Hank Jones

> *"Like father used to say, you can break the back but you can't break the spirit of a small town southern man."*
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- Hank quoting James Jones

**Hank Jones** is the brother of Damon Jones.

## Biography

### **Early Life**

Born on April 7, 1945, to father James Jones and mother Vanessa Jones, and five years older than his younger brother Damon Jones, Hank Jones came into the world with a bright light shining into the delivery room and his weight was the heaviest recorded in the town of Oak Ridge. In his formative years, Hank had a keen interest in the American Wild West. His father bought him his first cowboy hat at 3 years of age. During his elementary and middle school years, Hank was always bigger than the other kids and he didn’t know his own strength. He would always be self-conscious of this and do his best not to scare or hurt anyone, however that didn’t always go accordingly. He had very few friends during this time save for one, John “Buck” Willard, who would go on to become Hank’s best friend for the remainder of his time in Oak Ridge.

They would keep in touch in the years to come, writing to each other letters frequently until Buck joined the military at 18 where the letters became less abundant as before.

Moving to Salem, Oregon at the age of 13, Hank found it difficult to adapt and start anew in a new city. Through this difficult time, his mother encouraged him to seek comfort in God and the Holy Bible. This would remain with him for the rest of his life. It was however during one night at the age of 15 that would change Damon’s and Hank’s lives changed forever. When no one was awake, an intruder snuck in and attempted to rob the Jones’, but Vanessa caught him in the act and attempted to call the police. The burglar shot her in the stomach and fled the residence, she died on the way to the hospital. In the aftermath of this fateful night, Damon was set on his personal quest for justice and righteousness, Hank’s faith grew deeper while their father, James, fell into a lifelong depression that would eventually lead to his suicide.

### **Adulthood**

During his high school years, Hank attended church twice a week, was taking private classes from a local pastor in Christian theology with Hank seriously considering becoming one himself. He also played Football, playing the positions of Linebacker and Tight End. His team won the State Championship in 1968.

After eventually graduating from high school, Hank began to wonder why he had stopped receiving letters from his pal Buck. Doing his own investigation into the matter he found out that Buck had been killed in action in Vietnam. In honor of his buddy, Hank enrolled in the United States military and served for a total of years in the National Guard and was deployed one year to Vietnam before returning on leave of injury. He would buy land in Alaska and make a home and farm there becoming something of a rancher. The locals would know it as The Jones Ranch, Hank took great pride in it and the work he put in the ranch.

Hank would meet a young waitress Elsa Bridges in one of the little town bars in the Alaskan country and quickly be smitten of her beauty and persona. They were deeply in love with one another by the time Elsa moved in to live with him on his ranch. After 2 years of living together and working to make a life together, Hank decided he would surprise her and propose. Walking into their home and calling her name he was bewildered to not see her in sight in any of her usual locations. He heard a noise from upstairs which sounded like someone pounding the floors and some type of creaking noise. Rushing up there into the master bedroom, Hank‘s heart sank and his blood boiled from rage. He saw Elsa in bed with another man engaged in sexual activities. In an attempt to plead with him, Elsa jumped in front of Hank and begged him not to hurt the man. Pushing her aside, in seething wrath likened to a blue flame, he attacked the man, beating him quite severely to the point where his face was beyond recognizable. He stopped beating finally when Elsa jumped in between him and the man with tears and screams aloud from the violence. Hank, who had calmed down, looked down at his bloodied hands and realized the situation with tremendous regret. The man he had beat would never be able to eat food on his own again, requiring a straw for the rest of his life nor could he formulate comprehensive sentences other than just a couple words at a time. Hank threw Elsa out and never spoke a word to her throughout the ordeal. Nearly killing a man, Hank vowed to never lose himself in such anger and he tried to refrain himself whenever he could from violence altogether.

### **Work on the Ranch**

Dedicating the next years of his life to working on his Ranch and maintaining his cattle, Hank would develop a drinking problem and took up smoking in the meantime due the heart break of losing Elsa. Hank would befriend a local rancher in close vicinity to his own ranch during this time, William “Bill” Henry, someone he would look to to drink with and hang out as he had very few friends and spoke little to his own family. He would also engage in promiscuous behavior with the women of the town.

Hank’s drinking got so bad that at one point he was arrested for getting into a bar fight. His old buddy Bill came to pick him up and paid for his bail. On the ride home, Bill urged Hank to seek help but Hank refused and went home without thanking Bill for his gesture.

