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Ianto Jones was a member of the Torchwood 3, initially serving as more a "support man" or "tea boy" but later taking a more active role in missions.
Biography
Early life
Ianto was born on 19th August 1983. (TW: Fragments) He was from Cardiff. (TW:From Out of the Rain) Ianto's father, worked in Debenhams (TW: Children of Earth), he enjoyed taking his Ianto to the cinema (TW: From Out of the Rain) In one instance, his father pushed him too hard while on the swings during his childhood, which caused him to break his leg. (TW: Children of Earth)
His father died sometime before he went off to University and Ianto left quickly after, something his sister has not been proud of him for, saying, "You just couldn't wait to leave us," suggesting by that time his relationship with his father and perhaps his whole family had hit a sour note.
More evidence from the second chapter of Children of Earth would suggest that Ianto had a falling out with his father or perceived that there was a problem between them because his father was always pushing him. He even said his father broke his leg on the swings at a park when he was a child even when his sister pointed out it was a clear accident.
A decent if not exceptionally gifted student, Ianto took a series of temporary jobs after university, eventually ending up a Junior Researcher at Torchwood 1. (TW: Fragments)
His sister is Rhiannon Davies (TW:Children of Earth) with whom he seems to be on good terms, although he is somewhat distant with her, probably due to his job.
Torchwood operative
Torchwood 1
For some time prior to the Battle of Canary Wharf, Ianto worked in Torchwood 1, based in Canary Wharf, London. During the Battle of Canary Wharf, as Cybermen looked for reinforcements to fight off the Daleks, Ianto's girlfriend Lisa Hallett was partly converted into a Cyberman. Hoping that the cyber-conversion process could be reversed, Ianto smuggled Lisa to Torchwood Three, hiding her in the basement, until a "cure" for the partial cyber-conversion could be found. (TW: Cyberwoman)
Torchwood 3
Back in his native Cardiff, Ianto tracked down Jack Harkness to try to find work with Torchwood 3. Despite Harkness' initial reluctance, Ianto so impressed Jack during the capture of a stray pteranodon that he was eventually offered a job. (TW: Fragments)
- Jack had, at this time, already recruited Suzie Costello, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato, though not Gwen Cooper.
Understaffed and poorly understood, Torchwood 3 was an ideal place to hide a partially-converted cyberwoman. Ianto smuggled Lisa Hallett into an unused basement, still attached to a cyber-conversion unit, which now acted as her life support. Unfortunately, Lisa's Cyberman conditioning slowly won over her humanity. She laid siege to the Hub from inside and killed several--including an innocent pizza delivery girl whose body she appropriated, before being killed. (TW: Cyberwoman).
The others appear at this time to have taken the quietly efficient Ianto for granted; they pay little attention to him before the mayhem starts. Ianto was "temporarily suspended from active duty" but returned to work four weeks later, with Jack's tacit approval. [1]
Ianto began to take a more active role in field work, though he still disliked the day-to-day Torchwood operations: he once described to Toshiko Sato his inability to comprehend the adrenaline rush she and the other Torchwood members shared in the face of danger. (TW: Countrycide)
With both Jack and Tosh both temporarily trapped in 1941 Ianto and Owen sparred for leadership of the team, although Owen asserted that, with Suzie Costello dead, he was now second-in-command. However, Ianto displayed authority in Jack's absence that Owen was not aware he had, and even went as far as to shoot Owen in the shoulder to prevent him using the Rift Manipulator. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness)
During the months that Jack was gone, Ianto, along with the rest of the Torchwood 3, was dispatched on a "wild goose chase" to the Himalayas by Mr. Saxon. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
Ianto kept a paper diary, which he used to write down interesting Rift activity as well as more personal concerns. When he confronted Adam Smith about his role in the Torchwood team, Adam forcibly gave Ianto false memories of killing three women, which affected him deeply. Ianto strangely appeared to have more resistance to Adam than the others though this may be because he caught on to Adam. When he did succumb to Adam's influence it would appear as with rest of the team dormant or unused parts of his psyche were awakened; in Ianto's case a darker more malevolent side of his personality was awoken that enjoyed killing and violence. Ianto was eventually able to rid himself of these memories when Jack used retcon on the team in order to purge out Adam's influence. (TW: Adam)
When the Earth was stolen by Davros and the New Dalek Empire and transported to the Medusa Cascade. Ianto, Gwen, and Jack, with help from alien supercomputer Mr Smith, were able to use the Rift Manipulator to boost the signal of Martha Jones' superphone and enable her to contact the Doctor. Jack obtains the missing digit of a code for his Time Agency wrist strap and teleports away from the Hub to meet with the Doctor. After he had left, Gwen and Ianto are confronted by a Dalek entering the Hub and open fire with machine guns, vowing to die fighting. (DW: The Stolen Earth) This proved unnecessary as a time-lock, devised by Tosh before her death protected them. Eventually the Dalek was destroyed along with the rest of its race by the New Doctor and Ianto and Gwen helped tow Earth back to where it belonged by sending the Rift power to the TARDIS after being contacted by the Doctor. (DW:Journey's End)
456 and Death
Ianto and the rest of Torchwood investigate children when all the children on Earth start chanting "We Are Coming". He and Jack want to take a child and study them. Ianto goes to his sister Rhiannon Davies to see if he can use his niece or nephew. She refuses. Later that night,
Torchwood is attacked by MI5, led by Agent Johnson and blown up - with Jack inside. (TW: Day One).
