Continental — johnwick

"You know the rules, No business can be conducted on these premises lest incurring heavy penalties. Have a drink and relax, for now."

—Winston to John Wick^[src]

The Continental is an international chain of luxury hotels that function as neutral territories for members of the criminal underworld. They are frequented by many hitmen and powerful criminals. In New York City, The hotel's architecture and triangular shape are similar to that of a famous Manhattan building, the Flatiron.

The Continental in New York City is currently owned by Winston Scott, a friend of John Wick and a ruthless enforcer of the hotel's rules. The reception was operated by a concierge named Charon.

History

Background

The Continental of New York is located at Manover St., Block 23 2077, Special District: Lower Manhattan of New York City and was incorporated and opened on April 4, 1904, and registered on the same date.

While appearing to be a chain of luxury hotels for normal guests, these hotels also serve as a neutral sanctuary for hitmen, assassins and other members of the criminal underworld and prohibits killing of any kind. Eventually, the Continental spread around the world with their own chains runs by other members internationally.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick

Hotel guests and employees signaled for business on Continental grounds during the 70s.

In the 1970s, the New York Continental was under the control of Cormac O'Connor who has a valuable coin press - used by the High Table to manufacture the Gold Coins used by the criminal underworld as currency - stolen from him by Frankie Scott. Following Frankie's death, his brother Winston seeks to take down Cormac and take over the Continental for himself. Using the coin press, Winston and his forces create enough gold coins to infiltrate the hotel, leading to an all out battle with Cormac empowering his mob, criminals and assassins staying in the hotel including Hansel and Gretel to do business on the grounds in an attempt to kill Winston. Failing to accomplish this and with the High Table refusing to help him, Cormac locks down the hotel and activates a self-destruct protocol, but he is killed by KD, whose family was killed by Winston and Frankie on Cormac's orders. Using Cormac's severed hand, Winston is able to disable the lockdown and the self-destruct.

In the aftermath, Winston and his friends take over the Continental, but The Adjudicator, claiming to be the one who had actually disabled the self-destruct, places it in a state of Interregnum as Winston was never supposed to take over the hotel. Knowing that he has leverage with his possession of the coin press, Winston kills the Adjudicator to send a message to the High Table.

John Wick

After his long retirement, John Wick returns and checks in the New York Continental aftermath of the death of Helen and Daisy. He spots Ms. Perkins at the reception counter and checks in with Charon, the hotel's concierge. After checking in, he visits the speakeasy bar located on a lower floor.

There, he enters the hotel's secret bar of important guests and assassins. He then sees Ms. Perkins having a drink in the bar. He then meets the hotel's manager, Winston Scott. Both had a talk regarding the hotels rules and info about the Tarasovs, specifically Iosef Tarasov. Avi then receives an information about John that he has returned to the hotel and notifies Viggo Tarasov about it. Viggo then ordered to double John's bounty if ever he tends to break the Continental ''rules''. John then visits Addy after a short talk with Winston. Addy happily greeted John and gives information of where Iosef is located through a small piece of paper with a kiss mark. The paper was written, The Red Circle.

After the massacre at The Red Circle, John returns to the hotel to get his wounds treated by the doctor. Later that night, Marcus is intended to kill John as ordered by Viggo, but when he sees him resting in his hotel room, he notices someone opening his door. He then takes a missed shot on John's pillow in order to wake him up to alert himself. John then saw Ms. Perkins, attempting to assassinate him inside the room. After the fight, John then meets Harry in the hallway regarding the noise at the room beside. Moments later, Harry was favored by John to keep and watch Ms. Perkins but later was killed by Perkins inside the hotel room after she managed to escape the handcuffs. This was followed by her consequences when she meet Winston one night and was told that her membership from the Continental is revoked. Because she broke the rules, she was executed.

John Wick: Chapter 2

After the destruction of John Wick's home caused by Santino D'Antonio, John then visits the New York Continental to see Winston. They then meet at the hotel's rooftop, where they discuss about the rules of the markers and the hotel's grounds. Before meeting Santino at a art museum, John then returns to the reception to let his dog stay and be taken care of by Charon.

