Chris Jennings

Christopher "Chris" Jennings (born 1944) was the identical twin brother of Tom Jennings. His younger sister was Amy. He was the great-grandson of Quentin and Jenny Collins, by their daughter, Lenore.
== Before 1968 ==
Chris's first cousin was Joe Haskell, who described Chris as having always been a bright student, leaving Collinsport to go to school and study architecture, but then “something happened to him”. No one knew why, but he had a total personality change. He dropped out of college, alienated all his friends, and started going off to the mountains for weeks at a time. Then he disappeared and left Collinsport altogether, not even returning when his parents had died a few years earlier (627). What had actually happened was that a few weeks after his graduation from college and his 21st birthday, his family curse of lycanthropy became active and he transformed into a werewolf for the first time (676). In late 1965 or early 1966 his fiancée Sabrina Stuart witnessed one of his transformations, which sent her into a vegetative state of shock (698). 
== Return to Collinsport ==
Chris returned to investigate the death of his brother (who had in fact been turned into a vampire), being particularly interested in the bite marks on his throat. He also wanted to see his sister, who had been institutionalized at Windcliff following Tom's death. However, Chris would not commit to staying with her because he led the life of a drifter, always on the go, "making a living the best way I can" (627). He did not reveal that this mobile lifestyle was meant to protect his loved ones from his curse. 
When he saw how fragile Amy had become, Chris made the decision to stay in Collinsport for her sake (632). Amy adored her brother, and his decision to stay greatly aided her recovery. Chris was later invited to stay at the old caretaker's cottage on the estate, where he lived for the remainder of the show (668). 
Carolyn Stoddad found herself attracted to Chris (640), and after much coaxing they began a casual relationship (668). But after learning that his former fiancée Sabrina was still alive (690), he broke up with Carolyn over concerns for her safety and preserving his own secret (693).
== Arrangement with Barnabas ==
Barnabas Collins was the first person to figure out that Chris was a werewolf (675). His cousin Joe Haskell had also discovered Chris' secret, but the knowledge combined with Tom's vampirism and Angelique's manipulations sent him insane and he was sent to a mental institution (658). Understanding all too well what it was like to be cursed, Barnabas took pity on Chris and arranged to lock him in the secret room of the Collins Family mausoleum on the nights of the full moon until he could find a better arrangement (676). As his transformations became sporadic for unknown reasons, Barnabas traveled back in time to discover the source of Chris's condition. (700)
In 1897, Barnabas learned that Quentin Collins had suffered from the same curse, and had inadvertently passed it on to his descendants. Quentin's own werewolf curse was lifted when Charles Delaware Tate painted his portrait, but the curse was still mystically transmitted to his descendants. Chris, Tom, and Amy were revealed to be Quentin's great-grandchildren (their grandmother Lenore having been adopted by a local woman, Mrs Fillmore, and eventually bearing their mother). Since the curse affected the first-born male of every generation, Amy would never be affected by it. As Chris was the older of the twins, by seconds, he inherited it and Tom was spared.
While Barnabas was in 1897, Chris remained stuck as the werewolf in the mausoleum for an unknown amount of time (699). At some point Julia transferred him to Windcliff, where he remained until Barnabas returned to the present (889).
== The Leviathan Saga ==
After Barnabas returned to the present, the ghost of Jenny Collins appeared to Chris and told him to find Quentin because he was the only one who could help him (897). He did find Quentin, who was still alive and young because of Tate's portrait. Dr. Julia Hoffman located Charles Delaware Tate, who was now nearly 100 years old. Tate refused to help at first, but Chris and Quentin paid him a visit and Chris forced him to paint his portrait. Chris' portrait was not magical (as Count Petofi had mystically infused Quentin's portrait with the power to transfer the curse to itself), and he killed Tate in his werewolf form (922). 
With the help of Professor Stokes, Sabrina began to recover mentally (889). Eventually she confronted Chris, telling him that she still loves him and does not care about what he is. She managed to find a moon poppy for him, which supposedly had the power to cure him, but it did not work (943). As the werewolf, Chris chased Jeb Hawkes to the Old House where they struggled (946). Jeb passed out and Chris returned to his human form. Barnabas arrived, ushered Chris out and then took the credit for saving Jeb from the werewolf (947). 
Bruno captured Chris Jennings and had the zombie of Sheriff Davenport chain him to a wall in a crypt and waited for him to transform (960). Davenport was supposed to kill Chris when he turned into the werewolf, but Bruno changed his plans after Jeb angered him. He let the werewolf loose inside the crypt and and sent Jeb in, but Jeb managed to fend off the werewolf with silver and it escaped (961). In the morning Chris and Quentin met in the woods, talking about their turns at the werewolf curse. Chris asked Quentin to put him out of his misery, but Quentin refused (962). 
Later, Bruno kidnapped Sabrina to lure Chris into a trap (974). He then locked Carolyn in a room where Chris was going through the transformation, intending for the werewolf to kill her, but she was saved by Roger Collins and Chris escaped through a window. That night, Chris killed Bruno in his werewolf form (976). 
== Departure ==
While Barnabas and Dr Hoffman were in Parallel Time, Chris took Amy Jennings and Sabrina Stuart away from Collinsport (1075).
== Final Fate ==
In the Big Finish Productions audio drama The Enemy Within, it is established that Chris escaped the werewolf curse with the aid of 'gypsy magic'. Chris and Sabrina then married shortly after leaving Collinsport. However, an unexpected side-effect of the 'cure' caused the curse to transfer from Chris to Sabrina, and on the morning after the marriage Sabrina found she had been responsible for Chris' death.
In Sam Hall's article Here's What Really Happened to Barnabas & Co., Chris and Sabrina tried to control his curse after leaving Collinsport by building a cell to lock him in when the moon was full. But the very first time they used the cell, the werewolf broke out and killed Sabrina. The following morning when Chris saw what had happened, he committed suicide. 
== Background information and notes ==
Chris's off-screen departure was due to actor Don Briscoe leaving the series abruptly during the 1970 Parallel time story-line, due to worsening health problems. 
As a werewolf, Chris is known to have killed the innkeeper Mr. Wells (632), a barmaid at the Blue Whale (640), Donna Friedlander (674), Charles Delaware Tate (922) and Bruno (976). He is also known to have non-fatally attacked Joe (654), Carolyn (672), and Barnabas (673). When Chris describes his life after his first transformation to Barnabas, however, it is implied that many other people had been killed or wounded by the werewolf prior to his return to Collinsport (676).
== Appearances ==
627, 631, 632, 638, 640, 642, 643, 649, 651, 654, 657, 658, 668, 670, 671, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 681, 683, 684, 687, 689, 690, 692, 693, 695, 697, 698, 889, 897, 898, 903, 905, 909, 910, 912, 916, 918, 919/920/921, 943, 947, 959, 960, 962, 974, 975, 976, 977, 978Jennings, Chris
Jennings, Chris
Jennings, Chris
Category:Deceased characters