Captain John Sheridan, `The One Who Will Be`
SPECIES:Human
HOMEWORLD:Earth
DATE OF BIRTH:Unknown
ORGANISATION:Army of Light
STATUS:Command B5 & Rangers
ALLEGIANCE:Light
ACTOR:Bruce Boxleitner

A descendant of General Philip John Sheridan of the Union Army and son of a former Earth Alliance diplomatic envoy, David, who taught him to "live each moment like it was his last, to love without reservation and fight without fear". During his childhood father and son argued frequently over their principles until they finally agreed to accept their differences, although during their fights they never stopped talking to each other. John Sheridan developed a fascination with the mysterious and unknown, enjoying the emotions experienced when he wandered around eerie places such haunted houses and Native American burial grounds, always feeling that being alone was part of the fun and maintained his interests as he grew older, adding an interest in secret organizations. On his 21st birthday he traveled to Tibet to see the new Dalai Lama being installed, and had the honor of sharing a meal with him. Shortly after this he joined Earth Force, before the planetary draft caused by the Earth-Minbari War, believing that he should serve something greater than himself and try to make a difference somehow and somewhere. Passing through the academy, where he learnt that a lack of knowledge would kill you, he passed his finals with flying colors after David Sheridan simulated rainfall on the roof to help him sleep, something that John had always found relaxing, and felt very proud when permitted to wear the Earth Force uniform for the first time. His Earth Force serial number is "X07Y39 Alpha".

His first assignment was on the Moon-Mars patrol, where he was taken under the wing of Jack Maynard who gave him the nickname "Swamp Rat" and taught John Sheridan so much that he came to believe that Jack Maynard knew all that there was to know about being in Earth Force. From there he began a galaxy trotting career that was to take him to more locations that he could remember, including Matok during the Karanee Expedition and Janos 7 where he was stalked by a grylor, assuming command of the Agamemnon with the rank of captain in time for the Earth-Minbari War. Sheridan was to achieve the only real victory for the Earth Alliance during the Earth-Minbari War, mining the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, destroying the Minbari flagship Black Star and several other ships after sending a fake Earth Alliance distress signal. This was to earn him the Earth Force Silver Star for Valor and the Minbari warrior castes to nickname him "StarKiller", feeling that the battle was won by him dishonorably. He did not escape the war totally unscathed however, at one point his Starfury was damaged and he was left adrift with no power for eight hours before he was rescued. He was later to describe it as seeming more like eight years and never forgot the feeling of utter helplessness that he had experienced believing that he would never see another living being again.

Following the Minbari surrender at the Battle of the Line, he assumed a part military and part diplomatic role, taking the Agamemnon on an extended tour of the non-aligned worlds, establishing and maintaining an Earth Alliance presence during which time he made first contact with a race known as the Tikar. After the Agamemnon's crew had deciphered their advanced language he was invited on board their ship, spending two days there over which he was reminded how wondrous the universe really was. Sheridan married Anna, a scientist friend of his sister Elizabeth, in 2249 with whom he enjoyed a long-distance relationship when their respective careers kept them apart, she even claimed to like his corny jokes. The following year Sheridan spent some time at Io working with Susan Ivanova on her first assignment with Earth Force, also spending some time working on matters relating to EarthGov where he discovered the existence of a secretive organization dealing in star chamber justice and black projects, learning its name three years later in 2256 from a contact who died soon after; Bureau 13. He also met Jeffrey Sinclair during 2254 when he was on Mars Colony to help with the food riots, and the same year took his last look at a real tree, like a pine or redwood, for several years.

In 2256, having seen very little of her over the past year, he arranged to meet his wife on Centauri Prime for their anniversary but when the time came the pressures of work forced him to cancel their celebratory date, soon afterward Anna departed for Z'ha'dum as the Icarus' science officer leaving John Sheridan haunted and blaming himself for her death when she ship was destroyed as he had forgotten to tell Anna that he loved her in his last conversation. He was still mourning her death two years later, when Elizabeth eased his guilt with a message from Anna in which she explained that she had already committed herself to the Icarus when her husband had decided to cancel their anniversary celebration and had been trying to find a way of canceling their date without hurting him when he had saved her the effort. Following Anna's death John Sheridan immersed himself in work, returning to the Agamemnon to take her on an exploratory mission to the rim only to be recalled an appointed as the Commander of Babylon 5 on January 9th, 2259 by President Clark as a replacement for Jeffrey Sinclair.

