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!!Jack Bauer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bauer_Jack_5690.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm federal agent Jack Bauer. This is the longest day of my life."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/KieferSutherland
->''"I see fifteen people held hostage on a bus, and everything else goes out the window. I will do whatever it takes to save them, and I mean whatever it takes. ... Laws were written by much smarter men than me. And in the end, these laws have to be more important than the 15 people on the bus. I know that's right. In my mind, I know that's right. I just don't think my heart could ever have lived with it."''
A retired American serviceman and a federal agent, who was responsible for saving multiple American citizens from potentially devastating terrorist attacks on more than one occasion.
He took a leadership role in various covert and undercover missions, and served as both Special Agent in Charge and Director of Field Operations of CTU Los Angeles. His dedication to keeping U.S. citizens safe led him to make some deep personal sacrifices. Jack lost his job, his family, his friends, and, for a period of nearly two years after Day 5, his freedom. He showed his willingness to sacrifice his life on multiple occasions, but each time his sacrifice ultimately proved to be unnecessary.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-F]]
* ActionDad: One of TV's most prominent examples.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: No matter how many times he saved America from terrorists, almost everyone shuns him or threatens his life. At this point, he's portrayed as a living martyr—of torture tactics.
* AnAxeToGrind: Uses one to great effect in Season 8's opening episode.
* AndThisIsFor: His last words to Pavel before eviscerating him to obtain evidence and avenge Renee Walker: "This is for my friend!"
** [[spoiler:States this right before killing Cheng Zhi. "This is for Audrey, you son of a bitch!"]]
* AntiHero: An UnscrupulousHero. He's perfectly willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]], mutilate, execute allies if necessary and break nearly every law in the book. To his credit, he does intend to stand trial for any laws he breaks, even though this never actually happens (given that this ''is'' [[MemeticBadass Jack Bauer we're talking about]], perhaps no one is brave enough to try.)
* AntiVillain: Jack effectively becomes this for the last stretch of the eighth season. Although Taylor, Logan, and eventually Suvarov are presented as the major antagonists and what they're doing is wrong, the show itself makes it clear that Jack, despite the cause he's fighting for, isn't exactly being all that admirable either.
* ArchEnemy: He has three:
** Nina Myers (season 1-3), his ex lieutenant and lover,who turned to be a mole, and his wife and unborn child's murderer. She probably is the person Jack hates the most, and is, in Jack's words, worse than a traitor, considering she only cares about money and her own well being.
** Charles Logan (seasons 4-8). The man responsible for the Sentox conspiracy, and (semi-directly) for the deaths of David Palmer, Michelle Dessler, and Tony Almeida, not to mention all the others who died because of the entire conspiracy. And then, for the cover up of Renee Walker's death. He also is everything Jack hates about politicians (and people in general). Of all his enemies (and villains in 24) , Logan possibly is the most powerful and influencial, the only one he returns the hatred Jack feels for him, and the one who has the biggest claim for the Big Bad's spot for the series.
** Cheng Zhi (Seasons 4-6,9). The Chinese agent responsible for Jack's two years of torture in China, and for Audrey Raines's torture and eventual death. They were both faithful agents to their countries, until Cheng felt Betrayed and tried to launch a war between China and US (something Jack almost did with Russia). Although, Cheng was always much crueler and ruthless than Jack.
** For one season villains, Christopher Henderson, Victor Drazen, Stephen Saunders, and some of his family members (brother and father) deserve a special mention.
** In another way, he is his own worst enemy.
* BackFromTheDead: He fakes being dead for a year, which starts with being clinically dead for real for a couple of minutes. He was also clinically dead for a few minutes on Day 2, before being brought back to life by Peter Kingsley's men when they needed to continue torturing him.
* BadassBeard: Usually to signify Jack will be even more badass than usual.
* BadassBoast: Jack makes several over the course of the series, and it's never an empty boast.
-->''"I have killed two people since midnight, I haven't slept in over 24 hours. So maybe… maybe you should be a little more afraid of me than you are right now."''
-->''"I can make you die with more pain than you ever imagined."''
-->''"So help me God I will kill you, and you will stay dead this time."''
-->''"Look, I can tell you consider yourself a pretty intimidating group. You probably think I'm at a disadvantage. I promise you, I'm not."''
-->[[spoiler: ''"I've taken you at your word. But if you're lying to me, if anything happens to her or my family your entire world will come apart, and you will never see it coming."'']]
* BadassDriver: During Live Another Day, [[spoiler:he manages to outrun a UAV that's launching hellfire missiles on the getaway car he's driving]].
* BadassLongcoat: Wears one at certain points during both Days 1 and 7.
* BadassInDistress: He gets captured at least 2-3 times a season, but most of the time he's successfully able to escape. On a few occasions, he will need someone (The President, CTU, Chloe...) to bail him out, but not without trying on his own first.
* BadassInANiceSuit: As opposed to his usual basic tactical clothing, he wore a suit when he infiltrated the Russian Consulate during Day 6 and again during Juma's invasion of the White House on Day 7.
* BreakTheBadass: Often and repeatedly throughout the series. Several personal crises and losses hit him as a cost of Jack doing what he does and threaten to destroy him emotionally, and the one that happens in Day 8 finally breaks him so hard that it causes a permanent shift downward on the Anti-Hero scale for him, something that continues on to Day 9. And top it all off, the ending of Day 9 comes in and hits him ''even harder''.
* BeardOfSorrow: Day 2 and Redemption. Technically averted in season 6, since while he has a beard it's because of [[TimePassageBeard being held prisoner]] rather than a HeroicBSOD, although he was pretty much a broken shell of himself by that point.
* BenchBreaker: Restraining Jack Bauer is... problematic at best.
* BerserkButton: Do NOT try to justify treason, cold-blooded murder, terrorism, and assassinating the president with "It was for the good of the country!" and then say that makes you and him the same. Really, don't. Even if you're [[spoiler:his brother]], Jack will still ''utterly lose his shit'' at you. This is something that hits Jack deeply, considering how much he has suffered and lost, and the horrible things he has been forced to do to save innocent lives. Not to mention the guilt he carries for many of these actions.
** For that matter, threatening, harming, or killing anyone he loves is pretty much a death sentence.
* BestServedCold: Never lets his emotions impede his ''tactical'' plans, which makes him even ''more'' dangerous when he's AxeCrazy.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler: For Day 8, Jack ends up becoming this opposite [[BigBadDuumvirate Charles Logan and Yuri Suvarov]]. Suvarov has been the mastermind of the terrorist attacks on New York through the season, and Logan is exploiting things all for his own benefit, and Jack, after all the loss, heartbreak, and betrayal he's faced, is fed up and wants to kill both of them regardless of the consequences - even if it means kicking off World War 3 in doing so. Understandably, this ends up making him as much of a threat as the other two.]]
* BigNO: Several throughout the show, notably at the end of Season 4.
* BrokenAce: The best covert operative in the world, but is just as (or even more so) big a fanatic than the terrorists he fights.
* ButtMonkey: Throughout the entire series he's been betrayed, tortured, used, exploited, and almost all his friends and loved ones have wound up dead; while the majority of those that don't either eventually turn out to be traitors or wind up wanting absolutely nothing to do with him. His life borders on CosmicPlaything level bad.
%%%* ByronicHero
* CallingTheOldManOut: To James Heller at the end of Season 6, although he's more a father figure than a father. While his father also becomes his enemy, he doesn't quite "call him out".
* CassandraTruth: If a ReasonableAuthorityFigure listened to Jack, most of the bad guy's terrorist plots would be ended in hours, not a day. And the rare times one of them does, someone else's red tape comes in to get in the way.
* CartwrightCurse: Teri's dead, Audrey's gone, and the latest victim is Renee.
** Claudia Hernandez falls into this, too, though she wasn't seeing Jack at the time.
** Lampshaded by James Heller when he tries to keep Jack from seeing Audrey. [[spoiler: This ends up being {{foreshadowing}}.]]
-->'''Heller:''' You're cursed, Jack. Everything you touch, one way or another, ends up dead.
* CatchPhrase: In any given season of ''24'', it's likely you'll hear Jack yell "Dammit!" or "We are running out of time!" at least a couple of times.
* TheChessmaster: As of Live Another Day, he's showing signs of becoming this. [[spoiler:In the first hour, he purposely gets caught by the CIA in order to get transported to their black site. At the right moment, he signals an associate outside the building to prepare an escape route, incapacitates the agents escorting him to the torture chamber, rescues Chloe, sets off an explosion which guts much of the building, and to top it off, his associate uses a grenade launcher to blow a hole through the top of the underground passage where Jack is, deploys a ladder, and by the time the rest of the CIA realize what has happened, their prisoners are gone.]]
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: If he sees or knows of someone in trouble, he will help them regardless of laws or politics.
* ClearMyName: At several points, he's suspected of working with the terrorists, starting in Season 1, when he's thought to have tried to assassinate David Palmer, despite managing to narrowly prevent it.
* CombatPragmatist: Sniper rifles, assault rifles, pistols, knives, CQC, chains, axes, scissors... ''teeth''...and, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath rather memorably]], [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice a fireplace poker]]. [[CarFu There's also cars and vans... and on one memorable occasion, a ''bulldozer''.]] Hell, on more than one occasion, he's killed someone with nothing but his legs while chained up in a basement/holding compound.
* CoolShades: He often wears a pair of aviator sunglasses.
* CoveredWithScars: In season 6 and onward, thanks to the torture the Chinese inflicted on him. It's enough to get everyone at both CTU and the FBI to flinch when they see them.
* CowboyCop: Probably the best 21st century television example.
* CrazyPrepared: Egregiously so in many cases, particularly towards the end of Season 8 where he outwits absolutely ''everyone'' that tries to stop his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and only backs down at the last possible moment aiming a sniper rifle at [[spoiler:[[BigBad Yuri]] [[PresidentEvil Suvarov]]]] by choice. Though given the average IQ of the typical government employee on 24, [[TooDumbToLive it may not be ''that'' surprising]].
* CrusadingWidower: In seasons 2 and 3 after the death of his wife Teri at Nina's hands. [[spoiler:A [[AntiVillain much]] [[VillainProtagonist darker]] one in season 8 after Renee is assassinated.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: After the first season. Although Jack still has his dark side during the show's freshman year, you can tell that Nina's betrayal and Teri's murder really effed him up after it. Even moreso by the ending of Day 8, as ''Live Another Day'' shows that he's crossing a lot more lines that even he would have initially hesitated at back during the show's initial 8-season run.
* DeadpanSnarker: With so many [[ObstructiveBureaucrat obstructive bureaucrats]] on the show, it's often the only way to get his point across. When told CTU no longer have torturers on speed dial?
-->[[TakeThat Then do what you're good at and offer immunity or something.]]
* DeathGlare: One so effective, Charles Logan broke down blubbering at it.
* DeathSeeker: In the first half of season 2, most of seasons 6-7, and the second half of season 8.
* {{Determinator}}: Oh boy is he ever. If you've got Jack Bauer after you, you should probably just shoot yourself in the head to save yourself a more painful death.
* DespairEventHorizon: Winds up crossing over this more than a few times over the course of the series, but [[spoiler: Audrey's death]] was the one to make him permanently go over it. The biggest indicator of this is [[spoiler: the near relief he seems to have when he turns himself over to the Russians in the last scene. It heavily implies that were it not for the fact that they had taken Chloe hostage to force him to give himself up, he likely would have done so willingly.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: In the Day 8 finale, the threat Jack poses is the first to be resolved thanks to Chloe going through a non-fatal version of TalkingTheMonsterToDeath, and all in the first 10 minutes. The rest of it is focused on bringing down the Russian coverup and then eventually saving Jack from Logan.
