Jack Reacher

Reacher was born on a US military base and spent his childhood moving from country to country. He is 6'5", carries no phone, and owns little more than a toothbrush, a bank card and a folded map. He buys new clothes, wears them, and throws them away. His older brother, Joe, was the one tie he kept for a long time. He rides buses and hitches rides, never settles anywhere, and always steps into trouble nobody invited him to. He measures every scene in seconds, distances and exits, which is why he often sees what the local police miss. Cruise gave him a more contained version, and Ritchson a much bigger, more physical one.

In Pittsburgh, a sniper kills five people and the suspect, James Barr, asks for one name: Jack Reacher. Reacher turns up, agrees to work for the defense and learns Barr has killed before. Still, he distrusts the scene, and the investigation shows the crime was staged. Once the truth is out, he leaves town without a goodbye.

In Washington, Reacher wants to meet the major who commands the 110th, his old unit. She is jailed for espionage, and soon he is accused of an old crime too. Together they run and uncover an arms conspiracy. Along the way comes Samantha, who may be his daughter.

In S1, Reacher steps off a bus in Margrave, Georgia, and is arrested for murder. In jail he learns the victim is his brother Joe, a Treasury agent. Released, he teams up with Finlay and Roscoe and takes down a counterfeit-money ring. Neagley arrives to help.

In S2, someone kills Reacher's old colleagues from the 110th. He gathers the survivors, among them Neagley, Dixon and O'Donnell, and chases the culprits to an aerospace company that deals with a terrorist.

In S3, Reacher goes undercover for the DEA as Richard Beck's bodyguard. Quinn, an enemy he thought was dead, crosses his path again. Mission and revenge blur together.

In S4, Reacher watches a woman take her own life on the Philadelphia subway and lands in the middle of a hunt for a USB drive. With Jacob and detective Tamara, he follows the trail to an old crime in Indonesia, and comes out wounded.

Reacher was born in Lee Child's novels, starting with Killing Floor (1997). The films adapt One Shot and Never Go Back; the series adapts one book per season. The Reacher of the books is 6'5", and Lee Child backed the casting of Tom Cruise anyway.