Who Are John Black's Real Parents On Days Of Our Lives?
Longtime "Days of Our Lives" viewers are well aware that John Black (Drake Hogestyn) has had one of the most dramatic storylines of all time. Nearly everything about John's life has been difficult. John first came to Salem in 1985. His face was bandaged and he had no memories of his life (via Soap Central). He only knew that he was simply being called "The Pawn."
John met Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), and the two began to believe that he was her presumed-dead husband Roman Brady. John and Marlena fell in love and John assumed Roman's identity. However, they were shocked when the real Roman (Josh Taylor) came home. Because he didn't know his true identity, he assumed the identity of John Black.
John searched for clues about his past, and when Marlena attempted to pick up the pieces of her relationship with Roman, John moved on to Isabella Toscano. The two got married and welcomed a son named Brady Black, per Soaps in Depth. She even helped him discover that he was a part of the Alamain family, and believed his true identity to be Forrest Alamain. Sadly, Isabella died of cancer shortly after Brady's birth and John still had few answers about his past.
John was stunned to find out his connection to the Brady and DiMera families
Eventually, John Black and Marlena Evans got back together. They finally started their lives and even welcomed a daughter named Isabella after John's late first wife. The pair went through many ups and downs, including John being hit by a car and being presumed dead, per Soap Central.
Eventually, "Days of Our Lives" fans discovered that John hadn't died, but that Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo) had taken his body and planned to use him to kill the resurfaced Colleen Brady, the sister of Shawn Brady Sr (via Soaps). Colleen's story was then told through flashbacks in 2008.
Colleen lived in Ireland when she met and fell in love with Stefano's married father, Santo DiMera. It turned out that Colleen had faked her death and had been in hiding before characters like Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) found her. She then admitted that the DiMera/Brady feud started with her and Santo. She also shared some shocking news about John, revealing that he was actually the biological child of her and Santo, making him Stefano's half-brother.
John was stunned, and it seemed that the mystery behind his parentage was finally solved. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
John is still searching for answers about his past
After years of believing that he was the son of Colleen Brady and Santo DiMera, John Black got another surprise about his history. The "Days of Our Lives" fan favorite found out that Colleen and Santo weren't his biological parents in 2014, per Soaps in Depth. The news came as a shock to many. However, John's long search for his real family seemed to be wasted and he was back at square one. He currently still doesn't know anything more about his early years and hasn't found his biological parents.
Thankfully, John has built a family of his own. He and Marlena share their daughter Belle, and he's the father of Brady. In addition, he's become the stepfather to Marlena's other children, twins Sami (Alison Sweeney) and Eric Brady (Greg Vaughan), per TV Fanatic. He's also a grandfather to Belle's daughter Claire and Brady's kids, Tate and Rachel.
While John may not know who his real parents are, he does have strong family connections and many close friends that he can also consider family.