That night, Ianto manages to escape while under attack from Johnson and her men. He contacts his sister to tell her to keep a watch on the government. He also finds out where MI5 are keeping the remains of Jack Harkness, who has now healed himself. Ianto saves him and also finds Gwen Cooper and her husband Rhys Williams. (TW: Day Two). He and the team later head over to an old Torchwood 1 Warehouse and set up a base there. He and the team find out what the 456 is and what their intentions are. (TW: Day Three). That night, Torchwood comes up with a plan to blackmail the government. If the government does not follow their exact orders to counteract the 456, they will release information about what happened in 1965 to the public. The next day, Ianto and Jack manage to get into Thames House. When they get up to the room, the 456 is in the tank full of gas. They threaten the creature, telling it to back away from Earth or else they will tell the whole planet about its intentions, fuelling the whole of the Earth's population to fight back against the alien in a war. The 456 accepts their threat, but chooses to go to war instead of leave the planet. To give them a 'taste of war', the 456 releases a toxin into the air. Reacting to the toxin, Thames House shuts itself down, leaving everybody trapped inside. It sends out an incredibly high-pitched shriek directly into Clem MacDonald's brain, killing him. Jack and Ianto attempt to fight the 456, but their efforts are hopeless. In Jack's arms, Ianto is slowly suffocated to death by the toxin. Jack also collapses, and wakes up beside Ianto's body with Gwen the next day. (TW: Day Four)
Duties
Ianto acted to support the main team. He staffed the mock tourist information booth located above the Hub and in general acted to "clean up their shit... no questions asked". (TW: Cyberwoman) For example, he hacked into Gwen Cooper's computer and erased a document containing information about Torchwood. (TW: Everything Changes) Though not precisely one of his duties, he also kept a detailed journal of day-to-day operations (TW: Adam)
Relationships
Relationship with Lisa Hallett
As mentioned above, Ianto and Lisa had a close relationship. Pain over her death still lingered later (TW: Countrycide) He explained he would not use a second resurrection gauntlet. (TW: They Keep Killing Suzie) An apparition of Lisa, in her Human form, convinced Ianto to side with Owen against Jack and open the Rift. (TW: End of Days) Lisa's death affected Ianto deeply. He promised that if he ever got the chance he would leave Jack for dead. The two men would later developed a sexual and romantic relationship. (source?)
Relationship with Jack Harkness
In an attempt to show he has put the incident behind him, Jack tried to be friendly and even patted Ianto on the back. (TW: Small Worlds) Although the conversation about the teams' last kisses reveals that there is still some lingering tension between the two over the incident. (TW: Countrycide)
It was hinted that Ianto might be having a sexual relationship with Jack. This was supported by his instant messenger conversation between Ianto and Jack that suggested that like teammates Jack, Toshiko and possibly Owen and Gwen, Ianto was bisexual. (WEB: Torchwood website) Gwen catches onto the relationship and Ianto explicitly refers to being bisexual. (TWN: The Twilight Streets)
Owen made remarks about the sexual nature of Ianto and Jack's relationship and, after believing Jack was dead, a distraught Ianto breathed in the scent of his coat. The two kissed upon reunion. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness, End of Days)
When Jack returned to the Hub, he asked Ianto out on a date, which Ianto accepted. This is followed by another kiss between the pair. (TW: To the Last Man). The existence of the relationship was confirmed verbally in a conversation Ianto had with Martha Jones (TW: Reset) and in another conversation Ianto has with Owen Harper (TW: A Day in the Death). The first public display of Ianto and Jack's relationship was when they dance together at Gwen's wedding. (TW: Something Borrowed)
Also, in (TW: "Adrift") Gwen accidentally walks in on Jack and Ianto in a decidedly sexual scene when she stormed into Jack's office, angry about the secrets Jack was keeping from her. After their conversation, Jack calls Ianto back into his office to finish what they started. Later, he expresses a little jealousy when Jack mentions having learned about Project Indigo by meeting a soldier in a bar; Jack had to reassure Ianto that it was strictly business. (DW: The Stolen Earth)
When his sister confronts him about rumours that he is gay, he reluctantly acknowledges his relationship with Jack. He tries to explain however that Jack is the first man he has ever taken to in this way, and also that he is insecure about the exact status of his relationship with Jack. His brother-in-law, Johnny takes a more simplistic view of Ianto's sexual ambiguity, concluding crassly "ey ey, gayboy,". (TW: Children of Earth) After Ianto collapsed of the toxic gas the 456 have spread, Jack cradled him in his arms and the two cried. Ianto then told Jack ' I love you' showing that he took the relationship seriously.