Later, one of the first Continentals outside New York City was first introduce. As ordered by Santino to kill Gianna D'Antonio, John then travels to Rome and enters the Rome Continental where he meets the manager Julius. After their short talk, Julius then gives their hotel room card to John telling him their finest rooms. John then visits the hotel's services: The Sommelier , The Tailor and The Cartographer, for his assassination of Gianna at her coronation. After the death of Gianna and the bloodbath at the coronation, John was then followed by Cassian, leading to a fight. Both started battling until they reach the Rome Continental where both were stopped by Julius, telling them that no rules must be broken inside the premises and instead offering them a drink to the hotel's bar.

Following his sister's murder, Santino betrayed John and ordered the Administration to put a bounty on John's head. Wick then checks out the Rome Continental and was accompanied by Julius on his exit. Back to New York City, Winston reminded Santino that he has no clue what is coming for him and that once Wick is free of the marker, he must be prepared knowing John is coming for him for what he has done.

Moments later after the fight during Santino's gala celebration at the art museum, Santino then seek refuge inside the NYC Continental and asked Charon for the manager. Santino then meets Winston and the lounge and arrogantly demanded and told Winston to revoke John's membership right away. But Winston refused, telling him that he has no right to demand anything regarding the hotel except himself. Followed by John, he asked Charon as to where Santino is. Charon tells John to where he is located. When Winston having a drink and Santino having his dinner inside the lounge, they saw John full of anger and hatred, holding his firearm approaching towards Santino. Winston then advises John to walk away and not to continue but Santino continues to mock him leading to be shot in the head by John with no hesitation. All inside the hotel's lounge is filled with silence and shock including Winston knowing what John has done and what would be the consequences. John is then declared excommunicado.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Following Santino D'Antonio's murder at the hands of John Wick, the High Table dispatched an Adjudicator to adjudge those who provided assistance to John following his excommunication. The Adjudicator gave Winston a week to organize his affairs and step down as the manager of the New York Continental for giving John an hour to flee before his excommunication was activated. Through his old allies in the Ruska Roma syndicate, John fled to Morocco and sought the assistance of his old friend and manager of Casablanca Continental, Sofia Al-Azwar. Though John and Sofia got in trouble with Sofia's previous boss Berrada and his men, they managed to flee to the desert. After being brought before the Elder, John was given the task to kill Winston if he truly desired to live to remember his wife Helen, but it meant being bound to the rules of the Table.

When Winston and John refused to kill each other, the Adjudicator called the Administration, giving a deconsecration order to "business" to be legal on its grounds. After the normal guests of the hotel were evacuated, Winston regranted John his privileges before he and Charon go to the armory to protect themselves from the High Table. Soon, a team of High Table enforcers in advanced bulletproof armor arrived and attacked the hotel, killing most of the New York Continental's armed staff, except for Charon. After a tough gunfight, the defenders killed the rest of the enforcers before John confronted Zero and his assassins, killing Zero and the rest of his assassins, save for two of them who he spared honorably. After the supposed death of John at the hands of Winston, the Adjudicator reconsecrated the New York Continental once more, allowing the hotel to clean up and return to business again.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

After the murder of her family, Eve Macarro was taken in by Winston Scott and brought to be trained by the Ruska Roma.

Twelve years later, looking for her family's killers, Eve discovered that former Cult member Daniel Pine had checked into the Prague Continental with a large bounty on his head. The Cult broke the Continental's rules by attacking Daniel on the grounds, seeking to kill him and kidnap his daughter Ella. Afterwards, Continental Security captured Eve and two of the assassins, executing the latter. As Eve had not actually killed anyone despite harming the assassins, she was allowed to leave unharmed.

Daniel later recovered from his wounds at the New York Continental where he was reunited with Ella. Having killed The Chancellor, Eve checked in for safe harbor and Winston warned her that the Cult would be after Eve for killing their leader.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Sometime after John traveled to Morocco to successfully assassinate The Elder, the leader of the High Table, Winston and Charon were summoned by Vincent Bisset de Gramont in Paris. There, de Gramont chastised Winston for failing to kill John. As punishment, he stripped Winston of his position and destroyed the New York Continental before executing Charon. Upon learning John had found sanctuary in the Osaka Continental, Vincent ordered an attack on it. After the hotel was evacuated of its normal guests, Chidi and other High Table forces attacked the Osaka Continental, killing many of its staff members, including Koji Shimazu, the manager of the Osaka Continental and father of Akira Shimazu. Later, the Harbinger reprimanded Vincent for his actions as even high-ranking members like themselves were bound by certain rules of the Table.