* DrivenToSuicide: In the final episode of ''Live Another Day'', he comes very close to eating his gun after [[spoiler:Audrey is killed]]. Luckily, he channels those emotions into [[UnstoppableRage a more constructive direction]].
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite saving America ''every single season'', Jack always has to convince whatever idiot of the week is in charge of CTU or the White House that maybe, just maybe, he isn't involved with the villain's plans and they should trust his judgement.
* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: He served in the U.S. Army Delta Force before joining CTU.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shooting [[ObstructiveBureaucrat his boss]] with a tranquilizer gun out of suspicion that he may be withholding evidence in the very first episode.
* [[EtTuBrute Et Tu, Taylor?]]: His reaction when Allison Taylor sides with Charles Logan to protect the Russians for their part in the attacks on New York and President Hassan's death in order to ensure her treaty is signed, even forcibly sidelining him to (try and) keep him from interfering. Seeing as how the last few hours were especially bad for Jack what with the deaths of both Hassan and Renee, this last act winds up being the straw the breaks the proverbial camel's back for him and he [[FreakOut loses]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge it]].
** Long before that, it was "Et Tu, Nina?" after he discovered that Nina was a mole. He nearly killed her right on the spot until Mason talked him down.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: While he's shown to never take pleasure in it and usually takes measures to keep himself from fully crossing a line, Jack repeatedly exploits this whenever he's facing an opponent who won't tell him what he needs to know.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Unlike Tony, when Jack went on his revenge path, he didn't try to intentionally hurt any innocent people. When dealing with police, for example, he shoots to wound rather than kill. He also couldn't bring himself to kill Jason Pillar after learning about his family. And all and all, he does manage to reach a realization and stop himself before it is too late.
** He also never tried to release a prion that was going to kill thousands. Sure, he might have started world war 3, but that was more indirecr, and he was in denial (although not at Tony's level). All and all, Jack shows himself to be quitw more resilient that Tony (he has lost more than him through the show), and even when he falls to his fury, to be more decent.
* EvilCounterpart: Notably, he's been on ''both'' sides of this. While he has several in the forms of Stephen Saunders, Christopher Henderson, [[spoiler: Tony on Day 7,]] and Cheng Zhi [[spoiler:''especially'' on Day 9,]], the last quarter of Day 8 sees Jack himself ultimately becoming one to Cole after their team up falls apart and Cole becomes disillusioned with him, with their different ways of trying to expose Logan and Taylor's coverup for Russia dramatically leaving them on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
%%%%* EvilSoundsDeep: If you're unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of his torture.
* FakeDefector: Jack is sometimes forced to help the villains because [[IHaveYourWife his family is incapable of escaping danger]].
* FakingTheDead: He does this at the end of season 4 in order to escape the Chinese.
* FallenHero: Near the end of Season 8, and despite regaining his senses, the world's [[HeroWithBadPublicity forgotten all the good he accomplished]]. His line about no going back even as he races to stop Margot in ''Live Another Day'' perfectly sums it up. Over the course of it though, he at least manages to attain redemption in the American public's eyes by the time it's over. [[spoiler: The Russian public is a different story.]]
* FreakOut: [[spoiler: Something inside him ''snaps'' after Audrey is murdered, causing him to completely drop his usual TranquilFury attitude and massacre Cheng Zhi's men all while screaming like an enraged animal the entire time.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G-L]]
* GoodIsNotNice: From his willingness to kill in cold blood (though he's never killed anyone who [[KickTheSonOfABitch didn't deserve it]]), to his his penchant for torture, Jack epitomizes this trope. Though he actually is a nice guy when there isn't a crisis afoot.
* GuileHero: Often, his most important weapon is his ability to assess how people operate. Like, for example, telling the President's aide in Day 5 that the people that have her daughter [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo would never let the girl go]] even if she did what they asked, and in fact are more likely to [[UngratefulBastard shoot both dead]] on the spot afterward for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]]. This is how he and Wayne Palmer are able to discover that the BigBad behind the day's events is actually [[PresidentEvil Charles Logan]].
* GunsAkimbo: During his final showdown with the Drazens, he wields two handguns.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Dammit Patel, you couldn't just leave Jack alone, could you?
* HeelRealization: A major case in the final two episodes of the series. His confrontation with Jason Pillar gets him to admit that this time he isn't fighting for justice or the greater good, but rather his own selfish goals, and later with Chloe, he realizes that what he's doing is threatening the lives of innocent people, ultimately causing him to follow her plan of exposing the main antagonists of the season.
* HeroOnHiatus: Due to being infected by the Starkwood weapon in the second half of season 7, he's forced to spend it helping from the sidelines rather than the field like usual.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: [[spoiler:Let's just say murdering a high-ranking member of the Russian government, even if he was corrupt, performing borderline acts of terrorism, and nearly starting a world war doesn't exactly endear you to the public.]] By the time of Live Another Day, he's considered a traitor by the entire country.
* HeroicBSOD: Has suffered a few, notably at the end of season 1, which lasted into season 2. Season 3 ended on him having one of these. But the record probably goes to season 6, where Jack ''begins'' the day so broken he's okay with being turned over to terrorists so they can murder him. And though he escapes (otherwise the show would be called "1"), he breaks down again a few times throughout the day, especially after [[spoiler:having to kill Curtis]], and when Heller gives him a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "reason you suck" speech]]. And ''then'' [[BreakTheBadass season 8 happened...]]
* HeroicSacrifice: Countless times, and he actually summarizes his losses in season 7.
* HesBack: Tends to get one of these per season, usually in the first (though sometimes second) episode. Notably [[SubvertedTrope averted]] in season 6, driving home just how broken and lost he was at this point.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: A constant temptation, but for the most part averted; Jack is constantly told, "he did the right thing" in impossible situations by his coworkers. Let's just say in season 8, though, it's a '''really''' bad idea to target Jack once he's out of the game.
* HiddenDepths: Deep down, Jack truly wants to live in a world where laws and regulations make a difference. The problem is that there are just too many terrorists, time bombs, and incompetent/corrupt government agents in the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
** He also is a kind and decent person below all his brutality
* HollywoodHealing: It's highly unlikely Jack would be standing after some of the injuries he sustains. However, he is slowed by serious ones on occasion.
* HonorBeforeReason: Jack Bauer [[CatchPhrase gives you his word]] and you can hold him to it. He doesn't break it because then he fears he wouldn't be able to keep promises anymore.
%%%%%* HotBlooded:
%%%%* {{Hypocrite}}:
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Word-for-word from Jack's mouth several times, which is part of the reason some view him as a WellIntentionedExtremist AntiHero or SociopathicHero. He gets away with it due to being right most of the time.
** At difference of almost everyone else who says this, he does not hold it as a badge of pride, nor does he hide behind it, nor does he avoid his responsibility for his brutal actions, or use it as an excuse/justification. He also carries a lot of sufferment because of this.
* IGaveMyWord: When he gives you his word, you better believe it. [[spoiler:As long as you aren't German. Or have killed someone close to him.]]
%%%%* ImplacableMan: Season 8's RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
%%%* ImportantHaircut: In the last moments of the season 2 premiere.
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:In the Day 7 finale, Jack chastises Tony for his selfish actions that have endangered innocent people by giving him a whole "x wouldn't want you to be doing this, and you're tarnishing their memory!" speech. Exactly one season later, he's on the receiving end of the same speech for the same reasons. Ouch.]]
** The thing that initially brings him out of hiding in "Live Another Day?" [[spoiler:Preventing the assassination of President Heller; in other words, preventing a president from dying on foreign soil since it could lead to war. You know, the same thing he nearly succeeded in doing at the end of the original run and what left him a fugitive in the first place.]]
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: He is the TropeNamer because he does some really squicky things to get information from prisoners.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: In six hours, [[spoiler:he goes from waging personal war against the corrupt members of both the United States and Russian governments to nearly starting World War III just to kill them, and for a while, he's actually convinced that's the ''right'' thing to do if that means they can get their comeuppance. Thankfully, Chloe stops him seconds before he actually goes off it and pulls the trigger on Suvarov.]]
* KickTheMoralityPet: Threatens to harm ''Chloe'' late in Day 8.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Frequently, especially killing a pedophile who was testifying for immunity in order to infiltrate Wald's group.
* KnightTemplar: A rare sympathetic example. This is Jack's EstablishingCharacterMoment from the very first episode:
-->"You can look the other way once, and it's no big deal, except [[ItGetsEasier it makes it easier for you to compromise the next time]], and [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil pretty soon that's all you're doing]] -- compromising, because [[NecessarilyEvil that's the way you think things are done]]. You know [[DirtyCop those guys]] [[BackStory I busted]]? You think they were the bad guys? Because they weren't, they weren't bad guys, they were just like you and me. Except they compromised... [[StartOfDarkness Once]]."
** Taken UpToEleven in season 8 when, for the longest while, he even justifies starting a world war with the counter that "the Russians attacked first."
* LoveMakesYouEvil: In season 8, he attempts to assassinate the mastermind behind the death of his love interest even though doing so would kickstart World War 3 and recklessly endangers innocent lives in his attacks on the conspirators, though Chloe's able to bring him out of it by the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-R]]
* MadeOfIron: He shrugs off what should be crippling injuries all the time.
%%%%* ManipulativeBastard:
* ManlyTears: Sheds them when he gets the news about David Palmer's death. Then there was his humanizing breakdown at the end of Day 3 and his weeping over the body of Renee Walker.
* NeckSnap: He's done this to villains 10 times, 5 of those ''with his feet''. One of them was even done with ''the back of his leg''!
* OneManArmy: Jack frequently takes out entire buildings full of people by himself.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Jack isn't someone who is above revenge, but at the same time, he's always gone by the principle of putting justice before it first. When Renee is killed and Allison Taylor betrays him, causing to go down a path of placing revenge as the highest priority, you know just how enraged he's become. And of course, there's his KickTheMoralityPet moment listed above.
* OutOfFocus: In Day 7. He's somewhat hit with this in the first half of the season due to much of it taking place from Renee's POV, but it's the second half where this really strikes in full force. As mentioned in the HeroOnHiatus trope, Jack winds up getting hit with the Starkwood pathogen, which leaves him largely getting pushed to the background, with most of the focus going to [[VillainProtagonist Tony's]] rogue activities.
* QuicklyDemotedLeader: On Day 1, he was the special agent in charge of CTU Los Angeles, but left the job after his wife was killed. He later returned to government service, but never returned to a position of leadership. This was actually a good idea, because Jack's a better field agent than bureaucrat.
* TheQuietOne: Not usually, but he notably doesn't say a single word for almost the entire first episode of ''Live Another Day''.
* OldSoldier: By Day 7, Kim has a daughter. In Live Another Day, Jack is in his mid-fifties and it hasn't slowed him down ''at all''.
* PapaWolf: For the love of God, leave Kim alone.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Especially with regards to Jack's rampage in Season 8; it may not be the best thing for world stability, but after all the crap he put up with that day, you'll probably be cheering him on through ''most'' of it. World War 3 might be taking things a ''bit'' too far.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Chloe in the later seasons. She's just about the only longtime friend he's got that hasn't died, and he trusts her more than anybody.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Several, but the best would probably be to Fayed. "Say hello to your brother".
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: His entire character arc for the eighth season has him going from being the hero to falling hard after failing in his mission, facing another devastating personal loss, and finally being betrayed one time too many, he goes straight into WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds modes and almost kicks off World War 3 in trying to make sure none of the conspiracy masterminds escape justice.
