Detective Inspector John Rebus is the protagonist in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by the Scottish writer Ian Rankin, ten of which have so far been televised as Rebus. The novels are mostly set in and around Edinburgh.
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According to Ian Rankin, John Rebus was born in 1947 and grew up in a pre-fabricated house in Craigmead Terrace, Cardenden, Fife,[1] the son of a stage hypnotist. His grandfather was an immigrant from Poland. He grew up in a terraced house along with his brother, Michael. He left school at the age of fifteen and joined the Army, one of the few mainstream career options open to young men of the area, the others being coalmining or Rosyth Dockyard, whilst his brother followed in their father's footsteps. After serving in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, he applied to undergo selection for the SAS. After passing selection - where Rebus excelled - he and a colleague were selected for further training for a secretive elite programme, training which eventually prompts Rebus to resign from the SAS and which spurs a nervous breakdown. Following lobbying from the Army, Rebus was given a position with Lothian and Borders Police in order to recover from the trauma.
Ian Rankin prefers to leave the physical appearance of his characters to the reader's imagination, although when Rebus is first introduced in Knots and Crosses, we learn that he has brown hair and green eyes, like his brother. His rough lifestyle means that his clothes are often less than immaculate. He was married, but divorced sometime in the 1980s. His ex-wife, Rhona, and his daughter, Samantha, appear frequently in the novels. Since the series takes place in real time, Samantha grows from a child to a young woman.
In Knots and Crosses, Rebus is only a Detective Sergeant, but is promoted to Detective Inspector sometime before the start of Hide and Seek, four years later. He has not been promoted since, although he has turned down a promotion on at least one occasion. His advancing years and approaching retirement mean that he is unlikely to receive another chance.
Rebus is for the most part apolitical - in Strip Jack it is revealed that he has only voted three times in his adult life, once for Labour, once for the Conservatives and once for the SNP. His general ambivalence towards politics is tempered by a dislike of sectarianism, resulting from his experiences as a soldier in Northern Ireland. He also reveals that he abstained on the Scottish devolution referendum in 1979 with suggested occasional guilt pangs when he later befriends an independence advocate. Many plots feature nascent political independence or devolution as backdrop with reference and settings including Scottish parliament.
Rebus can be said to belong to a long tradition of paternal Scottish hard men. A natural leader whose gruff exterior and fierce will to succeed in his field belies a benevolent nature. The character owes as much to the likes of Jock Stein and Bill Shankly as it does to a more obvious relation, Jim Taggart. The post-war upbringing on a Scottish housing scheme amidst the decline of heavy industry, a fondness for alcohol, an identification with those who struggle against adversity, a distrust of authority, and an intimidating personal manner. Rebus has a strong love for books and music, owns an extensive record collection and drives a Saab 900. Rebus is a heavy drinker and often orders a pint of beer and a whisky. The traits that keep him strong are also the traits that drive those closest to him away. It is the pervasive image of Rebus as the noble loner that wins the sympathy of readers.
Rebus does have a string of romantic liaisons, but apart from his marriage to Rhona none last very long. He has been linked with DI Gill Templer before she became his superior officer. He has a strong platonic relationship with his understudy and protégée, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, but it is never confirmed whether a romantic attachment ever developed. His longest relationship has been with Patience Aitken which spanned several novels. Either his relationships are improper and unsuitable - with women personally linked to the cases Rebus is working on, or else they find that Rebus is 'married' to his job, and cannot be fully committed to a relationship.
In a 2007 interview with BBC Radio Scotland, Rankin corrected his interviewer in the description of Exit Music as not the last Rebus novel, but Rebus's retirement novel. Rankin expects to revisit the Edinburgh he created in fiction, with Clarke as his central police officer character. In the same interview, Rankin suggests several reasons for his creation's popularity, despite the policeman's unlikeableness. First, Rebus is an outsider, and many people can feel as though they do not fit in as well as they think they should; secondly, Rebus is a curmudgeon, and there is a pleasure in such characters; and finally, he doesn't just solve cases, he also has the intention of doing some greater good as well.
On the Sunday, Dec 13 2009 edition of the BBC Radio Scotland program Shereen, Rankin admitted that he knows where Rebus is in retirement: working on cold cases at police headquarters as a civilian. Rankin said it was possible that his new character, Inspector Fox, may either bump into Rebus or end up on an investigation that has something to do with a skeleton in Rebus's closet. However, including Rebus in a novel currently would mean that Scottish Television would have the right to produce the novel, so Rankin admitted that he might hold off on that plot for some time.
According to a Sunday Herald article in March 2006, Scottish musician Ian Stewart was the inspiration for the John Rebus character:
Plans were afoot in the late 80s and early 90s to bring Rebus to television in an adaptation of Knots and Crosses with Leslie Grantham in the lead but this came to nothing. Ian Rankin believes that it was likely they would have made Rebus English or relocated the entire story to London.
In the Rebus television adaptations he was played by John Hannah in the first two series, but in the later series the role was taken over by Ken Stott to much acclaim.
A lot and of Rebus's character foibles are glossed over in the adaptations, for example his large LP collection and the frequent popular music references and thoughts that Ian Rankin weaves into the stories. However, Rebus' reliance on alcohol is evident and he is often seen drinking in the Oxford Bar. Also, in the television series Rebus is portrayed as being a supporter of Hibernian. This is not found in Ian Rankin's books, he having stated outside the books that Rebus is a Raith Rovers supporter.[2] His colleague DS Siobhan Clarke's support of Hibernian F.C. is openly referenced in many of the books. Rebus's Fife accent is softened as well; in the novel Tooth and Nail, London Metropolitan Police colleagues find it difficult to understand his speech.
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