Jackal (The Day of the Jackal)

Fictional character, introduced in 1971 Fictional character The JackalThe Day of the Jackal characterThe Jackal (Edward Fox) practising with his newly customised sniper rifle.Created byFrederick ForsythPortrayed byEdward Fox (The Day of the Jackal)Bruce Willis (The Jackal)Eddie Redmayne (The Day of the Jackal)In-universe informationAliasesAlexander James Quentin DugganPer JensenMarty SchulbergAndre MartinCharles CalthropNicknamesJackal, or Chacal'The Englishman'OccupationAssassin The Jackal is a fictional character, the principal antagonist of the novel The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. He is an English assassin who is contracted by the OAS French terrorist group of the early 1960s to kill Charles de Gaulle, then president of France. The book was published on 7 June 1971, in the year following de Gaulle's death, and became an instant bestseller. In the 1973 original film adaptation, he is portrayed by Edward Fox. In the 2024 TV series, a contemporary interpretation of the Jackal in the modern era is portrayed by Eddie Redmayne. A significantly altered version of the character was portrayed by Bruce Willis in the 1997 loosely based adaptation, having a divergent storyline