Personality
When first introduced in the series Ianto was quite distant and reserved in the company of the others, with a quiet and dutiful nature similar to a typical butler. However, when the discovery of his girlfriend was made Ianto revealed a tormented and passionate side of himself that would do anything to help and save Lisa even if it destroyed him. His behaviour when being spoken to by Doctor Tanasaki about Torchwood One would suggest that there is some mental scarring from the incident as he quickly and abruptly changed the conversation. A sign of this scarring appears to be an occasional lapse in speech during a conversation, and also the odd "twitch" before he continue speaking, usually in a different tone and in a manner that changed the subject.
Though not much of Ianto's childhood is known, evidence from season 2 would suggest he had a strong relationship with his father and throughout the series he speaks rather fondly of him. However there is contradictory evidence in the Children of Earth where conversations with his sister suggested their relationship was difficult or became difficult. Once such conversation about Ianto breaking his leg in an accident showed Ianto perceived his father as antagonistic because he was always pushing him. But his sister pointed out that his father cared about him and was only trying to bring out the best in him and maybe Ianto should have "held on tighter" instead of buckling. This would suggest that Ianto was rather withdrawn as a child and his father attempted to get him to come out of his shell a bit more, but the results seemed to have caused more problems than solutions.
Evidence from the end of Children of Earth would suggest that all he said about himself to the rest of the Torchwood team was a lie. When Gwen mentions certain facts about Ianto's father to Rhiannon, she is horrified and angrily corrects her about these facts, telling her, "Then you didn't really know him at all!" This shows that Ianto's past as well as much of himself from introduction to death remain surrounded in mystery.
When Tosh received the mind pendant from Mary she caught a glimpse into his mind, revealing that he was in pain but, because of his withdrawn nature, he couldn’t tell anyone. As the show progressed, Ianto came out of his shell a bit more, showing a quick and humorous wit, usually at serious moments. Yet despite this it is hinted there is a darker side within him.
Ianto also has difficulty expressing himself emotionally, acting reserved and stiff during these conversations. He also gets uncomfortable around emotional people, as in Children of Earth he went rigid around his brother-in-law when he gave him a large bear hug for a greeting along with a slight tease about being gay. When he does lose control of his emotions, the outbursts are quite intense and he seems to regret his actions and behaviour after. For example when the team chide him about Lisa he angrily and venomously tells them they have no idea what his life is like and how he puts up with cleaning up their mess without question because that's how they like it. After the incident he gets very apologetic and tries to avoid the team unless he can't help it. Another incident involved him in an argument with Owen over whether to open the Rift or not. A more commanding part of Ianto takes over and he ends up having to shoot Owen to stop him, an action that shocks both of them. It also hints at his dark side after when Owen jokes he is glad Ianto is a bad shot; in response Ianto stares at him darkly saying he should be lucky he wasn't trying to kill him. This seems to indicate Ianto has some kind of problem with repressing his emotions.
Alternate Realities
Donna's World
In an alternate timeline in which Donna Noble never met the Doctor, Ianto died along with Gwen while trying to defeat the Sontaran invasion of Earth. (DW: Turn Left)
Behind the scenes
According to Russell T Davies in the January 2008 radio special Torchwood: All Access (released on CD with Lost Souls in September 2008), Ianto Jones' name is based on another character (Yanto Jones) created by Davies for another television production (Mine All Mine); Gareth David-Lloyd played that character, too.
Ianto's death spurred an online campaign to resurrect the character[2], which branched out into a drive to give to the Children in Need charity "in memory" of Ianto. As of 25 July 2009, over £3,000 had been raised[3].