* PutOnABus: Does not return for ''Legacy''. Though this may be due to the fact that [[spoiler: he turned himself in to the Russians at the end of ''Live Another Day''.]]
* RabidCop: Subverted in the sense that Jack is almost never wrong in identifying the villain, but he's certainly willing to break the law to extract information.
* RageBreakingPoint: Happens in ''Live Another Day'' [[spoiler: when he learns of Audrey's murder.]]
* RedemptionEarnsLife: In Day 8 his going along with Chloe's plan ultimately leads to Allison Taylor getting ahold of his datacard and viewing his video will, which leads her to realize that she's betrayed her own ideals. This change of heart allows her to help Chloe locate Jack and save his life literally seconds before Logan's men put a bullet into his head.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Possibly played straight in Day 9, where even after he wins back the general public's trust back and is pardoned by President Heller Jack is ultimately forced to give himself up to the much-less-forgiving Russian government. Assuming there's no Day 10 or any other followups to pick things up, the implication the last we see Jack is they'll likely try to execute him as soon as they can.]]
* RevengeBeforeReason: Though it's averted for most of the series (when, if he is going to get revenge, at least he will ensure he won't compromiss the mission or the greater good before it is viable), it's arguably played tragically straight in season 8; at the very least, he's ensuring not only that there's no way in hell he'll ever get to see his family again, but in the finale even lampshades that they could also be targeted by the organizations he's harmed in season 8 in retaliation for his actions. In the final episode, it's at least averted again in the long run, as Chloe manages to [[WhatTheHellHero call him out]] on his actions and snaps him back to his senses.
%%%%* RockBottom: In season 6 and 8.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:S-Z]]
* SanitySlippage: With everything he goes through, he seems like he's constantly on the verge of blacking out and waking up surrounded by body parts.
* ScarsAreForever: Has numerous horrible scars over his body that were attained from his near two-year imprisonment in China, which serve as a constant reminder of the events that would ultimately leave him completely broken. He's able to move beyond it by the beginning of season 8.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Deconstructed in the final season. Jack goes up against his own government in order to punish the true perpetrators behind Hassan and Renee's deaths, but if he'd managed to completely succeed in his endeavors, the end results would have been much, much worse than anything the villains of the season were trying to accomplish.
* StressVomit: After being forced to shoot and kill Curtis.
* ShootTheDog: Many, ''many'' examples, but what stands out the most are probably the death of Ryan Chappelle, and when he shot Henderson's wife in the leg during an interrogation.
* ShutUpKirk: Tries throwing this at Chloe in the series finale. It doesn't work.
* SignatureMove: Despite it not being used for the first time until the third season, he became known for his [[ChokeHolds sleeper hold]]. The ''24'' Wiki indicates it was used 13 times throughout the series. It comes with its own CatchPhrase.
-->'''Jack Bauer''': Don't fight it.
* SirSwearsALot: Expect to hear "Dammit!" many times in the course of the Days.
* SmugSmiler: Occasionally, particularly at the end of the penultimate episode.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Twice in season 6.
* ThePardon: Jack is told by Heller that he's been granted one for all his actions up to and including Day 9's events [[spoiler:just prior to Heller's (false) death by drone]]. At the end of the day, [[spoiler: it's become moots when Jack is forced to turn himself over to the Russians to save Chloe and subsequently protect his family from their retribution.]]
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: as his establishing quote describes, this is basically the crux of his character. He almost always chooses "Good," and is surrounded by too many LawfulStupid {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s to have any reputation but that of a loose cannon.
* TookALevelInCynic: Multiple times, with the aftermaths of his wife's murder, his imprisonment in China, and Taylor's betrayal being the most noteworthy cases, the last one hitting especially hard due to it coming off right when he'd started to [[TookALevelInIdealism gain a bit more idealism]] after so many years. By the last act of Day 8 and all of Day 9, he makes a permanent shift [[NominalHero downward]] as an anti-hero, not even thinking twice about endangering or harming innocent people if it can get him results.
* TortureTechnician: Don't give Jack a reason to extract information from you, just don't.
* TragicHero: The question is, who hurts Jack more? The villains he fights? The government he protects or Jack's own inability to compromise?
* TranquilFury: Whenever he goes on a revenge warpath against one who's personally harmed him and/or his friends and loved ones, he remains incredibly calm and collected, oftentimes disturbingly so. The closest he gets to breaking it is when [[NotSoStoic his voice briefly begins to crack]] right before he tortures Pavel to death. [[spoiler:In the ''Live Another Day'' finale, however, he isn't so tranquil when he learns that Audrey has been killed by [[BigBad Cheng Zhi's]] men, and yells in rage while killing 15 of Cheng's men in the course of two minutes before beheading Cheng himself.]]
* UnstoppableRage: Having a loved one murdered turns Jack into a nigh-invincible OneManArmy when he goes after the perpetrators. Just ask the Drazens, Mikhail Novakovich, and [[spoiler:Cheng Zhi]].
* VillainProtagonist: In the final 5-6 episodes up until his HeelFaceTurn early in the series finale, he crosses the line from "Anti-hero" to villain. It's worth noting, though, that without Jack's standard MO (i.e. going rogue at the drop of a hat), the false peace would have protected the vast majority of those guilty for the day's events.
* WeaponOfChoice: His standard sidearms are always CoolGuns: a Sig P229 in the first two seasons, the HK USP Tactical for the rest of the original run, and an HK P30 for the revival.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: As demonstrated by his page quote, Jack doesn't care about laws when people are in danger. He will all sorts of bad things to ensure their safety.
* WhamLine: "[[MisplacedRetribution Nothing]]. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Nothing]]." This is the exact moment it becomes clear Jack isn't playing by his usual rules.
* WhiteSheep: As violent as he is, he is much better than his CorruptCorporateExecutive family.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: After everything that's happened to him in the series' entire run, Season Eight manages to to make it look [[HopeSpot like he'll finally find some sort of happiness]]... only for his government to betray him again resulting in his mission ending in failure, the woman he fell for to die, and the one figure he came to trust in the last few years stabbing him in the back to further her own goals. After all that, he finally snaps and goes on a violent, bloody rampage to avenge himself against the masterminds, and after all the crap he's been put through his entire life, can you blame him? He almost becomes a literal example when he has the chance to kill Suvarov and Logan, which would entire lead to the U.S. and Russia declaring war on each other, but it's narrowly averted when Chloe talks him out of it.
* WouldHitAGirl: As opposed to harming a child below, this is played very straight. While the kills can be counted on one hand, he nonetheless has killed female antagonists, and has occasionally harmed others. Then there's the infamous case where he [[ShootTheDog shot Christopher Henderson's wife]] to try and force him to talk.
* WouldHurtAChild: Subverted in season 2 where he fakes the death of Syed Ali's son.
* YankTheDogsChain: Any time it looks like he's going to get some sort of happy ending it's eventually cruelly denied him.
[[/folder]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bauer_Jack_5690.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm federal agent Jack Bauer. This is the longest day of my life."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/KieferSutherland
->''"I see fifteen people held hostage on a bus, and everything else goes out the window. I will do whatever it takes to save them, and I mean whatever it takes. ... Laws were written by much smarter men than me. And in the end, these laws have to be more important than the 15 people on the bus. I know that's right. In my mind, I know that's right. I just don't think my heart could ever have lived with it."''
A retired American serviceman and a federal agent, who was responsible for saving multiple American citizens from potentially devastating terrorist attacks on more than one occasion.
He took a leadership role in various covert and undercover missions, and served as both Special Agent in Charge and Director of Field Operations of CTU Los Angeles. His dedication to keeping U.S. citizens safe led him to make some deep personal sacrifices. Jack lost his job, his family, his friends, and, for a period of nearly two years after Day 5, his freedom. He showed his willingness to sacrifice his life on multiple occasions, but each time his sacrifice ultimately proved to be unnecessary.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-F]]
* ActionDad: One of TV's most prominent examples.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: No matter how many times he saved America from terrorists, almost everyone shuns him or threatens his life. At this point, he's portrayed as a living martyr—of torture tactics.
* AnAxeToGrind: Uses one to great effect in Season 8's opening episode.
* AndThisIsFor: His last words to Pavel before eviscerating him to obtain evidence and avenge Renee Walker: "This is for my friend!"
** [[spoiler:States this right before killing Cheng Zhi. "This is for Audrey, you son of a bitch!"]]
* AntiHero: An UnscrupulousHero. He's perfectly willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]], mutilate, execute allies if necessary and break nearly every law in the book. To his credit, he does intend to stand trial for any laws he breaks, even though this never actually happens (given that this ''is'' [[MemeticBadass Jack Bauer we're talking about]], perhaps no one is brave enough to try.)
* AntiVillain: Jack effectively becomes this for the last stretch of the eighth season. Although Taylor, Logan, and eventually Suvarov are presented as the major antagonists and what they're doing is wrong, the show itself makes it clear that Jack, despite the cause he's fighting for, isn't exactly being all that admirable either.
* ArchEnemy: He has three:
** Nina Myers (season 1-3), his ex lieutenant and lover,who turned to be a mole, and his wife and unborn child's murderer. She probably is the person Jack hates the most, and is, in Jack's words, worse than a traitor, considering she only cares about money and her own well being.
** Charles Logan (seasons 4-8). The man responsible for the Sentox conspiracy, and (semi-directly) for the deaths of David Palmer, Michelle Dessler, and Tony Almeida, not to mention all the others who died because of the entire conspiracy. And then, for the cover up of Renee Walker's death. He also is everything Jack hates about politicians (and people in general). Of all his enemies (and villains in 24) , Logan possibly is the most powerful and influencial, the only one he returns the hatred Jack feels for him, and the one who has the biggest claim for the Big Bad's spot for the series.
** Cheng Zhi (Seasons 4-6,9). The Chinese agent responsible for Jack's two years of torture in China, and for Audrey Raines's torture and eventual death. They were both faithful agents to their countries, until Cheng felt Betrayed and tried to launch a war between China and US (something Jack almost did with Russia). Although, Cheng was always much crueler and ruthless than Jack.
** For one season villains, Christopher Henderson, Victor Drazen, Stephen Saunders, and some of his family members (brother and father) deserve a special mention.
** In another way, he is his own worst enemy.
* BackFromTheDead: He fakes being dead for a year, which starts with being clinically dead for real for a couple of minutes. He was also clinically dead for a few minutes on Day 2, before being brought back to life by Peter Kingsley's men when they needed to continue torturing him.
* BadassBeard: Usually to signify Jack will be even more badass than usual.
* BadassBoast: Jack makes several over the course of the series, and it's never an empty boast.
-->''"I have killed two people since midnight, I haven't slept in over 24 hours. So maybe… maybe you should be a little more afraid of me than you are right now."''
-->''"I can make you die with more pain than you ever imagined."''
-->''"So help me God I will kill you, and you will stay dead this time."''
-->''"Look, I can tell you consider yourself a pretty intimidating group. You probably think I'm at a disadvantage. I promise you, I'm not."''
-->[[spoiler: ''"I've taken you at your word. But if you're lying to me, if anything happens to her or my family your entire world will come apart, and you will never see it coming."'']]
* BadassDriver: During Live Another Day, [[spoiler:he manages to outrun a UAV that's launching hellfire missiles on the getaway car he's driving]].
* BadassLongcoat: Wears one at certain points during both Days 1 and 7.
