John MacNeal

John MacNeal is a timid, dorky, often absent-minded young man living with his aunt and uncle in Shag Harbour at the time of the Shag Harbour UFO incident. He's an eccentric and enthusiastic individual with occasional episodes of anxiety. He is close friends with Marie, Laurie and Sylvia. John attends Barrington Municipal High School.

EARLY LIFE
John was born in Halifax to Fergus and Sigourney, both of whom worked on a secret parapsychology program for the government. Around the age of 8, his parents were killed and his house burnt to the ground. Deeply traumatized by something and writing the word ULTRA on the walls in blood, he was rescued by his uncle Alistair. Eventually, the memory was repressed and forgotten by John and he moved on with his life.

At the age of 11, he met Laurie and became close friends with him. Through his early teens he also befriended Marie and Sylvia. He soon begun to develop romantic feelings for both Laurie and Sylvia. Laurie, Sylvia and him would eventual form a garage band called the Flotsam Three.

THE UFO INCIDENT
In early October of 1967, John witnessed the crash of an alien spacecraft off the coast of Shag Harbour. Believing it (like many others) to be a plane crash, John and his friends aiding Alistair and other local fishermen in search and rescue efforts.

TRIVIA

 * John's name originates from Hebrew and means "Graced by God / God is gracious".
 * John's surname MacNeal originates from Scottish and means "Son of Neal". Neal is a Gaelic name meaning "cloud", "passionate" or "champion".
 * John shares many similarities with and is based on the author.
 * John's interests include comic books, music and the paranormal.
 * John has Asperger's syndrome and Dissociation Identity Disorder.
 * John is partially fluent in Gaelic.
 * When doing something that requires courage, John will shout "shuwatch" when jumping into action. Shuwatch is the infamous catchphrase of the Japanese superhero Ultraman.