Nathan Scott
| Nathan Scott | |||||||||||||
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| File:Nathan Scott.JPG James Lafferty as Nathan Royal Scott | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | James Lafferty | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | Pilot (episode 1.01) | ||||||||||||
| Created by | Mark Schwahn | ||||||||||||
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Nathan Royal Scott is a fictional character on the CW television series One Tree Hill, played by James Lafferty. Now the main character after Chad Michael Murray's departure. Nathan is Lucas Scott's younger half brother, Haley James Scott's husband, the father of James Lucas Scott, and the cousin of Lily Scott.
Tragedies happen. What are you gonna do, give up? Quit? No. I realize now that when your heart breaks, you got to fight like hell to make sure you're still alive. Because you are. And that pain you feel? That's life. The confusion and fear? That's there to remind you, that somewhere out there is something better, and that something is worth fighting for.
— Nathan Royal Scott
Fictional character biography
Nathan Royal Scott is the son of Dan Scott and Deborah Lee, his middle name, Royal, comes from his paternal grandfather, Royal Scott. He has an older half brother, Lucas Scott on Dan's side. Nathan and Lucas both start out hating each other, and Nathan takes pleasure in taunting Lucas. At first, Nathan seems like an unfriendly, arrogant boy, who is only interested in teasing others and playing basketball and dating lots of girls. You must look closer to see him for who he really is. Towards the end of the first season, he and Lucas start to become close and in the first season finale, he finally calls him his brother, something he had always refused to do. Throughout that season, he falls in love with, and in the season finale marries, Lucas' best friend Haley James Scott. Together, they have a son, James "Jamie" Lucas Scott, born at the end of season 4. Nathan graduated from Tree Hill High School where he was the star player of the Ravens basketball team. His jersey number was 23, the same number he carries in the sixth season during SlamBall. Just like Lucas, he has had a rich dating life which often comes back to haunt him. Throughout the series one of his main life goals is to become a better person; his greatest fear is of ending up like his father. His other goal is to be a great husband and father which has been tested on various obstacles.
The writers originally wanted Chad Michael Murray to play Nathan but he chose to portray Lucas as his mother had abandoned him, which helped him relate to the character. James Lafferty was subsequently cast as he was a good basketball player.[1]
Season 1
In Season 1, sixteen-year olds Nathan Scott and Peyton Sawyer have been going out for a significant amount of time and share a complicated and drama-filled relationship. However, when Lucas Scott joins the Ravens Basketball team, Nathan is not happy, especially at the growing attraction between his girlfriend and half-brother. Encouraged by Dan, Nathan uses several pranks to alienate Lucas from the team. However, Nathan later decides on a more subtle strategy by convincing Lucas' best friend Haley James to tutor him. Nathan intends to use Haley in order to mess with Lucas because of the closeness of their friendship. However his plan backfires as he begins to develop real feelings towards Haley. When Peyton dumps Nathan for his attitude, leaving a distraught Nathan even angrier towards Lucas, Nathan opens up to Haley and the two become closer. Haley begins to fall for Nathan as well. Naturally, Lucas is unhappy when he hears that Haley is tutoring Nathan but he realizes that there is nothing he can do to stop it. Nathan and Haley become a couple and he turns to her as his situation at home becomes worse.
Nathan is now Haley's boyfriend and he is adjusting to having a serious relationship with her. Nathan's personality changes as he begins to fall deeper and deeper for Haley. Dan has little faith in Nathan and is constantly belittling him, pushing Nathan to breaking point. Nathan takes amphetamines to enhance his performance and beat Dan's scoring record. However, the drugs affect him emotionally as well as physically and lead to an fight with Haley, after he tries to get her to sleep with him. The drugs also cause him to be rushed to the hospital after collapsing on the basketball court. When he is released Nathan goes to visit Haley and apologizes, telling her that he was thinking about her when he collapsed. Haley, relieved that Nathan is okay, forgives him and allows him to spend the night in her room. The next morning, Nathan promises Haley that he will wait until she is ready to have sex.