* BadassInDistress: He gets captured at least 2-3 times a season, but most of the time he's successfully able to escape. On a few occasions, he will need someone (The President, CTU, Chloe...) to bail him out, but not without trying on his own first.
* BadassInANiceSuit: As opposed to his usual basic tactical clothing, he wore a suit when he infiltrated the Russian Consulate during Day 6 and again during Juma's invasion of the White House on Day 7.
* BreakTheBadass: Often and repeatedly throughout the series. Several personal crises and losses hit him as a cost of Jack doing what he does and threaten to destroy him emotionally, and the one that happens in Day 8 finally breaks him so hard that it causes a permanent shift downward on the Anti-Hero scale for him, something that continues on to Day 9. And top it all off, the ending of Day 9 comes in and hits him ''even harder''.
* BeardOfSorrow: Day 2 and Redemption. Technically averted in season 6, since while he has a beard it's because of [[TimePassageBeard being held prisoner]] rather than a HeroicBSOD, although he was pretty much a broken shell of himself by that point.
* BenchBreaker: Restraining Jack Bauer is... problematic at best.
* BerserkButton: Do NOT try to justify treason, cold-blooded murder, terrorism, and assassinating the president with "It was for the good of the country!" and then say that makes you and him the same. Really, don't. Even if you're [[spoiler:his brother]], Jack will still ''utterly lose his shit'' at you. This is something that hits Jack deeply, considering how much he has suffered and lost, and the horrible things he has been forced to do to save innocent lives. Not to mention the guilt he carries for many of these actions.
** For that matter, threatening, harming, or killing anyone he loves is pretty much a death sentence.
* BestServedCold: Never lets his emotions impede his ''tactical'' plans, which makes him even ''more'' dangerous when he's AxeCrazy.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler: For Day 8, Jack ends up becoming this opposite [[BigBadDuumvirate Charles Logan and Yuri Suvarov]]. Suvarov has been the mastermind of the terrorist attacks on New York through the season, and Logan is exploiting things all for his own benefit, and Jack, after all the loss, heartbreak, and betrayal he's faced, is fed up and wants to kill both of them regardless of the consequences - even if it means kicking off World War 3 in doing so. Understandably, this ends up making him as much of a threat as the other two.]]
* BigNO: Several throughout the show, notably at the end of Season 4.
* BrokenAce: The best covert operative in the world, but is just as (or even more so) big a fanatic than the terrorists he fights.
* ButtMonkey: Throughout the entire series he's been betrayed, tortured, used, exploited, and almost all his friends and loved ones have wound up dead; while the majority of those that don't either eventually turn out to be traitors or wind up wanting absolutely nothing to do with him. His life borders on CosmicPlaything level bad.
%%%* ByronicHero
* CallingTheOldManOut: To James Heller at the end of Season 6, although he's more a father figure than a father. While his father also becomes his enemy, he doesn't quite "call him out".
* CassandraTruth: If a ReasonableAuthorityFigure listened to Jack, most of the bad guy's terrorist plots would be ended in hours, not a day. And the rare times one of them does, someone else's red tape comes in to get in the way.
* CartwrightCurse: Teri's dead, Audrey's gone, and the latest victim is Renee.
** Claudia Hernandez falls into this, too, though she wasn't seeing Jack at the time.
** Lampshaded by James Heller when he tries to keep Jack from seeing Audrey. [[spoiler: This ends up being {{foreshadowing}}.]]
-->'''Heller:''' You're cursed, Jack. Everything you touch, one way or another, ends up dead.
* CatchPhrase: In any given season of ''24'', it's likely you'll hear Jack yell "Dammit!" or "We are running out of time!" at least a couple of times.
* TheChessmaster: As of Live Another Day, he's showing signs of becoming this. [[spoiler:In the first hour, he purposely gets caught by the CIA in order to get transported to their black site. At the right moment, he signals an associate outside the building to prepare an escape route, incapacitates the agents escorting him to the torture chamber, rescues Chloe, sets off an explosion which guts much of the building, and to top it off, his associate uses a grenade launcher to blow a hole through the top of the underground passage where Jack is, deploys a ladder, and by the time the rest of the CIA realize what has happened, their prisoners are gone.]]
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: If he sees or knows of someone in trouble, he will help them regardless of laws or politics.
* ClearMyName: At several points, he's suspected of working with the terrorists, starting in Season 1, when he's thought to have tried to assassinate David Palmer, despite managing to narrowly prevent it.
* CombatPragmatist: Sniper rifles, assault rifles, pistols, knives, CQC, chains, axes, scissors... ''teeth''...and, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath rather memorably]], [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice a fireplace poker]]. [[CarFu There's also cars and vans... and on one memorable occasion, a ''bulldozer''.]] Hell, on more than one occasion, he's killed someone with nothing but his legs while chained up in a basement/holding compound.
* CoolShades: He often wears a pair of aviator sunglasses.
* CoveredWithScars: In season 6 and onward, thanks to the torture the Chinese inflicted on him. It's enough to get everyone at both CTU and the FBI to flinch when they see them.
* CowboyCop: Probably the best 21st century television example.
* CrazyPrepared: Egregiously so in many cases, particularly towards the end of Season 8 where he outwits absolutely ''everyone'' that tries to stop his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and only backs down at the last possible moment aiming a sniper rifle at [[spoiler:[[BigBad Yuri]] [[PresidentEvil Suvarov]]]] by choice. Though given the average IQ of the typical government employee on 24, [[TooDumbToLive it may not be ''that'' surprising]].
* CrusadingWidower: In seasons 2 and 3 after the death of his wife Teri at Nina's hands. [[spoiler:A [[AntiVillain much]] [[VillainProtagonist darker]] one in season 8 after Renee is assassinated.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: After the first season. Although Jack still has his dark side during the show's freshman year, you can tell that Nina's betrayal and Teri's murder really effed him up after it. Even moreso by the ending of Day 8, as ''Live Another Day'' shows that he's crossing a lot more lines that even he would have initially hesitated at back during the show's initial 8-season run.
* DeadpanSnarker: With so many [[ObstructiveBureaucrat obstructive bureaucrats]] on the show, it's often the only way to get his point across. When told CTU no longer have torturers on speed dial?
-->[[TakeThat Then do what you're good at and offer immunity or something.]]
* DeathGlare: One so effective, Charles Logan broke down blubbering at it.
* DeathSeeker: In the first half of season 2, most of seasons 6-7, and the second half of season 8.
* {{Determinator}}: Oh boy is he ever. If you've got Jack Bauer after you, you should probably just shoot yourself in the head to save yourself a more painful death.
* DespairEventHorizon: Winds up crossing over this more than a few times over the course of the series, but [[spoiler: Audrey's death]] was the one to make him permanently go over it. The biggest indicator of this is [[spoiler: the near relief he seems to have when he turns himself over to the Russians in the last scene. It heavily implies that were it not for the fact that they had taken Chloe hostage to force him to give himself up, he likely would have done so willingly.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: In the Day 8 finale, the threat Jack poses is the first to be resolved thanks to Chloe going through a non-fatal version of TalkingTheMonsterToDeath, and all in the first 10 minutes. The rest of it is focused on bringing down the Russian coverup and then eventually saving Jack from Logan.
* DrivenToSuicide: In the final episode of ''Live Another Day'', he comes very close to eating his gun after [[spoiler:Audrey is killed]]. Luckily, he channels those emotions into [[UnstoppableRage a more constructive direction]].
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite saving America ''every single season'', Jack always has to convince whatever idiot of the week is in charge of CTU or the White House that maybe, just maybe, he isn't involved with the villain's plans and they should trust his judgement.
* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: He served in the U.S. Army Delta Force before joining CTU.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shooting [[ObstructiveBureaucrat his boss]] with a tranquilizer gun out of suspicion that he may be withholding evidence in the very first episode.
* [[EtTuBrute Et Tu, Taylor?]]: His reaction when Allison Taylor sides with Charles Logan to protect the Russians for their part in the attacks on New York and President Hassan's death in order to ensure her treaty is signed, even forcibly sidelining him to (try and) keep him from interfering. Seeing as how the last few hours were especially bad for Jack what with the deaths of both Hassan and Renee, this last act winds up being the straw the breaks the proverbial camel's back for him and he [[FreakOut loses]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge it]].
** Long before that, it was "Et Tu, Nina?" after he discovered that Nina was a mole. He nearly killed her right on the spot until Mason talked him down.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: While he's shown to never take pleasure in it and usually takes measures to keep himself from fully crossing a line, Jack repeatedly exploits this whenever he's facing an opponent who won't tell him what he needs to know.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Unlike Tony, when Jack went on his revenge path, he didn't try to intentionally hurt any innocent people. When dealing with police, for example, he shoots to wound rather than kill. He also couldn't bring himself to kill Jason Pillar after learning about his family. And all and all, he does manage to reach a realization and stop himself before it is too late.
** He also never tried to release a prion that was going to kill thousands. Sure, he might have started world war 3, but that was more indirecr, and he was in denial (although not at Tony's level). All and all, Jack shows himself to be quitw more resilient that Tony (he has lost more than him through the show), and even when he falls to his fury, to be more decent.
* EvilCounterpart: Notably, he's been on ''both'' sides of this. While he has several in the forms of Stephen Saunders, Christopher Henderson, [[spoiler: Tony on Day 7,]] and Cheng Zhi [[spoiler:''especially'' on Day 9,]], the last quarter of Day 8 sees Jack himself ultimately becoming one to Cole after their team up falls apart and Cole becomes disillusioned with him, with their different ways of trying to expose Logan and Taylor's coverup for Russia dramatically leaving them on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
%%%%* EvilSoundsDeep: If you're unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of his torture.
* FakeDefector: Jack is sometimes forced to help the villains because [[IHaveYourWife his family is incapable of escaping danger]].
* FakingTheDead: He does this at the end of season 4 in order to escape the Chinese.
* FallenHero: Near the end of Season 8, and despite regaining his senses, the world's [[HeroWithBadPublicity forgotten all the good he accomplished]]. His line about no going back even as he races to stop Margot in ''Live Another Day'' perfectly sums it up. Over the course of it though, he at least manages to attain redemption in the American public's eyes by the time it's over. [[spoiler: The Russian public is a different story.]]
* FreakOut: [[spoiler: Something inside him ''snaps'' after Audrey is murdered, causing him to completely drop his usual TranquilFury attitude and massacre Cheng Zhi's men all while screaming like an enraged animal the entire time.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G-L]]
* GoodIsNotNice: From his willingness to kill in cold blood (though he's never killed anyone who [[KickTheSonOfABitch didn't deserve it]]), to his his penchant for torture, Jack epitomizes this trope. Though he actually is a nice guy when there isn't a crisis afoot.
* GuileHero: Often, his most important weapon is his ability to assess how people operate. Like, for example, telling the President's aide in Day 5 that the people that have her daughter [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo would never let the girl go]] even if she did what they asked, and in fact are more likely to [[UngratefulBastard shoot both dead]] on the spot afterward for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]]. This is how he and Wayne Palmer are able to discover that the BigBad behind the day's events is actually [[PresidentEvil Charles Logan]].
* GunsAkimbo: During his final showdown with the Drazens, he wields two handguns.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Dammit Patel, you couldn't just leave Jack alone, could you?
* HeelRealization: A major case in the final two episodes of the series. His confrontation with Jason Pillar gets him to admit that this time he isn't fighting for justice or the greater good, but rather his own selfish goals, and later with Chloe, he realizes that what he's doing is threatening the lives of innocent people, ultimately causing him to follow her plan of exposing the main antagonists of the season.
