Winston Scott

* JW4
* TC

*"Rules. Without them, we live with the animals."*
—Winston Scott[src]
**Winston Scott** is the current owner and manager of the New York Continental Hotel, an establishment that functions as a neutral territory and safe zone for criminals and hired killers. No business is allowed to be conducted on Continental grounds, and those who violate this important rule are given severe penalties: which are often ordered and overseen by Winston himself. Although he is a close friend and ally of John Wick, he is still a high-ranking and powerful member of the Continental, and does what he has to do to those who break its rules.

Winston is a pivotal character of the *John Wick* series, who also serves as an antagonist in *John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum* and also as the main protagonist of *The Continental: From the World of John Wick*. He is portrayed by Ian McShane and Colin Woodell.

## History

### Background

*"You have known Mr. Wick for a great many years. It might even be fair to call you friends, yes?"*
—Adjudicator to Winston[src]
Winston holds a powerful position in the underworld society and all assassins know the rules of the Continental. However, Winston's personal history, and that of the hotel, is unknown. It seems that the equipment used to place targets or tabs is of a dated time. Whether this is a stylistic choice or a means of protection has yet to be acknowledged. He may have origins within the Ruska Roma, as he carries their tattoo on his wrist.

The chain of Winston's network appears to be well-connected and respected by many underworld equipment and service providers, to the point that equipment orders can be delivered to the customers' hotel rooms. At one point, he hired Charon to be the receptionist at the Continental, and eventually gained the latter's trust to be his right-hand man.

Sometime before the events of the first film, he and Charon were held hostage by Hex, a mysterious man who was rebelling against the High Table and forcing John Wick to save them.

### *The Continental: From the World of John Wick*

*"You see, I learned a suit doesn't make a man. No, it's what's inside the suit that counts."*
—Winston to the Adjudicator

Back in 1955, Winston and his older brother Frankie Scott were left by their mother inside a car trunk while they were sleeping, as their mother tells them she has to work before leaving her sons, presumed she never came back. Few days later, they were raised as criminals by their father figure, Cormac O'Connor. One night, the brothers hurled a Molotov cocktail into a building room, unaware that there were people inside. Both are in shock, with Winston becoming upset as the two flee the situation. The police apprehended the two and kept them in the interrogating room. Frankie tells Winston not to say anything while Winston is crying and blames himself for what they've done.

In the 1970s, Winston Scott was in London for some business meetings as Winston is known as a good businessman. That night, He then slept with Rosalind Davenport, wife of a businessman he met. Later, in their hotel room, Winston is kidnapped by a couple of thugs in the room. He was then kept in a van and was then brought to New York City. He was escorted to the Continental Hotel in NYC ordered by its manager, Cormac O'Connor accompanied by his personal assistant and right-hand man, Charon. Cormac then asked him about his brother, Frankie, regarding the chaos he created inside the hotel during their New Year's celebration by taking his coin press. Winston not knowing where his brother was forced and ordered by Cormac to find Frankie and retrieve the coin press. If he fails, Cormac would give harsh consequences to both him and his brother. He was then accompanied by Charon while leaving the hotel.

*"My job is to see the future. Now, we are all aware with the height restrictions being lifted here, there's a building boom going on."*
—Winston Scott[src]

Winston seeks support from an old friend named Charlie on finding his brother. Both have a talk involving Frankie until Winston asks for a favor on Charlie that he needs a car in search of his brother. Charlie then gives Winston his automobile on the condition that he take care of it and cover it every time he parks. The car that was given by Charlie is a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Winston then arrives at Chinatown where he encounters the siblings, Lou and Miles, who operate a dojo founded by their father. The siblings were Frankie's close friends and Winston continuously asked questions to them regarding Frankie. Winston then finds out that Miles is a fellow soldier during the Vietnam War along with Frankie. After getting info from the dojo, Winston then arrives at a abandoned theater where he finds Frankie and Yen.

*"His goons bagged me in London. He told me to find you or he'd kill you. Look, I don't care what you lifted from him or why. But you need to get the hell out of here."*
—Winston to Frankie Scott
They were then pursued by Cormac's goons but managed to escape from the abandoned theater. They then arrived at Charlie's RV to seek assistance. The brothers then talk inside the RV while one of Charlie's companions betrays them with Cormac's mob chases them once more. They approached their supporting helicopter, which was intended to accompany them. As they were about to leave, Hansel and Gretel ambushed their chopper with Frankie steps down the chopper and carries a fake coin press. He was shot and killed by Gretel with a rifle leaving Winston and Yen with complete weep.

