately teleports away without another word.

In chapter 4 of Faction Zero, Micah tells Claire and Rachel that he and Unity found the entire group dead.

Slow Burn

In chapter 4 of Slow Burn, John is among a group that Gail Bowman and Edgar are sent to recruit into the Sullivan Bros. Carnival. When a fight is about to break out between the two groups, Gail recognizes John, who is surprised to see her, as he had covered his tracks so no one could find him. John tells Gail he thought she went underground after Wildman went crazy. After the group, Gail, and Edgar go into the groups abandonded army bunker, Gail offers them the chance to join the carnival, but they all refuse, saying they know where they belong.

Purpose

In chapter 1 of Purpose John wanders through New York, pleased that his time on the run is finally over and about how well he is simply blending into the crowd. John then contemplates what he should do and remembers that before Building 26, he was a skilled Company agent. John compares his current situation to college and trying to choose a major. Deciding that he needs a walk to clear his head, John decides to go to Manhattan. While there, he sees a woman step onto the road, right into the path of a taxi. John then rewinds time in order to save the woman and wonders whether or not saving people is his path.

When John goes to the park, he encounters Ian, a former target of his. He remembers how Ian had a normal life until his ability manifested and the Company took him. John is saddened to see that Ian is now homeless so he buys the two of them lunch. As Ian eats, John feels happy and wonders if he should spend his life helping others that he has hurt. Once again, John receives a phone call from an unknown caller. He ignores the call and goes to a job interview with Mr. Rodriguez. Mr. Rodriguez wonders what John did for Primatech Paper and John tells him that he was in charge of public relations. Throughout the interview, John keeps using his ability to fix any mistake he has made. At the end, Mr. Rodriguez says that they will call him.

John receives another phone call and answers the phone, asking who the caller is. Samuel Sullivan says that he has been trying to get a hold of him all day and wonders if they can meet. He suggests yesterday and John immediately says that they can meet at the park, by the pond.

In chapter 2 of Purpose, John finds a note in his pocket supposedly written by Samuel. The note talks about John's ability and how important it is to Samuel. John then wonders how he got the note and continues his tour of the carnival. Samuel offers him purpose and a new life but John is hesitant, as he believes that dangling evolved humans in front of people will eventually draw unwanted attention. He and Samuel continue walking until a man, Josh Davis, yells for Samuel to look out. John feels a bone crunching tackle as he is pushed to the floor and instantly rewinds time to avoid the attack. Angry, Josh prepares to fight again and his brother Evan tells the crowd that has gathered that John is a former agent. After the battle has been stopped, a disappointed John tries to leave the carnival.

As he gets to the gates, a little voice calls out for him. He turns and laughs joyously as little Jennie Bowman leaps into his arms. She takes him to her family and John remembers all the time he spent with Chris and Gail. He admits to himself that he has romantic feelings for Gail but that he would never act on them. When he sees that they too have been brainwashed by the carnival and Samuel, John wonders what he can do to save them. He receives a strange look from Gail and wonders if she knows how he feels about her. Jennie bursts into the room and asks if John is staying, but Chris tells her, and John, that he isn't.

Back in the city, John decides that he needs help busting his old friends out of the carnival. He calls his old company partner, Lauren Gilmore and tells her about a group of "specials". Lauren then asks if he is talking about a carnival. Knowing that Lauren is on his side, John sets off to get more help.

In chapter 3 of Purpose, John speaks with Lauren about the carnival. John explains that he was teleported to and from the carnival against his will and that Samuel had tried to recruit him. Lauren says that she and Noah have been working for weeks to try and bring the carnival down and John chuckles, playfully teasing Lauren about working with Noah. Lauren moves on and tells John about the raid they are planning, and John says that he has people he cares about at the carnival. Lauren realizes that John has a crush on someone and John refuses to go into detail. Lauren invites him to Washington and John says that he is on his way.

After hanging up, John's vision disappears. He feels for his gun and raises it, warning whoever is messing with his head that he will shoot. A menacing voice laughs and John's vision returns. He finds that he is face to face with The Watcher and raises his gun. The Watcher insists that they want similar things, Samuel hurt and the carnival stopped. He explains that he wants to work to with John. John does not wish to work with a spy and The Watcher tells him that he knows about his crush on a married woman. He goes on to say that he knows how to get to the carnival, and John accepts. The Watcher then disappears and John calls his friend Cyrus. Cyrus warns him not to team up with The Watcher and John wonders if he has done the right thing.

Assignment Tracker 2.0

In the first page of Purpose, John's Assignment Tracker is provided. There is no need for a password or username.

Grew up outside of New York City. His childhood was average, nothing of note. Attended college with no major and began work in corporate public relations. Manifested at the age of twenty-two (22) when he woke up after a particularly bad day. He found himself reliving that day but able to change the outcome of events because he knew what had happened already.

Early attempts to control his ability led to exhaustion and occasional fainting however, he had gained full control of the ability prior to Company contact. Upon tracking him down, agents were unable to make extended contact, as he was able to undo his own mistakes and stay ahead of them.

After the extent of his ability was known, he was recruited as a potential agent. He excelled quickly in all skill training at exceptionally quick learning paces however it is unknown how many times he rewound and retried training sessions. Until now, he has been a model agent, especially adept at assisting with cover ups and undercover missions.

Evolved Human Abilities

John has the ability to rewind time and redo/relive moments already past. According to his assignment tracker, John manifested this ability after a bad day, which he was then able to relive and fix. Most of his rewinds are limited to under an hour but the highest he has ever rewound has been 24 hours.

Notes

• iStory writer Zach Wilson noted at 9thWonders that he has a character in the Heroes: Survival game who appeared in the iStory before, and will be a central character in the next book. He said that the character would be revealed on Friday, December 18th, and Mulligan is the only character referenced in a message sent on that date.
• In Heroes: Survival, an event message sent on Friday, December 18, 2009, to participants in the Heroes: Survival game claims to be from "Mulligan" and to have rewound things to find out what was going on. In the game, there is a character called "Mulligan" who has the power of temporal rewind, which fits the message. This same character has a first name of "John", has John's picture for his profile photo, and is also a member of The Guardians faction. The character's biography in the game notes John as being a former Primatech agent and having been chased by Building 26.

See Also

• For other uses of John, see John (disambig).