Above right: John Castaway, clad in his Quarryman armor.
Real Name: Jon Canmore
Other Alias: Jon Carter
Species: Human
Gender: Male
First Appearance: "Hunter's Moon" Part I
Other Appearances: "Hunter's Moon" Parts II and III, "The Journey," "For It May Come True," "Angels In The Night"
Of the three Canmore children born to Charles Canmore, Jon Canmore was the youngest. He was present (as were his brother and sister) when his father confronted Demona atop Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and had tried in vain to prevent the elder Canmore from fighting. But while Jason became consumed with the desire for revenge, and Robyn took on a persona of cold calculation, Jon was different. He did not believe that all gargoyles were intrinsically evil, though the Demon obviously was and needed to be destroyed.
Upon reaching adulthood, the Canmores began their career as the Hunters. Hiding under a variety of identities, they travelled the world, attempting to find Demona, and leaving a trail of violence in their wake. In 1996, lured there by reports of gargoyle sightings, the three came to Manhattan.
Jon assumed the identity of Jon Carter, a television reporter for local station WVRN. Under the cover of a story on Manhattan's skyline, Jon visited the Eyrie Building and interviewed David Xanatos, questioning about the six gargoyles he brought from Scotland and their whereabouts. Xanatos claimed he'd destroyed them because they didn't suit his tastes, but Jon found a piece of stone skin, proving that the living gargoyles had been at Castle Wyvern.
Soon after this, the Hunters attacked Goliath, Hudson, and Angela on a rooftop, and Jason himself nearly killed the young female. Goliath swore to avenge the attack upon her by killing the lead Hunter.
The next night, while Jason spent time with Elisa Maza, Robyn and Jon flew their airship through the city, hoping to gain gargoyle attention. Their ploy worked, as Demona, and the group of Goliath, Brooklyn, and Lexington, invaded the vessel, bringing the battle to them. However, the pair were ready, and captured the four gargoyles when the Demona and the other three bumped into and attacked one another. However, the four escaped, and Goliath and Demona nearly killed Jon and Robyn.
When Jason returned to their airship, and discovered their apparent failure, he was outraged. It didn't help when Jon, who'd listened to the conversation between the Manhattan clan members and Demona, informed him that the Manhattan clan could have helped them against Demona had Jason not wounded Angela.
Using a tracking device planted on Goliath, the Canmores found his clan's home- the clock tower. Robyn was to hit the tower with missiles, destroying the clan, while Jon and Jason swooped in on their air-bikes to finish any survivors. However, at that moment, Elisa came to the precinct house, and Jason, while he didn't seem to care for the risk to everyone else in the building, shocked Jon when he flew down to save her, just as Robyn destroyed the gargoyles' home.
While Jason flew away with Elisa, Jon was to finish off any survivors, but, seeing them for the good and honorable beings they were, he let them go. He tried to conceal this from Robyn, saying they were all dead, but she saw them leave the ruined clock tower.
With the clan's home shattered, the Canmores turned their attention to Dominique Destine, whom they now knew was Demona. They convened in their airship, and set down in a dam-blocked river. As they began to unravel the encryptions on a top secret disk Robyn stole from Nightstone Unlimited, Goliath tracked them down. The three Canmores attacked the gargoyle leader, who soon gained assistance from Broadway and Elisa, despite Goliath's orders to remain behind.
Jon was knocked from his airbike, and was unable to interfere in the battle, to his regret. Goliath and Jason, now bitter enemies, faced off, while Elisa attempted to intercede. As a result, when Goliath punched the eldest Canmore off of the dam, Elisa was caught and fell with him. Both seemed to fall to their deaths.
Jon was shocked, then enraged, furious with the gargoyles, whom he now truly saw as evil, and himself, because he hadn't destroyed them when he had a chance to. It was at this point that the two remaining Canmores decoded the disk, which contained Demona's master plan- to wipe the human race off the face of the earth using powerful magic and a combination of chemicals, the DI-7 disinfectant and the CV-1000 carrier virus. They learned that the gargoyle planned to enact her plan the next night at St. Damien's Cathedral, so they waited.
That night, they made their attack. Jon, edging closer and closer to madness, crash-landed their aircraft into the aging church, and both Canmores made to attack Demona, clad in powerful robotic exo-suits. However, they were ambushed by the Manhattan clan, who were ignorant of the immortal gargoyle's plans. They battled until Jason arrived. Jon was surprised but pleased, saying that they could now finish the clan- but Jason told him that he'd been right all along, and that Goliath's clan was not evil. Jon protested, but Jason continued to profess his certainty, and almost convinced him he had been right- until Brooklyn, who'd pursued Demona cried out in pain from being hit with the Demon's laser. Goliath moved a bit towards Jason, and Jon panicked, shooting at the gargoyle- but Jason blocked the blast with his own body. Terrified at what he'd done, and unable to accept responsibility for his actions- he blamed the gargoyles- Jon Canmore went insane. He flew off into the night, swearing that he would have his revenge.
Jon Canmore was now a wanted man, but he found support from an unlikely organization- the Illuminati Society. They allowed him to set up a new identity, that of John Castaway. They changed his features subtly, while Jon himself did the rest with his already-good acting abilities. They also funded him, giving the means for Jon to continue his vendetta. Convincing himself he was at war with the gargoyle species, he founded the Quarrymen, an army devoted to the end of gargoyles everywhere. Canmore- now Castaway- plucked his ranks from mercenaries and frightened citizens.
Soon after the Quarrymen were founded, John led the group in an attack on Goliath and Elisa, and nearly managed to slay the pair- however, Vinnie, a new and uncertain Quarryman recruit, interfered. John was defeated, but escaped on a Quarrymen helicopter.
In the Goliath Chronicles, Castaway gained a company, the Castaway Corporation, but otherwise laid low. He did appear to personally supervise a transaction, the purchase of military-grade weaponry from a third-world country, but made the foolish command to attack the gargoyles with it when they appeared on the scene. As a result, Castaway and his men were arrested. However, John did not stay behind bars long.
Only a few months later, Castaway was able to trap and apparently destroy all but two of the gargoyles, and even got them blamed for it, faking a botched terrorist attack. Despite his criminal record, Castaway was at this point rather friendly with Assistant D.A. Margot Yale. When he learned his trap had not destroyed Angela and Bronx, he led an attack on the train they were on, which was taking them to an upstate holding facility. This was his fatal mistake, for, while he nearly destroyed the train in his attempt, the gargoyles saved it. John Castaway confronted Goliath in the locomotive part of the train, and set the train speeding towards destruction, but the gargoyle leader defeated him, and gave him to the proper authorities. The Quarrymen were completely shattered by this event, and gargoyles gained the acceptance they deserved.
What happened to Castaway after this is unknown. It is likely, however, that he paid for his crimes.
In Greg Weisman's Master Plan, John Castaway would have continued to lead the Quarrymen, and would have played an antagonistic role in both "Gargoyles" and "Bad Guys". The Quarrymen would have survived him and continued onward into the future, led by his descendants.
Jon Canmore was a skilled warrior, proficient in many techniques and weapons. He was also very intelligent and reasonable, before he went mad. As John Castaway, he had the Illuminati backing him up, and also learned (or revealed) oratory skills. His main weakness was his guilt, and his intertwined inability to accept his mistakes as his own.