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Assistant Director Janson, or A.D. Janson, and referred to as Rat Man by Minho, was the second highest-ranking official in the organization WICKED, under Chancellor Ava Paige. Thomas, who Janson stated that "he had never seen someone more dedicated to finding a cure", trained him after the original Creators were Purged, tutoring him to work on the Trials. Janson was one the overarching antagonist in the Books and the Films.

Biography

The Scorch Trials

In The Scorch Trials, Janson appeared in the place the Gladers were staying in at the same time as the large pile of food. He was sitting behind a desk, reading, and the Gladers soon discovered that an invisible forcefield blocked them from him. He told them to wait for the right time. Eventually, he stopped reading and explained the Scorch Trials to them. He introduced then to WICKED, explaining who they are and what they're all about. He then told them to "Never, ever believe your eyes. Or your mind, for that matter." Next, he informed them about everything going on with the Flare which led to him explaining WICKED's importance within society. Finally, he went into more detail about the beginning of the Scorch Trials. He soon left, leaving the Gladers to their Trial.

The Death Cure

In The Death Cure, Janson first arrived to free Thomas from his solitary confinement, revealing that that was his third and final Trial. He spoke to Thomas about how everything he and WICKED had done to Thomas and his friends has been to get a blueprint for a Cure. Janson would then explain to Thomas about how he was Immune to the Flare. Janson explained the whole idea of the Flare taking place in the infected person's brain, and took Thomas to get cleaned up. He led all of the Gladers and Group B to hear that Newt, Jackson and an unnamed girl were not Immune to the flare. He then led everyone to get the Swipe removed, which would restore their memories and remove them from WICKED's control. Thomas, Newt, and Minho refused, so he took them to a room for the night before bringing guards the next morning to force that them to undergo the procedure to the remove the Swipe. The three escaped with the help of Brenda and shot Janson with a Launcher.

In Denver, Janson appeared on a monitor of a police drone. He was requesting that Thomas returns to WICKED to complete the final procedure required to create the cure for the Flare. Janson revealed during the speech that Thomas is the Final Candidate. He even used the fact that Newt wasn't Immune in a way to persuade Thomas into coming, saying "You could very well save him."

When Thomas returned to the WICKED Headquarters, Janson greeted him and said "Welcome back, Thomas, I'm glad you made the right choice." He took Thomas to his office where he informed Thomas that to complete the cure for the Flare, they must dissect his brain. Janson stated that "this is not a test. This is not a variable and I'm not lying to you." The operation would be painless, but it would result in Thomas' death. The only thing that saved Thomas was WICKED Chancellor Ava Paige from the surgery. Janson attempted to kill Thomas, Teresa, Minho, Brenda, and Jorge, and all the other Immunes as they were leaving through the Flat Trans in the Griever Hole for paradise. Janson was "very disappointed" since it "looks like not everyone in my organisation is on the same team after all.". Janson realized that he was showing symptoms of the Flare, which wasn't surprising given that he's spent years studying subjects infected to the flare.

In the end, Thomas strangled Janson to death. However, Janson managed to delay Thomas and the Immunes enough to cause Teresa to push Thomas out the way of a falling rock that would soon crush her.

The Maze Runner Files

In The Maze Runner Files, during the part titled 'Minho, Phase 3 trial', Janson was the head for Minho's final trial. Janson turned up at Minho's door with two armed guards. When challenged, he ordered, "Follow me or you'll be fired upon." He escorted Minho into room- Room #8. When questioned, Janson explained that, inside the room, Minho will have to partake the third phase of the Trials. He stated that it was "The easiest [and shortest] of all the tests" that WICKED had created for them. He stated that Minho's answer will "consist of exactly one word". Minho doesn't trust Janson and told him to his face, calling the man a "shuck-face". Janson said that Minho's "response alone will dictate what happens," and that, "Everything from this point is voluntary. The Trials are over." Janson and the guards then leave, leaving Minho in the room, having completed the trials.

Film

The Scorch Trials

In The Scorch Trials, Janson appeared as the leader of the WCKD facility Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Frypan, Winston, Jack and Tim are brought inside. After the supposed rescue from the Maze, he greeted them and told them that they were safe from WCKD, the Flare, and the Cranks, and that they would soon be brought to a Safe Haven. While the other Gladers were are glad, Thomas instinctively did not trust Janson. Thomas' distrust was strengthened when Janson asked him about his experience with WCKD.