Meanwhile, Dan and Deb, who are having marital problems, decide to separate and Deb files for divorce. Nathan is caught in the middle and when Deb admits to having an affair in the past, Nathan decides he wants nothing more to do with either parent and is granted emancipation from them. Nathan moves into his own apartment and gets a job at a pretzel counter. When Whitey takes time off from coaching to have eye surgery, Dan takes over the reins as coach and makes life difficult for both Nathan and Lucas. However, the two brothers are surprised to find themselves actually getting along and they form a united front against their father.
When Nathan discovers that Haley got a tatoo of his jersey number on her lower back, he struggles to understand his girlfriend's decision to remain a virgin. However, he is determined to keep his promise to her by not pressuring her into a sexual relationship. Nathan tells Haley that he has fallen in love with her and admits that he is scared by the intensity of his feelings.
When Haley discovers porn on Nathan's computer as well as pictures of Peyton, she is disheartened and convinced that he still has feelings for his ex-girlfriend. Nathan convinces Haley to give their relationship another go by showing up on her doorstep and professing his love for her in the rain. Later on, in his apartment, Nathan vows to Haley that he will love her forever and asks her to marry him. The Ravens lose the Playoffs and Nathan and Lucas part on good terms as Lucas prepares to move to Charleston with Keith. When Lucas comes to Nathan's apartment to say goodbye to Haley, they tell him that they got married the night before.
Season 2
The next day, Nathan and Haley learn that Dan has had a heart attack. At the hospital, they tell Deb of their marriage but she is, not surprisingly, angry and refuses to accept it, nor does Dan when he wakes up. Lucas and Keith return to Tree Hill and Lucas, Peyton and Brooke throw Nathan and Haley a wedding reception while Keith, filling in for Dan at the dealership, takes Nathan on as a mechanic. Haley starts to blossom as a musician but Nathan is jealous of her closeness to fellow musician Chris Keller and warns Chris to stay away from Haley. When Haley's older sister Taylor James comes to Tree Hill, Nathan realises that Taylor is the girl to whom he lost his virginity several years ago before he had even known Haley. He and Haley fall out about this but later make up. When Haley mentions that Chris wants her to accompany him on tour, Nathan asks her if she kissed him and she finally admits it. Nathan tells his wife to choose between him and the tour. Haley chooses the tour and leaves Tree Hill. Nathan is devastated and goes on a downward spiral, drinking in class, punching his father and letting Lucas take the fall for his drunk-driving. Nathan finally gets his act together and goes to visit Haley in an attempt to get her to come home but this doesn't work out and he comes back to Tree Hill alone. When Nathan's uncle Cooper (Deb's brother and Nathan's role model) pays a visit to Tree Hill, he takes Nathan and Lucas to a racing track but tragedy strikes when Nathan attempts suicide by deliberately crashing the car. He ends up in hospital where he has a dream of what life would have been like if Dan had married Karen instead of Deb and Nathan and Lucas had grown up in each others' shoes. This dream makes Nathan realise how much he loves his mother. They agree to be strong for each other and Deb goes to rehab to overcome her pill addiction. Nathan decides to move home and Dan pays his medical bills in exchange for Nathan getting an annulment from Haley. Whitey offers Nathan the opportunity to go to "High Flyers", a prestigious basketball camp, for the summer but Dan tries to talk Nathan out of it, blaming him for Deb's addiction. When Deb learns of this, she and Nathan agree to leave Dan and make a fresh start. Nathan is annoyed that Lucas has been investigating Dan even though Nathan asked him not to. Nathan disowns his brother and moves back home with Deb. In the last episode(s), someone drugs Dan and sets fire to the dealership.
