JD Fenix


James Dominic Fenix, better known as JD Fenix or J.D. Fenix, is a fictional character in the Gears of War franchise. The son of recurring series protagonist Marcus Fenix, he first appears as the protagonist of the 2016 game, Gears of War 4, and also appears in Gears 5. Prior to the events of Gears of War 4, he originally held the rank of lieutenant in service of the supranational and intergovernmental military collective known as the Coalition of Ordered Governments, and later defected to a loosely organized faction of rebel human settlers who live outside of the COG's walled settlements in the world of Sera. By the events of Gears 5, he has rejoined the COG to fight a new threat to humanity. The character is voiced by Australian actor Liam McIntyre. Outside of the video game series, JD has appeared in the novels Gears of War: Ascendance and Gears of War: Bloodlines.
The concept of JD as a character originated when series creator Epic Games was still in early development for a direct sequel to Gears of Wars 3. The Coalition, a subsidiary of Xbox Game Studios and the current developers responsible for the Gears of War franchise following the departure of Epic Games from the series, intended for JD Fenix to headline a new generation of main characters introduced in Gears of War 4.
The character has had a mixed reception, with commentary focusing on his physical appearance as well as interactions with his companions. Some reviewers found JD to be an unconvincing or uncharismatic lead character and compared him unfavorably to Marcus Fenix and Kait Diaz, while his narrative role in Gears 5 has generated discussion about the future of the Gears of War franchise.

Development

According to then-studio head of the Coalition Rod Fergusson, the ideas of setting the fourth main series game in the future and for Marcus to have a son named JD were originally conceived at Epic Games prior to the Microsoft's acquisition of the intellectual property. Fergusson made the decision to set Gears of War 4 25 years after Gears of War 3, paired with a "fresh visual aesthetic" to match its new story which feature a vibrant and youthful cast. In a 2019 interview with VentureBeat, Fergusson further elaborated that this helped give the developers "a lot of head room" in terms of where the younger cast of characters as they could be changed and transformed over time, and referred to JD's character arc in Gears 5 as an example. In writing for new characters, Franchise Narrative Director Bonnie Jean Mah stated that these new characters, with or without their connections and trappings to the Gears of War universe, need to be interesting and believable in their own way as part of their guiding principle.
Within the game universe, JD is the son of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud. He is named after Marcus' deceased best friend, Dominic Santiago. He is described as "an idealist who wants to live his life with purpose", and the character's backstory involve him running away from home as a youth and enlisting with the armed forces of the Coalition of Ordered Governments, leading to a rift between him and his father who disapproves of his actions. JD eventually attains the rank of lieutenant before going AWOL with his best friend Delmont "Del" Walker due to a classified incident involving the deaths of innocent civilians by COG security forces, and seeks refuge within an Outsider village led by Reyna Diaz, who oppose the autocratic rule of the COG government. JD's distinguishing features include blond hair, blue-grey eyes, a slight unshaven stubble, as well as a previously broken nose which The Coalition intended to "give him more character". Unlike his father, JD is written as a goofier and more lighthearted character, who regularly makes quippy remarks instead of growling in a dour manner.
For the character models of JD and his friends, the team attempted to redesign the human characters of the Gears of War franchise with more realistic body proportions. The team experimented with taking personal effects off a character model's waists or legs to reduce their overall mass. They concluded that it "looked odd" as there is already an established set of subjective expectations for the franchise's characters, particularly with the way they would move around in the in-game environment or take cover. According to creative director Chuck Osieja, the team resolved to find a middle ground between the "giant moon boots and big blocky characters" of the original games, and realistic and believable sensibilities while retaining the "power and strength" that Gears characters.
The Coalition intended for JD's character design to be recognizable when portrayed by a cosplayer at a fan convention. Visually, JD's look undergoes a number of changes between Gears of War 4 and Gears 5. In the former, JD is a former COG soldier trapped between two divergent worlds and is trying to adapt to the Outsiders' lifestyle. To reflect and convey the concept of duality in JD's visual design, his style of dress integrates COG tech with the Outsiders' signature reclaimed clothing to help visually differentiate him. JD is not shown to be wearing any armor when his first appears as a member of the Outsiders; instead, he combines a reclaimed leather jacket with typical COG-styled accessories like a holster, backpack and military boots. To reflect the introduction of hazardous weather elements into the gameplay of Gears of War 4, concept artists explored putting a hood and googles on JD's face to show protection from strong winds, but settled on a subtler approach via a faded army green scarf as an accessory instead of obscuring his face. JD's final look, following his reunion with Marcus, has him wearing khaki work pants and a rolled-sleeve sweatshirt under his protective chest plate.
JD's look and personality in Gears 5 undergoes a dramatic change following an incident at the conclusion of the game's first act, which is intended to reflect his intense combat experiences since Gears of War 4. Besides a shaved head and grown out beard, he also has a severe scar on his face, and wears a medical device for pain management of his still-healing arm which glows blue when activated. Like the game's other main characters, JD undergoes costume changes to match the environments they visit.