Winston and Yen managed to escape, seeking help to Lou and Miles's dojo. Winston then informs them that he requires assistance in taking down Cormac in order to acquire his position at the hotel, but Miles warns him that O'Connor is not the man Winston recalled. Next day, Winston then enters the Soup Kitchen or known as the Bowery. He was told by one of the beggars that they don't serve people like his kind. Winston then stabs his knife in the table, leading to all of the people inside to aim at him with guns. He then finds Mazie the Bowery Queen.

After speaking with Mazie, he proceeds to Charlie's RV, where he meets one of his friends, Ronnie. He then invites him to join his team. He and his crew then plan what happens inside the hotel, with Jenkins as their extra member, a trained sniper assassin. Later, when Charon boards a bus, their aim is to order every passenger on board to leave save Charon, who would question and provide more information about himself and the status of Cormac. Winston then arrives to the bus and inquires about Cormac and the Continental, as the plan was successful. He then tells him about his observations about the type of person Cormac is.

*"With me, I was thrown to the system and then sent away. So I invented a new persona, you know, something to disguise me, but it was just a lie. to hide myself from my own shame, cause the truth is, I never got away from Cormac. He was the one to decide what my life was, and now he is doing that with you."*
—Winston to Charon

Later, Winston was kidnapped by Cormac but rescued by Jenkins. Winston and Charon were declared Inimicus when Cormac was able to escape from his office, while they were being pursued by multiple crooks within the Continental Hotel. Both then proceeded to the hotel's vault, but they were discovered by Cormac and his henchmen. Later, a gunfight in the vault revealed that everyone was dead except Winston, Charon, and Cormac, who escaped and made his way to the operations room.

Winston then pursues Cormac until he encounters him beneath the hotel, resulting in a brawl between the two. The fight was subsequently stopped by KD, who shot Cormac, killing him. Winston then used Cormac's severed hand to stop the hotel's self-destruct mode, which Cormac had caused. The Adjudicator, who faces Winston at the front door, paid a visit to the Continental Hotel the next day. Winston then steps down the entrance stairs and shoots her in the head after receiving the Adjudicator's message from the Table. Winston was then named the new manager of the New York Continental.

### *John Wick*

*"Have you thought this through? I mean, chewed down to the bone? You got out once. You dip so much as a pinky back into this pond, you may well find something reaches out and drags you back into its depths."*
—Winston to John Wick[src]
When John sought refuge at the New York Continental Hotel, he goes to the bar to search for Iosef Tarasov after the Russian criminal and his friends robbed his car and in the process killed his dog. Winston greets John as they are old friends, but tells him that such businesses aren't allowed in the hotel, so he's better off just relaxing. He, however, provides Wick the location of the trio which is the Red Circle Club.

After Ms. Perkins breaks the Continental's rules by killing an old assassin and friend to John named Harry, Winston contacts her for a meeting, interrupting her attempted ambush of John. Winston confronts the assassin and calmly tells her that her membership in the Continental has been revoked, after which his henchmen quickly execute her and walk away. He then pays the cleaners and his friend Charlie in disposing her body. He later calls John to tell him where to find Viggo Tarasov (Iosef's father).

### *John Wick: Chapter 2*

*"Nothing. You demand nothing of me, Mr. D'Antonio. This kingdom is mine and mine alone."*
—Winston to Santino D'Antonio[src]

After John's Marker is called in by Santino D'Antonio, Winston informs John that he has no choice but to perform the duty asked of him as it is one of the two rules of the Underworld. After John fulfills his obligation to D'Antonio, Winston visits him to ensure D'Antonio officially records the Marker as fulfilled.

Santino D'Antonio then checks in the New York Continental where he was meeting at Winston at the lounge room. Winston warns Santino what's coming on him. With John free of the marker as stated by Winston, John can possibly kill Santino. Santino being confident of his power tells Winston that he has all of the city to tasked for the search of John Wick and stating that he owned Wick, that he has every right in authority. Still, Winston forewarns Santino about John coming to him.

After the High Table gala held by Santino D'Antonio that was disrupted by John leading to a bloodbath, He eventually flees to the Continental where he threatens Winston. Stating that he has every right to demand in the hotel. But Winston declines and tells Santino that he demands nothing from controlling the hotel as it is his own kingdom ruled by him. Later, Winston tries to keep John from killing D'Antonio on Continental grounds. Nevertheless, John directly kills D'Antonio in front of the horrified Winston.