During the winter of ’78, most of Hank’s herd of cattle would freeze to death due to his lack of supervision because of his drinking. He would fall on hard times and depended on Bill‘s help to keep the ranch going and paying the property tax. During one of their nightly hangouts, Bill again urged Hank to seek help and get his act together, but Hank wouldn’t listen. This prompted Bill to ask him what his father would think of him if he saw him like this. Hank, who’s had a strenuous relationship with his father, had heard enough and punched Bill, yet again letting his anger control him. After the anger subsided, Hank realized what he had done to a dear friend and regretted it. Bill did not retaliate, he only stood up and left silently.

After his incident with Bill, Hank finally realized how far he had veered from the straight and narrow and decided to get some help. He signed up for AA meetings, and re-dedicated himself to the Bible. As a result, his drinking decreased and he was completely sober by spring, a relatively fast recovery for a heavy drinker like him. His ranch was in good shape at this time and his connection to The Most High was stronger than ever. After not talking for a couple of months, Hank finally built up the courage to apologize to Bill face to face. With Bill’s favorite whiskey in hand, Hank knocked on his door and apologized like a man. Bill accepted it and the two hugged it out. Bill poured himself the whiskey Hank brought while Hank drank coffee as they hung out for the first time in a while.

Although Hank would refrain from drinking and stop engaging in sexually immoral activities with women, his smoking would persist for the rest of his life.

### **New Decade**

The next couple of years would be fruitful and work filled as Hank kept his ranch in shape, rarely leaving it and the town. This period would be mostly uneventful except for a visit from his father, James. They hadn’t seen each other in years and weren’t on the best of terms, but Hank was still happy to see his father. They spoke and drank coffee with James revealing that he was dealing with depression and contemplating suicide. Hank was concerned but shrugged off the suicide comments, not believing his own father was capable of such a thing. James asked him to come back to California as he missed him and wanted to see his only sons together again for maybe the last time as he was up there in age. Hank kindly declined, stating he was content and happy on his ranch in Alaska. James understood and accepted his son’s decision. Before leaving, James told Hank that he loved him and was proud of him, something he’s never said. Emotional by his father’s remarks, Hank hugged him and the two said their goodbyes. This would be the last time Hank would see his father as James died in 1985 by his own hand.

Hank would come into contact with a large hairy man he referred to as ‘Foot. They hit it off as ‘Foot knew Bill.

### The Black Wolf

In the summer of ‘84, a strange man would come into town in search for Hank. On one early morning, as Hank got ready to work, the man knocked on his door and introduced himself as Akiara of the Wushu Clan. Akiara claimed to have seen Hank in a dream and that he was brought to him for a reason by something, a higher power. Hank understood and believed Akiara, recognizing this to be the doing of the Lord. It just so happened to be that Hank could use an extra hand on the ranch and offered Akiara the job who also wished to study the Word of the Bible, to which Hank agreed to tutor him. Akiara accepted the offer of working on the ranch and in return trained Hank in the ways of the Wushu Martial Arts, a highly forbidden offense in the Clan.

The two grew close over the months, Hank introduced Akiara to Bill and the three of them became good pals and often spent evenings hanging out on Hank’s porch and were often joined by ‘Foot as well. Hank drank coffee, Akiara drank Sake, Bill had his whiskey and ‘Foot enjoyed a cold Dr. Pepper.

While Akiara put in good work on the ranch and kept his word in training Hank, he also got caught up in trouble due to his vigilante fiasco. Destroying and hindering numerous dealings of the Vincenzo Mafia, Akiara brought unwanted attention to himself and the state of Alaska. Hank felt that he put the ranch and their lives at risk unnecessarily, but Akiara disagreed as justice was never unnecessary. This caused a rift between the two and culminated in Hank throwing Akiara out and not allowing him on his land anymore. This came on the heels of Akiara’s victory over Thorn and the Killer’s Guild and the rescue of Mayor Dingleberry.

### Trouble at the Ranch

Akiara was in good graces with the WPD and Sheriff Lyle, but he had not come to an understanding with Hank who was still angry and thus Akiara was still not allowed on his ranch.

Crashing at Bill’s place, Akiara did not try to reach out to Hank and gave him his space. Bill encouraged him and said that Hank would eventually come around, he just needs time. Meanwhile unbeknownst to them, Don Frank Vincenzo had sent out three assassins to terminate Akiara. The assassins subsisted of Thorn’s new second in command, after Wenona Nance was killed, named Razor, an enforcer of the Vincenzo Mafia called Viper, and a solo illegal bounty hunter named Clint Harrison. The three of them managed to track down Akiara to the outskirts of Wasilla and deduced that he must be residing on one of the local ranches. The new state DA, Darryl Eloh was in town and was killed by the assassins only a month after the death of the former DA, Tyler Carroll, adding to the “Curse of the Alaskan DA” myth.

Akiara paid attention to the news and noticed the assassins skulking around the wilderness during nights. He knew they were looking for him and feared that Hank might’ve been right in his assessment. Which would mean that Hank and the ranch were in trouble. Akiara told Bill to stay behind and hunker down while he rushed off to Hank’s.