* HeroOnHiatus: Due to being infected by the Starkwood weapon in the second half of season 7, he's forced to spend it helping from the sidelines rather than the field like usual.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: [[spoiler:Let's just say murdering a high-ranking member of the Russian government, even if he was corrupt, performing borderline acts of terrorism, and nearly starting a world war doesn't exactly endear you to the public.]] By the time of Live Another Day, he's considered a traitor by the entire country.
* HeroicBSOD: Has suffered a few, notably at the end of season 1, which lasted into season 2. Season 3 ended on him having one of these. But the record probably goes to season 6, where Jack ''begins'' the day so broken he's okay with being turned over to terrorists so they can murder him. And though he escapes (otherwise the show would be called "1"), he breaks down again a few times throughout the day, especially after [[spoiler:having to kill Curtis]], and when Heller gives him a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "reason you suck" speech]]. And ''then'' [[BreakTheBadass season 8 happened...]]
* HeroicSacrifice: Countless times, and he actually summarizes his losses in season 7.
* HesBack: Tends to get one of these per season, usually in the first (though sometimes second) episode. Notably [[SubvertedTrope averted]] in season 6, driving home just how broken and lost he was at this point.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: A constant temptation, but for the most part averted; Jack is constantly told, "he did the right thing" in impossible situations by his coworkers. Let's just say in season 8, though, it's a '''really''' bad idea to target Jack once he's out of the game.
* HiddenDepths: Deep down, Jack truly wants to live in a world where laws and regulations make a difference. The problem is that there are just too many terrorists, time bombs, and incompetent/corrupt government agents in the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
** He also is a kind and decent person below all his brutality
* HollywoodHealing: It's highly unlikely Jack would be standing after some of the injuries he sustains. However, he is slowed by serious ones on occasion.
* HonorBeforeReason: Jack Bauer [[CatchPhrase gives you his word]] and you can hold him to it. He doesn't break it because then he fears he wouldn't be able to keep promises anymore.
%%%%%* HotBlooded:
%%%%* {{Hypocrite}}:
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Word-for-word from Jack's mouth several times, which is part of the reason some view him as a WellIntentionedExtremist AntiHero or SociopathicHero. He gets away with it due to being right most of the time.
** At difference of almost everyone else who says this, he does not hold it as a badge of pride, nor does he hide behind it, nor does he avoid his responsibility for his brutal actions, or use it as an excuse/justification. He also carries a lot of sufferment because of this.
* IGaveMyWord: When he gives you his word, you better believe it. [[spoiler:As long as you aren't German. Or have killed someone close to him.]]
%%%%* ImplacableMan: Season 8's RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
%%%* ImportantHaircut: In the last moments of the season 2 premiere.
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:In the Day 7 finale, Jack chastises Tony for his selfish actions that have endangered innocent people by giving him a whole "x wouldn't want you to be doing this, and you're tarnishing their memory!" speech. Exactly one season later, he's on the receiving end of the same speech for the same reasons. Ouch.]]
** The thing that initially brings him out of hiding in "Live Another Day?" [[spoiler:Preventing the assassination of President Heller; in other words, preventing a president from dying on foreign soil since it could lead to war. You know, the same thing he nearly succeeded in doing at the end of the original run and what left him a fugitive in the first place.]]
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: He is the TropeNamer because he does some really squicky things to get information from prisoners.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: In six hours, [[spoiler:he goes from waging personal war against the corrupt members of both the United States and Russian governments to nearly starting World War III just to kill them, and for a while, he's actually convinced that's the ''right'' thing to do if that means they can get their comeuppance. Thankfully, Chloe stops him seconds before he actually goes off it and pulls the trigger on Suvarov.]]
* KickTheMoralityPet: Threatens to harm ''Chloe'' late in Day 8.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Frequently, especially killing a pedophile who was testifying for immunity in order to infiltrate Wald's group.
* KnightTemplar: A rare sympathetic example. This is Jack's EstablishingCharacterMoment from the very first episode:
-->"You can look the other way once, and it's no big deal, except [[ItGetsEasier it makes it easier for you to compromise the next time]], and [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil pretty soon that's all you're doing]] -- compromising, because [[NecessarilyEvil that's the way you think things are done]]. You know [[DirtyCop those guys]] [[BackStory I busted]]? You think they were the bad guys? Because they weren't, they weren't bad guys, they were just like you and me. Except they compromised... [[StartOfDarkness Once]]."
** Taken UpToEleven in season 8 when, for the longest while, he even justifies starting a world war with the counter that "the Russians attacked first."
* LoveMakesYouEvil: In season 8, he attempts to assassinate the mastermind behind the death of his love interest even though doing so would kickstart World War 3 and recklessly endangers innocent lives in his attacks on the conspirators, though Chloe's able to bring him out of it by the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-R]]
* MadeOfIron: He shrugs off what should be crippling injuries all the time.
%%%%* ManipulativeBastard:
* ManlyTears: Sheds them when he gets the news about David Palmer's death. Then there was his humanizing breakdown at the end of Day 3 and his weeping over the body of Renee Walker.
* NeckSnap: He's done this to villains 10 times, 5 of those ''with his feet''. One of them was even done with ''the back of his leg''!
* OneManArmy: Jack frequently takes out entire buildings full of people by himself.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Jack isn't someone who is above revenge, but at the same time, he's always gone by the principle of putting justice before it first. When Renee is killed and Allison Taylor betrays him, causing to go down a path of placing revenge as the highest priority, you know just how enraged he's become. And of course, there's his KickTheMoralityPet moment listed above.
* OutOfFocus: In Day 7. He's somewhat hit with this in the first half of the season due to much of it taking place from Renee's POV, but it's the second half where this really strikes in full force. As mentioned in the HeroOnHiatus trope, Jack winds up getting hit with the Starkwood pathogen, which leaves him largely getting pushed to the background, with most of the focus going to [[VillainProtagonist Tony's]] rogue activities.
* QuicklyDemotedLeader: On Day 1, he was the special agent in charge of CTU Los Angeles, but left the job after his wife was killed. He later returned to government service, but never returned to a position of leadership. This was actually a good idea, because Jack's a better field agent than bureaucrat.
* TheQuietOne: Not usually, but he notably doesn't say a single word for almost the entire first episode of ''Live Another Day''.
* OldSoldier: By Day 7, Kim has a daughter. In Live Another Day, Jack is in his mid-fifties and it hasn't slowed him down ''at all''.
* PapaWolf: For the love of God, leave Kim alone.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Especially with regards to Jack's rampage in Season 8; it may not be the best thing for world stability, but after all the crap he put up with that day, you'll probably be cheering him on through ''most'' of it. World War 3 might be taking things a ''bit'' too far.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Chloe in the later seasons. She's just about the only longtime friend he's got that hasn't died, and he trusts her more than anybody.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Several, but the best would probably be to Fayed. "Say hello to your brother".
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: His entire character arc for the eighth season has him going from being the hero to falling hard after failing in his mission, facing another devastating personal loss, and finally being betrayed one time too many, he goes straight into WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds modes and almost kicks off World War 3 in trying to make sure none of the conspiracy masterminds escape justice.
* PutOnABus: Does not return for ''Legacy''. Though this may be due to the fact that [[spoiler: he turned himself in to the Russians at the end of ''Live Another Day''.]]
* RabidCop: Subverted in the sense that Jack is almost never wrong in identifying the villain, but he's certainly willing to break the law to extract information.
* RageBreakingPoint: Happens in ''Live Another Day'' [[spoiler: when he learns of Audrey's murder.]]
* RedemptionEarnsLife: In Day 8 his going along with Chloe's plan ultimately leads to Allison Taylor getting ahold of his datacard and viewing his video will, which leads her to realize that she's betrayed her own ideals. This change of heart allows her to help Chloe locate Jack and save his life literally seconds before Logan's men put a bullet into his head.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Possibly played straight in Day 9, where even after he wins back the general public's trust back and is pardoned by President Heller Jack is ultimately forced to give himself up to the much-less-forgiving Russian government. Assuming there's no Day 10 or any other followups to pick things up, the implication the last we see Jack is they'll likely try to execute him as soon as they can.]]
* RevengeBeforeReason: Though it's averted for most of the series (when, if he is going to get revenge, at least he will ensure he won't compromiss the mission or the greater good before it is viable), it's arguably played tragically straight in season 8; at the very least, he's ensuring not only that there's no way in hell he'll ever get to see his family again, but in the finale even lampshades that they could also be targeted by the organizations he's harmed in season 8 in retaliation for his actions. In the final episode, it's at least averted again in the long run, as Chloe manages to [[WhatTheHellHero call him out]] on his actions and snaps him back to his senses.
%%%%* RockBottom: In season 6 and 8.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:S-Z]]
* SanitySlippage: With everything he goes through, he seems like he's constantly on the verge of blacking out and waking up surrounded by body parts.
* ScarsAreForever: Has numerous horrible scars over his body that were attained from his near two-year imprisonment in China, which serve as a constant reminder of the events that would ultimately leave him completely broken. He's able to move beyond it by the beginning of season 8.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Deconstructed in the final season. Jack goes up against his own government in order to punish the true perpetrators behind Hassan and Renee's deaths, but if he'd managed to completely succeed in his endeavors, the end results would have been much, much worse than anything the villains of the season were trying to accomplish.
* StressVomit: After being forced to shoot and kill Curtis.
* ShootTheDog: Many, ''many'' examples, but what stands out the most are probably the death of Ryan Chappelle, and when he shot Henderson's wife in the leg during an interrogation.
* ShutUpKirk: Tries throwing this at Chloe in the series finale. It doesn't work.
* SignatureMove: Despite it not being used for the first time until the third season, he became known for his [[ChokeHolds sleeper hold]]. The ''24'' Wiki indicates it was used 13 times throughout the series. It comes with its own CatchPhrase.
-->'''Jack Bauer''': Don't fight it.
* SirSwearsALot: Expect to hear "Dammit!" many times in the course of the Days.
* SmugSmiler: Occasionally, particularly at the end of the penultimate episode.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Twice in season 6.
* ThePardon: Jack is told by Heller that he's been granted one for all his actions up to and including Day 9's events [[spoiler:just prior to Heller's (false) death by drone]]. At the end of the day, [[spoiler: it's become moots when Jack is forced to turn himself over to the Russians to save Chloe and subsequently protect his family from their retribution.]]
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: as his establishing quote describes, this is basically the crux of his character. He almost always chooses "Good," and is surrounded by too many LawfulStupid {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s to have any reputation but that of a loose cannon.
* TookALevelInCynic: Multiple times, with the aftermaths of his wife's murder, his imprisonment in China, and Taylor's betrayal being the most noteworthy cases, the last one hitting especially hard due to it coming off right when he'd started to [[TookALevelInIdealism gain a bit more idealism]] after so many years. By the last act of Day 8 and all of Day 9, he makes a permanent shift [[NominalHero downward]] as an anti-hero, not even thinking twice about endangering or harming innocent people if it can get him results.
* TortureTechnician: Don't give Jack a reason to extract information from you, just don't.
* TragicHero: The question is, who hurts Jack more? The villains he fights? The government he protects or Jack's own inability to compromise?
* TranquilFury: Whenever he goes on a revenge warpath against one who's personally harmed him and/or his friends and loved ones, he remains incredibly calm and collected, oftentimes disturbingly so. The closest he gets to breaking it is when [[NotSoStoic his voice briefly begins to crack]] right before he tortures Pavel to death. [[spoiler:In the ''Live Another Day'' finale, however, he isn't so tranquil when he learns that Audrey has been killed by [[BigBad Cheng Zhi's]] men, and yells in rage while killing 15 of Cheng's men in the course of two minutes before beheading Cheng himself.]]
