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| Jack the Ripper | |
| Aliases: | The Whitechapel Murderer; Leather Apron; John Leslie Stevenson; Ian Pascoe |
| Type: | Serial killer |
| Gender: | Male |
| Place of birth: | England (presumably) |
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | Unknown |
| Notable appearances: | Time After Time; Timecop |
Jack the Ripper is the name attributed to an unidentified serial killer who claimed the lives of at least five women in the Whitechapel district of London, England in the Autumn of 1888. The five women who are considered canonical Ripper victims were all prostitutes working in London's East End and include Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Mary Jane Kelly. Several other victims who were murdered around this time have also been linked to Jack the Ripper, but there is not enough evidence to assertively link them to Jack the Ripper. The mystery surrounding the murders and the individual who committed them has sparked the public consciousness and debate rages to this day over the true identity of Jack the Ripper.
One of the more popularly touted Ripper suspects was Sir William Gull, personal physician to Queen Victoria. The theory of his involvement was popularized in the 1976 Stephen Knight book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. The Gull theory was also presented in the 1991-1998 graphic novel series From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. The book series was made into a movie in 2001 starring Johnny Depp with Alien star Ian Holm in the role of Jack the Ripper.
In fiction[]
A fictionalized version of Jack the Ripper was presented as the central antagonist in Nicholas Meyer's 1979 film Time After Time. Actor David Warner plays John Leslie Stevenson, a colleague of noted author and futurist H.G. Wells who is secretly Jack the Ripper. When Wells invents an operable time machine, Stevenson steals the technology and travels forward through time to the 1970s to continue killing. Wells, played by A Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell follows Jack the Ripper across time to hunt him down and bring him to justice.
Another version of Jack the Ripper was a key villain in the 1997-1998 Timecop television series. Ian Pascoe, played by actor Tom O'Brien, was a time traveler from the then near future of 2007 who traveled back in time to November of 1888 and killed Sir William Gull, aka, Jack the Ripper. He took the Ripper's place and was responsible for murdering prostitute Catherine Eddowes. TEC agent Jack Logan traveled back in time to capture Pascoe, but the intelligent murderer eluded him, jumping back into the timestream at the last possible moment. (Timecop: A Rip in Time)
Logan encountered Pascoe a second time when the latter traveled to the year 1958 in a bid to slay actress/starlet Rita Lake. This time however, Pascoe was captured and brought back to TEC headquarters. (Timecop: Stalker)
Ian Pascoe escaped imprisonment soon after and took Logan's colleague as a hostage. He escaped into the timestream back to Chicago in the year 1928. Logan pursued them and assumed the role of Treasury Department officer Elliott Ness. The two fought one another on the fire escape of a tall building, but Pascoe inadvertently activated Logan's temporal watch, generating a chronal rift. He plunged through the rift and escaped once again. (Timecop: Public Enemy)
The Ripper murders were referenced in the 1998 Doctor Who novel Matrix. The cosmic entity known as the Valeyard was believed to have been behind the murders in order to power the Dark Matrix, which fed on the life energies of the dead women in order to generate a physical host form for the Valeyard. The Seventh Doctor, along with his companion, Dorothy Gale "Ace" McShane, combatted the Valeyard's scheme when the Dark Matrix was trapped inside the TARDIS.
An alien Silurian named Madame Vastra once made the claim that she had captured and devoured Jack the Ripper. She considered him "stringy, but tasty all the same". Whether Vastra truly committed such a feat is unknown. (Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War)
On Smallville, an immortal mad scientist named Curtis Knox has appeared at different key points in history. A photograph from 1888 implies that he may have been Jack the Ripper. [1]
A wax figurine of Jack the Ripper was featured at a wax museum owned by Ernest Ferguson and was part of his "Murderer's Row" exhibit. It is believed that this effigy of the infamous killer may have even come to life to continue his murderous ways. [2]
Appearances[]
Television[]
- Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War - Behind-the-scenes.
- Smallville: Cure - Curtis Knox.
- Timecop: A Rip in Time - Ian Pascoe.
- Timecop: Stalker - Ian Pascoe.
- Timecop: Public Enemy - Ian Pascoe.
- Twilight Zone: The New Exhibit - Wax figure only.