Later, one of Winston's demands for John's duel was that the New York Continental be rebuilt and reconsecrated at the High Table's expense along with the restoration of his titles. After John emerged victorious, the Harbinger promised that the hotel would be rebuilt with Winston as the manager once more.

Rules

General Rules

The Continental Hotels and its guests must abide by the following rules at all times:

A Continental Hotel is a sanctuary to all people present within its premises. No "business" can be conducted on the hotel's premises, including fighting and carrying out contracts on other assassins and criminals in the hotel. Ms. Perkins broke this rule, resulting in her revocation and execution. Although the rules are strict, they are not unjust. When Perkins tried to kill John in his room, Charon asked if John needed a "dinner reservation," meaning John would have been allowed to kill Perkins since it was self-defense as she tried to kill him first. In John Wick: Chapter 2, John himself broke this rule by killing Santino D'Antonio in the Continental lounge. However, rather than having him executed like he did with Ms. Perkins, Winston gave him a marker and a 1-hour grace period before marking him excommunicado, most likely out of his respect for John. In John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, it's revealed that the protection of this rule extends even to those who are excommunicado if the manager of a Continental allows them sanctuary. When The Adjudicator deconsecrated the New York Continental, both Zero and his students and John were free to kill on Continental grounds. In John Wick: Chapter 4, it's stated that even the High Table itself and their agents are bound by this rule and the consequences that come with it if the rule is broken, causing the Marquis Vincent de Gramont to deconsecrate the Osaka Continental when the manager demanded that his forces abide by the rules. In From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, although Daniel Pine killed several attacking assassins on Continental grounds, he was allowed to recuperate at the New York Continental as he was only acting in self-defense. Although the Prague Continental executed the other assassins whom they had caught, Eve Macarro was let go as she did not break any rules, having only helped Daniel to defend himself. Eve had also not actually killed anyone whom she had fought, deliberately choosing not to shoot a woman when she had the chance and non-lethally subdued her instead.

Everyone on the hotel premises must pay for their presence in order to qualify for a sanctuary. This is usually invoked by booking a room, but if a member merely desires to use the facilities before moving on the same day - say, for a private meeting - purchasing a drink at the bar will earn sanctuary until the day's end. A person can be exempted from this rule if they were sanctioned by the hotel manager to take refuge in the hotel, despite not availing any of the hotel's services. Additionally, the Continental's concierge can provide for almost any needs of their exclusive clientele. Some locations can even board pets — just not in the New York branch.

A blood oath, once sworn through a Marker, must be honored and carried out. Those who don't hold up their end of the deal will face the death penalty. Killing the holder of the blood oath is, of course, unacceptable, as well as running away.

Special Rules

Aside from the rules mentioned above, the Continental Hotels are also subject to special rules that are enforced by the High Table:

Under the orders of the High Table, helping or assisting excommunicated members is prohibited, with harsh punishments ranging from physical injuries to death. The Director had her hands stabbed for helping John, the Bowery King's men were killed and he himself was severely wounded for assisting John before his excommunication. Winston was stripped from his position of owning the New York Continental for giving John a one-hour grace period. However, he later regained this position after seemingly "killing" John. Both Sofia Al-Azwar and Koji Shimazu gave John sanctuary with Sofia seemingly suffering no consequences for her actions. The High Table's forces were forced to deconsecrate the Osaka Continental to get past Koji's protection of John, something that the Harbinger harshly rebuked them for.

The Table, when they deem it as a necessary course of action, has the supreme authority to declare a Continental Hotel as "deconsecrated" (the act of revoking a Continental Hotel's status as a safe zone), which permits killing and execution of contracts on the hotel grounds. In John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the New York Continental was deconsecrated by the Adjudicator after Winston and John decided to stand against the Table. This decision was later revoked after a parley between Winston and the Adjudicator. In John Wick: Chapter 4, The Osaka Continental was similarly deconsecrated by the Marquis Vincent de Gramont so that his men can hunt for John on its grounds, although the Harbinger later admonished Vincent for his actions.