The next day, Winston meets with John at the Bethesda Fountain and uses his influence to make all of the circling assassins leave. Winston informs John that the bounty on him has been doubled by the High Table and that he was excommunicated from the Continental for killing Santino on Continental grounds.

However, Winston told John that he will delay the announcement by one hour to give John a chance to escape. John tells Winston to warn everyone that comes after him that John will kill them. Winston acknowledged this and also provided John with a Marker from Winston in case he needs it in the future. As John departed, Winston calls in the bounty with orders for it to begin in one hour.

### *John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum*

*"Oh, you can take the Continental, I have no doubt about that. But keeping it, that's a different matter entirely. My allegiances run way beyond this building."
"We are High Table."
"And we are New York City."*
—Winston and the Adjudicator[src]

Winston returns in the third film, first seen walking into the hotel with his personal assistant and concierge, Charon, who discusses with him about John Wick's excommunicado and whether or not the odds are at even, Winston responds by claiming "A $14,000,000 bounty on his head, every interested parties wants a piece of it, [ I'd ] say the odds are about even". As the excommunicado goes into effect and the emails are distributed, Winston simply remarks "And away we go". He also expresses hope John has found sanctuary with confidence in his abilities, as Charon smiles slightly.

Charon later contacts Winston of an Adjudicator's arrival to meet with him and discuss the situation regarding Santino D'Antonio's death by John, Winston greets her and immediately discloses the events that occurred in the hotel, the Adjudicator however disregards the events and conveys that they are here to discuss the rules that John broke in the hotel. Winston informs them that they still have Santino's corpse which they request to see, during this they observes his corpse and analyses the weapon of which he was killed with while Winston regards that he had no control over John's actions.

The Adjudicator disregards this however by deeming that he lives because Winston had deemed it as such and that when given the opportunity to kill John he allowed him to live, bringing up their prior history as friends. Winston attempts to justify his actions by claiming he had made John excommunicado but the Adjudicator remains unmoved as Winston had given John an hour to escape, Winston rebukes them stating that John had broken the rules in "his hotel" to which the Adjudicator flaws. They state that Winston's paucity of fealty to the High Table is problematic, Winston defends himself by pointing out his service of over 4 decades to which the Adjudicator rebuffs him as he had been serving under the Table. They make it explicit that they are here to adjudge his actions and gives him a week to get the Continental Hotel's affairs in order to which he will have to step down and his successor will be named. Winston simply comments for them to "Enjoy [your] stay at the Continental".

John encounters the Elder from the High Table, and assigns him the task to kill Winston. After a brief fight and chase with Zero and his students, John reaches the hotel and requests to see Winston to which Charon agrees to. Winston waits in an exclusive room, as John informs him to tread carefully while he discusses John's task to kill him, Winston holds a gun to him and tells him not to make the mistake of feeling that it is a personal matter, requesting him that if he feels he must do so, then to put a bullet through his heart. Winston however tries to covertly use the situation to his advantage as he does not desire to resign from his position and attempts to persuade John to take up arms against the High Table with him as he has no intention of stepping down. He informs John to choose either to kill him or to join him, asking who he wishes to die as, the Baba Yaga ( Russian: *Boogeyman*) or as a man who loved and was loved by his wife. The Adjudicator then abruptly interrupts the scene and greets John while asking of Winston's decision to step down, which he simply replies that "[I] think not" as John refuses to kill Winston.

The Adjudicator then contacts the Administration ordering the New York Continental Hotel to be deconsecrated. They inform them that business may now be conducted on Continental grounds and Winston remarks that "This haven is safe no more". John requests his privileges and access to guns to which Winston grants, as Charon other Continental employees arm themselves for the High Table forces while Winston takes refuge in the vault. During the skirmish, the Adjudicator contacts Winston, claiming that he can not go on forever to which Winston hangs up on her in a churlish manner. The Adjudicator then contacts Winston one last time for an ultimatum, and suggests a parlay to which Winston agrees, after John kills Zero and his colleagues.

On the roof of the hotel, Winston and the Adjudicator discuss the circumstances with the Adjudicator alleges the situation does not last forever. Winston affirms this but also ensures that while the High Table may take the hotel from him, they can not hold it as his allegiances extend beyond the hotel. The Adjudicator asks for a proposition, to which Winston formally requests to keep his power under the table, acknowledging he overstepped his fealty and chooses to re-pledge his fealty to the High Table. A solicitous John remarks to Winston while the Adjudicator realizes Winston is merely showing strength so as to retain his power and position, informing him that the High Table will accept his fealty, however they still express concern about John and what they should do, Proving his loyalty, he shoots John in front of the Adjudicator, notably aiming for his bulletproof suit as John falls off the roof.

