Johnny Smith

John “Johnny” Smith is one of the two overarching protagonists (alongside Sheriff George Bannerman) of the Castle Rock Saga of the Stephen King mythos.
Serving as the main protagonist of Stephen King's 1979 novel The Dead Zone and its 1983 film adaptation. He is also a posthumous character in the novels Cujo, The Tommyknockers, and Needful Things.
He is a former English teacher who learns he has psychic powers, in which he has to face upon two evils, Frank Dodd, a serial killer and Greg Stillson, a rising politician, becoming the president.
He was portrayed by Christopher Walken in the 1983 film adaptation and Anthony Michael Hall in the 2002 television series.
== Novel ==
In 1953, Johnny Smith is six years old when he suffers a head injury and immediately has a psychic vision of the near future, an event he barely even remembers as an adult. As an adult in 1971, Johnny Smith is an English teacher living in Cleaves Mills, nearby the fictional town of Castle Rock in Maine. After a date with his girlfriend Sarah at a county fair, he is involved in a car crash. His injuries leave him in a coma for four and a half years. Desperate for hope, his mother Vera becomes intensely religious, believing prayer will bring her son back.
On May 17, 1975, Johnny regains consciousness. Medical testing reveals a minor part of his brain suffered permanent damage. As if to compensate for the damage, a long-dormant part of his brain has become active. When Johnny touches certain people or objects, he now sometimes experiences psychic visions relating to them, revealing either hidden truths about their past, dangers in their future, or situations happening in the present that are connected to them. His visions have limitations and parts of them are often clouded. Johnny refers to this obstructed information as existing in the damaged part of his brain, "the dead zone." 
Initially hoping to use his powers to help others, such as warning a woman that her kitchen is on fire, Johnny eventually denies their existence, due to his frustration from the media. He is then relieved when a tabloid reporter, which he refused to co-operate with, decides to label him a fraud, hoping to get back on track on his life, and continue his teaching job. The community fears him, but Sarah would visit Johnny causally, with a conversation led to their consummate their romance, but both would step back, as Johnny understands that Sarah had moved on with a new Husband named Walter, and having their child, in which she made it clear.
Johnny would then get a visit from Sheriff George Bannerman of Castle Rock, asking his help to catch the Castle Rock Strangler, a serial killer in the town. Johnny initially refuses, due to his denial of his powers, but after hearing about the killer’s latest victim to be the nine-year-old girl, he decides to help, as he heads to Castle Rock. He, along with Bannerman, and his deputy Frank Dodd, head towards the crime scene and investigative it, Johnny then reluctantly identifies the Castle Rock Strangler as Frank Dodd, initially Bannerman hesitated to believe Johnny, they both went over to Frank’s home to arrest him, only to find that Dodd committed suicide in his bathroom, and wrote  “I CONFESS” in lipstick on his neck. Johnny is then seen again as a subject of interest to news media. He is unable to return to his old teaching job on the grounds that he is now "too controversial" to be an educator. 
Johnny goes into semi-retirement, taking a job as a private tutor. Sometime later, he meets rising politician Greg Stillson. As a result, Johnny foresees a nuclear apocalypse that Stillson will directly cause if he goes on to become President. Reluctant to resort to murder, Johnny's hand is forced when he discovers that he has developed a terminal tumor. With no hope of gathering evidence to expose Stillson's threat in the time left to him, Johnny instead attempts to shoot him at a public event. Johnny fails and is fatally wounded by Stillson's security detail, but not before the politician is photographed attempting to use a nearby child as a human shield. Grabbing Stillson's leg, Johnny dies knowing that he has succeeded in preventing Stillson from ever becoming President.
=== Cujo (Novel) ===
Johnny does not appear in Cujo, due to his death, but was mentioned several times. He was named a hero by the people of Castle Rock, after successfully finding out who the serial killer was. Who was in fact Frank Dodd, Sheriff Bannerman’s police deputy. Johnny’s heroic actions may have played a role in the shocking incidents of a St. Bernard dog named Cujo, who had interacted with rabies due to being bitten by bats, leading to become a vicious killer, (many indications of Frank Dodd had possessed Cujo).
== Movie ==
The 1983 movie adaptation of The Dead Zone is mainly faithful to the novel but does include some changes. In the movie, Johnny explains that visions of the future include a "blank spot" or "dead zone" and his doctor concludes this represents that the future is not set and can be altered.
== Trivia ==
* Smith was likely praised for his role to catch the serial killer Frank Dodd, as in the novel Cujo (a follow up to The Dead Zone), it shows at the beginning of the novel, he was called a hero, even after his death, which could indicate he was likely a savior to the whole town of Castle Rock. It is unknown if that remained the same for him, while stopping Greg Stillson from becoming president after endangering a child.
* Smith is shown to be a bit different from both the novel and movie adaptation. In in the book, his rather nerdy and has a lot more of a comedic personality, while in the movie, his rather serious, stone faced, and never quite seems to be nerdy after his teaching. He also has a brain tumor in the novel, which indicates many high or low changes for him to survive, but this was ignored in the film.
==External Links==
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