* UnstoppableRage: Having a loved one murdered turns Jack into a nigh-invincible OneManArmy when he goes after the perpetrators. Just ask the Drazens, Mikhail Novakovich, and [[spoiler:Cheng Zhi]].
* VillainProtagonist: In the final 5-6 episodes up until his HeelFaceTurn early in the series finale, he crosses the line from "Anti-hero" to villain. It's worth noting, though, that without Jack's standard MO (i.e. going rogue at the drop of a hat), the false peace would have protected the vast majority of those guilty for the day's events.
* WeaponOfChoice: His standard sidearms are always CoolGuns: a Sig P229 in the first two seasons, the HK USP Tactical for the rest of the original run, and an HK P30 for the revival.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: As demonstrated by his page quote, Jack doesn't care about laws when people are in danger. He will all sorts of bad things to ensure their safety.
* WhamLine: "[[MisplacedRetribution Nothing]]. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Nothing]]." This is the exact moment it becomes clear Jack isn't playing by his usual rules.
* WhiteSheep: As violent as he is, he is much better than his CorruptCorporateExecutive family.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: After everything that's happened to him in the series' entire run, Season Eight manages to to make it look [[HopeSpot like he'll finally find some sort of happiness]]... only for his government to betray him again resulting in his mission ending in failure, the woman he fell for to die, and the one figure he came to trust in the last few years stabbing him in the back to further her own goals. After all that, he finally snaps and goes on a violent, bloody rampage to avenge himself against the masterminds, and after all the crap he's been put through his entire life, can you blame him? He almost becomes a literal example when he has the chance to kill Suvarov and Logan, which would entire lead to the U.S. and Russia declaring war on each other, but it's narrowly averted when Chloe talks him out of it.
* WouldHitAGirl: As opposed to harming a child below, this is played very straight. While the kills can be counted on one hand, he nonetheless has killed female antagonists, and has occasionally harmed others. Then there's the infamous case where he [[ShootTheDog shot Christopher Henderson's wife]] to try and force him to talk.
* WouldHurtAChild: Subverted in season 2 where he fakes the death of Syed Ali's son.
* YankTheDogsChain: Any time it looks like he's going to get some sort of happy ending it's eventually cruelly denied him.
[[/folder]]
to:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bauer_Jack_5690.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm federal agent Jack Bauer. This is the longest day of my life."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/KieferSutherland
->''"I see fifteen people held hostage on a bus, and everything else goes out the window. I will do whatever it takes to save them, and I mean whatever it takes. ... Laws were written by much smarter men than me. And in the end, these laws have to be more important than the 15 people on the bus. I know that's right. In my mind, I know that's right. I just don't think my heart could ever have lived with it."''
A retired American serviceman and a federal agent, who was responsible for saving multiple American citizens from potentially devastating terrorist attacks on more than one occasion.
He took a leadership role in various covert and undercover missions, and served as both Special Agent in Charge and Director of Field Operations of CTU Los Angeles. His dedication to keeping U.S. citizens safe led him to make some deep personal sacrifices. Jack lost his job, his family, his friends, and, for a period of nearly two years after Day 5, his freedom. He showed his willingness to sacrifice his life on multiple occasions, but each time his sacrifice ultimately proved to be unnecessary.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-F]]
* ActionDad: One of TV's most prominent examples.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: No matter how many times he saved America from terrorists, almost everyone shuns him or threatens his life. At this point, he's portrayed as a living martyr—of torture tactics.
* AnAxeToGrind: Uses one to great effect in Season 8's opening episode.
* AndThisIsFor: His last words to Pavel before eviscerating him to obtain evidence and avenge Renee Walker: "This is for my friend!"
** [[spoiler:States this right before killing Cheng Zhi. "This is for Audrey, you son of a bitch!"]]
* AntiHero: An UnscrupulousHero. He's perfectly willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]], mutilate, execute allies if necessary and break nearly every law in the book. To his credit, he does intend to stand trial for any laws he breaks, even though this never actually happens (given that this ''is'' [[MemeticBadass Jack Bauer we're talking about]], perhaps no one is brave enough to try.)
* AntiVillain: Jack effectively becomes this for the last stretch of the eighth season. Although Taylor, Logan, and eventually Suvarov are presented as the major antagonists and what they're doing is wrong, the show itself makes it clear that Jack, despite the cause he's fighting for, isn't exactly being all that admirable either.
* ArchEnemy: He has three:
** Nina Myers (season 1-3), his ex lieutenant and lover,who turned to be a mole, and his wife and unborn child's murderer. She probably is the person Jack hates the most, and is, in Jack's words, worse than a traitor, considering she only cares about money and her own well being.
** Charles Logan (seasons 4-8). The man responsible for the Sentox conspiracy, and (semi-directly) for the deaths of David Palmer, Michelle Dessler, and Tony Almeida, not to mention all the others who died because of the entire conspiracy. And then, for the cover up of Renee Walker's death. He also is everything Jack hates about politicians (and people in general). Of all his enemies (and villains in 24) , Logan possibly is the most powerful and influencial, the only one he returns the hatred Jack feels for him, and the one who has the biggest claim for the Big Bad's spot for the series.
** Cheng Zhi (Seasons 4-6,9). The Chinese agent responsible for Jack's two years of torture in China, and for Audrey Raines's torture and eventual death. They were both faithful agents to their countries, until Cheng felt Betrayed and tried to launch a war between China and US (something Jack almost did with Russia). Although, Cheng was always much crueler and ruthless than Jack.
** For one season villains, Christopher Henderson, Victor Drazen, Stephen Saunders, and some of his family members (brother and father) deserve a special mention.
** In another way, he is his own worst enemy.
* BackFromTheDead: He fakes being dead for a year, which starts with being clinically dead for real for a couple of minutes. He was also clinically dead for a few minutes on Day 2, before being brought back to life by Peter Kingsley's men when they needed to continue torturing him.
* BadassBeard: Usually to signify Jack will be even more badass than usual.
* BadassBoast: Jack makes several over the course of the series, and it's never an empty boast.
-->''"I have killed two people since midnight, I haven't slept in over 24 hours. So maybe… maybe you should be a little more afraid of me than you are right now."''
-->''"I can make you die with more pain than you ever imagined."''
-->''"So help me God I will kill you, and you will stay dead this time."''
-->''"Look, I can tell you consider yourself a pretty intimidating group. You probably think I'm at a disadvantage. I promise you, I'm not."''
-->[[spoiler: ''"I've taken you at your word. But if you're lying to me, if anything happens to her or my family your entire world will come apart, and you will never see it coming."'']]
* BadassDriver: During Live Another Day, [[spoiler:he manages to outrun a UAV that's launching hellfire missiles on the getaway car he's driving]].
* BadassLongcoat: Wears one at certain points during both Days 1 and 7.
* BadassInDistress: He gets captured at least 2-3 times a season, but most of the time he's successfully able to escape. On a few occasions, he will need someone (The President, CTU, Chloe...) to bail him out, but not without trying on his own first.
* BadassInANiceSuit: As opposed to his usual basic tactical clothing, he wore a suit when he infiltrated the Russian Consulate during Day 6 and again during Juma's invasion of the White House on Day 7.
* BreakTheBadass: Often and repeatedly throughout the series. Several personal crises and losses hit him as a cost of Jack doing what he does and threaten to destroy him emotionally, and the one that happens in Day 8 finally breaks him so hard that it causes a permanent shift downward on the Anti-Hero scale for him, something that continues on to Day 9. And top it all off, the ending of Day 9 comes in and hits him ''even harder''.
* BeardOfSorrow: Day 2 and Redemption. Technically averted in season 6, since while he has a beard it's because of [[TimePassageBeard being held prisoner]] rather than a HeroicBSOD, although he was pretty much a broken shell of himself by that point.
* BenchBreaker: Restraining Jack Bauer is... problematic at best.
* BerserkButton: Do NOT try to justify treason, cold-blooded murder, terrorism, and assassinating the president with "It was for the good of the country!" and then say that makes you and him the same. Really, don't. Even if you're [[spoiler:his brother]], Jack will still ''utterly lose his shit'' at you. This is something that hits Jack deeply, considering how much he has suffered and lost, and the horrible things he has been forced to do to save innocent lives. Not to mention the guilt he carries for many of these actions.
** For that matter, threatening, harming, or killing anyone he loves is pretty much a death sentence.
* BestServedCold: Never lets his emotions impede his ''tactical'' plans, which makes him even ''more'' dangerous when he's AxeCrazy.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler: For Day 8, Jack ends up becoming this opposite [[BigBadDuumvirate Charles Logan and Yuri Suvarov]]. Suvarov has been the mastermind of the terrorist attacks on New York through the season, and Logan is exploiting things all for his own benefit, and Jack, after all the loss, heartbreak, and betrayal he's faced, is fed up and wants to kill both of them regardless of the consequences - even if it means kicking off World War 3 in doing so. Understandably, this ends up making him as much of a threat as the other two.]]
* BigNO: Several throughout the show, notably at the end of Season 4.
* BrokenAce: The best covert operative in the world, but is just as (or even more so) big a fanatic than the terrorists he fights.
* ButtMonkey: Throughout the entire series he's been betrayed, tortured, used, exploited, and almost all his friends and loved ones have wound up dead; while the majority of those that don't either eventually turn out to be traitors or wind up wanting absolutely nothing to do with him. His life borders on CosmicPlaything level bad.
%%%* ByronicHero
* CallingTheOldManOut: To James Heller at the end of Season 6, although he's more a father figure than a father. While his father also becomes his enemy, he doesn't quite "call him out".
* CassandraTruth: If a ReasonableAuthorityFigure listened to Jack, most of the bad guy's terrorist plots would be ended in hours, not a day. And the rare times one of them does, someone else's red tape comes in to get in the way.
* CartwrightCurse: Teri's dead, Audrey's gone, and the latest victim is Renee.
** Claudia Hernandez falls into this, too, though she wasn't seeing Jack at the time.
** Lampshaded by James Heller when he tries to keep Jack from seeing Audrey. [[spoiler: This ends up being {{foreshadowing}}.]]
-->'''Heller:''' You're cursed, Jack. Everything you touch, one way or another, ends up dead.
* CatchPhrase: In any given season of ''24'', it's likely you'll hear Jack yell "Dammit!" or "We are running out of time!" at least a couple of times.
* TheChessmaster: As of Live Another Day, he's showing signs of becoming this. [[spoiler:In the first hour, he purposely gets caught by the CIA in order to get transported to their black site. At the right moment, he signals an associate outside the building to prepare an escape route, incapacitates the agents escorting him to the torture chamber, rescues Chloe, sets off an explosion which guts much of the building, and to top it off, his associate uses a grenade launcher to blow a hole through the top of the underground passage where Jack is, deploys a ladder, and by the time the rest of the CIA realize what has happened, their prisoners are gone.]]
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: If he sees or knows of someone in trouble, he will help them regardless of laws or politics.
* ClearMyName: At several points, he's suspected of working with the terrorists, starting in Season 1, when he's thought to have tried to assassinate David Palmer, despite managing to narrowly prevent it.
* CombatPragmatist: Sniper rifles, assault rifles, pistols, knives, CQC, chains, axes, scissors... ''teeth''...and, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath rather memorably]], [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice a fireplace poker]]. [[CarFu There's also cars and vans... and on one memorable occasion, a ''bulldozer''.]] Hell, on more than one occasion, he's killed someone with nothing but his legs while chained up in a basement/holding compound.