Portrayal

JD's voice actor, Liam McIntyre, described his character as "very different to his father in the sense that he gets to be the new young kid on the block. He's sort of the millennial of the story." McIntyre noted that JD brings a fresh perspective into the series, noting that "he sees his tough grump of father but he's the young hopeful one", and describe JD's attempts to reconcile with his father as yielding potential for a "wonderful kind of conflict". As JD is born after the war with the Locust Horde and had not gone through any of the hardship his father had experienced, he thinks that he is making the world a better place and that he does not want to emulate his father. McIntyre said the events of Gears of War 4 is a formative experience for the character as he starts to encounter some of the terrible things his father once saw, and his personality would evolve from these experiences.
McIntyre acknowledged that he is a lifelong fan of video games, and that he was excited to secure the role of JD Fenix, his first video game character role. He admitted to have experienced pressure about playing the son of an iconic video game character as he wanted to live up to the expectations of "hardcore fans of the franchise". On the differences between portraying a video game character as opposed to working in television or film, McIntyre explained in an interview that he is more likely to be working in an actual set which replicates the setting, which is something he had taken for granted; whereas for a video game character role, he would be reliant on extensive instructions to visualize a given scene respond to the circumstances the player character find themselves in, and that he spends a lot of energy vocalizing to his best ability. McIntyre opined that other actors in the industry have begun to form the view that "uniquely amazing stories" could be told through the video game medium due to its interactive nature, and that while he portrays JD Fenix, the player also has agency in the character's actions and is not a passive observer.

Appearances

''Gears of War 4''

JD appears as the player character of Gears of War 4; prior to the events of the game, JD defected from the COG armed forces alongside Del and joined a faction of Outsiders who occasionally raid COG settlements for resources like materials and power. Using his inside knowledge of the COG administration, JD leads one such raid on an unfinished and unoccupied COG settlement to steal a special fabricator device, which is capable of quickly constructing munitions. JD and his group manage to fend off the settlement's robotic DeeBee soldiers and escape back to their village with the fabricator. However, the COG's First Minister Mina Jinn locates and confronts JD's group via a robot proxy which broadcasts her messages. Assuming that the Outsiders are responsible for a slew of missing COG citizens, she orders a contingent of DeeBee forces to attack the village in pursuit of JD, who helped the villagers repel the invasion.
As night falls and the villagers recover from the attack, a "swarm" of monstrous creatures arrive and abduct everyone, except for JD and his companions who had been inadvertently locked away by Reyna. JD visits his estranged father Marcus Fenix who resides at the dilapidated Stroud family estate to ask for help in tracking the villagers, where they are attacked by Jinn's DeeBee forces. Marcus arms JD's group and leads their escape into the wilds. They travel to Fort Reval, where thousands of Locust corpses were buried at the conclusion of the war 25 years ago, to investigate a possible lead suggested by Marcus, who is soon abducted by a creature the group dubbed the Snatcher. JD and his friends pursue the Snatcher, eventually discovering evidence of numerous human beings being harvested and mutated into Swarm creatures. Marcus is located and rescued before he is processed, and reveals that the Swarm are in fact mutated iterations of a resurgent Locust Horde following a long term period of dormancy where they undergo a metamorphosis. As Marcus was also briefly connected to the Swarm's hive mind, JD and his friends also learn that Reyna is still alive and set out to find her, but ultimately fails to rescue her in time by the game's ending.