With the help of Aris, one of the many Immune survivors at the facility, Thomas travelled through the air vents and was able to overhear a conversation between Janson and WCKD leader Ava Paige, who was alive despite Thomas and the other Gladers thinking she had died during the recorded message. While eavesdropping, Thomas realized that Janson was working for WCKD and that his friends were going to be used for experimentation.

Thomas headed back to the Gladers' rooms and he and the others planned to escape to find the Right Arm, a group of rebels who opposed WCKD. During their breakout, Thomas obtained a gun from Minho, which he got from a guard, to which he used when Janson and his men cornered the escapees' moments later. He shot at Janson multiple times but misses due to the Guards using shields to block the shots. The Gladers and Aris were able to escape the WCKD facility. Just before escaping, Janson tried to reason with Thomas, saying he and the others would not survive out in the Scorch, to which Thomas put the finger up at him.

When Thomas and his friends were found by Jorge and his gang, one of Jorge's men, Barkley, planned to sell them back to WCKD and made contact with Janson. Janson arrived at the hideout later in the night with a Berg and had a WCKD task force storm the place. Janson called over the intercom, alerting those inside the facility that they're after Thomas and his friends. Tied up, they tried to escape and, with Teresa pulling the lever, they're were freed. Barkley approached them and threatened to take them back to WCKD. However, Brenda shot him in the back, killing him, allowing Thomas and his friends to escape. Janson called to Barkley saying "Barkley? Barkley, you there?" We later saw Janson staring out the side of the helicopter as he watched Minho, and the others escape to a surrounding building using a zipline. He shouted to his men, "Whole units! Push in! They're on the top floor! Top floor!". Janson then witnessed the hideout being blown up by Jorge, killing many of Janson's men. This was when Thomas and his friends finally escape the area, evading Janson and his men.

Janson would get work from Teresa, secretly working with WCKD, explaining the location of the Right Arm's whereabouts. WCKD was able to overpower the Right Arm which lead to the capture of the rebels and every survivor except Thomas. Ava Paige then arrived arrived in a Berg and greeted Janson, telling him to begin to load the Immunes ones into the carrier. While checking if every Glader had been caught, Janson realized that Thomas was missing. Thomas, who had secretly taken a small bomb and detonator, gave himself up to Janson. At first, Janson said "Thomas" in a friendly, greeting-like way. Then, he brutally punched Thomas in the stomach for creating so much trouble. He then commanded his soldiers to get Thomas in line. However, Janson was shocked when Thomas pulled out the bomb and declared that he will blow up himself and the other survivors up to prevent them from falling into WCKD's hands. However, due to a distraction created by Jorge and his protegee Brenda, the Right Arm was able to free themselves in the erupting chaos and fight back, attacking and killing many WCKD soldiers. When the fighting began, Paige was brought into her berg to safety along with Teresa, who chose WCKD over Thomas, and the soldiers were able to capture every Glader in their retreat. When Minho was captured by WCKD, Thomas returned to save his friend but was stopped by Janson, who punched him to the ground. Janson drew his gun, proclaiming that it was a waste to spill Thomas' precious blood. He intended to shoot Thomas, but was saved by Brenda, who shot Janson in the shoulder and provided Thomas with cover while he ran away from the battle. Wounded, Janson returned to the berg and was carried away with Paige, Teresa, the remaining WCKD soldiers, and many Immunes.

The Death Cure

In The Death Cure, Janson arrived on the scene after Thomas successfully took a train cart of Immunes. He looked down at Minho, saying "They didn't get what they really wanted." Janson then told the soldiers to find them.

Later, we see Janson when Thomas and his friends were spotted outside the walls of the Last City. Janson commanded them to "Get the guns online." He would watch the guns fire on the open crowd before telling them to "send in a patrol" and that the patrol shouldn't come back until Thomas was found.

When Teresa was with an infected girl named Shai Lun, Janson was walking down to meet with Ava Paige. He stopped beside her as they watched Teresa interacting with the girl. Janson said "Ah, that is incredible". Ava would point out that he wasn't showing a lot of remorse for someone who just took fire on an open crowd. Janson defended himself, saying "You told me to do my job. I had a shot and took it."