His first actions on Babylon 5 were to notify Susan Ivanova of her promotion to a commander in Earth Force and to assign her more diplomatic roles on board Babylon 5, believing that diplomacy was more important; Babylon 5 should create the peace, not enforce it and despite his initial reservations about Michael Garibaldi's colorful career record he reassured the security chief that he both wanted and needed him back in his role as no one else knew the station and its personnel as well as he did. Sheridan had doubts about his own role however, knowing that it was a great opportunity but seeing himself becoming a glorified bureaucrat, a state of mind that was not helped by the arrival of the Cortez together with Jack Maynard, his former mentor, until he was reassured by Delenn that the universe puts each of us in the right place at the right time. Certainly his tactical expertise was in the right place, for he was soon to stage the first ever successful rescue of a ship hyperspace when the Cortez suffered an explosion in her control deck leaving her adrift and without navigation shortly after departing from the Babylon 5 jump gate.

The reputation that Sheridan had obtained as a tactical thinker, good at overcoming adverse odds against superior forces, coupled with the commendations for strategies employed during the Mars Colony food riots and the Earth-Minbari War were to be used in Operation Sudden Death by General Richard Franklin, who requested his comments on the plan to attack the Matok fortress on Akdor, drawing on Sheridan's visit to the planet with the Agamemnon a few years previously. Sheridan's record also relates that he is a patriot and would fight to protect the Earth from both internal and external threats, prompting a visit by General William Hague whose descriptions of a growing conspiracy on Earth led him to form his own "conspiracy of light" with the aims of uncovering the truth behind President Santiago's death, enlisting Stephen Franklin, Michael Garibaldi and Susan Ivanova to help. Shortly after this John Sheridan began receiving a series of lessons from Kosh Naranek, who had entered his mind in a dream while he was comatose after being taken prisoner by the Streib, when the Vorlon claimed to want to teach him more about himself and "to fight legends" when Sheridan approached Kosh to discover more about his race. These lessons were to take a change with the realization that the Shadows had been responsible for the loss of his wife at Z'ha'dum and his subsequent interrogation of their emissary Morden, although he agreed to release Morden lest he force Shadows' hand when requested to do so by Kosh and Delenn who explained what had really happened to the Icarus, he requested that Kosh teach him to fight the Shadows as his price.

As Sheridan drew closer to Kosh, he also drew closer to Delenn, becoming touched by her bravery as she risked her life to accompany the Markab into their isolation zone and telling her to call him John when they next met. The developing relationship was put to a severe test a few weeks later when the inquisitor Sebastian arrived on the station, summoned by Kosh to satisfy the Vorlon's doubts about Delenn and her motivation for being where she was, only to be satisfied that they were "in the right place, at the right time, for the right reasons" when they each expressed a willingness to die for the other, alone and uncelebrated if need be. With the pressures of the on-going Narn-Centauri War and preparing for the inevitable battle against the Shadows, Delenn and Sheridan came to rely and trust each other to the extent that the relationship started to pass beyond mere friendship, and when Draal contacted Sheridan and placed the resources of the Great Machine at his disposal Delenn revealed the existence of the Rangers to him, giving him joint authority over those operating in the area of Babylon 5.

As the Narn-Centauri War escalated towards a Narn defeat Sheridan became increasingly sympathetic towards the Narns, hoping that the Earth Alliance would ally itself with the Narn Regime in an attempt to curb the growing aggression demonstrated by the Centauri Republic forces only to be informed that EarthGov was not prepared to get involved. Instead of the military support he had wanted to offer G'Kar he could only offer civilian aid, as could Delenn who had been informed that the Grey Council was taking a similar stance to the Earth Alliance, although he was prepared to use the Rangers to provide G'Kar with the means to reassert his authority of the Narn on the station and grant him sanctuary when the Narn surrendered. His sympathy towards the plight of the Narn almost resulted in his murder when he agreed to shelter the War Cruiser G'Tok when it arrived at Babylon 5 seeking assistance only to have a Centauri War Cruiser arrive to seize it, and when he refused to comply attack both the station and the G'Tok. With no choice but to respond Sheridan ordered Babylon 5's Starfurys and defense grid to fire on the Centauri ship, destroying it completely, only to be shocked to discover that the Earth-Centauri Non-aggression Pact had just been signed on the station by Frederick Lantz and Londo Mollari, and to make matters worse he was left plunging from a core shuttle after it was destroyed by a Centauri bomb, only to be saved by Kosh who flew up to meet him and guide him to the ground.

