John Murphy

Jonathan Murphy, commonly known as Murphy, is a major character in the third season. He initially appeared as a recurring character in the first and second seasons. He is portrayed by cast member Richard Harmon and debuts in the first episode of season one.

Murphy is part of the original 100. Because of his crime, Murphy is considered "expendable" and is chosen as one of the 100 Delinquents sent down to Earth to see if it was survivable. Murphy serves as both an ally and antagonist for the Delinquents.

While on Earth Murphy was Bellamy Blake's second-in-command until Clarke Griffin accuses him of murdering Wells Jaha, resulting in the Delinquents trying to hang him. He is banished from The Camp and captured and tortured by Grounders before escaping. He returns to the Camp unknowingly infected with hemorrhagic fever, spreading it to most of the Delinquents. He kills Connor and Myles for their participation in attempting to hang him. He also tries to hang Bellamy and badly wounds Raven Reyes by shooting her before he escapes from The Camp and is recaptured by Grounders.

In Season Two, Murphy is eventually reunited with the remaining Delinquents outside Mount Weather. He ends up going with Finn to Tondc in search of the missing Delinquents. As Finn massacres 18 villagers, Murphy tries to stop him unsuccessfully. He is later blamed for this as well and decides to join Thelonious Jaha on his journey to The City of Light. He and Jaha eventually reach an island and Jaha leaves an injured Murphy behind to chase after a drone. Murphy discovers a lighthouse bunker from before the nuclear war and makes himself at home before discovering the previous owner had committed suicide.

Early Life
Murphy's father, Alex Murphy, was floated for stealing rationed medicine for Murphy after Murphy got sick on the Ark. It turned out the medicine would not have helped anyway. Alex begged Chancellor Jaha for mercy, however, Chancellor Jaha floated his father despite his pleas. Murphy's mother began drinking heavily after his father was floated. The last thing she tells Murphy before he finds her dead in her own vomit is that he killed his father.

Sometime later, Murphy was arrested but because he was under 18, he could not be executed and was sent to prison instead. He was sent down with the rest of the Delinquents to Earth to see if it was sustainable for life.

Throughout the Series

 * -|Season One =


 * -|Season Two =

In Wanheda (Part 1), The bunker that Murphy had previously found in the City of Light becomes a prison when the doors lock. He tries opening the doors through many different methods, including ramming heavy objects into them but they remain sealed. He watches numerous A.L.I.E. videos and dumps alcohol on his head as his mental health starts to deteriorate. On day 86, he's on his last box of food, he makes a video to Jaha in which he remarks that if Jaha sees the video, it means he's not dead. He then screams "Screw you!" at the top of his lungs before dropping the camera. He holds the gun he had found on the floor previously to his throat, preparing to shoot but decides not to go through with it. Eventually, the bunker doors are reopened and Murphy exits the bunker. When he is outside he sees A.L.I.E.'s mansion in the distance and runs to it. Once inside the mansion, Jaha welcomes him. Murphy angrily swings a punch at Jaha but is too weak and misses, and then falls to the ground. Jaha carries him away. Murphy wakes up in a chair and he's freshly groomed with a new set of clothes to wear. There is an apple and glass of water sitting on the small table in front of him. He drinks the water and then gets up, and notices Jaha kneeling and meditating. Murphy tries to speak to him but A.L.I.E. appears and tells him that Jaha is in the "City of Light" and can't hear him. Jaha quickly awakens and gets into an argument with Murphy. Murphy tries to make Jaha understand that A.L.I.E. was the one who ended the world and throws his apple at her in frustration, however, since she's a hologram the apple just passed through her. Murphy ends up leaving the two alone. At night, Murphy stands near a boat, just like the one he came to shore on three months ago. Jaha tries talking to Murphy and offers him the small stone-like object he held while meditating. Jaha says the object will take him to the "City of Light" but Murphy declines his offer. Jaha then says that in the City of Light, there is no hate, pain, or envy, to which Murphy retorts that they are the ABC's of him. Emori pulls up in a boat and docks it. The two seem happy to see each other. Jaha sees this and asks Murphy if he has changed his mind, and he says that he might. Murphy climbs aboard Emori's boat, asking her who she stole it from.}}
 * -|Season Three =

Personality
Murphy seems uptight but is a strong person who gets into fights quickly. He tends to try and use force rather than thinking something all the way through. On several occasions others have had to hold Murphy back, suggesting that he has a quick temper. He appears to follow Bellamy Blake's orders, but defies Bellamy when he thinks he can get away with it. Murphy holds a grudge for a long time. He often displays aggressive behavior throughout the series, later on for more reasonable reasons despite remaining easily irritable.

Despite his violence Murphy states he had a good childhood, and was possibly a nice child. It is unknown why he was locked up. He is shown to have a kinder side, caring for the Delinquents when they fall sick with hemorrhagic fever and helping Raven when she was on her near deathbed, saying it is because he does not want to be alone when he himself dies.

Throughout Season Two, Murphy goes through a significant personality change. He actively tries to contribute to the rescuing of Clarke and the others and saves Bellamy's life when he climbed down the cliff to rescue Mel. Eventually, he is able to re-earn Bellamy's trust and is given a gun and permission to go alone with Finn in search of Clarke and the other missing Delinquents. During Finn's massacre; Murphy yells at Finn to stop over and over again, showing that he did not think what Finn was doing was right. Sickened of feeling as if he does not fit in with the rest of the Ark survivors, he agrees to travel to the City of Light with Jaha. When they encounter Emori in the Dead Zone, he offers her some of his water. He also tells her that her mutated hand looks "badass" instead of insulting her, displaying a more sympathetic and empathetic nature. Later, when Jaha sacrifices another Sky Person to save himself, Murphy is shocked and sickened by Jaha's actions and tells Jaha to leave him behind.