* CoolShades: He often wears a pair of aviator sunglasses.
* CoveredWithScars: In season 6 and onward, thanks to the torture the Chinese inflicted on him. It's enough to get everyone at both CTU and the FBI to flinch when they see them.
* CowboyCop: Probably the best 21st century television example.
* CrazyPrepared: Egregiously so in many cases, particularly towards the end of Season 8 where he outwits absolutely ''everyone'' that tries to stop his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, and only backs down at the last possible moment aiming a sniper rifle at [[spoiler:[[BigBad Yuri]] [[PresidentEvil Suvarov]]]] by choice. Though given the average IQ of the typical government employee on 24, [[TooDumbToLive it may not be ''that'' surprising]].
* CrusadingWidower: In seasons 2 and 3 after the death of his wife Teri at Nina's hands. [[spoiler:A [[AntiVillain much]] [[VillainProtagonist darker]] one in season 8 after Renee is assassinated.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: After the first season. Although Jack still has his dark side during the show's freshman year, you can tell that Nina's betrayal and Teri's murder really effed him up after it. Even moreso by the ending of Day 8, as ''Live Another Day'' shows that he's crossing a lot more lines that even he would have initially hesitated at back during the show's initial 8-season run.
* DeadpanSnarker: With so many [[ObstructiveBureaucrat obstructive bureaucrats]] on the show, it's often the only way to get his point across. When told CTU no longer have torturers on speed dial?
-->[[TakeThat Then do what you're good at and offer immunity or something.]]
* DeathGlare: One so effective, Charles Logan broke down blubbering at it.
* DeathSeeker: In the first half of season 2, most of seasons 6-7, and the second half of season 8.
* {{Determinator}}: Oh boy is he ever. If you've got Jack Bauer after you, you should probably just shoot yourself in the head to save yourself a more painful death.
* DespairEventHorizon: Winds up crossing over this more than a few times over the course of the series, but [[spoiler: Audrey's death]] was the one to make him permanently go over it. The biggest indicator of this is [[spoiler: the near relief he seems to have when he turns himself over to the Russians in the last scene. It heavily implies that were it not for the fact that they had taken Chloe hostage to force him to give himself up, he likely would have done so willingly.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: In the Day 8 finale, the threat Jack poses is the first to be resolved thanks to Chloe going through a non-fatal version of TalkingTheMonsterToDeath, and all in the first 10 minutes. The rest of it is focused on bringing down the Russian coverup and then eventually saving Jack from Logan.
* DrivenToSuicide: In the final episode of ''Live Another Day'', he comes very close to eating his gun after [[spoiler:Audrey is killed]]. Luckily, he channels those emotions into [[UnstoppableRage a more constructive direction]].
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite saving America ''every single season'', Jack always has to convince whatever idiot of the week is in charge of CTU or the White House that maybe, just maybe, he isn't involved with the villain's plans and they should trust his judgement.
* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: He served in the U.S. Army Delta Force before joining CTU.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shooting [[ObstructiveBureaucrat his boss]] with a tranquilizer gun out of suspicion that he may be withholding evidence in the very first episode.
* [[EtTuBrute Et Tu, Taylor?]]: His reaction when Allison Taylor sides with Charles Logan to protect the Russians for their part in the attacks on New York and President Hassan's death in order to ensure her treaty is signed, even forcibly sidelining him to (try and) keep him from interfering. Seeing as how the last few hours were especially bad for Jack what with the deaths of both Hassan and Renee, this last act winds up being the straw the breaks the proverbial camel's back for him and he [[FreakOut loses]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge it]].
** Long before that, it was "Et Tu, Nina?" after he discovered that Nina was a mole. He nearly killed her right on the spot until Mason talked him down.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: While he's shown to never take pleasure in it and usually takes measures to keep himself from fully crossing a line, Jack repeatedly exploits this whenever he's facing an opponent who won't tell him what he needs to know.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Unlike Tony, when Jack went on his revenge path, he didn't try to intentionally hurt any innocent people. When dealing with police, for example, he shoots to wound rather than kill. He also couldn't bring himself to kill Jason Pillar after learning about his family. And all and all, he does manage to reach a realization and stop himself before it is too late.
** He also never tried to release a prion that was going to kill thousands. Sure, he might have started world war 3, but that was more indirecr, and he was in denial (although not at Tony's level). All and all, Jack shows himself to be quitw more resilient that Tony (he has lost more than him through the show), and even when he falls to his fury, to be more decent.
* EvilCounterpart: Notably, he's been on ''both'' sides of this. While he has several in the forms of Stephen Saunders, Christopher Henderson, [[spoiler: Tony on Day 7,]] and Cheng Zhi [[spoiler:''especially'' on Day 9,]], the last quarter of Day 8 sees Jack himself ultimately becoming one to Cole after their team up falls apart and Cole becomes disillusioned with him, with their different ways of trying to expose Logan and Taylor's coverup for Russia dramatically leaving them on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
%%%%* EvilSoundsDeep: If you're unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of his torture.
* FakeDefector: Jack is sometimes forced to help the villains because [[IHaveYourWife his family is incapable of escaping danger]].
* FakingTheDead: He does this at the end of season 4 in order to escape the Chinese.
* FallenHero: Near the end of Season 8, and despite regaining his senses, the world's [[HeroWithBadPublicity forgotten all the good he accomplished]]. His line about no going back even as he races to stop Margot in ''Live Another Day'' perfectly sums it up. Over the course of it though, he at least manages to attain redemption in the American public's eyes by the time it's over. [[spoiler: The Russian public is a different story.]]
* FreakOut: [[spoiler: Something inside him ''snaps'' after Audrey is murdered, causing him to completely drop his usual TranquilFury attitude and massacre Cheng Zhi's men all while screaming like an enraged animal the entire time.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G-L]]
* GoodIsNotNice: From his willingness to kill in cold blood (though he's never killed anyone who [[KickTheSonOfABitch didn't deserve it]]), to his his penchant for torture, Jack epitomizes this trope. Though he actually is a nice guy when there isn't a crisis afoot.
* GuileHero: Often, his most important weapon is his ability to assess how people operate. Like, for example, telling the President's aide in Day 5 that the people that have her daughter [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo would never let the girl go]] even if she did what they asked, and in fact are more likely to [[UngratefulBastard shoot both dead]] on the spot afterward for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]]. This is how he and Wayne Palmer are able to discover that the BigBad behind the day's events is actually [[PresidentEvil Charles Logan]].
* GunsAkimbo: During his final showdown with the Drazens, he wields two handguns.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Dammit Patel, you couldn't just leave Jack alone, could you?
* HeelRealization: A major case in the final two episodes of the series. His confrontation with Jason Pillar gets him to admit that this time he isn't fighting for justice or the greater good, but rather his own selfish goals, and later with Chloe, he realizes that what he's doing is threatening the lives of innocent people, ultimately causing him to follow her plan of exposing the main antagonists of the season.
* HeroOnHiatus: Due to being infected by the Starkwood weapon in the second half of season 7, he's forced to spend it helping from the sidelines rather than the field like usual.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: [[spoiler:Let's just say murdering a high-ranking member of the Russian government, even if he was corrupt, performing borderline acts of terrorism, and nearly starting a world war doesn't exactly endear you to the public.]] By the time of Live Another Day, he's considered a traitor by the entire country.
* HeroicBSOD: Has suffered a few, notably at the end of season 1, which lasted into season 2. Season 3 ended on him having one of these. But the record probably goes to season 6, where Jack ''begins'' the day so broken he's okay with being turned over to terrorists so they can murder him. And though he escapes (otherwise the show would be called "1"), he breaks down again a few times throughout the day, especially after [[spoiler:having to kill Curtis]], and when Heller gives him a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "reason you suck" speech]]. And ''then'' [[BreakTheBadass season 8 happened...]]
* HeroicSacrifice: Countless times, and he actually summarizes his losses in season 7.
* HesBack: Tends to get one of these per season, usually in the first (though sometimes second) episode. Notably [[SubvertedTrope averted]] in season 6, driving home just how broken and lost he was at this point.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: A constant temptation, but for the most part averted; Jack is constantly told, "he did the right thing" in impossible situations by his coworkers. Let's just say in season 8, though, it's a '''really''' bad idea to target Jack once he's out of the game.
* HiddenDepths: Deep down, Jack truly wants to live in a world where laws and regulations make a difference. The problem is that there are just too many terrorists, time bombs, and incompetent/corrupt government agents in the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
** He also is a kind and decent person below all his brutality
* HollywoodHealing: It's highly unlikely Jack would be standing after some of the injuries he sustains. However, he is slowed by serious ones on occasion.
* HonorBeforeReason: Jack Bauer [[CatchPhrase gives you his word]] and you can hold him to it. He doesn't break it because then he fears he wouldn't be able to keep promises anymore.
%%%%%* HotBlooded:
%%%%* {{Hypocrite}}:
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Word-for-word from Jack's mouth several times, which is part of the reason some view him as a WellIntentionedExtremist AntiHero or SociopathicHero. He gets away with it due to being right most of the time.
** At difference of almost everyone else who says this, he does not hold it as a badge of pride, nor does he hide behind it, nor does he avoid his responsibility for his brutal actions, or use it as an excuse/justification. He also carries a lot of sufferment because of this.
* IGaveMyWord: When he gives you his word, you better believe it. [[spoiler:As long as you aren't German. Or have killed someone close to him.]]
%%%%* ImplacableMan: Season 8's RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
%%%* ImportantHaircut: In the last moments of the season 2 premiere.
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:In the Day 7 finale, Jack chastises Tony for his selfish actions that have endangered innocent people by giving him a whole "x wouldn't want you to be doing this, and you're tarnishing their memory!" speech. Exactly one season later, he's on the receiving end of the same speech for the same reasons. Ouch.]]
** The thing that initially brings him out of hiding in "Live Another Day?" [[spoiler:Preventing the assassination of President Heller; in other words, preventing a president from dying on foreign soil since it could lead to war. You know, the same thing he nearly succeeded in doing at the end of the original run and what left him a fugitive in the first place.]]
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: He is the TropeNamer because he does some really squicky things to get information from prisoners.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: In six hours, [[spoiler:he goes from waging personal war against the corrupt members of both the United States and Russian governments to nearly starting World War III just to kill them, and for a while, he's actually convinced that's the ''right'' thing to do if that means they can get their comeuppance. Thankfully, Chloe stops him seconds before he actually goes off it and pulls the trigger on Suvarov.]]
* KickTheMoralityPet: Threatens to harm ''Chloe'' late in Day 8.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Frequently, especially killing a pedophile who was testifying for immunity in order to infiltrate Wald's group.
* KnightTemplar: A rare sympathetic example. This is Jack's EstablishingCharacterMoment from the very first episode:
-->"You can look the other way once, and it's no big deal, except [[ItGetsEasier it makes it easier for you to compromise the next time]], and [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil pretty soon that's all you're doing]] -- compromising, because [[NecessarilyEvil that's the way you think things are done]]. You know [[DirtyCop those guys]] [[BackStory I busted]]? You think they were the bad guys? Because they weren't, they weren't bad guys, they were just like you and me. Except they compromised... [[StartOfDarkness Once]]."
** Taken UpToEleven in season 8 when, for the longest while, he even justifies starting a world war with the counter that "the Russians attacked first."
* LoveMakesYouEvil: In season 8, he attempts to assassinate the mastermind behind the death of his love interest even though doing so would kickstart World War 3 and recklessly endangers innocent lives in his attacks on the conspirators, though Chloe's able to bring him out of it by the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-R]]
* MadeOfIron: He shrugs off what should be crippling injuries all the time.