While the High Table is the supreme authority in most cases, the Continental is an autonomous organization, and its various branch managers — Winston in New York, Julius in Rome, Sofia Al-Azwar in Casablanca and Koji Shimazu in Osaka, among others — have complete authority over Continental business. In fact, Winston may even have a history of pushing back against the High Table.

Administrative Office

The Continental's administrative office is run and managed by a group of mainly tattooed female operators in vintage pink uniforms. They take orders from Winston in managing memberships of the hotel.

To prevent hacking and ensure confidentiality, the office is outfitted with far-outdated Commodore VIC 20 computer systems and wired rotary phone lines, although the screen output shows that the inner workings of the computers are not the original. The computers and phones are used to put out contracts, declare a member's excommunication, and perhaps send out all official communications emanating from the Continental.

Currency

The Continental Hotel has its own form of currency in the form of gold coins. These coins are only available for assassins, hitmen, mobsters, and other people involved in the underworld. Normal guests must pay by conventional means (i.e. money and credit card). The Continental has also their own room cards for their guests.

The Continental is also responsible for distributing new coins into circulation, acting as a sort of bank for the entire underworld.

Services

Sanctuary: Provides protection and sanctuary for clients when they are within the premises of the hotel. (All branches)
Food and Accommodations: Meals, beverages, and hotel accommodation. (All branches)
Weapons and Ammunition Supplies: The Sommelier (at Rome)
Fashion and Body Armor: The Seamstress and The Tailor (at Rome)
Mapping and Blueprints: The Cartographer (at Rome)
Transportation Services: Disguised as a public taxi service. (at New York)
Medical Services: An unnamed black market doctor. (at New York)
Barber and Hairdressing Services:

Managers and Employees

Winston Scott - Manager of the New York Branch
Cormac O'Connor (deceased) - Former Manager of the New York Branch (1970s)
Julius - Manager of the Rome Branch
Sofia Al-Azwar - Manager of the Casablanca Branch
Koji Shimazu (deceased) - Manager of the Osaka Branch
An unnamed manager - Manager of the Prague Branch
Charon (deceased) - Concierge of the New York Continental
Lucia - Concierge of the Rome Continental
Yassin - Concierge of the Casablanca Continental
Akira Shimazu - Concierge of the Osaka Continental
Addy - Bartender
The Sommelier - Weaponry services
The Seamstress - Body armor services
The Tailor - Fashion and body armor services
The Cartographer - Maps and blueprints services
An unnamed black market doctor - Medical services

Known Guests

KD - New York Continental (1970s)
Hansel and Gretel (deceased) - New York Continental (1970s)
Harry (deceased) - New York Continental
John Wick (presumably deceased) - New York, Rome, Casablanca and Osaka Continentals
Ms. Perkins (deceased) - New York Continental
Santino D'Antonio (deceased) - New York Continental
The Adjudicator- New York Continental
Mr. Nobody - Osaka Continental
Eve Macarro - Prague and New York Continentals
Daniel Pine - Prague and New York Continentals

Known Locations

New York City Continental

Rome Continental

Casablanca Continental

Osaka Continental

Gallery

Trivia

As the hotel utilizes Commodore VIC 20 computers, it is possible that the hotel has a very long history of establishment since the retro IT system they use was discontinued in 1985.
It seems that all Continental employees recognize John Wick.
Charon, in Greek mythology, serves as the ferryman into the Underworld; his position as Concierge at the Continental reflects that role in the John Wick universe.
The real-life location of the New York Continental Hotel is The Beaver Building at 1 Wall Street Court in New York City. However, its interior scenes were filmed using the interior of Delmonico's located at 56 Beaver Street in New York City.
The Osaka Continental's theme is more of a traditional Samurai and Bushidō style.
At the New York Continental's lobby bar, the bar has a displayed shield of the Greek goddess Athena known as the Aegis.
The Marquis de Gramont is responsible for the destruction of two Continental hotels.

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