Season 3
(Continuing on the same night) Nathan goes to the door and there stands Haley. She returns to Tree Hill for good, but Nathan has not yet forgiven her or Lucas. Nathan learns that Haley is suffering musicians' block and pays Chris to come back to Tree Hill and help Haley with her music. Nathan and Haley grow close again and eventually have make-up sex and get back together. Dan is crowned Mayor of Tree Hill and Deb tells Nathan that she started the dealership fire in an attempt to kill Dan; Nathan is angry with his mother and sends her away for a while to get her life in order. He patches things up with Lucas and when Jimmy Edwards brings a gun to school, Nathan races inside to find Haley. They are held hostage in the Tutor Center and the deaths of Edwards and Keith leave Nathan and Haley realizing that life is too short.
They move back in together and Nathan asks Haley to 'marry' him again, to renew their vows. While planning their (second) wedding, they receive a visit from Nathan's uncle from his mom's side, Cooper, but are dubious about his relationship with the younger Rachel. Deb returns and she and Nathan take out a restraining order against Dan while Nathan beats old "High Flyers" rival Damien West in an all-important game. On the morning of his wedding, Nathan is traumatised following a nightmare where Haley was drowning and he couldn't save her. He gets Lucas to keep a close eye on Haley but all goes well and they renew their vows, though Rachel causes a scene at the reception over Cooper sleeping with her despite her age. Nathan and Haley head to London for their honeymoon and Haley has something to tell Nathan but before he gets to hear it, they have a near-collision with Cooper and Rachel (in the wedding limo) on the Mollina Bridge. Nathan dives into the water to rescue his uncle but becomes trapped and is left gasping for air and fighting for his life.
Season 4
Nathan wakes up in hospital and is hailed as a hero for saving Rachel and Cooper. However, Nathan does not believe that he did save them - he thinks Keith did as he believes he saw Keith in the water. Rachel develops a crush on Nathan for saving her and sets out to seduce him, using his confusion over Keith to her advantage. What Haley had wanted to tell Nathan whilst they were driving to the airport on their (second) wedding day, was that she was pregnant, finally, she tells Nathan on the same day that he gets a scholarship to Duke University. He is initially annoyed that she kept it from him but is later delighted and tells Rachel that she never had a chance with him. Nathan and Haley face even more money difficulties now that they have a baby on the way and when Dan refuses to help, Nathan turns to a loan shark, Daunte Jones. He provides Nathan with money in exchange for Nathan losing the State Championship. He's nervous about doing it, knowing how much the championship means to the Ravens. He agrees though and ends up playing badly, causing his team to trail behind drastically in points. Haley talks with him and reveals the sex of their baby by saying "...as long as you're a good husband and father.... to your son. It's a boy, Nathan, you're gonna have a son!" Nathan, excited to hear he's going to have a boy, decides to play his best for his son and the Ravens win the championship with Lucas scoring the winning shot. Afterwards, Daunte, angry about Nathan's failure by not losing, tries to run him over with his car. Haley sees the car and yells, "Nathan, watch out!" as she pushes him out of the way. Daunte ends up hitting her. She rolls off the car and onto the ground, badly injured and unconscious. Nathan rushes to her aid. Lucas, seeing them, runs over asking, "Nate, what happened?!?" Nathan replies "They just hit her, man!" As Lucas calls 911, Nathan looks over at Daunte's car which he had crashed into a roadwork site. Angrily, Nathan tells Lucas, "Lucas, stay with her." He runs over to Daunte's car and drags him out, yelling "Son of a bitch! What did you do?!?" He savagely begins punching Daunte, splitting his knuckles until Dan grabs his arm in midair. In the distance, sirens are heard. Quickly thinking, Dan instructs him to leave the scene saying, "Haley needs you, Nathan. Your child needs you. Go!" Nathan is hesitant at first, but then goes over to Lucas and Haley. To cover his son, Dan starts pounding the ground, breaking his hand. He is arrested. (It's later revealed at the autopsy, that the crash is what killed Daunte, not Nathan's beating.) Meanwhile, as the paramedics are working on Haley, Lucas falls unconscious after a heart attack. They are both rushed to the hospital. As Nathan watches Haley being taken into surgery, he sits down on the floor, crying over his guilt for Haley and his son being put in danger when it was supposed to be him who got hit. The doctor informs him about Haley's condition and Nathan asks if their baby will be alright since Haley took a severe blow to the abdomen. The doctor tells him that they will do all they can for Haley and the baby. The next episode, Haley wakes up and they both anxiously wait while an ultrasound is done to check the baby. Haley bursts into tears of joy and relief, and hugs Nathan when they hear the heartbeat, proving that the baby is indeed fine. After Deb attempts suicide by taking an overdose, Nathan is racked with guilt. He and Haley decide to help Deb by moving out of their apartment and into the Scott Mansion.