With the start of 2260 Sheridan had grown tired of reacting to events and decided that it was time to take the offensive when approached by Marcus Cole seeking help for a Ranger training base pinned down by blockade mines sown by the Centauri Republic, taking command of the White Star to score his first victory against the Shadows, releasing the trapped Rangers and destroying a Shadow Warship using the "bonehead maneuver". Soon after, however, Sheridan was trying to cover his tracks as the eyes of EarthGov turned upon him in the form of Julie Musante of the Ministry of Peace, who was assigned as his "political officer" as a result of his recent actions which were not deemed to be as politically appropriate as they could have been. Fortunately for John Sheridan her stay on Babylon 5 was short lived, as the news of Luis Santiago's assassination and details of President Clark's involvement becoming public necessitated her recall to help deal with the crisis. Sheridan and the White Star were rapidly back on the offensive again with news from Dr. Mary Kirkish that a faction of EarthGov was going to attempt to revive a Shadow Warship that had been discovered on Ganymede, and another had been found on Mars near Syria Planum several years earlier, despite the ISN report claiming that the ships were unknown. Accompanied by Delenn he traveled to Ganymede and managed to destroy the Shadow vessel in Jupiter's gravity well, only to return to Babylon 5 to the news that President Clark, in a desperate attempt to remain in power on Earth, had declared martial law.

Still reeling from an attempted takeover of Babylon 5 by members of the Nightwatch and news of the death of General Hague in an ambush he extended the assistance of Babylon 5 to the Alexander and the Churchill, two of the ships that had refused to join forces with President Clark, and at the same time he announced that, like the Proxima and Orion colonies, Babylon 5 would be seceding from the Earth Alliance. President Clark's response was to dispatch a strike force commanded by Captain Dexter Smith on the Agrippa to seize Babylon 5 by force and arrest its command staff, although after a hard fight they were beaten off and a second wave that would have crushed the station's defenses was forced to retreat by the timely arrival of Delenn with three Minbari War Cruisers. With the immediate crisis over Sheridan announced that anybody who wished to leave was free to do so and also ordered the deportation from the station of any known Nightwatch personnel who had assisted in their failed attempt to seize control of Babylon 5 a few days previously, and set about the tasks of making Babylon 5 self sufficient and involving other races than the Minbari in protecting it from future attacks, while at the same time create a force to fight the Shadows.

The first to enlist were G'Kar, who was formerly brought into the alliance by Delenn, taking the opportunity to explain and apologize for her silence over G'Kar's earlier announcement of the return of the Shadows and subsequent lack of involement in the Narn-Centauri War, in order to prevent the Shadows from simply exterminating the Narn. Another ally was also found in the unlikely form of the Psi Cop Bester who declared Sheridan's war to be his war when his lover, Carolyn Sanderson, was discovered on a transport of "war materials" sent from Psi Corps to the Shadows for use as the living cores of their ships. As the Shadows began openly attacking the other races the Brakiri, suffering heavy losses, turned to Sheridan and his alliance for help in driving them off, prompting Sheridan approach a reluctant Kosh Naranek for the assistance of the Vorlon Empire to give them a much needed victory, and when Kosh initally refused Sheridan challenged him over the steadily mounting deaths, eventually pursuading the Vorlon to intervene. When the Vorlon fleet drove the Shadows back from Brakiri space it was the turning point that John Sheridan and Delenn had been seeking, finally bringing the other races togther into a unified force to help fight the Shadows, although not without a significant cost, for in an act of retaliation for their involvement the Shadows killed Kosh in his quarters on Babylon 5.

