Martin O'Carolan is a minor character in the Jem animated series. He is a Vietnam War ex-soldier, owner of an art gallery, and also Ba Nee's real father.
Biography[]
Martin O'Carolan is a retired soldier who fought in the Vietnam War. He was badly injured while in combat but was rescued by a young woman named Kieu Chinh, who brought him to her house located in a nearby village to treat his wounds.
When Martin regained consciousness, he was bewildered by Kieu Chinh's beauty and not long after that, both fell in love with each other and got married. Unfortunately, the village was attacked by surprise a few days later. Barely making it out alive from Kieu Chinh's house before it was destroyed in the bombardment, Martin was able to send his now pregnant bride away to a safer zone, promising her that no matter what, he would be able to find her.
Just as the carriage transporting Kieu Chinh started to move, a group of Viet Cong soldiers caught up with him and gave him a severe hit on the head that left him unconscious. As a result, Martin ended up with amnesia, with no recollection of ever having met Kieu Chinh at all.
Martin was spared and taken as a prisoner of war. When the war ended, he was rescued and brought to the Veterans Administration Hospital; however, he remained an amnesiac and with no memories of what had happened in the village. He moved in to L.A. and started a new life, opening his own portrait gallery and dedicating the rest of his life to painting. One of his paintings, though, was of a young Vietnamese maiden with long straight hair who appeared frequently in his dreams.
When Jerrica reviewed the details of Ba Nee's papers for adoption, she confirmed Kieu Chinh's death. Before dying, however, Kieu Chinh was able to tell her daughter the name of her father: "Martin". She also told her that he had red hair. With only these bits of information, Jem asked Riot to contact his father, a brigadier-army general, and see if he could dig up any kind of information regarding soldiers who fought in Vietnam and who satisfied Martin's description. With his help, The Holograms got the addresses of three ex-soldiers named (or surnamed) "Martin", all of whom had red hair and who could possibly be Ba Nee's father.
The Holograms separated into three groups to meet these men. While the man Raya and Rio met assured them he couldn't be the father, the one Shana and Jerrica (or more precisely, Jem) met, Andy Martin, accepted being the man they were looking for, all as part of a mischievous plan to kidnap Ba Nee and ask a ransom for her rescue. The last man, however, resulted to be the real Martin O'Carolan. Still with no memories of his time in the village, he disregarded himself as Ba Nee's possible father. However, Kimber and Aja noticed the portrait of a young Vietnamese woman hanging on the wall, both astonished to how she looked as a grown-up version of Ba Nee. Martin then accepted to go with them, just to clear any doubts.
Meanwhile, Andy managed to kidnap Ba Nee, trapping her in a cage at an abandoned zoo and making a call to the Starlight Mansion, asking for a big sum of money in return of Ba Nee's safety. The Holograms, now with Martin, decided they had to go there and try to rescue her; however, fearing Andy could harm her if he was discovered, they agreed that only Jem and Martin would enter the zoo first. While looking for Ba Nee, Martin started getting flashbacks of his days in the war and the village, and finally regained all of his memories back. He saved Ba Nee from falling to her death while she was attempting to escape by climbing up a cliff and they both instantly recognized each other as father and daughter.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the Jem Jam episodes (The Jem Jam, part 1 and 2), Ba Nee was convinced that Randy James was her father just because he had red hair and he revealed he went to Vietnam a long time ago.
- Martin O'Carolan has red hair, just as Kieu Chinh described him to Ba Nee.
- Martin is the only father that appears for a Starlight Girl in the entire series.
- Martin promised Ba Nee to come visit the Starlight Mansion as soon as they were settled.