John Black was a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera originally aired on NBC and now streaming on Peacock.
John was created by scriptwriters Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina and Leah Laiman as the Pawn in 1985, and introduced by executive producers Betty Corday and Al Rabin.
On January 24, 1986, daytime newcomer and former minor-league baseball player Drake Hogestyn joined the cast as the Pawn without his bandages; he later assumed the alias of John Black.
Hogestyn attributed the plot twist to the "producers' own brilliance" (despite his suggestion of the storyline a year earlier), and appreciated the decision from a business perspective.
When Hall left the series in 1987 and Marlena was killed off, it took some time for the producers to pair John with another woman: "I get the impression they're trying to keep a low profile because of Deidre's departure".
[21] Finally believing that Hogestyn was popular enough to hold his own, the writers introduced a new love interest; John/Roman was paired with Diana Colville, played by General Hospital star Genie Francis.
[19] Diana also had a romance with Mike Horton (Michael T. Weiss) and a failed engagement to Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston), and was considered as a love interest for the returning Bo Brady (Reckell); however, Hogestyn's chemistry with Francis "just couldn't be denied".
"[19] John/Roman initially tries to keep Diana at arm's length because he fears getting as close to another woman as he did with Marlena, but her near-death experience was a "turning point in their relationship".
He has spent a good portion of his tenure on the series as an undercover agent for the International Security Alliance (ISA), the show's fictional secret-intelligence service (similar to that of Bruce Lee’s character from his final completed film Enter The Dragon).
Days introduced audiences to the character in November 1985 as a heavily-bandaged amnesiac who was recovering from extensive reconstructive facial surgery.
During this time, despite an overall "Cold War" vibe -- with the espionage angle, strategic locations such as Stockholm, Russian nationals such as Petrov and the Englund siblings (Lars and Britta), and the presence of the KGB -- the underlying theme was more related to rivalries between competing Salem-based criminal organizations.
They come to believe that John was really Marlena's husband Roman Brady, who had been presumed dead two years earlier, and resume their lives as a happily-married couple and parents.
Knowing that their affair had hurt so many people, John pursues other relationships – most significantly with Kristen Blake, Stefano's adopted daughter.
Charlotte tries to kill Marlena, but drugs John instead; he awakens paralyzed, but his memory is restored and the doctors say that he can be cured at a Swiss clinic.
The FBI and the Salem Police Department order Rafe Hernandez to arrest John for embezzling from his company, Basic Black.
John leaves town to take care of Basic Black business in Europe, hoping to give Brady space.
John wants to rejoin the ISA to take advantage of its resources to find his parents and decode the mystery of his past for the sake of his children and grandchildren.
Timothy was a kind, charitable, modest farmer who was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in the Korean War, and was believed to have died heroically in battle two months before John's birth.
Yo Ling's views became more radical and he helped establish the Phantom Alliance, an organization of professional spies and assassins whose goal was to destabilize the West and bring about a worldwide revolution.
The alliance grew in power and influence, establishing a clandestine training center in the United States with the private New England Winterthorne Academy as cover.
The family fakes Forrest Alamain's death in a swimming accident, and Yo Ling and Petrov bring him to Winterthorne to be indoctrinated, trained as an assassin, and groomed for a role in the alliance's upper echelon.
In 1986, Stefano (through Petrov) stakes his "pawn" as a wager in a high-stakes yacht race in Miami with Victor Kiriakis and ISA director George Nickerson.
Petrov and Nickerson hint to Victor and other Salem residents that John is the presumed-dead Roman Brady, a police captain and former high-value ISA agent.
In late 2016 and early 2017, as Drake Hogestyn was recovering from injuries sustained in an on-set accident, John's absence is explained by a visit to his native Louisiana and a long-term "mission".
In September 2023, an amnesiac veteran (played by Dick Van Dyke) was revealed as the real Timothy Robicheaux (John's father).
Timothy fractured his skull in the Korean War (causing the long-term amnesia), and was left for dead by fellow soldier Joseph Bell.
Although no verifiable witnesses came to light, Konstantin believed the Pawn shot and killed his daughter Catharina, and part of his arrival in Salem was to gain revenge against Victor and his former associates Steve and John.
A final confrontation with Konstantin ended up with the gangster dead, and John planning another trip to Greece to find closure to this mysterious part of his past.
In 2025, it was revealed that rather than an assassination, John as the "Pawn" was sent by Victor to Greece in 1986, not to kill anyone, but rather to fake the deaths of Catharina and her mother (Konstantin's wife) to help them get out of a bad marriage/situation and emigrate to America.
Per press releases and other information from the production team at Days of Our Lives, it appears of this writing that John will disappear, and ultimately perish, during yet another secret ISA mission.