Jon Panel

Jon Panel (ヨウン・パーネル, Youn Pāneru) is an Irish immigrant, and a member of Jacuzzi's Gang.

He works as a bartender on the Flying Pussyfoot in 1931, and together with Fang Lin-Shan is responsible for giving Jacuzzi Splot the idea for a train robbery.

The subsequent cover-up of the Flying Pussyfoot incident by Senator Manfred Beriam and the Nebula corporation causes Jon to lose his job, but he immediately finds new employment as Eve Genoard's private bartender and sommelier courtesy of a personal recommendation from Gregoire.

It is thanks to Jon that approximately twenty numbers of Jacuzzi's gang are able to move into the Genoard Family mansion on Millionaires' Row.

Appearance
John has short greyish hair, and wears a standard bartender uniform: a black trousers and black vest over a white button-up shirt, with a bow tie over the collar.

Personality
Jon is very blunt and straightforward--the sort of person who gives his opinions straight rather than softening them. This is evident in how he talks to Jacuzzi, occasionally lecturing him or reprimanding him when he starts to complain or cry. In this regard, Jon stand out a little from the others in the gang, who are more prone to teasing Jacuzzi and giving him leeway than Jon is. Jon and Nice are perhaps the most hard on Jacuzzi of the gang: Jon for pointing out Jacuzzi's flaws and fallacies; and Nice for pushing him into uncomfortable situations. He is calm in the face of danger, as evidenced when he jokes in the faces of the Lemures when they invade the car.

1931
Jon and Fang secure employment under Gregoire, head chef of the Flying Pussyfoot's kitchen, as bartender and assistant cook respectively. They are the ones who tip off Jacuzzi Splot and others on the potential for a train robbery, and on the evening of December 30 Jacuzzi and gang members Nice Holystone, Donny, Nick, and Jack board the train planning to steal explosives which have been smuggled into one of its freight holds. According to Jacuzzi, he has not seen Jon and Fang in a long time.

At some point off-screen and off-page prior to dinnertime, the Young Conductor tells Jon the legend of the Rail Tracer, which Jon does not find particularly interesting. This is the same legend that passengers Isaac and Miria tell Jacuzzi in the train's dining car; since neither Isaac nor Jon remember the method to prevent the Rail Tracer's coming, Jon suggests that Jacuzzi find the Young Conductor and ask him directly.

Shortly after Jacuzzi and Nice leave the dining car, three Lemures, Vicky, and Nick converge upon the car at the same time. Nick turns tail, and Vicky shoots dead one of the Lemures and wounds another before being shot dead. When his companion Ladd Russo arrives, he lets the wounded Lemur escape and boxes the surviving Lemur to death before leaving with his friends.

The passengers are initially shocked into silence, but as time passes and shock turns to fear, they vent their anger and terror at Jon and the rest of the staff, demanding the employees stop the train and let the passengers free. Jon and Fang determine that as immigrants nothing they say or do will help their situation, and they lock themselves in the kitchen.

One of the passengers, Turner, is particularly verbally abusive towards them: he refers to them with racial and ethnic slurs and is exceptionally aggressive in his demands for a refund. His abhorrent behavior causes Isaac and Miria to snap, and they call him all variations of rude and boorish, throw money at him to cover the cost of his ticket, and warn him to leave before Isaac uses his 'billion guns' against him.

With two passengers vocally calling for Turner's expulsion, Gregoire finally instructs Jon and Fang to throw Turner out of the car. Turner verbally assaults them even as they manhandle him toward the door leading to Second Class, though his bravado vanishes once they force him out onto the platform; Jon threatens him with his ice pick, uses Turner's own words against him, and declares that they will kill him should he dare return.

The other cooks have taken care of the blood and bodies by the time Jon returns to the bar, where he quietly thanks Isaac and Miria for defending him and Fang. Neither hear him, still wound up over Turner's outrageous 'lies': how could he have called the car filthy when there are no 'apes' or 'monkeys' in sight? Jon, disturbed by the idea that perhaps they had simply misunderstood Turner's slang rather than recognizing and objecting to his prejudices, decides to forget he overheard them.

When Natalie Beriam tells her daughter Mary and a young boy to hide, Jon asks her in concern if she is not going to hide as well; before Ladd had left, he had stated outright his intention to collect the Beriams later on. Jon and Fang also try to discourage Isaac and Miria from leaving the dining car to no avail, and can only watch as Isaac and Miria leave for Second Class.