When Thomas and Ava Paige were talking about how Thomas' blood was the Cure, a gunshot was heard ringing out and Ava was seen with blood soaking from her chest just before she fell. Janson was seen with smoke clearing around him, a pistol aimed right at where Ava was standing. He plunged a small needle into Thomas' neck, which knocked him out. Thomas woke up in a room strapped to a chair, with Teresa removing his blood for the serum and Janson standing at the window, watching a nearby, burning building collapse. Thomas asked why Janson doesn't just kill him. Janson took the cure from Teresa. He explained that, with Thomas' blood, WCKD finally got to choose who survived the Flare and who wouldn't. Janson pulled up his sleeve, revealing that he had caught the Flare, and went to cure himself with Thomas' blood. Teresa, however, smashed a glass flask over his head and knocked him unconscious, falling to the ground. She undid one of Thomas' straps, but Janson regained consciousness and attacked her. He fought for the Cure- eventually getting it after smashing her head onto one of the tables. Thomas quickly got the other strap undone, and tackled Janson through a glass panel. The two of them fought viciously in the corridor until Janson stood up and pointed his gun at Thomas. Suddenly, two rockets hit the building and Janson fell over amongst the explosion and fire. Thomas used the opportunity to regain stability and balance. He and Teresa took the serum and run, but Janson, regaining his consciousness again, consistently shoots at them as they sprint down the hallway. Thomas and Teresa hid in a testing room, where it was revealed that Thomas has been shot in the stomach. Janson entered and continued to hunt them down. He spoke indirectly to them; speaking about how he needed them. He stepped out in front of Teresa and was ready to kill her. She stood up and offered Janson the Cure. He said "Not that. Where is he?" indicating he was trying to find Thomas. He then called out to Thomas, trying to guilt trip him to revealing himself. He then used Teresa as a persuasion and he threatened to kill Teresa, "You might not have been able to shoot her, but I can. Ok. Fine. Have it your way."

Just then, Thomas threw a very heavy object at Janson. He missed, but it broke a large piece of glass separating two Cranks (who had reached the Gone) from Janson, Thomas, and Teresa. Because of how close Janson was standing, the two Cranks targeted him only. He tried to fight them off as Thomas and Teresa escaped the room. Janson was either killed by the Cranks, or from the explosion and or the collapse of the building minutes later.

Physical Appearance & Personality

Janson was described as a thin man with grey hair, brown eyes, a mole on his cheek, and a rat-like face. He was highly intelligent, but also an enigmatic figure whose loyalty was never truly certain. He had a laid-back demeanour most of the time, but, due to being infected with the Flare, he could become extremely violent and brutal when pushed. He was intensely sadistic when violent, showcased by his brutal means by fighting Thomas in their final clash in The Death Cure.

In the The Death Cure, when Teresa figured out Thomas' blood was the Cure for the Flare, Janson became violent in order to try and steal the Cure. He eventually rolled up his sleeves to reveal the black veins on his arm.

Powers & Abilities

Powers

  • Pain Suppression/Feral Mind: Janson was infected by the Flare virus which slowly began changing his psychological health when he pulled up his sleeve in preparation to inject himself with the Cure. Having the Flare also seemed to have granted him a form of suppression towards pain, as shown when Teresa bashed a test tube in the back on his head which briefly knocked him out only to re-emerge bleeding. Later on, when Teresa and Thomas were trying to escape from the WICKED Complex, he managed to withstand many blows of brute strength from Thomas and an RPG without giving away any complaint or any sign of intense pain or discomfort.

Abilities

  • High-Level Intelligence: As the assistant Director of WICKED, Janson held the position of all security protocols to WCKD weapons, gears, soldiers, and testing Immune children subjects in the Maze and taking them to headquarters for preparation in harvesting their blood for serum.
Janson Fire

Janson Marksmanship

  • Expert Marksmanship: Janson was an expert in using armed weaponry for reckless situations in the Scorch, shown to be skilled at shooting, when he shot his pistol at Mary Cooper in cold blood without hesitation; then attempted to shoot Thomas but was distorted by Brenda. He aimed and fired three rounds' shots at Thomas and Newt while they were breaking into the WICKED Complex, but missed due to bulletproof glass covering them, then when spotting them on the 20th floor of the building, he again shot at them but ended up missing because of their speed. When Thomas confronted Ava Paige, he shot her in the spine for turning away from WCKD, killing her. After recovering from an RPG blast, he saw Thomas and Teresa heading to exit and pointed his gun directly at her to only have fired a hit on Thomas through the right side of his lower back, critically injuring him.
Ratman Brawling