%%%%* ManipulativeBastard:
* ManlyTears: Sheds them when he gets the news about David Palmer's death. Then there was his humanizing breakdown at the end of Day 3 and his weeping over the body of Renee Walker.
* NeckSnap: He's done this to villains 10 times, 5 of those ''with his feet''. One of them was even done with ''the back of his leg''!
* OneManArmy: Jack frequently takes out entire buildings full of people by himself.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Jack isn't someone who is above revenge, but at the same time, he's always gone by the principle of putting justice before it first. When Renee is killed and Allison Taylor betrays him, causing to go down a path of placing revenge as the highest priority, you know just how enraged he's become. And of course, there's his KickTheMoralityPet moment listed above.
* OutOfFocus: In Day 7. He's somewhat hit with this in the first half of the season due to much of it taking place from Renee's POV, but it's the second half where this really strikes in full force. As mentioned in the HeroOnHiatus trope, Jack winds up getting hit with the Starkwood pathogen, which leaves him largely getting pushed to the background, with most of the focus going to [[VillainProtagonist Tony's]] rogue activities.
* QuicklyDemotedLeader: On Day 1, he was the special agent in charge of CTU Los Angeles, but left the job after his wife was killed. He later returned to government service, but never returned to a position of leadership. This was actually a good idea, because Jack's a better field agent than bureaucrat.
* TheQuietOne: Not usually, but he notably doesn't say a single word for almost the entire first episode of ''Live Another Day''.
* OldSoldier: By Day 7, Kim has a daughter. In Live Another Day, Jack is in his mid-fifties and it hasn't slowed him down ''at all''.
* PapaWolf: For the love of God, leave Kim alone.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Especially with regards to Jack's rampage in Season 8; it may not be the best thing for world stability, but after all the crap he put up with that day, you'll probably be cheering him on through ''most'' of it. World War 3 might be taking things a ''bit'' too far.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Chloe in the later seasons. She's just about the only longtime friend he's got that hasn't died, and he trusts her more than anybody.
* PreMortemOneLiner: Several, but the best would probably be to Fayed. "Say hello to your brother".
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: His entire character arc for the eighth season has him going from being the hero to falling hard after failing in his mission, facing another devastating personal loss, and finally being betrayed one time too many, he goes straight into WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds modes and almost kicks off World War 3 in trying to make sure none of the conspiracy masterminds escape justice.
* PutOnABus: Does not return for ''Legacy''. Though this may be due to the fact that [[spoiler: he turned himself in to the Russians at the end of ''Live Another Day''.]]
* RabidCop: Subverted in the sense that Jack is almost never wrong in identifying the villain, but he's certainly willing to break the law to extract information.
* RageBreakingPoint: Happens in ''Live Another Day'' [[spoiler: when he learns of Audrey's murder.]]
* RedemptionEarnsLife: In Day 8 his going along with Chloe's plan ultimately leads to Allison Taylor getting ahold of his datacard and viewing his video will, which leads her to realize that she's betrayed her own ideals. This change of heart allows her to help Chloe locate Jack and save his life literally seconds before Logan's men put a bullet into his head.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Possibly played straight in Day 9, where even after he wins back the general public's trust back and is pardoned by President Heller Jack is ultimately forced to give himself up to the much-less-forgiving Russian government. Assuming there's no Day 10 or any other followups to pick things up, the implication the last we see Jack is they'll likely try to execute him as soon as they can.]]
* RevengeBeforeReason: Though it's averted for most of the series (when, if he is going to get revenge, at least he will ensure he won't compromiss the mission or the greater good before it is viable), it's arguably played tragically straight in season 8; at the very least, he's ensuring not only that there's no way in hell he'll ever get to see his family again, but in the finale even lampshades that they could also be targeted by the organizations he's harmed in season 8 in retaliation for his actions. In the final episode, it's at least averted again in the long run, as Chloe manages to [[WhatTheHellHero call him out]] on his actions and snaps him back to his senses.
%%%%* RockBottom: In season 6 and 8.
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* SanitySlippage: With everything he goes through, he seems like he's constantly on the verge of blacking out and waking up surrounded by body parts.
* ScarsAreForever: Has numerous horrible scars over his body that were attained from his near two-year imprisonment in China, which serve as a constant reminder of the events that would ultimately leave him completely broken. He's able to move beyond it by the beginning of season 8.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Deconstructed in the final season. Jack goes up against his own government in order to punish the true perpetrators behind Hassan and Renee's deaths, but if he'd managed to completely succeed in his endeavors, the end results would have been much, much worse than anything the villains of the season were trying to accomplish.
* StressVomit: After being forced to shoot and kill Curtis.
* ShootTheDog: Many, ''many'' examples, but what stands out the most are probably the death of Ryan Chappelle, and when he shot Henderson's wife in the leg during an interrogation.
* ShutUpKirk: Tries throwing this at Chloe in the series finale. It doesn't work.
* SignatureMove: Despite it not being used for the first time until the third season, he became known for his [[ChokeHolds sleeper hold]]. The ''24'' Wiki indicates it was used 13 times throughout the series. It comes with its own CatchPhrase.
-->'''Jack Bauer''': Don't fight it.
* SirSwearsALot: Expect to hear "Dammit!" many times in the course of the Days.
* SmugSmiler: Occasionally, particularly at the end of the penultimate episode.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Twice in season 6.
* ThePardon: Jack is told by Heller that he's been granted one for all his actions up to and including Day 9's events [[spoiler:just prior to Heller's (false) death by drone]]. At the end of the day, [[spoiler: it's become moots when Jack is forced to turn himself over to the Russians to save Chloe and subsequently protect his family from their retribution.]]
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: as his establishing quote describes, this is basically the crux of his character. He almost always chooses "Good," and is surrounded by too many LawfulStupid {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s to have any reputation but that of a loose cannon.
* TookALevelInCynic: Multiple times, with the aftermaths of his wife's murder, his imprisonment in China, and Taylor's betrayal being the most noteworthy cases, the last one hitting especially hard due to it coming off right when he'd started to [[TookALevelInIdealism gain a bit more idealism]] after so many years. By the last act of Day 8 and all of Day 9, he makes a permanent shift [[NominalHero downward]] as an anti-hero, not even thinking twice about endangering or harming innocent people if it can get him results.
* TortureTechnician: Don't give Jack a reason to extract information from you, just don't.
* TragicHero: The question is, who hurts Jack more? The villains he fights? The government he protects or Jack's own inability to compromise?
* TranquilFury: Whenever he goes on a revenge warpath against one who's personally harmed him and/or his friends and loved ones, he remains incredibly calm and collected, oftentimes disturbingly so. The closest he gets to breaking it is when [[NotSoStoic his voice briefly begins to crack]] right before he tortures Pavel to death. [[spoiler:In the ''Live Another Day'' finale, however, he isn't so tranquil when he learns that Audrey has been killed by [[BigBad Cheng Zhi's]] men, and yells in rage while killing 15 of Cheng's men in the course of two minutes before beheading Cheng himself.]]
* UnstoppableRage: Having a loved one murdered turns Jack into a nigh-invincible OneManArmy when he goes after the perpetrators. Just ask the Drazens, Mikhail Novakovich, and [[spoiler:Cheng Zhi]].
* VillainProtagonist: In the final 5-6 episodes up until his HeelFaceTurn early in the series finale, he crosses the line from "Anti-hero" to villain. It's worth noting, though, that without Jack's standard MO (i.e. going rogue at the drop of a hat), the false peace would have protected the vast majority of those guilty for the day's events.
* WeaponOfChoice: His standard sidearms are always CoolGuns: a Sig P229 in the first two seasons, the HK USP Tactical for the rest of the original run, and an HK P30 for the revival.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: As demonstrated by his page quote, Jack doesn't care about laws when people are in danger. He will all sorts of bad things to ensure their safety.
* WhamLine: "[[MisplacedRetribution Nothing]]. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Nothing]]." This is the exact moment it becomes clear Jack isn't playing by his usual rules.
* WhiteSheep: As violent as he is, he is much better than his CorruptCorporateExecutive family.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: After everything that's happened to him in the series' entire run, Season Eight manages to to make it look [[HopeSpot like he'll finally find some sort of happiness]]... only for his government to betray him again resulting in his mission ending in failure, the woman he fell for to die, and the one figure he came to trust in the last few years stabbing him in the back to further her own goals. After all that, he finally snaps and goes on a violent, bloody rampage to avenge himself against the masterminds, and after all the crap he's been put through his entire life, can you blame him? He almost becomes a literal example when he has the chance to kill Suvarov and Logan, which would entire lead to the U.S. and Russia declaring war on each other, but it's narrowly averted when Chloe talks him out of it.
* WouldHitAGirl: As opposed to harming a child below, this is played very straight. While the kills can be counted on one hand, he nonetheless has killed female antagonists, and has occasionally harmed others. Then there's the infamous case where he [[ShootTheDog shot Christopher Henderson's wife]] to try and force him to talk.
* WouldHurtAChild: Subverted in season 2 where he fakes the death of Syed Ali's son.
* YankTheDogsChain: Any time it looks like he's going to get some sort of happy ending it's eventually cruelly denied him.
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* EvilCounterpart: Notably, he's been on ''both'' sides of this. While he has several in the forms of Stephen Saunders, Christopher Henderson, [[spoiler: Tony on Day 7,]] and Cheng Zhi [[spoiler:''especially'' on Day 9,]], the last quarter of Day 8 sees Jack himself ultimately becomes one to Cole after their team up falls apart and Cole comes disillusioned with him, with their different ways of trying to expose Logan's coverup dramatically going on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
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* EvilCounterpart: Notably, he's been on ''both'' sides of this. While he has several in the forms of Stephen Saunders, Christopher Henderson, [[spoiler: Tony on Day 7,]] and Cheng Zhi [[spoiler:''especially'' on Day 9,]], the last quarter of Day 8 sees Jack himself ultimately becomes becoming one to Cole after their team up falls apart and Cole comes becomes disillusioned with him, with their different ways of trying to expose Logan's Logan and Taylor's coverup for Russia dramatically going leaving them on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
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* EvilCounterpart: Notably, he's been on ''both'' sides of this. While he has several in the forms of Stephen Saunders, Christopher Henderson, [[spoiler: Tony on Day 7,]] and Cheng Zhi [[spoiler:''especially'' on Day 9,]], the last quarter of Day 8 sees Jack himself ultimately becomes one to Cole after their team up falls apart and Cole comes disillusioned with him, with their different ways of trying to expose Logan's coverup dramatically going on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
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* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: No matter how many times he saves America from terrorists, almost everyone shuns him or threatens his life. At this point, he's portrayed as a living martyr—of torture tactics.
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* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: No matter how many times he saves saved America from terrorists, almost everyone shuns him or threatens his life. At this point, he's portrayed as a living martyr—of torture tactics.
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* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: No matter how many times he saves America from terrorists, almost everyone shuns him or threatens his life. At this point, he's portrayed as a living martyr—of torture tactics.
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* WhamLine: "[[MoralEventHorizon Nothing]]. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Nothing]] [[MisplacedRetribution at all]]." This is the exact moment it becomes clear Jack isn't playing by his usual rules.
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* WhamLine: "[[MoralEventHorizon "[[MisplacedRetribution Nothing]]. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Nothing]] [[MisplacedRetribution at all]].Nothing]]." This is the exact moment it becomes clear Jack isn't playing by his usual rules.