Not long after Czes and Mary leave, Lemur leader Goose Perkins and a few of his subordinates enter the dining car to assess the situation. Natalie lies to Goose that the White Suits captured Mary, biting her lip and digging her nails into her palms until she draws blood so as to convince him she is telling the distressed truth. Jon, having taken cover behind the counter, is sincerely impressed both by her her idea and her acting skills.

Goose shepherds Natalie back to First Class, leaving two armed Lemures to retain control the dining car in the meantime. Later on, Five machine gun-toting Lemures run through the car in the direction of Second Class; some time after that, two Lemures arrive to switch places with the two guards. The dining car plunges into darkness seconds after the previous guards leave, and they double-back at the sound of a passenger's scream; when the lights flicker back on, the two replacement guards are nowhere to be found. The first two guards exit back onto the connecting platform, clearly agitated, and do not return.

Several minutes of uncomfortable silence pass until two White Suits open the door leading to Second Class. They call for the passengers to surrender their valuables as they step inside, only for Donny to knock them out from behind; as they collapse, Jacuzzi emerges from Donny's shadow with a machine gun in his hand – and announces that the train is now under his control.

Jacuzzi briefs Jon and Fang on the situation, orders Donny to head to the freight cars, and enlists the passengers' help in an uprising against the Lemures. An ensuing explosion sounds off from First Class; all three immediately assume that Nice Holystone is the one behind it, and Jacuzzi orders Jon and Fang to take charge of the dining car while he goes to Nice's aid. Fang tries to suggest that he and Jon go in his place, but Jacuzzi refuses; he argues that Jon is better than him at giving orders in situations like this.

Jon remarks that Jacuzzi is not crying for once, and when Jacuzzi admits that he is absolutely terrified, attempts to dissuade him from leaving. He and Fang finally back down and let Jacuzzi go only when he explains he is actively prepared for what may come. Having secured the passengers' cooperation, Jon and Fang equip every single one of them with unloaded firearms taking from the Lemures' smuggled stash, and arm themselves with loaded guns in turn.

Once Nice and Nick run through the dining car to Second Class, either they or the dining car occupants jam the door so that no one can pass through it. The jam successfully obstructs the group of Lemures who charge through the dining car later on, and at Jon and Fang's signal all of the passengers cock their guns' hammers and take aim at the Lemures' backs. The men subsequently surrender, and Jon and Fang tie them up with ripped tablecloths.

1931-1932
Around 12:00 PM on December 31, the Flying Pussyfoot stops at a switch point before entering Manhattan and undergoes a two-hour police investigation. Its steam engine is switched out for an electric locomotive while the police make their arrests and check the passengers' tickets, and when the train finally arrives at Pennsylvania Station at 2:00 PM it is two hours late.

The train's cars are put into storage when the police finally withdraw, and in the aftermath Jon and Fang linger behind in the dining car at Gregoire's behest. As Gregoire busies himself with cooking stew, Jon and Fang discuss what will become of them; though they managed to escape police arrest, it is very likely they will be fired given the number of witnesses who can tie them to Jacuzzi's gang. Fang suggests that they go find work at The Alveare, where his older sister Lia works, but Gregoire abruptly interrupts them with the news that all of the train's employees, including himself, are going to lose their jobs.

According to Gregoire, the train's sponsor Nebula is doing everything it can to erase the train and the incident from existence – hence the firing. The reason he asked them to stay behind is because some wealthy acquaintances of his – the Genoards – are currently looking for a bartender and cook, and he plans on recommending them for the jobs. Whether or not they are criminals is irrelevant; as far as he is concerned, their skill is all that matters.

Gregoire hands off his massive twenty-five gallon pot of stew to them as an aggressive parting gift, and they end up having to recruit Donny to carry the pot to Fred's Clinic – the hospital where Jacuzzi and Jack are currently hospitalized. They share the stew with the rest of the gang, and are present when the retrieval team introduce Chané Laforet as a woman who they fished out of the river along with the stolen cargo.

The next day, Jon accompanies Fang on a visit to Fang's sister Lia, who gives a certain black case to Fang for safekeeping. That evening, the two of them visit the Genoard manor on Millionaires' Row and present themselves to Benjamin and Samantha (Eve's steward and made respectively) as the new hires, ready to take on the proposed one-month probationary contract with the Genoards. If their performance for the next month proves satisfactory, they will move to the New Jersey manor as the permanent staff. Benjamin and Samantha escort Jon and Fang to Eve's bedroom for introductions, only to find her missing and a note of explanation on her bed.