In the meantime, Hank was doing some work on his ranch when he noticed that something was off. The assassins had arrived and attacked Hank since they believed he was hiding Akiara. He managed to fend them off, but they cornered him at one point with no way out. At this point, Akiara arrived and joined in the fight. Hank and Akiara fought valiantly, but both refused to kill which caused them to stumble and the assassins attempted to flee, except for Razor who attempted to kill Akiara and Hank. However, Sheriff Lyle and Bill showed up just in time and shot Razor, killing him. Viper and Harrison managed to escape the shots but Viper was killed by Harrison later on. The WPD discovered his body but the whereabouts of Harrison are unknown. He has not been seen since and it is speculated that he is on the run from Vincenzo.

Akiara apologized to Hank and swore not to involve himself in any vigilante ordeals anymore. Hank accepted his apology and welcomed Akiara on his ranch again. The four of them later on had their respective drinks. After Lyle passed out, ‘Foot joined in with his Dr. Pepper.

The months after were mostly uneventful, consisting of hard work on the ranch and hanging out in the evenings with Akiara and Bill, with a few visits from Toby, Sheriff Lyle and ‘Foot.

### **Akiara’s death and return to California**

On June 2nd of 1985, while Hank was working on the ranch, Akiara would be slain in a duel against his former rival, Yamanashi who had been tracking him for weeks. Yamanashi left immediately after dealing with Akiara. Lt. McCormack, who was in the area looking for Hank in the first place, got word of this from Sheriff Lyle and went to check out the crime scene. Informed by Lt. Horford that Akiara was of Wushu origin, McCormack knew that he and Hank were connected in some way. Horford also handed him Akiara’s sword and after reading a Biblical inscription on it, McCormack went straight to Hank’s ranch.

## Personality

Kind, gentle, smart, understanding, high set of morals, wise, strong, empathetic and above all, manly, Hank symbolizes what it means to be a man, the definition of manliness, he embodies the idea of the masculine principle. But he is not without his flaws, he seemingly abandoned his little brother, Damon and civilization after suffering his own personal struggles, and had his bout with drinking, showing despite his tough manly character, he is still human. At heart, Hank is a smalltown southern man, enjoying the little things and never wanting too much in life. A life of hard work, his callous hands told the story, in his heart of hearts, Hank is a follower of Jesus, and a believer in the Bible’s message. Humble to a fault, Hank will never walk over or strongarm any undeserving. A virtuous and penitent man, he is reserved and does not wear his emotions on his sleeve. He observes his surroundings and thinks logically, never leading with his feelings or letting anger take control as he vowed to never repeat what happened long ago at his ranch when he let anger and depression overwhelm him.

## Powers and Abilities

### **Abilities**

* **Martial Artist:** Trained by Wushu Master, Akiara, Hank displays great prowess in combat, even against Wushu Sentinels, Samurais, and Elites such as Yamanashi.
	+ **Art of Vanishment:** One art that is widely taught in the Wushu Clan is the art of disappearing to escape from an unwinnable battle, Hank is clearly well trained in this art and shows great confidence when executing it.
	+ **Expert Swordsmanship:** Dueling Yamanashi, he was able to take one of his swords, disarm him with that sword, then kick it towards Yamanashi, resulting in it going all the way through.
	+ **Expert Stickfighter:**

* **Insatiable Appetite:** He can't stop eating, and nothing will stop him from eating, he eats a pineapple with the skin, who does that?
* **Backhand Slapping Mastery:** Just like his little brother, Hank displays a profound skill, which is to knock people out of his way and even rendering then unconscious with a slap from his backhand.
* **Master** **Pickpocket:** Without anyone noticing, Hank was able to snatch a business card from Yamanashi's pockets which revealed the location of his base.
* **Peak Human Strength:** He flicked a cigarette and the momentum was powerful enough to knock a rifle from McCormack's grasps. He was also able to stab through Yamanashi by kicking a katana towards him, which went through him all the way. This level of strength is unprecedented in humans before, so either Hank is the peak of human evolution or even beyond that.

## Relationships

### **Family**

* Damon Jones - Little Brother
* James Jones † - Father
* Vanessa Jones † - Mother

### **Allies**

* Akiara - Wushu Trainer
* Buck † - Best Friend

### **Enemies**

* Lt. McCormack †

* Wushu Clan
	+ Yamanashi †
	+ Guang

* Elsa Bridges - Ex-girlfriend

## Quotes

> *"Time for daddy to teach you a lesson... that came out wrong"*
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> *"You're not very popular with the ladies, are ya'?"*
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> *"Yeah well, I choose my own destiny"*
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