Michael Corinthos (Chad Duell)

Michael Corinthos III (born Michael Morgan; formerly Michael Alan Quartermaine) is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. Dylan Cash portrayed the character as a child from 2002 to 2008, and Drew Garrett debuted in the teenage role in April 2009.

Cash
After being portrayed by numerous child actors, Dylan Cash made his General Hospital debut in March 2002 at age 7. In 2005, Cash was placed on contract with the show and, subsequently, his role became much more prominent. During his six years with General Hospital, Cash earned numerous awards, including a 2003 Young Artist Award in the Best Performance in a TV Series by a Young Actor Ten or Younger category.

Garrett and SORAS
As the show decided to re-cast and age the character, Cash was fired and the character was put under a coma hoping to be re-casted by Jesse Lee Soffer who played Will Munson on As the World Turns. This was later turned down, seeing as Soffer was twice as old as Cash and the sudden recast would be too shocking for fans. As of January 2009, there was still no re-cast and Cash guest stared as a comatose Michael but was seen in flashbacks up until March 2009. In April 2009, Drew Garrett made his first appearance and has since won fans over by his performance as a 17-year-old Michael.

Storylines
Michael is conceived when his mother, Carly Benson, had a brief liason with A.J. Quartermaine while sleeping with Tony Jones in March 1997. Fearing the two men would take her baby, she runs to Jason Morgan who agrees to be the father of the child and even takes care of the baby and names him after Sonny Corinthos when his mother briefly left him. Tony later kidnaps Michael but when he was put under trial, Carly shot him and was once again separated. She returns to discover Robin Scorpio and Jason taking care of the child and soon sets out to destroy the relationship which leads Robin to tell A.J. that he is Michael's real father. Carly marries A.J., who threatens to take Michael if she ever disobeys his orders.

Sonny and Carly
Carly sleeps with Sonny in 2000 and becomes pregnant with his child and he manages to find evidence of wrongdoing to force A.J. to give Carly a divorce. Carly moves in with Sonny, but loses the baby after a fall down the stairs during an argument with A.J. Carly and Sonny wed as a legal maneuver, and Michael was primarily raised by Sonny, even though they constantly break up and eventually, Sonny adopts him. When their parents dated other people, Michael fakes his kidnapped but this fails.

On February 21, 2005, When his parents divorce for the third time, A.J. kidnaps Michael and his other siblings, Morgan Corinthos and Kristina Davis but releases Morgan and Kristina and doctors evidence that he was murdered to sneak him out of the country. Jason Morgan and Sam McCall rescue him and A.J. is soon murdered with Michael being a prime suspect, although this is later dismissed. Michael is traumatized by this abduction and his mother had a mental breakdown, leading his aunts Emily and Sam to attend his psychiatrist sessions. His parents re-marry, but this marriage ended in a divorce and his mother re-married Jasper Jacks, who served as a model parent to Michael.

In 2007, Michael's longtime nanny, Leticia, and Michael's close aunt, Emily Quartermaine are murdered. Michael asks Sonny to seek revenge. Seeing as Sonny is busy with the mob, Michael purchases a gun and bullets and while disposing them, Michael accidentally shoots Kate Howard, Sonny's girlfriend. After weeks of being missing, Michael returns and Carly goes to meet him but is soon caught in an explosion, resulting in a miscarriage.

Coma
Soon after, Sonny decides to show a 12-year-old Michael a life without violence at his coffee warehouse in which a sniper, secretly hired by Claudia Zacchara, aims for Sonny but Michael is shot and put in to a life-long coma. Michael is diagnosed with Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome and is shipped to an aftercare institute in which his parents and Jax constantly visit him, as well as Claudia. As a way of organizing a fundraiser in his name, Carly hosts a gala but is interrupted by a poison leak. Learning that his mother had almost died, Michael starts to moving his hand showing Carly that he is responsive. Claudia Zacchara, after discovering her pregnancy, confides in Michael about her responsability in his shooting.