A party is thrown on the night before prom. A tape of Nathan's basketball glories is played but Nathan is horrified when it also reveals footage of him having sex with Brooke at a time when he and Peyton had just broken up. Haley asks Nathan to make a list of his conquests and Nathan tells Haley that she is the only one he loved. Haley forgives Nathan and they kiss and then go to the prom together. After Mouth sends a text saying he needs "ass", that is,'assistance', the gang goes to Honey Grove, Texas where Nathan and Haley have their dream prom. When they get back home, Nathan tells Lucas that an investigator has been calling him about point shaving and they are looking at Lucas. Lucas decides to take the fall after Haley asks him to. When Nathan finds out, he decides to come forward because he doesn't want to end up like Dan putting his future in front of everybody else. He's prepared to take full responsibility. He holds a press conference about the point shaving which causes him to lose his scholarship. Nathan soon finds out from Deb that Dan killed Keith. When he confronts Dan about it, Dan doesn't deny it and Nathan, in anger, disowns him and says he died the day Keith died. With the lost of his scholarship, Whitey decides to help Nathan achieve his college basketball dreams. Whitey accepts a coaching position with a nearby college, and asks Nathan to be his new star player recruit. Nathan gratefully accepts the opportunity to play for Coach Whitey again. During graduation, Haley goes into labor in the middle of her valedictorian speech. Nathan stands up in shock and excitement. In the beginning of the season finale, Nathan and Haley along with all their friends head out to the waiting ambulance. At this time, Lucas gets a text message from Deb who has informed him that his mother's condition has gotten worse and takes off. At the hospital, Nathan and Lucas run across each other in the hall as Haley is taken into the delivery room and Karen is taken to surgery. They walk up to each other and hug, then head off in different directions. Nathan and Haley soon welcome their son and Haley says "Welcome to the world, James Lucas Scott." At their graduation party, Haley tells Brooke that she was chosen to be the godmother, which she happily accepts. Later on, Haley explains to Lucas the reason they picked his name for James' middle name: Lucas had Keith growing up and James would have him. Overjoyed, Lucas hugs Haley and says "Thank you. I'd be honored." He then whispers something to Haley which Haley squeals in excitement about. Later on the roof, Lucas and Nathan exchange pictures of their new family members and consider confronting Dan in jail, but agree that they will never do so. It is then that Lucas reveals that he will be Whitey's assistant coach. (This is what he whispered to Haley). Nathan asks him when he decided that to which Lucas replies "About the same time I became a godfather." After the party, everyone heads to the River Court where Lucas and Nathan prepare for a one on one game. Nathan asks "Sure you're up for this, old man?" Lucas just smiles and says "I could do this forever, little brother." The season ends with Nathan jumping to shoot a basket and Lucas trying to block it. It's unknown if he made that shot or who won. The game was a tribute of the first one on one game between the two Scott brothers which led to Lucas joining the Ravens and started everything.
Missing years
In his first year of college, Nathan won his first National Championship, coached by Lucas and Whitey, trying to make people forget he had shaved points back in the days. He almost got into a fight with rival fans after it but Lucas held him back and Whitey advised him to control his temper or he would end up like Dan.[2] Eventually Nathan Scott played for the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was a First Team All-American.