The Adjudicator then reconsecrates the hotel, Charon remarks that it was "well-played". They check for John's corpse in the alley-way, which is missing, and informs Winston, who mistakenly takes it that John had died possibly feigning it. The Adjudicator, suspicious, warns him of the repercussions that could ensue from the Table and below should John survive to which Winston acknowledges and then remarks "Baba Yaga". The Adjudicator departs the hotel as, Winston grins, suggesting that he may know exactly what happened to John, who is soon revealed to have barely survived the fall and taken shelter with the Bowery King.

It remains unclear if Winston had intended to simply feign John's death or if he genuinely intended to kill John.

### *John Wick: Chapter 4*

*"Killing a man can turn him into a martyr. Letting him live, tells the world he's a coward or a turncoat."*
—Winston to The Bowery King[src]

As punishment for Winston's failure to kill John, the High Table sent the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, who condemned and destroyed the New York Continental, killed Charon and declared Winston excommunicado.

Enraged over his friend's murder, Winston met with the Bowery King, asking for him to arrange a meeting with John. Winston claimed that he had no choice but to shoot John as the High Table held all of the cards, but now he's aggrieved. John meets with Winston at Charon's grave where he expresses his condolences and Winston urges him to fight the High Table smartly by turning their own rules against them: issue a duel between John and Vincent which will guarantee John's freedom win or lose. Although John doesn't sit at the table, his family, the Ruska Roma, does and he can have them issue the challenge and offer John up as a proxy. Although the Ruska Roma tore up John's ticket, Winston tells him to get it mended or to "pick a plot" in the graveyard. John asks what Winston gets out of this and Winston tells him that he is good at getting revenge.

After John succeeds, Winston, as John's second, delivers his challenge to Vincent with John's demands: the unconditional release from any and all obligations to the Table. Winston adds his own demands that his ex-communicado is to be lifted upon John's victory, Winston's title restored, the Continental rebuilt and reconsecrated, all at the expense of the Table. Vincent accepts after Winston plays to his ego, but reveals that Winston's life is forfeit if John loses.

Under the authority of The Harbinger, the Table's representative, John and Vincent met to agree to the terms of their duel, but Vincent nominated Caine to fight in his place. Winston watched the meeting where John was surprised to learn of Winston's own addition to his demands, but simply remarked with amusement that Winston always has angle which he acknowledges. Winston urged John to find safe harbor sooner rather than later until it's time for the duel.

Winston later arrives in the subway with the Bowery King who provides John with a new bulletproof suit for the duel and a gun. With a bounty issued for John to keep him from arriving at the duel, the Bowery King drives the two men down an underground river to get John close and Winston and John discuss how, when it came to burying Charon, Winston put on his gravestone "friend" because that's what Charon truly was to him: Winston's friend. Before parting ways, John asks Winston to put Loving Husband on his gravestone if he is to die which Winston promises to do.

Despite all of the assassins trying to kill him, John manages to reach the duel with the help of Caine and Mr. Nobody. After three rounds of the duel, John is gravely wounded while Caine suffers non-life-threatening injuries. Vincent goes to finish John off himself, failing to realize that John hadn't fired during the third round. With a laugh, Winston called Vincent an arrogant fool and revealed Vincent's mistake just before John shoots Vincent in the head, killing him. With John's victory, the Harbinger declared that John's obligation to the High Table was satisfied, and he is free as are Caine and his daughter, as Vincent threatened the life of Caine's daughter in order to get him to comply while Winston would be fully reinstated, and all of his terms fulfilled. Before John died peacefully of his wounds, Winston promised to bring his old friend home.

Winston and the Bowery King later visited John's grave together, having buried John next to his wife. Before leaving, Winston bid John farewell in Russian, calling John "my son."

## Personality

*"You stabbed the devil in the back and forced him back into the life that he had just left. You incinerated the priest's temple. Burned it to the ground. Now he's free of the marker, what do you think he'll do?"*
—Winston to Santino D'Antonio[src]

Winston deeply believes in the rules and the consequences of the assassin underworld. He takes his role as management very seriously, as he had Ms. Perkins executed for attempting to assassinate John Wick on company grounds. Even though he considers Wick a friend, he deemed him excommunicado for killing Santino D'Antonio in the same place, although he afforded him a grace period of one hour. He considered Wick a friend to the degree that he warned him about re-entering the assassin underworld and discreetly informed him of Viggo Tarasov's whereabouts so he could maintain plausible deniability, as well as reinstating his privileges when the Continental had been deconsecrated.