After his mother's decision to allow Patrick Drake operate an experimental surgery on him, Michael awakes from his year-long coma, only to find his life is now changed. Sonny married Claudia Zacchara, who is pregnant and his mother, Carly is now having a baby. Michael is furious with Carly for not being there when he woke up and he quickly befriends his cousin, Lulu Spencer, sister Kristina Davis and step-mother Claudia Zacchara while under the guidance of his uncle Jason Morgan. After having bursts of anger while living with his mother, Carly agrees to let Sonny parent Michael until her baby is born. Michael is soon spoiled rotten with a new sports car, a Blackberry Pearl, and other luxuries. After being held hostage by a Zacchara soldier, Carly fears for her son will be in danger and places him under the custody of the Quartermaines, his biological father's family. Michael, being granted a driver's licence thanks to Carly and Jax, begins driving around.

Claudia's miscarriage and murder
A volatile Michael is initially indecisive about where he wants to live, and a stubborn Carly only relents to let him stay with Sonny when it is clear that her mothering is putting stress on a recovering Michael. When events soon convince Carly that Sonny's lifestyle still puts Michael in danger, she allows him instead to live with the Quartermaines. On July 21, 2009, Michael, along with Kristina and Claudia were driving and Michael thinks that he was responsible for Claudia's accident. He frantically called Jason for help, and Jason returned Michael to the Quartermaine mansion, where Edward overheard Jason assure Michael he would take care of the accident. Michael denies the problem when Edward confronts him. Michael, believing he caused the crash, has run away with his sister Kristina to avoid juvenile detention. The siblings arrive in Cancun, Mexico. As Jerry Jacks poses a threat in Mexico, Jason and Sam arrive in Mexico and take the teens back to Port Charles.

After attending the town carnival in September 2009, Michael begins to have more flashbacks during his comatose year, especially that of one very apologetic Claudia. Michael eventually puts the flashback sequences together, leading him to blame Claudia as the orchestrator of his shooting. On October 29, 2009, Michael attends Claudia's birthday bash, which as organized by Sonny. Sonny confronts Claudia about her involvement in Michael's shooting and under pressure, Claudia takes a pregnant Carly hostage. Michael finds Claudia, Carly, and a new-born Josslyn Jacks in a cabin. Carly, weakened by childbirth, was unable to stop Claudia, who was on her way to leave with Josslyn. In an attempt to save his family, Michael bludgeons Claudia to death with an axe-handle, leading to her death. Jason thus covers the murder but later regrets it when Michael shows no sign of remorse. With Michael clearly being affected by the death, starts to resent his family, to the point to where he begins to drink and drive. Michael is arrested for drunk driving and is escorted home by his cousin Lucky on December 29, 2009, his birthday.

With life in Port Charles beginning to get more and more dangerous, Carly and Jax decide to temporarily move to Australia. Michael refuses to and while in an argument with his mother, he breaks down in front of Carly over his responsibility in her death.

When an artist, Franco, steals Claudia's body to blackmail Jason, Michael's uncle, Jason and Sonny race to protect Michael. Franco eventually leaves town after setting a bomb in a warehouse with Lulu Spencer, Michael's cousin, inside. Fortunately, Lulu is saved by Dominic, Sonny's henchman. When the police are cleaning up the wreckage, they finds Claudia's body.

Jax and Carly decide to take the family on a ski trip to get over the Franco ordeal, but they end up in a cabin similar to the one Claudia was killed in, and Michael leaves due to the continuous memories that haunt him. He goes back to Port Charles and tells his father what happened. Sonny assures him he did the right thing. On January 21, 2010, Sonny tells Dominic he wants to hand over the business to him when the time comes. Michael overhears this and is furious with his father, and threatens Dominic later with the intent to tell him that nothing is going to stop him from taking over his father's business. He goes and complains to Jason, but he manages to calm Michael down. Michael ends up going to the docks, where he discovers that Dominic is actually working as an undercover cop.