Three Years later Nathan was all set to be the tenth pick in the NBA draft by the Seattle Sonics. One night he went to a party at a bar with Lucas and Haley to celebrate his new shoe deal, shoes called "the NS 23's". When Haley left to watch their son Jamie, fans of Portland, a rival NBA team, pretended they wanted an autograph from Nathan, only to mock him. When things escalated, he almost walked away thanks to Lucas but the rival fans made a nasty comment about Haley and he defended his wife and a fight ensued. Thrown through a plate glass window he screamed he couldn't feel his legs and consequently his NBA career was over before it started.[3]
Season 5
After his accident that left him paralyzed, Nathan has become an angered, alcoholic. He's grown his hair long and has a scruffy beard. He gets into an argument with Haley, saying that he lost everything and has nothing. Haley angrily tells him that he still has her and Jamie, but if he keeps this up, he will definitely have nothing because Haley says that she can't keep living like this.[3] When he realizes that he failed Jamie by not being there for his soap box derby, Nathan decides to get his life back to what it used to be. He also teaches Jamie how to not be afraid.[4] He then pays a visit to Dan to tell him he is over with him for good. To prove that he is going to get his family back, he cooks Haley dinner, and shaves. Haley, happy to see her husband back, tells him that she missed him and they all sit down to eat. Nathan also starts playing basketball with Jamie.[5]
Nathan decides to assist talented yet troublesome Tree Hill High School student Quentin Fields as he reminds him of his former self. He even confronts him, telling how much he regrets his own mistakes, actually convincing him to go back to school.[6] His temper get the best of him again when Jason, a musician in a band touches Haley's behind. Quentin comes to her aid, punching Jason which also damages his hand, putting him out of basketball for some time. Haley, however, is disappointed about Nathan's temper.[7]
After he has been hit on several times by Jamie's nanny, Carrie, Haley walks in on them in the shower. He tells her that Carrie snuck into the shower without his knowledge. But Carrie insists that she and Nathan are in love, angering Haley which gets them both kicked out. Some time later, Nathan has an argument with Haley. During this time, Jamie falls into the pool, nearly drowning. Nathan and Haley soon look out the window to see him lying face down in the pool. Rushing to his aid, Nathan jumps in and pulls Jamie out. As Haley is sitting on the ground with Jamie in her arms, she angrily tells him that she wants a divorce.;[8] Later at Lucas and Lindsey's bachelor(ette) party she realizes she can't change him, leaving him distraught on the spot[9].When Jamie is kidnapped on Lucas' wedding day, Haley and Nathan turn to each other for comfort; They believe that it was Dan who took him and aren't aware that it was actually Carrie. They fear that they will never see Jamie again. However, Jamie returns home and Jamie tells his parents that it was Dan who brough him home.[10]. Nathan and Lucas attack Dan outside after he walks in with Jamie. After they reconnect, Nathan and Haley start marriage counseling. In counseling, Nathan admits that he wants Haley to look at him the way she used to and that the only reason he allowed the nanny to go as far as she did is because he needed her flirting for his ego. He realizes all his mistakes and tell Haley he loves her and they make up[11]. After Jamie's birthday party he learns Dan is dying[12] but tells him he is done with him, proving that he really doesn't care if Dan dies.[13]. He then begins working on his come-back, although he refuses to have it called so[14] and eventually faces his fear of failing it thanks to Jamie and manages to score against Quentin[15].
