Jon Norden is a Resistance member who was erroneously targeted by Terminators in the past.
History[]
The Devils of Death Valley[]
In 1998, ecologist Ken Norden moved his family, wife Sara and 7-year-old son Jon, from San Francisco to Death Valley to "get away from the evils of so called civilization" for a whole year. Ken instilled in his son a love for fauna, flora, and the relationships between them and the environment. After two exhausting months living in a camper in the unforgiving desert, Jon and his mom were tired of their situation and ready to head back to the city. This was not to be, as serial killer Frederic "Killerman" Austen invaded their camper and took them hostage: two Terminators, D810.X and D800.L, were after him. Austen intended to use the Nordens as a negotiation chip, mistakenly thinking they were the "Sarah and John" the cyborgs were after.[1]
The two Terminators soon arrived at the Norden's, and Killerman forced the family to escape into the desert. After a long chase, the Nordens took shelter from a storm in a derelict house. The following morning, the two Terminators located them. When Ken Norden tried negotiating with them, D810.X opened fire and killed him in front of his son. Jon, Sara and Killerman were saved by the surprising arrival of bounty hunter VanDirk and local guide Scotty, who had had an earlier encounter with the Terminators. The four humans escaped aboard a diesel train, again pursued by the now seriously damaged Terminator duo. D810.X jumped aboard the train, killing Killerman and Scotty's mule Jezebel. VanDirk forced the train to crash and dragged the two Nordens away from the Terminators. Before they could kill the Nordens, VanDirk finally managed to destroy both cyborgs with dynamite.[1]
After the End[]
Jon grew up to become an ecologist, like his father, and survived Judgment Day. He grew to blame this unknown "John Connor" for the death of his father, a blame that eventually turned into hate. Believing that the machines' final objective was to sterilize the whole planet, Jon joined a resistance group that operated out of Los Angeles center called Group Beta.[2]
Thirty-two years after the Death Valley events, in 2030, Jon Norden was always accompanied by his dog, named Jezebel in honor of Scotty's mule. When Skynet's forces located Group Beta's hideout, Jon was one of the few survivors of the attack. Initially suspecting the existence of a traitor among their ranks, Jon changed his mind when Jezebel found what appeared to be a rat robot, one of Skynet's new tools. The survivors decided that they had to warn Connor about this new threat. Jon deduced that Connor's people had to be hiding somewhere near Topanga Canyon, so he headed there with fellow Group Beta soldier Walker.[2]
During the trek between Los Angeles and Topanga, Jon and Walker ran into a machine convoy and liberated a human prisoner, a young woman called Selina. Selina accompanied them to the area where Jon figured Connor was hiding, discovering that that was indeed the hideout of the Resistance's leader. Unable to contain himself, Jon punched John Connor in the face for his role in his father's death, having to be dragged away by several Resistance members. Jon was, by his own admittance, a scientist like his father and not a soldier: when John Connor allowed his men to release Jon, Norden was quickly beaten into submission.[2]
When Jon woke up, Connor asked him for an explanation. Jon bitterly told him about the events that had transpired in Death Valley thirty years before. Connor explained that he and his mother had had to flee Death Valley when the two Terminators had arrived. Connor was sorry but insisted his survival had been the main priority at the time. Afterward, Jon joined Connor in an assault into a nearby Skynet facility where they believed an answer to the existence of the rat robots might lay, confirming that the machines were performing experiments on animals. While Connor tried to rally the leaders of the Resistance for an assault on the underground complex where they believed Skynet was performing similar experiments on humans, Jon opened up to Selina about his conflicted feelings for the Resistance leader, ending with Selina kissing him.[2]
After barely escaping a new ambush, Resistance leader Darren Volte accused Jon of being a spy. Even though Selina offered an alibi, Jon's previous assault on Connor had the Resistance doubt of his allegiance so he was kept under close tabs during the attack on Skynet's lab. During this attacl Jon and his dog proved their value, saving John Connor from a Terminator endoskeleton. Inside the lab, they found Project AX, Skynet's brainwashing program, and Selina was revealed as AX-19, the actual mole. Selina warned Skynet's forces as Jon held her at gunpoint, not wanting to kill her. The decision was taken from him when Skynet's bombs killed her. Jon cried over Selina's dead body until Connor dragged him away before the base exploded. As they escaped, Connor apologized again to Norden, this time about having ever doubted him, and swore to him that they would fight as long as necessary to recover their world.[2]
Notes[]
- Jon Norden was created by writer Alan Grant.
Appearances[]
- The Terminator: Death Valley
- The Terminator: The Dark Years
- The Terminator RPG (Mentioned only)
- The Terminator RPG Campaign Book: Death in the Valley