Deacon St. John

Deacon St. John is the player character: a former soldier and Mongrels MC enforcer who now works as a drifter and bounty hunter in post-outbreak Oregon. You play as him from the opening hunt for Leon. He still grieves his wife Sarah, whom he believes died early in the outbreak.

Role: Protagonist
Affiliation: Mongrels Motorcycle Club

Found in

FarewellFarewell is the Oregon city where Deacon, Sarah and the Mongrels lived before the outbreak. It falls at the very start of the story and only appears in flashbacks, so you never ride its streets in free roam.
Iron Mike's CampIron Mike's Camp, also called the Lost Lake Settlement, is the encampment at the old Lost Lake resort. It becomes your home base mid-story, and its mechanic sells some of the best bike parts in the game.
O'Leary Mountain SafehouseThe O'Leary Mountain Safehouse is the converted Forest Service fire lookout Deacon and Boozer live in at the start. It is your first safe place to sleep and save, and it has a stash of crafting loot.

Good to know

Full name: Deacon Lee Saint John. Friends call him Deek.
Born in the early 1980s and raised in Farewell, Oregon.
Served a tour in Afghanistan with the US Army's 10th Mountain Division.
Was an Enforcer in the Mongrels MC, then went Nomad to spend more time with Sarah.
Married to Sarah Whitaker; Boozer is his closest friend and riding partner.
Takes jobs from Copeland's camp, Tucker's Hot Springs camp and Iron Mike's Lost Lake camp.
He is afraid of deep water.
Creative director John Garvin named him after a pet.

Who he is

Deacon trades bounties and odd jobs to the camps for fuel, food and ammo. He and Boozer live in an old watchtower safehouse on O'Leary Mountain. When the game opens, the two plan to ride north and leave the region for good.

Before the outbreak

His mother died when he was a boy, and he dropped out of high school to join the Army. In Afghanistan an ambush threw his squad's Humvee into a river, and he pulled eight bodies out. Back home he drifted, then fixed bikes in Jack's shop and was patched into the Mongrels.

Meeting Sarah

He met Sarah when her car broke down on a back road and he offered her a ride. He proposed with his Mongrels ring by a waterfall near a club pot farm. Boozer was the only guest at their small wedding in Marion Forks.

The outbreak

Sarah was stabbed as the three of them fled Farewell. Deacon forced a NERO worker to fly her out and stayed behind with the injured Boozer. He later found the refugee camp overrun and carved her name into a memorial stone.

Personality

He acts like a loner who wants no ties, and he can be blunt and quick to violence. Underneath, he needs commitment and close bonds. Over the story he goes from self-imposed exile to a trusted member of Lost Lake.

Relationships

Boozer is his brother in all but blood, and Sarah is the center of his life. He has history with Rikki, a strained truce with Iron Mike and open hostility with Skizzo.

Role in the storySpoilerShow

Deacon gets Boozer treated at Lost Lake and takes the fight to the Rippers and their leader. O'Brian's digging shows Sarah may have survived. Deacon tracks her to the Deschutes County Militia and enlists to stay near her.

FateSpoilerShow

Deacon leads the camps in the assault on Wizard Island and kills Skizzo, while Garret dies from Sarah's hemlock. Afterward he settles at Lost Lake with Sarah. In the secret ending, O'Brian shows he is an intelligent Freaker and warns of worse to come.

Trivia

The skill trophies are named after lyrics from Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. His name echoes Queen bassist John Deacon.

Things to know

Deacon's skills sit in three trees: melee, ranged and survival. Trophies unlock at 1, 15, 30 and 45 skills, the last one being the Silver Mr. Fahrenheit. NERO Injectors at abandoned checkpoints raise his health, stamina or focus for good. Using the first one earns Better Living through Chemistry, and maxing one stat earns Performance Enhanced. The Days Gone counter on screen tracks days since the outbreak. It reads zero only once in normal play, during Rikki's Outta The Darkness. Deacon is also playable in the free Challenges mode.