Jon and Fang follow Benjamin and Samantha to the headquarters of the Daily Days, where the four plan to spend the night in wait for news of Eve. There, they learn that the information broker Henry may have put Eve's life in danger; furious, Benjamin gives Henry a thrashing. Jon and Fang manage to pull him off Henry, only for Samantha to pick up where Benjamin left off.

Eve survives Gustavo Bagetta's January 2nd raid on the Daily Days building and returns to the manor in the aftermath. The meal Jon and Fang prepare for her is met with high, earnest praise. Jon later secures Eve's permission for some of his friends to live and work in the New York manor as housekeepers while she is away in New Jersey, though he does not tell her what manner or how many friends he means. Thanks to Jon's efforts, about twenty or so delinquents are able to move into the manor.

Two weeks after the Flying Pussyfoot incident, Jon and several other members of Jacuzzi's gang show up at a warehouse to support Jacuzzi during his confrontation with Graham Specter. The delinquents witness a subsequent showdown between Graham and Felix Walken, Chané's romantic interest.

1933
When Jacuzzi accidentally breaks a vase in the manor in September 1933, Jon berates him severely and only refrains from a full-blown lecture when it is pointed out to him that he has made Jacuzzi cry. With a sigh, Jon relinquishes his anger and assures Jacuzzi that he will inform Eve about the vase in Jacuzzi's stead. Jacuzzi tries to protest, but Jon reminds him that his facial tattoo makes him a poor candidate for any interactions involving a proper lady like Eve.

The doorbell rings, causing Jacuzzi to dive under a table and advise Jon and the others to do the same. His fear dissipates when the visitors are revealed to be Isaac and Miria making a housecall.

However, the second time the doorbell rings heralds the arrival of an unfamiliar group of people who identify themselves as the Larva, with Dallas Genoard in tow. The Larva's leader, Tim, explains that he is here to talk about immortality – much to the besumement of Jon and Nice. Their bemusement vanishes when Adele reveals that they know about the gang's history with the Russo Family.

Tim explains that he wants Jacuzzi's gang to join up with the Larva, and that he is prepared to offer them the chance to become immortals in exchange. To prove that immortality is real, Adele impales Dallas' throat with her spear – but Jacuzzi collapses in a dead faint before he can witness Dallas regenerate. The rest of his companions lose themselves to frivolous chatter at the sight save for Nice and Jon, who remain unconvinced and on guard.

The subsequent arrival of five more people (Chané, Tick Jefferson, Maria Barcelito, Ronny Schiatto and Ennis) serves to convince Jon and Nice of the full gravity of the situation, and Jon attempts to wake up Jacuzzi from where he has fainted. Ronny confronts Jacuzzi over his gang's unauthorized criminal activity, Adele and Maria clash, and Nice finally decides to set off a smokescreen and give the gang an opportunity to escape.

All factions scatter in the ensuing chaos, and Jacuzzi's gang eventually reconvenes by a construction site near the Hudson river. It turns out that Dallas has followed them, and he makes a great show of 'forgiving' them for living in 'his home' on the condition that they form an alliance. Jon, suspicious, asks Dallas, "You mean to tell us that you're Miss Eve's brother, then?" Dallas demands to know how Jon knows Eve, and Jon brings him up to speed on their employer-employee. He makes no attempt to hide his critical opinion of Dallas as a person, and along with Nice and Jacuzzi is one of the few who catches onto Dallas' real plans for them.

Later on, Jon worriedly points out to Jacuzzi that they accidentally left Fang behind in the manor.

Trivia

 * In the English dub of the 2007 anime adaptation, Jon is called Ian. In the French dub, his name is pronounced closer to Jon.
 * His Japanese voice actor in the anime, Tetsuharu Ōta, also voices Vicky.
 * Jon is an Irish immigrant.
 * He had at some point been kicked out of his community for causing some sort of unspecified trouble prior to joining Jacuzzi's gang.
 * Jon once made his living in the "seedy underbelly of Chicago society," which is the reason why he is not intimidated or cowed by Turner's words.
 * It is possible that within the loose hierarchal organization of Jacuzzi's gang, Jon is somewhere near the top, as he is one of the most skeptical and vocal of the group and nowhere near as gullible and frivolous as are the majority of Jacuzzi's gang.
 * Since Prohibition was not lifted until 1933, Jon was serving non-alcoholic drinks to the passengers on the Flying Pussyfoot.
 * He knows how to use a gun.