Season 6
With Quentin's help, Nathan quickly gets back into shape with his basketball technique. Quentin has also befriended Jamie (Nathan and Haleys son), who looks up to him. Unfortunately, Quentin is fatally shot whilst interrupting a store robbery.[16] Nathan and Haley tell Jamie together and they also decide to take him to the funeral because Jamie wants to say goodbye and he didn't get to before. Nathan also offers Brooke his support after her attack, saying that they both didn't have the support of parents growing up, but he will be there for her whenever she needs him and they hug. [17] During this time, Nathan finds out that Deb and Skills are in a relationship which disgusts him. The revelation strains his friendship with Skills but after a talk with Jamie, he comes to terms with their relationship. To help ease it, Skills decides to help Nathan with his comeback. Nathan soon gets a call from the general manager of an NBA D-League basketball team in Fort Wayne (the Fort Wayne Mad Ants) who says that they are interested in recruiting him. Once Nathan gets there, he is disappointed to hear they wanted him as a coach, not as a player. Nathan turns the position down, but is soon asked to play Slamball by Owen (Brooke Davis' ex). After some hesitation, Nathan starts to play Slamball, in which he is cheered on by Jamie, his son. Haley is reluctant about it, afraid he'll hurt his back. Her worry intensifies when she sees some severe bruises on his back and during one game when an old rival is on the other team. After winning the game, his rival charges at Nathan and shoves him through a glass window in front of his wife and son. Scared that his father almost ended up becoming what he once was, Jamie makes him promise that he will stop playing Slamball, which he agrees to for Jamie's sake. On the night of the USO concert, Nathan is at his home talking with the spirit of "Q" as he watches the Slamball championships on television. Q asks if he really gave it up for Jamie or because he stopped believing himself. Q angrily tells him that this was second chance and that he should be grateful he got on because he didn't. Q also tells him that he still has a chance to follow his dream. After Q's pep talk, Nathan asks Haley to promise him that they won't be afraid of chasing their dreams to which she does. Nathan attends a trial for D-league basketball and after initially getting turned away for not belonging to a team he is called back by the general manager who offered him a coaching postion. After a successful trial Nathan is selected to play for the Charleston Chiefs but when he shows up for his first training session he discovers that he has been given the number 15 shirt instead of the number 23 as another team mate named Devon Fox, who plays in Nathan's postion, already has the number 23. Devon threatens Nathan, and says he's not going to be taking his spot. After struggling during the training session he returns to see the photos of Haley and Jamie ripped up, as well as one of him and Quentin. Angered and spurred on by this Nathan threatens the member saying that he's going to take his spot and he can have it back after Nathan is called up to the NBA. Nathan also ask his coach if he can wear the number 12 instead as a tribute to Jamie. Later in the season, when Devon ruins five straight games for the Chiefs, the coach benches him and puts Nathan in, who makes the assist that leads to the winning shot. Devon is later cut from the team and his starting position is given to Nathan, whose back up is Neno, who taunted Nathan at the tryouts. Nathan and Neno prove to be the team's two best players, but they play the same position, so they can't both start. The coach has Nathan teach Neno how to play shooting guard. An NBA scout from the Los Angeles Clippers comes to see the two of them play, but Nathan is worried that he won't play his best in front of the scout, so he opts to drive the ball in for Neno to score. Neno is later called up by the Clippers, leaving Nathan still in the D-League. In the season 6 finale, Nathan gets called up to the Charlotte Bobcats and starts in his first game up.
Season 7
In season 7 of One Tree Hill, Nathan will be playing for Charlotte Bobcats. Haley's sister Quinn will be arriving to stir up trouble. Nathan, Haley and Jamie feel lost with the absence of Lucas and Peyton.
See also
References
- ^ The Making of "One Tree Hill" (Documentary). One Tree Hill: The Complete First Season: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment.
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.05 I Forgot to Remember to Forget
- ^ a b Mark Schwahn (writer), Gregory Prange (director) (2008-01-08). "4 Years, 6 Months, 2 Days". One Tree Hill. Season 5. Episode 1. The CW.
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5x02: Racing Like a Pro
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.03: My Way Home is through You
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.06 Don't Dream it's Over
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.07 In Da Club
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.10
- ^ One Tree Hill episode 5x11 You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.12 Hundred
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.13 Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.14 What Do you Go Home to?
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.15 Life is Short
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.17 Crying Won't help You Now
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 5.18 What Comes after the Blue
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 6.02 One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning
- ^ One Tree Hill Episode 6.03 Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
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