John Callis (Rise)

John Callis was a survivor of the outbreak in Rise, and was a main character in the first, second, third, and fourth seasons of the series. He was the protagonist for the first four seasons of the series. He is the husband of Jessica Callis, the father of Amy Callis, and the brother-in-law of Meghan Chapel. John is a former member of the United States military and the former owner of a company called Islewood. John was a stay-at-home father at the time of the outbreak whilst his wife worked as a manager at the Bridgeport, Connecticut branch of Foxwood Shipping. Whilst the outbreak began taking over the state of Connecticut at the start of the series, John was alone at his home whilst his sister-in-law Meghan was caring after Amy. This was shown to be a daily occurrence at the choice of Jessica, who wanted her husband to have some time each day to put together another plan of work to keep him from falling into a system of staying at home, which she presumed could possibly hurt John by implementing a feeling of loss-of-freedom in him that she wouldn't be able to help him through. Once he was saved on the overpass outside of the hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut; he rose to a leadership role in the super group made through the combination of Meghan Chapel and Emilio Vasquez's groups. Upon leaving alongside Emilio to search for his wife Jessica, John meets Troy Austin, who eventually leads them towards Jessica and Katie Dawson, where they save a stranded Jack O'Rourke and Shauna King. Upon returning to the Foxwood Shipping building, John begins to represent the group as the de-facto leader once Charlotte Walters arrives looking for The Man. Charlotte tells John that he looks like a valuable survivor upon first glance, and tells him to keep pushing no matter the case before blowing up the Foxwood Shipping building, establishing herself as the series' first living antagonist.
== Representation ==
In the first season of Rise, John is shown to be a dedicated family man at the time the outbreak began. Despite his former time spent in the United States military, John is shown to be disgusted at himself for being forced to kill the infected teenager on his neighbor's driveway. Through this encounter, it is hinted at that John could possibly suffer from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD in short. After being forced to kill the teenager once he has reanimated, John comes to an understanding of the situation, and seemingly places himself into the mindset of his former military days, perhaps indicating the possibility of the symptoms of his PTSD to vary based on what situation he perceives himself to be in. As the season progresses, and John meets both Emilio Vasquez' and Troy Austin's groups, as well as being reunited with sister-in-law Meghan Chapel's group, John is shown to be the most leader-ready character in the show. Despite not being very familiar with Emilio or Troy at the time he meets them, John takes on the role of leader whenever the occasion calls, most likely due the mindset he was forced to take on once in the military. John is shown to be a trusty-worthy person, with Emilio opening up to him only after knowing him for a few short hours. 
== Appearances ==
=== Season One (2018-2019) ===
* Day Zero - Part One
* Day Zero - Part Two
* Hearts Beat for a Reason
* Novocaine
* Closer to Home
* King of the Clouds
=== Season Two (2019) ===
== Trivia ==
* John's first name is inspired by John Walker, who served as the primary protagonist in author Zachary Serra's Deathly, Sickly, Dead series, which has been confirmed as having not only taken place in the same universe as Rise, but served as the original concept material that inspired the story Serra turned into Rise.
* Creator of the series Zachary Serra confirmed that during the writing process for the first season of the series, he first modeled John's appearance after Jesse Eisenberg, only to later shift his appearance to look more like lead singer of rock band Nothing More, Jonny Hawkins.
* John is the first character in the series to not only be shown killing a monster after the outbreak, but also killing a human after the outbreak. John killed the infected teenager being held at gunpoint by the neighbor, and later killed the teenager's reanimated self once he had turned.
* John is the first character in the series to learn about killing a monster by the complete-destruction of their head.