Jon Canmore was born on November 26, 1972. As a child, he traveled with his siblings Jason and Robyn and their father, Charles Canmore, to Paris in 1980. On the night of September 28, Jon witnessed his father’s death at the hands of Demona inside Notre Dame Cathedral. He followed Jason and Robyn into the catacombs, where he begged Robyn to abandon the family feud with gargoyles. Despite these doubts, Jon joined his siblings in their Hunter crusade against Demona and all remaining gargoyles.

When the Hunters arrived in New York City in October 1996, Jon adopted the alias Jon Carter and posed as a reporter for WVRN. Under this cover, he visited Castle Wyvern to search for evidence of gargoyles and discovered a fragment of stone skin. Although he accompanied his siblings in their attacks against Goliath and the Manhattan Clan, he remained uneasy, believing that while Demona was an enemy, the others might not be. Lacking the courage to defy his family, he allowed Jason to convince him to continue the hunt.

After the destruction of the Clock Tower, Jon was ordered to eliminate any surviving gargoyles. When he saw the clan protecting their wounded, Hudson and Lexington, he could not bring himself to fire and allowed them to escape. However, when instructed to frame the gargoyles publicly for the Clock Tower’s destruction in his Jon Carter persona, he complied, exposing them to a citywide manhunt.

During the confrontation at the dam, Jon avoided the fighting and made no effort to stop it. When Goliath sent Jason over the dam, Jon believed his brother dead and was overwhelmed by guilt, convincing himself that his mercy had caused Jason’s fall. His hatred intensified after learning of Demona’s Operation Clean Slate. At Saint Damien’s Cathedral, Jon turned on the clan after they arrived, was defeated alongside Robyn, and was nearly killed by Goliath. When Jason and Elisa Maza intervened, Jason urged Jon to abandon his hatred. Jon refused and attempted to shoot Goliath, but Jason stepped in front of the blast, which severed his spine. Unable to face his guilt, Jon fled, vowing revenge.

Cut off from the Canmore family’s resources, Jon allied himself with the Illuminati and reinvented himself as John Castaway, leader of the Quarrymen. He recruited experienced fighters and fearful civilians, including Vinnie, and led attacks against the gargoyles. In one early assault at the ruins of the Clock Tower, he nearly killed Goliath and Elisa but was stopped by Vinnie. He later ordered restraint on Halloween 1996 to avoid public backlash.

In December 1996, Jason and Robyn discovered Castaway’s true identity through a television commercial. Robyn confronted him at the Quarryman Brownstone, but he rejected her outright. In May 1997, following Goliath’s capture by the Gargoyle Taskforce, Castaway publicly supported the action and disrupted proceedings at the New York City Criminal Courthouse, prompting a hearing on Goliath’s sentience and legal rights. At the hearing, Castaway testified as a supposed historian, only to be exposed as the leader of a hate group.

Castaway exploited the hearing’s publicity to expand his movement, leading protests and inspiring acts of violence, including an attempted mass shooting at a gargoyle convention. On Halloween 1997, he escalated his tactics, ordering armed patrols and directing attacks against gargoyles, costumed humans, and sympathizers, specifically targeting Elisa. This campaign drew the attention of Gnash, whose confrontation with the Quarrymen led to Castaway’s arrest after he attempted to harm the young gargoyle.

Despite his capture, John Castaway will continue to pose a threat. By the year 2198, his descendants will remain aligned with anti-gargoyle causes and hostile toward the Monmouths, descended from Robyn Canmore and Dingo.