Physical Appearance
Murphy has brown hair that hangs just above his ears. He has dark blue eyes, a large pointy nose, and is relatively slim.

Relationships

 * -|Bellamy =

Bellamy Blake
"We hanged him. We banished him. And now we're gonna kill him. Get the hell out of my way."

- Bellamy to Finn about Murphy

In spite of Murphy's abrasive personality, Bellamy befriends him soon after they arrive on Earth. Although Murphy seems keen on doing as he pleases, he holds a certain respect towards Bellamy and briefly takes a right-hand-man kind of stance around him. Their relationship sours, however, when Murphy is falsely accused of killing Wells; the fallout eventually results in Charlotte's death and Murphy's banishment from the group. When he returns, Bellamy is reluctant to let him stay, but ultimately gives him a second chance. Murphy however betrays him and tries to kill him, causing their relationship to be even more strained.

When Bellamy encounters Murphy again after Murphy tried to hang him, Bellamy begins beating Murphy up but is stopped by Marcus Kane. They are both arrested and locked in the stockade together at Camp Jaha. Bellamy gives Murphy another chance when he takes Murphy with him to hunt for the missing Delinquents and Murphy proves himself to Bellamy and saves his life at one point. Bellamy appears to trust him once again, so much that he even gave him a gun. Bellamy even goes so far as to protect Murphy when Raven wants to exchange his life with Finn's for the Tondc massacre.


 * -| Thelonious Jaha =

Thelonious Jaha
"You want to stop being treated like a criminal, you have to stop thinking that that's all you are. Take this leap of faith with me, John Murphy, and let me show you there's so much more for you than this."

- Thelonious Jaha

John initially had hated Thelonious since he lived on The Ark as he was the one who floated his father for stealing medicine for him. His hatred for him was projected onto Thelonious's son, Wells, whom he hated just for being his son. When they finally interact in Survival of the Fittest, Murphy is hesitant to speak with him.

Eventually when Jaha asks him to go to The City of Light with him. Murphy thinks little of it but feels out of place at Camp Jaha so he travels with him in search of it. While on the journey they become closer until Jaha throws out a member of the group in order to save himself. Murphy eventually tells Jaha to leave him behind and they are separated in the Second Season finale.


 * -|Raven =

Raven Reyes
"I don't want to die alone"

- Murphy, after Raven asks him why he is helping her

Murphy shot Raven at the end of Season One, resulting to her inability to ever walk properly again. In the first episode of Season Two, he tells Raven his tragic back-story after she asks him how a kid that claims to be loved by his parents became a psychopath. He helps her when she starts coughing up blood and when she asks why, he tells her that he doesn't want to die alone. Murphy shows Raven genuine kindness, remorse, and heartache. In Spacewalker, Raven asks Murphy to help her protect Finn from the Grounders and he happily complies. She betrays Murphy, however, by offering to give him up in Finn's place knowing full-well what kind of torture he will experience. Murphy calls her a "sick bitch" and tells her to go to hell.


 * -| Clarke =

Clarke Griffin
Murphy and Clarke have a hatred towards each other. In Murphy's Law, Clarke tries to stop him from being executed by the mob of Delinquents, however, she later decides with Bellamy to banish him for his actions leading to Charlotte's death. Clarke also blames him for not stopping Finn during the massacre at Tondc.


 * -|Finn =

Finn Collins
Although they did not interact much initially, Finn and Murphy were thrown together in Inclement Weather when Bellamy brought Murphy along with them to track down Clarke and the rest of the missing Delinquents. When Finn was going to execute Grounders in Human Trials, Murphy tried to get him to stop and leave. When he failed to get Finn to stop, he was shocked by what Finn did. Later, when they were trying to help Finn escape and Raven wanted to give up Murphy instead, Finn stepped in and refused to allow Raven to do so. Murphy agrees to help defend the drop ship with them.


 * -|Mbege =

John Mbege
Murphy and Mbege are depicted as friends and are often seen in each other's presence throughout Pilot and Earth Skills. In Murphy's Law, Mbege was willing to go against Bellamy and the other Delinquents to help Murphy when they try to lynch him and later joins Murphy's lynch mob when he wants to punish Charlotte. After Murphy is banished, however, Mbege abandons Murphy in order to be allowed to return to The Camp and appears=ed to be unaffected by this.


 * -|Wells =

Wells Jaha
"Look at this, everybody: the Chancellor of Earth!"

- Murphy, regarding Wells being on Earth, sarcastically.

Murphy and Wells dislike one another. In Pilot, Murphy and John Mbege attack Wells after rudely speaking about his father. Finn saves Wells and later that night Murphy, Bellamy, and Mbege remove Wells' wristband forcefully. In Murphy's Law, Murphy is accused of murdering Wells and as a result is beaten and hanged.

Killed Victims

 * Connor
 * Myles

Notes and Trivia

 * He & John Mbege share the same first name & initials.
 * His full name was revealed to be Jonathan Murphy.
 * He has similar traits to Roger from Lord of the Flies, because both embrace the anarchism and lack of authority, both are the most feared and violent members of the group, both are sadistic, and both were friends with the leaders of their groups.
 * His father, Alex, was floated because he got sick with the flu and Alex stole medicine to help him.
 * The medicine would not have done any good anyway.
 * His father's death led to his mother's alcoholism. She drank herself to death after blaming her son for the death of her husband.
 * In Survival of the Fittest, Thelonious Jaha says that he remembers Alex and implies that he feels guilty about executing him.
 * In Survival of the Fittest, Thelonious Jaha says that he remembers Alex and implies that he feels guilty about executing him.