John Sheridan was also instrumental in the theft of Babylon 4, although of more importance to him than the theft of the station was a disturbing vision of the future that he experienced after his time stabilizer was damaged, leaving him unstuck in time and seeing events and scenes almost two decades in his future, starting with Emperor Londo Mollari showing him a view of a Centauri Prime devastated by allies of the Shadows following their defeat. He was then flung into a cell where he was to meet a future Delenn who informed him that their son, David, was safe and that was all that now mattered, they had accomplished all they had set out to do and what they had created would last for a thousand years before they were once again summoned before a now drunken Londo Mollari, expecting to be executed. Instead he revealed to them his "keeper", explaining that his previous act as being for its benefit and that he was going to release them on the condition that they did what they could to help the Centauri people escape what had befallen them, it would be his last act as the Shadows' allies did not take kindly to betrayal. As Sheridan and Delenn were escorted to the ship prepared for them by Londo, the Centauri sacrificed himself to G'Kar, allowing the Narn to strangle him to prevent the keeper discovering what he had done, at least until the keeper awoke forcing him to retaliate in kind, allowing Vir Cotto to become Emperor upon the death of the two old adversaries.

With the discovery that a telepath might be able to disrupt the control link between a Shadow Warship and its living core, thereby rendering it defenceless, Sheridan's next task was to test the hypothesis, and additionally to make his first request for military assistance from the other races of the newly formed Army of Light in the form of a backup force should his strike force on the White Star fail to disable the targetted Shadow ship. While Delenn and G'Kar both promised support immediately the other races were more reticent, and when informed of the decision made by G'Kar to send the G'Tok its Captain, Na'Kal, also declined to go, stating that their primary concern was rebuilding their fleet to free the Narn from Centauri oppression. When confronted by an irate Michael Garibaldi, demanding to know why the G'Tok was still alongside Babylon 5, G'Kar was shamed into not only convincing Na'Kal to reconsider, but many of the other races as well, arriving with reinforcements just as the White Star, having proved Sheridan's hypothesis, was about to be overwhelmed by the Shadows' own reinforcements for their destroyed Warship.

Having created an alliance, and tested its resolve, Sheridan was soon to call upon it again in launching a preemptive strike against the Shadows in Sector 83, where they had been corralling refugees from many worlds in preparation for a devastating attack. Using all of the forces at his disposal, including the first completed wave of ships in the White Star class, Sheridan placed Marcus and Ivanova as his lookouts aboard the White Star and held the rest of the fleet out of sight in hyperspace until the Shadows' main attack force arrived before launching the assault, managing to drive the Shadows away from the area, but not without heavy losses, even with the assistance of the telepaths distributed throughout the fleet. The response of the Shadows was almost immediate, releasing Anna Sheridan from her control of a Warship she was despatched to Babylon 5 to convice her husband to return with her to Z'ha'dum by promising that he would learn the truth about the Shadows and their motives.

The sudden return of his wife was too coincidental for a suspicious Sheridan, who insisted that she submit to medical tests to verify her identity, which was confirmed in every physical aspect by Dr. Stephen Franklin. The additional discovery of scarring on the nape of the neck similar to that found on Carolyn Sanderson together with the apparent loss of her former personality conviced Sheridan that going to Z'ha'dum would be walking into a trap, but he decided to go anyway in an attempt to change his vision of the future from the theft of Babylon 4. After an uneventful voyage to Z'ha'dum onboard the White Star Sheridan was introduced to Justin, a go-between for the Shadows, who proceeded to explain the Shadows' motives to promote evolution and development through warfare. When this failed to convice Sheridan into joining them, and confronted with the fact that Sheridan knew about his wife they issused a simple ultimatum: let go of his alliance or they would remove its support mechanism, Babylon 5, having placed a sizable fleet around it for the eventuality. After shooting his way out with a concealled PPG, Sheridan summoned the White Star with a cargo of two thermal fusion mines placed onboard in secret by Michael Garibaldi, leaping into a vast pit moments before the explosion of the White Star devastated the Shadows' complex beneath the surface of Z'ha'dum.

His Babylon 5 computer access password is "Obsidian".

President John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner)
Seen here with a model of a Starfury, as captain of Babylon 5, before he became President of the Interstellar Alliance.

President Sheridan's command before Babylon 5 was the Omega Class Destroyer, The Agamemnon.
The Agamemnon is seen here with a fuel tanker.

"THE ONE WHO WILL BE"