Janson brawls against Thomas

  • Hand-to-hand Combat Prowess: Janson exhibited skill and coordination while brawling with his fists during close quarter combat. This was shown when he punched Thomas in the stomach and smacked him across the face, and in a battle against, was able to punch him twice, putting him in a chokehold, and repeatedly punched him again. After he took a few attacks from Thomas, he reacted quickly to counter his punch by grabbing his arm, smacking him across the face, kneeing him in the stomach, and tossing him to the floor.
Janson Toss

Janson effortlessly tosses Teresa over a table

  • Maximum Human Conditioning: Janson seemed to be a fit grown adult who possessed maximum limits of his physical and mental peak attributes. He showed to be strong enough at tossing a person half his size across the floor a few inches from his position, fast enough to have reflexes to dodge quick projectiles being aimed at him, and even endurable from being shot in the shoulder and attacks from a peak human teenager. His stamina also built less fatigue in continuing to stay active during fight as a blast from an RPG barely fazed him and he got up on his feet.

Trivia

  • Interestingly, although it has been said that Thomas trained Janson before he entered the Maze, Janson did not appear in The Fever Code. It is possible that Thomas still trained Janson, but just wasn't mentioned in the book.
  • Janson was the only one that was mentioned to have been one of the new Creators, with no other person mentioned to be with Janson as the new Creators.

Quotes

  • "I represent a group called WICKED. [...] I know it sounds menacing, but it stands for World in Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department. Nothing menacing about it, despite what you may think." The Scorch Trials
  • "All of it has been part of the Trials. Phase One, to be exact. And we are still dangerously short of what we need. So, we've had to up the ante, and now it's time for Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult." The Scorch Trials
  • "Better off taking your chances in the outside world. Good luck to all of you." The Scorch Trials
  • "Listen to me! I'm trying to save your life. The Maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day out in the Scorch. If the elements don't kill you, the Cranks will. Thomas, you have to believe me. I only want what's best for you." Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
  • "Teresa's always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good. Once we restored her memories... it was only a matter of time." Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
  • "You don't understand what I came in here to tell you." The Death Cure
  • "Because, Thomas, there's no value in keeping you in the dark. Not anymore." The Death Cure
  • "Boy, soon you'll remember everything, and i have a feeling you're going to regret a lot." The Death Cure
  • "On the outside, in the streets, they call people like you Munies. And they really, really hate you." The Death Cure
  • "All of you went through different types of tests for Phase Three of the Trials." The Death Cure
  • "First of all, each of you has been warned of the consequences should you try to hurt me." The Death Cure
  • "Is it because you really have no interest in remembering, or is it because you don't trust us?" The Death Cure
  • "Some of you are immune to the Flare. But... some of you aren't. I'm going to go through the list- please do your best to take it calmly." The Death Cure
  • "Now, I'm sure you have a million questions, but most of them will be answered by your memories, so I'm going to wait until after the procedure for any more Q and A." The Death Cure
  • "My name is Assistant Director Janson. Learn to show respect for your elders." The Death Cure
  • "You three rebels are being watched. Don't even think about trying anything. Armed guards are on their way as we speak." The Death Cure
  • "I haven't lied to you about a thing. You made your decision, now live with the consequences." The Death Cure
  • "This is complete lunacy. You have zero chance of getting out of this complex. More guards are already on their way." The Death Cure
  • "It's about your friend, Newt. I'm afraid he's in a tremendous amount of trouble." The Death Cure
  • "Welcome back, Thomas. No one believed me, but I've been saying all along that you'd return. I'm glad you made the right choice." The Death Cure
  • "Thomas? We really need to get things started. [...] Thomas- waiting will only make it worse. We need to go." The Death Cure
  • "I'll go tell operating personnel to stand their ground, no matter what." The Death Cure
  • "Let me tell you something, kid, I've never thought of myself as a violent man, but you and your friends sure have driven me to the brink. My patience is stretched to a minimum, but I'm going to show restraint." The Death Cure
  • "You little... [...] Thomas! Get back here! You have no idea what you're doing!" The Death Cure
  • "Well, what do we have here? [...] Strange place to hide when everything's about to come down!" The Death Cure
  • "I don't care if I bleed to death, as long as I die after I get you back up there." The Death Cure
  • "Do you know what this place is, Thomas? It's a lifeboat. And the whole world might be sinking, but... it doesn't mean that we have to go down with it." Maze Runner: The Death Cure

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