John Drox

John Drox (ジョン・ドロックス, Jon Dorokkusu) is a popular American filmmaker. Several of his late 1990s and early 2000s films feature the siblings Claudia and Charon Walken as actress and stuntman respectively. He is also known for directing a film based off the declassified Flying Pussyfoot incident.

Appearance
John is an overweight, potbellied black man with a face like "a cuddly combination of a bear and a piglet," and is said to wear glasses. His voice has been described as 'obnoxious'.

Personality
John is a fairly emotive man, heaping praise upon those who have earned it. He is reminiscent of filmmaker archetypes - at one point, he shouts, "maaaaarvelous" out of satisfaction. John also is very keen on perfection, constantly using the word 'perfect' to describe people or film scenes. This is especially so in how he treats and views Claudia and Walken, whom he venerates. He adulates over them with abnormal passion, comparing Claudia to "true art," and calling Charon's moves 'magnificent.' Alongside perfection, he values capturing natural reactions and emotions in his films for the sake of realism.

At one point, he wonders if the "God of Filmmaking" has abandoned him, and why God 'tests' him so. It is unclear if he was serious.

2002 (Side A): Bullet Garden
John and his crew spend the summer of 2002 filming Shark Flight, a sequel film to John's successful movie adaptation of the Mode Gear comic book series. In July, they shoot a critical scene in which the film's protagonist, Aisha – played by Claudia Walken meets The Gear – stunts performed by Charon Walken – meet for the first time, repeating takes until John is satisfied.

Once he is satisfied, he calls the scene a wrap and personally congratulates Claudia and Charon on their 'perfect' performances, going so far as to suggest that Charon out to follow his sister into the spotlight. He immediately backs down when Charon remains silent, sheepishly remembering that he had promised not to talk of such ideas.

The two siblings retreat to their break room half an hour later. When John stops by in search of them, he finds the door wide open – and thus happens to witness Charon doing 'cute' things at his sister's request. He keeps quiet until Claudia notices him, at which point he falls to his knees and loudly laments to the 'God of Filmmaking' over not having had a camera with which he could have filmed the siblings.

When he finally recovers, he explains that he came to talk shop about their upcoming promotional trip to Japan – the latest effort in their ongoing publicity campaign for Shark Flight. So saying, he hands them a couple of informal planning proposals, which read on their covers: "About the Great Shark Flight Publicity Campaign aboard the Twin Luxury Cruise Liner 'Entrance' (better shoot the DVD extras here too~)."

In August, John, Claudia, Charon, and multiple members of their film crew board the luxury cruise liner Entrance on the American west coast, bringing with them costumes, camera equipment, and even their animatronic shark for filming purposes. On the second day of the cruise, John and his crew head out to fetch Charon and the shark for a promotional event in the ship's shopping area. They find the shark (inside which is Carnea Kaufman) and The Gear (inside which is Bobby Splot rather than Charon), and John drags Bobby off by the hand in his excitement.

John and Bobby-as-The-Gear join Claudia on the event stage, and though he has picked up on the fact the boy wearing The Gear costume is not Charon, decides to keep the cameras rolling for fun. The event is interrupted when a gunman exchanges fire with two Mask Makers in a café by the fountain, and several bodyguards escort John, Claudia, 'The Gear', and the rest of the crew to the exit in the ensuing chaos.

Some ten or twenty or so minutes after the shootout, a Mask Maker announces over the intercom that a "group of mysterious seajackers" has seajacked the ship and instructs the passengers to look out of the windows – to where all of the lifeboats have been lowered, empty, onto the ocean. In the next instance, unknown projectiles are shot from somewhere on the ship toward all the lifeboats, blowing them all up.

2002 (Side B): Blood Sabbath
Following the café shootout and Mask Maker announcement, John, Claudia, and the crew take cover in one of the movie theaters on the ship. John orders his cameramen to keep their cameras rolling no matter what, and everyone to keep themselves alive. Despite the terrifying circumstances he cannot help but be excited, and he asks Claudia what she thinks of his rather optimistic vision – that is, that the seajacking will have no casualties, and they will have recorded it all on camera.

Claudia reprimands John for obsessing over film at such a dangerous time, but smiles brightly and supports his vision nevertheless. He gives her a thumbs up, approving her approval, and the rest of the crew sighs in exasperation. At that moment, Czeslaw Meyer and a group of boys enter the theatre looking for cover – only for Czes to do an about-face upon seeing Claudia. She barrels into him in her delight, and attempts to convince him to help her take control of the ship.

John and the film crew all survive the seajacking unscathed. On Claudia's request, John includes Czes and Mr. and Mrs. Firo and Ennis Prochainezo as part of his publicity crew for Japan; it is also suggested that the film distributor – McDonnell Company – lends the FBI favors in order to help keep the Immortals-related aspects of the incident out of the public eye.

Trivia

 * Promotional material for John Drox's Flying Pussyfoot-based film is seen playing on outdoor screens throughout Ikebukuro in the anime adaptation of Durarara!!, one of Ryohgo Narita's other light novel series. (The footage shown is actually scenes from the anime adaptation of Baccano!).
 * John has reportedly hired Durarara!! actor Kasuka Heiwajima for several of his movies. Durarara!! Volume 04 (the official Yen Press translation of which spells John's name as "John Drox") mentions that John had marked Kasuka to play the lead in his pet project Cruiserfield, due to be filmed in Japan during springtime.