In 1963, Jarod was taken from his parents as a young child, and grew up within the Centre as a virtual test subject until his escape in 1996. During his time growing up, he knew the young girl who would grow up to be his pursuer, Miss Parker. In the season one episode "Bomb Squad", Jarod is described as having had an ", European upbringing" and that the cadence in Jarod's voice betray the fact that he was raised by a "French or Belgian nanny". Since his escape from the Centre, Jarod has been searching for his family: his mother, Margaret, his father, Charles (aka "Major Charles", an ex-Air Force officer), and his surviving siblings, Emily (his younger sister), "Jeremy" (his 14-year-old clone), and Ethan (his younger half-brother whom he shares with Miss Parker). The second motivating factor in Jarod's life is atoning for the deaths he inadvertently caused by working for The Centre; because of this, he identifies himself with Onyssius, an Ancient Greek God of Retribution (mentioned in the pilot episode, the first of the two The Pretender telemovies, "The Pretender 2001", and the first book of the renewed series, "").