The Main Inspirations Behind Jack Reacher, According To His Creator

Jack Reacher is big on minding his own business. This army major-turned-vagrant packs very light (just a lone toothbrush!) and drifts from one town to another without a set agenda in mind. But trouble always finds Reacher, who never hesitates to spring into action in the face of injustice. While Reacher never goes out of his way to seek trouble, his unconventional moral code leads him to places where even the best law enforcement officers wouldn't dare go in with a gun.

And sometimes, Reacher is left without a weapon to defend himself, but that doesn't stop him from beating the bad guys into a pulp or throwing them off tall buildings. I mean, that is what his hulking muscles are for, but Lee Child's "Reacher" novel series never reduces its protagonist to a shallow exhibition of machismo. Child etches Reacher as a formidable physical force, but also invests him with impressive sleuthing skills — the kind that helps him slip into the shoes of a double agent without second thought.

It isn't technically incorrect to call Reacher a hero, but it is a term he would take issue with. Moreover, in Prime Video's adaptation of the novel series, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) embodies the traits of his literary counterpart perfectly, while also embracing a vulnerability that is unique to this version. Ritchson's rendition confronts his limitations, embraces emotional growth, and falls in love quite passionately. However, Reacher cannot settle (no matter how one chooses to interpret him), as he is a wandering spirit, forever meant to drift as he pleases. So, if Jack Reacher isn't a mortal hero or a traditional good guy, then who is he? What were the inspirations behind a character known for his brutality during fights, who is canonically known to perform better when he is unarmed?

Child allows us to peek into Reacher's origins in a conversation with long-time "Reacher" fan Stephen King (!) during a 2015 event held at Harvard University. Let's take a look at these inspirations, which (surprisingly) draw heavily from myths of old.

Child touched upon Reacher's vagabond tendencies, taking a "you don't own things, things own you" approach to his action-heavy stories that always circle back to the theme of personal justice. While talking about the inspirations behind Reacher, Child drew from various sources — historical lore, local myths, and the Biblical tale of David and Goliath — to create a modern-day savior without a savior complex:

"But where did Reacher come from? I think the only sensible answer to that is from what I'd read before [...] There's a character that has showed up throughout history in all different kinds of contexts — all the way back through medieval myths, the Robin Hood stuff, the old Scandinavian myths, the Anglo-Saxon myths: The mysterious stranger. You could even say it goes all the way back to religious myths, the savior that shows up."

Child went on to explain his interest in David versus Goliath even as a child, and how he would be "rooting for Goliath," which eventually morphed into an idea for a protagonist who took on Goliath's physical qualities but remained morally sound. Part of Child's reasoning to morph Reacher into the biggest dude in any room also stemmed from feelings of vulnerability, which he channeled to create a no-nonsense figure who is both honorable and empowering:

"So, I kind of figured, suppose Goliath was the good guy here, plus a little bit of wish fulfillment [...] And I was just sick of always feeling kind of vulnerable or powerless [...] You're walking down the street and it's late at night, and you're just a little worried about this other guy coming towards you or those two other guys on the other sidewalk. You live with that kind of nervousness and fear all the time. And I just thought, suppose you didn't. Suppose you could walk down any street anywhere in the world and pretty much be guaranteed that nobody is going to mess with you. Very empowering feeling."

Indeed. No one messes with Reacher, and anyone foolish enough to do so would remember their misstep as long as they live. While Reacher inspires awe due to his Goliath-like presence, the ones closest to him know that he isn't as infallible as he seems. Deep within, he's just a man who is hell bent on doing the right thing.