Despite his respect for the rules, Charon's death as well as the loss of the Continental and his Excommunicado status caused Winston to join John's rebellion, showing a more vengeful side to himself. He brought a more tactical approach to their vengeance, showing that his desire for revenge has not clouded his judgement.

## Abilities

*"I have served and been a beacon of order and stability to our industry for over 40 years."*
—Winston Scott[src]
* **Expert Networker**: Other than an ability to freeze all assassins nearby with the use of an old 6230 Nokia phone call, Winston has not yet demonstrated any particular close quarter or ranged combat skill to be recorded. He does appear to have a respectable amount of intellect, given he knew of the mark prior to the events in the first film. Winston is shown to wield considerable power in the underworld society and his authority is unchallengeable within the Continental's confines. When D'Antonio, a member of the High Table, demands from Winston at the hotel the revocation of John Wick's membership, Winston rebuffs him by saying, "This kingdom is mine, and mine alone." While negotiating with the Adjudicator, Winston stated that the High Table might be able to take the Continental from him, but he expressed doubt that they could keep it as loyalties to Winston went deeper than just that building. Knowing that Winston will be on his side was enough for John to turn against the High Table. Even after being declared excommunicado himself, Winston's networking skills were not diminished as he was still able to aid John in their war against the High Table.

*"You always have an angle, don't you?"
"Doesn't everyone?"*
—John Wick and Winston Scott[src]
* **Expert Manipulator**: Winston is also a skilled manipulator, able to convince John to abandon his quest to have his ex-communicado dismissed and to take up arms against the High Table, only to turn on John at the last second to demonstrate his true loyalty for the Adjudicator, convincing her to let him keep his position at the Continental. However, this may have been a manipulation of the Adjudicator as Winston possibly only pretended to betray his friend in such a way that it seemed to be genuine. Winston later claims to the Bowery King that he had no other choice as the High Table held all of the cards, but the Bowery King points out that it was Winston who held the gun. Winston was also able to manipulate the Marquis into accepting John's duel by appealing to his vanity and ego. After learning of Winston's addition to his terms for the duel with the Marquis de Gramont, John notes with amusement that Winston is always working an angle, which he confirms.

*"Last time you spoke to him, you shot him off a roof."
"I had no choice. They held all the cards."*
—Bowery King and Winston Scott[src]
* **Expert Marksman**: Winston, as a former member of MI6, is an expert marksman. When shooting John, he shot him several times without missing a single shot while also intentionally hitting the bulletproof material of his suit but still convinced the Adjudicator he was shooting to kill.

*"Si vis pacem, parabellum."*
—Winston[src]
* **Multilingualism**: Winston speaks English, Italian, Latin, French, and Russian.

## Equipment

### Weapons

*"If you feel you must, put a bullet through my heart."*
—Winston to John Wick[src]
* **Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless**: Winston's sidearm is an ornate nickel .32 ACP pistol with pearl grips. He offered it to John and soon received it back in time to shoot him off the roof of the Continental.

## Trivia

* Winston takes his martinis with three olives.
* Winston might be an analogy to Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld.
* In *John Wick: Chapter 4*, Winston is shown to have a tattoo with the Ruska Roma crest, suggesting that he's either affiliated with or a member of the organization.
* In *John Wick: Chapter 4*, Winston refers to John Wick as "my son" while saying goodbye to him in Russian at John's grave. As John is stated several times to be an orphan, it's unclear if this is meant to be literal or if it's just a term of affection by Winston.
* Towards the end of *John Wick: Chapter 4* when Winston's sleeve rides up, various tattoos are seen which indicate that, at some point, he may have been a member of the Ruska Roma just like John Wick.

## Gallery

Winston hiding in the vault in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.Winston getting John Wick's bounty ready.Winston and John Wick.Winston with a blood marker in his hand.Winston and The Marquis de Gramont in John Wick: Chapter 4.Winston with John Wick and The Bowery King in John Wick: Chapter 4.Winston and Charon in John Wick: Chapter 4.Winston Scott character card in the John Wick: Chapter 4 Steelbook.Winston Scott tarot cardA young Winston ScottWinston having guns pointed directly at him.
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *John Wick*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *John Wick: Chapter 2*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *John Wick: Chapter 4*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lance Reddick Calls Ian McShane’s ‘John Wick’ Character His ‘Brother’ in Final Interview
6. ↑ Did Winston Really Try To Kill John Wick In Chapter 3? Ian McShane And Lance Reddick Respond
7. ↑ Translates from Latin to: *"If you want peace, prepare for war."*