John Clark (Ryanverse character)

John T. Clark (real name John Terence Kelly, at times codenamed Rainbow Six) is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy. He has been featured in many of his Ryanverse novels. Although he first appeared in The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988), his origin story was detailed in Without Remorse (1993).

Clark has been described by his creator as "Ryan's dark side" and "more inclined to take physical action than Jack is."^[1] A former Navy SEAL, he became an operations officer for the CIA, and at one point served as Ryan's driver and bodyguard. During Ryan's first term as President, Clark served as director of a multinational counterterrorism unit codenamed Rainbow, which was composed of elite soldiers from countries comprising the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After retiring from CIA and Rainbow, Clark then worked for The Campus, an off-the-books intelligence organization created by President Ryan, later acquiring a position as director of operations.

In film, Clark has been portrayed by Willem Dafoe, Liev Schreiber, and Michael B. Jordan, the latter in a planned series including adaptations of Without Remorse and the in-development Rainbow Six.^[2] Clark has also appeared in the Rainbow Six series of video games.